Nuke: My Endgame

Chapter Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Luke, Noah, and all related characters, plots, and locations are property of As the World Turns, Telenext Media, and CBS Television. No profit is made from this fan creation. No copyright infringement is intended!

Special thanks to Tirpse for editing help throught entire story.

-P-

Chapter 4:

-P-

Noah was in the air in two hours. Traffic was a nightmare but he was on his way to Oakdale. While on the flight he talked to his boss at the studio. He told him what was going on and that he was on his way to Oakdale. When Mr. Smith started to argue about it, Noah shut him down.

"Listen, I'm going to Oakdale to donate my kidney to my friend, so he doesn't die. If you feel the need to fire me for doing the right thing, then so be it." Noah said frankly, "I'm getting ready to land, I'll give you a call after the surgery and you can tell me then if I have a job or not." Noah hung up the phone before Mr. Smith could reply.

-P-

When Noah got off the plane, he got into a limo that was waiting to take him to the hospital. He called Lily when he got to the hospital and Dr. Bob sneaked him into his room. Unfortunately, Reid was on the floor and saw Noah being snuck into the quarantine room.

Lily walked into the room behind Noah and pulled him into a hug.

"I don't know what to say, Noah." cried Lily, "What you're doing is… Well, I'll never be able to thank you enough."

"I couldn't let anything happen to Luke." said Noah.

The door opened and Reid walked in.

"Damn." said Noah.

"Exactly." said Reid, "So you're the donor?"

"I think that information is confidential." said Noah, "But yes, I am but I do not want Luke or anyone else to know."

"Dr. Oliver will keep it totally confidential. Won't you Doctor?" warned Dr. Bob.

"Yes, of course." said Reid, "Did Bob tell you that I matched as well?"

Noah said angrily, "Then why didn't you donate?"

"My match isn't as good as yours." said Reid, "And in my profession could be at jeopardy if I donate. It might be kind of hard to do 7 hours of surgery with one kidney.

"I'm surprised you aren't doing it anyway. He is your boyfriend." said Noah.

"We are not dating anymore. But don't worry, if there were no other matches, I would have done it for Luke, even though he loves you and not me. I would do it because I love him." said Reid.

"I'm sorry to hear that you broke up." Noah said to be nice.

"No, you're not." said Reid.

"No, I'm not. I was just being nice." Noah said honestly.

"I've never been able to learn nice." said Reid.

Noah started laughing. "I figured."

"You do know that he could drink his way through your kidney too." Oliver said bluntly.

Noah got into Reid's face and said bluntly, "If that happens and there is no donor, I'd blow my brains out just so he could have my other kidney."

Reid, Lily Dr. Bob looked at Noah in shock, realizing that Noah was telling them the truth.

"I'm not surprised." said Reid. "Talk to him. Maybe you can work things out."

Noah was confused. "You're really not dating anymore?"

"No, I called it off a few weeks ago. He has a lot of drama in his life and frankly, I not into drama." replied Reid, "I didn't see that he couldn't love me, like he loves you, but now I do."

Noah started laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Reid replied upset.

"It's ironic. You were the blind one after all." giggled Noah.

Reid thought about it and said, "I guess you're right. I hate it when you're right."

Noah giggled at Reid's response and said, "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I hit you."

Reid turned around and headed for the door and said, "No you're not. Just don't hurt Luke."

"I don't plan too." said Noah. Reid was right, he wasn't sorry.

"Are we ready to do this, Bob?" asked Lily.

"Soon, you do know Noah, Lucinda will find out you're the donor." said Dr. Bob.

"Probably but I hope not." Noah said.

"I bet you a lunch at The Lakeview that she finds out within a week." said Dr. Bob.

Noah took the bet.

-P-

The operations took a total of six hours to complete. Noah was out of surgery first. Lily, Holden and Lucinda were there for the operation. Only Lily, of course, knew about Noah.

Lily noticed that Allison was trying to get her attention. She excused herself to stretch her legs and went to see what Allison wanted.

"Noah is out of surgery and is in his room." said Allison, "He should be waking up soon but Luke is still in surgery."

Noah was snuck back into his isolation room after his operation. It was separated from all the other rooms, so there would be less people going by it. Lily walked into the room. She talked to Noah for a few minutes before she let him sleep. She promised to let him know how Luke was doing.

-P-

The Specialist called Lily, Holden and Lucinda into Luke's room and told them that the surgery was a success and that the match was remarkable. "It's almost like it came from his own body."

"Noah's here." Luke said groggy, "Can he come into the room?" but before anyone could say anything, he drifted back to sleep.

Luke woke back up the next morning with Lily by his bedside.

"Good morning." said Lily, "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Ok, I guess." said Luke, "Is Noah still here?"

"Noah's not here." Lily lied to Luke. She hated doing it but did it anyway.

"I can feel Noah." said Luke, "I know he's here."

"Noah's in California." said Lily, "I called and let him know you were out of surgery."

"Do you remember how you felt when Dad supposedly died?" asked Luke.

"Yes, I remember." replied Lily.

"Well, that's how I feel now." said Luke, "I can feel Noah here."

-P-

Lucinda walked into Luke's hospital room and interrupted Lily and Luke's conversation.

"Hi darling, how are you feeling?" asked Lucinda.

"Fine grandmother." said Luke.

"I'm going to go check on the kids." said Lily, wanting to get out of the room before any more questions were launched in her direction.

-P-

"What's wrong?" asked Lucinda.

"Where did this kidney come from?" asked Luke.

"We've had this conversation before?" laughed Lucinda.

"Yes, we did but I'm asking again?" replied Luke.

"I don't know. Bob said it was an anonymous donor." replied Lucinda.

"Ever since I woke up, I feel different. It's not the same as the last kidney." said Luke.

"What are you feeling?" asked Lucinda curiously.

"I feel warmth and a sense of calmness." Luke said as he finally figured it out, "Its love that I'm feeling… That's it…"

"What?" asked Lucinda.

"It's Noah's kidney, isn't it?" asked Luke.

"That's crazy. I talked to Noah about an hour before your surgery. He was still in L.A." said Lucinda.

"Ever since I woke up, I've been feeling Noah, you know, like he's around." Luke said as he began to cry, "The warmth and the calmness. Its Noah's kidney, I'm sure of it. I need to know."

Lucinda could see that Luke really believed that Noah was the donor, "Listen darling, I'll find out."

"Thank you, Grandmother." Luke said, "I already know the answer though. I'm sure of it."

"Let's keep it between us for now." said Lucinda.

Lucinda gave Luke a kiss and walked out the door. She got right on her cell phone and called Dusty. She explained what was going on and she wanted to know ASAP where that kidney came from.

-P-

Two hours later Dusty walked into the hospital looking for Lucinda. He found her talking with Lily and Holden in the visitor's area while Luke was getting some sleep.

"What's he doing here?" Holden asked as he pointed at Dusty.

"He's here for me." said Lucinda as she got up and walked out into the hallway with Dusty.

"Talk to me." Lucinda told Dusty in a low voice.

"Luke's right. It is Noah's kidney." said Dusty, "Noah was tested at Cedars-Sinai hospital in L.A. about four days ago and he was a match. He was flown to Oakdale on a private jet two days ago."

"Who paid for the flight?" replied Lucinda.

"This will shock you." promised Dusty, "Lily Walsh Snyder."

Lucinda was shocked. She turned around and looked at Lily who was looking at her.

"Damn it. Bob was right." said Lily.

"What?" asked Holden.

"I've been found out." replied Lily. Holden had a confused look on his face.

Lucinda and Dusty walked back into the room and sat down next to Lily.

"Honey, why didn't you tell us?" asked Lucinda.

"He didn't want anyone to know, Mother." relied Lily.

"What am I missing here?" asked Holden.

"Noah is Luke's donor." Lily admitted to Holden.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Holden asked abruptly.

"He didn't want anyone to know, especially Luke." replied Lily. She explained that Noah was tested in L.A. and was found to be a match. "He didn't want Luke to feel obligated. If they got back together, he wanted it to be because Luke loves him, not because Noah donated his kidney."

"Who was the second donor?" asked Holden.

"Dr. Reid Oliver." said Dusty.

"What?" gasped Lucinda.

"Why didn't he give Luke his kidney?" asked Holden a little pissed off.

"He was a match but not a real good one, plus he's a doctor who can spend hours in an operating room. One kidney could have made that difficult." said Lily, "He was willing to do it, if there was no other option."

"I suppose I can see that but Luke may not." said Lucinda.

"So what do we do now?" asked Holden.

"We go visit Noah." said Lily, "He's been expecting us." When she noticed everyone looking at her, she said "We figured Mother would find out." Everyone laughed.

They walked down the hall to the quarantine room.

On the way down the hall, Dusty said, "I'm pretty proud of you, Lily." Holden gave him a dirty look.

"You hid everything pretty well but you didn't think of the flight attendant. She sang like a bird." Dusty laughed, "I have a date with her later."

"Why am I not surprised." replied Lily with laughter. Everyone joined her.

-P-

Lily looked around before they all walked into Noah's room to make sure nobody saw them. They walked up to the bed.

"He looks so pale." said Lucinda.

"Noah's body will have to get use to only having one kidney." said Lily as she stroked his hair.

Noah woke up and with a tired giggle he said, "It took you four days. You are getting old Lucinda."

"Oh, my dear boy, I'll get you for that one." Lucinda said as she kissed his cheek.

"How's Luke?" Noah asked quickly.

"He's fine Noah." replied Holden, "How are you feeling?" Noah visibly relaxed.

"I'm fine sir." said Noah, "Just tired. It's expected in this type of surgery."

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Lucinda.

"I didn't want you to have to lie to Luke." said Noah, "But I needed to get here quickly, so I called Lily. Please don't be mad at her. I asked her not to tell anyone."

"I can't tell you how it makes me feel knowing that you did this for Luke and for us." said Holden with tears in his eyes.

"That's why I don't want him to know." said Noah, "If we are meant to get back together, I don't want him to feel obligated."

"He already knows." said Lily.

"How?" asked Noah.

"He says that he can feel a warmth, calmness and love that he hasn't felt before since waking up and he said that he can feel you." said Lily, "He never felt anything like this from his other kidney."

Noah started to cry. He couldn't believe that Luke could tell it was his kidney.

"He does know, Noah. He told me that was your kidney and he wanted me to find out for sure." said Lucinda, "By the way, darling, he only asked me about three hours to find out. So, I'm not as old as I look." everyone laughed.

-P-

Dr. Bob walked into the room and was surprised to find Holden, Lucinda and Dusty in Noah's room.

"So the net widens. You owe me dinner at The Lakeview, young man." laughed Bob. He turned around to the rest of the group and said, "I told Noah that Lucinda would find out within a week."

"Yes, you did." laughed Noah, "Did you see Luke? They say he knows."

"He just gave me the third degree when I was in his room just now." replied Dr. Bob.

"So he does know?" asked Noah.

"Yes, I think he does know. I'm not sure how, but I have heard of cases where people have these type of feelings before from donated organs but I have to say that I never really believed it before. He is positive it's your kidney." said Dr. Bob.

Noah thought for a moment and said, "I think we should tell him then."

"Are you sure?" asked Dr. Bob.

"You know Luke. As soon as he can get out of bed, he will search this entire hospital looking for me or he will be on a plane to L.A. looking for me and when he finds me, he will strip search me for scars." giggled Noah.

Everyone laughed. They all knew that Luke would do just that.

"Does he know about Reid?" asked Noah cautiously.

"No, he does not." said Dr. Bob, "That isn't something we should share with Luke or anyone else. It's confidential and up to Reid to tell Luke."

"When can I get up and go talk to him?" asked Noah.

"Probably not for another day or two." said Dr. Bob, "Luke may not wait that long."

"Noah, I think I should tell him." said Lily, "I'm the one who's been lying to him. I kept this from everyone."

"I'm the one who begged you to keep it from him. If he's going to be mad it should be with me." said Noah.

"He's not going to be mad at all." said Holden. "He's only going to hear that you were the donor and nothing else." Everyone pretty much agreed.

"I want to tell him everything, even the rehab." said Lily.

Noah agreed and Lily explained what she was going to tell Luke. Everyone in the room was shocked at what they heard.