CHAPTER TEN – THE EXAM (PG-13 VERSION)

Sorry it is has been over two weeks since I last updated. I had a bad case of writer's block. I think that this chapter will be worth your wait.

This chapter also see the the introduction of an original character that I own, Alexander Thorne.

This is the PG- 13 version of Chapter 10. This version has parts of the sex scene cut. If you would like the read the sex scene in it's entirety just click on the previous button for the NC-17 version.

Luke opened his eyes and immediately wished that he had not. His head was throbbing and he could feel every beat of his heart as a shooting pain. It was too similar to how he felt when he woke from the coma. Unfortunately this time he didn't think that he would be told that what he was remembering wasn't true.

"We have to stop meeting like this. My reputation is in shreds because my boyfriend prefers sleeping in a hospital bed to sleeping in mine." Reid was sitting in the chair next to Luke bed wearing a pair of blue scrubs. Reid never liked leaving Luke alone in the hospital, so it did not surprise Luke that it looked like Reid stayed the night in Luke's room. Reid must have a dozen pairs of scrubs in his office so that he can change on the occasions when he doesn't make it home.

"God Reid, don't make me laugh. It hurts too much." Luke smiled at the man he loved.

"That could be side effect from the morphine that I gave you. I would say that your pain level last night was at a 10 since you were nonresponsive to anything going on in the room around you. Noah thinks that you were remembering and I think that you were trapped by the memory and were reliving it."

"So it's true then."

"Tell me what you remember, and I'll let you know." Reid reached out and took hold of Luke's hand.

"That Noah was beat up by that Lucas guy in Chicago because Noah did not want to sleep with him." Luke's voice was barely greater then a whisper.

"Yes, Luke. I wish that it wasn't, but it's true." Luke felt like he had been run over by a bus.

"No wonder you didn't want me to tell me. It's my fault that he was hurt and I wasn't there to help him. How can you even want to be with someone who doesn't even notice that something was wrong with Noah?" Luke's voice started to get louder as he got more upset.

"Luke, you're not to blame. You did not do it." Reid tried to reassure Luke.

"But I did Reid. Noah couldn't stand to watch me being happy because I was with you. I could have insisted that we keep on relationship quiet to spare him that pain. But no. I was selfish. I wanted everyone to know that we were together. Sure I heard all the talk about how I dumped the blind guy for his hot doctor. But I didn't care how that might make Noah feel. For the first time in a long time I was only thinking about myself and looked what happened. Noah could have died in Chicago and I wouldn't have even known." By the time Luke was finished, there were tears in his eyes.

"Luke, don't beat yourself up. It wasn't your fault. As strange as it might seem, that incident has helped me more then you can know." Noah said from the doorway.

"I thought I asked you to wait in hall." Reid snapped at Noah.

"I could hear Luke out there and couldn't let him continue to blame himself for something that wasn't his fault. You know how he can get." Noah fired back. He was not going to let Reid Oliver intimidate him.

"Of course I do. I also know that he has to get it all out of his system before he will be able to calm back down. Didn't you ever learn that during your 3 years together?" Reid wanted Noah out of the room. His presence right now was only going to upset Luke even more.

"Don't I have any say as to how I feel?" Luke inserted himself into the conversation.

"No!" Noah and Reid said together.

"At last, something the two of you can agree on. But before you two continue talking about me like I am not even in the room, can I at least get something for this headache?"

"I'll need to write an order for it. I'll just tell Allison what to bring to you. Noah, you need to come with me."

"Reid, let him stay. I want to talk to him."

"First we get your headache under control, then you can talk to Noah. Besides I need to finish examining you and Noah doesn't need to be here for that." After Reid winked at him, Luke blushed in memory of one of those times when Reid had "examined" him.

Reid kissed him and gave him one of his playful slaps on his cheek as he started to pull away. Before he could get very far, Luke whispered "Don't be long. Dr. Oliver, I have something that needs your complete attention." Luke dropped his eyes and Reid's eyes automatically followed Luke's until he noticed the bulge in Luke's hospital gown.

"You don't play fair, Mr. Snyder."

"Why Dr. Oliver, are you sure you don't want to play with my toys? It's not the Grimaldi jet this time, but you might get the feeling like you're flying." Luke flirted with Reid. They both forgot that Noah had been in the room until they heard the door shut.

"Oh, god. I can't believe I said that to you while Noah was in the room. What must he be thinking?" Luke was turning a remarkable shade of red. It was one color that Reid enjoyed seeing on Luke and he did his best to put that color on Luke whenever he had the opportunity.

"Trust me Luke. He's fine. But I don't want to talk about him. You just offered yourself up to an examination and it might be the perfect cure for the headache of yours."

Reid's mouth claimed Luke's. With one hand Reid held onto the back of Luke's head, and with the other, he moved aside the hospital gown that was between him and the only part of Luke's body that should be throbbing.

"You are a patient in my hospital, Mr. Snyder and I don't plan on rushing your exam. I am going to take my time with you."

Reid captured Luke's mouth and kissed him long and hard. He untied the hospital gown and removed it completely from Luke's body. He stopped kissing Luke long enough to push the Nurse call button and tell Allison Stewart that he was taking the heart monitor off of Luke so that he could take a shower. Allison tried to cover her laugh with a cough. Luke blushed with the knowledge that everyone in the hospital would think that he needed help taking a shower. However it didn't take long before all thoughts of anyone or anything else were driven from his mind and replaced only by thoughts of what Reid was doing.


A half hour later, Luke was catching his breath and coming down from the high he always felt when he made love with Reid. He cherished these moments when they just held each other.

"I guess I should go take that shower you told Allison I was going to take." Luke stood up and headed into the bath room. He turned on the shower, but before stepping in he said "You should get cleaned up too. Too bad this shower isn't big enough for two."

"Just give me a wash cloth for now. Later, I can use the shower in my office. It has all of my shower things. You know how I am with …"

"what goes on your body." Luke finished Reid sentence. "I know all about how you hate change and have to have the same routine everyday, which includes your shower rituals." Luke teased. Other people might find Reid being ocd about certain things hard to handle, but Luke thought they were cute and he loved those things about Reid. And some of the faces Reid made about them were priceless. Those were just some of the little things that made Reid who he was.


Minutes earlier, Noah was wondering just how much longer Luke and Reid were going to be.

"Hey, dude. What are you doing outside of Luke's room?" Casey asked Noah.

"Giving the two lovebirds some privacy. I don't think they want an audience, even though earlier they did seem to forget I was in the room."

"You can't mean what I think you mean."

"That depends on what you are thinking. But knowing what is always on your mind, then yes, that is what is going on."

"No, you can't mean that they are having sex in a hospital room where anyone can walk in on them?" Casey thought that Noah was pulling his leg. Luke just wasn't the type of person that liked semi-public sex. He reached to open the door when Noah grabbed his arm.

"You might not want to do that."

"Hey, I'll just open the door a little and peak in. They are probably just talking." Casey being Casey, did not listen to Noah. He quietly opened the door and stuck his head inside. He saw Luke and Reid in what looked liked the aftermath of sex. He just as quietly closed the door. The look on Casey's face told Noah that he had been right to leave when he did.

"Luke's changed since he started dating Reid, hasn't he?"

"Yeah, dude. He has. Are you alright with all of this?" Casey wasn't sure what he would do if Noah's answer was in the negative. Luke was his best friend and he had never seen him happier than he had been since Reid came into his life. But Noah was still a friend.

"Of course. It has been over 9 months since we broke up. I am happy for Luke. Really. Sure I would have preferred that he had moved on with someone other than Reid Oliver, but it's not like Luke planned on falling for the doctor that he brought here to restore my eyesight. It just happened."

"Well if it isn't Noah Mayer. How have you been? Haven't heard anything from you since that big move to LA. I was beginning to think that you thought we were too small of a town for you." Alexander Thorne, Luke's assistant walked up and gave Noah a hug. He nodded to Casey in greeting.

"How's everything at The Foundation?" Noah asked.

"I've been busy, especially since Luke hasn't worked since the accident. I usually stop by to see him every couple of days and bring any papers that needs his signature. What happening now is that there is this group in Dallas that wants some help funding a camp for kids that are HIV positive. It would give them a week of fun in a safe environment. I just need Luke's approval to move forward with setting up a fundraiser in Dallas. Maybe the Doc would even be able to take a few days off and show him around where he used to live."

"That sounds like a great idea. I'm sure that Luke will love it." Casey joined in on the conversation. He gave Alex a pat on the back.

"Casey's right. Luke will love it. So did you go seeking this group out, or did they come to you?" Noah asked.

"They came to us. It seems that they saw a documentary that mentioned us and about how much we love to help kids. One of the members of this group actually works at the hospital where the Doc used to work. Strange coincidence don't you think? Even if they hadn't met because of your blindness, they might have met because of this." Alex rambled on.

"Why is everyone hanging outside of Luke's room? He should be done with his shower by now. Dr. Oliver called the nurses' station a half hour ago." Allison joined the group of men before reaching for the door. "I need to get Luke's vitals and hook him back up to the heart monitor."

"That might not be a good idea right now. Reid is still in there with Luke and they want to be alone." Casey said.


As Reid was preparing to head out the door, Luke asked from the shower "Do you think there is any chance that everyone doesn't know what the COS was doing in his patient's room just now?"

Reid opened the door to see Noah, Casey, Alex and Allison watching the door. "Not a chance in hell. You have company and I have rounds." Reid was laughing as he left Luke's room. He imagined that by now Luke was turning that adorable shade of red that Reid loved. Luke always got embarrassed when he thought other people knew any details about his sex life. He was going to have one hell of a visit with Noah, Casey and Alex. Too bad he was going to miss it.

"You might want to wait until Luke is at least done with his shower and is back in bed before visiting" Reid said to all of Luke's speechless visitors.