Title- The Torture Continues
Characters- Luke, Reid's heart, Chris, Katie, Bob, Tom, Lily and Holden.
This is a sequel to Reid Slowly Tortures Chris and should be read as such. This was getting too long and so I have split it into two parts.
Rating PG 13 for language, angry Luke tends to drop the F-bomb with alarming regularity.
Setting: This is a future fic that starts on the one year anniversary of Reid's death.
Warning: If you are a fan of Chris this is probably not the fic for you. I am still bitter about how Luke was treated after Reid died, and Luke surprisingly feels the same way, therefore some characters will be treated with more hostility than they ever were on the show.
Disclaimer: These are not my characters.
All mistakes are mine.
Please let me know what you think.
As soon as he had rejected Chris, Luke turned on his heel and left the building. Luke held his head high but made sure that he avoided eye contact with everyone in the room. His only mission was to get as far away from Chris Hughes as he possibly could.
Luke made it all the way to his car before he heard his mother call his name. "Fuck" he muttered to himself. He was not up to having a conversation with his mother or anyone else, so he pretended not to hear Lily and unlocked the car and drove away. He knew that he would have to deal with this situation later but he just couldn't face it now.
As soon as Luke pulled out of the parking lot his phone began to ring. "Fuck" he called out in frustration "leave me the fuck alone" he yelled at his phone, as it continued to ring. As soon as the phone was silenced, Luke quickly picked it up and turned it off so that he could avoid all calls. He only hoped that no one would follow him to the farm.
Luke parked his car as close to the pond as he could. He desperately needed to talk to Reid and while he often felt Reid's presence with him, the feeling was so much stronger at the pond where Luke had scattered most of the other man's ashes. Right now he needed to feel as close to Reid as he possibly could.
"Hey Reid" Luke began speaking in a reasonably calm voice "well tonight was a total disaster. Can you guess why?"
Luke waited and heard Reid's deep voice reply in his head "did Chris Hughes manage to fuck things up?"
"Ding, ding ding! Chris Hughes completely ruined the night. I so wanted to say good-bye to you in a public way – a way that would honour you and treat your memory with the respect that it deserves. That wing is yours, Reid, in many ways it is the one tangible thing that I have left of you. I want people to always remember that this wing was your vision and holds all of your passion."
"Well, not all of my passion, Luke, not the most important part. That belongs to you" Luke could almost hear Reid whisper back to him.
"I know that Reid, but that is private, that will always be with me and I will cherish that always" Luke responded feeling his anger begin to dissipate.
Luke took in a deep breath and began telling Reid all of the sordid revelations that had come out at tonight's festivities. He could hear Reid laugh out loud when Luke repeated the news that Chris had called out Luke's name at a pivotal moment when Chris and Katie had been making love. Now that Luke was calmer, he could see the humour in the situation. He even felt a bit sorry for Katie that she had had to suffer such public humiliation. "Fuck Chris Hughes" he said loudly, some of his anger returning, "he just ruins everything. How can one person be so selfish? He didn't deserve your heart, Reid; I really wish that he hadn't gotten it."
Just then he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Luke jumped at the unexpected touch and turned around to see his parents, Lily and Holden standing next to him.
"What are you guys doing here?" Luke asked the anger clearly apparent in his voice.
"We were worried about you, Baby. We needed to make sure that you were okay," Lily responded.
Luke gaped at his parents, "how could I possibly be okay? Fucking Chris Hughes ruined the dedication of Reid's wing."
"Language Luke," Holden cautioned. "Just because you are upset does not give you the right to swear in front of your mother."
Luke just rolled his eyes at his parents. "You came to find me, I didn't invite you here. I just want to be alone with Reid."
"I understand, Baby, but you do know that Reid is gone. He's not really here with you. You know that right?" Lily asked the concern etched into her face.
"Of course, I know that, I'm grieving, I'm not delusional."
"It's been a year since Reid died, Luke you really need to move on. This isn't healthy for you to feel so much pain," Holden cautioned his son. "We heard what Chris said to you tonight, that he loves you, that he loves you the way that Reid loved you. Don't you think that you might want to explore that?"
"Are you fucking kidding me? Fucking Chris Hughes killed Reid and ruined my life. I don't want to have any type of relationship with him and to suggest that he could take Reid's place in my heart is truly disturbing to me. Get the hell out of here. Both of you, I just want to be alone with Reid."
"Geez Luke, watch your language. Please just think about what I have said. We love you, Luke, we just want you to be happy," Holden finished, clearly worried about Luke's behaviour.
"It's true, Luke. All we want is for you to be happy and whole. Please think about what your father has said.
"Please just go," Luke said wearily. Noting that his parents weren't leaving he added the lie "I promise that I will consider what you have said."
His parents both beamed at Luke convinced that they had gotten through to him at last.
"Bye Baby," Lily said and then hugged him. "I love you."
Holden then embraced his son and the three said their good-byes.
Meanwhile back at the neurology wing opening Bob was doing his best to keep the evening going. This was no small task, as Luke, the largest donor and tonight's key note speaker, had just walked off in a huff and Chris, the current chief of staff, was having a meltdown of epic proportions. Bob relied on his years of experience of hospital business and soldiered on. Bob gave a rather generic speech about the value of the Snyder-Oliver Pavilion. He spoke of the brilliance of Dr. Oliver who had been the designer of the state of the art wing. He then introduced the man, Dr. Blake Norman, who was the new head of the wing. Fortunately for Bob, he was the one scheduled speaker who was prepared and completely unaffected by the current drama affecting Luke and Chris.
Bob only listened to the very beginning of Dr. Norman's speech. As soon as he was convinced that the neurosurgeon was on track Bob tuned out the speaker. Bob took his time walking over to where his son was sitting with Kim. He was really displeased with the way that Chris had handled this situation, especially given the fact that Chris was the Chief of Staff at Memorial. For the first time since the appointment of Chris to this position, Bob wondered if perhaps Susan Stewart would have been the wiser choice.
Bob sighed deeply to himself as he approached his wife and son. "Christopher, what in the hell has gotten into you this evening? This behaviour is completely unbecoming of someone in your position."
"I'm sorry Dad, but it's not my fault" Chris whined.
"It seems that Chris is having complications from the heart transplant," Kim began, defending her son, as she always did. "Chris's heart or rather Reid's heart is still very much drawn to Luke, which has put undue pressure on our poor Christopher."
"Well Christopher, I can understand that this must be confusing for you, but tonight was not the right time to bring any of these issues up. You should have talked to Luke in a much more private setting. Now, I'm not saying that this is all your fault, Luke behaved appallingly as well. He should never have walked out of this event without giving his speech."
"Did you hear what Luke said to me? It's seems like he hates me. What am I going to do? I don't think that I can live without him. I don't feel complete unless he is in the room with me. Do you know what that's like?"
"Now dear, I'm sure that Luke doesn't hate you. You are a wonderful person; no one could possibly hate you. Luke was probably just overwhelmed by your outpouring of emotion. I'm sure that once he has a chance to process all that you said to him, he will be thrilled to be a part of your life. I only hope that he is worthy of you dear," Kim said kindly.
"Do you really think so, Mom?"
"Of course I do, now pull yourself together you still have some schmoozing to do."
Chris felt much better after talking to his parents. Surely his mom was right and that Luke was just surprised by his declaration of love. Feeling much better about things Chris was able to work the room and even managed to close the night with the speech he had prepared. His only regret was that Luke wasn't here to share the moment with him. He knew with certainty that Luke would have enjoyed the speech and been proud of him.
Luke had managed to avoid almost everyone he knew for about a month after the debacle at the opening for the neurological wing. He was happy that everyone was giving him a wide berth. Whether it was because they were embarrassed by the spectacle that Chris had made of the evening or that they just didn't know what to say to him anymore, he neither knew nor cared. He was just relieved to be left alone.
Even his parents were largely ignoring him and focusing on their own drama. Holden was still trying to work things out with Molly, and Lily was still trying to work things out with Holden. At this point, Luke was finding it hard to care who ended up with whom.
Sure he wanted his parents to be happy, he just couldn't work up the energy to try to help them be happy.
Luke was working mostly from home these days. With the neuro wing done he had less to do at the foundation. He was still approving grants but his heart wasn't in it the way it had been before Reid had died.
With less to do with the foundation, Luke found that he had more time on his hands than he was comfortable with. He decided that he would start writing again. Writing had always been one of his passions and right now he needed somewhere to focus all of his energy.
One day as he was busy writing in his journal, he was jolted by the sound of someone knocking on his front door. Curious to see who was at the front door, Luke ambled up to get it. He was shocked to see Katie standing in front of him.
"Hi, Katie, what brings you here?" Luke asked rather coldly.
"Hi Luke, I came to see you. I wanted to see how you were holding up."
"I'm fine, but I'm busy so if that is all I'd like to get back to my work."
"Uh…can I please come in? I wanted to talk to you. We used to be friends and I miss you and I miss Reid."
"Sure, come on in," Luke said not wanting to be too rude. "How have you been?"
"I'm alright. Chris and I broke up as I'm sure you know."
"I wasn't sure. I'm sorry if I had any role in your break-up."
"Are you and Chris together, now?"
Luke looked at Katie in astonishment, "Katie, Chris and I will never be together. I am not now, nor could I ever become attracted to him. Why do you ask?"
"Chris came to pick up his stuff from my place about a week ago now, and he indicated that he very much wanted a future with you."
"Well, he may want a future with me, but I certainly don't want one with him. I still blame him for Reid's death and I think that I probably always will."
"Oh Luke, you can't really believe that it was Chris's fault, can you? It was an accident, a tragic accident but it was no one's fault. Luke you can't allow yourself to be eaten up with hate. It's not good for you, and Reid wouldn't want you to live like this. You must know that."
"Katie, I am trying to get over my hate for Chris, but I certainly do blame him. Yes Reid was driving the car and made a stupid decision to outrun a train, but he wouldn't have been there in the first place if Chris had gotten the medical care that he needed when he first became ill."
"He did get care. He asked Reid to help him, if things got out of control. I can't help but think that Reid is the one at fault, not Chris."
"Are you kidding me? Katie, Reid helped Chris because he accidentally found out about Chris's condition and couldn't walk away. He begged Chris to get an MRI and to see a cardiologist, but Chris refused, forcing Reid to treat him "off the books". Do you know that Reid had to treat Chris at the Lakeview, because Chris didn't want to risk being seen at the hospital? Reid only admitted to me that he was treating Chris on the sly because I knew that he was lying to me and Reid wasn't willing to hurt our relationship because of stupid Chris."
"Why did Reid agree to treat Chris if it was such a burden?" Katie asked. She had been unaware of the lengths that Reid had gone to in order to treat Chris, someone she knew Reid didn't even like.
"He did it for you, Katie. He was worried that you wouldn't be able to handle Chris dying on you so soon after Brad. He pleaded with Chris to tell you and his parents, but Chris stubbornly refused."
"My God, Reid really did love me didn't he? I knew that he cared about me, but I would never expect him to go to such lengths to protect me. Wow. I'm so ashamed that I didn't appreciate him more. My God, I didn't even manage to go to his funeral. I'm so sorry Luke."
"No one came to the funeral," Luke said pointedly. "The only people there were my mom, dad, Noah and me."
"Oh Luke, I'm so sorry, no wonder you were so upset with me. I wanted to come, but I was busy looking after Chris."
"Yeah Katie I understand that, but it seemed to me that everyone who was busy tending to Chris could have at least taken a moment to acknowledge that Chris lived because Reid died."
"What can I do to help you now? Is it too late? I've missed having you in my life and I would really like to find away back to our friendship."
"Thanks Katie, I don't need any help right now, but I will let you know if that changes."
Katie recognized Luke's words as the dismissal that they were and so she took the hint and turned to leave, hoping that Luke would call her when he was ready.
It had been a month since Chris had seen Luke and declared his love. Chris was starting to go crazy, wondering why Luke hadn't gotten in touch with him. Chris had not tried to contact Luke yet because he was trying to give the younger man time to process his feelings toward Chris. The waiting was killing him. Chris was unable to sleep and eat and his job performance was suffering as a result. The other day he had prescribed too much medication for one of his younger patients. Fortunately a nurse had caught his mistake or the child might have died.
With this knowledge, Chris decided that it was time to talk to Luke to see when they could get together and start their new life. Once resolved with this course of action, Chris excitedly picked up the phone and called Luke.
Luke finally answered the ringing phone, which Chris took to be an encouraging sign.
"Hello" Luke answered.
"Hi Luke," Chris responded shyly. "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine Chris," Luke responded somewhat harshly. "What do you want?"
"Uh…I was hoping that we could get together for dinner, and uh… get to know each other a little better."
"I don't want to know you any better than I do. Good bye," Luke finished, and hung up hoping that Chris would leave him alone.
Chris was devastated by Luke's reaction. He sat at his desk at Memorial, just staring out into space wondering what his next move should be.
Tom walked into Chris's office as Chris was sitting there staring blankly into space.
"What's wrong, Chris? You look awful. Is there anything that I can do to help you?"
Chris just continued to stare as though he were in shock. Tom was about to call for help when Chris spoke, so quietly he was almost inaudible, "it's Luke," Chris managed to choke out.
"What about Luke? Is he sick? Is he in danger?" Tom asked, because when it came to Luke Snyder anything was possible.
"He hates me."
"What? Why would Luke hate you?" Tom was about to ask why he would care when Tom remembered that Chris had told the family that he was in love, deep soul crushing love, with Luke.
"I don't know why he hates me. I think that he might blame me for Reid's death, but I'm not sure why. I don't know what to do Tom. How can I live without him?"
"Wow, so you really are gay now aren't you? It seems that Reid gave you more than just his heart."
"I don't know if I'm gay or not, I only know that I am in love with Luke. He's my soul mate, of that I am sure."
"Do you want to have sex with him? If you do I would think that that was a pretty good indicator."
"I don't know. I've never really considered the logistics of having sex with Luke," but even as he thought about it his heart started hammering in his chest like crazy. He had never felt this way before, not with Katie or with anyone else.
"I think that I do want to have sex with him, at least my heart does."
"You mean Reid's heart wants to have sex with Luke?"
"Yes."
"Well, little brother, I'm sure that Luke will have sex with you. He's a guy and there aren't many gay men in Oakdale so I'm sure that you won't have a hard time convincing him. I'll talk to him for you if you would like me to."
"Do you really think that you could convince him to give me a chance?"
"Hey, I'm a lawyer. I get paid to persuade people to do things they have no desire to do. We both know that Luke wants to have sex; we just need to convince him that he wants to have sex with you. No problem."
"I don't just want to have sex with him, I want a relationship with him. I don't think that I can live without him, Tom."
"Alright, I can see that you have it bad for Luke, I will figure out a strategy and go and see him when I have it all figured out, okay?"
"Thanks Tom, you're the best."
A few days later Tom found himself knocking on Luke's door. He was really worried about his brother Chris and was sure that he could convince Luke to give Chris a chance. His brother was a great guy. Luke would be lucky to be a part of Chris's life. Tom just had to find the right words to convince the younger man. He had thought about how to approach Luke for the last few days and he decided that the personal touch was required, which was why he had decided to just show up.
Luke answered the door eventually when he realized that whoever was knocking at his door was not going to leave without an answer. To say Luke was shocked to see Tom standing there would be an understatement.
"Hi Luke, how are you?" Tom said as he pushed past Luke and entered the house.
"What the hell are you doing here, Tom?"
"Well, I've been concerned about you, we all have. We know that you have had a rough time since Reid….passed away. I wanted to see if there was any way that I could help you," Tom said trying his best to ingratiate himself with Luke.
"Reid has been dead for over a year Tom, why the sudden concern?"
"It's not sudden, Luke, please don't think that it is. I've just been busy and now seemed like a good time to come and check on you."
"You know what I'm wondering, Tom?" Luke asked, pausing dramatically for maximum impact. Tom was starting to think that this mission wasn't going to be as easy as he had planned. He didn't like the look that was on Luke's face. It looked almost like hate, but that was ridiculous, surely Luke had no reason to hate him.
"I'm wondering where all of this concern for my well being was when Reid died? Do you remember how you treated me right after Reid died? You pressured me into donating Reid's heart to Chris seconds after Reid died. Do you have any idea how that felt? You didn't show any compassion or any caring toward me then and I don't want any from you now."
"Wait Luke, you have to understand, Chris was going to die and Reid had offered his heart. I knew that the heart needed to be transplanted quickly in order for it to be viable. Reid was dead, but Chris still had a chance to live. You know in your heart that that's what Reid wanted."
"How dare you stand there, in my house, telling me what Reid wanted, when you didn't even know him, do you have any idea how insulting that is? You make me sick. Get the fuck out of my house," Luke yelled at Tom, grabbed his arm and began pushing him toward the door.
When Tom reached the door, he turned back and looked at Luke with pity in his eyes. "Luke, I really think that you should get some counselling to get over this misplaced anger."
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE AND DON'T EVER COME BACK!"
Tom shook his head softly and opened the door only to find Casey standing there with his mouth hanging open.
"Dude, what's going on here? Why are you yelling at my dad like that? That is so not cool."
"Casey what are you doing here? Why aren't you at home in Carbondale?" Luke asked.
"Son, I think that maybe we should just go home," Tom said at the same time.
"Dad we're staying until we sort this out. No one should speak to you that way and I know that Luke wouldn't unless he had a really good reason. Luke is my best friend and I want to sort this out." Casey said firmly ushering his father back into Luke's house with him. "Luke, it's reading week for me at college and I thought that I would take the time to come home and see you. I'm worried about you; we hardly ever speak any more. I want my friend back. Now what's going on?"
"Well I came over to check on Luke, The family has been quite concerned about him for a long time. He hasn't really been himself since Reid died and I wanted to see if there was anything that I could do to help," Tom stated reasonably, he thought it best not to bring Chris's name into things while Luke was so inexplicably upset.
Casey, knowing his father, felt there was something left out of the explanation. "So do you often come over to check on Luke? Have you two become friends?"
Luke snorted "No this is the first time I've seen him since the day he badgered me into donating Reid's heart for Chris," Luke answered bitterly.
"Luke, I don't think that you are being fair. I'm sure that my father treated you with the delicacy and respect that the situation warranted."
"You weren't there," Luke answered coldly. "There was no one looking after Reid, no one even tried to save him. I kissed him and a monitor went off and Bob and John just declared him dead and did nothing to try and save him. I begged them to help him, but they refused, declaring Reid's case hopeless."
"They didn't even try to save him? Not at all?" Casey asked feeling shocked.
"Reid had a DNR, it was all perfectly legal, Casey," Tom said defending his father and John.
"What did they say to you when you begged them to help Reid?"
"John and Bob just ignored me and turned off the machines that were keeping Reid alive, and then Tom started talking about Reid wanting to donate his heart to Chris. I kept saying no because I was distressed, but Tom kept pushing me until I finally agreed to sign the papers" Luke said tears streaming down his face as he remembered that terrible day.
"Is that true, Dad? Did you talk about organ donation right after Reid died?" Casey asked clearly shocked by his father's behaviour.
"Reid had said that he wanted to donate his heart to Chris and Chris was close to death. I couldn't afford to be considerate of Luke's feelings, because I had to do everything to save Chris. He's my brother, don't you get that?"
"Dad, Reid was Luke's soul mate; my God I can't believe that you would treat another human being so callously, not to mention Luke who you have known for most of his life. Luke I am so sorry, I had no idea. I remember you complaining about how you were being treated that day, but I honestly thought that you were over reacting, but I see now that you weren't," Casey said and walked over to give Luke a hug. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't there for you. God, I didn't even make it to Reid's funeral. I wanted to go, but the whole family was tied up with Chris's recovery. Wow, that was really lame, no wonder you haven't been speaking to me."
"It's okay Casey, I know that Chris is your uncle, it just really bothered me that none of the Hughes family showed up to pay their respects for Reid. They treated him like he was disposable and he really, really wasn't."
"Well we all know that Reid was a hero, and we all really respected him, Luke. I told everyone how great he was while Chris was getting his heart, and I meant it." Tom explained, like that would make everything all right.
"Reid wasn't a fucking hero, he made a stupid mistake, trying to outrun a train. That's not heroic, that was moronic. The worst part is that it was all so unnecessary. Chris didn't even deserve a new heart, let alone Reid's heart."
"What do you mean, Luke? He would have died without a transplant. Surely you don't wish him dead."
"I wouldn't have really cared if Chris had died. He caused this whole situation. He refused to get help when he first realized that he was ill. He forced Reid to treat him and cover for him. Reid helped Chris because he was a great doctor, and because of his love for Katie, not for stupid Chris."
"That can't be true, it just can't be. I mean Chris is a doctor, he would have known that he needed to get help," Casey said feeling like he had been punched in the stomach.
"Well some of that is true. Chris didn't seek medical attention as early as he could have, but that was because he was worried about losing out on the chief of staff job to Reid. He didn't feel that he could appear weak," Tom explained patiently to Casey.
"So he thought that he stood a better chance of getting the job if he died? What about his family, didn't he care that what he was doing would have devastated us? What a moron."
"Chris is a good man, Casey. Yes he made some unwise choices, but in his defence he didn't want to worry us unnecessarily."
"It wasn't unnecessarily though was it? Did you know he had sex with Katie which could have easily killed him? How do you think Katie would have felt if he died like that?" Luke asked accusingly. "Now that he has Reid's heart he has decided that he is in love with me. He humiliated Katie at the dedication ceremony and he defiled Reid's memory. Do you know that he had the gall to call me up and ask me out? He is the most selfish person on the planet."
Casey looked at his father and suddenly knew why Tom was here. "Oh my God, you came to plead Chris's case with Luke, didn't you?"
Tom at least had the good sense to look sheepish, "yes I did. Look Luke, Chris is a good man and he is really suffering. He feels connected to you in a way that he has never felt connected to anyone else. I think that if you let yourself you and Chris could have a really good life together. He would absolutely be devoted to you. I have never seen him like this before. He says that he only feels whole when he is near you. He knows that this is difficult for you and he has tried to give you space. I think that it would be best for everyone if you just gave him a chance. He's even willing to have sex with you," Tom finished triumphantly, sure that this would seal the deal for Luke.
"GET THE FUCK OUT OF LUKE'S HOUSE AND DON'T COME BACK. JESUS CHRIST DAD HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKING MIND? GET THE FUCK OUT!"
Tom just gaped at his son, but he did as he was told and quickly left Luke's house. He would have to deal with Casey later. Really why was Casey so upset, he wondered to himself.
When Tom was securely out the door Casey immediately turned to Luke, "are you okay? Oh my God, I had no idea that my family was so awful to you. Has it been like this since Reid died?"
"No, I have pretty much managed to avoid everyone. I wanted to be alone to process my grief and no one wanted to deal with me while I was grieving. Everyone just wanted me to be fine, and I'm not," Luke replied with a shrug.
"Luke, you don't need to go through this alone. Tell me how I can help you, man."
Luke smiled at Casey. "Thanks, telling your dad off really helped, thanks for backing me up. I'm sure that wasn't easy for you."
"Are you kidding me? He was a acting like a fucking jerk. I can't believe he treated you so badly. Why would you ever want to be with Chris?"
"Thanks Casey, it's good to have you back," Luke said with the biggest smile that had appeared on his face since Reid had died.
"Now, how are we going to convince Chris to leave you the hell alone?"
"You don't think that he will just take the hint and give up?"
"Chris? No way, man he's way to arrogant and selfish. If he has decided that he wants you then he won't stop until he gets you. I'm sorta surprised that Granddad hasn't been by for a little talk."
"Oh my God, I don't think that I could handle Bob coming by and trying to convince me to give Chris a go."
"I know right, that's why we need a plan to put an end to his ridiculous fantasy."
"Maybe we should ask Katie if she has any ideas, after all she lived with the guy, he publically humiliated her, so I think that she would be willing to help us."
"Great idea, I'll call her now."
TBC