Mostly a Noah chapter!

For what I planned this chapter would have been a lot, a lot longer. I decided to cut it half.

Part two will be up tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Chapter Twenty-Two

Luke's World

Noah hung up after talking to Lily. She answered in a sleepy voice and Noah did not want to tell her. How tell a woman that her son was doing better and then suddenly took a turn? How do you tell her that you've standing outside the room for twenty minutes and you have no idea what is going on? Noah didn't know what to say. He managed to say something that Luke was taking a turn and she needed to be here. Lily shouted to Holden and Damian and Noah heard the phone disconnect.

He slipped it back into his pocket and he heard the door open. The doctor was giving direction to a few more nurses when Noah grabbed his arm.

"What's wrong with him?" he could feel his voice was shaky, but he hoped the doctor didn't notice.

"He's not taking to the medicine like I had hoped. He responded at first, but now…,"

"He's not going to die is he?" Noah voice was dry and barely audible. He was fighting so hard to keep the tears from coming. Not in front of the doctor. Not in front of the doctor.

"We are doing everything that we can. I am not giving up hope yet, and you shouldn't either. He's fighting right now and we have to keep him from giving up," he patted Noah on the shoulder. "I am going to run a few more tests and we can make our decision from there. We have him sedated at the moment. He needs to rest. You can in and see him. Talk to him, make sure he knows you're here,"

Noah nodded and the doctor went down the hall. He slipped into Luke's room and sat down next to him. He looked the same, but to Noah he looked even more precious. He was everything Noah had ever wanted in his entire life and tried to push him away. He thought Luke would always be there, but then he wasn't and Noah had to do it all himself. Maybe Luke's leaving was a blessing. Noah had to find out who he was without the one person who helped him become the man he was. Noah knew that the accident had changed him and he was forced to discover what he wanted alone.

But since getting the phone call from Lily and sitting here with him. He knew what he wanted.

Luke.

It was that simple. He wanted Luke and anything else was secondary. He just had to figure out what he had to do to get him back.

"Luke. The doctor said that you can hear me. I just want you to know that I love you. I have loved you my whole life, but it took me twenty years to meet you. I am who I am because of you and I would not have it any other way. I know that I have screwed up when it comes to you, too many times. I took you for granted. I hurt you so many times, but you never held it against me. God knows you should have. I don't deserve you. I don't think I ever did, but you loved me anyway. When you wake up I promise you that I will make it up to you. Somehow,"

Noah heard the door open and Lily peeked her head in. Noah brushed the tears, which started to flow as soon as he entered the room, away.

"Can I come in?" She whispered.

"Yeah," Noah quickly stood up and wiped his nose on the back of his hand.

"The doctor talked to us already. The nurses are outside waiting to take him for some tests. I just wanted to talk to him for a minute before then,"

"Yeah, I'll get out of the way,"

"Noah," Lily said and grabbed his hand to be sure she had his attention. "He loves you too," she said and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Noah sniffle back his tears and left them alone.

The nurses were standing behind the desk waiting for Lily to leave the room. Holden and Damian were standing just down the hall. They seemed to be chatting about something; at least they appeared to be getting along. One less thing that Lily had to worry about the better. She came out of the room and Luke's fathers met her in the hall. The nurses went in and wheeled Luke away for a series of tests.

As Noah watched the bed holding Luke roll down the hall, he felt like all the air was leaving his body. Actually it was more than that. He felt the hall spin and his legs get a bit weak. Holden jumped and steadied Noah before he collapsed all together.

"Noah? Are you all right?" Holden asked as he helped him lean against the wall.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry," he said as he closed his eyes to keep the room from spinning too much.

"You don't have to apologize. When did you eat last?" Damian inquired.

"Ah, yesterday morning,"

"Here," Lily handed Noah a bundle of keys on one key ring. "Take Luke's keys and run to his apartment,"

"No, I want to stay here,"

"The tests are going to take a few hours and I know he'll want some clean clothes and things from his place," Noah was about to protest again, but the look Lily was giving him told him not to.

"Ok. But you'll call me if you hear anything,"

"First call I'll make. Go and get some air," Lily gave him a hug and almost shoved Noah down the hall. He looked back once before he walked to the elevator. As Noah rode down the three stories to the lobby he played with Luke's keys. It felt good to have something of Luke's with him. A connection of sorts.

Noah arrived at Luke's building and walked up to the front door. He looked at the keys and knew exactly which keys were for the apartment. He still had the key ring that his sisters made him when they went to camp. Sure it was beat up, it wasn't as pink as it was when he got, and had seen better days, it still was there.

He was glad that he had the cab stop at the hotel first. When he entered and looked at the room, he remembered exactly what he was doing when Lily called him. His bag was half packed and some of his clothes were on the floor. He literally dropped everything to get to the hospital to get to Luke. He packed his things before he made his way to Luke's place.

Noah opened Luke's door and slowly went inside. His breath caught in his chest and he bit back tears. The place was exactly the way Luke had left it. It was that thought that stabbed into his heart. Luke's life was paused at the moment he left apartment yesterday.

His laptop was open and sitting on the kitchen's aisle. Dirty breakfast dishes were in the sink. Along with dinner and lunch from the previous day. Luke always did hate doing dishes. There were dirty socks and a discarded sweatshirt on the sofa. Noah dropped his bag and picked up the sweatshirt. It was his OU sweatshirt that his used to sleep in when it was really cold in their apartment. Noah put the clothing to his nose and breathed in. The shirt smelled like Luke. The vanilla in his shampoo and the fresh scent of his aftershave and bit that was just Luke. It smelled like home to him.

He folded the sweatshirt and walked down the hallway. He found the bathroom and an empty bedroom. At the end of the hall was Luke's bedroom. The first thing he saw was a movie poster. He had his own copy of The Best Years of Our Lives on his wall. Noah had to swallow hard to keep himself in check. He put the sweatshirt on the dresser and turned back to look at the room. The bed was not made on the right side which was Luke's side. The left side was made and Noah could see something sticking out from under the comforter. He walked up to the bed and pulled on the bit of green. Noah let out a laugh. It was one of Noah's Java t-shirts with a pillow tucked in it. Luke had one of his shirts in his bed at all times. Noah knew what he would do with one of Luke's shirts. Noah would want to have Luke's smell with him while he slept. He could almost picture Luke curling up in bed with this pillow next to him. Noah tucked the pillow back under the comforter and went back into the living room.

He had a few things he needed to do first. He checked his cell. No messages from Lily yet. This was going to be a long day, he just had that feeling.

The bit with the t-shirt just came to me.

God Knows I want one of Noah's shirts!

Noah does a bit of snooping and has a Scott comes over.

Let me know what you think!!!!

Stay Tuned!