A/N It's building up now! I'm really enjoying this now I've got a plot established, before I was worried that it didn't string together as well as I would have liked. I hope you enjoy reading this. It's one of the longer chapters, I think As always, feedback = 3
Chapter 18
Luke was struggling. Katie had noticed that his English grades had dropped significantly which was especially odd for such a capable student. She knew why he was so distracted in class and wished she could do something. She had tried finding out what had happened from Reid but he wouldn't give her any clues. She had considered going to talk to Luke about the situation but she didn't really want to bring up what had happened six months ago. Reid was gone for good and she and Luke just couldn't accept that.
She missed Reid. She missed tidying up after his extravagant sandwiches and waking up to his 3am yoga chanting. She missed their gossip sessions and drinking wine with him to loosen his lips. He had never given her any details about his relationship with Luke but it seemed to have left the younger man crushed. She was still surprised Reid hadn't been fired or imprisoned considering the situation. It seemed that it was only her who had known about them but she wondered if anyone else had found them. She needed to talk to Luke whether it hurt them both or not.
-
Reid was exhausted. He'd been on hold with the Medical Board phone line for hours now. He was slumped over Martin's desk with his outstretched arm holding the phone, which was softly humming the same jazzy tone that had worked its way into his brain. Martin was sitting on the sofa on the opposite wall. He was flicking through all of the papers the last case had filed and was confused by some of the claimant's assumptions.
'Reid?' Martin called from the other side of the room. Reid jerked awake and wiped his mouth surreptitiously.
'What?'
'They assumed you didn't treat this girl, Annie, correctly even though we have the data to prove that you gave her an extra year of life and there were no complications on the initial surgery? They can't sue for malpractice if the initial surgery and aftercare was as impeccable as hers was. Well, you can't sue and win! What kind of corrupt pricks are we working against?'
'Exactly. Mr Judd was very well acquainted with the board. He knew three of the members through his golf club and another is the ex-husband of Mrs Judd. You may think that could work for us but apparently they split on 'amiable terms'. They packed the court room with their friends and waited for me to lose my license.'
'Like Stalin?'
'Perhaps with slightly less sinister intents than Stalin, but yes.'
'Jesus. So we need to get board members who aren't corrupt and try and work out which of the board members are too acquainted with the claimants to have any muscle over the verdict.'
Martin nodded and looked back at the sheet of paper in front of him.
'I'll start making calls to the head of the AMA tomorrow to see what they think.'
Reid nodded and tried to smile in support. This was a lot of work but he needed to get back in the operating room. He hung up the phone after the music began to give him a migraine. As he made his way hope his went through his daily routine of thinking about Luke. He only allowed himself a few seconds to think about Luke before it hurt too badly. Every night he wondered what Luke was doing; whether he was sad or happy, whether his grades had dropped or improved without the distraction. He thumbed over the screen as he viewed Luke's number; the bright light in contrast to the darkness surrounding Reid at 4am. He cautiously pressed the deleted button next to Luke's contact icon and confirmed it. He had finally destroyed his last evidence of Luke.
-
Katie was Luke's next lesson and he smiled. She had been supportive the past six months. He knew that she didn't know why Reid had left and he certainly wasn't going to tell her. It was far too embarrassing. It was bad enough explaining it to his grandmother, with whom he's never been shy. Katie was Reid's best friend and only she knew where he was. Luke didn't know where Reid had gone. All he knew was that Reid wasn't in Illinois any longer and he wasn't coming back.
Katie still spoke to Reid via email or hurried phone calls. Reid was evasive from her questions and he rarely asked about anything expect Jacob. Katie knew what he wanted to ask but she wasn't going to give in and tell him how bad Luke was. It would only hurt Reid more and she thought he was getting over it a little bit.
Katie watched as Luke entered the classroom with the same haunted expression he'd had on for months.
'What in god's name happened to you two?' Katie thought.
'Luke, could I talk to you after class please?' She asked at the beginning of the lesson. The rest of the pupils made noises and Luke blushed. Katie smiled.
'You're not in trouble. Don't worry.' The noises stopped and Katie begun the lesson.
-
Casey Hughes was a smart guy and he knew it. He wasn't as smart as Luke but he was easily in the top five smartest pupils in the school. An aspiring lawyer he had started looking for work experience or courses for the summer. Everyone else he knew was going to parties the entire summer but he wanted to do something that he could be proud of, that he could tell employers about and perhaps let him stand out
against the crowd of other law students.
One law firm had caught his eye. It was run by Martin Watts and was based in Dallas. A long way to travel but it was, apparently, worth it. Martin was an incredible lawyer; Casey had been watching his work for a while now and knew that this guy was the person he wanted to learn under. His father, Tom, agreed and got on the phone immediately.
Casey was ecstatic but then he remembered how he had promised Luke that they would go on a trip together to cheer Luke up about his parents or whatever that had made Luke act so differently. Luke and he had planned out their trip already but if he was going to do this internship then he wouldn't be able to go on that trip.
And then the idea struck him. Why couldn't he take Luke with him? They could make a trip out of it and could hang out while Casey was learning. Maybe Luke could even come into the office and learn something. Casey was so excited now. This trip was getting better and better. He ran off to find Luke straight away.
-
'Katie, what's the problem?' Luke asked the end of his lesson.
'We both share the problem, Luke. It's Reid.' Katie came and sat next to Luke on one of the wooden chairs in her office, an echo of a movement Reid used to make which made Luke wince.
'What's happened to him?' Luke said, stricken.
'I don't know. You tell me: why did he leave so quickly.' Luke looked away and refused to meet her eyes. 'Luke, what happened six months ago?'
Luke was shaking. He had bottled all of this up months ago and Katie was smashing the glass and making him open his heart all over again. Five months ago he had decided that he wouldn't think of Reid ever again. He threw away anything that reminded him of Reid and he avoided places where he held memories.
'I can't tell you. I just can't.' Luke whispered.
'Whatever happened it obviously hurt the both of you...'
'The both of us? No. No, Reid was not hurt when I saw him for he last time.' He said bitterly.
'What? He was distraught the night before he left. He was running around packing and looked on the verge of tears the entire time!'
'We must be talking about different men. The last time I saw Reid, he broke up with me saying he was only using me for sex and he grew bored of me. Why would he be hurt? He was always bluntly honest; I don't know why I didn't expect it from the start.'
'What? He said what?' Katie asked, her mouth open in surprise.
'He said he only wanted to fuck me and he never loved me. He played me, Katie!'
'But he does love you. He does! I lived with him; I saw his dopey face whenever you were around. I saw the turmoil he was going through so he could be with you. He was looking for other jobs so you could be together properly once you actually became eighteen, again!'
'He was looking for other jobs? Why would he do...? It doesn't matter anyway. He never loved me and we are still talking about him as if he ever even cared.'
'Luke we need to find out what's going on because I know for certain that Reid was so deeply in love with you he couldn't even imagine a life without you.'
'And yet here we are.' Luke said looking at the floor. Katie wrapped an arm around his shoulder. 'I love him so much. No matter what he did that day. I can't stop, I've tried everything and he's still stuck in my head.'
'We're going to find out what happened that day, Luke. I promise.'
-
Luke left Katie's office feeling as though a weight had been lifted. Not a large weight, but a necessary one. He wanted answers about that day and having someone like Katie who knew Reid well enough to realise that he was in love with Luke would be invaluable.
'Luke!' A voice called out from behind him down the corridor.
'Casey? What's up?' Luke smiled.
'Hey! Luke, you look actually happy. What happened?'
'I just needed to talk to someone and I think we're going to work together to find out what happened.'
'What happened?'
'Erm... With my parents, you know?' Luke lied.
'Oh right. Yeah, that's tough,' Casey scratched the back of his neck and paused, 'Hey! Listen! I got into that lawyer internship thing in Dallas!'
'Oh my god, Casey! That's incredible! I'm so happy for you.' Luke shouted and he hugged Casey. Casey was surprised but he was glad to have his friend back so he didn't say anything.
'I want you to come with me.'
'What? Why, Case?'
'Because we had that road trip planned and we can still have fun when I'm not working. You need to get out of Oakdale, my friend!'
'Are you sure I wouldn't distract you, Case? I know how important this is to you.'
'You won't. I promise. Schools out on Friday and we can leave that evening.'
Luke paused and thought it through. He really did need to get out of Oakdale and his memories of Reid. He looked to his right and saw a closet in the hallway where he and Reid had made out for an entire lunch break without Reid complaining about food once. Luke remembered laughing down the corridor as he watched Reid run to get a sandwich just after the bell had rung. Luke turned back and faced Casey.
'Okay.'