discovery // calum hood & luke hemmings a.u

23

A few weeks went by and Luke spent that time just waiting for some news in regards to the Mayor.

The waiting around was basically eating him alive.

Then one day he received a letter in the mail from the American Heart Association in which they declared him an ambassador inviting him and Sabrina to a special conference down at the community center at the end of that very week.

Apparently when you save the Mayor's life it gives you a lot of perks.

At first, Luke was a bit skeptical thinking it was one of those mail scams until Sabrina discovered the letter in the trash, and started freaking out over the news.

On the day of the event, Luke picked out an elegant white suit, he bought it awhile ago because he really liked the style of it but there was never an occasion where he was able to wear it so it just stayed in the back of the closet collecting dust. He loved the way it fit immediately, it fit all the right places and was extremely comfortable and soft to the touch.

He stood in front of the bedroom mirror fixing the collar and adjusting the tank top he was wearing underneath the blazer, some days were just not good days confidence wise so he tried to bury the scar on his chest under layers of clothes. He even threw on a couple of necklaces, he was sometimes afraid of people seeing the scar first and he hated how people gawked at it. There was times where he felt self conscious about how it looked and just wished it would disappear. Other times it didn't bother him and he would just embrace it.

Sabrina was in the bathroom buttoning up her suit. She went with a lavender color two piece suit. Purple was one of her favorite colors and she loved the contrast between her outfit and Luke's.

When she was done quickly fixing her hair she stepped out of the bathroom and Luke stepped out of the bedroom and the two of them were face to face in the hallway checking each other out. Everything looked perfect and there was nothing Sabrina wanted to change about any of it.

They arrived at the event which was taking place in the auditorium of the local community college, Luke was immediately greeted by a bunch of important people including the local press.

Luke shook their hands and thanked them immensely for the invite. He looked out to see a crowd of people standing and sitting in front of him.

The CEO gave a quick speech introducing Luke, and Luke walked up to the podium as everyone clapped and Sabrina stood a couple of feet away cheering for her boyfriend.

"Thank you, thank you. Wow, it's great to be here. I want to quickly thank the American Heart Association for recognizing me and naming me an ambassador of this truly amazing company . Without this organization millions of people including myself would not be here living life. So really thank you for this incredible opportunity." Luke paused looking out at everybody taking everything in.

"Heart health is extremely vital and important for everyone. It's important to pay attention to your health and take care of yourself and prevent future problems from occurring." Luke paused again watching as the press took photos of him and he smirked slightly hearing Sabrina cheering for him.

"Take it from me, I'm currently twenty nine years old and am currently two years post heart transplant surgery. I'm forever grateful that I got another chance at life thanks to someone who was willing to make that tough decision and donate their heart, their life to another person. I just feel so blessed every single day." Luke looked out to the crowd again this time realizing that standing all the way in the back leaning against the wall, is Calum. He was clapping and cheering and Luke shrugged it off.

"Why was Calum here? How did he know about this?"So many questions popped into his head, once again Calum had to intrude on Luke's business.

Luke took a couple of second to take off the two necklaces he was wearing, adjusting his shirt.

He briefly pointed to the scar on his chest before beginning to talk again.

"You see this very scar on my chest? My girlfriend, Sabrina tells me it's a symbol of strength, for a while I had a hard time coming to terms with how much my body changed since having the lifesaving operation but now I know without it life would be so much different. If you're like me and have a scar like this or something similar I need you to know one thing. Embrace it. It may make you look different from the rest of the crowd but it makes you unique, it makes you stand out it shows the world you're a fighter. When people see it on me I want them to know I'm a fighter, that I never gave up." Sabrina was so proud hearing these words come from Luke, seeing him finally love himself and have all this confidence gave her the happiest feeling.

Calum was proud too, clapping and whistling, just seeing Luke up there pouring his heart out and meaning every word he said made him realize that Luke was always the same person he never changed. He was the same grateful young man he took under his wing all those years ago.

"I'm going to throw it back for a moment, picture this around five years ago maybe longer than that, I started to experience symptoms I never experienced before. I became easily fatigued, became out of breath quickly doing the simplest things, experienced heart palpitations and weird tingling sensations, my feet and legs and arms on occasion would swell up and on occasion my blood pressure would drop and I would faint with no moments notice. All of that was a scary time, it happened out of no where. It's like all these health problems took over and suddenly I couldn't be a baseball couch anymore. And as the days and weeks progressed more issues kept popping up and sometimes I was unable to get out of bed, and a short while later then that was the end of my teaching career." Luke breathed in sharply taking in the crowd reaction, Sabrina was afraid to breathe she was just so nervous.

Luke shuffled the papers to be able to continue on with his speech.

"I spent a lot of time, and a lot of money going to various doctors and getting various tests done. A lot of them had no idea what was wrong, I had a lot of different diagnoses until a doctor from a different city finally came to the conclusion on the problem. I was in heart failure. I'll never forget how the doctor presented it to me, he gave me a bunch of pills and a bunch of papers highlighting the lifestyle and lifespan from that moment forward." a few people in front of him gasped their faces filling with sympathy.

"Why am I telling you all this today? Well it's pretty simple actually, I never really got a chance or a platform to tell my story. I hope by me standing up here today talking about my life helps and inspires someone out there who is struggling or is currently going through what I did. Thank you again." Luke got a standing ovation and he stepped away from the podium holding his speech.

Sabrina jumped into Luke's arms hugging and kissing him for a long time she was just so proud of him.

After that the mayor made an appearance shaking Luke's hand thanking him for his bravery and for saving his life. He even gave Luke back all the money and said the school building would be free of charge and to keep the money in a safe place.

Luke wasn't expecting any of that at all. He shook the mayor's hand and a photographer took their picture.

When the pictures were finished Sabrina grabbed his hand intertwining their fingers and they walked around talking to different people, Luke noticed a family with a little boy and he crouched beside him.

Luke noticed some similarities quickly.

"Hey there." He said softly, smiling too, and the boy remained close to his mother.

"I'm Luke, I see you have the same cool scar as me." Luke moved his shirt around so the small child could see.

The little boy didn't say anything at first, Luke looked at him pointing out his own scar to him. The boy looked at Luke's then at his own.

His parents thought it was an extremely kind thing to do. It turns around the little boy had open heart surgery to repair a hole in his heart just shortly after his first birthday, he was now six years old and still trying to navigate his way.

His mother revealed to Luke that the boy had been teased for the school and because of all the teasing it really beat down his self esteem. Having somebody like Luke sit and chat and show that vulnerable side made a difference.

Before the event ended, free health screenings were being offered and since Luke was an ambassador for the company now he said down on the chair in front of a crowd of people watching a healthcare worker take his vitals as photographers snapped pictures of it. He didn't mind it, his health was important and he needed to stay on top of it.