Disclaimer: ER (and all that it entails) is the property of its creators and those with the proper paperwork at NBC
Brotherly Love
Trudging up the stairs that led to his apartment, Dr. Ray Barnett blew a huge breath out of his mouth. His shoulders slumped as he rounded the corner, heading to his door. He was exhausted, coming off a double shift he'd pulled as a favor to Lewis. Fumbling with his keys, Ray opened the door and tossed his bag and jacket over the sofa.
"Yo, Emily!" Ray called out. "I'm home!"
"Hey, coming out in a sec!" a voice shouted back.
Ray walked into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. He grabbed a water bottle and, twisting the cap off, gulped it down. He caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey, how was your shift?" his teenaged sister, Emily, asked him.
"Pretty slow, no major cases. How was school? How'd your trig test go?" Ray answered, tossing the now empty water bottle into the paper bag they used for recycling.
"Not bad, it helped that you went over some of the stuff with me yesterday. By the way, there's leftover pasta in the refrigerator," Emily said, sitting down at one of the stools at the counter, and stifling a yawn.
"Great, thanks," Ray said, opening the refrigerator again, and retrieving a bowl covered with plastic wrap. "And, like I said, sine and cosine are just about the only things I remember from high school math, so you may as well take advantage," he peered over at his sister, who'd nodded off, with her head resting on her arm. "Emily?"
"Hmm, yeah?" Emily opened her eyes, this time not bothering to cover her huge yawn.
"You okay?" Ray asked, "You haven't been wearing yourself out, making out with Brandon on the couch, have you?" he asked, teasing her with a smile, but with a slight glint of older brother protectiveness in his eye.
"Haha, nope," Emily muttered, this time not bothering to open her eyes. "I've just been feeling exhausted lately."
"Well, then let's get you to bed, young lady. C'mon, move it." Ray said, walking to the counter where his sister was dozing off. "Let's go," he said, scooping up her light frame. "Oof, you're getting heavy," he said, pretending to struggle under her weight.
"Sure, I may be tired, but I'm not deaf!" Emily said, swatting her brother sleepily on the arm.
"Yeah, yeah, I take it back. Your room better not have anything on the floor, because if I trip, we're both in trouble."
Cautiously proceeding through Emily's door, Ray carefully made his way to her bed, where he laid her down. She sighed, and murmured her thanks and said good night.
"'Night, Sweetie," Ray knelt down to kiss her good night. Her forehead felt unusually warm. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" he asked her.
"Fine, just tired," Emily said into her pillow.
"All right, well I'm going to grab the thermometer just in case." Ray said, leaving her room. He found the thermometer in the cabinet in the bathroom.
Returning to Emily's room, he clicked the thermometer on, which gave a soft beep as he stuck it in her ear. He held it there as she stirred slightly, waiting for the thermometer to give a reading.
"100.8," he read. "All right, not too high, but wake me up if you feel worse, okay?" he stood up, smoothed her hair, and left the room.
Now yawning himself, Ray glanced at the clock on the cable box on top of the TV as he settled onto the couch. It was 10:30. After fumbling for the remote, Ray clicked it on, flipping to a cable news station. He scanned the headlines on the crawl at the bottom of the screen, and listened to the political commentary that the host of the show was giving. Not having the energy to deal with more problems in the world than he'd already faced that day, he clicked the TV off and savored the silence for a moment. He got up, and grabbed his forgotten plate of pasta off the counter, and stuck it in the microwave.
While he waited for his food to finish heating up, his eyes fell to the calendar stuck on the cabinet next to the sink. Funny, he thought to himself, it's been almost two years.
Two years ago, Ray and Emily's mother was killed in a car crash. Ray was living on his own, having just finished medical school, and Emily lived with their mom. Their closest relatives lived in Colorado, and Ray felt he couldn't force Emily, then 14, to leave her home and start a brand new life with them after just losing her mother. Therefore, he offered her the chance to come live with him. It wasn't ideal, especially because he kept all sorts of crazy hospital hours, but Emily was 16 now, and didn't need constant supervision anymore. The arrangement worked well for both of them, and they were happy. Ray had initially doubted his abilities to finish raising a teenage girl, as had Emily, but time gave him confidence. The transition from fun, older brother to responsible guardian had been a little bit awkward at first, but now felt natural.
The shrill beeping of the microwave jolted Ray from his thoughts. Gingerly removing his plate, he brought it over to the counter and sat down on a stool.