Blood, Sweat and Tears
Disclaimer: You know it, I know it. I own none of the characters. ALSO PLEASE NOTE: I borrowed the storyline of Ray finding Neela in the rain at the beginning from ShadowDiva (but then took it in a different direction.) I did talk to her, and I post this with her permission! Read her story too. When the Rain Comes. It's good.
Spoilers: I wrote it soon after 'I do,' so anything up to that is fair game. A few details did end up happening, which hadn't as of the time I wrote this. Also, Susan never left, Neela never moved out of Ray's apartment, and Ray never got kicked out of his band.
Rating: M (good amount of strong language; allusions to abuse; graphic self-violence; a bit of sensuality/sexuality)
Content Warning: Self-violence/suicide and abuse are touchy subjects, hence the rating.
A/N: This is my first non-one-shot fic. I'm not yet addicted to feedback, but feel free to get me hooked. This is NOT an entirely HAPPY story! It shows a strong friendship between Ray and Neela, which then develops. But it is a situation I would wish on no one. AU and (probably by definition) OOC. I hope. 3 parts. The chapters are very variable in length. Sorry. I just felt that's where the story broke.
Italics are Ray's thoughts. Things in brackets are Neela's thoughts.
Summary:
Part I (16 chapters): Ray deals with a "taxing case;"
finds out Neela did too, but hers has seriously affected her. In
helping Neela he learns something else they have in common.
Part II (4 chapters): A year later she slips up, and Ray is there to help.
Part III (5 chapters): Another year later, Ray slips up and Neela is there for him.
Ok, I'm done…enjoy!
Part I
I.1. Long Day
It was a long day. There had been worse, for sure, but this one seemed never ending. He'd worked here at County for almost 2 years, but still could not completely get used to the stress of it. But part of his job, he decided, was to pretend it didn't bother him, so he took a deep breath and swallowed. This was his last patient and then he was going home. As he walked down the hall to the last exam room, he thought about what he had in the fridge that he could whip up into some sort of edible meal.
Lettuce. I know we have lettuce. Why am I so sure we have lettuce? Well, Ray, because Neela said she'd kill you if you didn't get it yesterday, and you're not dead, so you must have gotten it. Ray smiled. What else do we have though? I don't know, Neela only told me to get lettuce. Having this conversation confirms you need to go home. He knew it was getting late when he started having conversations in his head. But they amused him. That's what happens when you're an only child, he thought, you learn to amuse yourself.
He hoped this would be an easy case. He glanced down at the chart in his hands and saw that it was a 7 year old girl. Great, he thought, but with any luck this will be one of those really sweet ones, and not some little brat. He shook his head slightly with that comment. He loved kids. Sure, they could be annoying, but that was mean! I'm glad I am talking to myself, 'cause that would not have gone over well with any listener.
He stepped into the room, apparently startling the little girl. Two beautiful blue eyes shot up to look at him, dark brown curls bouncing at the sudden movement. He smiled at her. She's a sweetheart.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Barnett, what seems to be the problem here, Miss," glancing quickly down at the chart, "Samantha…" his voice trailed off as he saw her thigh out of the corner of his eye. That would be the problem, Barnett, could it be any more obvious? There was a gash, almost 12 cm across on her left thigh.