Disclaimer: I do not own any aspect of the television show ER…if I did, Ray and Neela would be together by now
This story starts at the end of As the Day She was Born and goes one from there. I was really annoyed by the lack of Reela in the episodes we've seen so far in the season. Therefore, I tweaked parts of the storylines to include more Reela. Reviews are great, but don't be too harsh, please.
The door clicked open as Neela stumbled in, drowning in the darkness of the apartment. She had just barely managed to leave County without shedding any more tears after her silent breakdown with Lucien. However, her resolve broke as she stepped through the doorway, the waterworks threatening to begin again. I can't do this anymore, she thought as she fumbled around, searching for the light switch. I cannot do this any-damn-more. She flinched as the lights came on and fought the urge to shut them back off and remain in her gloom.
She dumped her bag on the couch, peeled her jacket off, and just stood there, looking around at the barren kitchen counters and coffee table. This is actually quite pathetic, Neela. Normal people have a few things strewn around here and there. They have lives, they do stuff, they don't just stay at home in their free time and clean as though they suffer from severe OCD. Neela's eyes stopped at the answering machine. She dragged herself over and pushed the flashing red button. Then she walked toward her room, bracing herself for the string of messages from people trying to sell car insurance to her when she didn't even drive. The first message: the recorded voice of a female describing the benefits of such-and-such insurance. BEEP. A second message: the cable company. BEEP. Lucien's voice caused Neela's head to pop out of the bedroom for just a second, his voice asking Neela if she was okay. No, I don't want your bloody car insurance, you were supposed to fix my damn cable today, and I would be completely lying if I said 'Sure, I'm fine, of course, don't worry about me'. Neela finished changing as the answering machine beeped for a third time and walked to the fridge, searching for something half-decent to eat.
The next voice that came resulted in her very painfully bumping her head on the top of the fridge as she dashed to the machine. "Hey, Roomie. Uh, I was gonna call earlier, but I got a little, uh, a little caught up at PT. So yeah, anyway, um, happy birthday. Okay, so I guess I'll, uh, I'll talk to you some other time, then. Bye." BEEP. End of new messages.
Neela stared at the machine for a few minutes, incoherent thoughts whirring around inside her head. He called. Oh my God, he called. He called? Why did he call? Why the bloody hell would he call? After everything I've put him through, why would he actually call? He didn't call. That wasn't him. I was just imagining it…'cause I miss him…He called? She replayed the message twice more, still finding it so hard to believe that he would call her after everything he had said to her that day in Mercy. The fact that they had corresponded with letters was a big deal on its own; now this? What was she to make of it? No matter how many times he said that he didn't blame her, she would never believe it.
Right now, she was too physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted to think straight. She would call him back tomorrow…or at least consider doing so…