Chapter 1
Neela fumbled for the keys before unlocking the apartment doors, stepping
inside she walked in. Didn't even glance at anything as she shut the door and
walked straight to her room, she laid down on the bed. Closing her eyes after a
horrendously grueling shift at Chicago's County General Hospital. All she wanted
today was silence and peace, but as she lay there she realized the apartment was
too silent. She sat up and listened, no tv, no sounds of Ray's band practicing
in the living room. Was Ray not home? That would be a first if he didn't have a
shift at County, his band was usually found playing a gig or camping out in the
middle of the living room.
The living room that generally looked like a tornado had ripped through it.Laying back down on the bed she closed her eyes, she knew that she would hafta
attempt something for dinner, but she was just so tired. She had to be back on
shift at County, for seven am rounds, she did NOT want to do that. The schedule
used to be normal, but being short handed they were not just all over the place
when it came to shifts.~*~*~Ray had arrived home after another fiasco date. He had hickeys all over his
neck and he was incredibly exhausted. His long hours of work at the hospital
left little room for a social life, but still he tried. He was pushing it,
trying to cram so much in the short hours he had outside of work and still
manage to get sleep, too. He walked in and fell on the couch, not even
bothering to make it to his bed. He lay down on a soggy slice of pizza he had
dropped on the couch the night before, but he didn't even care. His last
thoughts were of Neela, his beautiful roommate, just before he fell asleep.
At Three Thirty am the alarm went off and Neela's arm reached out from the
bed and she turned it off, opening her eyes slowly. She was still exhausted and
pulled herself out of the bed. She stripped out of her clothes and then got in
the shower, turning on the water. It was cold and she cursed softly the water
heater probably needed fixing or looking at. She hated that, she took a
shivering cold shower. Wrapping a towel around herself she started to get
dressed, and looked down at her hand where the wedding ring still sat. She hadn't
been able to take it off after Michael had died. It had been almost nine months
since then. Biting her bottom lip softly she slowly removed the ring from her
hand and opened the top drawer of her dresser and put the ring in it closing it.
It was time to let go, she had been having a hard time since everything that had
happened, but she couldn't hold on anymore it hurt too much and she just wanted
the pain to go away.She finished getting dressed for work and then left her bedroom and saw that
Ray's bedroom door was closed. She had never heard him come in last night but
when she got to the living room she saw him passed out on the couch with pizza
stuck to him.
She shook her head and silently walked over to him carefully peeling the piece
of pizza off of him. She didn't know why but she was used to cleaning up the
place, doing his laundry for him and now that included peeling pizza off of him.
Going quietly to the kitchen she tossed the moldy slice of pizza into the trash
and then washed her hands with soap and sanitizer. Then she wiped them clean on
the handle towel by the sink and then got the coffee brewing for the day.Rounds didn't start til seven so she usually got to work by 6:45, she was so
tired today.
She would love to have a day off soon.~*~*~Ray groaned, waking up. His body felt horrible, his muscles cramped, from
having slept on the couch all night. He got up and went into the kitchen as
the scent of coffee brewing had awakened him. "Hey," he said to Neela, seeing
her preparing the coffee."Coffee smells good," he told her with a big smile. That's when he realized
she had removed her wedding ring. He knew she had been heartbroken over having
lost Michael, so this was a really big step for her. He didn't want to make a
big deal of it though, cause he was certain that if she wanted to talk to him
about it, she would."Guess what?" he said. "We'll be working together today." He found a couple
of mugs in the cupboard and began pouring the cups of coffee. He'd really need
a lot to keep him awake today. It was going to be a long ten hour shift.
They had been working a great deal of hours, trying to make up for the lack of
staff in the ER.Ray put sugar and cream in his coffee and took a seat at the table. He ran a
hand through his disheveled hair. He then rubbed at his face, noticing pizza
sauce was smeared on it. He shrugged, wondering how that had got there.~*~*~All Neela wanted to do was rush back into the bedroom and put the ring back on,
she wanted to tell Michael how sorry she was for taking it off, but she forced
herself not to.
It was still so hard to believe he was gone, really gone. A tear slid down her
cheek. When she heard Ray's voice she quickly wiped away the tears," Hey," she
said turning to face him. She nodded," Yeah I figured coffee would be in order
to start the day," she said forcing a smile on her face."Great, sounds great," she said of them working together. When they had first
started living together, they had tried for opposite shifts at work but
inevitably ended up working a few of the same shifts and they became best
friends and good team. If there was the rare occasion where they worked
opposite shifts than they would sign out their remaining patients to each other
at shift change.She picked up a towel dampening it and handed it to Ray across the table after
he had sat down. So he could wipe off the pizza sauce smear.
"Did you get enough sleep?" she asked worried seeing the state that he was in.
She took her mug of coffee just adding sugar to it.~*~*~He accepted the moist towel, thanking her as he began to wash away the pizza
sauce smear. "Enough?" he asked, shaking his head as her question began to
sink in."Ohhh yeah, I think I got enough sleep, but remind me never to sleep on the
couch like that again. It made me hurt all over," he said as he raised the
coffee mug to his lips and took a sip. It was prepared just the way he liked
it, good and strong."How about you? Did you have enough sleep?" he asked, noticing that her eyes
were slightly red, from either lack of sleep or perhaps crying. He was very
sensitive to her moods and he knew she had been missing Michael profusely. If
only there was something that he could do to help ease her pain.~*~*~Neela sat down at the table across from Ray as she took a sip of her coffee,
listening to him answer and talk.
"I'll be sure to remind you," she promised with a smile." Yeah that couch serves
a good purpose for movie night and watching tv, but not so much sleeping on it.
" She carefully set her coffee mug down on the table," Hardly. Last night was
kindda rough," she admitted," Usually I manage okay, but I don't know I just
couldn't stop thinking about him last night. It was just a bad night," she said.She was quiet for a moment as she gazed down at the place where her wedding band
used to sit.
She lifted her head slowly," Ray, I just wanted to say Thank You. Everyone
else...they just don't understand as much as they think they do. They try, but
they just don't understand. They don't even do anything to help either, its just
alot of If you need anything let me know. How are you feeling today, like they
expect me to burst into tears in the middle of a trauma or something. Or Do you
need to sit this one out. Even after I pushed you away and told you to leave me
the hell alone, you still came back. I'm sorry I was so mean to you, I just...it
was hard for me," she admitted.~*~*~Ray sat there quietly, taking in everything that Neela had said. "I'm glad I
could be here for you, and I always will be. You've been through some really
rough times lately... and it's okay," he said as he lay his hand on hers and
gently squeezed it."If you ever need to talk or even a shoulder to cry on... You know I am here,"
he promised. He just wanted to see Neela smile again... really smile. She
had been suffering far too long due to Michael's death, and Ray hated it.
There was really nothing he could do or say to make it better. Grief was one
of those things that no one could put a time-table on. As much as he wanted to
make make things better for her, he was powerless."I truly care about you, Neela," he said, meaning every word. He stood up,
wrapping her in a big hug. He just held her tight for a long, long while.~*~*~As Neela stood she felt Ray wrap her in a hug and her arms automatically went
around him hugging him back.
She knew he cared and she was grateful for that," Thank you," she said softly.
She rested her cheek against his chest. She knew there was bound to be some
crying, but not before work. Because it was going to be a hard enough day as it
was when people noticed she had removed the wedding band.County General's ER was known for his gossip, and nothing stayed a secret for
long there.
People would start speculating about why now, and if she had moved on and if
that was the reason for her taking the band off. It was all really useless and
stupid shit, but it was part of life in the ER.She just hoped she could make it through the ten hour shift today without
loosing it or breaking down.
She was even more gladder now that Ray would be there, because she knew that if
nothing else she could count on him.
Honestly she had no idea when that had all happened, because at first they could
hardly get along. They were so different but over time things had become a
balance between them.~*~*~Ray admired Neela's strength and her bravery, cause he knew right now that she
really just wanted to dissolve into tears as the pain of losing Michael was so
strong for her. Gently, he placed a soft kiss upon her forehead, withdrawing
from the embrace."Thanks for the coffee. Gonna take a quick shower and get ready now, then we
can go," he told her, before disappearing into the bathroom. It was going to
be a very long day and he hoped he would make it through it without falling
asleep on his feet.After his shower, Ray got dressed and prepared for work. It wasn't long at all
when he joined Neela, ready to go. It was going to be another wild and crazy
day at County General.