After her bath, Neela got a surprisingly good night's sleep. She was only just awake when breakfast was delivered shortly before 7.30am. She thought about phoning Ray. It suddenly did not seem like such a daunting task anymore. Nonetheless, she decided it was better to leave it until after her presentation.

After a quick shower, she dressed and applied her make-up and was in the little conference room by 8am. They went through the presentation quickly and reorganised a few slides. Their software seemed to be compatible with the hotel software and they were finished by 8.40am. Just time to grab a quick cup of coffee and find a seat before the conference started. There were over 400 delegates. Each presentation was followed by a 10 min Q&A. Most presentations, including theirs were 50 minutes long. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology nothing was too boring.

There was a ten minute coffee break at 11.30am followed by two 30 min presentations and 2 Q&As. They broke for lunch shortly before 1pm and reconvened again for 2pm. The lunch break whizzed by and they were soon standing at the podium preparing for their presentation. 50 minutes of hell awaited. In what seemed like an instant, they were through the PowerPoint presentation and on to the Q&A. It went surprisingly smoothly and before she knew it, it was over and they were back at their table. They smiled a congratulatory smile at each other and Neela grabbed her bag and excused herself. She needed a break and she needed to phone Ray. She knew now she couldn't leave Louisiana without seeing him even if it meant staying a few extra days. It had been so good talking to Lucien last night. It helped clarify so much.

She walked through the conference centre door and across the foyer to a balcony. She opened her phone, selected his number from the phonebook and it started to ring. For some strange reason, she could hear the phone ringing in stereo. It rang eight times and she was sure it was about to go to voice mail when he answered.

"Hey Roomie, that was an impressive presentation just now. I'm not sure quite how much I took in; I must get you to explain it to me again sometime."

"Wh …wh… I … Y …you were there? … … … … … … Where are you now?"

"Turn around."

She turned and there he was, leaning against a pillar just outside the conference room door. There was less than 50 feet between them but she could not move. Her eye filled with tears.

He looked good, different, but good. He'd put on weight and was more muscular but it suited him. He was tanned and fit looking. His hair was longer than she ever remembered. He was dressed in baggy combat pants and a button down shirt. He was not quite Doc Rock anymore, he was more mature looking but he looked good. She had never known him looking so calm and relaxed.

She remained transfixed as he ambled towards her open phone still to his ear.

"Hi!" he smiled as he closed his phone and put it away. Then he was there. He folded her in an enormous bear hug and she breathed in his smell. God, how she'd missed him. They simply held each other, nothing more. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe and relaxed. For a short while she could believe that the last two and a half years had never happened. But of course they had.

He took her hand and led her toward a bench. The way he looked at her was different, kinder, and gentler somehow. That haunted, demanding searching look was gone as was the anger. He asked her about Chicago and she told him how busy she had been with work.

"By the way, Neela, thank-you for phoning to tell me about Pratt. I would have liked to be there but I had commitments here I couldn't get out of." There would be time later, he hoped, to tell her about his new resident's position. Now was not that time.

He was aware of just how fragile she was and how emotionally, he was stronger and more grounded at this juncture. All the post-op counselling had paid off after all, he thought sardonically. They talked some more about Pratt and what a shock his death had been and about how much they would miss him. He had kept in regular contact with Ray but had never discussed the fact with Neela. But then again, she had never mentioned to anybody that she was in contact with him either.

Pratt had filled in a lot of the blanks left by Neela's increasingly sparse e-mails. Thanks to Pratt, Ray was in fact much better informed about the comings and goings at county than Neela yet realised!

Just then Lucien appeared and Ray stood to shake his hand.

"Hello Ray, fancy meeting you here."

"That was an impressive presentation just then."

"Thanks, it helped that there were two of us."

"Yes, you two sure make quite a team."

Neela smiled as she noticed his more pronounced southern twang.

"What are your plans for the evening?" Lucien asked.

"Well, unfortunately, I'm working the graveyard shift tonight so I need to be home by 8pm to get ready." He looked at Neela. "I could meet up with you tomorrow afternoon before you leave or may I make a suggestion. I'm not working again until Monday afternoon. If you could swing the time off, why don't you stay a few extra days?"

Lucien turned to Neela.

"If my memory serves me correctly, you're not rostered again until Sunday. Furthermore I've been nagging you to take a few days' holidays for the past ages. We can phone and organise it tomorrow if you want."

Neela laughed.

"Lucien, do you realise you are the only boss I've ever had who encourages me to take holidays!!"

"That, my dear is because you have turned into a pathetic workaholic!"

Neela smiled but deep down she knew, that sadly he was speaking the truth. Surgery was a hard graft but she had really been taking it to the extreme. Strange, it now felt as if these two men had been plotting behind her back. But that wasn't possible, surely? They barely knew each other back in county. There would be no way they were in contact with each other.

Lucien looked at his watch. It was almost 4pm. There was another 15min coffee break due and then 3 more presentations.

"Neela, there are three more presentations left this afternoon but only the last one is relevant to our branch of surgery. Why don't you head off with Ray for an hour or so and meet me back her at six?"

"Hey! That would be nice. I'll give you a whistle-stop tour of the Big Easy!! How about it?" Ray asked.

"That's the best offer I've had in a while." Neela smiled.

The next hour and a half went by in a flurry of colour and excitement. Early October was a great time of year to see New Orleans. It was not quite as sticky and humid as at other times of year. Ray suggested that they could go to the flood damaged areas the following day if Neela wished. Maybe Lucien might like to join them.

At 5.45pm Ray pulled up outside the hotel.

"Well. What have you decided?"

Neela looked puzzled. "About what?"

"Are you going to extend your stay?"

She laughed! "You've twisted my arm. I can hardly come to New Orleans and not visit Baton Rouge. So yes, I'll talk to Lucien."

"Good. That's settled then, I'll meet you in the foyer at 4pm tomorrow evening. I'd better get going or I'll be late for work." As she got out of the car he leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.Then he put the car into drive waited for her to close the door and with that he was gone.