Saving Grace
Two men dressed in military uniforms walked inside of the hospital. Their eyes wandered, their faces cold. Neela, spotting them on her way to check on a patient, walked over to them confused.
"Is there anything I can help you with, gentlemen?" she asked.
One of them looked down. "I am Robert King, and this is James Downey. We are looking for a Neela Rasgotra…do you know her?" The other one said.
"Um…I'm Neela. Is something wrong?" Fear was, evidently, clinging to her every word. They sighed.
"Do you know a…Michael Gallant?" Her blood ran cold.
"Uh, yeah. He is a …really good friend of mine…Is something wrong?" she almost screeched this time.
"Well…he is missing." And that was the final straw. Tears sprung to Neela's eyes, and she led the gentlemen into the lounge.
She tried to speak, but no words would come out. She felt her knees buckle out from in front of her, and Robert led her over to a couch.
"When he filled out a form, that basically told us who to contact if something happened, and where to find them, all he wrote was your name, and this hospital's address."
She began to vigorously shake her head.
"He is fine…He is alive…This is just a joke…YOU'RE LYING!" She screamed.
By the looks on their faces Neela knew this was no joke. She knew every bit of this was for real. She also knew that her life was now over.
~*~*~*~
"Mom, Mrs. McCormick is going to drive me to school ok?" Grace Rasgotra called down to her mother. Racing around the kitchen, Neela finished packing up her 5-year-old's lunch. This was her first day of school and Neela was going to miss it. Being a doctor meant you have to make sacrifices.
"Okay!" she called back.
She heard her daughter clear her throat. "Mom, I'm right here," she said while laughing. Neela rolled her eyes.
Grabbing her lunch, Grace ran out the door. "Bye mom!"
Neela waved from the doorway as her little girl sped off down the street.
~*~*~*~
The moment Neela arrived at work a trauma arrived with her. Oh, what a great way to start off a perfectly wonderful day, Neela thought.
"Multiple MVA, first one, 5 years of age," and that's all that Neela heard. Her heart immediately stopped, and she was tuned out to all her senses. Lying on the gurney was Grace.
~*~*~*~
"Neela, she is out of surgery, but there are still some problems…" Elizabeth explained.
Neela just stared into space.
But Corded continued, "She has many fractured bones, and she suffered a major blow to the head. Right now, she is in a coma…There really isn't much hope for her…"
Neela wasn't listening. "I still have hope…" she spat out, just above a whisper.
Dr. Corday just nodded, and walked away, leaving behind a very sad and confused Dr. Rasgotra.
~*~*~*~
TWO DAYS LATER
Neela awoke at her daughter's side. Lots of noise and commotion startled her. It's
probably only a trauma…She thought. But then again, it was more of a happy moment…
Deciding to go investigate, she gave her daughter one last glance, and then poked her head out the door.
What she saw almost made her start to cry.
Michael Gallant was walking into the hospital. Everyone was hugging him, and welcoming him back. Also, it was completely obvious, people were questioning him.
"What happened?"
"How are you alive?"
That kind of stuff. Questions flooded Neela's mind as she quickly slammed the door, and sunk down behind it.
What do I do? What do I do? She kept asking herself. Before she knew it, she had been pushed forward. Someone was trying to open the door. And something told Neela who that someone is. He can't know I have a daughter! Everything we had will be ruined! How do I even know this is for real?!
"Neela?" a deep voice called out to her.
She stood up, and stared deep into the eyes of her supposedly-dead friend. She gulped. Gallant was smiling at her. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she inched her way forward. Gently, with shaking hands, she stroked his cheek. Knowing he was actually there scared the crap out of her. But before she could actually spend some time thinking about it, everything went black.
~*~*~*~
"Neela? Neela! Wake up!" Susan shook her shoulder. Neela moaned. It had all been a dream. All of it. Just a dream…
Sitting up, Neela's thought went right to Gallant. No. She couldn't think about him. She had more important things to think about. How's Grace?"
Susan smiled. "You're in luck. She is starting to show signs of getting better! She definitely has an angel watching over her." Neela smiled back.
"Would you like anything? I'm on my way to get some coffee right now…"
"Sure. I'll get whatever you get…Money is in my purse over on the table…"
"Nah…that's ok. I got it. By the way, I'll be bringing Jamelyn (saying Jamie Lynn really fast) over to see Grace if that's ok. I didn't know if you wanted visitors so I haven't told her yet. But she is really worried about her. Is that alright?"
Neela smiled. "Yeah. They're best friends. I'm sure Grace would like it."
So Susan just nodded and walked out the door.
After a moment, Neela closed her eyes. She was so tired! Being up for the past two days really wore her out. But the sound of the door opening brought her out of her reverie.
"Go away…" she muttered.
"Wow…that was nice. I haven't seen you in six years, and that's how you treat me?"
No. Not that voice. Don't open you're eyes! This isn't real! HE IS DEAD! DEAD! He can't be here right now. Please, god…
But curiosity got the best of her, and she stared at his face once again.
Her eyes widened, and her whole body started to tremble.
"You aren't real…You aren't real…You aren't real…" she whispered to herself.
Gallant sighed. "I know that you think I am dead…But that was all just a misunderstanding, I swear. Just, please. Let me explain."
Neela shook her head as she started to cry. Gallant came over to her bed, and sat down at the foot of it. She scrunched up into the fetal position, and began to rock.
Gallant frowned. "Neela…"
She closed her eyes.
"Neela, those men that told you I was dead…they lied. I took over their job, which therefore gave me more money. Those men found the form I filled out, and made you believe I was gone. They told everyone. They also got me in major trouble with my boss, we can say. I, uh, I basically got fired. I had to pay for my own ticket back, but I didn't have any money. Also, I had to do some soul searching. So, I bought the cheapest ticket to New York. While there, I built a new life. But something made me want to come back. I was trying so hard to forget you, and forget what we had, but nothing worked. I loved you. Nothing could stop me from coming back.
"So that's when I bought a ticket back. But the second I got here, the thought came to me. You might already have a life. You could already have a happy family, and I would just cause trouble. But before I had the chance to turn back, Abby, Carter, and apparently, their son, stopped me in my tracks…I am so glad they did."
So that's how it goes…
Neela had stopped crying, and she was staring deep inside his eyes. She gulped. "So…it wasn't a dream then?"
He shook his head.
There was an eerie silence settling over them. "I'm back!" the loud voice startled them. Susan had come back with Neela's coffee.
"Oh, shoot, I'm sorry." She quickly handed Neela her coffee, and ran out of the room. She was out before Neela could even say thank you.
"So, um…is that you're daughter?" he choked on his words. "In the other room…"
Now it was Neela's turn to do some explaining.
"Uh, yeah. Her name is Grace. She's five…Uh, I'm not really with anyone at the moment. She wasn't really planned for…" God, this was so uncomfortable.
"Go on…" Gallant urged her.
"Um…Well, if you wanna know the truth, it was all a bloody mistake. I'm not saying she was a mistake! Because she's not! I love her to death! It's just…The night you left, I went out with Susan and Abby, and got a little too drunk. And well, you can figure out the rest…I don't even know the name of the guy!"
Gallant nodded. "Yeah…I can figure it out…"
Once again, that eerie silence came about.
Suddenly, out of the blue, Neela began to cry.
Confused, Gallant leaned in. She stroked his face, as he did to her. "I can't believe you are really here…" she whispered. He smiled.
"Same here…" And then on came the fireworks. Their temptation bubbled over, and she kissed him. The most passionate kiss ever seen in the ER. After a while of not breathing, they pulled apart, gasping for air.
"Miracles really do come true," Gallant almost sang.
Startling them once again, Susan busted in.
"Grace is awake!"