Author's note: I love feedback, it gives me a bouncy, bouncy feeling. Not to make this sound like a love in or anything but I just wanted to thank everyone again for all the reactions to my story, I really didn't expect to get this many people reading it. Anyway, enough from me, on with chapter five…
Neela stood in line at the hospital canteen along with Ray and Ray's new best friend, Cammi, who was standing annoyingly close to him. Well, it was annoying Neela anyway.
"Why do you have to watch her anyway?" Neela asked Ray quietly.
Ray looked up from his attempt to see what looked edible. "What?"
"Cammi. Can't a nurse watch her or something?"
"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Ray replied with a slight shrug. "I don't know. I don't really care, she's a cool kid."
Neela looked at Cammi. Really? she thought. Something about her was really getting on Neela's nerves but she couldn't quite place what.
"So what was your mom saying about me?" Ray asked her.
"Oh, erm…" Neela faltered. Ray noticed.
"She hates me, doesn't she?"
"No she doesn't," Neela replied a little too quickly. Ray raised his eyebrows at her. "She didn't say that, ok?"
"So what did she say?" Ray asked.
"Well, she said you were very American," Neela replied.
"What does that mean?"
Neela shrugged. "I don't really know."
They headed over to where Neela's parents had already sat down. Ray and Neela sat opposite them and Cammi sat by Ray, listening to her own heartbeat with Ray's stethoscope.
"So," Ray began, not quite sure where he was going with it. "How was the flight?" He asked.
"Long," Neela's father stated simply.
Ray nodded a little. "Good movie?"
"No."
Ok, Ray was officially out of small talk. Then Neela's mother turned to her and said something in Punjabi.
"Mum, stop it. That's really rude, you know Ray can't understand you. Speak in English," Neela said. Her mother gave a glance to Ray but decided not to repeat what she'd said. Neela rolled her eyes.
Susan walked up to the group. "Ray, I need to ask you a favour," she said.
"Oh, would you like me to go upstairs and supervise the crèche?" Ray asked sarcastically. "Or, hey, maybe I can go over to your place and watch Cosmo while you and Chuck take in dinner and movie?"
Susan didn't look particularly impressed by the joke. Neither did Neela who gave Ray a sharp but discreet elbow in the ribs. "Ow," he said as he turned to her but her face let him know that she meant business. He turned back to Susan. "Sorry, Susan. What's up?"
"Pratt's called in sick, can you do a double shift for me? I'd ask you, Neela, but I don't like to now that…" she cut off as she saw Neela shaking her head at her, praying she'd take the hint. She did. "…you did all that overtime last week," Susan finished. "Can you do it?" she asked, turning her attention back to Ray.
"Erm…" Ray began.
"No, not tonight, Susan," Neela cut in. "I'm sorry, no. My parents are in town."
Susan looked at Neela's parents and couldn't help but think that they didn't look particularly interested in anything, let alone spending more time with Ray. "Ok," she said, "I'll go ask Abby again. I might have to come back to you Ray.
Ray gave a nod as Susan exited. Cammi reached over and put the stethoscope over Ray's heart. Neela could feel herself getting more wound up. She wanted to grab the stethoscope off the child and throttle her with it. Ray, however, leaned back to give Cammi easier access and smiled down at her as she listened to his heart beating. The heart that was supposed to be loving Neela.
Jealousy? Neela thought. Is that what this is? Am I jealous that I'm not the centre of his world? But she was used to that. At work, anyway. She was used to watching him interact with patients and making them feel special. Especially the kids. He was great with the kids. But there was something about watching Ray and Cammi that was getting to her, she just couldn't put her finger on it.
"So, you two have been together how long?" Neela's mother asked, taking her out of her train of thought.
"Erm, nearly four months," Neela replied.
"Not so long then," her mother said.
"Well, we were friends before that," Neela explained.
"How long were you friends for?" she asked.
"About a year," Neela replied.
"Still not so long then," her mother concluded.
"No, I guess not," Neela admitted.
"We spend a lot of time together though," Ray added. "We live together, we work together, we're very close."
Thank you, Neela thought.
"This makes up for time?" Neela's mother asked him.
"It can do," he mused. "I suppose it all depends on the relationship. All I know is that I love Neela and I have no intentions of living without her."
Neela smiled at him. Her parents, however, seemed unmoved. Neela turned her attention to her food, preparing to eat something when a wave of nausea hit her. They shouldn't be allowed to call it 'morning sickness' when it comes randomly throughout the day like this, she thought, trying to fight it. They should call it 'baby infestation sickness', it's more truthful anyway. And then she realised what she felt as she watched Ray and Cammi. Or, more specifically, what she felt when she looked at Cammi.
Nothing.
No broodiness. No motherly instincts. No 'Aww, shucks, isn't she adorable.' None of it. Ok, so she wasn't exactly dying for a kid in the first place and she could never really hear her biological clock ticking but surely with all these pregnancy hormones she should feel something.
She started to get all hot and she knew that she couldn't ignore the sick feeling any longer. Not the physical sick feeling anyway.
"Excuse me," she said as she quickly stood up and rushed to the nearest bathroom, leaving everyone to watch after her.
