Another ER ficcy for me, yay! You all have encouraged me…now look what you guys have done -sigh-
Disclaimer: Don't own ER; don't own anything that has to do with it…nope…none…so there :-)
Well wasn't she bloody brilliant, with a frustrated sigh she stepped out of the shower and eyed the door…she had no towel…and no clothes with her…what luck. Her old clothes lay crumpled on the floor and she glared at them, no way was she putting them back on. Not after that little kid in the hospital had so kindly left his mark right before her shift was over. Sighing she felt a bit guilty, it hadn't been his fault he was feeling sick…and it most definitely wasn't his fault that she had forgotten to grab a towel or clean clothes on her way into the shower. Good thing Ray wasn't home.
Taking a deep breath she opened the door a crack, maybe she should make sure. A puddle had been forming on the floor but she ignored it, "RAY!" she yelled. No answer, good sign. Better try again though, "RAY!" If he was home maybe she could get him to toss her a towel, with his eyes firmly shut and the door mostly closed that is. "Er…Ray?" Still nothing. Good, it appeared that he really wasn't there.
Practically holding her breath she flung open the door and was ready to make her sprint to the room when…no…oh…no no no no no no….this was not happening, this was not happening this was…happening. Ray was standing absolutely shocked in the hall, hands halfway up to his blaring headphones. With a scream Neela slammed the door leaning against it with her hands over her face. Her life was over. No way could she ever look at him again. She didn't think she could bear being in the same room with him ever again. Had she mentioned her life was over?
"Need a erm…towel?" his voice came floating through the door and her hopes that he may have possibly not seen her vanished. Of course he had bloody seen her. There was no way they could live together after this.
"That would be lovely, thanks," she tried to respond as calmly as she could but even she could hear the painful squeakiness her voice had taken on.
"All right, I've got my eyes closed and I'm turned around," his voice came from right behind her and she groaned slightly. This was terrible. Opening the door as little as she could, she quickly grabbed the towel and pulled it in, immediately shutting the door with a snap.
Once she was successfully dried off and clothed she lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. This was the worst situation she had ever found herself in…and she had no idea what to do…what did you do when something like this happened? When your roommate…who happened to be a male…and someone you worked with…saw you in well, your nuddy pants? If only there was book about it. Maybe she could call someone. No, then everyone would know about what happened. Oh, she could just act as if it never happened. No. If she was someone else maybe she could have…but this was Neela, innocent and proper Neela. And what had happened was definitely not acceptable.
Turning onto her stomach she burrowed her head underneath her pillow. What had he been doing home anyways? And she had called his name a zillion times…of course he had to have his headphones on, that would be her luck. For a fleeting moment she wondered what he had thought of her, NO! Bad! All right, no more thinking like that.
There was a knock on her door and she kept her head completely hidden under the pillow, maybe she could disappear. Another knock. She just wouldn't answer, nope, she wouldn't. Apparently Ray had given up and she lay there in complete and utter embarrassment. Then she heard someone clear their throat and her heart nearly stopped, oh God she couldn't do this. She would rather be operated on than do this if that said anything…in fact she may need to be operated on after she had heart failure. Could you have heart failure from being so embarrassed? While she was positive that the medical books would say other wise…it was certainly feeling like it.
Ah well…she would have to face it some day. Removing the pillow from her head she turned on her back and glared over at a very unsure looking Ray. "What do you want?" she snapped. Nice one Neela, act like it's completely his fault.
He seemed at a loss for words for once in his life, "Uh…"
She pulled the pillow back over her head. Still not disappearing…
"You know…" he was floundering and she knew it, "We could forget about it."
"It's to incredibly embarrassing for me to forget about."
"I didn't really see anything; I mean…you closed the door pretty fast."
Moving the pillow she saw that he was avoiding looking at her, well this was just great. Maybe it was possible for them to live together never see each other…at all…somehow it had to be possible because she didn't think she could stand it otherwise.
"Leave me alone," she mumbled finally. When he didn't move she sat up, "Can I move out?" He surprised her by laughing. "What? I was being serious you know…"
"No offense Neela, but it isn't like I haven't seen it before."
"Well for your information, I'm not like those other women you hang around with who seem to have a problem with keeping their clothes on." She knew that would get him angry but she couldn't help it.
"At least they can remember to bring a towel when taking a shower," weak comeback he knew but sadly he couldn't think of anything else. He was too distracted as he was trying to keep his eyes from wandering over Neela. This was not good.
"How about, you leave me alone…all right?" she nearly yelled.
"Hiding from the problem isn't going to help anything, and by the way, you aren't going to disappear that way," he shot back as he walked out. How had he known that's what she was trying to do?
After an hour or so she decided that holing up in her room really wasn't accomplishing anything, the fact that he had seen her without any clothes on hadn't gone away. Steeling up all her courage she peeked around her door then emerged. Ray was sprawled on the couch, seemingly watching tv. He looked up when she entered, not a trace of a smile on either of their faces.
She stood awkwardly, still not sure what to say and was relieved when he sat up. "Here," he said gesturing at the space beside him. Carefully she sat down as far away from him as she could and noticed that the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Was he laughing at her?
"I hate you," she blurted out sharply. Not that she actually meant it, quite the opposite in fact but he was rather infuriating with his cool demeanor. He didn't seem to care that she was feeling uncomfortable; in fact…she would say that he found the whole situation quite funny.
"Well aren't you the sweet one, it's not like I meant it, you should have been more careful."
"I called you at least a billion times, but no, you have to listen to your music so bloody loud!"
"Hey, maybe if you had remembered to grab a towel then you wouldn't BE in this situation."
"It's not my fault! I came home from an awful day and all I wanted was bloody shower but I can't even take one of those in peace…God Ray, you are such an insensitive git," she added.
"What do you want me to do? Come on Neela, you're going to have to help me on this because I don't know what they hell you want me to say," he was holding her gaze now and she tried to look away but found that she couldn't.
What did she want him to say? Or do? It wasn't like he could change what happened and in all honesty it had been her fault. Groaning she sat back closing her eyes, "This is a mess," she said at last.
"It doesn't have to be," his tone had changed, he sounded more comforting now. "It happened so you'll just have to accept the fact that I've seen you…" he trailed off as the look on her face clearly stated that if he valued his life he should stop where he was. "You really shouldn't be embarrassed about anything," he added preparing for what was coming next.
She hit his arm rather forcefully. "I'm going to be permanently damaged if you don't stop doing that," he muttered.
They sat in silence for a little while longer, then Ray suddenly flopped over laying his head in her lap. His eyes widened and his lips pulled into an innocent frown. She glared at him but then couldn't help laughing at her roommates antics.
"All right all right. I'll try to forget the horrifying ideal and forgive you," she pushed his head away but he grabbed her around the waist.
"You know you can't resist my look."
"Sadly Ray, you are quite mistaken," she shoved him off and stood up. "Well that was enough excitement for me, see you tomorrow roomie…and no more peeping!"
Still feeling somewhat embarrassed she crawled into bed pulling the pillow back over her face. Ray it seemed was still right, she couldn't disappear that way…but then again…maybe she didn't want to.
Hmm…not sure how well that one turned out. Please give me your opinions:-)