Chapter 19

A week later, Emily was doing really well. She had regained most of her energy, although she still wasn't able to go back to school. She and Ray were getting along, probably helped by the fact that she was now much more independent. Ray took her strength as a sign that he should talk to her about some of the recent changes that had occurred in his life.

"Hey," he called through her door, knocking at the same time. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Emily called back.

"Hey," he said again as he opened her door. He spied her desk chair and dragged it forward, seating himself on it. "What's up?"

"Not much," she answered. Then indicating the book in her lap, she added, "Reading."

"Ah," he replied knowingly. He continued, "So hey Em, I wanted to talk to you."

Emily's thoughts began to race. She knew he must have been waiting to have this talk with her. She knew it was about him and Neela. Should she play dumb and act surprised? Or—

"I know about you and Neela," she blurted out without thinking.

"Wh-what? Whoa. Well, um, yeah," Ray stammered, taken aback.

"I mean, I don't know, but I know that's what you came here to talk to me about, right?"

"Yeah, actually," Ray said, having recovered from his initial shock.

"So?"

"So?" he asked her back. "Oh, right. So. Well Em, there's not a whole lot to tell. We're not even really sure what to call it—but I just wanted to let you know. From me. As opposed to…some other way," he said, trailing off.

"Okay," Emily said, realizing that they were both slightly uncomfortable discussing the topic.

"Right. So…what do you think about Neela?" Ray asked, taking another brave stab.

"Um, she's pretty cool, I guess," Emily ventured.

"You guess, huh?"

"Well, yeah, this is all really new for me," Emily said quickly, realizing what she'd just said and trying to backpedal a little.

"Okay then, I'll just leave you then. To your reading and uh…" Ray mumbled, getting up. "And you know, if you have any questions or anything, just ask, okay?"

"Oh no," Emily laughed. " 'If I have any questions,' that sounds like that sex talk you gave me a couple years ago!"

Ray laughed too. "Come on," he said, folding her into a hug. "You know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah," Emily's voice sounded from somewhere, muffled by his shoulder.

"I'll see you in a bit then," he said, straightening up. "I'm experimenting with something new for dinner!"

"Experimenting, huh? A word of advice then, keep the fire extinguisher and take-out menus handy!"

"Oh…you!"

Ray left, leaving Emily to sort out more of her feelings. She thought about the hug he'd given her. She knew, obviously, that he hugged—lots of people hugged. But what stood out in her mind was that she would now no longer be the only "regular huggee" in his life. Neela was now a "huggee" as well. The thought didn't trouble her, per say. It—invited more thought. What else did she now have to share with Neela?

Suppose things got really serious, and they moved in together? How would her relationship with Neela change? It wasn't as though they were really close; as far as Ray's coworkers went, she was closer to Abby than to Neela. Several years of waiting around the ER for Ray to finish work had taught her that Abby was generally much more fun to be around than Neela. Although, in recent months, Neela had gotten much better.

But…Emily still couldn't shake the feeling that Neela treated her like a child. She didn't mean to, and she didn't exactly plop her down to watch Sesame Street, but she acted sort of…distant. Would that change?

Emily also took into consideration that maybe the reason she was having such strong internal reactions was because this was the first serious relationship Ray had ever gotten himself into. That made sense, didn't it? She wasn't sure what made sense anymore.

So this is the price I pay for getting better? Emily thought cynically. At the same time, she wasn't sure why she was so bitter. She didn't hate Neela, or anything close to it. She was…jealous? Felt threatened by her? Maybe this was her coming face to face with the fact that Ray was moving on, and therefore she, Emily, was growing up? And that pretty soon, she'd be out on her own? It was too much to think about, Emily decided, picking up her book and resuming her reading.

Author's Note: Review, please! I think I may be nearing the end of this story. I'm toying with the idea of a spin-off about Ray and Emily's life together, which I don't think would be applicable in this particular story. Feedback! Let me know what you think!