Chapter 3

Neela sat up in bed the following morning, glaring at the sunlight peeking through the window. Leaning back against the headboard with her head pounding, she thought of the events from the previous night. Neela admitted to herself that overall, she had good time. It had been nice to just let go for a night and not think about GSWs, fractured bones and herniated discs.

Sure, it had been great until I saw Ray kissing that chick! Neela closed her eyes and sighed; even in her sober state, she was mad and wasn't quite sure how to deal with it.

Nick had been pretty good about it all, Neela realized; bringing her home after asking multiple times if she wanted to go to the hospital and see a doctor. Neela smiled, remembering how she'd reassured him that all was well and all she needed to do was sleep it off and drink tons of water.

Dropping her off at the door, Nick had also offered to stay with her through the night to make sure she was okay. She'd politely refused of course, but still hadn't been sure if she wanted to be alone in the apartment and face Ray the next day.

Well the 'next day' had arrived and Neela still didn't want to face him. Wishing for once that she actually had a shift today, Neela slowly got up and decided the only way to start feeling more like a human being and less like a zombie was to take a quick shower.

Grabbing her towel, Neela opened her bedroom door and walked cautiously into the living room, wondering if Ray had actually made it to his bedroom or just passed out on the couch like he often did after a late night. Glancing around the empty living room, she sighed in relief and made her way to the bathroom.

Stopping abruptly, she noticed Ray's bedroom door wide open and changed directions, heading for his room. Just as she suspected, it was empty and the bed hadn't looked like it had been slept in.

He didn't even come home last night! Probably went home with that blonde tart! Neela seethed, angry that he hadn't come home and angrier still that she was this bothered by it. Turning around Neela stomped to the bathroom and slammed the door.

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Fumbling with his keys, Ray opened the door to the apartment and staggered in. What a night! His decision to go to the bar and get wasted didn't quite work out as planned.

Sure, he'd ended up spending the rest of his night at the bar, only to pass out after one drink …..right there at the table he was occupying. Being rudely awakened and subsequently thrown out wasn't quite the way Ray had wanted to start off his morning.

Walking wearily over to the bathroom, Ray was surprised to see that it was locked. Then he heard the rush of water and realized that Neela was probably in the shower.

Please let her be in there alone! The last thing he needed now was seeing Nick and Neela coming out of the bathroom together.

Glancing around the living room, he noted that he didn't see Nick's jacket, and he didn't remember seeing his car in front of the apartment, either. Nick's car wasn't one a person could easily overlook, being that it was a beat up orange vintage Camaro.

Taking some relief in that fact, Ray sat down on the sofa and waited for Neela to get out of the bathroom. He was exhausted and definitely wanted to get a couple more hours of sleep in, but first he wanted to check that she was okay.

Leaning back, Ray closed his eyes, and tried to relax, no sooner had he taken his first deep breath than he heard knocking at the front door. Looking at his watch, Ray wondered who would be knocking at their door this early in the morning. Getting up, he opened the door, only to find a very confused older Indian couple looking back at him.

Trying to gather his thoughts, Ray greeted them, "Hi, can I help you?"

They looked at one another and the man looked down at a piece of paper in his hands. He read it over and then looked up at Ray. "I apologize for disturbing you this early but we were looking for apartment B125, our daughter lives there."

B125….that's……daughter? Neela! These are Neela's parents! Ray blinked a couple of times letting this new bit of info sink in. "Oh, you're looking for Neela, yeah she lives here." Ray replied stepping back and gesturing to them to come in.

"Hi, I'm Ray, I work with Neela at the hospital. " Ray said smiling at them, thinking his name would sound familiar to them; Neela probably mentioned him to them.

They just stared back at him in bewilderment. Clearly she didn't, he mused, feeling slightly disappointed.

Clearing his throat, Ray tried to make small talk, while waiting for his roommate to come out of the bathroom. "So you're visiting here from India?"

"England," her mother responded, giving him a look remarkably similar to the ones that Neela had given him on more than one occasion.

"Oh, right." Now I know where Neela gets it from.

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Neela turned off the shower and grabbed her large, fluffy pink towel as she stepped out of the tub. Much better.

Feeling content, she got ready to leave the bathroom, when she suddenly heard voices coming from outside the bathroom. Listening closely, she made out one of the voices as Ray's, couldn't quite place the others.

He'd better not have brought that tart home with him!

Debating on what to do - because she didn't want to be caught in front of Ray and his guests in just her towel - Neela opened the door slightly. Ray had his back to her, talking to two people she couldn't quite see.

Taking a deep breath, Neela decided to just make a run for it; if she was lucky all they would see was a pink blur.

Neela opened the bathroom door and ran. She'd almost made it to her room when she heard of very familiar, distinct voice yell out.

"Neela!"

She turned around in shock, looking back at her parents and Ray, who were all watching her in varying degrees of surprise.

"Mum! Dad!"