hey guys, sorry I haven't up-dated recently. Just a note;I don't really know anything about Sikh death rites, or their posistion on the death of a mother, thus I am making it up. I apologise if it is entirely inaccurate, and I offend anyone. Enjoy

Neela's point of view

Neela was on the plane back to Chicago. She had spent a hectic week in London, and was now returning home, to attempt to reconcile herself with the death of Michael. Reconciling herself to her mother and brother's fate had been particularly difficult, especially with all their relatives around. She was lucky she wasn't the eldest, and her father hadn't ordered her to stay in London to look after the family. That fate had fallen to her sister, but, with her sister's impending marriage, she knew that he could order her back at any time.

When she arrived at Chicago airport, there other people's family and friends, reuniting with hugs and kisses, but no one there to meet her. She felt an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, collecting her baggage, and hailing a cab. When she eventually arrived at the apartment, it was 8 o'clock, and Ray was no where to be seen. 'Typical' she thought, and set out unpacking.

Ray's POV; an hour later

He hadn't expected her home till the next day, so when he undid the lock on their door, and saw her light on, he spooked. He knew she'd been through a lot, and didn't want to startle her with more bad news, so he tried to walk in casually, grabbing a beer from the fridge and selecting a microwave meal from the freezer. He pulled the packaging off as quietly as he could, but when he shut the door of the microwave it made an almighty crash, and Neela came to see what was up.

"I was trying not to disturb you" said Ray seeing her red, puffy eyes.

"Yeah, it really worked" snapped Neela. This wasn't Neela, she was acting temperamental and agitated. Ray was used to the cool, unemotional Neela, and almost jumped backwards.

"Do you want anything," Ray offered. "Food? Drink?" Neela shock her head. "Oh, come on, you have to have something to drink." He poured a glass of water and handed it to her. Reluctantly she took it and downed it, handing it back to Ray and walking back to her room.

Neela's POV

The next day the tension was still ripe in their apartment. Ray slept in, he'd be working night's for the rest of the week, but Neela was back working that day, and had to get up. Sorting through the post, she found a letter from the hospital, with Ray's name on it. She'd forgotten that he'd been in hospital, and she still didn't know the truth about why. Waking him to demand an answer would be cruel, so she went to the hospital mulling it over in her mind.

Everyone was very helpful at the hospital, Susan asking her on a number of occasions if she really wanted to be there. They gave her a card expressing their condolences, and though she admitted they were all very kind, she spent most of the day in her head. Pratt told her that Michael's parents had received his body and that the funeral would be the following Saturday. Abby tried to cheer her up, joking about how short-staffed they'd been that week, but no one could make her even pretend to smile.

When Ray came in, at their shift change, Neela avoided him as much as she could. She found that hour completely unbearable, but when Sam realised she was still there and sent her home, she bumped into Ray in the ambulance bay. She tried to dash past him, but he saw here and shouted "Neela". She attempted to pretend she didn't hear him, but he caught up to her, and said "we need to talk."

"I know, just, not right now, OK."

"Will I see you at home?"

"Maybe."

Neela avoided his glare and walked off toward the el train station.

Ray's POV

His shift was a nightmare too. He wanted to tell her, didn't know how, and spent the whole time trying not to think about it. When he got home, she was asleep, and he knew he couldn't wake her. 'Is this how it's going to be?' he thought. 'Avoiding the situation because we can't face the consequences.' He had read his letter that morning, but he read it again. It was good news, they'd accepted him for the study, but it warned him that it wouldn't prolong his life by much. 'well that's a nice thing to put in a letter'.

He munched down some food, and attempted to watch the TV, falling asleep in the middle of the news. His eyes flicked open at around 6.00, his body aching from the awkward position he'd slept in. He heard Neela, up and moving around, and muttered to himself, 'time to face the music.'

Upside-down dreamer. xx