Standard disclaimers applied. See Part I for further details.

Author's Note & Synopsis: Sorry to take so long to get this next chapter out. I actually had it written for awhile but I never got around to posting it. The rating had been changed again to a rating of M, now that I have decided to continue this. Thank you for all those who checked out Part I. I have originally thought of this as a Carter/Deb relationship but now that I think about it, I'm going to make this in conjunction with a Reela as well. That way Ray/Neela fans would get their dose of fluffiness.

I would like to clarify while I take some things from the series, the sequence of certain elements will be changed accordingly to fit my story. Consider this fic to be AU and the next part of the story continues from where we left off from the last chapter.

Secrets of the Night

A MORNING OF REVELATIONS

She woke up to the feeling of heat upon her face. She slowly pried her eyes opened and winced at the sunbeam penetrating through the blinds. As she came into consciousness, she was aware of the heaviness on her chest. Then, she remembered the events from the night before as chills ran through her. She shifted herself, hoping to find a more comfortable position despite the weight of her husband on top of her. However, she was not careful in her attempt to not wake him, as his muffled voice was heard, "Deb, go back to sleep."

Dr. Jing-Mei "Deb" Chen, or rather Carter, lovingly stroked the top of her husband's head. "John, it's ten in the morning."

"Who cares? We got the day off," he murmured

"Yes, I hate to waste it in bed."

"Tired of me already?" he asked in mock alarm as he raised himself abruptly from his position on top of her.

"Maybe, what are you going to do about?"

She used the moment of surprise to extricate herself from him, wincing slightly as her body protested against her movements. Her eyes narrowed at her husband's smug expression. Wrapping herself in one of the bedsheets, she turned and winked at him before saying, "I'm going to take a shower."

John Carter stared at the closed door of the bathroom for a moment, debating whether or not, he should join Deb in her shower. His wife - the thought baffled him at times. He considered himself to be immensely lucky to find such an incredible woman to marry him. It wasn't for the lack of interest from his female counterparts; he almost proposed to Dr. Abby Lockhart before. He treasured his time with Abby, no matter how turbulent they were. However, there was something about Deb Chen that gave him stability.

She challenged him to be a better doctor, from their rivalry back in medical school till now, as colleagues of County. She understood the pressures of coming from a rich family, the desire to carve an identity out of the mould of a family name. She would never judge him for his past, always the confidante and silent second-mate. She too, had her secrets, liked the adoption of Michael to the debacle with Kerry and being the Chief Resident. He saw her for the passionate woman that she was, beyond the ever-collected ER doctor that she portrayed. He remembered the day when he decided that Deb was the woman that he wanted to be his wife.

A gun was pointed at her temple. The other time that he felt such helplessness was when he stared into the dying face of Lucy Knight. At this present moment, Carter realized with despair that he could not imagine his life without Deb in it. He was mad at himself when Pratt went to comfort the distraught Chinese woman. However, that did not stop him from looking for her at the end of the shift.

He knew that he would find her on the roof, in what she called his "personal self-pity corner" (1). She had been expecting him to come after her, so it was no surprised that she fell into his welcome arms at the sound of his approach. She half cried and half poured out her fears, "Oh John ... I was so scared ... I thought I was going to die ...I thought ... that I ..."

"Thought what, Deb?"

She pulled away from him and refused to meet his gaze. Gathering his resolve, he said, "Deb, I was scared too. I thought that I was going to lose you back there. I just couldn't imagine what would happen if he ..."

"I'm here now, John. It's fine."

"No, it's not!" He debated whether it was an appropriate time to let her know of his epiphany. Then, he decided to plunge head on before he lost his nerve.

"You don't understand, Deb! Everything isn't fine. You could have died back there, not knowing."

"Not knowing what, John?" He had her full attention now.

"About my feelings for you, Deb. You could have died not knowing that I love you. I'm sorry that it took a gun to your head for me to figure it out."

She was stunned. There was so much to say, but she could not make out a coherent sentence. He mistook her silence for a rejection. He was half way to the door, before she ran after him and crushed him with a kiss. Actions replaced words and they had known each other for too long to let frivolous sayings speak for what was true in their hearts. She felt the same.

When they finally broke to catch their breaths, he whispered into her ear, "Marry me."

Rendered speechless for the second time that night, she stared stupidly at the man before her. He cocked his head in amusement before getting down on one knee, "Deb, would you marry me and make me the happiest man in the world?"

She came out of the shower with a tower wrapped around her still-damped her. She was tying her robe as she was stepping into her bedroom again. She leaned against the doorframe to find her husband with a confounded expression on his face.

"What are you thinking about?" He jumped at the sound of her voice and she got a perverse pleasure of scaring him out of his thoughts.

"My proposal to you" was his reply before getting up from the bed. He kissed her softly on the cheek on his way to use the shower.

She wondered at his choice of topic and like so many times before, she often wondered if he regretted asking her to marry him.

When she got over her shock, she realized that she still hadn't answered his question yet. She knew all the implication and complications of accepting his proposal. John wasn't Asian; he had a history with many women; he knew about Michael. Then, she realized that she didn't care about all of that because she loved John Truman Carter for who he was. So, she said, "Yes, John. I would be your wife."

He swept her up into his arms and twirled her around until she was dizzy with delight. "Don't worry. I'll get you a ring, Deb and make it official."

Their betrothal remained a secret, even after John got her the diamond-studded engagement ring. He had gotten her a matching necklace, so she could wear it hidden beneath her clothes. Their secret kept for over a year after the deaths of Dr. Mark Greene, John's grandfather and Gamma. During the ER lockout, she was quarantined after exposure to two children with suspected small pox. She was thrown into a state of hopelessness and practically broke off the engagement when she thought that John was having feelings for Abby again.

Then when she was cleared of any disease, he had embraced her in such a way that dispelled any fears of his 'infidelity.' "Where would you want to be right now?" he asked as he kissed her.

She jokingly replied that she wanted to get marry in some desolate country in Africa. She didn't think that he was going to take her seriously. However after their shift, he had secured them with day offs from County and onto one of his family's private jets and on their way to Africa. In an unconventional ceremony, they were married by one of the missionary priest in the area.

Her first days as Mrs. John Carter were spent helping the sick people there. The experience was very heart-rendering and she found herself aching for the son that she put up for adoption. She poured her pent up emotions into serving the public, healing hurts and offering comfort. She left Africa with a broaden perspective of the world around her.

When they returned to Chicago as husband and wife, John promised her a honeymoon when there was more time. For now, she and John decided to keep their marriage a secret. Both hated the rumour mill and knew that it would be awkward to suddenly announce their new status. Though it was hard to keep up with the pretense at a professional level, they took great pleasure in enjoying their time as husband and wife. They did not officially move into each other's houses. Sometimes, they would make it back to his mansion but more often than not, John would be at Deb's apartment. It was simpler that way.

Jing-Mei was twisting her wedding band around nervously when she felt his arms wrapping her waist. He was quick to reassure her as he nuzzled her neck. "Come, I thought you said that you didn't want to waste your time in bed."

They made plans to pick up his car back at the mansion and for John to get extra clothes. "Why don't you just move in with me," he whined as they found seats on the crowed subway.

"Because ..." she answered with a kiss on his pouting lips. She pulled away with a smile and then saw out of her peripheral vision a couple doing the same thing, several seats away from them. 'Were we like that last night?' she wondered.

However, there was a sense of familiarity that made her looked twice. She suddenly noted the cropped brown hair of the male and the large black package next to him. It didn't take a genius to figure out who the female was from her long obsidian tresses that were tangled in the man's daft fingers.

Seeing her attention diverted elsewhere, Carter followed his wife's line of vision. His breath hitched in surprise, "Barnett!"

He supposed that he had been louder than he originally thought because Deb smacked him gently on the arm. The man in question looked up and there was recognition in the eyes of Dr. Ray Barnett.

-o-o-

Neela Rasgotra was enjoying the feeling of her fiance's tongue in her mouth after a long midnight shift at County. When she agreed to be roommates with Ray Barnett, it never crossed her mind that one day, she would agree to marry him. If anybody even suggested that she liked him in an intimate sense, she would ordered a psyche consult STAT for the mistaken fool.

However, against all her expectations, she had fallen for him. There was something about his undeniable charm to his determined attitude beneath the flirtatious front that he put on for the adoring fans of his rock band. Likewise for Ray, Neela was far from the girls that he usually dated. Without a doubt, she was intelligent, with a precocious maturity that amazed him. Yet, Ray considered himself privileged to witness the fun and loving side of his roommate. He knew her guilty pleasure for cricket and soccer or as Neela would insist 'football.' He learned the hard way, not to mess with the remote when she was watching those games if he wanted his manhood to remain in one piece. She was obsessive compulsive about keeping the apartment clean, the cupboards stocked, and the noise levels down. She pulled more than her share around the place, especially when it came to calling for apartment repairs.

Often, Neela would mistakenly assume that she had Ray Barnett all figured out, but she was surprised by the multitude of layers that she uncovered over the many months. She decided that she 'dig' rock music, although, she would never quite understand the relationship that he had with his guitars. She thought that he was just a jock who wanted to be a doctor from 9-5, but he was as much as a doctor who wanted to be a jock from 5-9. In other words, she could never completely separate the two entities that made Ray Barnett special and she loved him for that.

Ray knew that Neela was going to be his special girl when she got news of Dr. Michael Gallant's death. She broke down in front of him and Ray realized that he wanted to be the one to comfort her and love one. She blamed herself for Gallant's death and for four painful weeks, Ray watched from the sidelines, as his roommate closed herself off and withdrew from him. Until one rainy day, he snapped on their way up to their apartment. He took her in his arms and ravaged her lips.

"Dammit! I'm here, Neela! I love you for god's sakes. Gallant's dead and he's never coming back. How can I convince that it isn't your fault? I'm here, right now, at this moment and I love you!"

She cried and collapsed into his lean frame. Her body shook against his and she struggled to catch her breath. Ray was sorry for yelling at her but was interrupted when she looked up at him in earnest and pleaded, "Make love to me, Ray."

He wasn't sure that it was such a good idea but when she repeated herself, he nodded and took the woman in his arms. In his hurry, he almost dropped his keys on the way up the stairs. With a triumphant click, he opened the door to their apartment. Without reservation, he pushed the shorter woman against the now-closed front door and proceeded to kiss her thoroughly on the mouth. He pulled her upwards, supporting her weight with the door behind her, as she wrapped her legs around him. Their tongues explored each other, tentatively at first, savouring the feeling before pulling away for air.

"If you wouldn't mind, I would prefer to do this in bed."

He laughed in spite of himself. Trust his Neela to lighten up the situation. "It would probably be more comfortable anyways. Mine or yours?"

"Yours, it's closer to the bathroom anyways."

He didn't comment on the fact that their bedrooms were equal distance from the bathroom, but he did not deny the fact that he was extremely pleased that for their first time, she wanted to make love with him on his bed. She didn't wait for his reply as she conspicuously tugged on his shirt in an attempt to get it off from him. "C'mon, Ray" she pouted.

A trail of clothes were flung carelessly from the door to his bedroom. Neela purposely chose it for the setting as her way of apologizing for her behaviour since Gallant's death. Ray was gentle with her as he laid her on top of the covers. She trusted him and fully submitted herself to his will. "You can't hurt me, Ray."

It was all the incentives that he needed as he straddled her knees and bent to kiss the area above her belly button. Her breath was caught as he kissed along an invisible line upwards to the junction between her breasts. She allowed his lips to continue their assault on the sensitive flesh of her right breast and nipple. His hand made contact with the other mound, squeezing it slightly.

She gasped as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. She arched upwards slightly, unable to move with his added weight on her knees. She was aroused as he gave her left breast the same attention which sent a rush of tingling chills through her body. His lips continued their maddening ascent up her shoulders, neck, before kissing her lips.

She opened her mouth against his, teasing him. Her hand lingered on his bare chest. The temperature of the room rose as their bodies ignited in their lovemaking. Her body called for him, finally succumbing to her desires that was present from the first moments that she moved in with Ray Barnett. His body hovered above hers, seeking the permission that she gave him with only a mere whisper. In ragged breaths, their union was both pleasurable and painful as they rocked in tune until they were driven to oblivion. He didn't pull away at first in his exhaustion but when he finally rolled away from her, his hands easily found hers as they drifted off to sleep.

He proposed to her during one of his gigs. She had said that she was going to work late at County but little did she know, she pulled a favour with Kovac to get off two hours early to come see him. She was hidden in the shadows backstage but she made sure that her presence was known by pulling him behind the curtains into one of the dressing rooms. She was dressed in one of the most revealing clothes that he had seen her wear: a hot pink tube top and a black miniskirt with a pair of black knee high boots to complete the ensemble. She said that Abby made her buy it. While Ray made a mental note to buy Abby a nice present later, he was more nervous about what he was about to do. Getting down on one knee, he said, "Neela, baby, marry me."

"Ray, if you're joking ..."

"I'm not, Neela. I love you. Be my wife."

That was over three weeks ago. Neela had to admit that the trill of keeping their relationship was very exciting. Sometimes, it was painful to be working the same shift but unable to get close to him. However, Ray would compensate by leaving her notes in her locker or following her to the drug cabinet for a "second opinion." He did this with the fullest intention of feeling her butt or leaving careless caresses when nobody was watching.

At this present moment, she had been perfectly happy just kissing him. Her fingers traced his newest tattoo. He had gotten her name, along with their engagement date tattooed on his body. "That way I won't forget it. Besides, if any other chicks saw it, they'll know that I'm already taken," he had said.

Suddenly, he pulled away. Somebody had called out his name. He looked up and stared disbelievingly in front of him. Neela twisted her body around and realized that she and Ray had been caught making out on the subway by doctors Carter and Chen!

End of A MORNING OF REVELATIONS

AN: How was that? I really tried to make it work with the Carter/Deb & Reela into it. Please let me know by r/r.

(1) "self-pity corner" That was the expression that was used in my other fic, The Simplicity of It which is a Carter/Deb friendship fic.