Disclaimer: Not mine. Though I did have a dream where Jonny Was played at my school and then Shane West drove me home because our entire bus missed the bus. Weird.
A/N: Happy belated Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa everyone:D My present to all of you is part 5 of 'Some Wounds Run Too Deep.' Hope you like it!
The phone rang in the apartment and Neela picked it up saying, "Hello?" "Hi, Neela? This is Dr. Carter."
"Dr. Carter?" Neela asked into the phone. "What is it?" She heard Carter sigh on the other end of the phone. "I think you should come to County. It's Ray."
"Oh god," Neela breathed. "What happened?"
"He was in an accident. Right now he's in the OR, but you should probably be here in case he wakes up." Neela nodded (more to herself than Carter because he was on the phone.) "Okay. I'll get there as soon as I can."
"Bye." "Bye."
Hanging up the phone, Neela sighed. "What have you gotten yourself into, Ray?" she wondered out loud to herself. Grabbing her purse, she made to leave. Before she did, she thought of something. Picking up the phone again, she dialed a number. After three rings, the person on the other end picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Bret. It's Neela."
Neela stood outside the ER waiting for Bret. A few minutes later, she saw him running toward her. "How is he?" Bret asked as soon as hereached her. "I don't know," Neela said shaking her head. "I haven't gone in yet."
"Well, come on," Bret said impatiently, walking purposefully into County. The doctor quickly hurried after him. Rushing to get there before Bret, Neela reached the admit desk. "Where is he?" she asked Jerry. "Who?"
"I swear, Jerry—"
"Neela," Carter said coming over to them "He's up in ICU, but he's probably not awake. Nodding (this time to Carter), Neela said, "Thanks," before heading toward the elevators, Bret following quickly behind her.
When they reached ICU, Neela inquired about Ray. She and Bret headed toward Ray's room. Following the directions given, she quickly found him. Upon seeing Ray's condition, Neela gasped. He had an IV in his left arm. The other lay across his stomach in a cast. He had also fractured his collar bone and dislocated his knee. His head was wrapped in gauze and to top it all off, he was breathing off of a ventilator due to a collapsed lung.
"Oh man, Barnett," Bret breathed. Fighting back tears, Neela entered the room and sat in a chair next to him. "Oh, Ray," Neela sighed, stroking his cheek. Tears ran down her cheeks, clouding her vision.
She sat there for a few minutes, taking in Ray's condition, mentally assessing the damage. Bret stood behind her, worry for his friend and band member consuming him. Standing, Neela whispered to Bret, "Let's go. He probably won't be waking for a while."
Two weeks later, Ray woke from his coma, yet he was extremely groggy and unaware of his surroundings because of a concussion. So for the next couple of days, all he did was sleep. He wasn't allowed to have any visitors, so his friends and colleagues waited.
Four days later, he was breathing well enough on his own to be off of the ventilator, but he would occasionally need an oxygen mask. That afternoon, a nurse came into Ray's room and told him that someone was there to see him. Hoping it was Bret or even Neela, he looked toward the door. He was a bit surprised to find Wendal walking into the room.
"Hi, Ray," she said, walking over to his bed. "Hi," he rasped out in slight surprise. "Mind if I sit down?" she asked him. Ray shook his head as much as was allowed in his condition. Pulling over the chair, Wendal sat next to the bed. "So, how are you?"
"Fine," Ray replied sincerely. Nodding, Wendal said, "Everyone down in the ER is worried about you." "I'm fine." Shaking her head, Wendal said, "Not about your physical being, exactly, but your…life. They noticed you were acting weird the other day. Want to tell me what's going on?"
This is all because I accidentally donated that one guy's organs, Ray thought jokingly, isn't it? Sighing, Ray replied, "I was just… having an off day. That's all. Nothing out of the ordinary." Not really believing him, but not wanting to press the matter, Wendal said, "All right, But if you ever want to talk about anything, I'm here." Yeah, because that's your job, Ray thought as he said goodbye to Wendal. Sighing again, Ray closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep.
Back down in the ER, Wendal was talking to Abby, Neela, and Carter. "Well," she said, explaining her talk with Ray, "he said it was just an off day, but I don't believe him, and I'm sure you don't either. I couldn't get anything out of him, but maybe one of you can."
"I'll talk to him," Neela said. "See if he'll tell me anything. If not, I could always get Bret to. I'm sure he wouldn't mind." The others nodded and Carter said, "All right. You can go later. We're not that busy, so missing one doctor for a while won't be too bad."
A couple hours later, Neela visited Ray. Walking into the room, she smiled when she saw that he was awake. "Ray," she said, catching his attention. Turning to her, he replied, "Hey." Pulling the chair over to the bed, Neela sat with Ray.
"Hey, Ray?" Neela asked him after a couple of minutes. "Yeah?" Sighing, Neela ventured to ask, "What happened?" Eyeing her suspiciously, Ray replied, "What do you mean?"
"With the accident," Neela clarified. "It was a car accident, Neela. They happen sometimes. You're a doctor, you know that." Neela sighed again. "You know what I mean, Ray."
"Actually, I—"
"Your shift wasn't even close to over. You should have been in County, not a car." "I...had a gig," Ray told her with an air of uncertainty. "Yeah, right." Neela said. "If you had a gig, then why was Bret home? I'm not stupid, Ray. I know you didn't tell Wendal everything. But you can tell me, Ray. I'm here for you."
Ray looked away from his room mate, not wanting to tell her about his past. A couple of tears sprang to his eyes.
"Ray?" Neela asked in concern. Quickly blinking them away, Ray replied, "It's nothing." Relenting, Neela said, "Okay. But, you know, Ray, whatever this is, it'll help you to talk about it. Oh, and Ray?"
"Yeah?" "You need to get better soon. Things aren't the same without you. The apartment's actually clean. And quiet. And I don't come home to find random guys in my apartment." Ray laughed at her jest at him, which turned out to be a mistake. It soon turned into a coughing fit which resulted in him not being able to breathe. "Oh, god," Neela said. "Hold on, Ray." Running to the door, she yelled for someone to come and help. A nurse ran into the room. Moving to check on Ray, Neela stopped her. "I don't know what they're giving him for it, but he can't breathe."
Nodding in understanding, the nurse gave Ray oxygen and then checked his vitals. "Just relax and breathe, Ray," Neela said, soothing him. As his fit began to subside, the nurse left the room. Moving some hair off of his face, Neela asked Ray, "Are you okay?" His eyes closed, Ray simply nodded in response.
A/N: So… a bit of Ray/Neela going on there. Hmmm. I wonder what's going to happen. Well, actually, I don't. But you might!