It tears me up
To see the way that he treats you
To see the way that he brings you
Down and down
He's turning you inside out
It breaks me up
To see the way that you take it
To see the way that he spins you
Round and round
Turning you upside down
"MOCKINGBIRD"
Darius
Ray didn't feel like staying in the apartment after his talk with Neela and he found himself at Parker's Pub. A few beers never hurt. In fact, he found they helped a lot more than they hurt. He was confused about what had just happened.
"Barnett!" He snapped when he heard Gallant's voice. The young doctor sat next to him. "How's Neela doing? I'm sorry I couldn't comfort her, but she needs to know that we lose patients as doctors. We can't save them all, can we?" He sipped his beer.
Ray didn't really like Gallant. Not just because Neela was dating him, but he had this seemingly inability to connect with Neela. He held his feelings to himself as he sipped his beer. "She's home, sleeping."
Gallant looked at Ray. They shared the mutual dislike of each other. Gallant didn't like the fact that Neela, his girlfriend, was living with Ray. Ray isn't a real doctor. When is everyone going to figure that out? All he cares about is earning money for that goddamned band of his and a recording contract. "Did she say anything to you?"
"Nope." Ray lied.
"I should go see her."
"You do what you think is best." Ray never took his eyes off the taps behind the bar. He wanted to get drunk. He wanted to forget the desire she awoke in him. He wanted to forget her. She was too involved with Gallant and she wouldn't let go.
Ray studied the chart of the young man that he was seeing. Something wasn't right about his chart. "Luka?" Ray looked up.
"What is it, Ray?" The tall Croatian doctor looked at the tall South Chicago doctor.
"Nothing in this chart seems right. I'm wondering if it's just me or…"
Luka grabbed the chart. He hmmm'd and haa'd over it before handing it back. "It doesn't make sense. But, are you seeing a pattern?"
Ray looked at Luka, puzzled, ready to answer when the mother of the young patient came running out. "Doctor! My boy. I don't know what happened. He was fine and then all of a sudden, well…come check!" The mother sounded frantic.
Ray made his way back to the exam room. He looked at the little boy and then to Sam. "Sam, see if we can get a bed in Peds for the night." He looked at the worried mother. "We will have to keep him overnight for observation. He's pretty bad right now."
A few minutes later, Sam re-entered the exam room. "We're all set for Peds." She explained everything she could to the mother. "He'll be well cared for and you can spend the night."
Ray made his way back to the Admin Desk, where Neela was filling out the last of one of her charts. She looked up at Ray. Since they talked last night, he hadn't said two words to her. She began to wonder what was eating him. "Ray, we've got to talk." She whispered as she stood next to him.
"You said all you needed to last night." He never took his eyes off the chart.
"You find the problem?" Luka's voice interrupted.
Ray looked up at him. "The boy?" Luka nodded. "Yeah. Munchausen's."
"Are you sure?" Luka seemed shocked.
"Look at his chart, Luka. Nothing adds up. The boy's fine when I see him and then suddenly, he takes a turn for the worse."
"Have you admitted him?" Luka pressed.
"Yeah. Overnight observation."
"Reasoning?" Luka signed a chart.
Ray sighed. "Severe asthma."
"They bought it?" Luka smiled.
Ray smiled back. "Sam's a good convincer." He winked.
Ray made his way to the Staff Lounge and Neela followed him. She caught his arm. "We have to talk."
"Not here. Not now." Ray was uncharacteristically cold towards her.
"Fine. When?"
"When you're ready to talk." Ray opened the door to leave.
"You can't just leave me like this, Ray." Neela tried to keep from yelling.
"Like you left me last night?" Ray closed the door and faced her. "You use him as an excuse. Tell me, where was he when you needed to be held last night? When you needed to be comforted? TELL ME!" He felt his anger rising. "I'm not some toy, Neela, that you can play with at your will. But, then again, what happened didn't really happen, did it?" He left, leaving Neela in near tears.
