Standard disclaimers applied. See Prologue for further details.

Author's Note: Ash asked me in her review as to the reaction of Ray's father... here is a short blurb about it below.


Chapter 15: The Secrets of Jane Doe

Whatever took place between Neela and Cynthia remained between the two women involved. Ray was just glad that his mom was opened to the idea of having Neela around. Although, he was rather indignant to find his mom pulling out embarrassing baby pictures for Neela to see the very next day as the two women shared a round of freshly brewed coffee.

The next couple of days Ray took Neela around Beaufort. It was all very nostalgic. She saw his old high school to the corner store that sold ice cream year around. There were places that he couldn't bring himself to take her yet: the cemetery and the part of the pier that Landon had took Jamie to on their first date. Neela did not begrudge him for doing so. "I will one of these days," he promised.

"I'll be waiting," as she offered her smile.

"Thanks for understanding," he whispered as he cupped her cheeks in thanks.

They almost didn't want to return to Chicago, but nevertheless, they had their jobs waiting for them when they returned to the Wind City.

On the plane, Ray had teased Neela for her early apprehensions about going down to Beaufort. "See, I told you everything would work out."

"It's easy for you to say, now that everything is over."

"True, everything still end up working out, so I was right."

Neela only answered with the slight rolling of her eyes.

"C'mon, don't I get a prize," Ray implored as he traced invisible circles on Neela's arm.

"Stop, that tickles," she chided pulling her arm away. "I think your gloating is enough of a reward."

"Neela ..."

"Ray ..."

"Neela ..."

"Ray ..." she said resolutely.

Ray seeing that Neela was unrelenting conceded that it was a battle lost.

"You give up too easily," Neela smirked as she settled further into her seat for the plane ride home.

However inside Neela was relieved of the fact that she had gained the approval of at least one of Ray's parents. Ray had been right when he said that his mom was very down-to-earth. There were times when she wished that she had such a close bond with her own family. As much as she loved and respected her parents, the close knitted relationship that Ray had with his mom was seemingly lacking in her own. She wondered what their reaction would be when she told them that she was dating Ray, no doubt their reactions would be very different that Cynthia Carter's. Her thoughts drifted to Worth Daniel Carter (1), Ray's father.

Ray had initially wanted to invite his father down to Beaufort with them, but Worth Carter was currently in Philadelphia for a medical symposium. However, Ray had reassured her that his dad was receptive to the relationship and was looking forward to visiting them in Chicago later on in the month.

"The only thing that he asked me was whether you knew how to cook," Ray had jokingly told her, "Why does everyone think I'm incompetent with the stove?"

"That's because you are incompetent with a stove. Trust me, Ray stick with your guitars and stay away from the spatula."

-o-o-

It was a cruel day when they returned to work after slacking off from work. Fuelled by the cup of caffeine in her hand, Neela trudged into the ER. She was greeted by a twenty-something year old trauma patient and the familiar face of Tony Gates.

"Hey Mayday, Twenty-something year old Caucasian female, found unconscious. Possible OD. BP 80/60. Pulse 50. Resp 10. Seizured once on route."

"Possible?"

"Likely. She was found with a bunch of empty syringes and no positive ID."

"Alright, trauma room 2 is opened."

On their way to the trauma room, Gates had the audacity to say, "Mayday, did you work yourself to the ground here?"

Neela only answered with a raise of her eyebrow. "Good to see you too, Gates."

-o-o-

Three suture kits later, Ray came out exam room shaking his head. The patient had been less than pleased to have a male doctor to do "embroidery" on her. Ray could only pray for a quick recovery when he returned to the admission desk.

Jerry was on the phone as Ray studied the board. "We have everything from projectile vomiting to unexplained rashes to frequent flyers. Take your pick," Jerry said when he hang up.

"Where's Neela?"

"Trauma room 2 with a newly admitted Jane Doe. Carter is in there too."

"What?"

"Some twenty-something year old got admitted on an OD. No positive ID. I was on the phones trying to see if anybody had reported a missing person."

"Alright, tell Neela that I would see her later," Ray replied as he grabbed a random chart.

"Which one did you get?" Jerry called back.

Ray spared a glance down on his chart to say, "Exam room 1 ... projectile vomiting."

-o-o-

Totally relieved of the fact that he had came out of the exam room relatively unscathed, Ray went to check on Neela. She was back to attending to her OD trauma patient. Ray intercepted Chuny who was returning with the toxicology reports and the results from the lab. "Let me grab those for ya, Chuny. I think Pratt needs some help over in Exam 4, something about frequent flyers."

Neela looked up from the monitors at the sound of Ray's entrance. She offered a smile at the same time as Ray glanced up from the reports in his hand. His face was indiscernible, but Neela quickly realized that something was wrong. Ray paid no attention as Neela took the papers in his hand. His attention was on the unconscious form of the woman lying on the bed.

"Ray? What's wrong?"

Not receiving an answer, Neela skimmed through the reports and let out a sigh at the findings. "Ray?" she attempted again to draw his attention.

He swallowed hard and managed to ask, "Still no ID on her."

Without waiting for an answer, he began searching with his eyes until he settled on the shallow part of her neck. Pulling down the gown slightly, there revealed a small tattoo of a skull. Snapping his head back at Neela, Ray said, "Tell Jerry to look up the name, Zoe ..."

Ray was chewing on his bottom lip when Neela returned with a positive ID on their former Jane Doe. A few rounds of phone calls later, Neela was itching for Ray's side of the story. He had been evasive and knowing the results of the lab test, her level of anxiety heightened. Stepping into exam room three, the room that Zoe had been transferred to after stabilizing her, Neela was apprehensive about how to start the conversation.

Ray was sitting at a nearby chair, but looked up to acknowledge her presence, "Neela."

"Ray. Talk to me, how did you know this girl?"

He sighed at her question. "Zoe had been one of the rare girlfriends that I had back in med school. I wouldn't even call it dating because we just hooked up one night with a couple of friends after one of my gigs. We hang out with my bandmates but any relationship that we may have had didn't last. She wasn't my type and I wasn't ready to commit. She wouldn't take no for answer and started hanging out at my dorm, at my gigs, around the campus. The one thing that was distinct about her was that skull tattoo that she had near the base of her neck.."

"So what happened?"

"One night, my bandmates and I went out for a couple of drinks. I was totally stressed and wasted after a couple of rounds. I was ready to take a cab home when Zoe just appeared out of nowhere and just started kissing me. I don't remember much after that, except that I woke up the next morning in my own bed with a killer hangover."

"Ray, how long ago was this?"

"Not long ..."

"But she's ..."

"I know. I read the reports."

"You remember nothing about that night?"

"I woke up naked in my apartment, Neela. I couldn't have known at the time."

Zoe was HIV positive.

End of Chapter 15


AN: I know I'm being mean. Short chapter and a cliffhanger... please give me your thoughts as to the progress of the story.

(1) In previous chapters, I had said that the name Landon / Ray's father was Daniel / Dan Carter. A slight modification is made her because some of the reviewers had kindly let me know that the original novel & movie indicated the actual name to beWorth Carter. I just combined both because I don't want to go back and change everything.