A/N: I made you wait for this chappie because of a family death. But know I'm doing better and so, I will continue in this story.
In this chapter I will be going back in to Neela's past for most of the chapter, but not all of it. Her story of her brother is similar to mine, everything the same except for the fact mine is still fighting between life and death, and we are still praying that he will make it through.
But enough of me, on to the chapter…
Chapter 6: Her Little Angel –
"Can you hear me?
Am I getting through tonight?
Can you see him?
Can you make him feel alright?
If you can hear me
Let me take his place somehow…"
- Mark Schultz: He's my Son
While the doctors were frantically trying to revive Neela, her subconscious went back to the time when she was a teenager. Very few new why Neela had left England for an internship in America. But her story is similar to many as to why they leave their home countries for another. She left because of the same reasons Luka left. Someone she loved dearly had died and she needed- or rather wanted- to forget the pain and start anew.
Her baby brother was a very sickly child. He was always in and out of the hospital for one reason or another. But for the most part his main sickness involved his stomach and his intestines, rendering him unable to eat or drink anything because he would just throw it right back up. So for all of his short little life, he was put on a feeding tube.
Although he only lived to see four, Kuti's life impacted many. People would see him laughing and dancing and wonder what it was that made this child who was stuck on a feeding tube so happy. Nobody knew for sure, but he was Neela's core happiness. Kuti was Neela's little angel. All she had to do was hold him in her arms and he'd smile at her, and she never felt happier anywhere else. Kuti was Neela's strength and her joy, and if someone thought ill of him, she'd make sure they understood his poor life.
But Kuti's life wasn't always happy. Or at least not for those who had to watch him suffer. Neela had many sleepless nights in fear that Kuti wouldn't wake up one night. She'd find herself late at night in his room, watching him sleep. Every time his chest rose and fell, she was reassured that he was still alive.
And like all angels, it was soon time for him to return back to heaven. Neela remembered that night clear as day. Kuti had been put back it to the hospital for an infection a couple weeks ago and it wasn't getting any better. He had Suta Monas, natural bacteria found in anyone's gut, but because his never moved; it grew dangerously and found its way into his blood stream. It affected his blood clotting, causing bruises to appear everywhere.
A fever grew suddenly, so quick and so fast that doctors and nurses began to appear out of nowhere, trying to cool him off. Neela remembered standing with her parents feeling so helpless. All she wanted to do was run to him and hold his little hand and tell him that everything was going to be alright, but of course, it wasn't going to be. Kuti was crying fitfully, both tired and scared.
But despite all the doctors' attempts, the fever rose too high and it took his life. Kuti stopped crying and laid completely still, the heart monitor screaming in the background. The doctors called his time of death and let Neela and her parents see him one last time. Neela didn't hear anything; she couldn't believe that her angel had left her once and for all. She just ran to his bedside and held his hand. His chest didn't rise and fall anymore, but she thought it was all a dream. She kept trying to wake up and find him still in his bed at home alive and well. For two weeks she couldn't eat or sleep. It was then that she knew that she had to leave England. Her little angel was gone. Her strength and her joy went with him.
Many times her mother found her fast asleep in Kuti's bed; curled up because it was so small and her face was tear-stained. Ira, her younger sister, was too young to join them at the hospital and so she stayed with her aunt until Neela and her parents got back the next morning. Ira was ten and really didn't know whether or not her parents where telling them that they were telling the truth that her brother wasn't coming home.
-0-0-0-
Mean while, Ray was loosing his angel. They already had a tube down her throat and where giving her compressions.
"Neela… Come on Neela. You've gotta wake up."
But it didn't seem that she could hear her. Suddenly he saw a tear fall from her closed eye and run down her cheek. What was this? People don't cry when they're unconscious.
"Pratt... look… she's crying."
"Ray I think that you need to get some shut-eye; people don't cry when they're unconscious." But even as Pratt said it, he looked and saw that her face was now tear-streaked. "What the-?"
-0-0-0-
"Wake up Neela," Kuti said to her. "Somebody needs you to wake up."
"Kuti…?"
"You're not dead yet, but you still need to wake up."
"Oh, Kuti, I've missed you so much. I love you."
"I love you too, Neela. But you need to wake up. It's not you're time to go yet."
"Kuti, you've grown so much since the last time I saw you."
"Just because you're dead doesn't mean you stop growing in the after-life. My body is different than the one that is still buried in England. Oh, Neela please don't cry. Aren't you glad to see me?"
"Of course I am, Kuti. I just wish you were still here alive with me."
"I'll always be with you. Don't you remember the song you used to sing to me?"
"… And in dreams we shall nev'r part."
"That's right. I'll be right here in you're dreams."
"Time to go, Neela."
"Good-bye, Kuti."
"Bye Neela."
-0-0-0-
Then Neela opened her eyes. Instead of being in her apartment, she was in the ER. Then she felt the tube in her throat and began viscously trying to pull in out. Ray grabbed her hand and told her not to pull it out. She knew that she shouldn't pull it out, but it was human instinct to want to.
It was like nothing was wrong in the first place. Her vitals and everything else went back to completely normal. Ray held her hand, and told her that everything was going to be alright. And of course it was; his angel had come back to him. It was then that Neela remembered the phone called she got telling her that Michael had died. At first she thought it was just a dream, a horrible nightmare that she woke up from. But it wasn't.
Everything hit her like a train. It came crashing into her and she didn't know how to deal with it. She hadn't had to deal with the pain of losing Kuti for the longest time. And know Michael was dead. So, it had to come out somewhere and just as it did anytime something came her way that she couldn't handle, she threw it all up. And then, it was Niagara Falls from there.
She was a mess, she was crying horribly, and she was embarrassed that she couldn't keep everything down. But Ray understood. Right now she needed Ray and he was ok with that. He had forgotten for the time being that she had hurt him, but she wasn't running from him this time and she wasn't leaving. Or at least until she was well enough to handle herself on her own. Now was not a time for confessions. There was always later.
A/N: And so this chapter comes to a close. I hope you haven't minded waiting for this chapter, and to make it up to you guys for being so patient I'm already working on the 7th chapter. Don't forget to review, I'm dying to know what you think.
