Let's play The Disclaimer Game. Here's how it goes--you guess if I own the ER characters. Was your answer yes? Go back ot chapter 1 and read the disclaimer. If you said no, you're a smart cookie, and you win a smiley face :)

A/N: Just FYI, I was going through and combined 2 of the later chapters, so there will be 15 not 16 like it says in the beginning. And apparently you can't use brackets, so Neela's thoughts will be bold instead! I'd change these things in the first A/N, but I don't know how...

THANK YOU all who gave reviews! It made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside that instead of doing work, I am updating!

I.6. Neela

"Neela?" He had to shout over the rain. She didn't move. Oh god, she isn't even wearing a long sleeved shirt! He got a little closer, "Neela!" he shouted again. Still no movement. When he reached her, he put his hand on her shoulder, and said her name again, a little more gently. She was freezing. Jerry said she left 3 hours ago. "Neela!" he shouted once more putting both of his hand on her shoulders, forcing her to sit up. Her head jerked up at the sudden movement, and she looked straight through his eyes. He was looking into hers and saw nothing but pain and sadness.

Don't waste your time Ray. Go home and be happy. Without me.

He had seen her upset before, but never this kind of reaction. "Neela, Jerry said you left three hours ago…have you been out here for three hours?" he asked urgently. She closed her eyes, squeezing them shut, as though she was ashamed. He took this to be a yes.

Oh god, Neela…C'mon Ray, now it's your turn to know what to say! No words came to his mind…rendered speechless for the second time that hour.

He quickly took off his coat and wrapped it around her. The rain was so heavy his clothes were soaked through within a minute. He pulled her to her feet a little too forcefully. She stood, and tripped forward from the force. Regaining her balance she allowed herself to be pulled along, with Ray's arm around her shoulders. He held onto her to keep her upright, to steer her, and to keep her as close as he could to him.

When they got to the car, he maneuvered her into the front seat, with very little help from her. He ran around to the other side, and got in the driver's seat. He immediately turned on the heat, cursing it because for the first minute it was cold. He hadn't given the car time to heat up, and he knew that he was impatient and irrational. He was tired and dealing with Samantha's situation was challenging, and finding Neela in her current state didn't help matters. It scared him more than anything.

He was thankful there was no traffic, but the ride home seemed to take forever anyway. The sound of the heat blowing on high and the crashing of the rain on the roof of the car, combined with the screaming of his thoughts tormented him. Should I have taken her back into the ER? Does she already have hypothermia? Will she be okay? What if I do something wrong? What if I fuck up the thing that matters most in my life? What if…? The 'what ifs' took over his brain. He had seen her upset, everyone had difficult patients at one time or another; they had all lost some traumas, that was the nature of working in an ER. This, however, was far beyond that. He looked over at her. She sat staring straight ahead. Her hands clutched the cuffs of Ray's drenched coat.

Ray was never happier to see an empty parking space in front of the apartment building. With some difficulty, he managed to get Neela out of the car and up the stairs into the building. Do we have an elevator? I've never noticed one. Can Neela make it up the stairs? She was moving less and less on her own, depending on him more with every step. Oh, there's an elevator! He always thought hospital elevators were slow. This was agonizing. He held Neela close to himself, but knew that between the wet clothes and the fact that he was getting cold, he was not helping warm her. Finally the elevator came. The lift. She calls it a lift. The thought brought a smile to his face; he loved hearing her British idioms and words. What is wrong with you Ray? That is not what you should be thinking about!

Once they were in the apartment he took off his soaked shoes and socks then peeling his coat off of her threw it in the pile of his footwear on the floor.

"Neela, you've got to change into dry clothes. Really you should take a warm shower first."

I don't care. I am numb, and I want to freeze.

Why did you wait until now to start talking about this? You've had an entire car trip and elevator ride to figure this out, you shouldn't be standing at the door trying to figure this out!

"Neela, c'mon." Nothing. She just stood there. "Neela, if you don't do this, then I will." She gave a slight nod. "You're going to do this?" She ever so slightly shook her head. "You want me to?" He got an almost imperceptible nod in return. He wasn't even sure she nodded, and maybe he was just seeing what he wanted to see. But she needed to get warm. Sooner rather than later.