The end of their first year as medical students was only two months away and while Ray and Abby had decided to stay in emergency medicine, Neela found herself contemplating her decision to go into surgery more and more often.
One afternoon, Neela was in the doctor's lounge, thinking. She was making a pro and con list, but so far she hadn't come up with much. Sighing heavily, she rubbed her aching eyes. "When did this get so difficult? Oh yeah, three months ago." Before her and Ray had happened, she had already decided on surgery, but now she had to add him into the equation. He had told her to do whatever she wanted but she couldn't help but think that with him in the ER and her in surgery, they would see very little of one another.
Then, there were the emails. She'd been receiving really strange messages at her hospital email for the past two weeks. At first, she just brushed them off, not recognizing the email address, figuring they were a mistake, but recently they'd become more and more frequent. She was starting to worry but still didn't tell anyone. She didn't need to be seen as a paranoid freak. So, needless to say, she didn't like the idea of being alone, and she found that by being in the ER, often times, she had the same shifts as Ray and Abby, or even, Sam.
Deep in thought, Neela didn't hear the door open and Abby walk in.
"Neela? Earth to Neela?" Jumping nearly a mile, Neela was brought back to reality when she heard Abby calling out to her.
"Abby, you scared the bloody hell out of me. I didn't hear you come in." Neela replied.
"I don't doubt it, you looked deep in thought." Abby said, opening her locker. "You all right?"
"Yeah, I was just thinking about next year. Trying to decide between surgery and the ER."
"I thought you were already set on surgery?" Abby looked confused.
"I was, but I don't know, Abby. I like it down here. I like working with everyone and I get along fine with everyone. Up there… well, it's not fun, I guess. Everyone is so serious and I don't know, the ER has become like my family, I don't know if I want to leave it." Neela sighed. "This is so bloody difficult."
"I know what you mean, Neela. I had the opportunity to go up to neonatal, you know." Abby told her.
"You did? Why didn't you take it?"
"For those exact reasons you said. The ER is my family, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." She replied. "Besides, we have way too much fun down here."
Neela laughed. "We do, don't we?"
Abby nodded. "No doubt about it, but, Neela, do you really want to stay down here? I mean, ever since I met you, you wanted to go to surgery."
"I thought I did…" Neela replied. "That's what my parents wanted me to do, so I just assumed it was what I wanted. Maybe I don't, though."
"Well, take your time and think about it. You still have another month before you have to make a final decision." Abby pointed out.
"You're right. I'm just gunna enjoy these last two months. Maybe it will be easier as the end gets closer?" Neela suggested.
"That's definitely a possibility."
At that moment, Sam interrupted their conversation when she stuck her head in the door.
"GSW to the chest and stomach coming in. ETA five minutes."
Abby nodded. "Thanks, Sam. We'll be right out." She looked back at her friend, who still looked worried. "Is there anything else you wanna talk about?"
"No, why?" Neela asked. "Is there something you want to talk about?"
Abby sighed. She knew something else was up with Neela but couldn't quite figure it out. "No, nothing."
"Well, I guess we better get to that trauma." Neela stood up, trying to avoid the awkward silence she knew would occur.
"Yeah." Abby nodded and stood up. "Neela?"
Hand on the doorknob, Neela turned to face Abby. "Yeah?"
"You know I'm here, right? I mean, for you. I know we haven't been as close recently but you know I'm always here for you, right?" Abby told her. It was true; recently, the two girls had been drifting apart slightly, each with their own personal lives.
"Of course, Abby." Neela forced a smile. She hated lying to her best friend but she couldn't bring herself to tell her about the emails for some reason.
"All right, as long as you know."
Neela nodded. "Let's go save a life."
AN: Sorry it's been a few days since I updated. I know this chapter is short, but that's how the next few are going to be too. I know where I want this story to go, and I've got a few chapters written so far. I'm doing as best I can with the updating, with college and all. Chemistry seems to be taking up a lot of my time. Reviews are my motivation though.