Chapter Thirteen
Back at Abby's apartment, Neela was just getting out of the shower. Wrapped in a towel, Neela wandered out into the living room.
"Um, Abby?"
Abby turned from her position on her couch. "Oh, here. You can wear these. I meant to give them to you before." She accepted the clothes and headed back to the bathroom.
A minute later, she came back out, dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top.
"Thanks, Abby." She whispered, sitting down on the couch next to her.
"No problem, honey." Abby pulled her into her arms. "Sam's on her way over. Luka called her."
Neela just sniffled in response.
"I know you don't want to talk about it, Neela, but it isn't healthy to hold everything in. We can wait until Sam gets here so you don't have to explain it twice, but I want you to know that Ray is ready to murder Gates. You're going to have to tell him what happened. He's giving you space, until you're ready, but he wants you to talk to someone."
"I know, Abby, I know. It's just hard. I never want to go through something like that again, but if I open up and talk about it, I'll just be reliving it." Neela told her.
"Sometimes reliving it is just the way to make it go away, honey." Abby stated, brushing away a stray tear on Neela's cheek. She was fighting to hold back her own tears. She knew she wouldn't be any help to Neela if she started crying, too.
Neela didn't say anything and the two just sat there in silence, Abby holding onto the girl for dear life.
Their silence was interrupted by a knock on the door, followed by Sam sticking her head into the apartment. "Can I come in?"
Abby just nodded and Sam walked in, dropping her coat and bag on a chair and sitting down next to Neela.
"Hey, sweetie." She said, putting a hand on her back. "You okay?"
Neela sat up, sniffling. She tried to force a smile but more tears started falling instead. Sam pulled the girl into her arms, feeling her heart break.
"Hey, it's going to be okay." She tried to comfort Neela. "We're here. We're not gunna let anything happen."
"It's just frightening to think about it. I mean, Luka did suspend him, but what's there to stop him from coming here?" Neela pointed out.
"Honestly, Neela. I think he'd be stupid to even try to come near you again." Abby told her. "I'll be surprised if he comes back to the hospital. He knows everyone wants to murder him now."
Neela just shrugged. "I suppose…"
"Neela, what exactly happened?" Sam asked bluntly. "I mean, if you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine."
"No, you're right. I need to talk to somebody. As much as I just want to forget about it, I can't do that unless I admit that it actually happened. So, here goes." Neela struggled with her words. "I was on my way upstairs to X-Ray to get Abby for dinner when…"