Despite being forced to lie on his back in an elevated position, Ray slept quite well that night and woke the following morning feeling almost like his old self. He was still very sore and had pretty bad bruising on the left side of his face but seemed to have no other ill effects. He was feeling pretty stiff from his twenty mile run the previous day but thanks to four hours on an IV drip he was not dehydrated.
By the time his breakfast arrived, he was showered and dressed. He groaned when he saw what a liquid breakfast consisted of, orange juice, fruit yogurt and a glubey mess that was some sort of breakfast cereal. Great, he was in for an exciting month. After breakfast, one of the nurses gave him some anti inflamatories in liquid form. Then he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. That's when he realised that oral hygiene was going to be a serious problem. He was not going to be able to brush his teeth properly and flossing was out of the question for the next month.
After breakfast, he checked at the nurse's station to discover that Dr Barnes had an emergency surgery and was not due to start rounds until at least 10am. They did not expect her on the ward until at least 10.30am. He told them that he was going to take a wander round the hospital and would be back before that.
He knew Neela was off today so he'd just wander to the ER and check who was around. He could maybe arrange to catch up with them later that evening. He wondered how everybody had gotten on at Ike's the previous night.
When the lift doors opened, he headed toward the main desk. Frank's familiar frame loomed larger than life and it gave Ray a warm sense of familiarity. It was great that some things remained the same.
"Ray Barnett, as I live and breathe, what are you doing here?" a familiar voice called from behind and he turned to see John Carter approaching. He turned and they shook hands and Ray said.
"Congratulations Dr. Carter, I hear you finally made chief of the ER. It's about time they got somebody committed and dependable around here."
"Thanks Ray, I …" he was just about to continue when he noticed Ray's face and exclaimed,
"Good grief Ray, you look like you've been in the wars. What happened?"
"Thanks to a delivery truck, I had a close encounter with a table."
John gave a puzzled frown. "What?"
Ray proceeded to explain what he was doing in Chicago and what had happened the previous day.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're on the mend."
"I've been through worse and survived." Ray quipped.
He figured from Carter's reaction that he had not heard about his accident but decided now was not an appropriate time to fill him in on what had been going on in his life in the past two and a half years.
"I never figured you for a marathon runner."
Ray smiled and simply said, "Things change."
"So it would appear. The last time I met you, you had just finished your intern year and you could not make up your mind about your future. So what did you finally decide? Did you become a rock star or stay with Emergency medicine?"
Ray smiled, "I'm still practicing Emergency medicine. I'm just completing the final year of my residency."
John frowned and Ray could see him doing the mental maths but he was too polite to query why it had taken Ray so long to complete his residency.
"So where are you working now?"
"I'm working in an ER in Baton Rouge."
"Baton Rouge?" Carter exclaimed.
"I moved back there to be close to my family."
"You never struck me as much of a family man."
"I guess I changed and started to appreciate the important things in life." Ray responded with a smile.
Just then Chuny came up to Carter and said "incoming MI."
"OK Ray, I'd better run."
"My goodness, Ray," Chuny exclaimed as she threw her arms around him. "Welcome back. I heard about your accident yesterday. How are you?"
"I'm fine Chuny, thanks."
"You look great, good to see you."
She looked toward Carter who was disappearing through the automatic doors.
"Sorry, got to run, catch you later."
"Sure thing Chuny." he replied as he ambled over to greet Frank. Frank would fill him in on what everybody was doing.
"Hey Barnett, I heard you were here yesterday. How's your jaw?"
"Sore, but I'll be fine thanks."
"How long are you around for?"
"I'm not sure yet Frank, I was due to drive back on Wednesday. But I'll have to see how I'm feeling. Both I and my friend are due back to work Friday."
"How's life in Baton Rouge?"
"Life's good, Frank. What's new here? How is Dr. Carter treating you?"
"Its been great having him back. He treats everybody with such respect and everybody knows exactly what to expect from him."
"Anything else I should know about?"
With that Frank started to regale Ray with all the ER gossip, who was dating who, what other extra curricular activities were going on, who had left and so on.
After a bit, things became rather hectic and Ray decided to make himself scarce as he was getting in the way. He wandered back towards the lift. As he pushed the button to ascend, he decided to make another detour.
About ten minutes later, he heard Neela call out his name. He turned and waved as she walked towards him.
"Now how did I know I'd find you here when you weren't in your room?"
"Because this is one of my favourite places in 'County'."
"Mine too." She smiled as she strolled up to stand beside him.
"So many memories." they said in unison.
Then they laughed.
He put his arm around her and pulled her close.
"Most of them good Neela," he said gently.
She looked up at him, smiled and nodded then leaned her head against his shoulder.
"I know."
He looked up at the clear blue autumn sky and said,
"What a glorious day. I always feel so free up here.
Looking out over Lake Michigan, I am at once overwhelmed by the vastness of everything while at the same time I am comforted by the notion that there is this great big world out there with so many opportunities and choices. It's up to each and everyone of us to make the most of every opportunity that presents itself and not to be afraid of the difficult choices."
Neela felt the cold hand of fear grip her heart. She sincerely hoped that choosing her was not going to be a difficult choice for him. Rather than grasp the nettle, she became flippant.
"Profound Dr Barnett." she said as she hugged his arm tightly. " Really profound." changing the subject she asked, "So are you free to go?"
"Barnes doesn't start her rounds til 10am." he said continuing to stare into the distance, " I know it's just a formality but I've got to wait until she signs me out."
"Well, what are we waiting for, its just coming up on 10am." she said as she pulled away and turned to head toward the stairs. He caught her hand and stopped her.
"Neela, wait."
As she turned he saw the fear and apprehension in her eyes as she said,
"Yes."
He smiled at her warmly and reassuringly. Then the look became more intense. Suddenly, he knew what to do to wipe that worry off her face. Yes, there was only one way to dispel all the doubt. He could see the confusion in her eyes as he smiled and asked.
"Will you marry me?"
The shock of the question took her breath away.
She put her exquisite, tiny, brown hands to her face as she became overwhelmed by emotion. He recalled a similar reaction on this very spot more than three years ago. But this time he did not hesitate. He knew exactly what to do. He said nothing, he simply pulled her close and held her. He did not care that her head pressed against his chin was causing him excruciating pain. He was not letting her go. He felt her shake as the tears came.
As the tears subsided, he felt her relax. Then, her arms encircled him and she burrowed her head deep in his chest. Thus, they stood, simply holding tightly to each other, neither speaking. Minutes passed but they stood in a timeless vacuum, oblivious to the world around them.
Neither noticed John Carter and Sam emerge onto the roof to meet an incoming helicopter. It was only the racket of the descending chopper that wakened them from their trance. Finally Neela looked up at him, smiled and replied but her answer was drowned by the sound of the helicopter. Then she caught his hand and led him towards the lift lobby.
In the lift on the way back to his room, he turned to her and said.
"Well, what did you say?"
"You know well what I said," she responded with a laugh.
"I want to hear you say it."
"Yes, Dr Barnett, I will marry you."
He took her in his arms and went to kiss her. Then he groaned.
"Ray. Are you OK? Did you hurt yourself?" she said as she reached to touch his face tenderly.
"No. I just realised, it is physically impossible to kiss you as deeply and passionately as I want to right now and it's killing me."
"We've waited this long, I'm sure we can wait another month."
"You know, I've never stopped loving you?"
"Of course and I love you too."
"Let's keep this to ourselves for the time being."
"Sure, but not for too long."
"No, not for too long, just 'til we've had a chance to talk in private some more and until we've had a chance to go shopping." he said with a smile.
As the lift doors opened he bent down and kissed her gently on the lips. Then they headed back to his rooms to wait for Dr. Barnes.
Once he was discharged, they could start planning the rest of their lives together.
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In real life I'm far more cynical.
I wrote this a while back and despite my cynicism, the muses would not let me change it. Now in honour of the day, I've decided to go ahead and post.
Happy Valentines Day everybody!
