Chapter 6-Remorse

"Well, good morning Ray." Peter said sarcastically and a little mean, "It's nice to see you're not yelling at us anymore like you did last night."

Ray felt hurt by the comment. He wanted to lash out, but after what had happened the night before, he decided not to.

"Peter, apologize!" Winston exclaimed.

"No Winston, I deserved it." Ray said in a groggy and tired voice. It was obvious he hadn't slept.

"No snappy comeback?" Janine said.

"Relax everyone, I'm not going to say anything insulting or hurt anyone." Ray said, "In fact, you should insult me, hit me, and fire me."

"Fire you? For what?" Jenny asked.

"For my behavior, me taking the pills, me lying to Dr. Madison and all of you, yelling at Dana and Oscar, snapping at my girlfriend, fighting with and badly insulting Egon." Ray said. His eyes began to glisten. "Heck, I think my insult was worse then the one Peter said to Egon before Peck abducted him."

"No kidding..." Peter muttered under his breath. Kylie then elbowed him hard.

"Doc..." Kylie said glaring at Peter.

"I'm very truly sorry for what I did." Ray said. He was starting to get choked up. "I refused to believe I have a problem, but I do. I really do have a problem. I can understand if you guys want to fire me and throw me out. And go ahead and disown me cause I deserve it. But I need help. I really need help."

Ray felt his legs get heavy as he fell to the floor and cried. This reminded Peter, Winston, and Janine of when Egon confessed that Ray's accident was his fault even though it wasn't. They all felt bad. And they knew that Ray had meant every word he had said.

Winston knelt down beside Ray and rubbed his shoulder and said: "Ray, we're not going to fire you, and we're not going to disown you."

"Yeah sweetie." Jenny said as she knelt down next to her boyfriend, "I knew you didn't mean what you said. I knew that it was something you couldn't control. And I forgive you."

"Yeah Dr. Stantz." Kylie said, "And of course we'll help you. After all, you're like a second father to me. And I don't want to lose that."

"Nor do I. And you're like a daughter to me." Ray said. He was pretty touched by Kylie's words.

"And Ray, I am pissed at the way you scared Dana and Oscar like that, but I would never turn my back on you."

"Yeah, you're the heart of the Ghostbusters. We need you." Janine said.

Yeah, the Ghostbusters would incomplete without you." said Mel.

"I know, I know, but I still insulted Egon." Ray said, "I mean, he and I have never fought before."

"We always knew it would happen someday, but we still can't believe he actually tried to choke you." Winston said.

"I deserved it." Ray said.

However, Peter, Winston, Janine, Jenny, Kylie, and Mel were all so busy at comforting Ray, and Ray was looking down at the ground, that they didn't notice the front door to the firehall opened. A figure walked through the door and closed it quietly. The figure then walked very quietly over to the guys.

"But still, I insulted Egon and made him go ballistic when I should've remembered not to piss him off." Ray said still shedding tears, "I still need to go."

"No Ray, you're not that needs to go. I am." said a familiar, deep man's voice.

The others turned around and saw Egon standing there, but he didn't look so good. In fact, he probably looked worse than Ray. His clothes and hair were soaked, and water was dripping off them and forming puddles. Apparently, it had been raining the entire night. It looked like he hadn't slept either because there were dark circles under his eyes as well. He was shaking a bit, either from being cold or trying to hold back emotions. And he looked paler then usual.

"Egon! Where the heck have you been?!" Peter exclaimed as he ran up to his friend.

"That's none of your concern Peter." Egon said in an equally sounding groggy voice as Ray's.

"Egon, you're soaking wet man!" Winston exclaimed, "Have you been out there in the rain all night?!"

"None of your concern." Egon repeated.

"Yes it is Egon." Janine said, "You're soaking wet and-"

That's when they all noticed Egon's eyes. Like Ray's, they were red and bloodshot as well. And the usual iciness in his blue eyes wasn't there. And like Ray, there were dried tears on Egon's face. The others were wondering if he had been crying all night.

"Egon, what do you mean you're the one that needs to go?" Ray asked as he got up off his knees and walked over to his friend, "Buddy, what's wrong?"

"Ray, the truth is..." Egon started. He figured it was time they all knew it, "The truth is...it's my fault you're addicted to your pain medication!"

"Dr. Spengler, what do you mean?" Mel asked.

"It's my fault you're addicted to pain pills Ray! If I had just watched where I was going and not be clumsy and stupid, you wouldn't have gotten stuck and injured in that fire. You started taking the pills to get rid of the pain I had caused. But instead, you got even more pain." Egon said. His eyes were tearing up, and he was shaking. "And last night, I went ballistic and tried to kill you Ray. Heck, I even went ballistic in front of Oscar! I've almost killed you three time, and that's something I can't atone for!"

Egon then collapsed to the ground and cried. Ray was shocked, horrified, and just hurt to see his best friend cry. And he realized that the hurtful remark he had said about being disowned to Egon had hurt him. Really bad. And Ray had not realized that Egon still felt guilty.

"Oh Egon, no!" Ray said as he knelt down and wrapped his arms around his distraught friend, despite Egon being soaked from head to toe. "The accident wasn't your fault, and it's not your fault I have an addiction. And I'm sorry about last night. I should've known better than to make you mad."

"Yeah, but still. I could've killed you!" Egon exclaimed as tears ran down his face, "And you were right Ray."

"Right about what?" Ray asked as he rubbed Egon's back.

"I truly am a scientist with no emotions who can't do anything right. And you guys were wrong. I truly am a mistake" Egon said.

"Oh Egon, no you're not!" Ray exclaimed as he hugged Egon tighter, "You're so not a no emotion scientist who can't do anything right, and you're so not a mistake. You're my best friend and my brother. You're also the nicest, kindest, smartest, and most selfless person I have ever met. Plus you're only person who really understands what I'm saying. Face it Egon, you're what makes me not to turn and run when things look bad. You're kind of what holds us together, and I can't imagine a life without you."

Egon had calmed down a bit, but he was still crying, "Really?" he asked.

"Yeah, really." Ray said with a bit of a smile. He then hugged Egon trying to comfort him, but then he realized how much Egon was shaking and shivering.

"But Janine's right Egon. You're soaking wet and you're shivering." Ray said worriedly, "Come on, let's go upstairs."

"Why?" Egon asked as he shakily stood up.

"I want you to get out those wet clothes, and I have to make sure you didn't catch anything contagious or bad." Ray said, "I want to make sure you're ok."

"Alright." Egon said. He then coughed a little deeply.

"Let' hope you're not catching a cold, or even worse, pneumonia." Ray said as he walked toward the stairs, "Winston, can you help me for a second?"

"Sure." Winston replied.

"Hey Jenny, I'm really sorry for snapping at you." Ray said as he walked up to his girlfriend, "Go ahead and dump me cause I deserve it."

"Heck, no." Jenny said, "I am so not dumping. Like I said, you're stuck with me."

"I know, I know, how can I forget?" Ray asked as he and Jenny kissed on the lips, "And I want to get off these pills. I really do."

"We know you do. And we'll help you." Mel said.

"Thanks guys." Ray said, "C'mon Egon, let's go. The last thing I need right now is you getting sick."

"Yes sir." Egon said a little teasingly as he, Ray, and Winston walked toward the stairs.

Once they were upstairs, Peter said, "I should've known Egon still blamed himself for the accident."

"Well, Dr. Spengler is a very private person. And a person who doesn't share his feelings too often." Kylie said.

"But Peter, it's possible he'll still have a little bit of guilt for the rest of his life. So, don't be hard on him." Jenny said.

"C'mon, let's go upstairs and see if Ray and Winston need any help with Egon." Mel suggested.

"Yeah, and let's just hope Egon didn't get sick cause he was out in the rain all night." Peter said.

"Yeah, and we don't need that right now. And let's hope he didn't get pneumonia." said Janine.

Peter, Kylie, Mel, Jenny, and Janine then all headed upstairs to make sure their 2 distraught and emotionally hurt team members were ok.

To be continued...