Thanks again for the great reviews, you guys are awesome! Sorry this update took a few days, life's been crazy. There will be more to come soon!
"Hello..." Neela picked up her phone and answered groggily.
"Awww, I'm sorry I woke you up" Ray asked more than he stated.
"No, no wait... I need to get up. I'm just catching up on some sleep while I can in the on call room... I've been on for almost twenty-four hours now"
Neela said sleepily.
"I know, I got your text earlier..." said Ray.
"Mmm, what time is it?" Neela questioned.
"Five am' Ray responded. Just as Ray announced the time Neela's pager went off.
"Oh, dammit... it's the ER, looks like they need a consult... can I call you back? Are you off to work soon?" Neela asked Ray.
"Oh, yah. I'm on at seven. Call me back if you can before then. I just wanted to discuss Valentine's Day with you..." said Ray, immediately catching her
attention.
"Oh, really?" Neela smiled.
"I will call you back as soon as I'm done in the ER" Neela answered.
"Okay, talk to you then... Oh and Good Morning by the way" Ray added playfully.
"Good morning. I'll talk to you soon."
"Kay... bye" Ray ended the call.
Neela sat up and rubbed her eyes.
Ugghhh, hope this is a quick consult.
Her curiosity had been stirred by Ray wanting to discuss Valentine's Day with her. Neela got up, and headed down to the ER.
A few hours later, Neela was sipping on a cup of coffee in the ER break room as the end of her shift was finally in sight. She took a deep breath and sat
down on the couch. She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket.
Oh shit, Ray. I didn't get a chance to call him before his shift started.
She pulled her phone out of her lab coat and saw that he had left her a voicemail message. She smiled in anticipation as she picked up the message
waiting to hear the words that she'd been waiting to hear for so long, he was finally coming to see her!.
"Hey Neela, sorry to bother you again. I'm sure you got caught up in a case that ended up needing surgery this morning. Any who, I was really, really
hoping to be able to come and see you this weekend so we could celebrate Valentine's day together. BUT, it turns out I have this Physical Med and
Rehab retreat thing to attend and of course it happens to be this weekend. I mixed up the dates, thought it was next weekend. I know your schedule's
tight, so it's hard for you to get time off to come down here.... Okay, now I'm just rambling. I'm sorry, was really looking forward to seeing you. Now, if
you're picking this message up and you're still at the hospital... leave! Go home, have a nice warm meal, grab a shower... hmm, you in the shower...
sorry, sidetracked there for a second... and get some sleep! Sorry to disappoint, I'm off at seven tonight. Call me; we can watch celebrity poker
together on the phone. Okay, bye."
Ray had left quite a long message, but Neela had missed most of it after she heard him say that they would not be able to spend Valentine's Day
together. Frustrated that after all of this time, the stars still couldn't seem to align themselves for the two of them, Neela looked up and shook her fists
towards the sky.
"Damn you Cupid" she said aloud before gulping down the rest of her coffee and heading up to the surgical floor to do a few more
patient follow ups before heading home for some rest.
Neela felt pretty crappy for the rest of the week. She woke up in a really bad mood on Valentine's Day. Not only was she not sharing it with Ray, but she
was working the entire weekend. How craptacular. As she passed by the ER admit desk on her way back up to the surgical floor after what seemed like
the twentieth surgical consult that day when Jerry caught her attention.
"Neela, special delivery." he said with a grin on his face.
He passed her a square box; it was addressed to her with a return address from Ray. She couldn't help the smile that instantly came to her face.
"Uhh, I'll be in the lounge if anyone's looking for me" she said as she hurried off to examine the contents of Ray's package.
Upon opening it, she found the cutest card with two puppies on it that said:
"Woof you be my Valentine?"
She opened the card and it read:
"Dear Neela, sorry I couldn't be there this weekend. I miss you and promise I will make it up to you. In the meantime, enjoy. Here are some songs I
collected that I thought you'd like that reminded me of you, of us. Love Always, Ray."
She loaded the CD into the computer and immediately smiled as she recognized the first song. She loved this song. She felt a little sad as she listened to
its melody. She couldn't help but wonder if and when she was going to see Ray again. Because right now, it seemed like it was an eternity away. Neela
sighed as she removed the CD from the player and put it back in the package along with the card and carefully placed it all in her lab coat pocket. She
called Ray but got his voicemail and decided to leave him a message.
"Hello Valentine, I know you're at your retreat but I just got your package and it's perfect. Just wanted to say thank you.... I guess that's all, I should
get back to work. Miss you, and I'm thinking about you. In fact, I'm sure I'll be thinking about you all day... bye."
She hung up and headed back out into the ER.
"Hey Neela, Happy Valentine's Day" Morris chirped.
"Oh yeah, really is it?" Neela shot back grumpily.
"What? Who peed in your cornflakes today?" Morris questioned.
"It's Ray... I thought maybe... it's just, he said... oh forget it, I dunno why I'm telling YOU this..." Neela went back to her charting.
She could have sworn this whole "retreat" thing was a creative way for Ray to surprise her with a visit. But as the day wore on, she had sadly started
to realize that he really wasn't coming.
"What? We're friends right? We can talk..." Morris persisted.
"No, it's nothing really" Neela responded with a frown.
"Tell Simon I'll be back up on the surgical floor prepping for that surgery transfer of his I assessed earlier if he's looking for me to discuss any more
cases" Neela said as she headed for the elevator.
"Okay, hey think fast" Morris said as he threw something at her.
She caught it and looked down at her hand to see what he'd tossed to her, it was some candy hearts. There were three in total,
one said "Miss you", and another said "Will You" and the final one said "Be Mine".
"Aww, Morris... are you trying to tell me something?" Neela joked as she walked away.
"Nope, but somebody else may be trying to" Morris said to himself smiling coyly as he watched Neela's retreating back.
Two days had passed. Valentine's Day had come and gone. Neela was exhausted, from another long shift at the hospital. She wanted nothing more
than a hot shower and her bed. Neela had yet to speak to Ray. She knew he'd had a busy weekend away with work related stuff, but this was the
longest they had gone without talking in a while. He'd text her daily, just to let her know he was thinking about her but she missed the sound of his
voice. She was lost in her thoughts about Ray as she distractedly walked up the steps to her apartment. As she rounded the corner to head down the
hall to her apartment she smelled something delicious.
Mmm, someone's cooking up a great meal. We know that's not coming from my place.
she thought to herself as she turned her key in the lock and pushed open the door to a sight that would truly amaze her. Her mouth dropped open as
she looked around her apartment it was adorned with beautifully lit candles; there was a beautiful bouquet of lilies on her kitchen table. The table
appeared to be set for dinner, for two people. Two glasses of untouched red wine sat neatly on the table next to the flowers. She was still taking in the
sight and scent of the apartment, the shock of it all when Ray stepped out from behind the fridge door as he shut it.
"Welcome home roomie" he said sexily.
He smiled as he held out his arms ready to embrace her.
"Oh my god!" Neela squealed as she threw her bags on the floor and ran towards him jumping up into his arms as she wrapped her legs around him.
They embraced for a long time and then he gently let her down. She looked up into his eyes and immediately their lips met for a passionate, lingering
kiss.