Standard disclaimers applied. See Chapter 1 for further details.
Author's Note: More than 4 months without an update ... where has the time gone? This year, I got accepted into professional school, and it has left me with very little spare time. However, season 14 has been very good for the muse and I hate leaving a story unfinished. So here it is - the last chapter!
CHAPTER 10: Heart of the Matter
There is a saying that blood is thicker than water. Beyond the literal sense, figuratively it also holds true for the tight-knitted group at Country General. Throughout the changeovers of doctors, interns, nurses, and ward clerks, they had came together to laugh and to cry, to celebrate and to mourn. Despite their differences in personalities and work habits, every member was considered family, a composite of a greater whole.
When Gregory Pratt received the latest letter from Ray Barnett, he was angry at the younger doctor. We are family, and family sticks together no matter what. That doesn't change with circumstance. However Pratt wasn't unsympathetic, tension was stretched and liked an tightly wound coil, things would eventually snapped. The said explosion of tempers happened at Luka and Abby's wedding - a juvenile brawl between two drunken men over a girl. The result of that was anger and frustration and the loss of Ray. Where was the justice in the end?
Abby was furious when she heard about what happened. "How come you guys didn't tell me?"
"Be reasonable Abby, it was your wedding - you and Luka's."
"With Luka being in Croatia, you guys and Joe are the closest things that I have to being a functional family. I'm a big girl; I can handle things like this."
Neela's recent absence also made sense. Pratt realized that she must have known what happened. 'Her and Ray are so damn stubborn, match made in roomie heaven' Pratt thought.
"Hey check this out! Man, these shoes are huge!"
"Yo Morris, put those down. What the heck are you going to do with Ray's shoes?"
He and Morris had been elected unofficially to clean out Ray's locker. It was the right thing to do for one of their own.
"Chill out Pratt, I'm just looking. No harm done."
"Yeah, just put them back in the box, will ya."
"Hey, you think we can officially retire lockers, like people retire jerseys or something?"
Pratt took one look at the red-headed doctor and even though Morris was being nonchalant about it, Pratt saw the sincerity in the suggestion. "Yeah what the hell, why not, Morris."
When Neela returned from brief leave courtesy of Dr. Dubenko and Dr. Moretti, she was greeted by most of the staff in the ER in the lounge area. They admonished her for keeping them in the dark about Ray.
"You should have told us. You didn't need to go through all of that yourself," chided Pratt.
"It was never my choice, he ..."
"He's a stubborn idiot but that's no excuse. We gotta stick together as a team."
"Oh Neela, just because it was my wedding ... don't feel like you have to hide things from me. We're friends and friends tell each other things. Don't feel like you have to do this on your own."
"Thanks Abby."
"Now go get him."
"But ..."
"Just go, Neela," put in Sam as she handed Neela a huge box. "It's for Ray from all of us," she explained.
oOoOo
She couldn't quite name the emotions that churned at the pit of her stomach, when she drove passed the "Welcome to Dillon." Ray had written to Pratt that he was currently staying with his cousin and his family at the moment, but in a brief post-script he had written, "Tell Neela that Zero and 6 are my favourites too."
She clutched in her hand, the envelope with the Dillon address written on it and smiled. Back in their roomie days, she once teased Ray about writing snail mail - something so characteristic of him that she couldn't but pointed it out to him. His response, "You can write emails anytime, but there is nothing quite like having something tangible in your hands. Besides, you can't deny me the chance to put my mark on the world." But this time, perhaps subconsciously, Ray wanted her to find out where he was staying.
She stopped at a local car dealership hoping to get directions. "Hullloo, Buddy Garrity at your service. How can I help you?"
"Ah actually, I'm hoping if you can tell me the way to Jason Street's house."
"Jason? You're not going to find him at his house today, Sweetheart."
"What? Why?"
"Why it's Friday night! It's his big day, going back on the field for the first time! I'm about to head over there myself. C'mon, you just follow me in your car, sweetheart."
"But ..."
oOoOo
Ray accompanied his cousin to the Panther's locker room. The former quarterback introduced his cousin to some of his teammates and made some small talk. As the team huddled around for Coach Taylor's pre-game preamble, Ray asked Jason, "So, how do you feel, QB?"
"Not the QB tonight, Doc. Saracen is."
"And, I'm not here as a doctor tonight."
"You know the feeling that you get when you feel like something big is going to happen?"
"Butterflies in your stomach? Adrenaline? The need to physically remind yourself to breath? Yeah - I feel it too, man."
The two broke apart from their conversation when the Coach came in with his clipboard. He did a brief scan of his players and nodded Ray before directing his gaze to Jason, "How do you feel, son?"
Jason nodded and let out a sigh, "Coach."
"It's just another Friday night, but we're all with you, kid."
oOoOo
That night, the announcer exuberantly welcomed back Jason Street. The former quarterback slowly rolled himself out on his wheelchair, through the Dillon Panther sign and onto the Dillon field. The overhead lights, the freshly drawn lines of the football filed, the loyal crowd who gave him a standing ovation - they were all there. The rest of the Dillon football team came behind Street and the crowd cheered.
Ray watched from the stands, glanced over to his aunt and uncle who were clapping and cheering with the rest. He scanned the crowd, not really seeing, but enjoying what was obviously an emotional moment in his Jason Street's life. Then he looked to the back of the crowd at the top of the stands, and landed on a distinctive pair of mocha-coloured eyes.
Neela didn't have any trouble following Buddy Garrity to the local high school. She wasn't sure if she was going to find who she was looking for. But as she stood on top of stands, and looked down, all her uncertainties faded away.
Mindful of the steps, she slowly made her way down to him.
Ray met her half way.
In the distance, the Dillon Panthers called out a familiar chant, "Clear Hearts!"
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Keeping a promise."
"Full mind!"
"But this isn't Baton Rouge."
"I'm aware of that..."
"Oh?"
"And so much more."
"Neela."
"I want to kiss you. I wanted to do it that night at Abby's wedding before Hope interrupted us."
This was different from their first kiss in the front seats of Ray's SUV. This one was sweetened and aged by time, distance, yearning and finally understanding. It was meant to be healing for two people who had been hurt many times before but who were ready for a new chapter in their lives.
"Can't lose!"
FIN