Unsure
an ER story
by Daphi
Dr. Abby Lockhart sighed tiredly. It had been a long shift and she was looking forward to going home, taking a bath and grabbing her much deserved four hours of sleep. Since starting as an intern, she doubted that she'd had a decent eight hours of sleep. With another sigh, she pushed off of the sidewalk and entered Cook County General Hospital. Glancing at the clock, she realized that her shift had been over for twenty minutes. She slipped into the doctor's lounge hoping to sneak out before any problems arose in the emergency room. As her eyes adjusted to the change in light, she became aware of a person slumped on the couch. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was Ray Barnett.
"What are you still doing here?" Your shift ended half an hour ago," she teased him knowing Ray was notorious for clocking out the second his shift was over. There was no response. "Ray?" she approached him and realized that he was asleep. "Ray, get up." She touched his arm was surprised to find him warm. Warmer than he should have been. He started awake at her touch.
"Huh? Oh, Abby, id's you," he managed his voice hoarse and a bit congested. He turned from her and muffled a sneeze into the cork of his elbow. "Heshumph!"
"How long have you felt sick?" she asked gently putting down her coat and sitting on the edge of the couch.
"All shifd," Ray mumbled sniffling. Abby thought back on the shift and wondered how she'd missed it.
"Well, shift's over now. Why don't you go home and sleep...you know in a bed instead of on this crappy couch." It finally registered with Abby that her hand was still on Ray's arm and she hastily pulled it away.
"Can'd. Roobbades throwing a pardy," Ray replied sitting up but groaning a bit at the pain in his head. He dissolved into a fit of coughing. Abby bit her lip, unsure of what to do. She knew that party meant loud musicians, lots of drinking and no chance for sleep. Definitely not what Ray needed at the moment. Watching Ray sick and vulnerable played to her sense of sympathy and in the end won out over all of her reservations.
"Come back to my place. You can crash there," Abby finally said. Before Ray could argue, she handed him his coat and slid hers on standing up. "Well, come on. I'd like to actually get some sleep tonight." Ray stared at her blankly.
"You sure?" he asked sniffling again.
"Yes," she replied with a nod of her head. "Now let's go before I realize what a big mistake I'm making." He put on his coat and stood up. The sudden movement sent him swaying, black spots clouding his vision. Abby instinctively slid her arm around his waist to steady him.
"Are you okay? I mean we don't have to check you in, do we?"
"No. Id's jusd a code," Ray replied. Once he was steady, both became very aware of her arm around his waist. Abby pulled away her arm feeling swollen and heavy. "So, uh," Ray cleared is throat, "Are we leaving?" Abby nodded and they made their way outside.
Even though it was spring and fairly warm out, Ray shivered visably upon hitting the night air. Abby ushered him to the car and turned the heat on for him. The ride to Abby's apartment was mostly silent, punctuated only by Ray's increasingly desperate sneezing. By the time they had reached their destination, Abby was tempted to turn the car around and take Ray back to the hospital. When she tried to voice this opinion, however, Ray vehemently disagreed. So, possibly against her better judgement, Abby led the younger doctor into her apartment.
"Don't mid the mess, Neela tends to leave things lying around," Abby apologized referring to her roommate and fellow intern Neela Rasgotra.
"Where id-heh hehshhhhh! Heshhhhh! Shhh! Shhh! Ugh, where id Neela?" Ray asked shutting the door. He gave Abby a grateful smile as she produced a box of tissues from the living room table for him.
"Shift," Abby replied. She shed her jacket and took his setting them both on one of the small chairs. After a brief mental debate, aided by watching Ray sniffle and blow his nose repeatedly, Abby decided that Ray needed a proper night's sleep. In essence, he needed a bed. "All right Ray, you can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the couch." Before he could argue, she cut him off, "Don't argue with me. You are sick and only getting worse. Just be glad I'm not taking you back to the hospital."
"Okay. Thags Abby," Ray whispered. He was too tired to argue with her and knew that she was right. With a sigh, he followed her back into her bedroom.
Ray followed Abby into the bedroom and stood in the middle of the room unsure of what to do. Abby went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of scrub pants. She tossed them to Ray.
"Those should fit you, they were Carter's," she said. Ray looked up at her quizzically.
"Carter as id Dr. Carter?" he asked turning to the side and sneezing twice. "Heshhhhhh! Shhhhhhh!" Abby nodded. "Ub...you mead thad you two used to libe together?"
"Yes. We were together for awhile," Abby replied vaguely. She really didn't feel like dissecting her personal life at that moment, especially with Ray. "Just change into those, you'll be more comfortable." And with that she left the room, suddenly sure that she didn't want to be in the room while Ray changed. She went into the kitchen and poured a glass of water the whole time trying to figure out why all of a sudden she was feeling slightly warm feelings towards Ray.
When she finally felt that she had a grip on her emotions, Abby went back to her bedroom. Ray was already in bed with the blankets pulled up close to his face. "Are you warm enough?" Abby asked gently setting the water on the nightstand.
"Yeah," Ray replied coughing into the blanket. Abby made a mental note to change her sheets the next day.
"Good, get some sleep. That is why I brought you here," Abby said thinking of how wonderful sleep sounded at that moment. She didn't care that Neela normally slept on the couch; it was hers for the night.
"Thags Abby," Ray murmured his eyes sliding closed. Abby smiled before turning off the light and exiting the room. She went into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich before getting ready for bed. Just as she was about to turn off the light and lay down, a yell occurred from her bedroom. Hurrying in, she found Ray sitting upright and even in the darkness of the room, she could see the panic on his face.
"Ray, what? What happened?" Abby asked approaching the bed. Ray just stared at her wide-eyed. Reaching the bedside, she brushed her hand against his forehead and found that his fever had risen quite a bit. "Tylenol." She muttered and went into the bathroom to fetch some. Returning she practically forced Ray to take the pills.
"Just go back to sleep," she sighed. Ray shook his head.
"Stay here. Please?" He whispered sounding like a little kid. " Abby hesitated unsure of that idea. "I need you." He whispered. Abby's head shot up in surprise and she looked at Ray warily. Realizing from a doctor's perspective that leaving him alone wasn't a good idea, she tried to ignore the little voice in the back of her head that told her she secretly wanted to be in bed with Ray.
"Okay, Ray. I'll stay here until you fall asleep, deal?" she asked sitting down on the bed. Ray nodded and lied back down. Unsure of whether the younger intern was sleeping, Abby decided she'd wait for a while just to be sure. Before she knew it, she'd fallen asleep.
The shattering of glass woke Abby the next morning. Opening her eyes, she saw Neela standing in the doorway, a glass of orange juice now shattered and spilled all over the floor.
"Neela, what?" Abby asked still foggy from sleep.
"I - I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you got up for your shift and I didn't mean to interrupt," Neela began to explain talking very fast.
"What?" Abby looked around confused and her eyes fell on the form of Ray sleeping next to her curled around her. "Oh my - Neela its not what it looks like!" Abby began.
"No, no far be it from me to interfere. Next time I'll knock!" Neela said and with that she turned and shut the door behind her.
"Shit!" Abby swore. When had she fallen asleep? She didn't remember lying down or letting Ray use her as a pillow. She also wasn't sure how she felt about it. Part of her knew it was wrong and the other part of her liked it.
"Whad's goidg od?" Ray asked groggily. "Heshhhhhhh! Heh heh HEH hesssshhhhh!" He sneezed into the crook of his elbow.
"Nothing. Neela just thinks we're sleeping together, that's all," Abby replied wiggling her way out of the bed.
"Oh," Ray replied. "Well it might be because you slept in bed with me last night." He grabbed some tissues and blew his nose.
"Thank you Dr. Barnett," Abby replied sarcastically. "Are you feeling better?" She asked with a sigh.
"I dod't dow. Aboud the sabe I guess," he replied with a sniffle. "I have a shift soon."
"Yeah, me too," Abby said slowly. "You shouldn't go into work. Call in sick," she said kindly. Ray shook his head.
"Do, Lewis is looked for a reasod to yell at be. I deed to go id," Ray argued. He tried to get out of bed but was hit by a dizzy spell. Abby managed to catch him before he fell over.
"Yeah I don't think so, Ray," Abby said. "I'll drop you off at home on my way in." Ray started to argue but cut himself off sneezing so Abby took it as an agreement. "But before we go, we need to explain to Neela about what happened last night."
"Whad did happed last dight? Why did you ed up in bed with be?" He asked as Abby helped him sit back down.
"You screamed in the middle of the night. I came in and you asked me to stay. I'm assuming you had a nightmare. Why, don't you remember?" Abby asked in confusion.
"No," Ray confessed. "I don'd. Hopefully I didn't say adythid I shouldn'd habe." He blew his nose again trying to break up some of the congestion.
Abby thought back to him saying "I need you." Before responding trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice, "No, nothing. Come on, let's go get this cleared up with Neela." With a sigh she helped Ray up and they left the bedroom.
That night Abby came home and remembered that her sheets needed to be changed. Upon realizing that they still smelled faintly of Ray, however she changed her mind and decided that she could handle a few cold germs. She curled up in the bed and eventually fell into a lonely sleep.
Week #70 (General Bunny): One character gets sick. The other takes care of him/her and ends up accidentally and unexpectedly falling asleep in his/her bed.