Title: Encore!

Disclaimer: I do not own ER, Ray, Neela, or any of the music mentioned. I'm not trying to profit from any of the songs, it's for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Wow, thank you so much for all the reviews! You guys are the best! Very special thanks to the regulars who review every chapter, you all know who you are, it really means a lot to me!

Thanks so much again Historianic! Just wanted to let you know that I can say with absolute certainty, that there will be NO Katey or Gates. I'm going to keep my promise I made back in the first chapter about no Katey, Gates, Michael, or Brenner, so you don't have to worry about that.

It was three weeks later. Neela had just started working her shift about an hour ago. She was hoping she would run into Ray today. She really wanted to talk to him later. Things were still very uncomfortable between them, even more so than they had been before.

She needed someone to talk to about it. She was just so grateful that Abby was working today. Even though she didn't really want to talk to her when she was asking questions the last time, she needed someone. The most important thing was that she wasn't Ray. She wanted to talk to him about this of course, but right now she needed someone to talk to and give her advice that wasn't him.

Neela was walking away from admin when she suddenly saw Abby making her way towards her. After they greeted each other, Neela said "Can I talk to you about something?" She hoped she wasn't too busy and would have time to talk to her. She really needed it.

"Sure." she told her, as they started making their way into the doctor's lounge so they could get some privacy. You never knew who might be listening. "What is it?" she asked, hoping she'd be able to help.

"I don't know where to start." she sighed. She had been in so much pain and anguish these past few weeks, she couldn't take it anymore. Even though Abby already knew about her and Ray, she still had never really admitted it. She already knew, so why couldn't she just say it? She wanted to talk about this but, how can she do that if she can't even say it or better yet, even think of how to put it into words?

Abby looked at her. She could see how much she was going through and she felt so bad for her. She seemed so lost. Neela was never lost. She always knew exactly what she was doing. She had never seen her this way before. "This is about Ray, isn't it?" She could already tell. Neela always got a certain look on her face whenever she was talking about him.

Neela tried to put on a small smile and shook her head a little. Not because she was denying Abby's question but, because a part of her couldn't believe that she already knew. She didn't know how she was going to tell her but, the fact that she already guessed made this a little easier, but how did she know it was about him? "He's the sweetest, most gentle person I know. He makes me laugh. He's the best friend I've ever had." she stopped for a second before she said the next part, almost like she was afraid to say it "And I can't stop thinking about him. All I want is just to be with him." She said sadly and quietly. Funny how she just was trying figure out the right way to say how she was feeling and now she couldn't stop talking about him. "I don't know what to do." She finally admitted. She still didn't really want to say out loud that they had slept together, not even to Abby. It was private. Not to mention, it was too painful for her to talk about.

"I can understand the problem." She said calmly as she teased her slightly and looked at her confused. What was the problem? "Have you tried talking to him?" She wanted to help her but, if she felt this way, then why wasn't she talking to him and not her? She didn't understand it.

Neela now looked like she was on the verge of tears after she mentioned talking to Ray. That was one of the reasons why she was so upset. "He's barely even looked at me in 3 weeks, let alone spoken to me." He hadn't talked to her since their conversation on the roof. She wanted them to go back to being friends again, but he hardly even looked at her. After all that, the exact thing she didn't want to happen between them, happened. They slept together, she had given into her feelings for him just for one night, and it ruined things between them. "He's gone back to working opposite shifts." He had started going back to the arrangement they had made when they first started living together. She knew he was avoiding her. He couldn't even stand to be around her anymore. What had she done? She hadn't made things better between them, only worse.

Abby looked at her concerned. She was starting to get very worried about her. She had noticed that Ray had been acting really different lately, too. He wasn't his usual joking, playful self. He had been acting more serious, only when she had asked him about it, he wouldn't talk to her. He was closing himself off from everyone, especially from Neela. They weren't going to solve their problems like this. Even though he found it too painful to be around her right now, this wasn't the solution. "I noticed he's been different lately. I didn't know what was wrong. If he's miserable, and you're miserable, then why don't the two of you both just swallow your pride and be together?" She wasn't trying to be mean to her or make her feel bad, but this all seemed so stupid to her. It would make sense if only one of them felt this way but, they both did? Why couldn't they just be together?

"I can't." she said simply, looking so broken and fragile again, just like she had on the roof.

"Why not?" she asked with feeling. She was trying her best to be a friend and try to help. Since she said that she couldn't, now she knew that the real reason was Neela and not Ray.

"Because…" she couldn't seem to think of an answer right now. She had dumped him and she had known why, just like she knew why now, but she couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. Instead she told her "I dumped him." and then looked down. Not able to look at her and feeling so ashamed of herself.

She looked at Neela and shook her head. It was at that moment that she realized that she was completely nuts. She was her friend. She loved her, and would do anything for her but, she's crazy! If she wants to be with him, then why doesn't she just be with him? "Well, then why don't you swallow your pride and be with him?" she asked, almost yelling at her.

"I want the two of us to just be friends. I can't lose that." she mumbled, still not looking at her.

She looked at her for a few seconds, almost like she was analyzing her. She looked so weak, almost like you could make her fall over just by the smallest touch. Abby was starting to understand a little more, but she was still confused. Was she afraid because she didn't want to lose their friendship over a fling? It seemed to her like they already had, even though she would never say that to her. He wasn't talking to her. Or was she afraid of meaning nothing to Ray? She had to know that she could never mean nothing to him, right? Even Abby knew that. One thing was for sure, standing here talking to her was not going to help them, this was something they needed to work out together. Somehow they needed to find a way to communicate with each other, no matter what had happened or how much tension there was between them right now.

She took a step towards her and put her arms around her. She knew that this is what she needed right now and felt Neela's arms return the embrace. "I'm sorry but, I don't think I can help you with this. You need to work it out with him somehow." she said sweetly to let her know that she cared "I'm here for you but, this is between you and Ray."

It was true. She was her friend but, ultimately, the only way to fix this was to try and talk to him. While Neela was still upset about the situation with Ray, and even though she knew Abby couldn't really help her, the fact that she was there for her and how much she cared did make her feel a little better. She didn't know how she was going to strike up a conversation with him or better yet, if she was even going to see him in the first place. How can you talk to someone that you don't really see anymore? Makes it a little difficult.

She never meant for any of this to happen. She never meant to hurt him, it felt like she had lost her best friend. She knew it wasn't going to be easy, but she didn't know it was going to be this hard. The pain was starting to get unbearable. What was worse? The no communication or that they couldn't be together? Neither one of those was better or worse than the other.

Later, Neela started walking into the drug lock-up to search for some vials of meds she needed. After she got everything she needed, she started making her way out. When she turned, she was stunned to see Ray standing right in front of her. She hadn't even heard him walk in. What was he doing here? Not that she didn't want him here, she just wasn't expecting him to be. Either he wasn't able to get the opposite shift as hers today or he mixed the days up. Maybe he had come early. She looked into his eyes and saw everything she was feeling reflected back at her a thousand fold, if that was even possible. It really broke her heart to see him this way. They were standing there staring at each other and not even saying a word for a couple of seconds before they tried to make their way around each other. The thing was, there wasn't very much space, the drug lock-up was quite small. So much so that they were starting to brush up against each other in a way that they hadn't done since the night they made love.

She shut her eyes for a second as felt Ray brushing up against her. They were moving rather slowly and she was starting to remember what it felt like to be pressed up against him. The heat and the intoxication, and he only made the situation worse when he placed his hands on her shoulders to try to guide himself around her. Before now she had told herself that it was because of the alcohol that she had felt like that, but now she knew that wasn't it. Every fiber and every sense of her body was filled with him, which made her freeze right there in one spot and just stare up at him.

He didn't realize she was in here. He wasn't able to get the opposite shift today. Why hadn't he called in sick like he planned on doing? Ray tried his best to make his way around her, trying to ignore the fact that she was so close to him. He wanted her now more than he ever had and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this just a little bit. After all, he's a guy. Then she brushed up against him in a way that sent a sudden shock-wave all throughout his body and made him stop almost at the exact moment that she did. If she hadn't broken his heart, he would be all over her right now. There was no question in his mind about that.

The only thing she could ration out of her head right now was "Ray, I miss you" she whispered very softly, but she knew he was standing close enough to hear it. Hopefully that would break down the brick wall he had built to shut her out.

He continued to stare at her. This was one of the reasons why he hadn't really looked at her these past few weeks. He knew that if he looked at her, even if it was just once, that he would start to cave. He wasn't doing this to be cruel to her but, being around her and this close to her right now was too much for him to handle. Of course he felt the same way. He didn't want to tell her the truth but, he would never lie to her. "Me, too" he told her quietly with a little glisten in his eyes.

He wasn't cold and he did care about her more than he cared about himself, so he wouldn't shut her out forever, she knew that, but she still didn't know how she was going to help him let her back in. She really wasn't going to figure it out with him standing so close to her either. Now that she was standing right in front of him, she wasn't really sure what to say. How was she going to get his friendship back? She wanted it so badly, possibly even more than she wanted him. At least he was talking to her now. "I want us to be friends again."

He looked at her the same way he had the last time she had said that to him. There was that 'friend' word again. It felt almost like a death sentence. He did want to be her friend, but he just really needed to not hear that word right now. It killed him to think what he was about to say almost as much as it hurt him to listen to the conversation they were having. "I'm sorry. I can't. Not right now." was all he could say to her. He hated himself for doing it but, he couldn't just be her friend right now. Being friends with her seemed more like torture.

She hoped for a different answer than that, but at least he actually said something to her, and he did say that he couldn't right now. Maybe all he needed was just time. Three weeks had already seemed like such a long time but, she would wait for him if that was what he really wanted. She looked at him sadly and started making her way past him and out of the drug lock-up. Hopefully this would just be temporary. She didn't know how much more of this she could take.

Ray just stood there in a fog for a minute. It was childish to shut her out like that, but he couldn't help it. The last thing he ever wanted to do was hurt her. He had been with a lot of girls before, but he wasn't used to getting dumped. Usually it was the other way around. Of course, that wasn't the reason why he was so upset. He wasn't used to wanting to see a girl again after they slept together. What was so different about Neela? She was his roommate, his best friend, even though they weren't really talking right now, but she just made him feel so…different than the rest of the girls he'd been with. They weren't going to be together, she didn't want it. She wanted him, but she didn't want that, which made no sense to him, but he needed to accept it somehow.

One of the reasons she started walking out of the drug lock-up was because she didn't want him to see her cry. She didn't want him to know how much this was hurting her. She was pretty sure he knew how much this was affecting her already but she didn't want him to see it. He had enough to deal with right now. Did this mean he still wasn't going to talk to her or even look at her for now? Hopefully she had made things a little better by talking to him and not worse like she had before.

She continued her shift, talking to a patient in one of the exam rooms. This had been such a long day, good thing it was almost over. Just a couple more patients and then she could go home and get in bed. "How can I help you, Mr. Murphy?" she asked, barely able to keep her eyes open as she was scanning over his chart.

"I have a really bad pain in my stomach that won't go away." he told her, putting his hand to his stomach with a look of pain on his face.

"How long have you had these pains?" she asked as she started writing down what he was saying.

"Almost two weeks." he told her, before he let out a small moan.

She looked up at him slightly in concern. Could be an ulcer or an appendicitis. "Ok, I'm going to do a scope. That's where we put a camera down and try to see what's wrong but, before we do that, I'm going to give you something for the pain. I'll be right back."

"Ok." he said and shifted a little on the table, most likely because he found it too painful to move.

Neela turned and started making her way out of the room when she heard a noise that sounded like movement and suddenly felt someone grab her from behind tightly so she couldn't move. He had one arm wrapped halfway around her waist, and felt part of his other arm clutch around part of her shoulder to where she felt the cold steel of a knife held tightly to her throat. Time seemed to stand still as she was completely frozen in total disbelief and heard him say into her ear "If you try to call for help, I'll slit your throat."

A/N: Please review!

Also, just wanted to let you all know that I know I talked about how many chapters there was going to be but, I just want to make it clear so no one's confused that that was just as estimate. The truth is, I still have no idea how long this story is going to be exactly. It could be shorter than I estimated or it could be longer. I promise I know where I'm going with this but the thing is, I don't have it entirely mapped out just yet and I also have to see where it takes me, too.

Thank you so much again to everyone who takes the time to read my fic! I hope you all are liking my story and please keep reading!