Title: Next of Kin (Part 4 of 4)

Beta: Ash – thank you so much, hon.
Neela strode purposefully towards the ambulance bay doors the next morning, dragging her husband along behind her. Her engagement ring was back around her neck, but her wedding ring sat in its place on her ring finger. Her steps faltered as she saw Dr. Lewis standing just outside the doors, waiting for them with a look on her face that Neela could not decipher. Suddenly Dr. Lewis ran towards her a grin on her face. Pulling her towards her and giving her a hug, she pulled back.

"I'd ask you if you were insane, putting up with this guy," she looked at Ray and winked, "but I think I know the answer."

Neela gaped in shock; nowhere in her mind had she expected this sort of reaction.

Susan laughed, "Congratulations guys. You do realise that once this gets out there'll be a party, right?"

Neela groaned as Ray smirked; he'd told her so several times already that morning. Susan looked at their ring fingers, and then up at Ray, eyebrow arched, "You were too stingy to get her an engagement ring?"

Neela reached for the chain hidden by her top and pulled it out so that Susan could see. "We thought it best that I would still wear this on the chain, so as not to accidentally catch it on anything or anyone."

Susan nodded, then turned into the 'ER Chief'. "Right. Enough gossip; off to work." And she headed off into the ER.

Ray and Neela followed on behind and entered the ER expecting the world to be different, but there was barely a glance from anyone. Confused, the pair looked to Susan who had by now reached admin.

She shook her head. "No, that's all up to you guys."

If they had thought the previous day's shift had been odd; this shift was even more so. Their world had changed, but no one else seemed to realise much of anything until Neela and Ray were running a trauma with Sam and one of the newer nurses. Neela leaned over the patient to get a better view during a femeral tare, and the chain carrying her necklace fell out; automatically Ray reached over and put it back in, smiling at her as he did so. The trauma carried on as usual and soon the patient was sent to the OR.

As they were leaving the room Sam grabbed Neela's hand towards her, throwing Neela off balance into Ray, who brought his arms around her to stop her from falling. Sam stood looking at the ring on Neela's finger, then up at Ray and Neela and the ring on Ray's finger on the arm curled protectively around Neela's body.

"When did this happen?"

"When did what happen?" Ray asked with a smirk.

Sam shook Neela's hand and pointed to Ray's finger, still not able to actually say the words. Some days she thought the two roomies were barely friends; they were often so tense around each other.

"Three months ago."

"Three? How did you keep that a secret?"

"Why, you wishing you and Luka could have managed to keep a secret that long?"

"Ray!" Neela snapped, elbowing him as she removed his arms from around her. He gave her puppy dog eyes and she rolled hers turning back to Sam. "That's only how long we've been married. We've been together for over a year."

Sam gaped, wondering how on earth the pair had managed to keep a secret that long in the ER, her and Luka's marriage had been found out within days. She shook herself, and wished them much happiness, to which she was given a warm smile from Neela and a leer from Ray.

By the end of the shift those that had heard of the clandestine relationship and subsequent marriage seemed to be walking round in a daze, how on earth had there been a secret that big in the ER that wasn't known by everyone?

Jane arrived at Morris's apartment that evening, partly smug that she'd known something was going on, and a little proud of her friends that they'd managed to dupe everyone for so long. Mind you, there'll be a few hurt people out there once it's known. I wonder what they've told their parents.

She let herself into his apartment, calling out her entrance as she left her coat on the hook on the back of the door. She turned to face Archie, whose face fell.

"What?"

"No soup?"

"Oh! Sorry, I'd totally forgotten."

"What could possibly make you forget about my health and wellbeing?" he snarked.

"Like you don't have a fridge full of food anyway," she replied as she strode towards it and pulled out a tub of chicken soup and placed it in the microwave to heat it up.

"So?"

"What?"

"What happened that made you forget to provide for me?"

"Neela and Ray got married."

"Huh?"

"Three months ago."

"They, what?"

"They've been an item for over a year."

"Ray and Neela?"

"That is what I said, isn't it?"

"The dude's got style!"

Jane sighed, attempting to ignore Archie's innate maleness as she got the soup out of the microwave, found a spoon, and handed them both to him before finally sitting down herself.

"And we didn't even notice a thing."

"I did."

Archie's head swung towards her fast and he winced in pain. "You what?"

"I had thought there was something going on with the two of them for the last two months, so they were obviously slipping. I was just off by over a year." She laughed at herself.

"How come they told people?"

"Oh, again that's entirely your fault."

"It is?" he asked, wondering how this could possibly be his fault.

"The next of kin forms."

He looked puzzled for a moment and Jane could actually see the moment when the thought made it to his tiny little, slightly bruised, brain. "Ah."

He turned towards her. "You do realise that this means you can't possibly use the 'we're co-workers' excuse anymore, right? 'Cause it's not just Kovac and Sam anymore, it's Ray and Neela too."

"Whoever said I said that?"

She asked as she stood up and headed towards him, taking his soup away and placing it on the coffee table. He stared at her in wonder, his brain working at a slower rate than usual, 'cause by now I would normally have hold of her…

The End.