I know, I know, I promised this in less than a week, and it's been about a month, but I've been busy! J But the important thing is I do finally have Part Six to my C&M series. My exams are still going – this is just a study break kinda thing, so don't expect any new parts for the next week. But, after that, I'll be good, I PROMISE!!! One more thing, personally, I didn't like the end of my last one, but there's nothing I can do about it now. But I ramble, so please, read on J
If you havn't, you might wanna read the first five parts of the series:
Part One (TOW The Nice Dinner Date) Part Two (TOW The Next Morning) Part Three (TOW The Seperation) Part Four (TOW The Question) Part Five (TOW The Roses)Disclaimer: I don't own these Characters. They belong to Bright/Kauffman/Crane and WB. I'm purely using them for non-profit entertainment.
The One With The Paramedic
By DivineMissKiwi
Chandler felt a wave of fear come over his body. He was already worried about the fire, but now his sole focus had become finding Monica. His attempts to look over the seas of people were in vain, as were his screams of her name. Even if she had heard him, he wouldn't have been able to hear her yelling back, no matter how loud she was. Forced down the stairwell by the people around him, he decided to get out of the building and look for Monica there. She could have been ahead of him anyway. Without a second though, Chandler pushed through the crowds. As he got to the floors below their room, the growing amount of smoke forced him to the ground. He crawled along the ground, desperately trying to remember the fire safety they taught in the 4th grade, he squinted, looking for anything that looked like a way out. Then, through the thick, black smoke, he though he saw what looked like the same kind of exit sign they'd seen up stairs. He started to frantically move towards it, trying his best not to loose track of the light. When the lack of air forced him to stop for a second, he was sure he heard a large crack above his head.
"Sir! Please, Sir, wait!!" Monica yelled, as she ran up to yet another paramedic. "Have you seen this man?" she asked severely. She held up a picture of Joey and Chandler that she had pulled from her purse, and pointed to Chandler. Organised in any situation, Monica had grabbed her purse as they had left the hotel room.
"No, sorry ma'am, we're doing all we can" the paramedic said in a way so Monica could tell he had said it a million times in the last half hour. But all Monica could do was wait, she had asked anyone she could find if they'd seen Chandler, with no luck. She felt arms wrap around her shoulders with a blanket, which startled her.
"Chandler!" she yelled, as she spun around.
"You'll catch a cold ma'am," said the same paramedic from before, "come over here and sit down." He said as he led her to the back of an ambulance. Monica was a little reluctant at first, but she did realize that her bathrobe wasn't exactly keeping her warm.
"Could I see that picture again?" he asked as he sat her down. Monica passed the photo to him. "The guy on the left right?" Monica nodded yes. "I'll see what I can do for you," he said with a smile, as he walked off towards the building. Monica was in her own little world as she watched him go. There was no way all this was actually happening. She blankly looked at the crowds of onlookers that had gathered around the building. She could hear the sirens of the fire trucks piercing the silent night air. For all the chaos that was unfolding in front her, her mind never once left him. Chandler. She would give anything and everything just to see him at that moment. She scolded herself for not telling herself the truth about her feelings for him, not only in the last couple of days, but for the entire time they had been friends. She couldn't remember ever actually thinking of him as more than a friend, but she didn't know why she hadn't. He was sweet, smart, charming, funny, and most importantly, cared about her more than almost anybody did. For a moment, she forgot where she was. She was brought back to reality when she heard the faint sound of somebody saying her name.
"Monica?!" The sound came closer, and she recognized the voice.
"Chandler?!" She jumped up, dropping her blanket, as her heart rate went through the roof. She desperately scanned the crowd, looking for where the voice had come from. She started to panic when she couldn't see anything. She hurried into the crowd, so frantic in her search she almost missed what she was looking for. "Chandler?!?!" she called again, the fear obvious in her voice.
"Mon!" the man behind her spun around at the same time she did.
"Chandler!!" Monica cried as she flung her arms around him and held him tight. As they clung to each other like they were one, both thought to themselves that they were going to hold onto the other till death to they part.
Chandler was the first to wake the next morning. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes. Both him and Monica were lying on their sides, and Monica was still fast asleep. She was facing away from him, but pressed up against his body. He slowly sat up, and pulled his arm from around Monica. He watched Monica sleep for a few seconds, she looked so peaceful, before the pain in his head forced him to lye down again. He had been hit by a small beam in the hotel the night before, and despite only needing a bandage over night, it certainly felt sore at the moment. Chandler turned his head towards the clock. It was already 11.26am. A hotel down the road had been nice enough to put them up for the night, after they had lied and said they were from out of town, they definitely weren't up to going home after what they had just been through. He looked over at the door and could see that their belongings had been brought over from the other hotel. He was grateful that they hadn't been destroyed. As he started to think about what had happened just a few hours ago, he heard a soft murmur come from Monica, and she turned over and was now facing him, but still sound asleep. He rolled over, so their faces were just a couple of inches apart. He gently, so as not to wake her, put his hand on her check. He could feel her warm breath brush over his skin. For the first time ever with a woman, he was happy just to be spending time with her. Despite having come so close to being with her the night before, he was content to have just spent the night sleeping beside her.
"You know, we're going to have to tell the guys something." Chandler remembered, as he opened the car door and jumped out.
"Yeah," Monica replied flatly. She hadn't exactly been very vocal that morning. Chandler tried to put it down to lack of sleep, but he couldn't help but think it was something more. As the walked out of Chandler's work car park into the afternoon light, Chandler glanced over at Monica for any clues about what was bothering her. But she had her arms wrapped around herself, and was looking down with a solemn look on her face. It pained Chandler to see her like that, and to not know what she was thinking. But, he thought it best to just leave her for a while. They walked in silence for the rest of the way home, as Chandler tried his best to think of a believable story to cover their night.
"Oh my god! What a bitch!" Rachel cried. "What'd you do then?"
"I left! I'm not gonna stick around when someone is throwing bottles around! I don't care how drunk they are, Chan Chan would like to keep his head!" Chandler joked. Phoebe and Rachel were listening intently to Chandler's fake account of the night before. Joey was there at Central Perk too, but as soon as Chandler said no sex was involved, he found the Time magazine more interesting.
"So yeah, that's about it. I stayed over night in the hospital, Monica went to a hotel with her date, and here I am, sadder than I was before. End of story," Chandler said with a sarcastic smile, as a waitress brought over his coffee.
"Chandler?" A male voice asked from behind the couch Chandler and Phoebe were sitting on.
"Uh, that's me" he said, raising his hand, before he turned around and recognized the paramedic that had treated him the night before. Suddenly, a rush of panic came over his body when he realised this guy might blow his cover. Deciding it was best to pretend he knew the guy, he jumped up.
"Oh hey…." He trailed off, deciding against making up a name, before leading the guy out of earshot. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm Tyler, by the way" he said, shaking Chandler's hand. "I'm looking for your friend, Monica."
"What do you want with Monica?" Chandler asked, confused.
"I just, I need to see her," Tyler said, not wanting to really say anything.
"How did you find me?"
"You gave me your address on your medical form last night, and I checked you apartment, and a guy in the hall said you might be here. I still have Monica's photo, so you were easy to spot. But please, I just need to know where she is. Please?" Chandler didn't want to have to watch this guy beg, so he gave in.
"She's upstairs, she lives in the apartment across from mine."
"Oh, great! Thanks a lot Chandler. It was good to see you again." Tyler said politely. "Don't forget to go in if that starts to hurt more," he reminded Chandler as he left Central Perk, pointing to the bandage on his head.
"What was that about?" Phoebe asked as Chandler returned to the couch.
"Huh?" Chandler snapped out of his gaze from watching Tyler leave. "Oh, that was…. Monica's date from last night."
"You work with that guy?!" Rachel exclaimed. "How come you didn't set me up with him when you were looking for a guy for me?! He's so cute!"
"Oh, he's new. Yeah, new guy, right there." Chandler said, getting a little proud of his lies.
"Ooooh, but that's so great for Mon then huh?" Phoebe said, excitedly. "I can't wait any longer, I don't care what you say Chandler, I'm going to see her."
"Wait! Phoebe! Shouldn't we give her and Tyler a little time alone?" Rachel said with a grin.
"Oh yeah! Oh, she's so lucky."
Chandler watched the girls talk about Monica's fake relationship. He wanted as much as they did to go and see Monica, but she had asked him for the afternoon to herself. He realised she wouldn't be very happy when she found out that he'd been the one that had sent Tyler up there. But, he figured he wouldn't be there for too long, how much could he have to say?
"Who's there?" Monica asked, not wanting to get off the couch when she heard a knock at the door.
"Its Tyler, the paramedic from last night," He called.
Monica was curious about why he was there, and how he'd found her, so she peeled herself off the couch and opened the door for him. He was better looking that she had remembered. He was just under six foot, with short, light brown hair and green eyes, and was well built, a perk of the job perhaps, she thought.
"Hey," she said, breaking her first smile all day. "How come you're here? How'd you find me?" Monica hated not knowing why things were the way they were. Tyler then told her the same story he had told Chandler a few minutes earlier, adding the Chandler part to the story.
"Chandler told you to come up here?" she asked, slightly annoyed.
"Well, not technically, he just told me where to find you."
"Oh," Monica knew she didn't really mind, she was getting a little bored anyway, "well, come in then, Tyler." She realised he didn't answer her first question, so she asked again as he sat down at the kitchen table.
"Well, I might as well just ask right off, cause I'm due back at work in a half an hour. So, would you like to go out sometime?" He asked bluntly, before continuing. "I mean, I thought maybe you were with Chandler, but then he told me last night you were just friends, and well, you're really pretty, and as far as I've seen really nice too, so I'd just love to take you out sometime." Monica was a little taken aback. She walked over to the table and handed him a drink before responding.
"You know what? I'd love to," she said, almost surprising herself. She had had what was the worst day she'd had recently, and needed something to cheer herself up, and take her mind of the whole Chandler thing. All day she had been thinking about what had happened, and what had almost happened. Although she had told herself to follow her heart, as always, her mind got in the way, and told her being with Chandler wasn't right. She cherished their friendship more than anything else, and she knew what happened the night before had been more the wine than actual Monica. But, she hadn't the heart to tell Chandler. She knew she'd have to talk to him sooner or later, and the longer she left it, the harder it would be. But she decided she needed to do something that she wanted, and Tyler was giving her the perfect opportunity.
"Really?" Tyler asked, he wasn't expecting her to actually say yes, at least not so soon.
"Yeah!" she said, smiling again. "I've had the worst day, I really need something to cheer myself up."
"Yeah?" he asked sympathetically.
"Oh, you wouldn't believe!" she answered with a laugh. Suddenly, Tyler had an idea.
"I love Mickey Mouse, don't you?"
"Suuuurre…" Monica looked at him curiously, wondering where he was going with that.
"Can I use your phone?" he said, getting up out of his chair. Monica raised her eyebrows, and showed him where it was. "Whatcha doin'?" she asked playfully, but all she got in reply was a smile.
After listening for a few moments, Tyler began to speak to the person he was calling. "Yeah, hi. I'd like to know when the next flight out to LA is tonight?"
"Mon?" Phoebe and Rachel called out in unison as they walked into Monica and Rachel's apartment at about 8pm that night, with Chandler following slowly a few steps behind. "Monica? We're home!" The three of them, plus Joey, had been out to the movies to give Monica a bit more time alone. Chandler was a little apprehensive about being there, but since he had no story to cover that, he had to choice but to come with the girls. Rachel was about to call out again when she spotted a note on the table. She read it aloud.
Rach,
I've gone to Los Angeles for a couple days with Tyler, sorry about the short notice. Tell Chandler I'll talk to him when I get back.
Lots of love and hugs,
Monica Geller
Rachel looked up at Phoebe, who was just as shocked as she was. "Oh my god," Phoebe said, "Oh my god! I can't believe she just went to LA!" Phoebe changed her tone to happy one. "That's so cool! She's so…" Phoebe was cut off by the crashing of the door, as Chandler stormed out. Out in the hallway, he slumped against the wall, tears streaming down his face. Rachel and Phoebe followed him a moment later out into the hallway.
"Chandler? Sweetie, what's wrong?" Rachel asked, walking over to him with Phoebe, as she crouched onto the ground beside him. He tried to cover his tears to no avail, before looking up at Rachel.
"I'm in love with Monica."
Boy it feels good to have finally finished that J
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