Credit goes to BoozedBoy for Chapters 1-3. I decided to finish this for him since it appears he hasn't updated (Or been here) since August 1st 2008. His story did mention that people could do this which I thought was odd. Origional story located here for reference purposes s/4425232/1/ . Make sure to read all of the description first before you chew me out.
Everybody minus Rachel is outside the movie theatre.
"If she doesn't hurry up we are going to miss the movie" Ross whined to
everyone
"She still isn't answering so we will have to go in" Monica said as she
hung up her cell phone.
The group headed inside as Monica took one final look around for her friend.
Once the movie was over the gang decided to head to Central Perk for a
coffee.
"Guys, I think I'm going to check on Rachel" Monica said trying to hide
her concern for her absent friend.
"Okay babe, you want me to come with you?" Chandler asked.
"No, it's okay. I'll see you at home" Monica replied as she kissed him
goodbye.
As the gang headed inside Monica made her way to Rachel's apartment
block. Rachel lived opposite her and Chandler in the penthouse apartment
in Ross' block. Monica let herself in the building and Rachel's
apartment with her key.
"Rach?" Monica called as she cautiously entered.
Monica looked around for a bit and saw Rachel's cell phone and purse on
the kitchen table. Monica felt panic in her stomach. "Rach, are you
here?" she called again.
Monica walked to her bedroom and sighed in relief as she saw Rachel
sleeping on her bed. She walked over to her and gently woke her up.
"Rach, are you okay?" She softly said as Rachel squinted finding herself.
"Yeah, what's going on?" She replied confused.
"We were supposed to be going to the movies" Monica stated hoping to jog
Rachel's memory.
"Oh God! Let me just get changed and I'll be ready" Rachel said sitting up.
"It's 10:30 – we saw the movie without you" Monica told her.
Rachel looked wide-eyed. "I came home and must have crashed out. I'm
really sorry"
"That's okay sweetie. I just wanted to make sure you were okay"
"I'm fine. Do you want a coffee?" Rachel asked getting up.
"A tea would be good. I don't want to be awake all night"
Monica and Rachel chatted for a while before Monica headed home. When
she entered her apartment Chandler was sitting on his couch in his
pyjamas reading.
"Everything okay with Rachel?" He questioned.
"Yeah, she just crashed out. She doesn't really seem herself though"
Monica said more to herself than Chandler.
However, Monica dismissed the thoughts as quickly as they came into her
head. Rachel had a very stressful job at Louis Vuitton. She put in long
hours but reaped a lot of benefits for it, which had come in handy when
Monica recently had to borrow 10,000. She hated asking but Chandler was
struggling with his internship at the advertising company and her wages
didn't cover their expenses. Rachel had written her cheque without
batting an eyelid and told her that she would happily write as many
cheques as she needed.
It was a couple of weeks later when Phoebe was alerted to the fact that
Rachel wasn't herself. Rachel had missed a lunch date with Phoebe so
Phoebe headed to her apartment banging on the door. She was greeted with
a bleary-eyed, pale Rachel.
"Rachel Karen Green what is going on? I have been sitting at Café Italy
for almost an hour!" she barked.
"Oh My God Phoebe I am so sorry. I fell asleep"
"Again? You are always asleep!"
"I'm sorry, I was working all night" Rachel lied, she hadn't been
working all night but she didn't know what was wrong with her. She was
exhausted constantly and it was beginning to worry her.
"Let me just grab my stuff and we can go eat" Rachel said inviting
Phoebe in.
Phoebe walked into Rachel's luxury apartment and waited for her friend.
After 10 minutes Rachel was ready. They walked down to Café Italy and by
the time they got there Rachel was exhausted. As soon as they were
seated Rachel asked for a glass of water, rather breathless.
"Are you okay?" Phoebe asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine" Rachel lied again.
Rachel struggled throughout the meal; she wasn't hungry and felt sick to
her stomach. She tried to keep up the act and pretend everything was
normal. Once lunch was over Phoebe wanted to go shopping but Rachel made
up a work excuse and headed home in a cab.
After a few more days of feeling like crap Rachel finally gave in and
succumbed to her fear of doctors. She was going to ask Monica to come
with her but decided against it knowing that Monica would go into full
'controlling and nurturing' mode.
The doctor examined Rachel and put her tiredness down to a 'probable
iron deficiency', however to be on the safe side he sent her to St.
Vincent's for a series of tests.
Rachel felt relieved that she only had iron deficiency; she had been
imagining the worst. As the next couple of days wore on she began taking
the prescribed medication and she did feel better. She told the gang
about her diagnosis and they were all pleased that she had sought help.
Monica moaned that Rachel should have taken her to the doctors with her
so Rachel failed to mention the hospital tests that she was taking in a
couple of days.
Rachel had her Louis Vuitton driver take her to the hospital where they
performed test after test. She was exhausted after the end of it, blood
tests, urine samples, EKG checks, brain scan, heart scans – a full body
servicing.
The next morning Rachel was getting dressed for work when the house
phone rang, She answered it and was surprised to hear her doctor on the
other end of the phone.
He told her that he had her test results and would be grateful if she
could head to his office immediately.
"Is everything okay?" She asked startled.
"If you could come down, we can discuss it face to face" He replied.
Rachel hung up the phone and hesitated about calling Monica for support.
However, she decided against it and opted to face this alone.
When she reached the doctors office she was taken straight through to
Dr. Andrews. He greeted her and told her to take a seat. Without
realising it Rachel just blurted out "Is it cancer?"
"No, you don't have cancer" Dr Andrews replied sitting behind his desk.
Rachel felt a rush of relief run over her.
"Your test results have come back and shown an abnormality with your
heart. You heart is twice the size it should be and the cells around it
are dying off."
Rachel looked confused.
"Your heart isn't beating as it should, which is caused by a lack of
oxygen pumping through. This is mainly the cause of your tiredness and
shortness of breath"
"So, this can be fixed right or is it something that I live with?"
Rachel questioned.
"Rachel, you have a rare form of heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy.
I can prescribe medication for the short term which will slow down the
process but ultimately you will need a heart surgery – possibly a heart
transplant.
Rachel looked on it shock, unsure of whether she heard him correctly.
"I need a heart transplant? That's impossible, I'm just tired. People
who need heart transplants are seriously sick, hooked up to oxygen tanks
and ventilators"
"Rachel you are in the early stages of heart disease but it is a
progressive illness. In 6 months to a year you could be facing that
possibility. Now there is a procedure that we could perform which would
shrink your heart back down to its normal size and help with the blood
flow through your heart but we are talking open heart surgery"
Rachel just looked dazed which the doctor picked up on.
"I know this is a lot to take in right now. My suggestion is to begin
taking the medication, get your head around this and we will talk in a
week and discuss all options"
Rachel thanked the doctor and left. She walked for ages, just in a daze
at the news she had been given. She felt like sobbing, like breaking
down and crying and never getting up having to deal with this.
She decided that she needed to talk this over with somebody. Somebody
who would take care of this situation and make it all go away. The
person who would comfort her and reassure her that she would be okay.
That person was of course Monica.
Rachel walked into the apartment and found Monica on top of her
sideboard cleaning the tops of the cupboards.
"Hey sweetie" She greeted merrily.
"Hey" Rachel managed back.
"Could you hand me that disinfectant?" Monica asked not paying that much
attention to Rachel's sad form.
Rachel handed her the bottle. "Do you have a minute to talk?"
"Sure, you will have to be quick though I have to get this whole kitchen
clean before I head to the restaurant" Monica quickly replied.
Rachel just stood still, unsure of how to form the words.
"Rachel what is it?" Monica said getting frustrated at the top of the
cupboards. She figured Rachel would need to talk about some date from
hell, or the work day from hell.
Rachel snapped out of her daze and looked at Monica. "Nothing, it's
nothing. I'll be fine. I'll catch up with you later" Rachel said as she
headed out of the door.
Monica looked at Rachel and could tell that she had something serious on
her mind. Her face was pale and she looked like she had the weight of
the world on her shoulders. "Rach" Monica called out as she jumped down
from the sideboard onto a chair.
Monica ran into the hall and caught up with Rachel before she hit the
stairs.
"Rachel, what's going on?" Monica asked concerned.
"I…. I have…. Look lets talk about this when you have time" Rachel said
dismissing her and trying to get out of the situation.
"I always have time for you. Now come inside and talk" Monica said sweetly.
Monica sat Rachel down on the couch and noticed that Rachel was shaking.
"Okay, you need to tell me what's going on because I'm starting to freak
out" Monica said holding her hand.
"It's not as bad as…. Okay, so I had to go to the hospital for a series
of tests…."
Monica's stomach flipped over. Why had she been so stupid? Rachel had
been sick for weeks, months even and she ignored it. Why hadn't she
taken her best friend to the doctor when she first became concerned?
"The doctor called this morning and asked me to go down and as it turns
out I have heart disease" Rachel felt like a weight had been lifted off
her shoulders once she told Monica.
Monica just looked at her confused. She had been waiting for the word
cancer to come out of Rachel's mouth.
"How can you have heart disease? You're 24 years of age" Monica said in
an almost accusing way.
Rachel just lightly shook her head. Monica could see the fear in her
younger friend's eyes so decided to take control of the situation and
spin a positive light on it. She would research and worry later.
"Okay, so you have heart disease. This can be controlled by medication
right? My dad's friend has heart disease, he takes Beta Blockers and
lives a pretty normal life"
Rachel sat almost scared of Monica's reaction. "I have a rare form of
heart disease, it's really progressive. My heart is twice the size it
should be and I need surgery soon and then they are talking heart
transplants"
Monica's heart sank. She couldn't get her head around her best friend
needing a heart transplant.
Rachel sat looking at Monica taking in the information and she saw the
fear and worry in her face, something that was almost non-existent. Once
Rachel saw that Monica was scared she broke, the tears started to fall
from her eyes. Monica quickly realised that she wasn't helping the
situation and took her friend in an embrace.
Monica held Rachel and stroked her hair. "This is going to be okay Rach.
I promise you. I'm here and we're going to sort this out together". She
soothingly whispered into her ear.
After a couple of minutes Rachel composed herself and pulled back from
Monica.
"I'm okay" She said finding her inner strength.
Practical Monica took over and she decided that she needed to know all
the facts before she drew up her plan.
"Okay, you need to tell me exactly what the doctor said. How are we
going to deal with this?" Monica asked her
Rachel went through exactly what the doctor had said and the tests she
had at the hospital and showed Monica the prescription the doctor had
given her.
"This is what we are going to do. I'm going to go and get this
prescription for you and then go to your apartment and get your stuff so
you can move in here…"
"No Mon, I don't want to change everything. I need to keep this as
normal as possible. I need to stay at my own place and work…"
"Rachel, you can't work!"
"Monica please" Rachel almost begged.
Monica knew that she was becoming overpowering and wanted to keep Rachel
as calm as possible.
"I'm sorry. Let me go and get your prescription and then we will take
things from there" Monica needed to clear her head, she needed to get
away from Rachel so she could cry.
"I'll come with you" Rachel said standing up.
"Why don't you stay here and rest?" Monica offered.
"Please don't treat me like I'm dying Monica"
"I'm sorry"
The two of them headed down to the nearest pharmacy and picked up
Rachel's prescription. Monica felt on edge the whole 10 minute journey,
she knew that it wasn't going to happen because Rachel had been sick for
a while but she felt like she was going to collapse and not get up again.
Once they collected the medications they headed back to Rachel's
apartment. Chandler was due home for lunch and Rachel didn't feel like
seeing anybody. When they reached Rachel's apartment Rachel sat down on
the sofa whilst Monica read her medication instructions. She had an
inhaler which she was to use as and when she felt breathless, a blood
thinning medication to be taken twice daily and Clorocine to be taken 4
times daily.
After a few minutes of silence Rachel looked at Monica.
"What am I going to do?" She almost begged.
"You're going to get through it. I'm going to come to your doctor's
appointment on Friday and we are going to discuss every option and
treatment and we are going to be okay. If it's a heart transplant that
you need then we will get you on the list and search the God damn
country until we get the best one available."
Rachel laughed. Only Monica could make a heart transplant list into a
competition. Monica and Rachel hung out all day and Rachel felt better
having her around.
At 7.00PM Monica looked out of Rachel's window and saw her friends
sitting in her apartment with Chandler. She wished that she could be
there not knowing what she knew. Monica looked at Rachel who was dosing
on the couch. She walked over to her and knelt down.
"Hon, the guys are over the road, we should tell them" She softly suggested.
Rachel nodded and begun to get up.
"If you want to stay here then I can tell them?" Monica offered.
"No. I should be there"
Monica and Rachel headed over the road and walked into the apartment to
be greeted by Ross, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey and Charlie.
"Are you okay?" Chandler asked Monica concerned.
Monica tried to dismiss him and tell him that she was fine but he continued.
"I thought you had died when I came home and all the cupboards were in a
mess. You would never leave the kitchen in this mess unless somebody had
died" He stated.
Monica wished that the floor would open up and swallow Chandler whole!
The last thing on her mind was her damn cupboards.
Rachel just smiled because she knew Chandler was right.
"Guys, could we all sit down. Rachel and I need to talk to you" Monica
said taking control of the situation.
"Oh My God! You're lesbians and you're leaving Chandler!" Joey stated
excitedly
Monica looked mad but when she saw Rachel laughing she smiled aswell.
The guys all sat on the couch as Rachel sat on the armchair. Monica sat
on the arm next to her.
Rachel knew that once she told everybody it became real. They would no
longer look at her like Rachel but an invalid.
"So, what's going on?" Ross asked urging one of them to speak.
Monica knew that Rachel wasn't going to say anything so she began.
"You guys know how Rachel hasn't been well lately and she went to the
doctors. Well she had her results back and it turns out that she has a
heart condition" Monica explained.
"What kind of heart condition?" Phoebe asked
Monica took Rachel's hand as she continued.
"It's heart disease"
"That's impossible!" Ross stated. "You're too young for heart disease"
"It's a rare form" Monica told him.
"So what happens now?" Chandler questioned
"Well, we're going to the doctors office on Friday and we are going to
discuss all treatments available and then we will take it from there"
Monica said matter of factly watering down the truth.
"So, you're going to be okay then? It's not really anything too worry
about?" Joey said hoping to wash over this and pretend it isn't real.
"Of course it's something to worry about!" Phoebe exclaimed "Millions of
people die from this every year!
"Phoebe!" Monica scolded.
"I'm sorry" Phoebe said forgetting that Rachel was in the room. "I don't
mean that you are going to die Rach. I meant old people, sick people"
"I am sick Phoebe. This isn't going to get any better, its only going to
get worse over the next few months and they think that a heart
transplant is my only option" Rachel told everybody deciding to give
them the full facts.
Everybody sat in shock.
"We will all get tested Rachel" Joey enthusiastically told her
Rachel smiled at him "thanks Joe, but I think you need your heart"
It took him a while to understand but he finally got it.
"Are you okay?" Charlie finally said breaking the silence.
"Yeah. It took a minute to get my head round but I'm fine"
"Look Rachel is going to be okay. That isn't debatable. But she is going
to need a lot of love and caring and that's what we're here for" Monica
said trying to break everybody out of their thoughts.
"You're right" Chandler said standing up and pulling Rachel up into a
hug. The others followed suit and all hugged her one by one. Monica sat
on the couch biting her bottom lip and brushing Chandler away as he
tried to comfort her. If she let go she would sob uncontrollably and
never stop and she didn't want to do that in front of Rachel.
The gang hung out for an hour until they all decided to head home.
"You want me to stay over?" Monica said walking over to Rachel as she
helped her with her coat.
"No, I'm fine. I need some time alone. But thank-you for today" Rachel
said squeezing her hand.
"I'll grab my coat and walk you over" Monica said
"I can walk with Ross and Charlie"
"I'll make sure she gets home Mon" Ross told her.
"Okay, call me if you need me and take those medications when you get
in" Monica told her.
The gang all said goodbye and Monica closed the door. Before Chandler
had a chance to say anything Monica began.
"Please don't be nice to be. Just let me deal with this"
Chandler knew that Monica was close to breaking but she was holding it
together for Rachel's sake. So he watched as she grabbed her laptop and
went online. He had no doubt that she was typing Heart Disease into Google.
It took about 10 minutes of Monica surfing until she finally broke. She
sobbed uncontrollably. Chandler walked behind her and pulled her into
the hug she had needed all day long. Chandler knew his role in this
whole thing. Monica would be there for Rachel 200 and he would be there
for Monica, picking up the slack and letting her cry late into the night
letting out her biggest fears.
"I can't lose her Chandler" Monica sobbed into his chest.
"You won't. Rachel is a fighter and she will be fine"
"Heart surgery carries one of the highest fatality risks"
"You shouldn't be looking at that stuff. Rachel is going to be fine." He
tried to reassure her.
"It says that on-line that the majority of people with heart disease die
within 3 years of diagnosis. If she goes into congestive heart failure
she could just drop dead…"
"Monica stop" Chandler interrupted. "You can't worry about something
that will never happen. You can't compare this to anything else, we need
to see what the doctor says and take it one step at a time".
"Thank-you" Monica told him as she hugged him closely.
Monica cleaned her kitchen and headed to bed about an hour after
Chandler. Rachel's lights were off which Monica was pleased about. She
prayed that Rachel got a good night's sleep. Monica on the other hand
couldn't. She slept for about 2 hours and was then wide awake, her mind
racing with endless possibilities.
"Try and sleep Mon" Chandler told her as he stirred.
"I'm sorry if I woke you" She told him.
"Monica sitting here worrying isn't going to help. You need to get your
rest so that you stay strong for her"
"When she told me she was sick and had heart disease, my initial
reaction was relief. I thought that she was going to tell me that she
had cancer. I was convinced. So when she said heart disease I felt
relieved. Does that make me an awful person?"
"Monica of course it doesn't. The only person Rachel wants throughout
this whole thing is you".
By 5.00AM Monica gave up and got out of bed. Chandler was snoring
lightly next to her and she didn't want to disturb him further. She
looked out of her window and saw that Rachel's place was still in
darkness. She considered going over to her to check she was okay but she
remembered that Rachel wanted everything kept as normal as possible.
By 7.00AM Chandler was up and dressed for work and Monica couldn't hold
back any further. She picked up the phone and called Rachel.
"Hello?" Rachel answered.
"Hey, I didn't wake you did I?" Monica quickly asked.
"No, I'm just getting ready for work"
Monica was going to ask Rachel to stay home but she felt that she needed
to let her carry on as normal for as long as possible.
"How did you sleep?" She asked.
"Good. I feel a bit nauseous this morning but I'm guessing that's the
tablets?" Rachel told her.
"Yeah, that was down as a side-effect. Okay, I was just checking your
okay. Call me if you need me, I'll be at the restaurant from 11.00am"
"Bye"
Monica felt relieved after speaking to Rachel, she knew that she was
okay and deep down she was pleased that she was going to work at least
it would take her mind off of it.
The next few days passed and things picked up as normal. Rachel
continued to work and put it to the back of her mind while everybody
tried to discreetly help her. It was Thursday evening when Phoebe walked
into Joey's apartment and caught him on Chandler's laptop. He quickly
closed the screen when he saw her.
"Joseph, what are you doing?" She enquired.
"Porn" He lied.
"Don't lie Joey, you never close the screen when you are looking at
porn. You show it to everyone!"
He hesitated before telling her "I'm trying to find information on heart
disease"
Phoebe looked at him like she would a young child trying to understand
something they knew nothing about. They had all secretly researched
heart disease over the past few days and all dealt with it in their own
way but Joey avoided discussing it and was uncomfortable around Rachel.
"I can hardly understand any of it though – there are so many different
types" He told her.
Phoebe shut the lid of the laptop and sat next to Joey.
"What is it you want to know?" She asked him gently.
"Is Rachel going to die?" He softly asked.
Phoebe knew that she needed to be honest with Joey, he wanted the truth
and she was going to give it to him.
"It's a possibility".
Joey looked down like he had been crushed.
"Joey, none of us know what is going to happen but Rachel is very sick.
She is going to have to go into hospital and she will probably need a
big operation. And yeah it's going to be scary seeing her that ill but
we need to stay strong for her. I know that you have been avoiding her
the past few days but she is still Rachel".
"If I don't see her sick then I don't have to deal with it" Joey said.
"But Rachel had to deal with it. She has to live with this every minute
of every day. And you being weird around her only makes her feel worse.
You can't catch what she has Joe so the next time you see her give her a
big hug and tell her that you love her"
"I don't want her to die Pheebs" Joey said breaking.
Phoebe stood and embraced him. "None of us do Joe and please God she
doesn't but we have to be prepared"
After his chat with Phoebe, Joey headed over to Rachel's apartment and
spent the
evening with her. They hung out and laughed and joked and it was exactly
what Rachel needed to take her mind off the looming doctor's appointment.
The next morning Monica was like a female Hitler. She had been awake
since 6.00AM and was wound as tightly as a spring. Chandler tried to
calm her down but she wasn't interested so he just let her rant. Phoebe,
Joey and Ross also just let her snap at everyone of them as they sat
around her table.
"For God Sakes Ross – you can't put the empty milk carton in the
garbage?!" She snapped.
"Sorry" He mumbled looking at the others.
"It's not too much to ask is it?! I mean I don't mind you all having
breakfast here just obey the rules" She ranted as she wiped down the
fridge like a maniac.
"Morning" Rachel said as she walked in dressed casually.
"Morning sweetie" Monica said walking over to her. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I feel good".
"Do you want some coffee?" Chandler asked.
"Are you stupid Chandler?!" Monica snapped as she turned around "She
isn't allowed caffeine!"
"Sorry" He mumbled looking at the others.
At 8.30AM Monica grabbed her things including her notebook and pen.
"What's that for?" Rachel asked.
"So I can take notes. I want to remember everything he says" She said
Monica-esq.
Rachel just rolled her eyes at the others as they all smiled. Monica led
her out of the door and they walked to Rachel's building car park where
they got in Rachel's Porsche. Monica drove and Rachel was in the
passenger seat.
When they got to the doctors office, they sat in the waiting room.
Rachel began to feel nervous and anxious which Monica picked up on.
"It's going to be okay" She reassured her squeezing her hand.
Receptionist: Miss Green – Dr Andrews is ready for you now.
They stood up and headed into his office.
"Rachel, Monica – how are you both?" He greeted.
"We've been better" Monica answered.
"How are you feeling Rachel? Has the medication helped?" Dr Andrews
asked her.
"Yeah I guess so. I'm still tired but not as breathless." Rachel stated.
"She's been very nauseous though" Monica continued.
"Okay, if you want to hop on the bed, I'll take a quick listen to your
chest."
Rachel did and the doctor placed his stethoscope on her chest listening
intently. Monica felt her stomach going over. She didn't know how she
would cope if Rachel had to have surgery. After examining her he made
her do a few breathing exercises which Monica thought she struggled with.
"Okay Rachel. If you want to take a seat" He offered as he sat back
behind his desk.
"Your breathing is very ragged. You need to start thinking about taking
it easy. You can't push yourself like you used to. Your heart isn't able
to pump enough oxygen through so when you feel tired you need to stop"
Monica scribbled everything he said down and then looked up "What's the
prognosis here Dr Andrews? What should we expect?"
"If the medications don't open up her valves to allow more oxygen and
blood to pass through we will need to operate. Once the oxygen is
flowing normally her heart should reduce in size."
"How and when will we know if the medication is working?" Monica asked
still scribbling everything down
"I'm going to book Rachel in for a scan next Thursday. If there is no
improvement by then we will have to schedule surgery".
"And then what?" Monica urged
"Rachel will be off her feet for 6-10 weeks and then we take it step by
step"
"You mentioned that Rachel could need a heart transplant?"
"Yes that is a possibility. Our last resort but a definite possibility"
"Could you be a bit clearer please Dr Andrews?" Monica asked "Are we
talking in a couple of weeks, months, years?"
"At this stage we don't know Monica. If she doesn't respond to the
medication or surgery and her heart continues to deteriorate we will
need to look at transplant options."
"Okay, so worst case scenario, she doesn't respond to meds or surgery -
how long are we talking before you get need a transplant?"
"Monica, lets cross one bridge at a time" He told her.
"I'm sorry but I need to know. Rachel I know that this is about you so
if you are uncomfortable you could wait outside?"
"I'm fine, I need to know aswell"
The doctor gave in "Okay worst case scenario is she doesn't respond to
meds or surgery then we will need to think about transplants
immediately. It could be as soon as a month."
"And how will you know she isn't responding?"
Dr Andrews again hesitated and looked at Rachel to make sure she was
okay for him to continue, she nodded and he did so. "Rachel will become
much sicker, she won't be able to breath without the aid of an oxygen
mask, her movement will become very limited and if we cant find a
transplant straight away and her condition deteriorates further we will
need to consider putting Rachel on a ventilator until a transplant
becomes available."
Monica felt like she wished she hadn't asked. Dr Andrews could see he
shocked them both.
"This is worst case scenario though. We are only at step one. You can't
worry about transplants at this stage."
"So if the medication works – then what?" Monica asked.
"Then that's great. If we can open the valves through medication and her
heart shrinks back to normal size then we just monitor her on a monthly
basis. You will need to continue with meds Rachel and we just stay on
top of the situation. The same with the surgery. If after 12 weeks you
are responding brilliantly we will just monitor you on a monthly basis."
"Okay, so there are options available right now?" Monica said feeling
better.
"Fortunately we have caught this earlier, before too many cells have
been killed off and her heart is the size of a football. Unfortunately
Rachel has an aggressive form of this disease so we need to stay on top
of it."
"Well now we can. Thank-you Doctor" Monica said standing up shaking his
hand.
"Rachel is there anything you want to ask me?" He questioned as she
stood up.
"No, I think Monica covered it all" she smiled as she shook his hand and
left.
Once they got in the car Monica spoke.
"I'm feeling confident about this. I have a good feeling that we are
going to beat this with just medication."
Rachel just smirked at her.
"What? I think that since Tuesday when you began taking them you have
shown a massive improvement" Monica stated.
When they got home the gang were all still at the apartment.
"What are you guys doing here?" Monica asked as she opened the door.
"We wanted to know what happened" Ross said.
"Basically we just have to wait and see if the medication is working. We
have to go for a scan on Thursday and if it's all okay then they just
keep monitoring her with medication and if not then surgery will be
considered"
"So, we just need to pray that the medication works?" Chandler questioned.
"Yeah – exactly." Monica said.
Later that day everyone went back to work including Rachel. Monica typed
up her notes. As she typed she begun to cry again, Rachel was sick and
medication wasn't going to cure this. Deep down Monica knew that Rachel
was worse than she was letting on and the doctor didn't seem convinced
when he was examining her.
Monica let all her fears out while Rachel wasn't around, she needed to
be strong for Rachel, to let her know that she would take control of
this. Chandler had been great, he had been a complete rock. He let her
cry, shout and moan at him and all without being angry or annoyed.
The weekend passed and everybody tried to carry on as normal as possible.
On Sunday Monica did dinner for everybody. The doctor had said that
Rachel should try and lead a healthy lifestyle, avoiding any fatty foods
from her diet so Monica knew where she could shine.
The guys all hung out whilst Phoebe helped with dinner and Rachel did
some paperwork for Louis Vuitton.
"Guys dinner is about to be served" Monica called out.
Everybody sat down as Monica helped Rachel dish her dinner up. She
overloaded her on vegetables and greens.
"I don't think I'm going to be able to eat all that Mon" She said.
"You can at least try" Monica said.
Once everybody had sat down Ross proposed a toast.
"I just want to say that it's great sitting around this table with you
guys, I have my wonderful girlfriend Charlie here and great friends. I
know that we don't know what's in store over the next couple of months
but Rachel I want you to know that we are all here and everything will
be fine. Cheers."
Everyone else: "Cheers / Well said / That was nice"