He was pacing up and down the long, illuminated hallway. The cruel neon lights felt like daggers in his eyes. They underlined his features – the sharp nose, the Pictionary scar above his right eyebrow, the crinkles around his eyes that were proof of not only his age, but also of the stress that he had undergone during those past few days. The man's blue eyes looked tired as he ran his right hand nervously through his salt-and-pepper hair.
Anyone who knew Chandler Bing would be surprised by the lack of jokes and the nervous state he was in. But given the fact that he had spent the past hours pacing up and down a hospital hallway, tired and alone, they would understand the situation. Or would they?
The clock above one of the doors was ticking mercilessly ahead and Chandler swore that he would soon go crazy if he had to spend even more time in this godforsaken building. Exhaling, he made use of the old habit of patting his empty jeans pockets before remembering that he had quit smoking years ago and didn't carry around cigarettes anymore. However, in situations like these he still had a hard time to fight his craving.
He wet his lip and exhaled before burying his face in his hands, his wedding band brushing against the stubble that was a remnant of not having shaved in a few days. How had it all come to this? Just a few days ago, she had been fine. His beautiful, strong wife had been so full of life before. He repeated the events of the past couple of hours and days in his mind for the umpteenth time, trying to find a reason for how any of this could have happened.
A few days ago
Monica hurried down the long staircase of their house in Westchester, one little backpack in each hand. They were running late; the kids had to be dropped off at school within the next 15 minutes and she was nowhere ready. This type of chaotic morning had almost become a routine in the Bing household, and usually she was used to taking care of two tired and cranky children. But lately things were different. She'd had trouble sleeping and was plagued by continous nightmares, waking up in the middle of the night completely soaked in her own sweat. Last night had been no different – and to make matters worse, she had even overslept this morning.
"Jack, Erica, hurry up!" She called up the stairs in an attempt to get at least the twins ready faster. Letting out a deep breath, she opened one of the drawers and reached for a kitchen knife. The creative and uber-healthy lunch boxes had to be skipped today; so she grabbed two bagels instead and cut up some fruit for her children.
Chandler had already left for work so she packed the twins' bags as she did every morning, though being under even more time pressure today. Glancing at her watch, she called out for her kids again and started to load up the car when she heard their quick footsteps racing down the stairs.
"I win!" Jack cheered before jumping up in the air, clearly having taken on his mother's competitive nature.
Erica was soon to follow with an eye roll as she walked past Jack to slip on her shoes. "You didn't even give me a warning, Jack!"
Monica only heard the argument faintly as she threw her own bag onto the passenger seat before clutching onto the door of their SUV, a sharp pain knocking the air out of her. She closed her eyes in anguish and tried to breathe through it, knowing that she should have made a doctor's appointment a while ago. Once the pain subsided, she bit her lip and remembered an argument she'd had with Chandler just a few days ago once he had caught on that something was wrong with her. Being her stubborn self, she had a tough time admitting that she could be sick. Being sick was for weaklings. Monica Geller didn't get sick. Or so she had thought.
####
"How is she?"
Chandler was taken out of his daydream and slowly focused on the person next to him.
"I… I don't know. They wouldn't let me in yet," he breathed out as he looked down on the floor again and twisted his wedding ring absent-mindedly.
Ross nodded in understanding before carefully patting his best friend's back.
"She's going to be fine, man," he paused, "It's Monica, she's the strongest person I know."
Chandler bit his lip again. Oh how badly he wanted to believe his brother-in-law. Yes, his wife was one hell of a determined and fierce lady, but he also knew that she'd been under a lot of stress lately and that she was only human.
"You don't know that, Ross. I just… I wish I had forced her to go see a doctor much earlier."
The paleontologist glanced over at his friend, his eyebrows furrowed.
"You noticed something beforehand?"
Chandler squirmed in his seat, still avoiding eye contact before shrugging. A few seconds passed before he took a deep breath. "Kind of…"
Two nights ago
Chandler took off his tie after a long day at work, getting ready for bed. As always, Monica had folded his pyjamas neatly for him under the covers. He had come home to her already asleep in bed after having worked the late shift. Trying not to wake her up, he slipped into their bed and moved close to her, his arms finding her upper torso and pulling her close to him. He heard her groan slightly before he pressed a soft kiss on the back of her head, pulling back slowly when he noticed how hot she was.
"Mon?" He whispered into the darkness, brushing some of her black hair from her neck and feeling how sweaty her skin was.
"Hmm?" She only replied faintly, her eyes still closed.
"Are you okay? You feel quite hot…" Despite craving the closeness, Chandler pulled back slightly in an attempt to relief some of the body heat.
"Honey, that's sweet but I'm not in the mood right now," she mumbled jokingly in an attempt to distract her husband.
"I'm serious, honey. You're really burning up," he pressed the back of his hand against her forehead and grew even more worried.
She made a non-committal sound and closed her eyes again, too weak to get into an argument with him at this time of day and in her state. She didn't want him to worry; it was just a harmless cold which would be gone within a few days anyway. He had enough on his plate as it was. He had recently been promoted as Head of Copywriting and she couldn't be prouder that he finally got to do what he loved. No doubt he was finally enjoying himself and the praise he was getting from his boss was proof of that, too. She wouldn't be the one to stand in the way of the success of his upcoming project which required a lot of work. She'd be fine.
####
Ross glanced at Chandler, waiting patiently to hear back from his friend.
"Kind of?"
Chandler finally lifted his head to look over at him, nodding. "She's had so much on her plate lately. I know that it's Monica and she's usually good at handling a lot, but she's also good at denying feeling weak." He raised his eyebrows to get his point across. "The past few days she's been feeling very tired and I'm pretty sure that two nights ago she had a temperature. She was all hot and sweaty but she wouldn't listen to me telling her to go see a doctor."
"Classic Monica," Ross shook his head, trying to digest this new information.
"But… what exactly happened before? I just came here as quickly as possible once you'd called me."
Chandler closed his eyes briefly, the pictures from a few hours ago still fresh in his mind. He'd never been so scared in his entire life. His family meant everything to him and nothing scared him more than the thought of losing one of the people he loved the most.
"I got home from work around 8 pm because we'd had a very important meeting and presentation earlier. Monica had told me in the morning that she'd work the early shift so she could pick up the twins from school in the afternoon and drop them off at your parents' house… we were going to celebrate in the evening…"
Earlier that night
"Come on, pick up your phone," Chandler mumbled to himself while he was stuck in traffic on the way back home to Westchester. The dial tone repeatedly filled the small space of his car, but his wife didn't pick up. He'd tried to call her half an hour ago to let her know he'd be on his way, but no such luck. "Damn it!"
The line of cars stuck on the highway seemed endless. All he wanted was to come home to celebrate the successful deal he had negotiated at work today. He'd even bought flowers for Monica as a thank you for her continuous support throughout his most stressful phase at work leading up to the project. The kids were to spend the night at their grandparents' house anyway so he was wondering why it was impossible to reach Monica. Was she perhaps baking a celebratory cake again? His mouth watered just at the thought of it and he realised he hadn't eaten since this morning. If that was the reason for her not picking up, he'd be okay with it. He grinned to himself as he thought about his favourite cheese cake and the traffic slowly started to move again.
It took him another 20 minutes until he finally pulled into the driveway of their house, the sun long since set. As he unbuckled he noticed that the entire house was dark. He briefly wondered if Monica had decided to throw him a surprise party, but then abandoned the idea again. They had decided to have a low-key evening together without friends or the twins, just some comfort food and unwinding together on the couch.
An unsettling feeling spread across his gut when he locked the car and took the last few steps towards their front door, his briefcase in tow. Versed in unlocking their door, Chandler pushed it open but was taken aback when it didn't budge after a few inches.
"What the-"
Fumbling for the light switch, his heart stopped when the bright, cruel light hit his eyes and revealed the lifeless body of his wife.
Before he could think straight, he dropped to his knees and pulled her limp form close, a panic overcoming him as he tried to ignore the blood that was streaming down her forehead.
####
He didn't even notice that he was shaking as the horrifying images flashed in front of his eyes again, like a broken record.
"Dude," Ross held Chandler close and tried to get him to calm down again. He'd never seen his best friend in such a state. He felt incredibly stupid when he recalled the 'big brother talk' he had forced upon him all those years ago. If there had ever been a doubt in his mind that Chandler would not care about his sister enough, that thought was now entirely erased.
"I-I'm sorry," Chandler mumbled as he slowly got back to reality. It took him a few minutes and an entire glass of water until he was gradually feeling like himself again.
Ross almost didn't hear him as he tried to speak again.
"I have no idea how long she'd been there like that," he shook his head, feeling horrible. How could he have been thinking about a f***ing cake just minutes earlier?!
"I… I think she must have missed a step as she was coming down the stairs. She probably hit her head on the banister... there was just so much blood. Everywhere." His mouth felt dry again as his gaze found the hem of his light blue shirt, said dried-up blood stains still covering the fabric.
"God, why did I have to make such a fuss about this stupid presentation?!"
"You didn't know, man," Ross tried to calm him down, knowing the guilt was eating his friend alive.
"But I should have! While I was busy thinking about numbers and revenues, my wife was probably unconscious on the floor! I'm the worst husband ever!"
Ross shook his head in disagreement, knowing how stubborn Chandler could be when things came to his self-esteem and his qualities as a husband and friend. For Christ's sake, this man spent half a day in a wooden box because he felt so guilty about betraying his best friend.
"What… what if she's not going to be okay?" Chandler's voice was barely above a whisper, but the quiet sentence held way too much gravity for Ross' liking.
"Let's not think about that," he shook his head, not liking the direction this conversation was taking. He couldn't imagine life without Monica. More than that, he couldn't imagine Chandler and his nephew and niece without Monica.
Just when Chandler was about to argue with his brother-in-law, the opposite door opened and a tall man in a white overcoat faced them, a serious expression gracing his features. As if on cue, Chandler slowly got up, his heart in his mouth.
"How is she?"
A/N: Hello, children! I'm back! Well, for now. This will be a little two chapter fic; just something that spontaneously came to me this afternoon so I took some time off, just chilling on my balcony and writing this. Please do let me know what you think. The feedback on my last fic has been kind of meagre which is somewhat discouraging if I'm being honest. Anyway, the next part has also been written and shall be posted sometime within the next few days. Cheers!