Chapter Eight

Monica felt her body broken once again as she sat in the doctor's office with the folders and files with her husband's name on them. She was so sick of this. So tired of looking over the hospital and medical bills with Chandler's name on them and being asked questions which she had no idea what the answer would be. She knew that she would do anything for his health benefit but she wanted it to be over.

She just wanted to have her hands on something concrete, something that was more than medical documents and names of procedures and pills she had to look up to understand. She closed her eyes to fight back her tears and when she opened them she blinked.

'Recommended Diet Plan'.

She looked at the document and then at the doctor. She put her finger on the document and looked through it where it said what kind of foods were best and what kind of foods to avoid. She could actually do something with this. She had learned these things herself and she had looked them up but having the names of the dishes that were recommended made her feel better.

Making food for people was one way to show love. She didn't have the ability to take care of his health in the way that a doctor could but she could work on helping him by making this food. She felt a few tears in her eyes and wiped them away, turning to the side and trying not to feel weak.

"Thank you," she whispered as she looked at the doctor again. "I can take this?" she asked and he nodded. "Thank you."

"I know that it seems daunting but I want you to know that we are all there for you. We want him to feel better and get well enough for outpatient care. I think he needs at least a few more days in this hospital but then we'll reevaluate," the doctor said and Monica smiled again as she tried to brush away her tears.

She looked away from him as she exited the office. She was a little nervous to see her husband, Ross had said that he had had a seizure in front of him and Joey had said that for a good amount of his visit, Chandler had forgotten who he was. Monica didn't want to face that. Even worse would be if he forgot about her following their college years. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if he forgot her as a lover and a wife and remembered her as a friend but she would have to pound some huge slabs of meat if he said that Kathy was his one and only.

Hopefully she was better than her. Well, she did cheat and she would never do that to Chandler. She didn't even leave him for Richard despite how confused she had been. She wasn't like that. She understood him and loved him and this was because no matter how high-strung she was and how high-maintenance she was, he understood and loved her.

"Honey, I've been waiting but they wanted to talk to you first," Helena said and Monica smiled but it was more of a tight, polite smile. She didn't want to pressure her husband and the two had had a tough father-son relationship. "How is he?"

"Nothing that can't be treated by medicine," Monica said before she gave a sympathetic look to him. "I'm so sorry, D-Dad," she said as she tried to brush away her tears but Helena took out a handkerchief and started wiping them for her. "Thanks but I think for the rest of the night, he needs to rest. Can you go home and see the kids? I'll tell him that you've been here and that you care about him but right now he has to have no stress, I'm sorry."

"Would this be what makes you feel more comfortable?" Chandler's father asked and Monica nodded and hung her head. She wanted to do what was best for her husband, she felt empty without him and especially knowing he had been put in this position because of his love for their son. This man in front of her, this person, they loved their son and she didn't want to dismiss that but family could be composed of many many people.

For her, as much as she loved Ross, her parents, Rachel, their children, that wasn't the heart of her family which had four people. Her, Chandler, Jack, and Erica. That was the family that was most important to her.

"I'm really sorry," she apologized and Helena nodded and let her go.

Following the familiar path to the hospital room, she managed to pass by a mirror and get herself looking like she hadn't been crying – thank god for waterproof makeup – and nodded on the door before opening up. She saw him asleep and so very quietly slipped into the room.

"M-M-Mon?" she heard him ask her sounding weak and she put a hand to her mouth to stop from crying but came to sit next to him.

"Did I wake you?" she asked him before kissing his lips and then his head. "You are so adorable when you're half asleep though," she said and he looked at her and just breathed deeply.

"H-Hi," he said awkwardly. He started to sit up with difficulty and at once, Monica was on her feet. She grabbed an extra pillow so she could support his back and held onto his hand. She looked him over. "Beautiful," he said in a weak manner and she kissed him again.

"I'm a mess," she laughed and he shook his head as he looked at her as if she truly was the most beautiful thing to him. Monica knew that she had been putting on weight recently through stress eating and she'd want to go out running and exercising but she cared more about making sure that Jack and Erica were as happy and healthy as they could be given their own stress. "I'm barely holding it together."

She saw him watching her but then he seemed to fade, looking over her shoulder at something as he lost his concentration. Monica gently let her hand rest on his upper back. She massaged it softly, "Hey, you feeling okay, sweetheart?"

Chandler looked at her slowly and blinked as if he had been somewhere else. Monica closed her eyes to try to calm herself. She had just woken him up. Of course he was a little out of it, she'd have to learn how to deal with these things when he could finally come home.

"II'm fine…" he said as he regained his focus and turned to her, "Yyyou?"

"I'm good. Your doctor gave me recommendations for meals so that's something I can do. How are you feeling? I heard about what happened earlier when Ross," she turned to her husband and saw him nodding and mouthing her words as he kept nodding. She tried not to sigh as she remembered how they had talked about the brain processing information and how after such a head injury it was going to be slower. She could speak faster and longer…and louder than most people she had met. She'd have to remind herself to go slow and speak less.

Monica moved closer to the bed and let her head rest on his shoulder, she took one of his hands in hers. "How are you feeling?" she asked before waiting. "I know, not that great but…"

"Bet-tter," he managed to tell her and she smiled. That was progress. She had to remind herself to go slower and that was going to be a hard thing for her. Still, she could make the change for him.

"Are you happy I'm here?" she asked and Chandler gave her a look that asked if she serious and he would always be happy to see her and how much he loved her. He took her hand and brought it to his lips and kissed it. He looked at her again and she relaxed. "I love you too. I'm missing your jokes."

He laughed weakly, the laugh sounding half-pained but at least she had achieved that, "Re-Really?"

"Look," she said slowly, "I might not understand all of your jokes but they make me happy hearing them." She paused to give his brain time to catch up. "They're like…companions…the way you look when you tell them. I miss it. I miss you."

"I…I'll…try to th-thinkk….of ss-ome," he said trying his best to respond and she smiled and kissed his hand again.

She knew that this was going to be hard for both of them but she had known him for years. It wasn't as if she was going to just run out on him for someone else. Even if he had been sent off to Oklahoma or even Yemen for a year, she would have been there waiting for him and creating a binder for things that she wanted to share with him. This might be a year or more of a year of making it a priority that he recover but he was worth it. Some people might say she was selfish for thinking that he was only half-here when in this condition but it was a way to process it and her stubbornness might just be because of how much she loved him…or couldn't accept what happened.

Monica stood and saw the flash of fear in Chandler's eyes before she walked over to him and lifted the blankets on the bed. Very carefully she slipped into the bed and he smiled to her as she let him hold her in the bed. She didn't care what the nurses or doctors would tell her, being with him made her feel safe.

She felt his protective and warm arms wrap her up and he kissed the back of her neck. She let her eyes close as she held his hand. "How about?" she asked as she turned so she could face him and she could look into those eyes that always made her feel safe. "We just lie here for a while? Or I could tell you that Jack and Erica are excited that you'll get to come home not too far in the future."

She saw his smile as he closed his eyes, "Thank you, Mon. I…love…you," he said slowly, taking his time to get every word as perfect as he could.

She kissed him slowly and as their lips drew apart she saw him watching her again. "I love you too, so much."

Monica could have fallen asleep in that bed, she didn't need anything else and she knew it. All she needed was her husband, their son, and their daughter and everything would be okay. She only heard the sound of a nurse at the door.

"Sir, is this the room you were looking for?" she heard the nurse say and she blinked. She got out of the bed and saw Chandler blink his eyes but close them again. She straightened herself out which showed that she had been fully clothed the entire time. She sat on the bed and then her eyes widened in horror.

What was Richard doing back here?

Would she be able to make him leave before he stressed Chandler out and might worsen his condition? She stared at him in half horror, half anger. He should know how she felt. He shouldn't be here when the love of her life was just starting to recover. She shook her head to him. There was nothing she wanted to say to him apart from telling him to leave but doing that and still keeping Chandler in the dark about his presence was something she hadn't yet figured out.

She would have to figure it out immediately.

End of Chapter Eight

Thank you for reading

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Seven

ItsMeDylan