Second Chances
******Ok I got the idea for this fic out of complete nowhere, I just started typing. I had no idea and still don't have any idea where it will be headed in the next chapters. So if you have any ideas please let me know! As always please Review, I need to know if I should continue or not. Thanks for reading!
- Dr. Lovely
Chandler opened his eyes, he groaned when he looked at the clock. He couldn't believe that it had only been 10 minutes since the last time he opened his eyes. He sighed and got out of bed, there was no point to even trying he thought, and grabbed his robe and headed out to the living room. Maybe there'll be a good show on that will eventually put him to sleep like it had the night before. He sat down on the couch and hit the power button on the remote. This is going to be another long night. He sighed and rolled over to the table next to the couch and pulled out one of the few pictures he had left that reminded him of how his life used to be. The other being in his bedroom. He always promised himself that he wouldn't think about her so much, but repeatedly failed to keep this promise. So he just forgot about it. Thinking about her was the only thing that kept him going. Knowing that he would one day see her again kept him going. His friends never understood why he didn't want to move on. They knew that he probably never would, but they wanted him to at least get out of the apartment once in awhile. The truth was that even though they could be the best friend to him, nobody could ever fill his hole in his heart. But they at least wanted him to try. Chandler didn't blame them; they had never felt like he did before. None of them had ever experienced the kind of love he and his wife shared. Not even Ross and Rachel. They just don't understand, and they never will Chandler thought. He sighed and put the picture back in the table, where he knew for certain none of his friend would find it. It really didn't matter if they did, but this was something he only did in private. He only mourned for her at night, when it was quiet, and most of all when he was alone. He didn't want to bring his friends down along with him. They all have been doing so much better then he is. Seeing how terrible he still was would no doubt bring them back to square one. He didn't want them to see him cry. He didn't do it often, he never allowed himself to. He wanted to be strong. He never wanted anyone to feel as miserable as him, especially his best friends. Friends, boy he sure wasn't the best one to them lately. He soon laid back down after promising himself to at least find out how things with Ross and Rachel were going, and decided that he would give another shot at getting some sleep. Amazingly, sometime between the Three Stooges and That Girl he fell asleep. A sleep where he dreamt of a better life, where he dreamt that she never left him, but most of all he dreamt of the time where he would see her face again.
He awoke the next morning to the sound of the alarm clock. For the first time he realized he was back in the bedroom, although he didn't remember waking up and waking back in there. He couldn't believe that he had slept the remainder of the night in there. He never could since she left. Strange he thought, but didn't let it bother him too much more. He was simply happy that he had slept more then two hours the previous night. Within minutes he had hit the snooze button and was already fast asleep.
Chandler, although still half asleep could hear people talking in the kitchen. He didn't mind that the gang still came over there once in a while for breakfast, but since he never got any sleep and all they did was make a mess anyway he would mostly rather just be left alone. He rolled back over attempting to go back to sleep when he smelled breakfast being cooked. Nobody in the gang ever knew how to cook; well nobody except Monica… man was he really loosing it. It was clear that she had ruined him for anyone else. Maybe Rachel was attempting to cook again. Chandler grimaced at the thought. After the whole salmon fiasco he never thought Rachel would ever pick up a pan again. Either that or the gang wouldn't let her. He was certain he would rather listen to Ross talk about fingernails or how great mystery that is wood then eat Rachel's cooking again. At least that couldn't kill him. He sat up and decided to take his chances and join them this morning that is after he had remembered his promise to himself the night before. He grabbed his robe and made his way out to the living room, and for the first time in a long time he wasn't greeted by the usual unpleasant headache. That usually followed his restless nights. As soon as he opened the door he stopped dead in his tracks. What the hell was going on? Was he still asleep? This couldn't be real; there was no way it could be. He closed his eyes, attempting to bring him back to reality. But things were still the same when he opened them again. He closed his eyes again. "Chandler, Sweetheart are you okay?" His eyes snapped open at the sound of her voice, the voice that he had longed to hear every day for the past three years. He couldn't believe that she was there. He wanted to turn away and run from her, ironically enough. But the other half of him, the half that had been missing her for so long wanted to hold on to her and never let her go. He was so scared. Life had to be playing the cruelest joke on him. Maybe it really was a dream, he thought. But then he heard her beautiful, caring voice again. "Chandler, I made your favorite, why don't you come eat something before you go into work today." It was all too real to be a dream. How the hell was his wife standing there in the kitchen when she was suppose to be dead? Suddenly he couldn't breathe and felt every thing around him go black.
Chandler woke up alone. He blinked his eyes several times. He had no idea what had happened. All that he knew for sure what that he had one hell of a headache. He put his hand to his head and grimaced when he hit the spot that seemed to be causing all the pain. "I must of hit my head pretty damn hard." He thought out load and then sat up looking around the room, trying to get familiar with his surroundings. He knew that he was in the hospital, but had no idea why other then he must have fallen. He had no idea how serious it was, or where his friends where. One of them had to have taken him here. He couldn't have driven himself. If he did, why the hell was he still a data processor, he could be one of those freaks that do all these weird things when they are out of their own state of mind, and get paid a hell of a lot of money too. Either that or he just had narcolepsy. He decided that he liked the first one better; if he was in fact a freak and had powers he didn't know about he could at least have his own television show. Chandler stopped thinking and held his hand to his forehead; another throbbing headache was taking its toll, due to his ridiculous over thinking. He looked up when he heard the door open. "Hi…Mr. Bing?" The doctor said as he looked from the clipboard to Chandler and back again. Making sure he had the right room. "Yeah, that's me." At least he didn't have amnesia he thought. "Hi, I'm Doctor Beckrich, I'll be looking after you while you are staying with us." Chandler nodded showing that he understood. "Do you remember anything that happened, or why you are here?" The doctor asked while taking a seat in one of the chairs that was next to his patient's bed. "Umm… not really." He answered. "I'm pretty sure it has to do with his huge bump on my head, but other then that…I know nothing." Chandler finished and grimaced as he got another blinding pain in the back of his head. "Don't worry we have some pain killers on the way for that." Chandler sighed with relief. "Okay, well Mr. Bing to tell you the truth everything really does look pretty good here, nothing to serious. We'll get you some painkillers for those headaches real soon. I was told that you were at home when you hit your head. Do you remember anything that happened? I don't know who brought you in, a brunette I believe, but she wasn't alone though." The doctor looked up at Chandler trying to see if he had any idea as to what he was saying. When Chandler didn't reply he looked up and smiled. "Still have no idea what I'm talking about?" Chandler laughed slightly, "No, sorry. I mean the people that brought me in where probably my friends, but only one of them is a brunette. Well, two are but the other tries to be blond on a daily basis." The Doctor laughed at this, he was already starting to like this patient. He seemed to be doing fine as well. No real serious signs of memory loss. He knew who he was, and where he lived. He was going to be fine. "Well, Mr. Bing you seem to be doing fine. I'll have the nurse bring in some painkillers in a few minutes. Other then that I don't see any other problems. We'll know for sure once the x-ray comes back though. So until then you'll have to stay here, don't worry it shouldn't be to long." Chandler breathed a sigh of relief. He hated hospitals that he was sure of; they reminded him of to many horrible things. The doctor was just about to walk out of the room when he suddenly remembered something. "Oh. the brunette, she said she was your wife." Chandler went white, he thought for sure it had been another dream. It was real? Dr. Bechrick looked up and Chandler and saw his entire face go white. "My…my wife? "Yeah, Mr. Bing are you okay? You look as thought you've seen a ghost" "I believe I have…" Not able to move, yet trying to process the information. He felt another headache coming. "Mr. Bing…I can ask her to come in if you'd like. She has been here all day. I haven't been able to talk to her at all. But I know that she was in the waiting room when I came in to talk to you. Mr. Bing… are you sure you're ok?" Chandler looked up at the doctor. "She…she's out there? Are you sure? You saw her?" "Yes, Mr. Bing, I just told you that I saw her." Chandler didn't know what to do. He couldn't believe any of it. He had remembered his dream from last night, but just assumed it was that and nothing more then that. Chandler closed his eyes; he couldn't deal with the situation and the terrible headaches at the same time. "Mr. Bing…would you like me to send her in? Chandler's eyes snapped open. "We weren't able to before since we didn't know anything about your condition." Chandler couldn't believe it; he was going to get to see her again. He was going to face to face with the woman who had left him all those years ago. He didn't know what was happening around him. He was scared out of his mind, what if it wasn't real and it was another dream. He had thought the dream he had last night was just that, a dream. If this one was too, he didn't know hoe he would handle it when he woke up and found out that his dreams had been shattered again. "Mr. Bing…should I send her in or not?" Dr. Beckrich was really starting to believe that Chandler had hit his head a lot harder then he thought. Chandler thought hard, trying to make sense of the situation, when he couldn't he decided that the only thing that he needed at the moment was her. "Oh, god yes, please…please send her in." The doctor smiled and walked out to her. Chandler heard the doctor tell her that he was asking for her. Chandler closed his eyes; he couldn't believe that this was happening. He opened his eyes when he heard a soft knock at the door. He felt this heart break when it wasn't Monica at the door, but Kathy. What was she doing there? He wasn't married to her he didn't love her. The only woman he had ever married was Monica. Monica was the only one he ever wanted to marry. He watched as she walked over and sat down next to his bed and kissed his cheek. "Oh, baby, I've been so worried about you." She said and leaned into kiss him again." Chandler sat there, not saying anything at all, not knowing what the hell was going on. He had married Kathy? Since when, and in god's name why? She cheated on him…didn't she? Chandler suddenly could breathe, and felt his head getting heavier and heavier. "Chandler, sweetheart, are you okay?" It was to late, Chandler had already fainted for the second time that day.
Monica watched over Chandler as he slept. He looked so peaceful, not at all like he had fainted twice in the past 15 hours. But the dark circles under his eyes proved her wrong, not to mention the knot on the back of his head. She wished he would have told her what had been bothering him. She lightly brushed her hand across his forehead, and smiled when she thought about all the teasing she would do to him once he woke up. She wished that she would have been the one to come in and see him, but after all he was getting married to Kathy. Even though she liked to tell everyone that they already were. Not that it really mattered of course, but it still bothered Monica a little more then she would like to admit. Maybe because Chandler was her best friend, but who knows maybe it is more then that she thought. Before she could explore her new thoughts any longer the door swung open and Doctor Beckrich walked in. "Hi Monica, how does he seem to be doing now?" He had really taken a liking to Monica; she seemed so concerned for her friend. Even thought Monica never said such words to him he could tell by the way she looked at him that they were very close to one another. Actually, he had thought that Monica was Chandler's wife to begin with, not Kathy. That was none of his business though. "I'm not to sure, he hasn't woken up since the last time, which was about an hour ago when Kathy came into see him.." She answered with a little bitterness in her voice. The doctor picked up on it a little and smiled slightly. "Well don't you worry Ms. Geller, he should be along soon, and I'm sure you'll be able to talk to him soon." He smiled when she sighed with relief. "Your not the only one that feels that way." The doctor turned and made his way to the door. "Be sure to have the nurse page me when he wakes." "I will, thank you for coming in to check up on him again." "It's my pleasure Ms. Geller."
As soon as the doctor left Monica returned her gaze to Chandler's sleeping figure. She was just about to get up and grab a cup of coffee when she saw him stir, and shortly after open his blue eyes. She simply smiled at him. "Monica? Is that really you?" "Yeah, how are you feeling?" She was so happy he was finally awake. Chandler looked around confused; he knew that he was in the hospital but this time Monica was with him and not that awful woman Kathy. He looked down until he realized that it was really Monica. The person he had been missing for 3 years. He couldn't believe that she was actually there. He was still in shock. He couldn't tear his eyes away from her even if he wanted to. He didn't know what was going on, but before he knew it he had grabbed her and took her into his arms. "Whoa, Chandler are you okay?" She had expected him to be emotional but not like this. "Fine now, I'm just so glad that you are here again, I don't know what's going on but god Monica I missed you so much." Monica looked questioningly at him, but dismissed it. He's been through a lot in the last 24 hours; maybe it's just now getting to him. She let herself believe that even she knew it was more then that, but what? Chandler pulled her in for another hug. There was something strange in the way he was holding her, although she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was. "I was so worried about you Chandler." She confessed. "I know honey I'm sorry." He said breathing in the smell of her hair. "Chandler what happened? Why didn't you tell me what was bothering you? We are best friends, I thought we told each other every thing." Chandler looked away from her; things apparently went as he hoped. They weren't married, they were "friends". "I know Mon, I'm sorry. It's just everything that's been happening lately, I will next time I promise." He lied. She nodded; he was very surprised that she accepted such a vague answer. "She knows that you've been through hell today, that's why." He thought.
But he was still scared. What the hell was going on? He had to figure out some way to tell her that they actually were married. God, she's really going to think I lost it. He didn't care all he knew was that he had his Monica back, even if they weren't together like that. He still had no idea what the hell was going on inside his head. He looked up at her as she got off the bed where she had been sitting and went to go look at the new flowers that had been placed on the windowsill. He hadn't even noticed them. He caught a glimpse of her in the sunlight that shown through the window. He was more beautiful then he had remembered. He would give anything in the world to be able to kiss her lips that tempted his. He watched as she bent over to smell them, and looked away against his will. "Hey Mon? Are Kathy and I really married?" Monica looked up at him strangely. "God Chandler how hard did you hit your head?" "You think this is bad…"Chandler thought, "Wait till I tell you I'm in love with you and you are supposed to be dead." He kept his thoughts to himself. This wasn't the place nor the time to say what was really on his mind. "Please Mon." Monica walked over and sat in the chair next to his bed that she had spent the day in while waiting for him to wake up. "No, no Chandler you aren't… yet. Although she seems to like to tell people that you are. You practically are, you are in a few weeks anyway." Chandler sighed with relief, at least he wasn't married to her, and there was still time for him to break it off with her. Then he could figure out what the hell was going on. He didn't want to be mean to Kathy, but he didn't love her. Now that he knew he belonged with Monica. Suddenly the door opened and Kathy walked in his room. "If she really loved him like she said she did then she should be able to tell when he didn't want to see her." Chandler thought. "Chandler honey your awake again." Chandler made a face as she walked over and kissed him again. He had to fight the urge to pusher away. He just turned and looked at Monica who seemed to be pretty occupied with the color of the rug that laid at her feet.. "How are you felling?" "Confused." Was all he said, at least he wasn't lying. "Do you remember what happened at all"? She asked as she fluffed his pillow for him. "Mon filled me in." Chandler said as he turned and smiled at Monica, who had looked up at the mention of her name. "Oh" was all that Kathy could say. She didn't want to admit it, but she was jealous that Monica had been the one that was with him when he woke up. She should have been, she was marrying him after all. "You know what, I think I'm gonna leave, that way you two can be alone." Monica said as she made her way to the door. Chandler didn't know what to do, he defiantly didn't want to be alone with Kathy that's for sure, but what other option did he have? If he told Monica to say he would defiantly piss Kathy off. Even if he didn't want to be with her he still remembered what it was like when she was angry with him. But then again it was Monica. He wanted her to stay, hell as far as he was concerned he hadn't seen her since the accident that killed her and left him all along. He wanted to be with her as much as possible. But he needed to figure out what was going on, He knew that he couldn't and wouldn't be able to with either of them there. "Actually, I'm not really I the mood for company, I just need to get some sleep." He said hoping Kathy would get the hint. She did even though she was slightly hurt that he didn't want her around. Never the less she kissed his cheek and walked out. Monica was already out in the waiting room when she exited. Kathy didn't know what it was but she was defiantly jealous of Monica and Chandler's relationship. They just seemed to be so close. And it seemed, as though he wanted Monica to stay in there with him more then he wanted her to. Oh well it didn't matter any way, in three short weeks they would be married, and he would be all hers.
TBC……. Confused? Well that makes two of us at least, b/c I still don't know what I was thinking when I started writing this. Continue or not? Stay tuned to see what the hell is going on. Please review!