A/N: Hey all. What's up? Happy New Year! Anyway, I was trying to put together a new idea for a story when I realized that both of my previous fanfics involve plane crashes, so I decided to write something less plane crashey.
A/N as of February 2006: Hey, so I've decided to rewrite this story. I wrote it years ago and read it the other day. There were a lot of mistakes and I felt the whole thing could be a bit better. How many friends fanfic fans are still out there?
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Description: Monica and Chandler are together, but no one knows about them. Monica falls down the stairs and Chandler takes her to the hospital and they bump into someone…it's a bad summary. Please read anyway.
Monica looked up from the paper when she heard the door open. She smiled when she saw who it was.
"Hi, sweetie," she said, getting up to greet Chandler.
"Hey, Mon," he replied, pulling her in for a kiss. She pulled back and smiled at him, her arms around his neck, and his around her waist. Chandler yawned and smiled back. It was 9:00 AM on Saturday morning and Chandler had gotten up early to see Joey off at the airport. Joey was traveling to Florida to visit some relatives for a week and even though he was a grown man none of his friends had thought it was a good idea for him to go to the airport by himself. Chandler had gotten the short straw and went with Joey to make sure he got to his plane. How he was going to get home, none of them knew.
"Well," Chandler started. "Joey's gone for a whole week, so we have my apartment all to ourselves." He raised his eyebrow suggestively. Monica laughed and kissed him again. It would be nice to spend some extra time with her boyfriend. None of their friends knew about them, which put a strain on them spending time together.
It was Chandler who pulled back this time. He leaned his forehead against hers and whispered, "I love you."
"I love you too," Monica whispered back. She smiled inwardly. They had been going out for eight months, and had said their first I love you's only a few short months before. Chandler was still building up his confidence for being in a close relationship, and everything was still new for him. Monica had no problem taking it slow for Chandler as, secretly; it startled her that she felt so deeply for this man. She had never felt anything like this before.
"So," she heard Chandler saying, "How would you like to go out for breakfast?"
"Sure. Where to?"
"How bout that new bagel place on 16th?"
"Sounds good," Monica said. "Let's go." She made a move towards the door.
"You want your jacket?" Chandler asked on his way out the door.
"No, I'm good."
The couple made their way down the hall and the five flights of stairs to the lobby. They automatically separated, Monica going down three steps in front of Chandler. It had become second nature to them to when ever they were out in public, especially places they might run into their friends.
As Chandler reached the third floor, Monica started down towards the second, not seeing the small, green tennis ball someone had dropped on the third step. She stepped on it, rolled her ankle, slipped off the step and feel down the remainder of the steps, Chandler running frantically behind her, in an attempt to stop the fall. However, Chandler, on his two feet, was unable to overtake his spiraling girlfriend.
Monica reached the bottom of the flight and hit the floor hard. She immediately tried to push herself up, but could barely move. She whimpered in pain and as the world around her started to move and fell out of focus. She closed her eyes and felt blackness take over; unaware that Chandler had reached her in her last moment of consciousness.
Chandler reached the landing seconds after Monica. He winced at her position; her head and shoulders unevenly set on the floor; her right leg propped three steps up, and her left leg at an abnormal position underneath her. Her right arm was splayed up on the first step and her left arm was hanging beside her. Chandler rushed to her side as he heard her whimper softly. He cupped her face with his hands and leaned in close.
"Mon," he whispered. "Are you okay? Mon? Answer me, sweetie. Please, Mon? Please say something. Please." She wasn't responding. Chandler took a deep breath, fighting off panic. He had to stay calm for her, but all sorts of horrible outcomes rushed through his head; broken neck, paralyzed, brain damage, concussion… Every medical drama he had ever watched jumped into his head. He felt his eyes well up and tried to think what to do. His brain told him to call 911, but he was afraid to take his hands away from her face, which was supporting her neck. Something told him not to move her.
Fortunately he didn't have to make a decision about whether to leave her to go call for help. He jumped when he heard her moan and watched her bring her left arm to her head. "Oww…" She moaned, again.
"Mon, are you okay? Tell me what hurts."
Monica took her hand away and gazed up to see Chandler's face just inches from her own. She blinked his anxious face into focus. His eyes were filled with concern. It was then that she realized his hands were on her face. She blinked in confusion and stared up at him for a moment.
"Chandler..?" She whispered softly. "What….what…"
"It's okay, sweetie. You fell down the stairs. Do you remember?"
Monica thought for a moment before the events rushed back to her. She remembered slipping and falling down the stairs, and then passing out. She tried to nod, but was stopped by Chandlers hands. She looked at him questioningly.
He immediately understood what she was thinking. "You shouldn't move your head if you've hurt your neck. Does it hurt?"
Monica closed her eyes and tried to focus on linking the blur of pain into specific areas.
"No, I-I don't think so." She answered Chandler's question.
"What hurts?" he asked concerned.
"My ankle…and head. How long was I out?" Monica's head was beginning to clear. She was thinking straighter.
"Only out for a minute or two. Do you want to sit up?"
Monica nodded slightly. Chandler reached over Monica's figure and gently lifted her right leg down to the floor. He then reached his right arm underneath her, just below the shoulders and helped her to sit up.
Monica cried out as she attempted to use her right arm to push herself off the ground. It collapsed under the weight and the change in pressure created a huge shot of pain from her ankle. She threw her arms around Chandler's neck and buried her head on his shoulder. He gently lifted her onto the first step and proceeded to wrap his arms around her small frame. He held her while she recovered from the sudden burst of pain. Chandler pulled away slightly and gently brushed her tears away.
"Are you okay?" He asked, concerned.
She nodded slightly, unable to speak.
"I'm just gonna look at your ankle, okay?" Again, she nodded. Chandler took a step back and knelt down in front of her. He gently pulled her pant leg up and her sock down to reach her shoe and immediately knew her ankle was broken. Her leg above it was rapidly changing color and was already very swollen. The top of her ankle, visible above the shoe, was bent at an unnatural angle. He knew not to take off the shoe, to prevent more swelling so he pulled her sock back up and her pant leg back down. He returned to her side.
"How bad does it look?" Monica asked, immediately reading her answer in his expression.
Chandler offered her a small smile. "Well, I think it's broken."
Monica sighed and leaned against Chandler's shoulder. He responded by wrapping his arms around her tightly. "I…what do I do?" Monica asked softly. In the past, she had always been the one to take whoever was injured or sick to the hospital, or do whatever she could for them. She had never been in this situation before. She didn't like to ask for help; but Chandler knew this. He smiled. After all she had done for him, it was his turn to take care of her.
"You don't have to do anything. I'm going to take you to the hospital, okay?" He pressed his lips against the top of her head.
Monica simply nodded against his chest.
Chandler pulled his left arm away from her and pushed it underneath her legs, just above the knee. He proceeded to pick her up. Monica pulled her head back and gave him and questioning look.
"What? Do you expect me to make you walk down the rest of the stairs?" He asked sarcastically.
She smiled and rested her head back against him.
Chandler carried Monica down the stairs and flagged down a taxi. Chandler sat on one end of the seat; Monica sitting beside him, her leg straight out in front of her on the seat. Chandler instructed the driver to take them to the hospital and wrapped a supportive arm around Monica. After a few minutes he noticed her shivering slightly, a combination of the temperature and the pain. He gently moved away from her for a moment to pull off his jacket and wrap it around her shoulders.
Monica had just been wishing she had brought her jacket when she felt him pull away from her. She felt a surge of love for the man beside her. He was always thinking of her first. Normally she would have fought this, but she was in too much pain to argue. She simply leaned back against him and whispered thank-you.
She must have fallen asleep, because suddenly Chandler was telling her that they were there. He paid the driver and got out, before gently helping her slide out with as little stress on her injuries as possible. He picked her up again and headed towards the Emergency room doors. There was a selection of wheelchairs left outside for people in their situation. Obviously the hospital thought ahead. He went to pull one out from the wall, but found he couldn't with Monica still in his arms, but he didn't want to put her down.
Richard whistled as he walked out of the doors of the emergency room at the hospital. His girlfriend, Marie, had slipped on some ice and hurt her arm. He had taken her to the hospital, but knew it was going to be a long wait, so he kissed her on the head and told her to call him when she was finished. He would come and pick her up.
As he went through the second set of doors, he noticed a man standing with his back to Richard, a few feet away. He was carrying someone and was having trouble with the wheel chair.
Richard decided to help and approached them.
"Here, let me see if I can be of some assistance," Chandler heard a voice behind him and turned around. He came face to face with the man who was more threatening to Chandler than anyone else in the world.
"R-richard," Chandler stammered. "Hi."
Richard was equally as shocked. Not to see Chandler, but to see Monica in his arms, her arm wrapped around his neck, her face buried in his shoulder. He felt a sudden pang of regret.
"Chandler. Monica. Hi." That's all he could get out as the initial shock wore off.
Monica lifted her head up and he saw tears in her eyes.
"What happened?" He asked as he pulled a wheelchair out and held it while Chandler carefully set her down. He noticed that Monica was wearing a jacket that was far too big for her. 'Probably Chandler's' he thought. 'He was always such a good friend to her.'
"She fell down the stairs," Chandler answered as he struggled to adjust the leg rest on the wheelchair. "Some idiot left a tennis ball on the steps." He paused for a moment. "I think she broke her leg." Chandler was nervous around this man. He had always wondered what would happen if Richard showed up again in Monica's life. The thought plagued him on a regular basis. Would she leave him and go back to Richard if she got the chance? Chandler forced his thoughts back to taking care of Monica. He finally got the leg rest in place. With a quick thank-you to Richard for his help he wheeled her into the hospital.
But Richard followed them, interested in having a word with Monica. Chandler didn't notice Richard behind him as he 'parked' the wheel chair beside a row of seats and grabbed the needed forms from the triage nurse. He then sat down beside Monica, put his left arm around her and used his right to begin filling out the forms. It surprised him that he seemed to know all the answers. He asked Monica for verification on a few questions, but she would simply nod her conformation.
As he re-entered the building, Richard noticed Marie watching him. He decided to go to her first, and wait until Chandler left to talk to Monica. He sat down beside Marie, explaining that he would wait with her for a while, and glanced over at Monica and Chandler, on the other side of the room.
What he saw surprised him. Chandler was sitting beside her, his arm around her, filling out the hospital form. He had left Marie to fill out her own. Monica was leaning against Chandler, her eyes closed, her face pale. Every once in a while, Chandler would nudge her and she would glance at the form, nod and close her eyes again. Chandler would then kiss her head and go back to the form.
He watched as Chandler paused, and asked Monica something. Her answer made Chandler smile as he went back to the form.
Chandler came to the last question on the sheet and paused. It asked for her emergency contact. He assumed it was Rachel, but wanted to ask before he wrote anything down.
"Mon, sweetie, who do you want to be your emergency contact?" He asked.
There was no hesitation when she answered. "You," she said softly.
Chandler didn't know what to say. The implications of that one word meant more to him than he could describe. He hurriedly scribbled down his name, address and telephone number on the form and got up to give it to the nurse. She told him to wait until her name was called.
Richard smiled as he watched Chandler hand the form to the nurse. He was sure that Chandler would take off now, and Richard would be free to talk to Monica alone. But he was surprised when he saw Chandler sit back down beside her, in the same position as before. After watching them for about twenty minutes, Chandler's eyes wandered over and met Richard's gaze. Richard offered a smile, which Chandler reciprocated. Richard didn't know why, but he suddenly felt an almost hate-like feeling towards Chandler, which was weird because he had always liked him before. It would be some time before he realized this emotion was jealousy.
Chandler looked up and was surprised to see Richard across the room. Their eyes met and Richard smiled. Chandler smiled as well. He had momentarily forgotten about their run in with Richard. It hadn't occurred to him that Richard was here with someone. He heard Monica whimper softly, in her sleep, and his attention was immediately on her. He hated that she was in pain and there was nothing he could do to help her.
It wasn't long before Monica's name was called. Her injury was pretty severe, which bumped her up the list. The doctor led Chandler, who was pushing Monica, through the double doors and down a hall to a small, whitewashed room. He asked questions about the accident. Monica answered what she could, and Chandler filled in the rest, as Monica's memory of the fall was a little foggy.
"Well," the doctor said at last. "I'm going to order x-rays for your ankle and wrist and I want you to have a CAT scan as well. I'm sure you have a concussion, but I want to rule out any additional damage. Does everything sound okay?"
Monica nodded.
"Thank-you," Chandler said, as they were escorted down the hall to another waiting room and left to wait for the x-rays.
They waited there for some time before a nurse came and wheeled Monica away, telling Chandler that she would be getting her x-rays and CAT scan and that they would bring her back here when she was done. He nodded and sat down to wait. He rested his head in hands and sighed, worried about her. He couldn't stand her being in pain. He picked his head up and glanced at the clock on the wall. He cursed under his breath when he saw the time. They had been gone for a couple of hours and the gang would be worried about them by now. He should have called when they got to the hospital. He had just been so concentrated on her that he hadn't thought of anything else. He knew he had some time if he wanted to make the call now.
He looked up to see Richard enter the room. There was a woman with a makeshift sling walking behind him. Richard's eyes were gazing around as if searching for something. He saw Chandler and made a beeline for him.
"So, Chandler," Richard started, as he sat down beside him, the woman sitting down as well. "How have you been?"
"I've been good," He answered, truthfully. "You?"
"Pretty good."
"Good. I'm Chandler by the way," He said to the women sitting beside Richard.
"Marie," she answered.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Richard said. "Marie is my girlfriend," he said to Chandler and then to Marie. "Chandler is an old friend of mine."
Chandler laughed inwardly. He wouldn't exactly call Richard a friend.
"So, Chandler, are you seeing anyone?" It was then that Chandler realized that Richard didn't know about him and Monica. Well it was now or never.
"I am actually…"
He was cut off when the nurse came to take Marie in for x-rays. Chandler was actually relieved that he hadn't had to tell Richard, as Richard seemed to forget the question as soon as Marie was gone, however he focused his attention on another topic Chandler wasn't very comfortable talking about.
"Is Monica okay? What happened exactly?"
Chandler proceeded to explain what had happened. It concerned him that Richard was so interested in Monica. It concerned him even more when the questions changed from Monica's condition to her life. Richard asked questions about her job and her friends and her parents. The questions kept coming and when Chandler was absolutely sure that the next question was going to be is she seeing anyone he jumped up.
"Um, I'm gonna go to the bathroom and make some phone calls. If Monica gets back before me, can you tell her where I am?"
"Sure," Richard said.
Chandler left the room as quickly as he could without looking like an idiot and entered the first bathroom he found.
As soon as Chandler left the room, Monica was wheeled back in.
She was surprised to see Richard waiting, she had forgotten he was here.
"Hey," she said quietly, glancing around for Chandler.
"Chandler said to tell you he was going to the bathroom and making a call. He'll be back soon."
"Thanks," Monica said, not overly comfortable being alone with her ex boyfriend, especially when her new, not-so-confident boyfriend could walk in on them at any time. She knew the odds of him misreading the situation were pretty good and she didn't want to hurt him. She loved him so much and knew he loved her back, but also knew he could be unsure of the strength of her feelings towards him.
"How are you feeling?" Richard asked.
"Better. They finally gave me a pain killer."
"Good, I'm glad you're not in as much pain." Richard smiled warmly at her and looked as if he wanted to say more. He looked away for a moment before meeting her eyes again and opened his mouth to speak.
Chandler exited the bathroom and found a pay phone. He dug through his pocket to find a quarter and typed in Ross's number. After a few rings Ross picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hi Ross, it's Chandler."
"Hey Chandler. What's up?"
"Uh, I just wanted to let you know that I'm in the hospital…"
"Oh my God," Ross cut in. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine…"
"Then who's hurt?" Ross cut in again.
"Well, Monica kinda..."
"Monica? Monica's hurt? What's wrong with my sister?"
"Ross! Would you let me talk? Monica fell down the stairs this morning. I think she broke her ankle."
"Is she okay?"
"You mean other than her ankle being broken?" Chandler said sarcastically.
"You know what I mean. Is she okay?"
"She will be. The doctor said she has a concussion, and right now she's getting some x-rays done."
"Should I come down there?"
"No, that's okay. I just wanted to let you know. We should be done soon anyway."
"Okay, thanks for letting me know."
"Your welcome. We'll see you soon."
"Bye, Chandler"
Chandler hung up the phone and returned to the waiting room. He paused at the corner of the wall when he heard Monica and Richard talking. He knew he should make his presence known, but couldn't fight off his curiosity, so he decided to listen.
"Monica, I have something to say and it's going to be hard to do, so I would appreciate it if you would just stay silent until I'm finished."
"Okay…" Monica said, a little unsurely. She wished for Chandler to get back soon.
"Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I decided that I was stupid to let you go. I love you Monica. I never stopped. I've missed you so much. I want to be with you. I want to marry you and have kids with you and spend the rest of my life with you. I'm sorry for hurting you in the past, and not wanting what you wanted, but I'm here now and I'm ready to be what you want now."
Monica was stunned.
Chandler felt his heart stop when he heard Richard's little speech. It was like his worst nightmare come true. All of his confidence in his and Monica's relationship disappeared as he felt his heart begin to break. This was it. He was going to lose her. She was going to leave him and go back to Richard. She-
His thoughts were cut short by what he heard Monica say.
A/N: So, how do you like it so far? It's most likely going to be only one more chapter, which will be up soon. I would write it now, but it's 2:30 AM and I need to go to bed before my mom realizes I'm still up. Anyway I was watching some old episodes today and I have a quote for you all. Try to guess/remember who said it and when it was said.
"Get ready to come out of the non-gay closet."