CHAPTER#2
"Wow," Monica said, unsure of how to say what she had to say. "I don't really know what to tell you, Richard."
"Just say yes," Richard told her, very sure of himself.
It may have been the pain talking, but it pissed Monica off a bit that Richard was so sure she would say yes. "Richard," Monica began. "I'm sure that if you had told me all of this a year ago I would have said yes, but…" She was cut off.
"No buts," Richard said.
"…But," Monica continued, ignoring Richard. "I have moved on. I loved you once, but I don't anymore. I'm happy in my life right now. Can we just leave it there?" She asked gently, hoping he would drop the subject.
"No, we cannot leave it there," Richard said, stubbornly. "I need you, Mon. I want you and I love you. Why can't we be together?"
"Richard," Monica started, now much more firm. "It's not going to happen, okay."
"You're seeing someone else, aren't you," Richard accused.
"I am," Monica answered, choosing to ignore the manner in which he asked the question. He had no right to accuse her of anything.
"I'm willing to wait, if you need time to you know, break it off," Richard told her.
"You'd be waiting a really long time." Monica answered simply, thinking Richard should be glad the painkillers were kicking in and making her tired, or else she would be really mad at him by now.
"That's okay. Take as much time as you need." Richard didn't understand what she was trying to tell him.
"No, I mean it would be useless to wait. I don't see us breaking up any time soon, or ever." She said the last bit quieter, but he heard it anyway.
"You really love this guy?"
"I do."
"More than you loved me?"
Monica wasn't sure how to answer this question without hurting his feelings, so she simply nodded.
"You're lying," Richard stated.
"Excuse me?" Monica asked, an edge to her voice. Those painkillers were about to be overtaken.
"You're lying," Richard told her. "How could you love anyone more than me?"
Richard touched a nerve in Monica and she felt her temper boil. All thoughts of not hurting his feelings were now forgotten. "You have no right to say that." Richard tried to cut in, but she didn't allow him. "I loved you once, Richard. Loved. At the time I thought it was the most I could love anyone, but I was wrong. You have no idea how much I love him," she paused for a moment to keep her emotions in check. She took a deep breath as she glanced at Richard, who wasn't talking. "It's like I love him on a whole nother level than I ever loved you, than I ever could love you. I'm sorry Richard, but you're too late. There's no way I could go back to you now and think it would ever be enough." Monica felt her heart swell at the truth of her words.
Richard finally spoke up. He was angry now, reacting to Monica's temper. "If you're so in love with this guy, then where is he? Why isn't he here?"
Monica was momentarily taken aback before answering. She felt all of the anger drain out of her. She offered him a small smile. "He is here," she said simply.
Richard didn't know what to say. He was confused. Just as he looked up, he eyed Chandler re-entering the room, and had a sudden realization.
Chandler heard the conversation between Richard and Monica begin to get out of control and decided to enter the room. As he walked around the corner, Richard caught his eye and started at him, an expression of shock on his face. It gave Chandler confidence that Richard was jealous of him, but he didn't let it show on his face. He chose to pretend he hadn't heard the conversation.
"Hey Mon," Chandler said as he cautiously approached Monica, who was shooting daggers at Richard. Richard was still staring back and forth between Monica and Chandler, in shock. "Did everything go okay with the x-rays?" Chandler placed his hand on Monica's shoulder and squeezed gently, trying to get her attention.
Monica seemed to come out of her trance, and smiled up at Chandler. "Everything went fine," she told him, softly.
"Where to now?" Chandler asked.
"Uh, back to the room, the doctor will meet us there with the results."
Chandler nodded. He looked over at Richard, who seemed to have recovered from his shock and seemed to be weighing his options. He didn't seem to know what to do, or say. Chandler chose to use this time to leave.
"It's nice to see you again Richard," he said as he wheeled Monica around and headed back towards her hospital room.
"You too," Richard answer, quietly. He had lost her, and to Chandler. That had been a surprise to him. A big surprise. He wondered what he had done wrong as he got up and headed towards the door, leaving Marie to call him when she was done.
"You okay?" Chandler asked as the couple arrived back at her room to wait for the doctor.
"Yeah," Monica answered. She looked up at Chandler's concerned face and smiled, reaching her good arm up. Chandler immediately leaned down and pulled her into a hug. He contemplated telling her for a few seconds before making his decision.
"Mon," he started. "I just want you to know that I, uh, I heard what you said to Richard."
Monica looked at him in surprise. "Oh, Chandler, I…"
She was cut off when the doctor came hurriedly through the door.
"Hello again, Monica. I have the results back." He stood beside her and pulled out the CAT scan of her head.
"The good news is that there don't seem to be any abnormalities in your brain. I'm sure you are suffering from a mild concussion. Make sure to get someone to wake you up every two to three hours tonight." The doctor turned his attention to Chandler, assuming he would be the one to wake her up. "Ask her simple questions, pertaining to name, date, age, that sort of thing. If she can't answer them, or you have trouble waking her up, make sure to get her to a hospital." Chandler nodded.
The doctor turned his attention back to Monica. "You seem to have broken a small bone in your wrist. It's a clean break, and should be healed in six to eight weeks." He paused. "Now, your ankle is a little worse off than your wrist." The doctor proceeded to explain that Monica had broken a few bones, in a few places, in her ankle. She would need to keep off of it for some time. The doctor casted both her arm and leg and sent her home with crutches and a small fold up wheelchair. The doctor suggested she not use the crutches for the first week or so, it an attempt to keep her weight off of her injured arm.
An hour later Chandler wheeled Monica into the lobby of their building. It was then that he realized there was no elevator in the building. He stopped the wheelchair and paused for a moment before making his decision. He stepped around the side of the chair and picked Monica up, gently. He carried her up the five floors to her apartment, while she held her crutches.
Upon reaching her door, Chandler paused again. He had no hands free to open it; one arm was under Monica's legs and the other supporting her back. Monica had her broken arm resting up against Chandler's chest and the other hand was doing a good job holding both crutches.
"Huh," Chandler said. "How do we open the door?"
"I don't know." Monica answered and giggled slightly.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing. It's just that this is kinda funny if you think about it. I mean we made it all the way back from the hospital in one piece; the cab driver managed to avoid like three accidents, you didn't crash me into anything with the wheelchair and you made it all the way up five flights of stairs carrying me without collapsing. And now here we are, standing outside the door, which I'm willing to bet is unlocked and yet we can't get in."
Chandler started to laugh as well and leaned his head against hers. He sighed and closed his eyes for a second, just glad to be with her. When his arms started to hurt he sighed again and did the only thing he could think of.
Chandler stepped forward and kicked the door a few times, hoping someone was home.
Rachel sighed for the umpteenth time that hour and glanced at her watch. Only a few short minutes had gone by since the last time she had looked. Rachel had woken up that morning to find the living room empty. Assuming Monica was sleeping in, Rachel had tried to be quiet as she went about her morning routine. However, when she hadn't heard anything from her roommate all day, she had opened her door to find Monica's room empty. With her concern growing, she had called Phoebe over and the two of them had stayed in the apartment all day waiting for a phone call or for Monica to show up. It wasn't like her not to check in.
At hearing a loud banging on the door, Rachel leapt up and raced over to the door, swinging it open. Nothing could have prepared her for what she found on the other side of the door. Chandler was standing in the hallway, Monica in his arms. Monica's face was pale and she was holding a pair of crutches with her left arm. Her right arm and left leg were in casts. She looked tired and pained.
"Oh my God, Monica!" She exclaimed. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Phoebe rushed over to see Monica as well and her response was very similar to Rachel's. The two of them swooned around Monica, demanding to know if she was okay. How she was feeling. What had happened? This lasted until Chandler finally spoke up.
"Hello to you to, Rach, Pheebs. So nice of you to say hi to me. Oh, I'm fine and my arms aren't the least bit tired, but thanks for asking." Chandler finished sarcastically. This made Monica laugh slightly.
"Guys I'm okay. Just back off for a second."
"Hey rach," Chandler started. "Do me a favor and go down to the lobby. There's a small, fold up wheelchair at the bottom of the stairs. Can you go down and grab it for me?"
"Why me?" Rachel whined.
Chandler just gave her a look and motioned towards Monica, who was still in his arms. Rachel huffed and headed out the door.
Chandler rolled his eyes and proceeded to carefully set Monica down on the chair, helping her prop her leg up on the footstool. He immediately plopped himself down on the floor beside her, for once not caring about their closeness in front of their friends. Rachel arrived back with the wheelchair, ditched it beside the door and sat herself down on the couch next to Phoebe, her attention turning to Monica and Chandler.
Monica and Chandler proceeded to explain what had happened. Ross arrived soon after and Rachel and Phoebe yelled at him for not passing on the news about Monica's accident. They hung out together for the rest of the day, not going anywhere because they didn't want to move Monica. Ross went out and rented movies, and Rachel ordered pizza, and even though he wasn't there, they ordered a Joey special. Chandler didn't leave Monica's side, which didn't go unnoticed, although no one said anything, most assuming he was simply concerned, especially after having witnessed the fall.
At some point Ross announced he was tired and was going home. He gave his sister a hug. "I'm glad you're okay, sis."
"Thanks, Ross," Monica said, doing her best to return the hug.
"I'm sorry, again, for not calling you," Ross offered to the Rachel and Phoebe who were still glaring at him. They hadn't even allowed him to sit on the couch with them and he was forced to spend the evening on the floor opposite Chandler. He made a move as if to hug them to, but thought better of it. He turned his attention to Chandler. "Thanks for getting her to the hospital today," he patted Chandler on the shoulder.
"Not a problem, man," Chandler answered.
"Bye," Ross let himself out the door.
It wasn't long before the others began to feel tired as well. The girls had Chandler carry Monica into her room. Chandler volunteered to stay with her for the night, and wake her up every couple hours, but was out-voted. Rachel and Phoebe decided they were going to take care of Monica and would not even consider having Chandler stay instead. They felt guilty that he had spent the day in the hospital with her, and they had not.
Chandler carried Monica into her room and set her down on her bed, gently. He sat down beside her, but before he could say anything Rachel and Phoebe came in behind him. He sighed and offered them a smile.
"Okay, Chandler. It's time to go," Phoebe said, not being at all discreet, which was her way.
"What's your hurry?" Chandler asked jokingly. "Have you guys got some big plans tonight, or something?" He raised his eyebrow and put on a wry smile.
Phoebe laughed at Chandler's joke. "Well if you count interrupting Monica's beauty sleep every couple hours, then yeah, we've got big plans."
They both laughed. "You know she's gonna kill you for waking her up, right?" Chandler told her.
Phoebe seemed to think about this for a few seconds. "Then I'll make Rachel do it."
"Hey!" Rachel responded. "That is SO not fair. Why do I have to wake her up? I know how much she hates people waking her up in the middle of the night. This one time, I had this guy over and we were being really loud and you shoulda seen the look she gave me in the morning. It was like pure murderous hatred."
"It was not," Monica argued from her position on the bed.
"Are you guys sure you don't want me to do this?" Chandler asked. "I really don't mind."
"Give it up already, Chandler." Phoebe told him. "This is a job for Rachel and I. We got it covered."
"Okay," Chandler relented. "But, make sure you don't leave it any longer than three hours, actually make sure you wake her every two hours. I mean why take the risk? And if anything goes wrong, come and get me."
"Chandler! Stop worrying. She'll be fine." Rachel told him, mentally recording how over protective he was being.
"Yeah, she'll be fine," Phoebe repeated. "Now get out because we have to help Monica into her pajamas now. And I know she doesn't want you to see that." Phoebe said, oblivious to the fact that Chandler was using all of his might to hold back a smile and Monica was blushing. Rachel, however noticed this, and filed it in her memory bank, along with Chandler's behavior this evening. She shook her head, trying to clear it of all these recent stupid ideas she had been getting about Monica and Chandler. She kept telling herself there was nothing going on, her mind was just jumping to conclusions.
Chandler sighed, admitting defeat. He turned around on the bed and pulled Monica into a hug, holding her as long as he could, while still making it seem like a friendly hug. He pulled away; making eye contact with her, telling her he loved her, without ever say a word. From the expression in her eyes, he knew she understood. He kissed her on the forehead.
"Night, Mon." He said simply and walked out of the room, and into his apartment. There was a message on the machine from Joey, telling him that he had arrived safely and to tell the gang 'Hey.' Chandler smiled slightly; glad he had a friend like Joey. He then brushed his teeth, stripped down to his boxers and plopped himself into bed. He lay awake for hours stressing over whether or not Monica was okay and on all of the other possible outcomes that could have happened that day. Monica could have been seriously hurt. She could have broken her neck. He could have lost her to Richard. She could still get complications from her concussion. He sighed knowing he would most likely dream many of these scenarios tonight and in the many nights to come. He knew he would not get a good night sleep again until Monica was back beside him, wrapped in his arms. Only then would he begin to realize that she was okay. That he hadn't lost her.
Chandler slept restlessly for most of the night. Somewhere around 4 o' clock in the morning he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep. He slept like this for many hours before waking up, later than he had planned.
"Mon, wake up," Monica groaned when she heard Rachel's groggy voice filter through her sleep deprived mind. It seemed to Monica that every time she fell asleep, they woke her up. "What's your name?" Rachel asked. She and Phoebe had decided to alternate waking Monica up. Rachel heard Monica's reply and asked her how old she was. Rachel glanced at the clock. It was just after 4. Monica answered the question, without thinking. She answers everything so easily when she's half asleep, Rachel thought. This gave her an idea.
"Mon, are you seeing anyone right now?"
"uhhhh," came Monica's reply.
"Answer the question," Rachel demanded.
"Yeah," Monica stuttered, trying to fall back to sleep.
"Really," Rachel said. "And who, may I ask, are you seeing?"
"Not telling," Monica grumbled.
"Why not?" Rachel asked in her sweetest, best-friend voice.
"'Cause," Monica answered, groggily. "…too soon…not ready…"
"But-" Rachel started, but it was useless, Monica had already fallen back to sleep.
Rachel sighed and blinked tiredly. She left Monica's room and collapsed on the couch. Phoebe, who was curled up on the chair, didn't even stir.
It was only a few hours later, somewhere around 8 AM that Rachel and Phoebe, supporting Monica between them, struggled out of Monica's bedroom. The three of them were laughing hysterically. After getting almost no sleep the night before they were all slightly high on lack of sleep. It had been very humorous to struggle to get Monica up and dressed and then out to the living room, without letting her stand on her own, or walk. The three girls collapsed on the couch, still laughing.
After calming down, Phoebe jumped up and made coffee for the three of them, while Rachel set Monica up on the chair, her injured leg resting on a pillow on the table in front of her. Phoebe handed Rachel and Monica their coffee and she plunked herself down beside Rachel on the couch. The three of them spent the next hour talking about life and laughing at past memories.
"This is nice," Monica suddenly stated.
"What?" Rachel and Phoebe asked at the same time, before breaking out laughing. Monica soon joined in.
When they had recovered, Monica answered the question. "Just spending time together, y'know, just the girls? We haven't done this in a while."
Phoebe and Rachel nodded in agreement. "You're right," Rachel said.
"You know what? We should do something together soon," Phoebe said. "Like see a movie, or go shopping, or OH I KNOW I KNOW! We should go for a hike in Tortall Forest. OH YES." Phoebe was getting very excited.
"Um, Pheebs," Monica started, gently.
"What?" Phoebe asked, oblivious.
Monica motioned towards her casted leg. Phoebe's expression didn't change. Monica decided to be more obvious. She glanced down at her leg and back up at Phoebe. Still no change. Monica made a big gesture of looking down at her leg and then back to Phoebe.
"Oh right, your leg. Well I guess the hike's out of the question." Phoebe seemed disappointed.
Monica felt bad for her. "Don't worry Pheebs. As soon as my leg is healed, I promise I will go for a hike with you."
"Yah!" Phoebe exclaimed. She promptly jumped up and gave Monica a big hug. Before Phoebe pulled away, Rachel and Monica exchanged looks. Monica rolled her eyes and laughed, as did Rachel.
Phoebe sat back down and everyone was silent for a few minutes.
"Okay, Mon, I have to ask," Rachel started, unsure. She knew she was probably going to get laughed at, but she couldn't help it anymore. She had to say something.
"What?" Monica asked, cautiously, reacting to Rachel's unsure expression.
"Uh, I, uh, well…Are you and...no.. is something going o… I …" Rachel trailed off.
"Just spit it out, Rach," Monica demanded, gently, wondering what it was that Rachel found so hard to ask, but never expecting the question.
"Okay. This is going to sound stupid, but I have to ask. Uh, are …is there something going on…" Rachel wasn't sure how to ask what she knew she had to ask. She felt stupid for even thinking about it, but it had been bugging her for the past couple days, and she needed a yes or no answer. "Is there something going on between you and Chandler?" Rachel asked in a hurry. She immediately felt stupid. "Oh my God, I'm such an idiot. Monica, pretend I didn't say that. I didn't get much sleep last night. I don't know why I asked that. It was stupid. Of course there's nothing going on between you and Chandler." Rachel rushed through her last couple sentences, trying desperately to cover for what she had just said. Beside her, Phoebe was in hysterics. Rachel felt like an idiot, that is, until she caught Monica's eye. The expression on her face could only be described as deer-in-headlights.
Rachel stopped rambling; her thoughts of feeling stupid for asking the question disappeared. She stared at Monica in shock, unbelieving that she was right and trying to focus on what this all meant. Phoebe, after realizing no one else was laughing, followed Rachel's example, her realization hitting a little later. Monica stared back at Rachel, realizing they had been caught, but having no idea what to do or say. No one said anything for a good minute.
They were pulled out of their trance at the sound of the front door opening.
It was Chandler.
Phoebe and Rachel both stared in shock back and forth between Monica and Chandler.
Chandler stood in the doorway, both confused and afraid to go any closer to them. "Okay guys," he said. "What's going on?"
Still, no one said anything. Rachel and Phoebe were speechless. Monica had recovered from the shock of Rachel's question, and was chewing on her bottom lip, trying to decide on the best way to handle the situation.
Chandler cautiously approached the girls, hands held out in front of him, as if he were frightened, which he was. He stood on Monica's right, facing Phoebe and Rachel, on the couch. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it, not knowing what to say. He hesitated. "So," he said casually, "what's going on?"
Phoebe finally managed to snap out of it, her attention now focused on Chandler. "Y-you and Monica!" She exclaimed.
Chandler visibly jumped. He immediately began to open and close his mouth in shock and he paled slightly. He moved back a step and frantically began to think of a way to get out of this, a way to not deal with the situation. He could pretend to hear the door, or pretend to pass out. The best sounding option to Chandler was simply to run. He almost did so, but he happened to glance to his side and met Monica's eyes looking up at him. She had an apprehensive expression on her face, but offered him a small smile. She seemed to be very concerned as to how he would react.
Just seeing the look on Monica's face was enough for Chandler to calm himself down. His facial expression changed dramatically. He took a deep breath and stepped around to the other side of Monica. After a moment's hesitation, Chandler sat down on the armrest of the chair, placing his right arm around Monica's shoulders, holding her left hand in his. He looked directly at Rachel and Phoebe.
"Yeah," he said smiling. "Me and Monica."
Monica was surprised at what Chandler did. At first she had thought he was going to take off, but as she watched, he seemed to come to a realization. He sat down beside her and told Rachel and Phoebe the truth. Monica smiled. She was glad he had been able to calm himself down, as she didn't think she could handle telling them alone. Monica smiled and leaned up against Chandler.
"Wow," Rachel said quietly. "I can't believe I was actually right about that. I felt stupid just thinking about it."
"Wow," Phoebe said. She then rushed over to the couple and pulled them both into a big hug. "I'm so happy for you guys!"
Rachel followed suit and joined in the hug.
They were interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. They looked up to see Ross standing but a few feet away from them. Phoebe and Rachel pulled back.
"Ross, I think Monica and Chandler have something to tell you," Phoebe said smiling.
Chandler rolled his eyes. They would have to teach Phoebe about tact one day soon.
"What do they have to tell me Pheebs?" Ross asked. Then he continued talking to Phoebe, but was looking at Monica and Chandler while he said, "That they're together?"
This stunned everyone.
"How did you know?" Chandler asked.
"You guys were so obvious," he stated simply. Then to everyone's blank looks, "just the ways you guys have been acting around each other lately, plus, Mon, don't forget that I live across from you. I've seen you and Chandler jump away from each other when someone walked in many times."
"Why didn't you say anything?" Monica asked.
"I knew you would tell us when you were ready."
"How long have you known?"
"About two months." Ross sat down beside Phoebe on the couch. "You really don't expect me to notice my best friend dating my sister, do you?" Ross said, confidently, as if he was gloating. "There's no chance you two could be together and have me not know about it."
"Really," Monica asked, catching on to Ross' cockiness. "Okay dear, smart, perfect, brother, who always knows everything. If you know so much about us, may I ask how long Chandler and I have been together?"
Ross gave her a look, saying he knew and he was going to make sure everyone around them knew that he knew and also knew that he had figured it out. He was a better friend because no one else had figured it out and he had. "Well, Monica you and Chandler have been together for somewhere between 2 and 3 months." He gave her a cocky smile. "And I know this because I realized two months ago and it must have been going on quietly for a couple of weeks, but not any longer."
Monica laughed. "Hate to tell you you're wrong, but… wait a minute, I love to tell you you're wrong. Anyway, you're wrong."
Ross was speechless. It wasn't everyday that he allowed his baby sister to get the better of him.
"Then how long," Rachel asked.
"More than 3 months." Monica stated, matter of fact.
"How have you two possibly have been together for more than three months without any of us finding out?" Phoebe asked, incredulous.
Monica and Chandler looked at each other. "Carefully," Chandler finally said.
Monica nodded. "Very carefully."
"So, really, how long?" Rachel pushed.
Monica glanced at Chandler, motioning for him to go ahead.
"London." He stated, almost shyly.
"London!" Everyone exclaimed.
"No way," Rachel said. "That was like…"
"Eight months ago." Chandler added, with a smile. He pulled Monica in closer to him as he laughed at the shocked look on their friends' faces. He sighed happily; it was going to be a long day.