Hello, everyone! Happy Memorial Day! I hope everyone's weekend is going well....I'm sorry it's been such a while between updates, but I was away at a national debate tournament thing. But that's over now, so I've got time to update and such. This chapter is kind of a filler one, but it's very emotional and hopefully you'll enjoy it. Keep reviewing-there's a shocker in store in the next couple of chapters! ENJOY!

Chapter Thirteen

Disclaimer: Only Audrey is mine....oh, and Dr. Matthews, too!

Dr. Keegan Matthews paused outside of Room 313. Monica Geller's room. Over the course of the past month, he'd come to love stopping by this room. No matter how sick Monica was-no matter how much she'd thrown up, or how much pain she was in, she always greeted him with a happy hello and a bright smile. Her boyfriend Chandler's greetings were much the same, and when he talked to the two of them, he felt like he was talking to two friends.

In medical school, they'd taught him to never, ever, become emotionally attached to a patient. He remembered his professor, "Keegan, everybody dies sooner or later. Most doctors watch patients die sooner and the trick is to not care. It sounds cold, but you're going to see so much of it that you'll lose your career if you start to care."

For the duration of his seven-year career as a cancer specialist, the young doctor hadn't cared. He'd been gentle and sympathetic when a patient died, but he never attended a funeral, or mourned anyone's death. There were too many; his professor had been absolutely correct. It hadn't been easy, but Keegan had somehow taught himself to turn a blind eye to death.

Having Monica Geller as a patient had reversed all that teaching.

It was blatantly clear how many people loved that woman. For as long as she'd been Keegan's patient, he'd never, ever seen her alone. There was always somebody in her hospital room, helping her and talking to her. Her boyfriend Chandler spent long hospital nights sleeping next to her in an uncomfortable plastic chair, and when he took a break and went home for the night, her brother or her friends spent the night instead.

And then there was that little girl. Oh, that little girl. Keegan didn't know much about her, despite the fact that she was Chandler's daughter and her mother was dead. He thought Chandler was awfully young to have a five-year-old, but he didn't question it. It was perfectly clear that Chandler's age didn't matter-he was fantastic with her.

When he'd first met her, he thought she was Monica's daughter, not by the looks, as she couldn't have looked less like Monica, but rather by the way she treated her. She obviously adored her, climbing up on her hospital bed, drawing pictures for her; Keegan had even heard from one of his nurses that the precocious youngster had cleaned Monica's apartment for her.

When he'd finally taken a look at Monica's medical records and realized she'd never given birth, Dr. Matthews had been amazed. He'd never seen a child treat someone they weren't related to like that. Then he realized that Monica was, in every way except biologically, the girl's mother.

Whether it was her boyfriend's undying commitment to her, or her friends and family, or that little girl, Dr. Matthews didn't know. All he knew was that every time he saw Monica in pain, or sick, his heart wrenched. He hated himself for causing such pain to this woman, and he couldn't figure out why. Then he had.

He admired her. He admired her commitment to her boyfriend, to that little girl, to her family and friends. He admired her personality, and the way she always thought of others before herself.

To him, it didn't seem fair that a woman like Monica Geller had to battle cancer. Since then, it'd become his personal mission to make sure she beat it. He had, in every sense, become emotionally attached.

Some drive inside of him pushed him. He'd had other mothers as patients, other fathers, other wives and husbands.....but for whatever reason she was different. She was special. Chandler was not bound by marriage vows to Monica, yet he'd given up his life for her. If that didn't tell Keegan something, then nothing did.

And the little girl. Monica was not required to love this little girl; not at all. She didn't have to treat her the way she did, she didn't have to think of her constantly and love her the way she did. All the things she did were extra because she was that kind of person.

He sighed, and glanced up again at the black numerals reading "313", and then looked down to the manila folder in his arms. She didn't deserve this; Chandler didn't deserve this.....no one deserved this, but especially her.

"There you go again," he thought to himself. Ever since he'd received the results back, he'd been silently berating himself......how could he have let this happen? If he was really a good doctor, couldn't he have prevented this? He shook the thoughts from his head and rapped softly on the door.

She didn't deserve this.

"Come in," Chandler said as he heard Dr. Matthew's knock.

Dr. Matthews entered, a forced smile on his face. "Hey, guys," he said with a false bravado. "How's it going?"

Monica smiled. "A lot better with no chemo."

Dr. Matthews laughed, and Chandler took Monica's hand happily. "I'm sure that's so," he smiled. "Well......Monica, I've got your test results back."

"Really?" Monica said softly, and Dr. Matthews saw her grip Chandler's hand tightly.

Dr. Matthews nodded and flicked on a x-ray viewer on the wall, pulling the black and white photos from his envelope. "Monica," he said, trying in vain to perhaps ease her into this. "I well.....I hate to tell you this."

"What?" Monica breathed, tears already brimming. "What's wrong?"

Chandler began stroking her hair anxiously. "What's wrong, Dr. Matthews? Please, just tell us."

"Monica....." Dr. Matthews said softly. "We found another tumor."

I know that's probably not the news you all wanted, but hang in there.....other things are in store! Review, please!