When You Say You Love Me – Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Sadly, these awesome 6 aren't mine. Nor is the song When You Say You Love Me by Josh Groban that inspired this fan fic.
AN: Sorry for the long gap between updates! Life got busy with school and this fan fic got put on the back burner for awhile. I'll be updating it piece by piece as I can.
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As the five followed Dr.Fisher down the long corridor to Rachel's room, it seemed as if it was a never ending path. Finally, Dr.Fisher stopped in front of room 513 and paused.
"I just want to warn you, you may be a little shocked by her appearance. She is hooked up to a few machines right now so we can keep track of her vitals and make sure everything's okay. You ready?"
They nodded their heads and the door to her room creaked open. They walked in and got a glance of Rachel peacefully sleeping in the bed. Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe all stood back since they knew Ross needed to see her. They didn't want to crowd him.
As Ross approached Rachel in the bed, he became all choked up. He could see the IV that was in her arm, the beeps of the machines that surrounded her. He took her warm hand and fit it into his, repeatedly kissing it.
"If I talk to her," he asked the doctor, "can she hear me?"
"Yes, you can talk to her. She won't answer you back since she's sleep from some medication we gave her but you can talk to her."
"Rach? Sweetie, it's me," he said softly. "Ross." All he received was a slight groan from her and than dead silence."
"I'm going to leave you," the doctor said while slipping out of the room. "I'll be back later to check on her."
As the door shut, Ross looked at the rest of his friends standing back, away from the bed. "You guys can come and visit. Come on. It's not like she's going to bite you."
As they all approached the bed, the silence continued. It felt like the ambience of a funeral home during a wake.
"Ross," Chandler addressed him, "are you sure you don't want to be left alone with her?"
"Yeah," Monica chimed in. "We can always come back later and visit with her after you've gotten some time alone with her."
He shook his head as he stared into her eyes. "No," he whispered quietly. "I want you to stay."
Joey, Phoebe, Monica, and Chandler all sat around Rachel's hospital room. There'd been an awkward amount of dead silence for awhile. No one knew what to say to Ross. They didn't want to say anything and hurt his feelings because he'd been through enough for one day. But as Joey sat near the windows with Phoebe and looked at Ross, he couldn't help but want to just cry. And crying was unusual for him. He couldn't stand to see one of his friends in pain.
"Ross," Joey said while standing up from his spot, "can I get you something? A cup of coffee, maybe something to eat?"
"The only thing I want now is for her to wake up. Screw having coffee, screw eating, forget everything."
Joey was stunned by his reaction. "Ok….I'm sorry…I was just trying to be helpful. Are you sure you don't want something?"
Ross was sorry those words even left his mouth. He didn't mean to snap at one of his best friends. He knew they were just trying to help him make the best of the lousy situation. They just wanted to be there for him. "Actually, if you wouldn't mind, a coffee would be good."
Joey nodded his head. "Sure, no problem," he replied. "Anyone else want anything?"
"You know what, I'm kind of hungry myself. I'll come with you, Joe," Chandler said.
"Me too," chimed in Phoebe. The three of them left Ross and Monica by themselves in Rachel's room. Once it was just Ross, Monica, Rachel and the beeping of the machines, Monica couldn't help but almost breakdown in tears again. She sat in one of those hard plastic chairs that were extremely uncomfortable, on the opposite side of the bed across from Ross. As she watched him caress Rachel's hand and just stare at her, hoping that'd wake her up, she felt scared. What if Rachel's condition suddenly turned to very serious? What if she died? What would happen then?
"Mon," she heard as Ross interrupted her thoughts. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For simply being here. I don't know what I'd do without you or Chandler or Joey or Phoebe. I'm sorry if I seem a tad bit insane or hasty right now. It's only because I want to talk to Rachel."
She got up from her chair, walked around the bed to where her big, older brother was sitting and hugged him. "Honey, it's totally understandable. I'm sure Chandler or I would've reacted the same way if it was one of us in Rachel's place and the other found out. And I'm sure it'd be the same feelings that Joey and Phoebe have. It's normal how you're feeling. We're all going to be here for you…and Rachel. We'll just take it one day at a time," she said patting his shoulder. "It'll get better. You'll see. I promise."
Suddenly, they both were surprised. They heard another moan from Rachel, only this time it was slightly louder. Ross and Monica both glimpsed at how she kept turning her head back and forth, left to right on the pillow.
"Is…is she having a seizure or something," Ross questioned. "What's wrong with her?"
"Besides the accident and the injuries, nothing is wrong. Why don't I go see if I can find that Dr. Fisher. Maybe she can tell us if Rachel's okay. I'll be back in a second," she said as the door swung shut.
"Rach, it's me, honey. Ross," he whispered into her ears. "Honey, are you awake?"
"Mmmmm," she murmured. She continued to make little grunting noises. It worried Ross. As he looked to the ceiling up towards the sky, he pleaded, "God, please do not take her. I'm not ready to let go. We just got things going good again. Please."
Monica quickly returned with Dr. Fisher. Dr. Fisher began to shine a flashlight into Rachel's eyes, checking to see if her pupils were equal, round, and reactive.
"Well, everything seems to be improving. Her vital signs are stable…" she trailed off, being interrupted by Rachel's persistent moans. The three of them just observed Rachel. After what seemed like an eternity, she became lucid and awoke.
"Where….where…where am I?" she uttered. "What happened to me? Why can I not move? I'm not paralyzed am I?" She turned and saw Ross's hand grasping her's and smiling at her.
"Rachel," began Dr. Fisher, "I'm Dr. Fisher. You were brought in by ambulance because you were hit by a car as you were crossing the street. Unfortunately, you do have some injuries. Your right hip is broken and your left are is fractured. Your body is also going to be sore for quite a few days because of broken ribs so it might hurt to move. Considering how you were hit, I'm surprised there wasn't more serious damage."
"How long do I have to be in the hospital," she asked as Ross adjusted the pillow behind her head.
"We're definitely going to want to keep you overnight for observation. We'll probably keep you here for awhile, get you started with some therapy to help you with your hip. Once you're making progress, we'll release you and than you'll have to continue the therapy to ensure the hip injury doesn't get worse."
"Wow. Okay. Well, um, when does physical therapy start? I don't know how long I'll be able to sit on my butt in this bed. I might go stir-crazy," she said with a gentle laugh.
"Oh Rach, you're starting to sound like me if I can't clean!" Monica laughed. That did it. Hearing Rachel laugh and than it being reciprocated by Monica allowed them all to be at ease and relax. It was like a huge cloud of tension had been lifted off their shoulders.
"If you have any more questions, I'll be out at the desk. Also, if you're in pain, hit your call button there for a nurse and they'll come in to give you something to ease any pain you might have," Dr. Fisher said as she moved towards the door.
"Okay, thank you, Doctor," Rachel replied. The door shut. "Wow, this was so not how I thought my day was going to end up. I though I'd go to work, begin my new job, order some new clothes, maybe talk to designers, set up meetings and so forth. Little did I think I'd wind up here, in a hospital bed. Well, at least I have you guys," she said looking at Chandler, Monica, Joey and Phoebe. "And of course, you. Who could forget you?"
Ross tried to choke back the tears he felt but couldn't help himself. "Well, we're all just glad you're okay."
"It really means a lot to me that you guys all dropped everything and came here. You have no idea."
"Of course, we'd do it again in a heartbeat," Chandler said.
"Absolutely," responded Joey. "You're our friend and we'd do anything for you."
She wiped back the tears that she had fought so hard to keep in. "Thanks. I really appreciate it." She saw Phoebe whispering to Monica in the corner. "Hey, you two. Snap out of it. What's going on?"
"Oh, I was just saying how we should get you like a stripper to lighten the mood up around here but Monica was dead-set against it," Phoebe joked. Rachel laughed. "Actually, we were just talking about something special but it's no big deal."
"Exactly," said Monica. "Rach, you seem a little exhausted. Why don't the four of us leave and give you some alone time with Ross? We can all come back later tomorrow and you'll have had a chance to rest up. Come on guys, let's go."
The four approached her bed, kissed her goodbye, and said they'd be back tomorrow.
"Hey, I know what we can do!" Joey said excitedly on their way out the door. "Let's go get some meatball subs." Chandler just pushed him through the door out into the hall, turned back, smiled at Rachel and Ross and said, "Excuse him. He's not thinking clearly….ever. See you guys tomorrow," he called, quietly shutting the door behind him.
"Sweetie, I'm so glad you're okay. I think my heart skipped a beat when the phone rang and than Monica answered it with later telling us the bad news. Not something I wanted to hear after spending one of the most magical nights of my life with you last night."
"I know. I don't even remember getting hit. I don't think I remember much. All I know is I was crossing the street and had the cell phone in hand, about to dial your number to just talk to you. Next thing I knew, someone was screaming to look out and I turned around to see who it was and than I guess that's when the car hit me. Damn bastard. I seriously hope they find who did it."
"I'm sure they will. I'm just glad you're still here."
"Me too," she softly said. She sat there, silently, allowing Ross to rub her hand.
"Rach, um, you're a little quiet. Anything wrong?"
"Well, I just don't know."
"Don't know what?"
"I just don't know if I can do this!" The waterworks began to fall from her eyes and it pained him. He gathered her up in his arms as best as he could, not wanting to hurt her fractured arm or anything else that might hurt. He rocked her back and forth.
"Shush, shush," he said. "It's going to be okay."
"How do you know that? What if all of a sudden my injuries turned to something worse? What if they didn't catch something and it later shows up? And I die? What will you do then? What will Chandler, Monica, Phoebe, and Joey do then? Huh? You can't just sit there and tell me it's going to be okay."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because. Because I'm scared!"
"Scared of what? What do you have to be scared of?"
"So many things Ross. I'm scared you're going to leave me. I'm scared of a possibility of maybe having to be confined to a wheelchair the rest of my life. I'm scared you don't love me. I'm scared everyone is going to abandon me. I'm afraid I'm going to fail at my new job. No, I'm afraid I'm going to fail at physical therapy. I'm just so scared," she cried.
"Rachel, I can't tell you that things won't be easy. Yes, they're going to be rough. But we're going to get through it. I promise. I cross my heart. There's just no way I'm going to leave you now. I've been chasing you since high school. I finally got you back and it's wonderful. You're making me feel like I'm on cloud nine all over again. There's also no way I could love you. I've been standing at your bedside since I found out about the accident, begging and pleading with God to not take you. I've cried a river, Rachel. Don't believe me? Ask Monica, Chandler, Pheebs or Joey. They all saw me. No one is going to abandon you. We're all going to be here for you, through thick and thin. I promise."
"You promise?"
"Yes. I promise. I won't leave your side unless I absolutely have to or you want me to. I'll go to physical therapy with you. I'll stay there while you work and I'll help you get better. Sure this is something we did not need right now but it's going to make us stronger. We've come so, so incredibly far and I'm not going to let this screw things up. You understand me?"
"I understand you. I'm just afraid but I guess it's okay to be afraid. If I have the five of you with me every step of the way in the recovery process, I guess it won't be that bad."
"No it won't. Things will get better. I love you."
"I love you too," she said, kissing him on the lips.
And this journey that we're on
How far we've come and I celebrate every moment
And when you say you love me,
That's all you have to say.
I'll always feel this way.
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AN: Again, sorry for the long gap in between updates! I hope that this makes up for it! I'm thinking there's about 1-3 more chapters maybe left in this story. Please read and review!! Thanks.