Chapter 13
Revenge is sweet
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to so with friends.
~*~
Phoebe sat around the nurse's station and watched the silent, empty corridor in a daze. Her mind was far, far away from what she should have been thinking about, and instead it was transfixed on all the worries that she had been locking away in her brain.
It had been three days since she had last heard from her fiancé, and although she knew he was a busy man it didn't help her feel any less unsettled. She missed him so much that her heart ached, and it was made worse by the fact she didn't know when the next time would be that she heard his voice.
It was so unlike him not to call.
She was busy herself.so busy that she hadn't fully allowed herself to sit and panic. But now she had nothing to do, with time on her hands, paranoia was beginning to set in.
For all she knew anything could have happened to him. Film sets could be dangerous places. But wouldn't someone have called her if something had seriously gone wrong? Yes, of course they would have! She tried to rationalise, but the minute she had eliminated something another irrational thought entered her mind.
Maybe he didn't want to speak to her. Perhaps their time apart had shown him just what he was missing out on. The single life that he had once relished in may have become the new love of his life and now she would be surplus to requirements, a distant memory, and another notch on his bedpost.
"No! Why am I thinking like this! I'm being crazy!" She shook her head vehemently and rested it in her hands, while her elbows rested on the desk in front of her. Tiredness had finally set in through a solid week of sleep deprivation and it was this she blamed for her mind doing overtime.
She had too much on her plate to deal with. What with her work and study, which was taking up most of her time these days, her baby, whom she didn't grudge giving attention to for a moment, but at times she just wished for break, or a bit of silence instead of the incessant crying which kept her awake for the majority of the night, and then there was Monica, who since her split from Chandler had become needy and dependent of Phoebe's company. There wasn't a lot she could do about that either. Monica was her friend, and if she needed a shoulder to cry on, then she would be there for her. Friendship meant the world to Phoebe. If it weren't for her 5 friends she wouldn't be the person she was today, or be were she was today. But right now it was the last thing on her mind.
The clock on the wall by her side read 10:21. It had been over 12 hours since she had started her morning shift, and she was still here, unable to move herself and get home to the empty apartment. Monica had agreed to keep Lily for the night to allow Phoebe to have one night of uninterrupted sleep, which she knew would be a miracle if it happened. She was too used to getting up several times in the night to tend to her daughter now that Joey wasn't there to aide her.
Little did she know she would get her wish as she was about to get the rest she longed so much for and it wouldn't be a break she would welcome with open arms. Things were about to go from bad to worse.
~*~
"Ross! What re you doing here!" Emily stood in her holiday home's doorway in complete shock. Her mouth was agape, in a perfect mirror image to Ross' present stance. He was the last person she expected to be standing at her door as she opened it. It had been over a year since their break up, and there had been next to no communication from him since then as it had hardly been an amicable split.
"Emily! What, em, I mean, I didn't, well" He couldn't the words out as he tried to figure out what was going on. Why was Emily living in the house Phoebe had holed herself up in? It must be some freakish coincidence he told himself.
They gazed at each other in silence for a moment, each trying to figure out how to react. This wasn't exactly an ideal situation for either to start mulling over the past. Ross wasn't in any mood for apologies and Emily didn't want to hear them. She had had her fill of men, as she wasn't long after her second divorce and he was currently swearing off women for the rest of his life after what he deemed the worst kind of betrayal from the one woman he respected most.
"You had better come in," Emily extended the door and closed it behind him as he entered.
"I take it you're here for the rest of Phoebe's belongings?" Emily remained calm as she tried her best to be cordial.
"Yes, but how do you, I mean, you knew Phoebe was staying here?" Ross couldn't seem to find the rational that Emily was displaying. His mind was still a whir over this strange encounter.
"I think the both of us have a lot of catching up to do, you better take a seat." Emily half sighed. This was going to be a long night.
~*~
"Phoebe?" Lillian crept up to the desk quietly so as not to scare her. She got no response, so she tried again, but this time louder.
"Phoebe!?" Still there was no waking her, so she began to gently shake her until she lifted her head from the desk.
"Sweetie you've fallen asleep. You should really go home, it's after midnight." Lillian helped an exhausted Phoebe to her feet, placing her jacket over her shoulders, followed by her purse as she did so.
"Thanks," Phoebe could barely find the composure to speak, let alone get herself organised so she appreciated the help.
She stifled a yawn as they walked down the stairs and out into the car park.
"Are you ok to get home? If you want to wait another 20 minutes I can give you a lift back to the village."
"No, I better go just now. I want to check on my daughter before my friend goes to bed, but thank you for the offer." Phoebe gave Lillian a hug before setting off down the dark hospital path leading to the road where she would get a taxi.
She turned once to give Lillian one last wave goodbye, but she had already gone back inside, much to Phoebe's anguish. She hated walking alone at this time of night after everything that had happened to her she was terrified of being attacked.
She held on tightly to her purse, and suddenly felt more alert and awake despite her fatigue. The trees on either side of her seemed to grow in size, looking huge compared to the way they looked in the light, their leaves appeared to her to be moving more than they usually did, regardless of the lack of wind to disturb them. The rustling made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and she suddenly felt cold. Her mind was playing tricks on her, as she listened to every little sound and noise that she didn't recognise.
Se had walked this path a million times since she had begun work here, but somehow tonight was different. It had an eerie feeling that she couldn't, and didn't want to put her finger on.
She started to hum a tune in her head, eventually singing it out loud in a desperate attempt to rid herself of the fear that was silently creeping up on her with every step she took deeper into the small wooded area.
Every few seconds she stopped walking and listened intently to what she was sure were footsteps behind, rhythmically following her and each time her singing got louder, and louder until she was practically screaming at the top of her voice.
But somehow over the loud singing she heard a noise that unnerved her to the point of tears. She swivelled herself round 180 degrees, her eyes opening as wide as they would go at the sight that met her.
Her mind wasn't playing tricks on her after all. The noise she had heard were not a figment of her imagination as she had first imagined.
His arms reached out around her neck and she slowly felt herself drifting towards the leaf-strewn concrete. She tried to fight him off but it was no good, he had too strong a hold on her.
Her world was getting blacker as she fought for much needed air, but she was fighting a losing battle. The constrictions on her airways were just too much, and she eventually began to pass out, but not before she had seen his face.
She knew her attacker and she knew exactly why he wanted to hurt her.
History was about to repeat itself and like before there was nothing she could do about it.
~*~
Next chapter VERY soon! Please review if you liked it and want to see what happens to Phoebe and the others :o)
Revenge is sweet
Disclaimer: I don't own anything to so with friends.
~*~
Phoebe sat around the nurse's station and watched the silent, empty corridor in a daze. Her mind was far, far away from what she should have been thinking about, and instead it was transfixed on all the worries that she had been locking away in her brain.
It had been three days since she had last heard from her fiancé, and although she knew he was a busy man it didn't help her feel any less unsettled. She missed him so much that her heart ached, and it was made worse by the fact she didn't know when the next time would be that she heard his voice.
It was so unlike him not to call.
She was busy herself.so busy that she hadn't fully allowed herself to sit and panic. But now she had nothing to do, with time on her hands, paranoia was beginning to set in.
For all she knew anything could have happened to him. Film sets could be dangerous places. But wouldn't someone have called her if something had seriously gone wrong? Yes, of course they would have! She tried to rationalise, but the minute she had eliminated something another irrational thought entered her mind.
Maybe he didn't want to speak to her. Perhaps their time apart had shown him just what he was missing out on. The single life that he had once relished in may have become the new love of his life and now she would be surplus to requirements, a distant memory, and another notch on his bedpost.
"No! Why am I thinking like this! I'm being crazy!" She shook her head vehemently and rested it in her hands, while her elbows rested on the desk in front of her. Tiredness had finally set in through a solid week of sleep deprivation and it was this she blamed for her mind doing overtime.
She had too much on her plate to deal with. What with her work and study, which was taking up most of her time these days, her baby, whom she didn't grudge giving attention to for a moment, but at times she just wished for break, or a bit of silence instead of the incessant crying which kept her awake for the majority of the night, and then there was Monica, who since her split from Chandler had become needy and dependent of Phoebe's company. There wasn't a lot she could do about that either. Monica was her friend, and if she needed a shoulder to cry on, then she would be there for her. Friendship meant the world to Phoebe. If it weren't for her 5 friends she wouldn't be the person she was today, or be were she was today. But right now it was the last thing on her mind.
The clock on the wall by her side read 10:21. It had been over 12 hours since she had started her morning shift, and she was still here, unable to move herself and get home to the empty apartment. Monica had agreed to keep Lily for the night to allow Phoebe to have one night of uninterrupted sleep, which she knew would be a miracle if it happened. She was too used to getting up several times in the night to tend to her daughter now that Joey wasn't there to aide her.
Little did she know she would get her wish as she was about to get the rest she longed so much for and it wouldn't be a break she would welcome with open arms. Things were about to go from bad to worse.
~*~
"Ross! What re you doing here!" Emily stood in her holiday home's doorway in complete shock. Her mouth was agape, in a perfect mirror image to Ross' present stance. He was the last person she expected to be standing at her door as she opened it. It had been over a year since their break up, and there had been next to no communication from him since then as it had hardly been an amicable split.
"Emily! What, em, I mean, I didn't, well" He couldn't the words out as he tried to figure out what was going on. Why was Emily living in the house Phoebe had holed herself up in? It must be some freakish coincidence he told himself.
They gazed at each other in silence for a moment, each trying to figure out how to react. This wasn't exactly an ideal situation for either to start mulling over the past. Ross wasn't in any mood for apologies and Emily didn't want to hear them. She had had her fill of men, as she wasn't long after her second divorce and he was currently swearing off women for the rest of his life after what he deemed the worst kind of betrayal from the one woman he respected most.
"You had better come in," Emily extended the door and closed it behind him as he entered.
"I take it you're here for the rest of Phoebe's belongings?" Emily remained calm as she tried her best to be cordial.
"Yes, but how do you, I mean, you knew Phoebe was staying here?" Ross couldn't seem to find the rational that Emily was displaying. His mind was still a whir over this strange encounter.
"I think the both of us have a lot of catching up to do, you better take a seat." Emily half sighed. This was going to be a long night.
~*~
"Phoebe?" Lillian crept up to the desk quietly so as not to scare her. She got no response, so she tried again, but this time louder.
"Phoebe!?" Still there was no waking her, so she began to gently shake her until she lifted her head from the desk.
"Sweetie you've fallen asleep. You should really go home, it's after midnight." Lillian helped an exhausted Phoebe to her feet, placing her jacket over her shoulders, followed by her purse as she did so.
"Thanks," Phoebe could barely find the composure to speak, let alone get herself organised so she appreciated the help.
She stifled a yawn as they walked down the stairs and out into the car park.
"Are you ok to get home? If you want to wait another 20 minutes I can give you a lift back to the village."
"No, I better go just now. I want to check on my daughter before my friend goes to bed, but thank you for the offer." Phoebe gave Lillian a hug before setting off down the dark hospital path leading to the road where she would get a taxi.
She turned once to give Lillian one last wave goodbye, but she had already gone back inside, much to Phoebe's anguish. She hated walking alone at this time of night after everything that had happened to her she was terrified of being attacked.
She held on tightly to her purse, and suddenly felt more alert and awake despite her fatigue. The trees on either side of her seemed to grow in size, looking huge compared to the way they looked in the light, their leaves appeared to her to be moving more than they usually did, regardless of the lack of wind to disturb them. The rustling made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end and she suddenly felt cold. Her mind was playing tricks on her, as she listened to every little sound and noise that she didn't recognise.
Se had walked this path a million times since she had begun work here, but somehow tonight was different. It had an eerie feeling that she couldn't, and didn't want to put her finger on.
She started to hum a tune in her head, eventually singing it out loud in a desperate attempt to rid herself of the fear that was silently creeping up on her with every step she took deeper into the small wooded area.
Every few seconds she stopped walking and listened intently to what she was sure were footsteps behind, rhythmically following her and each time her singing got louder, and louder until she was practically screaming at the top of her voice.
But somehow over the loud singing she heard a noise that unnerved her to the point of tears. She swivelled herself round 180 degrees, her eyes opening as wide as they would go at the sight that met her.
Her mind wasn't playing tricks on her after all. The noise she had heard were not a figment of her imagination as she had first imagined.
His arms reached out around her neck and she slowly felt herself drifting towards the leaf-strewn concrete. She tried to fight him off but it was no good, he had too strong a hold on her.
Her world was getting blacker as she fought for much needed air, but she was fighting a losing battle. The constrictions on her airways were just too much, and she eventually began to pass out, but not before she had seen his face.
She knew her attacker and she knew exactly why he wanted to hurt her.
History was about to repeat itself and like before there was nothing she could do about it.
~*~
Next chapter VERY soon! Please review if you liked it and want to see what happens to Phoebe and the others :o)