sighs with satisfaction at the reviews Thanks as always to those who're supporting my story especially DrKerryWeaver and Jen and Llew and everyone else who've been so loyal in reading…lol…thanks so much. I already have the chapters lined up in my head and all I have to do is write them. Hope you keep on reading till it's finished! :)

xxxxxxx

I went back to work on Monday. I'd already been gone a week and I couldn't afford any more absences. Besides, I couldn't stand to be just in the apartment all day anymore. I needed something to do, some other things to think about to distract me and take my mind off everything I wanted to forget. Monica was against it, of course, but she didn't try to stop me.

"Just promise me you'll call me if you need me, okay? If you need a ride home, or if your foot hurts or…or anything, okay?" she'd said, her hand on my arm before I'd left that morning.

"I promise," I'd told her, just to calm her down. It wasn't like I would go and call her for everything I can fix myself. She did have her own life to fix. Her pouring her attention on me was just pure Monica. I was her distraction.

"Okay…" she'd said, not looking entirely convinced with my answer. "You sure you're okay? Because, you really don't have to go to work yet, you know…"

"No. no…I'm okay, I swear."

"Okay,"

"Okay,"

"Bye sweetie. Be safe," she'd tiptoed to kiss me and I'd given her a light kiss on the cheek.

Be safe. She'd never told me that before.

I'd gone on to work, and everything seemed to run the way it had always gone. Paperwork, phone calls, more paperwork…by lunchtime, my head was enveloped in pain as a migraine took over. Everyone else had gone to eat and I was alone in my office, holding my head between my hands with my eyes shut.

Boom boom…

The migraine had actually started that morning when I first entered the office. I'd ignored it and had just kept on working. By the middle of my paperwork it was actually like my brain had just exploded. It totally hurt and I even had to throw up in the men's room to gain a feeling close to normal.

Boom boom…

My head throbbed again. It was like a pair of African drums had implanted themselves within my skull.

Boom boom…

I felt sick. Really sick. Maybe I shouldn't have gone to work…

Boom boom…

I let out a low moan, squeezing my eyes more. I wanted to throw up again. I know I wasn't a picture of perfect health but I didn't realize that I had to pay that much. But it was most probably stress that was causing the pain…

Boom boom…

"You okay, big guy?" a voice said.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" I spat out, annoyed to hell at whoever had asked. "Joe, just leave me alone…"

My eyelids snapped up.

Joey?

What the hell?

The light blinded me and made searing pain travel through the nerves in my brain, almost making me hurl. I held it back, forcing myself to look around my office, gripping the edge of my desk until my knuckles turned white. There was no one inside with me but a few potted plants, a coat rack, a computer and everything else that came with normal offices.

Who had talked to me?

I thumped the side of my head with the bottom of my hand in an attempt to lessen the pain. Of course, it did no good, but I wasn't really paying attention to the migraine anymore.

My heart started to race along with my thoughts. The voice had sounded like Joey, but the more I thought about it, the more faded the memory of the sound of it was. I felt cold sweat break along my brow.

Had it been a ghost?

Or was I just losing my mind?

The latter sounded more convincing.

I shook my head to try and brush the thing off. I took deep, slow breaths, concentrating on the wood grains on my desk and trying to keep it together.

"Hey, you sure you're okay, buddy?"

The voice sounded again, and this time it echoed in my mind like I was in some psycho-stalker movie. My head snapped upwards, half-expecting to see Joey hiding behind the potted plant, giggling at how scared I had looked.

But there was no Joey hiding behind the plant and neither would there be a Joey to hide behind it in the future.

I was totally alone.

I was sure I was going nuts.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled at no one in particular. I gripped my head with my hands and clamped my palms over my ears. Maybe if I couldn't hear, no voice would speak…

"You okay?"

It came again, clearer this time, in my head. I rested my forehead on my desk and thumped it. Every thump brought pain which I hoped would drown out the voice.

"You okay?"

There it was again!

"No," I said through gritted teeth. "No, no, no, no…"

I kept thumping and thumping and thumping…

"Chandler?"

Thump thump thump…

Boom boom BOOM…

"Chandler!"

A hand gripped my shoulder and shook it. Hard.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled almost hysterically. I was afraid, nauseous and depressed at the same time and my actions were almost automatic. My hand flew up to swat the hand away. I was half-expecting it to hit air, but to my surprise, I hit flesh and bone.

"Hey!"

I lifted my head painfully and pushed to open my eyes. I was almost blind with pain and it took a while before my vision cleared a little and I could see a blurred version of Sharon, a co-worker of mine, no, actually only the part of her from the neck up, hovering above me, her face twisted into some frown.

"My God, you look awful," she commented.

I breathed a sigh of relief in reply, happy that she wasn't a ghost or something I didn't want to see.

"Thanks for the compliment," I replied, letting my head fall on my arms to rest. I felt her cool hands along the sides of my neck and on my forehead. I would've pushed them away if I had the sufficient strength.

"Have you taken anything? Are you okay, Chandler? You're all clammy…"

"I'll be fine, leave me alone,"

"I'm calling Monica…"

"No, no…" I tried to plead but I heard her dial and speak into the phone before I could move another inch.

"Hello? Monica Geller please," she said.

Great.

I closed my eyes to try and make myself feel better but ended up doing something else.

In the middle of the phone call to Monica, my stomach acids leapt to my throat and I threw up all over the carpet.

Xxxxxxx

No, the voice wasn't a ghost. Haha, this isn't that kind of story. It's all in Chandler's head. There's gonna be a Mon and Chan part next…I know I've been neglecting that but don't worry, I meant for it to happen. Please r/r! :)