I have just been overwhelmed with the amount of reviews I've received for only two chapters. Thank you guys so much, they really mean a lot to me! I hope you continue to read...please, please, please! Now, about this chapter...rather, this story. I had originally set out to make it primarily about Chandler's illness, with just a hint of Ross and Rachel drama, but the more I write, the more I am loving the Lobsters dynamic. It is just so much fun to write (the snippiness, the longing, oh my!) and I really think it works well with the story. I seem to have made an unconcious choice to write pretty much from Rachel's point of view. I've done that in other stories, but it was usually shared with a few of the other kids (namely, Chandler) I just find it interesting to have it from her POV, have her thinking about Chandler's problems through her eyes, feel her reactions and things. I'm not sure if I will continue doing that, but for now, it seems like the best way to go, for me. Besides, I feel most comfortable when writing from either Chandler or Rachel's POV, for some reason, and I feel that Chandler's POV might be difficult in this story (I don't know how or why it would be more difficult then writing his POV in Smoke and Mirrors, but just ignore me) Anyway, I've rambled on way too much, so just please read and review and I love you all! I'm off to bed now, toodles!

I do not own friends/actors/characters, and all that jazz. Man, if I did, I would be rolling in a pool of happiness.

Pneumonia, Rachel thought, watching Monica flip through a magazine. Fanfreakingtastic.

She had suffered through a nasty bout of pneumonia when she was eleven years old, so she knew that Chandler must have been having a fun old time right at that moment.

They were running tests. What sort of tests, she had wanted to ask. Ones that answer why he's gotten so skinny? Why we haven't discussed that? Why Chandler's health had been pushed aside by Ross and I and our dramas?

But she had kept her mouth shut, knowing that she couldn't think like that, and instead letting Ross do all the talking.

After all, he was the 'doctor'. She snorted.

"Something…something, funny?" Ross asked from the seat next to his sister.

"I was just imagining you in a doctor's coat."

"Seriously? You're going to try and pick a fight here?"

"I'm not picking a fight, Ross, I was just telling you want I was picturing," Rachel said testily.

"Oh…did I look good?"

"I was laughing, Ross."

"I wonder if Chandler is awake yet!" Phoebe spoke up loudly, causing both Ross and Rachel to look at her.

"I don't know, but if I sit in this chair for too much longer, my ass is going to meld to it," Monica muttered, tossing the magazine aside. Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"You'll never be able to fit into those black pants if that happened."

"I'm not sure I'd be able to fit into any pants if that happened, Rach."

"My ass is kinda numb…is that what happened to you, Mon? Because I don't really want a chair-ass." Phoebe shifted in her chair; comfort the last thing showing on her face. Monica frowned.

"It's pretty numb…kinda tingly."

"Good tingly or bad tingly?" Rachel asked. Monica merely looked at her. "I'm just saying if it was good tingly then I might have to take one of these things home."

"I wish it was good tingly," Monica mumbled after a short moment.

"Okay!" Ross stood up in a hurry, a troubled look in his eyes. "I might- I'm gonna go get some coffee. Mon, you want one?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Pheebs?"

"Nope, I'm fine."

"Okay." Ross started to walk down the corridor, then stopped and looked at a glaring Rachel. "Uh-"

"Oh, I'm fine," Rachel said sarcastically. Ross made a slight face, one of almost pain, then started back down the corridor. "Uch, men! Wait, no. Uch, Ross!"

"Don't worry, honey, I'm buying you George Clooney for Christmas," Monica said soothingly. Rachel's face lit up.

"Oh, you really do love me!"

"I'm pretty sure George Clooney is gay."

"No, Pheebs, don't you dare! You are not taking the possibility of George Clooney away from me!"

"Clooney? He's so gay!"

The three girls looked up at the new voice, same expressions of surprise written across their faces.

"Joey! Hey, how is he? Has he woken up yet?" Monica asked eagerly. Joey frowned slightly.

"Yeah, he woke up, like, half an hour ago."

"And you didn't tell us?" Phoebe said after a beat. Joey shrugged uselessly.

"I was kinda busy."

"Is he okay?"

"He's a bit better."

"Wow, and after only a few hours," Rachel remarked. Joey rolled his eyes.

"Well, he's not exactly in there doing laps...the doctor said that they should have the test results back for…whatever they ran really soon."

"I just love how ambiguous they are," Monica said sarcastically, receiving another Tribbiani frown.

"Right. So, uh, you guys are allowed in now. Where's Ross?"

"Jumped up his own ass," Rachel said, standing up.

"More commonly known as getting coffee. I'll wait for him, he's my brother."

"By the way, I don't hold you responsible for him." With a slight smile in Monica's direction, Rachel walked away.

"I love when we all get along," Phoebe said as she followed Rachel and Joey.

"Yeah, I thought you two promised that you would try to get along?"

Rachel sighed, knowing Joey was right. "I'm sorry, I know. It's just, it's hard to stop. Verbally abusing Ross is like an addiction. A pleasing, sadistic addiction. Like ice cream." She looked at Joey and Phoebe, who were both wearing matching expressions of what Rachel liked to call the 'what the hell?' face. "But this is about Chandler at the moment, not our dramas. I promise I'll try to behave. As long as he stops pissing me off."

"So, basically you want Ross to stop…living?"

"Not living…just not breathing, talking- okay, seriously, gonna stop being a bitch."

"Great! Here it is." Joey pushed open the door to room 217, holding it open for the girls. Rachel stepped inside, taking in the cheap wallpaper, the tacky art, the tiny bathroom. Ah, hospitals, she mused, stepping up to the bed.

"Hey, sweetie."

Chandler flickered his eyes open, smiling wanly. "Rach," he said hoarsely and Rachel winced, but was just glad he was talking at all. That he was awake. God, when I couldn't wake you…"My little heroine."

"Yeah, because being unable to wake you up constitutes as heroism. Had I picked you up and flown you to the hospital, then I might consider myself worthy of-"

"Short sentences, Rach…please."

"Sorry."

"I brought you a present, Chandler." Phoebe held out the stuffed toy she'd been holding. Chandler took it, eyeing it warily.

"It's a turkey."

"I tried to get her to buy the stuffed monkey, Chandler, but she insisted it was time for you to get over your hate for Thanksgiving."

"Well, there's not much else to do in this place," Phoebe continued on from Rachel.

"Thankyou, Pheebs…this will haunt my dreams every night." Chandler let out a cough, while Joey took the toy from him.

"I didn't even know they made toy turkeys."

"They make toys everything these days, Joe, its called commercialism," Ross said as he stepped in the room, Monica trailing behind. "Hey man, how are you feeling?"

"I should be getting to the marathon any minute now."

"Hey honey." Monica kissed Chandler on the forehead, ruffling his sweaty hair slightly before straightening. "I see you got you devil turkey."

Rachel smirked, sitting down into another ass-numbing chair as Chandler began to talk in quite tones to Monica, Joey and Phoebe surrounding them. If we take better care of him…if Ross and I didn't fight so-

"Hey," the object of Rachel's thoughts had appeared in front of her, and she jerked in shock at his sudden voice. "I, uh, I got you a coffee anyway…uh, sorry." Rachel took the cup from Ross, slightly surprised.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ross glanced from Rachel to his feet, nodded twice, then stepped over towards Monica. Rachel found herself smiling into her cup.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," a soft voice came from the doorway. The group glanced up in unison. Rachel quickly analysed the small brunette, figuring her to be in her mid thirties and obviously a doctor. "I'm Dr. Stephens."

"I know, we met a few minutes back," Joey said with a raised eyebrow. The rest of the group looked at him. "Oh! Uh, you guys weren't here."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Ross Gellar, this is my sister Monica, Phoebe Buffay and Rachel Green."

"He's not a real doctor," Phoebe piped up," He's a dinosaur guy."

"Thank you, Pheebs," Ross said dryly.

"What? I was just getting in before Rachel could."

"Wasn't going to say a thing."

"Okay then." Dr Stephens merely smiled, stepping towards Chandler's side. "How are you feeling, Mr Bing?"

"There's a small midget sitting on my chest, doc," Chandler said offhandedly, ending with a cough.

"It's perfectly normal to feel some pressure on your chest."

"Yeah? Could you, I dunno, throw some lucky charms out the window? Get him off?"

"I see the tiny midget has been upgraded to leprechaun," Ross remarked. Chandler offered him a weak nod, his eyes flickering to Rachel as she stepped close to the bed.

"The test results?" she ventured softly, enjoying the banter but wanting to know more. Dr Stephens nodded.

"Of course. Mr Bing-"

"The only Mr Bing in my family is a woman…ish. Call me Chandler." Rachel frowned slightly at Chandler, wondering why he had chosen that moment to interrupt. Chandler rolled his eye at her and she rolled hers back.

"Okay, Chandler. The physical check we did earlier, while you were asleep, showed that you had a swollen lymph node on your groin, which-"

"Well, that doesn't sound too good," Chandler said hoarsely, "although it would explain why girls scream when they see me nake-"

"Chan," Joey said softly, quickly putting a stop to Chandler's ramblings. Rachel found herself exchanging a stricken glance with Ross, her brain flicking back to the time she had moseyed through her daddy's medical books. She was pretty sure she knew what was coming and had a feeling Ross did too.

"The blood work confirmed our suspicions. You have leukemia, Chandler," Dr Stephens said softly. Rachel's eyes reconnected with Ross' for a moment then began to blur as the silence spread throughout the room. "We will need to run further tests, but you can attribute the weight loss, the recent illnesses, the-"

"Mon!" Chandler yelped suddenly and Monica pulled her hand away from his.

"S-Sorry, I guess I was squeezing too hard."

"S'okay." Chandler picked at a bit of lint on his bed cover, flicked it away, then looked back up at the doctor. "I have leukemia."

"Yes."

"I have cancer."

"Yes."

"I don't…that really doesn't work for me right now."

"Mr Bi- Chandler, I know this is a lot to take in at the moment…" Dr Stephens glanced down at her papers for a brief moment. "Like I said, we will need to run further tests, but it seems we've probably caught this in the early stages, which is great."

"Great," Chandler echoed. "My cells are having an unsolicited orgy with chance of death, but-"

"Here is an extremely high chance that you will come out of this un-"

"Scathed?"

"Yes."

Chandler fell silent, picking at another piece of lint. The silence in the room grew to the point of being uncomfortable, and Rachel found herself wiping away silent tears, wanting to escape the room, escape the hospital, get the hell out of there and out of the city. But that was selfish, so she stayed, glancing from her friends. Monica had regrasped Chandler's hand, with less of a grip this time round. She was watching him with a careful face, on the edge of tears. Rachel had seen that look so many times, but never before had she seen her friend look so lost.

Leukemia…

Phoebe was standing in the corner of the room, looking a lot like Rachel felt; like she wanted to get the hell out. She was chewing on her hair; something Rachel hadn't seen her do for a very long time.

Why couldn't it just have stayed at pneumonia?

Ross was pacing slightly, and Rachel found her eyes drawn to him unwillingly. Had this situation arose a couple of months ago, he would be hugging her right now, and she thought she might have needed that at that moment. Her eyes continued to follow him, until they flicked over to Joey, who was walking past Ross and out the door.

"Joey," she started, then stopped. She had no idea what to say, and it was then she realised the unbearable silence had lasted no more than fifty seconds, and it had only taken that long for Joey to throw in the towel.

"Maybe I should come back later?" Dr Stephens said a moment later and Rachel almost felt sorry for her, until she remembered that the good doctor had been the one to cause the uncomfortable situation.

"That might be a good idea," Chandler said quietly, his voice fading in and out with each syllable. Dr Stephens nodded, taking baby steps towards the door.

"Okay…rest up, Chandler." Rachel watched her go, then turned back to the group.

"I'll go check on Joey," Phoebe said, sounding more solemn then Rachel had heard her sound in a long time. She was gone in a flash, and Rachel looked up at Ross, wanting and needing that hug.

"Chandler…" Monica shook her head, not sure what to say, instead choosing to almost paw at his hand with her own.

"I might sleep," Chandler said after a moment, and Rachel wondered if and when the news would sink in for him. She wasn't sure if it had for her.

"Do you want us to leave?" Monica asked gently.

"I'm going to go for a walk," Ross spoke up suddenly. Rachel nodded. It didn't sound like a bad idea. She felt like she was suffocating.

"Okay…can you stay?" Chandler's question was directed at Monica, who immediately nodded. "Thanks."

"Of course."

"We'll be back later, Chandler," Rachel said softly, then turned and left the room, down the corridor, needing to breathe. She felt so selfish, Chandler needed her, needed them, but-

"Hey." Ross grabbed her arm gently, stopping her in her tracks. She let out a short sigh, then turned to face him.

"Hey."

"You…" Ross let out a humourless laugh, unsure of what to say. Instead, he pulled Rachel towards him, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Rachel froze, then slipped her arms around his waist. "I-Is this okay?"

"I don't know," she answered truthfully, a sniffle in her voice, but god did she need the hug. "How can this be happening, Ross?"

Ross cleared his throat, pulled her a bit tighter, and Rachel knew he was breaking some sort of 'ex couple' rule, but didn't care. "I don't know," he echoed and Rachel felt her eyes blur again.