Disclaimer; I do not own Friends.
What Love Can Do
Chapter 4.
Rachel softly knocked at the door, afraid to make a huge noise. She just wanted to disappear. She definitely wanted to get out of that hospital, that was for sure. She hated hospitals.
"Come in"
By the que of doctor Evans' voice, she pressed the knob down and went into the room.
"Hey Rachel" he smiled.
"Hi"
"Take a seat" she took a seat in front of him, nervous. She was about to hear the future of Ross.
Would he ever walk again?
"So, you know Ross how?"
"We're engaged" Rachel said, "And we have a daughter together"
"Okay" doctor Evans smiled, "And how is she taking it?"
"She is staying with my sister. I haven't really talked to her. She'll be staying there for awhile, I think"
"Okay" doctor Evans sighed, "Ross' condition is pretty serious. He may never walk again. It will be hard training and he's gonna need support. I hope he has willpower"
"He has" Rachel swallowed hard, "How long till the training can begin?"
"When he wants it to" doctor Evans smiled, "But the problem with car involved accidents, the person never wants to go on. Unfortunately, they will rather lie in their bed, feeling sorry for themselves"
"Ross wont do that" Rachel quickly said, "He will get to that training, 'cuz he has so much to live for"
"Yeah, yeah" doctor Evans said, "I wasn't saying it was gonna be like that with Ross, I was just preparing you if it was gonna be like that"
"Yeah, all right" Rachel whispered, "Is he awake today?"
"Yes, he is fully awake" the doctor smiled, "Shall we go see him?"
"Yeah, I would love that" Rachel said, standing up.
"Come with me then"
--
When the door opened, she saw him lying there in his hospital bed.
She felt the tears coming and rushed to his side, showing him with kisses.
She hugged and kissed him so hard, that she didn't notice his flinch.
"So…" he said, after finally pushing her away, "What is up with me?"
"Hmm, there's really no good in covering it up" doctor Evans said, "Hmm, you may never walk again, Ross"
"Well, that's great" he said, so sarcastic, that Rachel for a minute imagined Chandler there. But of course, it was Ross.
"You can though" doctor Evans said, "But it'll be hard. Your training will be hard"
"Okay" Ross nodded.
Doctor Evans turned to the door, "Pull that string if you need anything, okay?" then he left.
"Hi" Rachel smiled, looking lovingly at him. She securely pressed the covers around his body.
Ross didn't look at her, he stared into space.
"You know, you'll have to let me be involved" Rachel said, padding his stomach, "We're getting married remember?"
"Rachel, why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"All this" Ross said, lifting his arms to make his point, "I may never walk again, you don't wanna be married to an invalid!"
"You're not an invalid, Ross" Rachel said, "You just need to get back on your feet, and then everything will be okay again, right? For ever and ever, babe?"
Ross rolled his eyes, "Rach, this isn't a game, this is your life. Do you seriously think that I can give you and Emma a normal life? I can't"
"Of course you can, Ross" Rachel smiled, trying to hold back the tears, his words were making, "You are our everything. And that's enough. We love you. I love you"
"Yeah, that's great, Rachel" Ross said, "If you would please just leave now, I'd like to be alone"
"But Ross-"
"Rachel, please…" Ross said, "I'm not in the mood for this right now. Just leave"
"Okay then" Rachel said, but you could hear the tears in her voice.
"Don't cry, Rachel" Ross said, "It's pathetic, you're not the one lying here"
"No!" Rachel said, raising her voice, "But it's my only one lying there. And he doesn't want me there with him"
"You know what?" Ross said, "You're such a drama queen, acting like life wont go on, of course it will!"
Rachel went to the door and looked at him, "Maybe it will for tons of other people, but you have a family who loves you, and when Emma wants to see you, you better not treat her this way too, 'cause she's only a child"
"Rachel, just leave!" Ross said. He didn't want to hear her speech.
"You're an idiot" Rachel whispered.
"I beg your pardon?"
"You haven't even asked who was driving the car. You haven't even asked if they were okay!"
"If they hit me with their car, I'm not interested in their condition" Ross just said.
Rachel looked at him, not understanding what was going on, "It was Monica and Erica" she whispered. Then she sighed and turned to go for the door, "Jerk!"
--
She took a deep breath and looked outside the window. The tree right outside was almost naked, except for a few leaves, which would be gone by the end of the week.
Shouldn't she be at work?
They'd told her to stay with Ross, so she had time off for the rest of the week.
She whished someone was there with her. She needed someone to hold her, to tell her that everything would be okay, that Ross was in a fug, and that he would soon be his old self. She needed someone to give her comfort, someone who knew exactly what to say, who she was comfortable with, and who she could count on no matter what.
She sighed and looked at the name on her cell phone. She'd sat there, for two hours know, pondering if she should or should not call him.
Should she?
Finally, she pressed the bottom and waited for him to pick up.
"It's Chandler?"
"Hi, could you please come up here and hold me?" she whispered, "I need you"
"I'll be right there"
The other end was dead silent.
Now she just had to wait.
--
Monica knocked on the door. She hoped Erica was okay. She hoped they would be able to make up. After the accident, she'd realized something. She wasn't a good mother, she was a terrible mother.
She just whished she could go back in time.
For many reasons. Not just that one...
"Come in"
Monica opened the door and peeked inside. Erica was sitting on her bed, colouring in a colour book.
"Hmm, hi" Monica whispered, sitting down next to her, "I have something for you"
"Really?" Erica said, sounding uninterested. She didn't even look up.
"I found your shirt" Monica said.
Like that was the magic word, Erica looked up. When she realized that it was actually true, she grabbed the yellow shirt and hugged it with all her heart. "Thank you, mom!" she smiled, "Aunt Rachel will be so happy the next time we see her!"
"Erica, honey" Monica whispered, "I don't think there'll be a next time"
"What? Why?"
"Listen, sweetie…" Monica said, taking her hand, "I don't ever think your aunt Rachel will be able to forgive me. If Ross comes out of this okay, we may see each other occasionally, but it will never be like before. Do you understand me?"
Erica shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, "No, I don't! I need aunt Rachel, she's the only one who understands why fashion is so important, because it is for her too!"
"Erica… You're my daughter, I'll take you shopping next weekend and buy all the fashion clothes you want. I haven't been a very good mother, but I'll make that up to you. Is that a deal?"
"I'll try and go with you, but if it doesn't go well, we wont do it again, okay?"
"Okay, honey" Monica squeezed her hand, "Okay"
--
Ross looked at the string the doctor had told him to pull if anything was wrong, and considered pulling it.
She'd said that Monica and Erica had hit him with their car? No, he couldn't believe that. Monica would never hit anyone with her car. She was perfect, and such stuff only happened to other people.
She would never hit anyone with her car, that was for sure.
Definitely not her own brother, that was even more sure.
Finally, after thinking things over a million times, he pulled the string and patiently waited for the doctor to come.
--
"Hi" Chandler whispered, sitting down in front of her.
"Hi" Rachel said, looking happily at him, "Thank you for coming"
"Of course" Chandler smiled, "You need me, I wouldn't not come. But anyway… Did you talk to Ross? How is he?"
"He's…" she paused, "He's mad at me. He is angry. He didn't want me there, but other than that he's fine. He can walk again if he wants to"
"Well that's great…" Chandler said, "Although… Not great with him being angry. What have you done?"
"I haven't done anything!" Rachel shrieked, tears welling up again, "I have not! He told me he didn't want me there, because he couldn't make a home for me and Emma. He told me to go away… He kinda… He kinda broke up with me…"
"No, Rach" Chandler smiled, "Of course he didn't. He's still just a little shocked. Just give him some time. Go see him tomorrow again"
"But I don't want to leave him here!" Rachel protested, "I miss him"
"Don't do this to yourself Rach" Chandler smiled, "I'm driving to Westchester now. I could drop you off at your sister's, and you could see Emma. Tomorrow when I'm going to work, I'll pick you up, and then you can be with Ross. Doesn't that sound okay?"
Rachel sighed and looked at him, "I guess so" she whispered.
"Good" Chandler smiled, "Come with me, then"
--
"So, what is all this there's happening?" Phoebe asked, sitting down in front of Monica with a steaming hot coffee.
"Well, you know I hit Ross with my car, right?" Monica asked.
Phoebe just nodding, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Well, I don't know much else. You should talk to Rachel or Chandler, he knows something too"
"Have somebody called Joey?" Phoebe suddenly asked, when it occurred to her, that one of her dearest friends, mightn't know about the accident.
"Oh God!" Monica slapped her forehead, "No, I don't think so! How could I forget? I'm gonna call him tonight. He'll probably come visit"
"Yeah, and it would be great to see him again, thought I whish the circumstances could have been happier!"
"Yeah, me too" Monica whispered.
Phoebe looked at her oldest friend and took her hand, "Mon… y'know, if you need anyone to talk to… I'm here, okay? You should talk to me. Call me, whenever you need me, I'm here for you"
"It's not about hitting Ross" Monica sobbed, finally letting her tears fall, which was something she didn't do a lot, "It's Rachel and I… I don't know what's going on… We're not even talking to one another. We're like strangers"
"Monica, not to be rude, or anything, but you guys have been arguing so many times, you always made up. Like the time with your thunder, and with Jean Claude Van-Damme, right?"
"It's not like those times" Monica whispered, "This is real. I mean, I can't even remember why we started arguing, but since then I've been jealous of her relationship with Erica, and she and Chandler are having lunch everyday. She sees him more than I do sometimes!"
"Well, that's because both of you are so busy, you should change that, Monica" Phoebe said, in her own Phoebe-way.
"Yeah, you're right" Monica sighed, "And I should make pancakes for Jack and Erica sometimes too"
"Yeah, but right now, Mon…" Phoebe trailed off, "There's one thing you have to do too. You have to talk to Rach, and you have to go visit Ross. He's your brother and she's your best friend. You guys need each other, is that a deal?"
"Yeah, okay" Monica said. Then she paused, "You know Phoebe, it's not very often you're the one giving at advises"
"Nah" Phoebe laughed, "I know"
--
"Mommy!"
Rachel opened her arms and greeted her daughter with a warm hug, "Hi, Ems!"
"I missed you so much, Mom!" Emma laughed, "Where's dad?"
Rachel looked at Jill with questions in her eyes. Jill just shook her head and threw her arms in the air.
So, she hadn't told Emma about the accident yesterday morning.
Rachel would have to do this herself. She looked at her daughters smiling face. She had to do it now.
"Emma, listen…" she tugged a strand of her daughters honey blond hair behind her ears, and sighed, "Daddy got hurt a lot yesterday. He's at the hospital"
"Is he gonna die?" Emma asked, her eyes getting big.
"No, no" Rachel assured her, "He's not gonna die, of course not. Don't worry, he's totally fine. He has just hurt his legs a lot, so he's gonna have to stay there for awhile"
"Okay" Emma said, "But can we go see him?"
"Yeah, of course" Rachel smiled, "Tomorrow after preschool you and I will go there, okay?"
"Yeah, mommy" Emma said, "But am I going with you, or shall is stay with aunt Jill again?"
"You decided sweetie. I would love for you to come home with me"
"Me too!" Emma smiled, and then she hugged her mom again.
--
"So, it was, in fact, my sister and niece who hit me?" Ross asked.
"Yes" doctor Evans said, "But they're both okay"
"Thank God" Ross sighed, "Have they been by?"
"No, the only one who's been here is Rachel, but she left some time ago with a guy"
"A guy?"
"Yeah, this guy. Brown hair. Really funny to look at?
"Oh, that's my sisters husband" Ross said, "But tomorrow, if she comes, will you please tell her that I'm not in the mood to see her?"
"Why?"
"Just tell her" Ross said, "It's none of your business!"
--
"Sweet dreams, honey" Rachel whispered, kissing Emma's forehead.
"Sweet dreams, mom" Emma whispered.
Rachel turned off Emma's bedside lamp, and went into the hall and closed the door.
She went into the living room and grabbed a picture, which was standing at the coffee table.
It was of her, Ross and Emma, taking this summer when they'd been in Italy together. It had been such a wonderful trip. They'd saved up for it since they got back together, almost, and it had been the best vacation ever.
She sighed and placed the picture back.
She hoped they would be able to go on such trips again in the future, but something told her, that it wouldn't be that easy.
--
"Chandler?" Monica said, coming into the living room. She looked at him with a very serious look.
"What's up, Mon?"
"I just want to say that I'm sorry for all the things I've done. The way I've acted. I just want you to know that I'll try and tone it down as much as I can"
"Well, that's great" Chandler said, looking at his wife, "I think that'll make Erica and Jack very happy"
"Me too" she said, "Goodnight then"
"Goodnight"
She left the living room to go to bed, and Chandler looked after her, a good feeling inside.
However, it was totally other things, occupying his mind right now.
He just whished he could forget about all the things that had happened the last two days, but he didn't know how to do that.
And that's why, time would pass by, with the echoes of the accident and the weeks following, still clinging to it.
Well then. Thank you for reading once again, next chapter will be here soon, I think. Though, if what I've planned will happen, it's gonna be difficult to write. Anyhow, leave a review as always, and that'll keep me going. Thanks, and merry Christmas, Stessa.