Hey, sorry I haven't updated in ages but here's the next chapter. Thank you all for the reviews! Please keep them coming! I love them! Anywayz!

Enjoy!

Tough Choice

Ross paced nervously around the waiting room. It had been hours since they had taken Chandler and Rachel down to surgery and they still hadn't heard any new yet. The doctor had told them it would take a while but Ross was sure they should have heard something by now.

"Ross, come on, man….just sit down…" Joey tried for what seemed like the hundredth time but Ross still didn't stop.

Phoebe reached over and took Joey's hand, shaking her head slightly when he turned to look at her, telling him to leave Ross. Joey sighed and sunk back into the chair, he hated waiting. He was impatient most of the time anyway but waiting to see the out come of an operation that could claim the life of two of his friends' lives was driving him crazy. However he was trying his hardest to stay in his chair and keep his mouth closed, knowing that he wasn't only one worried and he wanted to stay strong for the others.

He looked up and caught Monica's eye, he gave her a small reassuring smile which she returned but he could tell it was forced. He didn't blame her though, he knew how much she cared about Chandler and also how much she meant to him. Joey had thought Chandler was acting crazy by not doing anything about his feeling for Monica, when it was obvious that she felt the same as him but now he knew about everything he had been going through the last few month, it all made sense. He also felt slightly guilty for not trying harder to find out the reason why he was acting so weird. He promised that once Chandler had recovered and everything was going back to normal, he would do everything he could to make it up to him…..He just hoped he gets the chance.

"What's taking them so long!" Ross muttered to himself but it gained everyone's attention.

"It's a big operation…it takes time…" Leonard said quietly, trying ease everyone's concerns.

"But should it be taking this long?" Ross turned looking at him.

Leonard was quiet for a moment. "I uh...I don't know."

"What if something has gone wrong..." Ross rambled.

"Don't say that!" Monica looked up at him quickly.

"Yeah, come on...we've got to stay positive..." Phoebe added.

"Look, my don't we all just sit down and try to relax..." Nora tried, taking a deep shaky breath trying to calm her own emotions. "They're both strong...they'll be fine."

"Yeah...There's nothing we can do but wait..." Joey nodded.

Ross sighed and dropped into a chair, burying his head in his hand, his lips moving in a silent pray for his best friend and girlfriend.

Another hour passed before the surgeon walked in, causing all of them jump up and rush towards them.

"How are they? Are okay?" Joey was the first to speak.

"Why don't we all take a seat and we'll discuss the operations..." The surgeon said, gesturing to the chairs.

They all shared a look before silently doing as he asked, all having the same bad feeling.

"What's happened?" Nora whispered, concerned.

"Well, first we removed the kidney from Miss Green and everything went according to plan..." He told them. "She's in recovery now."

There were a few comments of relief, their panic fading away.

"So, she's going to be okay?" Ross questioned.

"If there is not any complications over the next 24 hours she should make a full recovery..." He gave a small smile for the first he had entered the room.

"Oh thank god!" Sandra exclaimed.

"However she will need someone to look at her once she's allowed home."

"That's not a problem!" Ross grinned.

"Uh, what about Chandler..." Monica spoke, causing everyone to look at her. "How is he?"

"Ah, well...There were some complications..." The surgeon sighed.

"What sort of completions?" Joey leaned forwards, worried. They had all been relieved that Rachel was okay that they forgot about Chandler.

"Unfortunately his heart stopped during the surgery..." He explained.

"What? No!" Nora whispered, covering her mouth as tears spilled down her face.

"But...but...he's not...he's not...y'know..." Ross stuttered, not being able to say the word whilst the others couldn't speak, all feeling the worse had happened.

"No, we managed to get it restarted and continue with the operation." He assured them. "But it stopped again when we were taking him up to recovery."

"Oh my god..." Joey whispered leaning back in his chair.

"How...how is he?" Monica finally managed to say. "He's going to be okay, right?"

"He's in ICU at the moment... He's not breathing on his own."

"So, so this is really serious?" Charles choked on the words.

"I'm afraid so... The next 24 hours are critical...if he doesn't respond to the treatment then I don't think he'll ever will..." He told them softly.

"No, this can't be happening..." Nora stood up, not being able to sit still any longer.

"There must be something you could do?" Joey looked at the doctor.

"We've done all we can..." He shook his head.

"So, what...what if he does wake up or something...He'll be okay after that?" Phoebe asked hopefully.

"I wish I could tell you that but I'm afraid that when his heart stopped...his brain was deprived from blood and oxygen so there's a chance he could have some permanent damage."

"You...you mean he could have brain damage?"

"It's a possibility..." He replied.

They were all silent, no one knew what to say; they were all too deep in their own thoughts.

"If you have any more questions then just ask one of the nurses to page me but I think it's best if we leave it there until we know more on his condition."

"Uh, yeah okay..." Leonard was the one who stood up and shook his head. "Thank you doctor."

"No problem..." He said, turning and opening the door before looking back at them. "For what it's worth...I'm sorry."

"He's going to be okay..." Charles whispered to Nora, trying to comfort her and himself at the same time.

Ross looked up and saw Sandra and Leonard sat on the other side of the room, both had tears in their eyes and seemed to be effect by the news but he knew they were trying to stay out the others way and for that Ross was grateful.

Joey was holding Phoebe who was crying and a few tears fell from his own eyes but he wanted to stay strong for everyone... he knew that's what Chandler would have wanted...a smile briefly crossed his lips, realising that if Chandler was here himself, he'd probably be making some kind of joke right now.

"Mon?" Ross broke the silence, looking at his baby sister sitting, staring ahead. He moved to put his arm around her.

"I...I'm going...going for a walk..." She stuttered standing up.

"I'll come with you..." He got up to.

"No, I...I want to be alone.."

"Mon, I don't think that's a good idea..." He started.

"Please Ross...I need to be by myself..." She told him, leaving before he had chance to reply.

He still went to follow her but Joey stopped him.

"Dude, let her be..." He told him.

Ross sighed and nodded, retaking his seat.

XxXxX

Monica walked...she didn't now where to, she just went where her feet lead her. Tears were blurring her vision as she tried to keep them from falling. She stopped and stood staring at a fountain. She watched silently as a little boy, no older then 6 years old throw a penny into the water...closing his eyes tightly as he thought of a wise. When he opened them again he looked across at her and smiled shyly before running back to his parents. Monica managed a small sad smile in reply but it slowly faded once she alone again. She sat on the edge of the fountain, looking into the swallow water. Coins lined the bottom and Monica wondered how many wishes had been made and how many of those had been granted. She sighed sadly and stood up, heading back inside...Hoping that when she got back they would tell her, Chandler had made progress or that it was all some big mistake and that he was going to be okay.

XxXxX

Ross sat with both his hand clutching onto Rachel's, waiting for her to come round. The doctor had told them that she would be wake up soon but was only going to allow one person in at a time. They all agreed that Ross should be the one there when she opened her eyes.

He slowly brought her hands up to his mouth and kissed it softly, deep in thoughts wondering how he was going to tell her about Chandler. He couldn't get his head around it himself...How could his best friend be fighting for his life? A few days ago he was perfectly healthy, annoying the hell out of everyone with his jokes and sarcasm. If he couldn't get his head around it, how was Rachel meant to? She had risked her life so that he could live but it could all be pointless.

The movement of her hand in his broke him from his thoughts and looked into her face just in time to see her eyes open slightly.

"Ross..."

"Hey, honey..." He forced a smile. "How you feeling?"

"Tired..." She whispered. "How...how did...did it go...was it okay?"

He paused, thinking how to reply. "It went fine, honey...you just rest..."

"Okay..." She murmured, not being able to keep he eyes open any longer.

Ross sighed and rubbed his eyes, wiping away the tears that stubbornly refused to fall...It wasn't meant to turn out like this.

XxXxX

"So, Rach...do you feel any lighter?" Phoebe asked, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I mean, only having on kidney has to make a difference, right?"

Ross rolled his eyes and ignored her comment. "Honey, are you sure you're up to this."

"Ross, would you stop worrying..." She replied. "I'm fine."

"You've just had a major operation...you need to take it easy."

"Talking to my friends is not going to ware me out." She replied. "Will you relax?"

"Fine...but promise me that you'll tell us if you fell tired."

"Okay, fine..." She rolled her eyes. "So, where's Mon?"

Her three friends shared a look before Joey answered. "She sat with Chandler."

"Oh, well okay...How's he doing?"

It was the day after the operation and no one had told Rachel everything.

"He's...he's doing okay." Ross replied slowly after another glance at Joey and Phoebe.

Rachel looked between them, knowing something was wrong.

"Okay...what's going on?" She asked.

"Nothing..." Joey said quickly.

"Come on, I know it's something...is it Chandler?" She questioned. "Did he get worse?"

"Rach...just don't worry about it okay..." Ross tired.

"Ross, tell me what's happened!" She demanded.

He sighed in defeat. "Okay, the operation didn't go quite as they wanted."

She frowned concerned. "What does that mean?"

"There was a few complications..." He explained. "Apparently, his heart stopped during it."

"What?" She said feeling like she had been punched in the stomach.

''But they managed to get him back..." Phoebe added quickly.

"Thank goodness..." She breathed out. "So, he's going to be okay?"

Once again there was a silence before Ross had the courage to continue.

"Okay, the thing is... um...well... his heart didn't just stop once...it stopped again after the operation...They're think that there might be some damage done to his brain."

"His...his brain?" She stuttered. "You mean, he's going to be brain dead?"

"Maybe..." He reached over and took her hand, knowing the next part was the worse. "But...but at the moment they're worried about his reaction to the treatment."

"Why?" She asked, quietly; half of her not wanting to know the answer.

"Because...because he doesn't...doesn't seem to be responding..."

Phoebe wiped away a few stray tears, it was hard hearing it all over again. Whilst Joey looked down at his hands, biting his bottom lip, still refusing to cry.

"But...this is Chandler..." Ross said after a few moments. "I mean, he's been through so much...he's strong..."

"Ross...Tell me the truth..." She stopped him, tears lining his eyes and her voice creaked slightly. "Is...is...is he going to die?"

Tears filled his eyes, not being able to stop them when he heard the question.

"I...don't...i don't know..." He whispered, as one rolled down his cheek. "It...it's not looking good..."

Rachel stared a head, deep in thoughts...Think about everything that had happened... She couldn't let it end like this.

"Rach, what are you doing?" Ross asked concerned, watching as she tried to get out of bed.

"I've got to go and see him."

"You can't! You've just had a major operation!" He claimed.

"I don't care!" She replied. "My brother might die... I'm not just going lie here and do nothing!"

"Rach, there is nothing you can do..." Ross started but trailed off when he saw she had stopped moving. "What is it? Are you okay?"

"It's...it's just weird... Calling him my brother...I mean, it's Chandler..." She frowned slightly. "But... but it's killing me knowing that I might not actually get the chance to call him that to his face."

Ross reached over and squeezed her hand gently, realising how much she needed to see Chandler now. "I'll go and see if I can find a wheelchair or something."

"Thank you..." She whispered, watching as he left.

XxXxX

Monica turned when she heard the door opening and saw Ross pushing Rachel through the door with Joey and Phoebe just behind them.

"Rach, what are you doing here?" She asked. "Are you okay?"

"How's he doing?" She asked, not hearing Monica's questions. Her eyes just stayed Chandler, there was a wires on his chest connecting to the machines that were next to the bed. He had a tubed down his throat that was helping him breath. She didn't even notice Nora and Charles sat on Chandler's other side.

Monica looked back to Chandler, retaking his hand. "No change."

Rachel swallowed the lump that had rose in her throat and threatened to choke her. Ross moved her closer to the bed. The only sound in the room was the beeping of the machine that was keeping their friend alive.

"Why couldn't you just tell me from the start..." Rachel whispered to him, as more tears fell from her eyes. "This shouldn't have happen."

Ross placed his hand on her shoulder supportively but didn't say anything as he in between Joey and Phoebe behind her.

No one knew how long they were quiet before the doctor came in and they all watched, hoping for some good news.

"Well?" Ross asked when the doctor had finished.

He looked at them all, waiting for him to tell them everything was going to be okay.

He sighed softly. "I'm sorry but there's been no progress."

"Are you sure?" Joey asked, desperately.

"I'm sorry..." He said sadly.

"So...so what now?" Monica asked, tearfully dreading the answer.

"Now...now you have a tough decision to make..." He started. "Either we can continue this or...or you can turn off the machine."

"Turn off the machine?" Nora repeated. "You mean, let...let him die?"

"Ross." Rachel cried out scared, hoping there was something he could say or do to make everything better but he just stood, staring at the doctor trying to get his head around everything.

"No! No, I'm not letting that happen!" Joey exclaimed.

"I know this his hard but the chances of Chandler making any kind of survival are very small..." The doctor explained. "Maybe you should take the chance now to say goodbye and let him go peacefully..."

"This...this isn't right..." Phoebe said through her tears.

"I'll let you discuss it..." He said softly, turning to leave. "Have a nurse page me if you need anything...and for what its worth I'm sorry."

TBC

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