AN: Thank you everyone for your kind reviews.
Please enjoy. :)
Disclaimer: The characters from Friends do not belong to me.
Ross and Rachel stood in place for a moment, frozen with fear. Ross walked the few steps across the elevator to press the button to open the doors. Nothing happened. He then pressed the button for another floor but the elevator did not move.
Ross held the button for the elevator's emergency phone. Again nothing happened. Ross took his finger off the button and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He let out an agitated sigh.
Rachel was still frozen in place, just watching the man try and help their situation. Her breathing sped up and her heart began to pound faster in her chest. They definitely weren't getting out anytime soon.
Ross turned around to face Rachel. She stood against the back wall of the elevator with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked utterly terrified as she now stared at the floor. Rachel eventually met his gaze.
"What do we do?" Ross asked, his voice filled with fear. Rachel looked into his eyes, he looked panicked. They both were scared.
"I think I have my cell phone," Rachel said, almost inaudibly. Ross watched her with fear still written across his face. Rachel went digging through her purse. Her hand felt what she was looking for. She pulled the phone out and opened it. The screen read: No service.
"Crap!" Rachel cursed. She began to hold the phone up, trying to find a signal. "I don't have any service in this stupid elevator. Do you have a phone?"
Ross began patting his pockets, but he soon realized he hadn't grabbed his phone when he left his apartment that morning.
"I must have left it at home," Ross said, mentally kicking himself. "Maybe we should yell for help. Someone in the building might hear us."
Rachel nodded as she put her phone back in her purse. She put her bag on the floor and then they both walked over to the metal doors of the elevator. They shouted as loud as they could and banged on the sliding doors with their fists, hoping someone would hear them.
After quite a while Rachel gave up. She couldn't yell anymore and her arms were tired, her knuckles were throbbing. She just leaned against the door and let out an exhausted sigh. Ross continued to bang on the door but his pace was much slower.
Rachel eventually stepped away from the door and turned away from the man. She couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she had a birthday toast to make in a few minutes, at a party that she didn't want to come to in the first place. Now she was trapped.
Ross got tired too. He closed his eyes in defeat leaning his head on the door trying to listen for signs of anyone coming to their rescue. After hearing nothing he turned away from the door as well. He looked at Rachel, who had his back to him. He looked beyond her and noticed her reflection in the mirrored wall. He saw that there were tears falling down her face.
"Don't be scared. I'm sure we'll get out soon," Ross said, softly. Rachel wiped a tear from her eye and then turned around to face Ross.
"I have to make a toast at a party in a couple of minutes, I-I…" Rachel whispered, before her voice was too full of tears to continue.
"I'm sure they'll understand," Ross said kindly. Rachel started to smile a little. This man was so sweet, trying to calm her down. She couldn't look away from his eyes, again. He made her feel calm.
Rachel eventually backed up against the elevator wall again. She then slid her back down the wall to sit on the tiled elevator floor. Ross remained standing, he paced as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
After what felt like hours, the elevator still wasn't fixed. Ross got tired of standing so he joined Rachel on the floor. They sat against the back wall of the elevator, Ross with his legs out in front of him and Rachel with her arms wrapped around her bent knees. She rested her chin on her folded legs.
Ross took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Before speaking he cleared his throat.
"We haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Ross Geller," Ross said as he held a hand out for her to shake. Rachel smiled at him then she let go of her knees with one hand. She reached across the space between them, taking his hand in hers and shaking it.
"I'm Rachel Farber," Rachel said. Then she let go of his hand. Ross looked at the ground. An awkward silence filled the elevator.
Rachel focused on the wall opposite her as she thought to herself for a moment. This man's name sounded so familiar to her. She wracked her brain trying to remember where she had heard his name before. Then it hit her.
"You didn't by any chance grow up in Long Island did you?" Rachel asked. Ross turned his head to face her again.
"Uh, yeah, I did," Ross replied with a confused expression.
"Your name just sounds so familiar to me. Where did you go to school on Long Island?" Rachel asked.
"Lincoln High School," Ross answered. Rachel's eyes widened as she finally realized where she knew him. She went to school with him and his sister, Monica. That's why she remembered his name.
"I went there too!" Rachel exclaimed. "You have a sister, right?"
"Yeah," Ross answered. When he remembered who she was his heart skipped a beat. She was Rachel, Monica's best friend. How could he forget the cheerleader who had never noticed him? She was the popular girl with a heart big enough to be friends with Monica.
She was the girl he had had a crush on since the ninth grade, the girl he almost took to prom when her boyfriend didn't show up, the only girl he dreamed of being with up until he met Carol.
If anything she'd only gotten more beautiful.
"I can't believe this," Ross explained, excitedly. "You were friends with my sister, Monica. Now, like ten years later, here you are: stuck in an elevator with your high school friend's geeky older brother."
"It's such a small world," Rachel said with a smile. She wanted to say more but she didn't know where to begin. She was lost for words.
The reunion was cut short when the elevator lights began to flicker once more. Ross and Rachel looked up at the ceiling their hearts pounding again.
Suddenly the whole car trembled and dropped by a foot or two. Ross and Rachel had no time to react or even process what was happening in the time it took the emergency brakes to work. They brought the elevator to a stop within milliseconds of dropping.
The elevator car shook with the force of the jolt, causing one of the giant mirrors on the wall to shake free. Ross acted quickly and reached over to grab Rachel. He quickly pulled her towards himself, out of the path of the falling glass. The mirror shattered on the floor sending shards flying.
Ross and Rachel were both breathing heavily as they took in what had just happened. They both didn't move a muscle as they tried to make sense of what had happened in the past few seconds.
After the shock of what had just transpired began to wear off, Rachel looked at where she had just been sitting moments ago. If Ross hadn't pulled her out of the way the mirror would have fallen on her.
"A-are you okay?" Ross whispered, his voice shaking. Then his question was answered when he looked down at Rachel's legs. Three pieces of the mirror had cut her calf and there was blood running down her calf.
Rachel was snapped out of her daze by his voice near her ear. She realized she was in some pain. She followed Ross' gaze and looked at her leg.
"I'm okay, it could have been a lot worse," Rachel answered, referring to where she had been sitting mere minutes ago.
"We need something to stop the bleeding," Ross said. Rachel pulled herself off of him to sit next to him. Ross was able to move to look at her leg. He carefully stood up and crouched by her feet. He then took off his sweatshirt. "This will have to do," Ross said.
Ross looked at the wounds to make sure they had no glass in them before carefully wrapping his sweatshirt around her calf. Luckily, they didn't look too deep. Rachel winced a little but couldn't help slightly smiling at the way he gently took care of her.
"There," Ross said. Then he looked at Rachel's face, "We need to get you out of here, you need a doctor."
Ross stood up again. He decided to try the button for the phone again, but again there was no answer. He then pressed the button to try and get the door to open. To both Ross and Rachel's surprize and relief the door opened about a foot.
The elevator car was stuck between two floors. The floor of one of the buildings many levels was a few feet up.
"Hello? Is anyone there? We're trapped in the elevator and we can't get out!" Ross yelled out of the opening between the doors, panicked.
"Yes. We're right here. How many are in there?" A man's voice called back.
"It's only me and one other. Listen, the elevator car dropped and a mirror fell and cut her leg. She needs medical attention," Ross explained.
"An ambulance is on its way," The man answered. "I can help you two but the opening is too narrow to fit through. If you can try and push the doors open from the inside I'll try from the outside," The man said.
"I can do that," Ross answered. He then placed his hands in the opening to push on the doors. The man also placed his hands between the doors.
"1, 2, 3," The man, counted. Ross pushed with all of his strength and the doors began to slide open a few more feet. Both the man and Ross stopped for a moment to catch their breath. "Can you climb out now?" The man asked breathlessly.
"I think so," Ross replied, panting. "I'm going to help Rachel out first. When I lift her up, help her out of the elevator. But be careful, her left calf is hurt," Ross explained.
"Okay, whenever you're ready," The man responded. Ross turned back to face Rachel.
"I'm going to help you out. Can you stand?" Ross asked.
"Yeah, help me up," Rachel responded. She was so pleased that Ross was being so caring and heroic. She felt safe with him. Ross bent down and grabbed both her hands pulling her onto her feet. As soon as she was upright he wrapped an arm around her waist. He helped her stand with most of her weight on her one good leg.
"Okay, I'm going to lift you up and that man will pull you up," Ross explained. Rachel nodded. Ross then wrapped one of her arms around the back of his neck and crouched a little bit. Rachel used his bent leg like a step and stood on his thigh. When she was standing Ross gripped her waist from behind and helped her balance so she could grab the floor above them.
The man helped them by grabbing Rachel's arms so she could climb out of the elevator. When she was safely out, Ross pulled himself up out the opening. The man helped Ross climb out as well.
Ross stood up and dusted himself off. He then shook the man's hand while saying thank you. Ross walked over to stand beside Rachel. He put one of Rachel's arms over his shoulders and supported her around the waist, helping her keep weight off her injured leg. A maintenance worker came to join them.
"Are you folks alright? The power went out and stopped all signals to the elevators," The worker explained.
"We yelled for help. Why couldn't you hear us?" Ross asked with irritation.
"We were rushing around trying to get the power on, must not have been paying attention," The worker explained.
"You didn't think people could be in the elevator?" Ross argued, his temper rising.
"Ross it's okay," Rachel whispered, putting a hand on his chest to calm him down.
"Listen, I'm fine, but Rachel's hurt," Ross said gesturing to Rachel, who still had the sweatshirt wrapped around her leg.
"The paramedics will be here any minute," The worker explained.
…..
After being brought down the stairs to the lobby, Rachel received a few steri-strips and bandages from the paramedics to cover her cuts. Her wounds were not serious enough to have to go to the hospital or get stitches, so Rachel gave Barry a call to pick her up.
"Hello?" Came Barry's voice in Rachel's ear.
"Barry, I need you to come pick me up from Leslie's. I got stuck in the elevator and I got cut by a falling mirror. Please just come and get me," Rachel pleaded. Rachel heard Barry impatiently sigh from the other side of the phone.
"I'll be there in a few minutes," Barry answered.
"Okay, bye," Rachel said.
"Bye," Barry replied before hanging up the phone.
A few of Rachel's friends came downstairs from the party after news of Rachel's injury had reached them. Ross just watched from the other side of the lobby as Rachel explained to them what happened. Ross couldn't stop observing them as they consoled Rachel, her friends were so different. It seemed like they all said goodbye before they returned to the party.
Ross saw Rachel become quite relieved when they left. He walked over and sat on the bench beside her.
"Thank you for everything," Rachel said, when he sat down.
"Anytime, Rachel," Ross said sincerely, making Rachel feel warm inside. He looked down at her leg.
"I'm sorry I ruined you're sweatshirt," Rachel said as she realized she still had it in her hands. She promptly handed him the blood covered material.
"Rachel, don't apologize," Ross replied, as he took the sweater. He then tossed it into a nearby trash bin.
"Ross, how can I make this up to you?" Rachel asked.
"Rachel I don't want you to feel like you have to do something for me. The only thing I think you should do is give Monica a call. I'm sure she'd love to see you again," Ross answered.
"I'll try," Rachel replied. Ross told Rachel Monica's phone number and Rachel put it in her phone.
An awkward silence filled the air. Neither of them really knew what to say. Rachel thought of Ross, how could she not have seen what a kind person he was while she was friends with Monica?
Ross noticed Rachel's strange expression.
"Is everything okay?" Ross asked, feeling uncomfortable.
"I was just so panicked tonight. That was scary," Rachel said, the incident was fresh in her mind, besides her other thoughts.
"It was wasn't it?" Ross responded awkwardly
"Why did you help me?" Rachel asked curiously. "I ignored you through high school. You remember that, don't you?"
"Rachel I don't care what happened back then. This was the right thing to do," Ross replied. Rachel opened her mouth to say something in reply, when Barry walked into the lobby of the building.
"Rachel. Let's go home," Barry called.
"That's my husband, I have to go. But, Ross, thank you, again," Rachel said, sincerely. Ross suddenly felt an insane amount of jealousy as he realized she had a husband. But why was he jealous? Rachel was not even a friend, he barely knew her.
"Please remember to call Monica," Ross responded. Rachel looked into his eyes and nodded. Then she closed the distance between them and gave him a hug. Ross hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, and his jealousy melted into sadness.
"Bye," Rachel whispered against his chest. Then she pulled out of the hug.
"Bye," Ross said. He watched as Rachel turned and joined Barry. Ross kept watching until they walked out the doors of the building. Ross felt alone once more.
Would he ever see Rachel again?