Searching for your Identity
I hope you like de story, and that you tell me his opinions, through them I know if I'm on the right path.
Remember English is not my native language, I hope the translation is correct, check it, but sometimes I miss some incorrect personal pronouns for the phrase, sorry.
I reiterate, I do not own the characters of Friends I only rely on them for the pure pleasure of writing stories without any economic interest, and Monica and Chandler they inspire me
Chapter 5
A year had passed since the discovery, the initial shock was passing, he made an effort to leave his real identity behind in his mind, the fact that no one knew or talked about it helped him achieve inner peace.
When summer approached, Nora called Chandler to find out if they were going to Cadaques, but he explained that this summer they would go to Monica's parents' beach house, along with Ross's family, who had just grown up since Rachel and Ross had been parents of a boy, so they would leave the visit for the following summer.
After the discovery Nora began to call him more frequently, she was worried about how he felt, and this time she asked him too.
"Mom, calm down once and for all, I'm fine, the issue is behind us," Chandler replied.
"Ok, when are you going to the beach?
"At the beginning of July, we stayed all month," Chandler replied.
"Perfect, I'm happy for the children, they're old enough to enjoy it. We'll probably talk to each other when they come back. I love you," Nora said goodbye.
"I love you too, the four of us love you, I'll call you when we get back"
The vacation was incredible, Monica laughed as her beloved husband enjoyed the sea and sand as much as the children, building castles with Emma and Ben, for the twins to destroy.
A couple of weeks after returning, Judy invited everyone to lunch. She and Jack had gone on a Caribbean cruise at the end of June. They hadn't been to the beach house and she wanted to see all the children. She had missed them.
After lunch, and while the kids played in the garden, the six adults sat on the terrace to chat.
At one point Jack got up to go to the bathroom and Judy took the opportunity to tell Monica and Ross
"Your father is worried, Richard is very sick, he has leukemia."
At that moment Chandler was looking at the children and immediately turned his head towards Judy with a surprised expression and frowning, it was only an instant, but Monica noticed it and thought "God it's been years and that name is still bothering him," and she couldn't help but smile a little inside, "He's still jealous of him"
But obviously Judy's news had not provoked jealousy in Chandler but rather a strange feeling of concern that he never thought he felt for Richard.
Judy continued with the gossip, "he has to do a bone marrow transplant, but they are waiting for a donor to appear, and according to what Timothy told us, he cannot be a donor because he had Hepatitis B, and Michelle is 3 months pregnant, so they have to find a compatible donor and that is like finding a needle in a haystack, poor thing, none of his children can help him!"
"And what can they do?" Monica asked.
"Nothing, wait for a miracle," answered Judy.
"And how is it now? asked Monica again.
"Not very well and surely during the wait they think he will get worse, they are subjecting him to rays and chemotherapy and that weakens him, your father is very worried, he even thought about being a donor, but they only accept donations from people up to the age of 40, they hope let him hold on until something appears, don't tell him anything now, otherwise he'll be sad," said Judy.
"Don't worry, we won't say anything," Ross said as Monica turned her head to look at Chandler, he had his head down, looking at his hands that are clenched, she thought that despite his jealousy Chandler had a huge and generous heart, and surely he was also worried about his old rival"
The news brought back to Chandler's head the same shock he had experienced when he found out his true identity. He removed those feelings of disbelief, amazement, discomfort of knowing that Richard was his biological father.
When he saw Monica looking at him he immediately tried not to show any emotions, he just said "I'm sorry he're going through all that" and looked at Monica with a poker face.
The rest of the afternoon he couldn't get the topic out of his head, but he had to hide any worries, so he made jokes, played with the boys, tried to be as normal as possible.
During his return trip he tried to keep his thoughts out of his head.
At one point Monica told him "Poor Richard, I'm sorry for what he is suffering, he is a good man, I hope he finds a donor in time, mom is right, for the children it must be very hard not being able to help him."
"Yes, it is very unfortunate, but surely they will find the donor, in the implant ID banks there are many donors" said Chandler.
They didn't bring it up again.
But Chandler couldn't stop thinking... That feeling of worry that came over him when Judy told them was increasing.
That night he remembered when he met Richard, when he started dating Monica, he had liked the guy, they even got along well, they went to the hockey game together with Joey, they played Foosball, they chatted in Central Perk, they shared games of cards and pizza in apartment 20, he was fun and quite sensible, but when Monica ended the relationship he only felt concerned to see how Monica suffered, however regarding Richard he thought that he had turned out to be an idiot for losing a woman like Monica .
His almost "hatred" against Richard began when he tried to interfere in his relationship with Monica, a relationship that was perfect, he had fallen in love with Monica to the bottom of his heart, he would do anything for her, he were feelings that he had previously believed, that he would never have, and that idiot Richard tried to steal her from him, a clearly useless effort, since Monica had also fallen madly in love with him, and they both continued to be, they were each other, even more intensely with each passing day.
But now he knew that that man was his father, that man who was dying was his father, and no one in the world could help him, probably only him.
He couldn't even think that being able to do something would let him die, just because of an old and clearly useless rivalry.
At one point during the night Monica woke up and saw him looking at the ceiling.
"Darling, something's wrong with you, aren't you sleeping?" Monica asked.
"No, I got up to go to the bathroom and when I went back to bed I woke up, so I started thinking about a campaign that we have in hand, the topic is not fun so surely in a while I will fall asleep just before the bell rings of the alarm clock" he said to Monica with a wide smile and gave her a kiss on the nose, "you keep sleeping, you still have a while until the little music plays."
On Monday, it was mid-August, Chandler went online from work to search for information about bone marrow transplants.
He read that in the Arnold and Marie Schwartz Cancer Research Building, which was on the 1250 First Avenue, carried out the procedure.
He called by phone and they told him that to donate he could show up at any time, no prior appointment was required.
At the end of the day he told his assistant that he would arrive later the next day, he had to do a personal procedure.
Early Tuesday he went to the place to find out, he explained that it was the first time and he wanted information, they referred him to have an interview with one of the doctors, Dr. Nakaima
Chandler introduced himself and explained to the doctor that he wanted information, he wanted to donate bone marrow to a specific person, but it was essential that his donation be anonymous.
"Mr. Bing first informed you what it consisted of and if you agreed, we would sign the papers, your authorization and we would begin with the steps," the doctor told him.
"First we need to know your medical history, if you have any condition that prevents donation, we will simultaneously do a blood draw to compare it with the person to whom you want to donate, and if you are compatible, we will begin treatment" Dr. Nakaima explained.
"What does it consist of, how is the donation made, is it a surgical intervention," Chandler asked.
"No, I explain, for donation you can choose two methods, one is more invasive, there are times that requires hospitalization for 24 hours, the other is done as if it were a blood transfusion, this is the most common now, it is an outpatient procedure, the procedure lasts between 4 to 5 hours each time, and is performed two days in a row," the doctor explained.
Chandler asked, "And in this last case, what needs to be done?"
"Look, in your blood there is only a small amount of stem cells that circulate naturally in the bloodstream, so it is necessary to increase the amount of stem cells and for this you will receive, during the 5 or 6 days prior to the extraction, an injection. daily of a granulocyte colony stimulating medication, and thus they can be collected more easily, during the previous days we also recommend consuming dairy products and other foods with a lot of calcium and it is also important to drink enough liquid before the collection procedure " explain in detail the Dr. Nakaima and added
"For some donors, this medication can give flu symptoms, but it is not very common, and if they do, we will be given a specific medication to avoid them."
"And after the injections they give me," Chandler asked.
"As I told you, you will have to come two days in a row, for the collection they will insert a catheter into a vein in each arm, one through which the blood will be extracted that will go to a machine where the mother cells will be collected and through the other catheter will return the already processed blood to your body. You will be lying on a bed or sitting in a reclining chair, while the machine collects it. During those hours you can read, watch television, use the tablet," the doctor explained. and continued
"After each procedure the catheters will be removed, and you can generally return to normal activities, your body will naturally replace the stem cells you donated within 2 or 3 months after your procedure."
"Any questions," the doctor said.
"Yes, two, will I have any physical consequences and when would I have the previous studies and the extraction to see the compatibility?"
"Aftermaths may be left on your arms, the typical bruises of blood extractions, perhaps somewhat larger, to the second question: if you are willing, we would do it tomorrow, and in a couple of hours after the extraction we would know the degree of compatibility
"Does that mean that I could start those injections tomorrow?" Chandler said.
"Yes, and on Monday and Tuesday we could start the extraction" he answer.
"And for the injections on Saturday and Sunday, do I have to come here? asked
"Actually, you can apply them yourself, the nurse will explain, you just have to keep them in the refrigerator."
"No, I prefer to come, I will look for the mode"
The doctor looked at him over his glasses. "Doesn't anyone in his family know about the donation?"
"No, that's why I prefer to come, I'll see the excuse."
"So tomorrow, Wednesday comes for the studies and analysis and then we will know the compatibility and if it is suitable you will receive the first injection, that means that on Monday and Tuesday we will do the procedure, do you prefer any special hours?
"Around 9 am. "It would be fine" Chandler reply.
"OK, now we sign the documents and my assistant gives you the schedule for the studies to be performed tomorrow. If you can wait for the results of the blood test tomorrow, which will take a couple of hours, we will give you the first injection."
"Yes, it's okay, I can wait, no problem," he nodded.
"Well, wait a few minutes for me to bring the authorization and confidentiality papers."
The next day Chandler was at the clinic to begin the studies. At 38 years old, he passed the physical studies without problems, he waited for the results of the blood test and Dr. Nakaima informed him that they were completely compatible, so the procedure with the first injection.
Chandler returned the next few days, on Saturday he made the excuse of needing some papers from the office, and on Sunday he said he was meeting a colleague to review a paper, but he would be back before lunch. The excuses worked.
Meanwhile, the head of the laboratory approached Dr. Nakaima, "Willy, did you see Mr. Bing's blood test, the confidentiality one, I was surprised because on the form he wrote not to be related, but the test gave a very high compatibility, that surprised me and I asked one of the boys to analyze the DNA of the donor and the recipient, and undoubtedly they are related, in fact I think they are father and son."
"Wow, I suspected something, there must be some family issue, because he didn't tell his family anything about the donation, who knows what problems they had, but the important thing is, whatever the reason for the distance, it's good that there was been willing to donate, he is obviously a good person"
Chandler notified the company that Monday and Tuesday he had some personal procedures, which he would communicate through the internet. Both days he went to the clinic early, with a book and the tablet and began the procedure,
Fortunately, he didn't suffer any strange symptoms, the only thing he was worried about was being able to hide his bruises from Monica's eagle eyes, so he told her that he had gone to the hospital to donate blood for the mother of a work colleague who has the same type of blood than him, and the nurse was an idiot who couldn't find the vein and pricked him in both arms. Excuse accepted.
On Wednesday he was able to go to work, he was calm, at peace, he knew he had done the right thing, now he had to wait for it to work, it no longer depended on him.