The caretaker

Monica suffered a lot during the first months as executive chef at Alexander's, but nothing and no one was going to make her back down, they were not going to beat her, until one day they managed to beat her, and she was out of the game. She need help to recover physically and to fight for reparation. Let it finally happen with that strange combination of friendship, help, confusion and ignored feelings floating around. - Finally loyal friends will put some order in things.

I hope you like the 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 1

Monica and Rachel got up early, it was Friday, there were 7 days left until Christmas Eve, Monica had a night shift, she would be back late since the days before the Christmas holidays Alexander had a lot of reservations. -

Rachel also had to arrive early, she was still a little sleepy and in her usual morning bad mood, which had gotten worse since she had lost her chance for a promotion in the purchasing department at Bloomingdale's.

When Monica was coming out of the shower, Rachel started complaining about her: "Just because they were going to promote me, the stupid Johanna had to die and she still hadn't sent her proposal to the Director, now I'll continue being an assistant to who knows who."

"Rach, there are worse things, like Alexander's cooking, everyone hates me, in addition to the stress inherent in the kitchen, there is also the stress caused by having to be careful not to fall into the constant traps they set for me."

"And the owner still hasn't told them anything? Because you complained to him several times, right?"

"Yes, but he was of no use, he gathers them together, he gives them a reprimand, nothing more, and when he leaves they look at me, laugh and continue the same way," Monica answered.

"You didn't think about looking for something else, you can't keep working like this!" Rachel exclaimed.

"You know how I am, those idiots are not going to beat me, ever…" Monica answered firmly.

"After breakfast all the friends went to work, Joey also left quickly because he had an audition"

The night came, at Alexander the diners from the last table left, immediately the entire staff began to clean the living room and kitchen. Monica was in charge of preparing the merchandise for the next day and kept everything in the cold room.

While she meticulously finished her task, only the sous chef and an assistant remained.

When Monica finished went to the locker room to look for her coat and her bag, but she couldn't find them anywhere. She knew those idiots had done something with them, when she returned to the kitchen she said angrily "where are my coat and my bag?"

"Where did you put them when you arrived?" answered the sous chef with a poker face.

"Tell me right now where you put them!" Monica told them in a loud and noticeably annoyed voice.

"I repeat, where you put them, up there, on the highest part of the shelf." The men turned around and left laughing.

Monica was furious, she went to the warehouse to look for the tall ladder so she could reach the last shelf, which was almost 3 meters from the floor. She carefully arranged the ladder and began to climb, she was already reaching the height of reaching her things when she noticed that the step where she was stepping was giving way and suddenly broke. Monica fell almost 2 meters high, she hit the floor first with her foot and left leg, she instantly felt a terrible pain in that leg, also due to the inertia of the fall she also hit the floor with her arms and hands, the only thing that It wasn't her head that hit the floor. -

She tried to stand up, but the pain in her leg was unbearable and she couldn't hold it. She called the idiots, but no one answered, she crawled and reached for her cell phone that she had propped on one of the preparation counters, "Who do I call?" She thought, Rachel and Phoebe won't be able to get me up to go to the hospital, the only one with strength and calm is Chandler, Joey is sure on a date and Ross is going to go crazy.

Chandler was lying in the recliner reading a book while drinking a beer, he was totally relaxed so the ringing of his phone startled him.

"Hello, who is?" asked

"Chandler, it's Monica, I fell off a ladder, I think I broke my leg, I'm alone, please come quickly."

"Of course I'll leave right now"

Chandler grabbed a coat, ran down the stairs and managed to hail a taxi.

When he arrived at the restaurant he found that the gate was closed with a padlock, "those sons of bitches left her locked in…!" he exclaims out loud. He immediately called Monica to explain, "Mon, they left the gate locked, please calm down and stay still, now I'm calling 911."

The police were the first to arrive, Chandler explained to them what was happening, there was an injured person inside and they had padlocked the door. The paramedics arrived almost immediately. The police managed to break the lock and ran inside.

Monica was lying in the kitchen, her face reflected the pain she felt, and as soon as she saw Chandler, tears began to flow down her cheeks.

The police asked her what had happened, as she fell and Monica told them how it had happened, the paramedics immobilized her leg with a splint. While this was happening, Chandler managed to explain to the police that this had been caused by the restaurant workers, who had been harassing her for some time.

One of the police officers took note while the other observed the staircase and said "This step was weakened since at first glance you can see traces that a saw was used, whoever did it did so with the intention that it would break under the weight, "I will call a lieutenant, this must be investigated, the lady could have lost her life if the blow was to the head, do not touch anything, we will surely find traces."

"Will I go to the warehouse? said the other police officer "maybe we will find the saw they used and it will have fingerprints on it."

The police officer who asked the questions and took notes knelt next to Monica, "Madam, do you know who did it?"

"Someone from the kitchen, the last one to leave was the sous chef and the assistant, they left laughing, on the wall is the list of all of us who work in the kitchen and our role, I am the executive chef"

"Ok, we will take the list, and can you give us the information and telephone number of the owner of the business?"

"Yes, Chandler, look him up on my cell phone, his last name is Sanders."

Chandler gave the information to the officer.

The paramedics put Monica on a stretcher to take her to an ambulance.

Chandler said "I'm going with her."

They installed the stretcher in the ambulance and Chandler climbed up next to Monica and took her hand, squeezing it and with a soft smile from her he said, "Mon, everything is going to be fine, and those bastards are going to pay for this."

When they arrived at the hospital the doctors took Monica away, one of the nurses told Chandler to stay in the waiting room until a doctor spoke to him.

Chandler took advantage of the moment to call Ross and Rachel, who immediately ran to the hospital. Rachel would be in charge of telling Phoebe and no one knew where Joey was, probably on a date.

As soon as Ross arrived he asked him "how are you, what happened…"

Chandler explained everything that happened, adding that he was waiting for a doctor to come and tell him how Mon was doing.

"It's too late to call my parents, I don't want them to travel at this time, I'll let them know tomorrow morning," said Ross.

A moment later a Doctor appeared with the typical surgeon's jacket, they introduced themselves. "I'm Dr. Norton, Mrs. Geller is going to have surgery, the tibia was fractured and deviated, it must be placed in its position and fixed with nails, the operation will take two to three hours, then the lady will have recover from the anesthesia, I advise you to go home, tomorrow morning you will be more alert and you will be able to see her."

"Dr. Norton, I'm going to stay here, I want to know how the operation came out," Chandler said.

"Okay sir, when I finish I will inform you of the result" said the doctor.

"Ross, you go, I'm sure you'll have to go look for your parents early tomorrow, it's better that you're rested, and you girls go, I'll be back home as soon as the operation is over," Chandler explained.

Chandler couldn't leave, he couldn't leave her alone, Monica's look of pain and fear when he arrived in the kitchen, he couldn't get it out of his head, because someone could be so cruel to her, Monica, the most perfect woman he knew, no, he could not leave until he was sure that the operation had gone well.

Two and a half hours later the doctor appeared, as soon as Chandler saw him he jumped out of the chair and approached.

"You are related to Mrs. Geller, right?" the doctor asked

"Yes of course …"

"Well, everything went well, the tibia was placed in its place and we fixed it with three nails, the fibula only had a small fissure that would heal by remaining immobilized next to the tibia for a while. Tomorrow she will be wide awake and you will be able to see her, she will remain in the hospital for 5 days, so for Christmas you will have her at home"

"Doctor, those nails stay forever…"

"No, in approximately a year we will remove them, but it is a very simple and quick operation," the doctor explained and finished by saying with a smile.

"Don't worry man, your girlfriend will be fine!"

Chandler didn't say anything other than thank you, but the term used by the doctor "your girlfriend" surprised him, but strangely it didn't scare him, on the contrary, he felt good."

Chandler returned home, he barely slept a couple of hours, he got up, took a shower and was ready to return to the hospital with Rachel, Joey and Phoebe. On the way he told them what the surgeon had told him, although of course he remained silent about it of the doctor's confusion regarding "kinship."

When they entered the room Monica was sitting, she barely saw them she smiled at them, but her tears began to run down her cheek.

"Mon, what's wrong, is it in pain?" Chandler asked with concern.

"No, I just can't understand why they did this to me…. "I'm such a bad person."

"My god, no," Rachel said quickly, "they're bastards, they'll pay for this."

Chandler approached, took her hand and they looked deeply into each other's eyes.

"Thank you Chandler for helping me…"

"Mon, you don't have to thank me, I'm your friend, it's the least I could do, they should have broken my leg, not you. "

Monica gave him a smile.

Someone knocked on the door, it was a couple of men who introduced themselves as Lieutenant Kurctag and his assistant Henderson.

They asked Monica to declare everything that happened, she started from the beginning, she told them all the tricks that had been played on her since she took over the kitchen. "Last night when I went to look for my coat and bag, they weren't in the locker room. When I asked what they had done with them, since I assumed they had something to do with them, they told me that I had put them on the top shelf of the closet the kitchen shelves, and they left laughing, I looked for the ladder in the storage room, I placed it well, I made sure that it did not move, and when I was about to reach the shelf I felt that my foot was slipping, there was no step to support me and I fell, luckily my phone is always with me and I had rested it on the counter, so I crawled over, managed to grab it and called Chandler, but he found that they, knowing that I was still inside the premises, had closed the gate with padlock

Chandler continued, "Monica had told me she was hurt, so when I found everything closed, I called 911." "Lieutenant, isn't what they did to her an attempted murder? Because if Monica had hit her with her head, she could have died."

"Sir, we will pass this statement along with the evidence obtained at the scene and we will submit it to the Prosecutor, he will say which accusation corresponds to them." The lieutenant said

Chandler insisted, "Lieutenant, Monica told the owner of the restaurant about all the tricks she was a victim of and he didn't do anything, don't he have any responsibility?

"Mr. Obviously the actions of these men are despicable, and the negligence of the owner is unjustifiable, everything necessary will be done to determine responsibilities and make them pay for them, trust us."

"However, regardless of whether we file the complaint with the prosecutor, you should seek advice from a lawyer who will represent you in court. In addition to a case of serious injuries, it is a serious case of workplace harassment, the Prosecutor will surely call you both for a statement when Ms. Geller is discharged."

"Thank you, Lieutenant, I will do what you advise," said Monica.

Once alone, Rachel said that a colleague had a harassment problem at her previous job, "she told me that her lawyer represented her and even obtained compensation, on Monday I asked her for the information."

"It's an excellent idea, we have to talk to Ross," Chandler commented.

A few minutes later Ross arrived with his parents.

Judy ran to give Monica a kiss.

"She recounted everything that happened again, and that the police, to whom she gave her statement, had just left."

Jack approached Chandler, "thanks boy for what you did."

"There is nothing to thank, she is my friend and she needed me"

"Daughter, how long will you stay here?" Judy asked.

"They told me 5 days, so on Wednesday they will discharge me and I will go home"

"No, Monica, you are coming to our house, you need care," Judy ordered.

"No, mom, I'm going to my home, I want to be in my home," Monica answered firmly.

The friends looked at each other, they knew there would be an argument so they decided to leave the room, only the parents and Ross remained.

"Mon, mom is right, you will be better taken care of at her house," said Ross.

"Don't insist, you're wasting your time, I'm going to go home," Monica said firmly, but now somewhat annoyed by the insistence.

"The truth is, daughter, I don't understand you, why you act like that…" Judy said.

"Mom, the truth is that you never understood me, you never tried to, I am 28 years old, I know exactly what I want, what I need, and that is to be at home."

The discussion between the four of them continued for a while longer until Judy said:

"Come on Jack, it's useless, your daughter is ungrateful," Judy said and she left the room with Jack crying.

Jack looked at the boys and raised his eyebrows and closed his eyes as if defeated.

Rachel knocked on the door and stuck her head out, "we can come in."

"Yes of course"

Ross's face was red. "Mon, I don't understand why you don't want to go to mom's house either" Monica gave Geller a look, but he ignored her "it's okay if you don't want to go, but then it will be necessary for her to go to your house to take care of you…"

"Ross, you've gone crazy, I don't want Mom to take care of me, I don't want to go to her house so as not to submit to her orders, but much less do I want her taking care of me at home…"

"But why?" Ross asked, while the others remained silent.

"Simple because at home she will not only give me orders, but she will consider that I have everything poorly organized, poorly decorated, poorly arranged, I am going to have to eat what she decides I want. No, mom is not going to take care of me, she can come see me as many times as she wants, but she is not going to stay at home, to recover I am going to need peace of mind and she will only drive me crazy, so keep telling her that she is not going to take care of me at home

"But Mon, who's going to take care of you, help you, for a while you're not going to be able to walk, you're going to need someone," Rachel said softly.

At that moment a doctor came in, greeted everyone and introduced himself, "I am Dr. Carrillo, I will be your physiotherapist, I am here to explain to you that to have a good recovery you need to follow to the letter the instructions that I am going to give you." "First of all, you will have to attend physiotherapy twice a week, here at the hospital, we will start the treatment as soon as possible, what days do you think are good? asked

"Any day, I don't care about it," Monica replied.

"OK, so Tuesday and Friday at 10 in the morning, okay?"

"Yes," Monica said and asked, "When will I be able to walk again?"

"Mrs. Geller is in a process, first it has to heal the bone, for this we will immobilize the leg, and we will do exercises to maintain muscle tone, you will do them here in the sessions and then at home, it will take approximately three to four weeks to teach you to get up on your own and walk with the crutches. This adaptation takes time until you are sure to walk with them. Depending on how the bone heals, you will begin to lightly support your leg, little by little, always helped by the crutches. In total, think that it will take at least three months to walk normally without crutches." "In addition, here I left some pamphlets where they tell you how should adapt your house until you can support your leg and have strength in your knee. These instructions are mostly for the bathroom. As we progress we will indicate some more tasks."

"Now, on Wednesday they discharge you, but Friday is Christmas Day, so we will have the first session on Tuesday, December 29. Maybe before you leaves we will start here with some exercises and we will tell you how to continue doing them until we meet"

"Thank you, doctor," Monica said and the doctor left, greeting everyone.

"Mon, you realize that you can't be alone at home, that you need someone to take care of you," Ross said.

"Of course, … mom ... Forget it, I can hire a person…" Monica said angrily.

"Mon, that is very expensive, you won't be able to pay for it, and Mom, with her anger, won't either, plus we all work, we can't take care of you."

"I can!" Everyone heard a surprising and firm voice.