Tears Chapter 3

 

Again sorry this took so long but my computer broke.

 

Disclaimer: Why do I bother? You know I don't own them.

 

Authors Note: Some people have pointed out that Monica would never have travelled on a plane (to NY from Seattle) in the state she was in. I agree, this is problem I can't think of way around so lets just pretend that no one on the plane or at either airport noticed her injuries. I know that is a stretch but that is why this is FICTION. Back to the story, FYI Ross, Rachel, Chandler and Chloe were talking in the living room when John reappeared.

 

John crashed through the apartment door, taking them all by surprise. He grasped the foosball table for support as the room swayed around him, colors blending into a blur before his eyes. For a second he stood bemused, wondering where he was and why he was there. As the room swayed back into focus he remembered, a river of anger coursed through his body making his head snap up dangerously,

"Where the fuck is she?" he hollered causing Chloe to start screaming into Rachel's trembling shoulder. John took a teetering step into the apartment and took in the group of people obstructing his way to Monica, his right to Monica.

"I'm going to fucking kill you all," he slurred.

Chandler gazed on in horror. A sense of the inevitable flooded his body. All the gang had known John would appear eventually. All of the gang had been dealing with the same heavy feeling of dread and anticipation in their stomachs. John, a man he had once respected was now a monster. Maybe he had done this to himself or maybe he was just a product of today's society but he scared Chandler. Chandler was scared for himself, scared that the hate in John's glazed eyes may be one day mirrored in his own. Watching the scene unfold before him Chandler felt detached, separated from himself. He was frozen firmly on the spot. His feet glued down and his head hazy.

Ross had no such problems, he lunged towards John immediately. Gazing into his bloodshot eyes Ross felt a contradictory mixture of both revulsion and pity. Controlling the temper rising inside him he muttered through clenched teeth,

"Monica doesn't want to see you."

"No shit!" John laughed drunkenly, " I don't give a fuck what she wants, she's my wife and I'm taking her home."

" This is her home" Ross replied, his tone matching his ice-cold stare.

"The fuck it is!" John shouted back, " a woman's place is with her husband, and since that would be me I'm taking her home!"

His words hung in the air as the two men stared doggedly at each other. Rachel watched on, her whole body taught in the tight atmosphere of the room. Like a knife, John's fist rose and cut through the thick air, connecting with Ross's chin and sending electric shocks around the room.

"Oh my God!" screamed Rachel as she fumbled for the phone trying to get her reluctant fingers to press 911.

Chandler stood detached from the scene. Rachel's panic, Chloe's screams, and John and Ross's anger failed to penetrate his daze. Rage tingled in his fingers and pricked at the back of his brain but still he could not move. Without humour, he noted that Ross was down on the floor, John towering above him. Chandler's heart broke for Monica as he watched her husband and brother fight. 'What did she do to deserve this?' he thought to himself. She was a sweet, kind woman, what did she ever do?

Monica lay in a ball in her room and listened silently to all the commotion just outside her door. She just wanted them to stop shouting. All she wanted was their harsh voices to stop piercing her cocoon of silence. ' What did I ever do to deserve this?' she thought to herself. What did I ever do?

Monica stood up slowly, on unsteady feet. She opened the bedroom door and looked at the scene before her. She'd had enough; she wanted to end all the hurt and tears once and for all,

" Will you stop screaming?!!" she shrilly cried.

Her voice was magic. The room froze in time. John and Ross looked amazed, their hands stopped in the air. Rachel's mouth dropped open as the telephone clattered to the ground. Chloe stopped screaming and lifted her tear stained face to her mothers voice. Chandler was the only one to speak, his voice cracking with emotion,

"Monica, you're up. Thank God"

John swayed, caught his balance, and started to lumber towards Monica. His attention focused on her shrunken form, his eyes fixed on her face. This time Chandler was ready,

"You bastard," he said as he swung his arm forward and felt his fist connect firmly with Johns nose. Seemingly surprised, John fell backwards and splayed out on the floor.

"Get out," Chandler told him firmly, "Get out right now or we'll call the police. Get out right now and never come back."

Through the drunken fog in his head, John understood. He started to cry, he loved Monica he really did. His tears mixed with the blood pouring from his nose, his rage was completely evaporated as he stumbled out of Monica's life, looking for some alcohol to dull the pain in his heart.

Chandler, Ross, Rachel, and Chloe stared in disbelief at each other. John was gone, leaving the whole room shaking with released emotion. A rueful smile edged Monica's lips in the bittersweet aftermath of victory. The room was a merry go round of colors and emotions spinning uncontrollably around her, blurring into one. Chandler turned around just in time to run and catch her as she fainted.

 

5 months later

 

Monica entered the apartment and called out,

"Chandler, Chloe, is anyone in?"

Silence was the cheerful answer. Monica didn't like it when it was silent. She didn't like being alone with her thoughts. Intending to leave her purse in her bedroom then go down to the coffee house she was stopped in her tracks by Chloe's doll laying haphazardly on the floor. Picking it up she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. She shook her head willing them to go away, her shrink said it was normal to have these attacks of emotion but Monica didn't like them. To her, crying was showing weakness. She couldn't afford to be weak; she had to be strong for both Chloe and her unborn child.

' Unborn child' she turned the phrase over and over in her head until it was a chant. She hadn't told anyone about her 'unborn child' despite the fact that she was 7 months pregnant, no one knew. Monica let her hand rest on her only slightly rounded stomach, hidden well under the folds of her baggy jumper. As with Chloe her pregnancy was hardly showing at all. Monica didn't know why but she was grateful. Deep in the recesses of her mind, she had convinced herself that the life inside of her was not real, that if no one knew about it she could forget it as well. To the gang she seemed to be doing well, her injuries had healed and it seemed her heart and mind were as well. To an extent, this was true but Monica couldn't let go of the past entirely because of the bitter secret inside of her womb. She wanted to keep the baby there forever, warm and safe, so that she didn't have to face it and it didn't have to face the cruel world.

Trying to forget her troubles Monica stood back up slowly tidied away Chloe's doll and headed out of the apartment. Just as she reached the door Chandler entered with Chloe. She smiled at him and he smiled warmly back at her. Chandler was so proud of her, she was so brave, and he felt privileged to be her friend.

" Mommy, mommy," babbled Chloe clambering to be picked up. Monica did so holding Chloe close to her, feeling overwhelmed with love.

"Where you been honey?" she asked the fidgeting child in her arms.

"Uncle Chandler took me to Central Park and we fed the ducks didn't we Uncle Chandler?"

"Yeah we did!" Chandler answered raising his hand for a high five from Chloe. Unconsciously Monica flinched as his hand rose, causing Chandler to frown momentarily. Trying to cover up his discomfort Chandler lifted Chloe from Monica's arms and told her to go wipe her face, which was covered with chocolate.

" So where have you been?" he asked her.

" My shrink" Monica replied. Again, Chandler frowned. Monica having a shrink reminded him that things weren't exactly how they used to be. Unlike him, drinking too much coffee wasn't Monica's only problem.

" Well anyway" he said, shrugging away his discomfort, " Ross wants to know what we're gonna do about Joey's birthday. You know whether we should have a cake or not…."

Chandler's voice had faded out for Monica. She had felt a familiar pain in her stomach. It couldn't be she told herself, it's too soon. The pain intensified and spread outwards, Monica knew something was wrong so did Chandler,

"Mon are you okay, Mon you…."

"Call an ambulance," she gasped "I'm having a baby,"

 

TBC

 

Okay how was that one? Please review, but don't tell me the pregnancy thing isn't possible because I had a friend who was almost 8 months pregnant and if she wore baggy jumpers I SWEAR you couldn't tell (it's to do with how your womb is tilted) You can criticise everything else though if you really didn't like it. You can also be nice if you really did like it.