Dying (part 4)

"chandler?" she said.

"Mon?" he asked, raising his head. It was her. He lept to his feet and flung his arms around her. "Oh thank God!" he shouted, swinging her round. Josh and Leanne laughed, a sound which brought Chandler crashing back into reality.

"You had another dream, didn't you?" Monica asked in a funny voice. Chandler thought it was just because she was trying to have a serious conversation with her husband and make sure Leanne didn't stick Lucky Charms up her nose, and that Josh didn't pour his orange juice over his sister's head, all at the same time.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Chandler admitted. Monica took his left hand in both of hers.

"I'm worried about you," she said.

"Well don’t okay. Its just like you said, people dream about stuff they're afraid of. I'm afraid of losing you. That’s all," Chandler said, glossing over how terrified he was that his dreams were some kind of premonition.

"Maybe," Monica conceded uneasily.

That night, she offered to stay up with him, but he insisted he was fine. He didn't need her treating him like one of the kids. But after two hours of trying and failing to fall asleep, he woke her up.

"Mon," he whispered. She opened her eyes slowly and squinted at him.

"What?" she asked grogily.

"I can't sleep," he confesed.

"I thought you didn't want me to wait up with you?"

"I changed my mind. Sorry."

"Its okay. So, you wanna talk or something?" she asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

"If you want."

"We don’t need to though, do we?" she asked. He could tell from her voice that she wasn't saying it because she didn't want to talk, but because she was in awe of a relationship where the two people knew each other so well that talking was an unnesseccary pleasure.

"No," chandler agreed.

Monica hugged him.

"Think you'll sleep better with your arms around me?" she asked. He nodded. "I'll just check on the kids, I'll be back in a minute." Chandler nodded again and released her.

Monica went into Josh's room first. He was sleeping soundly, clutching the teddy bear he always insisted he didn't need anymore. Monica smiled and kissed his forehead.

She went into Leanne's room as well, and saw her daughter playing school with her stuffed animals. Monica stood in the doorway and watched for a while until Leanne noticed her.

"Hi Mommy!" the three year old sang out cheerfully.

"Hi honey. Couldn't you sleep?"

"Yes. I already slept. You wanna play?"

"Its three in the morning sweetie. I'll play tomorrow."

"Okay, night night," Leanne said happily and went back to her game.

"Night Leanne."

When Monica went back into the apartment the light was on. 'That’s weird, I deliberately didn’t turn it on so as not to disturb Chandler or the kids.' But now it was on. She turned it off and started towards the bedroom she and Chandler shared, but before she was halfway there, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. She started to scream, but a hand clamped down onto her mouth and silenced her. She tried to hit her attacker, but he was too strong for her. She knew it wasn't just Chandler playing a joke on her because the man was taller and heavier and his breath stank of alcohol.

Monica was terrified. Not just for herself, but for her family. What if Leanne came out of her room? What fi Chandler came to see why she hand't gone back to bed yet?

Her attacker seemed annoyed by her struggling, and pushed her to the floor. He kneed her in the stomach and punched her face. He produced something that glittered in the faint light from under the door. A knife. Monica realised what it was when he held it just a couple of inches away from her face.

She screamed. Her scream brought Chandler running out of their bedroom. He saw the strange man in their apartment, the knife, and his wife in danger. He tried to help Monica, but he was no where near her when the intruder stabbed her three times, one after the other. She screamed in agony. Chandler wanted to scream to, as if it would help take her pain away, but no sound came out of his open mouth. He picked up a lamp and threw it at the stranger. It hit him, but barely grazed him. Chandler ignored the risk to his own safety, Monica being the only thought in his mind, and punched the man. He knew he might end up injured or even dead himself, but he didn't really care. He just wanted to get rid of the man who had attacked his wife.

The attacker seemed surprised by Chandler's hit, although it wasn’t very hard or forcefull. He stood up and backed out of the door, not looked at all afraid or sorry, just wanting to leave before Chandler called the police. Not that he was afraid of the police, he just didn't want the hassel.

When the attacker was gone, Chandler knelt by Monica's side and held her head in his lap. She was sobbing painfully and gasping for breath. The rasping sounds grated on Chandlers heart and pained him even more than they pained Monica.

Chandler cried over her lifeless body for an indefinate length of time. It could have been minutes, or it could have been hours, he had no way of knowing. The only thing that stopped him was seeing Josh and Leanne standing together in the doorway of Josh's bedroom. They were clutching each others hands and looking scared and confused.

"Daddy, what's wrong with Mommy?" Josh asked in a small, woried voice.

That just made Chandler burst into tears all over again. The kids were more scared by this than by seeing their Mommy lying dead on the living room floor. They were too little to really understand about death. They rushed to Chandler's side and he hugged them both tightly. The three of them stayed like that for a long time. He found it comforting to be holding his children. Monica's children. Even though he could never hold Monica herself again. Not the real Monica anyway. He could only ever hold her body now. He would never hold her spirit again.

This is the last death, I promise u. I swear to God, this time its for real. And I'm soooooo sorry.