I don't own them. Sorry.
It ended up being two hours until they saw Joey. Two hours of all three of the girls crying. Of Ross and Chandler trying to comfort them while holding back their own tears. Two hours of no one talking, or at least not about Joey. Two long, long hours of waiting. And waiting.
And waiting.
Until finally a young doctor came out. She looked tired and frustrated. The six were the only people in that particular waiting room at nearly eleven thirty on a Tuesday. She walked right over to them. "Hello." She said, her voice warm, "You can see him now, if you like. But," she warned, "He's in a coma. We're hopeful that he should come out of it."
"What are his other injuries?" Ross asked quietly. Nobody else could seem to get words out.
The woman frowned slightly. "Three bad head wounds, one deep enough to crack the skull. The swelling is what induced the coma. Two cracked ribs, one broken, probably from a heavy boot. Broken wrist. He also got a knife to the chest." She pointed to Ross's midriff, holding her fingers about three inches apart to show how big it was. "It was deep, and penetrated the lung, as you've heard. We fixed it in surgery. Hopefully there's no complications."
The group knew most of this, of course, but that didn't make it any easier to hear. The doctor shifted slightly, glanced at her watch, then at the group. "Follow me. You can see him. I think that talking to him will help."
Chandler walked by the woman's side. "Do you think Joey will pull through this?"
She bit her lip. "I think he'll need a lot of help."
They walked into the room. There was an empty bed near the door, made perfectly. Joey was a little further away. Chandler groaned, rushing to the bed. He heard somebody (Monica?) gasp. Ross hugged her.
Chandler knelt next to the bed. This couldn't be Joey. Bruises and cuts made his face almost impossible to see. His hair was mostly cut off, his head bandaged. More bandages showed from beneath the sheet. Chandler desperately groped for Joey's hand, then, remembering the doctor's words, spoke. "Hey, Joe." He couldn't get any further. He choked.
Suddenly everyone else was around the bed. Ross had an arm around his sister. He met Chandler's gaze briefly, but Chandler could still see the tears in his eyes. Rachel kneeled on the opposite side of the bed, makeup smeared from crying, her hand clutching Joey's other hand. Phoebe stood near Chandler, her hand on his shoulder as if she needed him to prop her up.
Nobody spoke for a long minute. Chandler realized how often them stood like this, the six of them all connected in one way or another. Only this time Joey wasn't there. Well, he was , technically, but…
Chandler managed to work past the lump in his throat. "Hey buddy." He murmured, pressing nearer to his friend. "Don't worry, we're here. All of us." He choked again. "We're going to take care of you."
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