Chapter I

"The Nightmare"

"It's the police. Ben, Carol, and Susan were in a car accident."

His words rang into her minds like a nightmare, hoping that someone would wake her up and it would be gone. She was afraid of the worst. She was afraid for him. Ben was one of the most important people in his life and she couldn't even begin to imagine his life without his little boy.

"Oh, God." She muttered under her breath. "H-how bad was it?"

"Carol and Susan didn't make it." Ross managed to say after taking a deep breath as tears continued streaming down on his face.

Ross used to love Carol with all his heart. It was true that she broke his heart badly and even left a huge scar on his heart that he was still struggling to deal with. But still, he had once loved her and it hurt to know that he just lost her forever and the fact that Ben had lost both of his mothers didn't make it easier for him. Susan wasn't his favorite person, but he knew she made Carol and Ben happy, and for that reason alone Ross was always feeling grateful for her, though he never admitted it in front of the others.

Hearing the news, her legs were getting weak and she was left speechless. Her heart sank. Tears started to escape from her eyes. She just saw them yesterday when they had brought Ben to visit his little sister, Emma.

Ben.

Her thoughts quickly diverted to Ross' son, Ben. What about Ben?

"Wh-what about Ben?" She managed to ask in between her cries.

"Fortunately he is fine. He was asleep in the back seat with his seat belt on and he only had a few scratches on his head. But they will do a CT just to make sure."

She felt a sense of relief and quickly pulled him into a hug, "I'm s-so sorry." She muttered in her cries and rested her head on his chest.

He tightened the hug, "Me too, Rach." He whispered. "Me too."

"I have to go to the hospital. Ben needs me there."

He then quickly ran into his bedroom and got dressed.

She followed him behind, not even bothering to notice him changing his clothes in front of her.

"I'll come with you." She said.

He then turned around as he pulled his pants up and continued dressing, "No, it's okay. Just stay here with Emma."

She shook her head, "Let's drop Emma off at Monica. You need someone to be with you."

She knew Monica just had a long night shift at her work, so she was probably too tired. She figured it was better for her to accompany Ross and frankly there was no one in the world she could trust her baby daughter with, other than Monica. So it was a win-win solution for now.

He didn't have much time to argue so he agreed.

Rachel then went into her room and changed her clothes quickly. She then carefully put Emma in her arms, making sure she wouldn't wake her up, and Ross prepared Emma's diaper bag. They then crossed the empty street and climbed the stairs toward Monica and Chandler's apartment. He then knocked on their door, explained everything to a half-asleep Chandler. Chandler then called out Monica and quickly explained everything. Monica agreed to take Emma for now. Rachel and Ross thanked them and made their way to the hospital.

During the ride to the hospital, Ross was fidgeting the whole time. Rachel tried to calm him down by placing her hand into his and rubbed it with her thumb, letting him know she was there for him. He smiled faintly at her.

After roughly fifteen minutes that seemed like forever, they arrived at the hospital. Rachel and Ross rushed into the Emergency Room.

"I'm here for Ben Geller-Willick. He is my son and he got into an accident with her moms." Ross said to one of the nurses in charge.

The nurse checked his computer and then said, "He's in bed three and the doctor will be with you shortly."

He then thanked the nurse and made their way to Ben.

He slowly opened the curtain to bed three and as soon as he laid his eyes to his seven years old son, he cried.

Ben was sleeping with a few bandages covering his head and a few bruises on his arms. Other than that he seemed fine and peacefully sleeping. Rachel smiled a little as she let tears streamed down from her eyes. She was glad he was fine. She couldn't even imagine the thought of losing Ben. It would crush not only Ross, but her too. During the early years of Ben's life she was there almost every time Ben visited Ross. She was even there when he said his first word. Ben wasn't her biological son, but she always had that bond with him. A bond that eventually earned her a nickname 'Fun Aunt Rachel' during the time she babysat him last year. It was a fun day, she recalled it. He was a happy and mischievous kid, so much different from a kid that was now laying down on the hospital bed. The poor little kid who just got into an accident and lost both of his mothers because of it.

Ross walked slowly toward his son's bed and sat on a stool next to it. He gently stroked Ben's hair, making sure he didn't wake him up. He let himself cry, something he rarely did, but now he didn't even care. He was so happy to see his son again, despite the whole thing. He was glad his son was safe. Rachel watched the whole scene and couldn't help but feeling her heart ached for them. She couldn't even imagine herself in Ben's shoes, losing his mom at such a young age. Unlike other kids, the boy used to have two moms and now he had none.

A doctor walked into them, breaking up her reverie.

"Mr. Geller?"

Ross quickly stood up, kissed Ben on his forehead and then made his way toward the doctor.

"I'm Ross Geller, Ben's father. Is he okay?" He asked while Rachel was standing beside him with her arms crossed on her chest, trying her best to listen to the conversation.

Being the daughter of a heart surgeon, she practically spent a lot of her childhood in hospital. She knew a couple things about medical issues, having listened to his father's conversation with other doctors and nurses. But oddly she never liked it being in a hospital. It somehow made her edgy and uncomfortable.

"Ben is going to be okay. He is a strong kid." The doctor smiled and looked at Ben's chart. "His CT came back alright and so far no red flags. We will observe him for the night just in case, and if he is doing good, he will be discharged first thing in the morning." The doctor explained.

Both Rachel and Ross sighed in relief.

"Do you know what happened to them?" Rachel asked.

"Carol Willick and Susan Bunch were found dead at the scene so there was nothing we could do. We didn't know the details about the accident, but the police are still here, waiting to speak to you, Mr. Geller. You'll have to come with me."

Rachel once again cried. She still found it hard to believe that both Carol and Susan were no longer alive and Ben just lost his moms. She then glanced over Ross who was watching Ben sleeping. She knew he was feeling reluctant to leave Ben alone.

"I'll stay with him. Don't worry." Rachel gently tapped Ross' shoulder and faintly smiled at him.

Ross smiled weakly and replied, "Thank you."

As Ross walked outside the Emergency Room, Rachel sat down next to Ben and gently stroked his hair. Ben's eyes fluttered open slowly. He then laid his eyes on his Aunt Rachel. Her eyes were red and she was crying. He wondered why his Aunt was crying.

"Hi.. How are you feeling?" Rachel wiped her tears and smiled as she talked, not wanting to worry the little boy.

"My hands hurt a little, but I'm okay." He replied.

"You're very brave, Ben." He smiled, not knowing what he just lost.

"Where's my mommy and daddy?" Ben asked after a while.

Rachel was stunned, unsure how to react. How to tell a little boy that two of his mom had died during the accident and only he survived? She couldn't do this. This was Ross' part and she felt like she had no right nor the courage to tell Ben.

"Your daddy is talking to the doctor and he will be here soon." Rachel said as she continued to stroke his hair, hoping that Ben wouldn't ask for her mom again.

"What about my moms? Are they okay?" Ben asked curiously.

All Ben remembered was that they were on their way to visit his grandparents and then the next thing he knew he was in pain and both of his moms were bleeding. He wasn't stupid, he could sense that something was wrong with his moms, but he didn't know what.

Rachel once again was lost, so she stayed silent.

"Aunt Rachel?" Ben asked, he was getting worried by the sudden change on her face. She looked sad and concerned.

"Y-yes?"

"Can I see my mom?" Ben asked hopefully. "Please?"

Rachel sighed, "Uh..Uhm.. A-about that .." She pondered a little, "Uhm, Ben, honey.. Y-your moms are .."

Before she could finish her words, Ross came back in. Rachel sighed in relief. She then stood up from her seat, allowing Ross to sit on it.

"Uh, hey.. Look who's awake." Ross greeted as cheerful as he could.

"Daddy!" Ben squealed as his dad hugged him.

"How are you feeling?" Ross asked his son as he took a seat next to him and gently stroked his son's hair.

"I'm okay. B-but dad?" He asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Ben?"

"Where is my mom?"

Ross' face fell. It was a question he knew Ben would eventually ask and it was inevitable, but still, he wasn't prepared for that. Ben wasn't a little kid anymore, he understood the concept of death and heaven when Carol's grandmother died a couple years ago. What Ross never would have expected was to explain to his son how his two mothers were now in heaven.

"I'll go get us some coffee." Rachel said and Ross nodded.

She knew better to leave the dad and his son alone. It was a tough time for them and she knew she couldn't watch the scene without bursting into tears and made things worse than it already did. She sat at a bench outside the E.R., it was still dark outside and there was barely anyone there. She called Monica as she promised.

"M-mon? How's Emma?" Rachel suddenly had an urge to hold her baby daughter tightly.

"She's still sleeping, don't worry about her." Monica paused. "How's Ben?"

Rachel sighed as she massaged her temples, "His CT came back okay." She paused. "God. He kept asking for his moms and Ross is talking to him right now. The look on his face.. Mon.. I-it just.. It broke my heart."

Rachel could hear Monica soft sobbing at the other of the line, she quickly joined her.

"H-how could this happen to them?" Monica asked a question she knew no one would know the answer.

"I don't know." Rachel answered softly.

"How is Ross dealing with all of this?"

Rachel sighed as she recalled Ross' expression earlier, "He is doing his best for Ben. He tried to smile in front of him, but I can only imagine how he must've felt."

Monica fell silent for a few moments, taking in a whole bunch of new information she had just received.

"Rach?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Can you take a good care of him? He's going to act tough for Ben, but inside he's devastated. After all, he was married to Carol for years. It must be hard for him right now."

Rachel massaged her temples with her hand, things were going to be hard for the next few days. She had to be tough and be there for him. "I know that." She sighed. "Don't worry about that and please take care of Emma. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Okay. And don't worry about Emma. She will be okay." Rachel smiled at the mention of her daughter. "And, Rach.."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you so much."

Rachel nodded absent-mindedly, "He's gonna be okay, Mon. They're gonna be okay." She tried to convince both Monica and herself. "They have to be okay." She added in a whisper.