Chapter 4

Battling for baby

Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with friends

Sorry for the delay, and I hope you think its been worth the small wait :o)

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Joey listened to the scream erupt and echo all around him, over vast the noise of the various machinery and his stomach churned as the voice he realised was that of Phoebe's on the ground.

He rushed past his colleagues on the roof and hurtled himself down the slippery fire escape at great speed, trying to get his legs to move quicker than they were built to.

"Hang in there sweetie," He prayed over and over under his breath as be battled his was down onto the street to see what had caused the blood curdling scream that had roared from his best friend.

"PHOEBE!" As he got his feet back down onto the sidewalk the scene that met him was much worse than he had imagined it to be. Phoebe was positioned in the exact spot where he had left her just minutes before, but now she was seated, in a pool of her own blood, fighting to keep herself conscious.

"Joey!" Her voice was barely a whisper, but he could sense the fear within her. She extended out her bony, shaking hand towards him, and he grabbed it tightly

"You're going to be ok, just stay calm sweetie. I'm here and im not going anywhere." His own voice sounded so peaceful and calming, but inside he was rattling with nerves. He had never had to deal with anything like this, and under normal circumstances he would have cracked under the pressure, but he knew he had to be strong for his fiends sake.

"I'm losing the baby Joey," He froze on the spot at hearing her words. He had realised that whatever was going on wasn't exactly good, but it hadn't crossed his mind that Phoebe was miscarrying her child. Things like that never happened to him or his friends, life was always so rosy.

"No your not Pheebs! Don't think like that sweetie! Its just a little pregnancy complication, nothing bad is going to happen to you or the baby, you hear?? This kind of stuff happened to my sisters when they were carrying their kids." The more and more he thought about it the more it scared him. Nothing like this had ever happened to his sisters either. Sure their pregnancies had been tough at times, but not on this scale. But there was no way he was telling Phoebe that. She was terrified enough, and so was he. She was slipping in and out of consciousness in front of him, and the idea of he being in such agony brought a pain to his heart.

He could see her in a totally different light. She had become vulnerable before his eyes, something that you would never dream of referring to Phoebe as, but now here she was, in need of help and he wasn't sure if he could offer her what she needed.

"Stay with me Pheebs, I know it's difficult, but the ambulance will be here soon, please hang in there!" He watched her eyes close over again like she battling sleep, but besides it all she looked so peaceful and serene.

He clasped her cold, white hands in his own and gave a gentle squeeze of reassurance, but he was sure she couldn't feel it, and if she did there was no sign of acknowledgment from her. He wished to God that she would open her yes and tell her she was fine and that this was all one big joke. But the longer he watched her the more real the situation was becoming.

The ambulances siren jolted him back into reality and the adrenaline began once again to run around his body rapidly, so much so he could almost feel it.

He jumped to his feet, leaving his hands go of Phoebes, and ran towards the open doors of the ambulance where the paramedics where removing a stretcher from.

"She's over here! Please hurry, I think she's really sick!" Joey felt the tears choke in the back of his throat. He was losing her, and he didn't think he could stand to live his life without her in it. He didn't understand why he was feeling like this. Was it friendship and the idea of there being a missing link in the group? Or was it deeper than that? Did he have hidden feelings for his best friend? He wasn't sure, but whatever it was these feelings were a revelation to him.

"Her blood pressure is dropping rapidly, we need to get her to hospital as soon as possible." The paramedics rushed passed a helpless looking Joey with Phoebe in their arms. Her face was as white as a sheet, the blood having drained from it and the rest of her lifeless looking body. Lying on that stretcher she looked like a store mannequin, plastic and unresponsive.

He held onto the open doors and pulled himself up and into the back of the ambulance where Phoebe now lay, hooked up to what seemed like a hundred machines,. Their beeping and unfamiliar noises and activities sent an eerie chill down the back of Joey's spine, a fear building in him like he had never experienced.

No one close to him had ever been ill, so to be in such an unfamiliar environment made him feel so powerless. From now on in he couldn't aid in anyway, other than be there when she woke up, if she ever would that was.

The doors slammed over, and the engine began to vibrate as the vehicle sped off, the sirens eerily blaring and echoing all around him.

Time was now crucial for Phoebe, and as the seconds ticked by another part of her drifted further away from Joey, and he was determined to hold onto her with all this life.

~*~

Several hours later, Joey and the rest of the friends were gathered in the patient information room, frantically awaiting news on Phoebe.

No one could believe where they were sitting. The news that one of their best friends was extremely sick and pregnant into the bargain had come as a shock, one that they weren't in the slightest bit prepared for.

The last time they had seen her she had been full of smiles and laughs, but from what Joey had told them since they arrived at the hospital it seemed to them that her life had taken a 360 degree turn in the last 24 hours, and they didn't know if they could cope with the outcome.

"I can't believe she was pregnant and didn't tell us!" Rachel sat stunned in the blue plastic chair, her mouth agape in disbelief.

"Don't speak about her in the past tense Rach, you make it sound like her and the baby are dea.aren't here anymore," Ross was equally astonished, but he still managed to get a dig in at Rachel, which had become a common occurrence ever since Emma had been born. The two of them could hardly say a civil word to each other without it turning into a full-blown argument.

"I just can't believe she was going to abort her baby! She should think herself lucky that she can have kids." Monica had conflicting emotions torturing her. Half of her heart was breaking for her friend, and the other half was boiling with anger at Phoebe's apparent carefree attitude to killing her offspring, when she knew how desperate her and Chandler were to have a baby of their own.

"Mon, you don't know her reasons for it. This is Phoebe we're talking about, she doesn't just do something like this for no reason." As usual Chandler was the voice of reason.

"Your right, but I still do understand it. How anyone can abort." Monica burst into tears; unable to let herself finish the tirade she was about to start as this whole situation was hitting to close to home for her liking and she had no id how to act.

Chandler wrapped his right arm around her, trying to pacify her from getting overly emotional and upsetting everyone more than they already were.

All 5 sat in uneasy silence; each waiting on the other to break the quiet, but no one knew what was now appropriate to say, not after Monica's outburst.

Ross gave Rachel a small smile through awkwardness that she did not return. She was still fuming from his "telling off" and couldn't find it in herself to back down. Instead she stood up and went to exit the room.

"Where are you going?" Ross could tell she was still angry, and he felt more than a little guilty at having been the one who upset her in the first place. He hated fighting with her, but deep down he knew the only reason he was always on edge with her was that he had so much love for her still in his heart, and the jealousy and agony he felt at not being able to be the one to hold her sparked fire in him, that he channelled in all the wrong ways.

"I'm going to phone your mother, to find out how our daughter is!" She gave him a look of contention before slamming the door firmly behind herself, much to the discomfort of everyone still in the waiting room. Monica, still in an emotional daze jumped in Chandler's arms, and Ross felt himself blush on behalf of her her spoiled behaviour, which again he felt responsible for.

Joey on the other hand didn't seem to notice any of the commotion that was going on around him. His mind was far to focused on Phoebe, and how she was doing, all alone with no one to hold her hand through whatever was happening to her.

"I can't stand this waiting around! Why won't anyone tell us anything?" He held his head in his hands, trying to restrain himself from breaking down in front of everyone.

"The Doctors are still doing tests Joey. It takes time, but im sure they will have some news soon. Just hang in their man." Joey listened to Chandler's reassuring words, but somehow he didn't feel any calmer than before, if anything he felt worse. If they were doing so many tests then surly something serious was wrong with her? It wasn't just a simple problem that could be efficiently dealt with; it must be life threatening after all?

He shut over his eyes and began to prepare himself for the worst. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach that his best friend wasn't going to pull through. As morbid as he knew his thoughts were, it was to him a sort of coping mechanism, just like the way Chandler dealt with hurt through laughter.

Before he could a chance to answer the door flew open, and he throw his head up quickly to see if it was a Doctor, but he was sorely disappointed as before him stood the man he least wanted to see.

"What's going on? Where's Phoebe? What happened? Is she ok? I went over to Monica and Chandler's to meet Pheebs for our dinner plans and I heard the message on the answer phone." Mike sounded out of breath as he rushed out his words, desperate for an answer to put his mind at ease, but no one knew what to say. Thankfully they didn't need to say anything, as right behind Mike appeared a Dr who Joey recognised from when Phoebe was brought in.

"Mr Tribbiani?" Joey stood to his feet and went to within an inch of Dr Jackson.

"Ms Buffay is now stable, and im pretty sure its safe to say she will be fit enough to go home with you all this evening." Everyone in the room let out a huge sigh of relief and began to hug each other.

"What was wrong with her?" Monica had now calmed herself, and any hate she had been feeling towards her friend was now well and truly gone. She was just happy all was fine.

"Ms Buffay seems to have been under a lot of stress, and its effects have been a strain on her body. He blood pressure had gone sky high, and her blood sugar dropped to way below normal. Combined its sent her body into a kind of nervous shock, hence the collapse. The bleeding was due to the stress also, but with the pregnancy we had to make sure there was no risk of miscarriage. But you'll all be glad to know she's been given an all clear, but I have to stress that when she gets home she is given total bed rest until I say otherwise. I need to give her constant checkups and I want to see a significant improvement, or I will have to re-hospitalise her." Joey nodded like his head was about to shake away from his neck. He was going to make sure all the Dr's orders were followed to a T.

Mike couldn't bring himself to believe what he was hearing. His fear had now turned to anger and he felt himself clench his fists in rage.

"PHOEBE IS PREGNANT!"

~*~

Ohhh cliff-hanger ;o) What do you think Mike is gonna do?

Plz Read and Review :o) xxxx