I'm so sorry this part took so long. Family trouble, severe writer's block and, I admit, laziness came between me and my writing. But now I'm back and I'll try to finish this story as soon as possible. You should probably browse the last chapter again to refresh your memory.

And now on with the story. I hope the wait was worth it. Enjoy!

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The doors to the hospital whooshed open and a worried looking Ross ran through them, not stopping until he reached the reception.

"Rach…Rachel Green…?" He managed to say before all the running caught up to him and he lost his breath. He doubled over, gasping heavily, and held his index finger up to the woman standing behind the counter. He took some deep breaths and after a few seconds he stood upright again. Just when he wanted to talk to the receptionist properly he got interrupted by Joey and Phoebe. The two entered the emergency room hallway not looking much better than Ross did moments before.

"Man, Ross. I didn't think you could outrun me." Joey said at the same time as Phoebe exclaimed. "Did you find out about Rachel yet?"

Ignoring Joey's statement Ross turned around to face Phoebe. "No, I was just going to ask." With that he changed his attention back on the now amused looking receptionist and tried again. "I'm looking for Rachel Green. She's having our baby and I was called by a nurse saying I had to come down here as fast as possible." The amusement left the face of the receptionist and she replied after a short pause. "Hmm…let me see what I have in my computer regarding this patient. Rachel Greep was it?"

"No, Green…like the color." Phoebe corrected her.

"Ooookay…here she is." The woman said while checking the monitor. "She is up on the fourth floor. I don't have a room number yet. But someone up there should be able to help you."

"Ok, thank you." Joey said and turned to follow Ross and Phoebe who were already running over to the elevators.

Sure, Joey hoped Rachel and the baby would be ok. But he hadn't spoken to her in so long that she was almost a stranger to him. In the beginning he had really resented her for what she had done to his friends. But he wasn't the type of person who never forgave mistakes. In fact he couldn't hold a grudge for long. So it was now more some kind of disappointment he felt for Rachel than real anger.

Once inside the elevator he looked over at Ross. His friend was almost hopping from one foot to the other he was so nervous. Joey thought about the situation Ross had been in when they found out the truth about Rachel's lie. And Joey realized that he was glad Ross and Rachel had more or less made up and were now starting to rebuild their friendship. They had always been good friends and after surviving the hard break-up the two had had at the end of their first relationship Joey thought they could get through everything. And now with the baby almost being born it was good to see the parents in some sort of stable friendship.

Like a typical hospital elevator it took agonizing long to reach the fourth floor. As soon as the doors opened Ross and Phoebe were rushing out of the cabin over to the nurse's station and Joey found himself shuffling behind them for the umpteenth time that day.

Ross went over to the only nurse in sight.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Rachel Green."

"Oh, sure. Let me look if I can find out something for you. My shift just started and I wasn't here when she was brought in." The nurse replied, smiling warmly at Ross.

"Ok. Ehm, we'll be in the waiting room, I guess." Ross said unsure.

"I'm sure I'll find you." And with that she went down the corridor.

Ross turned around to Phoebe and Joey.

"Well, I guess now we have to wait." Ross stated, concern lining his eyes.

"Don't worry too much, Ross. I have no doubt that everything is fine. I can sense that, y'know." Phoebe tried to calm Ross down.

"Yeah." Joey agreed. "Why don't you go call Monica while we wait? She wouldn't want to miss this." Joey added as an afterthought.

"Right." Ross said quietly with his head hanging. "You're right. She would want to be here." He said perking up. Joey smiled, relieved that he could take Ross' thoughts away from Rachel for a moment. "But you two have to stay here in case the nurse comes back."

"Don't worry Ross. We won't go anywhere." Phoebe reassured Ross. Nodding his head Ross turned around and made his way down the hall in search for the payphones.

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A pale Chandler left the operating room where doctors were finishing up now. He had never before in his life seen that much blood. And he didn't want to see something like that ever again. Chandler had asked a nurse before to call Ross or someone else from the gang and now he knew he had to call Victor.

He made his way on wobbling legs in the direction of the outdoor terrace where another nurse had directed him to. There he was allowed to use his cell phone without the danger of it interfering with any of the medical equipment.

Once outside, Chandler leaned heavily on the banister that bordered the gallery lining the front side of the building. After a moment of calming down he took in his surroundings, studying the other people standing like him in the drizzle for one reason or another. Some had phones on their ears talking either happily excited or gloomily composed with the person on the other end. Other where just out there to appease their addiction to cigarettes.

As much as Chandler craved a cigarette right then he was member of the first group; out there in the cold to use the phone. So he sighed deeply and pressed the speed dial button for his friend Victor.

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Chandler hung up the phone, relieved to know that Victor would come to the hospital. Chandler knew that he could most likely not avoid crossing paths with the others and it was a little comforting to know that he wouldn't be alone. He turned around and put his elbows on the balustrade to rest his head on his hands, looking out into the gray depressing city.

A few minutes later Chandler took a last deep breath and headed back through the white sterile hospital halls. Down by the nurse's station he saw three familiar looking figures talking together. He stopped when he was near enough to hear them talking.

"Monica is already on her way." Ross told to Phoebe and Joey. "And my and Rachel's parents will be here within the next hour." Chandler's will to make himself noticed faded after he heard Monica's name.

"See, I told you Monica would want to be here. Even if she still isn't really on speaking terms with Rachel. She is still her oldest friend." Chandler was surprised to hear what Phoebe said. He had thought that Monica and Rachel had reconciled already. He had assumed that nothing could keep those two apart for long.

"I think you are right." Ross agreed. "Oh, did you hear something about Rachel already?" He added.

"No, nothing." Joey answered placing his hand on Ross' shoulder. "But I'm sure everything is alright and a nurse will come any minute to bring you to her."

"I hope you are right. I can't live with this uncertainty any longer." Ross said miserably.

That was Chandler's last straw. He couldn't see Ross like that any longer. So he cleared his throat and three heads spun around simultaneously to focus on his still scrubs wearing statue.

TBC…

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I don't know why but this part was really hard to write. I would appreciate if you could tell me what you think about it. Please leave a review.