Hello guys. Thanks for the reviews. And I know, it was Joey, but I promise, the Lobsters will be here! . Here's the next chapter anyway.

Disclaimer; I don't own any of the Friends.

Picking Up the Pieces

Chapter 6.

When Joey woke up the next morning, he slapped his arm to the side to feel her, but got a shock when she was gone.

He sat up in his bed and looked around for her clothes – only to find it gone too.

He silently cursed and went into the living room. He looked at the watch and saw that it was 9:30.

He went into the bathroom and did his thing, and when he came out again, he saw Monica standing at the counter with a note in her hand.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I came to tell you that breakfast was ready. But then you weren't there, so I thought you might have left, when I found this." Monica told him, "Did you have a hot date last night?"

"What? No!" Joey said, "What would make you think that?"

"She left this when she left." Monica said, handing him the note, "Funny for once, the girl is leaving you. Come with me to breakfast, and I'll have all the dirty details!"

Joey just shrugged it off and followed her into her apartment.

--

"So, what did you do last night?" Monica excitedly asked.

"Well, I didn't have a date." Joey begun, "And you guys weren't home, so I thought: ´why the hell not have some fun?´ and went out to get a drink in some dirty bar."

"Really?" Chandler asked. He was reading the newspaper, but was getting interested in Joeys story.

"Yes, and when I came, I had to run into the psycho woman I dated back then, I think Erica was her name, right?"

"Oh, I remember that." Monica said, "We threw drinks in her face, and Phoebe accused you for pretending to be Drake so you could sleep with her." she let out a small chuckle, "That was so funny."

"What happened then Joe?"

"Well, I tried to hide behind some couches or something, and that's when I met her."

"Who?"

"The woman he spend the night with!" Monica giggled, "Come on, what then?"

"Well, we uttered like 2 sentences to each other, and all I could think about was how beautiful she was. Then she asked me to go someplace else. We did, and we talked. In the end of the night she wanted to go home, but I wanted to be with her, so I had to turn on my Joey charm. In the end she did kiss me and we went back here."

"Oh," Chandler said, "Was it any good? Was she hot?"

"She was really hot!" Joey said, "She just had some weird bruises on her body, I think that was why she didn't want to come in the first place, but I just ignored them. It was a good night!"

"Okay, is she still in your bedroom?"

"No." Joey said, "She left a note, and I still haven't gotten a chance to read it, because Monica has it."

"Oh, sorry." Monica said, "Here."

She handed him the note and he begun to read.

"What does it say, Joe?" Chandler asked, concerned, because Joey had a weird look on his face.

"Eh, Hi Joey. I'm sorry I have to leave you like this, but truth been told, I'm married. Not happily, I can assure you, but I don't have much choice. I depend on my husband, and so does my daughter. I hope you are okay with this, I didn't mean to lead you on, but I needed a night away from all the pain I'm feeling. Wow, look at me, I rambling on about my private life, I guess I just need someone to talk to sometime, and this was easy, because I wont see you again, but you have no idea of what my husband is putting me through. I hope you'll have a great life. This was a great night, Rachel."

"Wow." Joey said, "She was married."

"She doesn't sound happy." Monica said.

"Well," Joey said, "The weird part was just that I really liked her."

"Nice for the girl to break your heart for a change." Chandler joked.

"Yeah…" Joey said, looking into the table.

"Look at you!" Monica exclaimed, "You're so sad!"

"Well…" Joey begun, "I wanted to ask her out for real, we had so much in common. She didn't think I was weird or stupid. She liked me!"

"Does the girls not always like you?" Chandler asked.

"I guess so. But the different was that… I liked her."

"But there aren't really anything you can do, Joe." Monica said,

"Well, maybe…" he thought about it, "No…"

--

"Carol, hi?" Ross said, when Carol finally opened the door.

"Sorry Ross. But Ben isn't ready yet."

"What? Why?"

"Come in, and sit down. I'll make some coffee."

He followed her into the apartment, and sat down on the sofa, "What's going on?" he asked.

"Ben had a friend sleeping over this night. Her mom was supposed to pick her up 4 hours ago, but she hasn't come yet. There's no response on her cell phone and the girl wont let us call her dad."

"Oh," Ross said, "A girl?"

"Oh yeah." Carol smiled, "They're really good friends. They talk and stuff. She's in the grade beneath him."

"Wow." Ross said, "It's early to be interested in the opposite sex."

"It's not like that, I can assure you." Carol promised.

In that second Ben, Susan and a shy girl came into the living room.

"Oh, hello Ross." Susan said.

"Daddy!" Ben exclaimed, running to hug him.

"Hi Ben." Ross said.

"This is my friend..." Ben introduced them, "…Ashley. Ash, this is my dad."

"Hi." Ashley said. She looked at Ben, "Are you going to his place? 'Cause if I'm trouble I'll just go home."

"No, you're not trouble Ashley." Carol assured her, "We just don't understand why your mom hasn't come yet or why she wont answer her cell phone."

"Oh, I have an idea!" Ashley suddenly said, "You should call the hospital and ask if she's come in today or yesterday?"

"Why would we do that?" Susan asked.

"She's just really clumsy." Ashley lied, "She hurts a lot."

"Okay, if you think it's a good idea." Carol said, and grabbed the phone. She dialled the number and waited, "Yes this is Carol Willick. Is was wondering, do you have a Rachel Farber?" she paused, "You do? Okay, could you please tell me… When was she brought in? Aha, yes. When will she be able to leave? Why? We kinda have her daughter here, so… Yes, aha. Maybe I'll step by then. Tell her to get well soon, because Ashley is missing her. Yeah. Thank you. Bye."

She hung up the phone.

"When was she brought in?" Ashley asked.

"4 in the morning." Carol said.

Ashley crooked an eyebrow.

"Say Ashley, what was she doing 4 in the morning that could possible hurt her like that?"

"She could have fallen out of the bed." Ashley just said, and when the others looked at her, she added; "You don't know my mom!"

"Well, there's three possibilities then, Ashley." Ross said, "I could drop you off at the hospital to go see your mom. Or I could drop you off at your fathers place. Or… you know, you could come with Ben to my place until your mom can pick you up? What do you want?"

"I don't want go home…" Ashley wondered, "And I hate being at the hospital with my mom, then, I would very much like to go to your place?"

"Okay." Ross said, "Both of you, get your bags. Carol, you'll contact her mom, right?"

"I'll step by later." she said, "And hey Ross – before you do anything stupid. You said your fathers place before… Her parents are not divorced. They live together in the expensive part of town. Upper east side of Avenue, but I don't know.. Ashley isn't that close with her dad, she definitely does not want to be alone with him…. Anyway, I just thought you should know, okay?"

"Really?" Ross exclaimed, "Thank you. I'll drop Ben off tomorrow night then. We'll see if she's still here by that?"

"Yes, that'll do."

--

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Where can I find a Rachel Farber?"

"Room 5342. It's that way."

"Okay, thank you." Carol smiled and turned around.

She went into the elevator and pressed the bottom. She waited impatiently and hoped that Rachel was okay with her coming.

When the elevator reached the right floor, she went down the hall, looking for the right room. When she found it, she knocked.

Then, she waited for Rachel to say "Come in," and when she did, she slowly turned to doorknob down.

What she saw when she went into that hospital room, was a sight she'd never forget.

Okaay, back again soon, oh yes, I think so! Leave me a review, really. Thanks, Stessa.