In the morning, most of the gang breakfasted at Monica's apartment and asked Joey if he was feeling any better.
He grunted and shrugged.
"Do you wanna call in sick to work?" Monica suggested. "One of us could stay home with you."
"No, I'll be okay. Work will take my mind off it."
"Okay, but you just call Phoebe if you want some company. Her massage schedule is pretty light today."
Phoebe nodded. "Yeah I rescheduled some appointments last night."
No one had even mentioned Ross, Rachel, and Emma yet, and despite the fine weather, Monica had shut the drapes on the window so that Joey wouldn't have to see them reuniting as a family.
When Joey returned to his apartment with Hugsy, he couldn't stand seeing the apartment so empty, without Rachel's stuff or all the baby things. It was like she'd never lived there. He reluctantly showered and got dressed for work, hoping that his job could keep his mind off Rachel.
But at the studio, Joey remained distracted and spent a lot of time brooding in his dressing room. He wondered how and when the gang planned on bringing Ross and Rachel back into the group. There would surely be awkwardness and strained conversation for a long time, and Joey didn't know if he could bear seeing Ross and Rachel together, or if he could ever be completely happy for them. What if things could never be normal again? What if they were wrecked for good?
Impulsively, Joey decided to leave New York and move to Los Angeles, where he could start over. He shocked and angered everybody at Days of Our Lives by abruptly quitting, then went home and paid off the rent.
Joey hurriedly packed his bags and wrote a goodbye note, then he took a taxicab to the petting zoo, where the chick and the duck had been living ever since Rachel's pregnancy made her unable to stand living with the birds. Joey had been regularly visiting them, though, since they still lived nearby.
Because it was November now, the birds and other animals were being kept indoors, in a modified barn. Finding the birds, Joey pet them and briefly explained that he had broken up with Rachel, so now he was leaving New York.
They were quite upset by the news, even flapping their wings in protest.
"I'm sorry. I just can't stay here anymore, and they'll be better off without me. But it's okay, because I asked Chandler to visit you guys now. Goodbye." Then he got up and left the barn sadly. He returned to his waiting taxi and headed to the airport.
Chandler came home from work early and looked around for Joey, but couldn't find him. When he checked Joey's apartment, he found the note waiting on the kitchen counter.
"You guys can say, 'I told you so' if you want. Yeah, I was stupid to think Rachel would stay with me instead of Ross. Anyway, I decided that I need to get out of here for good, and I'm sorry I messed things up so much. Chandler, can you visit the birds at the zoo for me? Just once a week. I'll tell them I'm going. And you can have the foosball table. Goodbye."
Chandler was shocked and needed to sit down. "Oh my God."
When Monica came home, she found Chandler sitting in Joey's apartment by himself. "Chandler?"
He sat there dazed and numb.
"What's wrong? Where's Joey?"
"He ran away." Chandler tossed her the note and miserably put his head down in his hands.
"Oh no!" Monica said. "Where do you think he went? Not Vermont?" Joey had talked of moving to Vermont when he first told Ross about his crush on Rachel.
Chandler didn't answer, so Monica continued her speculations. "Or maybe he went to his parents' house. We should call them to check. Oh, and I better call the rest of the gang so they can help us look for him." She started to pick up the phone.
"That bitch," Chandler suddenly said.
"What?"
"Rachel, that selfish bitch. This is all her fault."
"Chandler, how can you say that? You know she didn't do this intentionally."
"Yes she did. She's a manipulative, spoiled little bitch!"
"Hey, shut up! Maybe you need somebody to blame for this, but I'm not gonna let you call my best friend names. How would you like it if I called Joey names!"
"It's not Joey's fault! It's hers! You've told me yourself how rotten she was in high school, and she's never grown up, not even with her baby! I mean, sure, Joey got the crush on her first, and she had to turn him down. That was fine, and that was honest. But then she had to go after him in Barbados and play around with his feelings, only to stomp on his heart again. Now Joey's gone, and it's all her fault."
"Chandler!"
"I'm gonna find Joey and get him back!" He got up from the recliner and started to leave.
"Where, his parents' house?"
"I don't know. If he's in Antarctica, then I'll see you in six months."
"Chandler!"
He stormed out and slammed the door.
Chandler visited the Days of Our Lives set first and asked if Joey had said anything about where he was going. He hadn't, and everyone was rather busy recasting the role of Dr. Drake Ramoray.
Chandler tried Joey's agent Estelle, but still came up empty. Then he tried the Tribbiani household, and Joey wasn't there either, so Chandler decided to go to Vermont next, but it would definitely take awhile to search the whole state. He figured he'd have to check out all the pizza and sandwich shops first.
But then Chandler remembered the birds at the petting zoo, so he made a stop there to tell the birds that he'd be gone.
"Hey guys. Long time no see. Joey said he already came by to tell you goodbye."
The birds answered with quacks and clucks, seeming to understand the gravity of the situation. Then the rooster flapped his wings questioningly.
Chandler nodded. "Yeah, he's really gone. He left a note saying I should take his place visiting you guys." There were some people at the zoo that were staring at him for talking to the birds, but Chandler shrugged it off. "I'll do that, I promise, but first I want to try to find him to bring him back. Are you guys going to be okay here?"
They expressed their agreement.
"You sure? 'Cause I don't know how long I'll be gone looking for him."
The duck quacked insistently, and the rooster crowed and scratched at the ground.
Chandler took these nonverbal communications to mean, "Go ahead. Find him," and "Good luck."
"Thanks. Oh, maybe I'll get Phoebe to visit you, if it's a really long time. You like her, right?" He petted them one more time before he got up to go. "Bye."
Then Chandler left, borrowing Monica's Porsche to drive to Vermont.
Yes, in this story, the original chick and the duck are alive and well. I looked up some information suggesting that ducks and roosters can live for a dozen or more years when cared for well.
I made up the explanation about the birds living in the petting zoo to explain why they aren't in the apartment anymore. During season 7, Rachel expressed irritation with the duck for eating her face cream, and in season 8, during her pregnancy, she expressed an aversion to poultry--not just to eating it, but smelling it and being near it too. So I've assumed that she made a complaint about the live chick and the duck at that time, and that Joey sent the birds away, rather than fighting with Rachel about it.