I don't own them.
Ross was the last one to the hospital. He rushed over to where his friends were waiting, huddled in a group. They looked serious, their faces grave. "Hey guys." Ross said, then, "Chandler, how're you doing?"
Chandler shrugged. Rachel's arm was on his shoulder and Phoebe was leaning on him.
"What happened?" Ross had gotten a garbled phone call two hours before from Rachel. He'd been in the middle of class and her voice had ripped right through him. Joey...hurt...hospital...hurry... He had forced himself to finish his lecture before bolting to the hospital, wondering what had happened.
"Well..." Chandler's voice wasn't strong and Ross was surprised to see his friend on the edge of tears. "I came home and there was nothing. No furniture or anything, except the stupid Entertainment Center. Joey had been there trying to sell it, right? Then I noticed there was blood everywhere. I opened the Entertainment Center and Joey was stuffed inside." He drew in a breath of air, but didn't say anything else. He didn't trust himself not to break down.
"He'd been beaten bad, Ross." Rachel explained, one hand reaching out to bring Ross into their circle. "The doctors said they're surprised he's not dead."
Ross did a double take. Joey? Dead? What was happening? Who would hurt Joey?
"We haven't heard anything from the doctors except that he has a bad concussion and he was stabbed in the stomach by...something." Monica said, her voice high and fast.
Ross turned back to Chandler, "This must be terrible for you." It was hard for all of them, but Joey was Chandler's best friend. His Bert to his Ernie. Chandler nodded.
"How could I let this happen?" Chandler said, the voice coming out rough.
Ross grew stern, he threw an arm over Chandler's shoulder and led him a little way away from the girls. "Listen, you didn't do anything to make this happen, okay? None of this is your fault."
"I know." Chandler wiped a sleeve over his eyes. Ross noticed that his white shirt was stained with blood. "But...I mean...Ross, it's Joey."
Ross understood. "I know. I'm sorry, but listen, we're all here, okay? He's going to pull through this. He'll be fine."
"How can you be sure?"
Ross shrugged. "I can't be, but―"
The conversation would have gone on like this for another ten minutes if the doctor hadn't walked into the waiting room. The group moved over to him when he called, "Is there anyone here for a...Joseph Tribioni?"
When they were all around him, he told the group, face grave, "Joseph has slipped into a coma. The wound on his head exerted too much pressure on the brain. Right now we're trying to fix his lung. It was punctured by the knife."
The group was silent. They stood, gaping at the doctor. "What?" Pheobe asked, her mouth hanging open.
The doctor looked at them, his eyes kind and sympathetic. "I'm sorry. With any luck, he'll wake up in a day or two. If he doesn't...well, the chances get slimmer." he cleared his throat. "Ordinarily, I'd let you see him, talk to him. But he's just coming out of surgery. It'll be another hour or so."
The doctor left. Chandler turned around and stared at Ross and the girls who stared back at him. Then he started crying, tears dripping down his cheeks. He couldn't see anyone else. He didn't realize they were crying too.
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