AN: I know it's been awhile since I updated this story. But I've had a writer's block for this story. I've also been busy with work, school, and baby-sitting my nieces, nephews, and cousins. The timeline for this is a little off. In this chapter, it would be about Mid-February. I want to thank Sammie-Jayne for inspiring me to keep writing this story. So read on! Please R&R!

Disclaimer: I own no one. They all belong to Bright/Kauffman/Crane.

Chapter 12: Close Call

The next several weeks, Phoebe and Chandler tried to spend some time together alone, but it was difficult with their busy schedules and Sophie taking up most of Chandler's free time. So they spent most of their time at Chandler's place as he did house work and Phoebe helped him take care of Sophie.

"Ok. Laundry done." Chandler sighed as he placed the last article of folded clothing on top of the pile. "It's never-ending."

"I can't believe all that is from you guys for just four days."

"This is all Sophie's laundry," he told her. "I do mine separately from hers."

"Wow. She goes through a lot of clothes."

"Yes, she does." He went to go put all of Sophie's clothes away in her room, and then went to his room to get ready for work while Phoebe entertained Sophie.

Chandler came out of his room and saw that Beth was there already. She was helping Sophie build a block tower as Phoebe gathered her things.

"Want me to drop you off at your apartment?" he asked her.

"I'm meeting Joey at your work." She told him.

"Ok." He went to Sophie and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll be home around eleven probably."

"Be careful out there." Beth called. "It's really icy out there."

"Great," Chandler mumbled as they walked outside. "And I have to deliver tonight."

Monica sat glumly at a table in the pizza shop next to her parents as they waited for Ross to show up. She looked around as her parents started in on her again about choosing a college.

"Hey, Monica." Todd came up to their table. "Can I get you guys something to drink?"

"Diet Coke." Monica mumbled as her parents told him their choices.

"How does he know you?" Judy demanded as he walked away.

"He's Chandler's co-worker." She mumbled. "This is where Chandler works."

"Is he working tonight?" Jack asked.

"I don't know."

"Hey," Ross came in with Carol. "Did you order, yet?"

"Not yet." Judy smiled at them.

"What's wrong, Monica?" Carol went to her.

"I told them my college choice and they don't like it." Monica stated.

"Where did you decide to go?" Ross asked.

"Florida. I'll be living in Nana's guest house."

"You got into Florida?" Carol smiled. "That's great."

"It's so far away." Judy glared at Carol.

"It's her decision, not yours." Ross told them as he looked at Monica. "And if you want to go there, you should."

"Thank you." She smiled at her brother.

"What made you decide to go to Florida?" Ross asked her.

"It's the farthest one away that accepted me." Monica glared over at her parents. "The farther away from them that I am the better."

"Hey, guys." They looked and saw Joey coming up to them. "Is Phoebe here yet? Chandler was bringing her here when he came in to work."

"How are they doing?" Carol asked him. "He doesn't tell us anything."

"They're taking it slow because of Sophie." He told them. "They usually spend their date nights at his place or at our place because they both have no money."

"Hey, Bing!" they heard Tony announce as they watched Chandler come into the shop with Phoebe. "You're driving tonight. Clock on and take some deliveries."

"Be careful," Phoebe told him.

"I will." He smiled at her. "I'd better clock on."

"Hey," Phoebe went to them. "What's going on, Monica? Are you ok?"

"Our parents don't like her college choice." Ross told her.

"You got into Florida then?"

"Yes." Monica smiled at her.

"So you're dating that boy?" Judy asked her disdainfully.

"He has a name, you know." Joey told them.

"Yes, I am dating Chandler." Phoebe faced them. "I'm not as closed minded as some people. It doesn't bother me that he has a daughter. It makes him even more appealing that he does it on his own. He's a much better parent to his daughter than you two are combined."

"Let's sit over at this table," Joey went to a table a few tables away from Ross and Monica's parents.

"We'll join you," Ross, Carol, and Monica went to the table with Phoebe. "I don't feel like being at the same table as them."

"We came here to spend some time with you," Jack told him.

"Well, you're out of luck." Ross told them. "You can't tell us who we can and can't be friends with. That's our choice."

"And you definitely have no say over where I decide to go to college." Monica told them. "Deal with it."

Chandler was standing near the counter and heard everything that was said. He couldn't believe that his friends had stood up for him like that. Todd looked at him as he finished clocking on.

"So those are the people that you spent Thanksgiving with?" he asked him.

"Unfortunately," he mumbled as he picked up the delivery bags.

"Be careful on the roads, Bing." Tony told him before he walked out the back door. "The roads are bad in some areas, but we told the customers it'll be awhile because of the ice."

"Got it." Chandler went out to his car and pulled away from the shop.

An hour later, they were all still at the pizza shop. Jack and Judy Gellar had left not long after they all switched tables. They hadn't seen Chandler come back to the store since he arrived, but they figured it was really busy.

"I'm happy you got into Florida," Ross looked at Monica. "But I will miss being able to see you."

"I'll come back for holidays to see you guys," she told them. "But I'm not promising that I'll see mom and dad."

"You have to write us," Phoebe told her. "Promise us."

"I promise,"

"Ross," Chandler's co-worker, Todd, came up to their table. "Tony just received a call from a state trooper. Chandler's been in an accident."

"What?" Phoebe jumped up. "How bad is it?"

"He's still on the phone with them."

"Ok." Tony came out to them. "They're airlifting him to the hospital."

"How bad is it?" Carol asked.

"It was just past the bridge. He was on his way back here when he hit a patch of ice. His car flipped over on its roof."

"We should get to the hospital," Ross said.

"I'll go to his house and let Beth know what happened." Phoebe told them as they all started to walk out. "To see if she can stay with Sophie."

"Try to find out where his mom is at too." Monica called after her as Joey went with her.

Monica followed behind Ross and Carol into the hospital and they rushed to the nurse's station to ask about Chandler. The head nurse got on the phone to find out where he was.

"He hasn't been brought in yet," she informed them as she hung up the phone. "They are en route here. Go sit down and I'll let you know when he arrives."

"Thank you," they went to sit in the waiting room.

"Hey," Phoebe and Joey rushed into the entrance and went to them. "How is he?"

"They haven't brought him in yet." Ross told them. "They're en route."

"Did you find his mom?" Carol asked.

"We found the number where she's at, but we haven't been able to reach her." Phoebe told them. "I'll keep trying."

"Is Beth going to stay with Sophie?" Monica asked.

"She said she can stay until morning." Joey told them.

"Excuse me," the nurse came over to them. "Your friend will be here in about five minutes at those doors."

"Thank you," they all stood up and went to the doors as they burst open and two EMTs pushed in a gurney.

"Chandler," Carol gasped as she saw him strapped down to a back board and wearing a neck brace. He had a few scratches on his face and there was dried blood all over his face and clothes. His eyes were just barely open and he was moaning as he tried to look at all of them.

"Is he ok?" Ross asked.

"He should be fine." One of the EMTs told them. "But he's been delirious the whole way here. He keeps saying the name Sophie."

"That's his daughter,"

"Sophie is fine," Phoebe assured him. "Beth will stay with her."

"We should get him to an exam room," a doctor came up to them.

They all went back to the waiting room as Chandler was pushed away towards the back examining rooms. Phoebe and Joey went to the pay phones and took turns trying to call Chandler's mom.

Nora Bing had just gotten back to her hotel room in Seattle after a long day of promoting her book. She just wanted to sleep and sighed as the phone in her room started to ring.

"Hello?" she asked, exhausted.

"Is this Nora Bing?" she heard a female voice on the other end.

"Yes. Who is this?"

"This is Phoebe Buffay. We met at Christmas."

"Yes. You're friends with my son. Is Chandler all right?"

"Actually, no. He got into a car accident. He's being taken to surgery right now."

"I'm on my way." She hung up the phone and quickly packed up her things and made flight plans for the next plane out to New York.

It had been a few hours since Chandler had been brought into the ER. They all sat restlessly in the waiting room as they waited for any word on him. Ross called his parents and told them that Monica would be spending the night at Carol's dorm room. Chandler's co-worker, Todd, had shown up to find out about his condition, but left an hour after he arrived. Phoebe was trying to be strong, but she was close to losing it.

"Mrs. Bing," Phoebe looked up as she saw her rush through the emergency room doors. "You're here already."

"I was able to get the last seat on the final flight of the night." She put her bags down on one of the chairs. "I came straight here from the airport. Is there any word yet?"

"He got out of surgery a couple hours ago," Carol told her. "But they won't let us in to see him because we're not family."

"That is ridiculous," Nora marched to the front desk. "I'm here to see my son, Chandler Bing. He was in a car accident."

"I'll page the doctor who tended to him," the nurse got on the phone and a few minutes later, a doctor came out to them.

"Mrs. Bing," he shook her hand. "I'm Dr. Hensen. I'm in charge of your son's care."

"How is he?"

"We had to operate on his arm because it was fractured. And he has a slight concussion. We want to keep him here for a few days to monitor him."

"That's no problem. Can we see him?"

"Family only." He looked at everyone standing behind her.

"They are his family." She told him firmly. "Are you going to take us to see him or not?"

"Of course. Right this way." He led them down the hall and to a private room.

They all walked into the room and saw Chandler sleeping soundly on the hospital bed. His left arm was in a sling and he had a bandage on his forehead and there were numerous scratches and bruises all over his face.

"Will he wake up soon?" Nora looked at the doctor.

"As soon as the medication wears off." He told her. "Most likely in the morning."

The next morning, Nora went to Chandler's apartment to relieve Beth and brought Sophie down to the hospital. Everyone was still sitting around Chandler's bed as they waited impatiently for him to wake up.

"No change?" Nora asked as she came back into his room.

"None." Carol told her as she offered to take Sophie from Nora.

"Has the doctor been in to check on him yet?"

"He's on his way." Joey told her.

They all looked towards the bed as they heard movement and saw Chandler's eyes slowly opening. He looked around and spotted them all sitting around the room.

"What's going on?" he asked softly.

"Thank goodness you're awake." Nora went to him. "You were in a car accident last night."

"Oh, yeah. Now I remember." He watched his mom press the call button as Phoebe got up and went to the bed and took his good hand.

"You scared me," she told him.

"Where's Sophie?" he asked.

"She's right here," Carol put her on the bed with him.

"Mr. Bing," the doctor came into the room. "I'm Dr. Hensen. How are you feeling?"

"I'm ok." He said softly.

"You're going to be just fine. I want you to keep this air cast on for a few weeks so your arm can heal, then you'll be as good as new."

"So when can I get out of here?"

"I want to keep you here for another day. You'll be able to go home in the morning."

"Ok."

"Your breakfast should be in here soon." Dr. Hensen told him before he walked out of the room.

Everyone else walked out of the room at Nora's request so she could talk to Chandler alone.

"I went to see your car this morning to see how bad it was," she told him.

"And how bad is it?" he looked at her.

"Well, I'm surprised we're talking to each other right now." She sat down beside the bed. "But they think they can fix it. It'll just take a few weeks."

"I'll probably be moved inside for work right now anyway." He pulled Sophie back from almost going off the edge of the bed.

"So you and Phoebe then?" Nora looked at him.

"What'd you do, grill all my friends?"

"I didn't have to. I saw how relieved she was when you woke up, and how you both looked at each other."

"It's only been a few weeks," he told her. "And it's not like we can get out by ourselves. I have Sophie, school, work, and we're both on a budget."

"Well, I'm glad you're finally dating again."

Later that day, Both Tony and Todd dropped by to see Chandler. Tony had brought a few pizzas for them and they ended up staying there for a couple hours. When it started to get late, Nora took Sophie back to Chandler's for the night promising him that she would be there first thing in the morning to take him home. His friends went home after the night nurse came in and told them that visiting hours were over. Phoebe was the last to leave the room and met up with Joey in the hall as Chandler tried to get some sleep.

Next Chapter: Sophie's first birthday!

AN: So what did you all think? I'm going to try to post another chapter within the next week. I'm also working on two other stories right now that I will try to post soon as well. So please R&R!