Okay! I had, had this in one of my notebooks, but my mom decided to remodel my room while I was at school and now all my notebooks are missing. I'm going to try and do this from memory. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: What do you think!

Worse Than We Thought

Chapter 1

Wrong All Along

Apartment

"Jess! Wake up!" Luke yelled as he pounded on Jess' door. "Your shift started an hour ago!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jess' voice came from the other side of the door. After about five minutes Jess opened his door and lightly pushed past Luke as he headed out. Probably still half asleep, Luke thought shrugging off the worry that filled his mind for a moment.

What the hell is wrong with me? Jess asked himself as he leaned against the wall trying to catch his breath. Shaking his head quickly he winced as he felt a pain shoot through his head. Weakly pushing himself off the wall he took a moment to steady himself before he slowly walked down the stairs.

"Hey, Jess," Rory said with a small smile as she walked in.

"Hey," Jess said, mentally wincing as he saw the cast on her arm.

Looking out the window she shook her head. "Hold on a second," she said standing. Walking out of the diner Jess laughed lightly as he watched Rory grab her mother's arm and drag her in.

"Go ahead up," Jess said nodding towards the door. Seeing Lorelai glare at him he sent her an equal glare and watched as she headed up.

"They'd better make up," Rory said.

"Or make out," Jess said seeing Rory glare at him slightly. "What? Luke's been waiting years. It's obvious."

"Shut up," Rory said leaning over and slapping him on the head. Hearing him gasp in pain she looked at him worried. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a headache."

"Take an aspirin."

"I did. I'm just waiting for it to kick in," Jess lied. It's probably nothing anyway, Jess thought.

"Okay," Rory said shrugging. Seeing her mom walk down she smiled slightly. "So? How'd it go?"

"We made up," Lorelai said smiling. Rushing over to her daughter she whispered, "He kissed me."

"Really!" Rory exclaimed trying to keep her voice in check. "Tell me about it all later. I have school." Standing she walked out the door and headed towards the bus stop.

"Rory!"

"Hey, Lane," Rory said smiling as she saw her friend run towards her.

"How's the arm?"

"It's okay," Rory said shrugging.

"Well, here," Lane said handing her friend an Emily The Strange sticker. "Angry girl for an angry arm."

"Thanks," Rory said laughing as Lane put the sticker on. Seeing her bus drive up she grabbed her bag. "Later."

"Later," Lane said as she grabbed her own bag and headed towards her own school.

Chilton

"Hey, Rory," Paris said nodding at her friend as she walked up to her in the hall.

"Hey, Paris."

"What happened to your arm?" Madeline asked.

"Huh?" Rory said forgetting about her cast for a moment. "Car accident. I hit it on the dash."

"Who were you in a car accident with?" Louise asked suddenly very interested. "Your boyfriend?"

"No," Rory said shaking her head. "I'd been with my friend Jess. I was tutoring him and we went for an ice cream break. He swerved to miss an animal and we…well crashed."

"Wait," Paris said suddenly. "As in the Jess that showed up at your house with that care package that night when your mom was away?"

"What! Rory Gilmore! You had a boy at your house when your mom was away?" Louise asked. "That's a side we haven't seen."

"Paris was over too," Rory said.

"Get that look off your faces," Paris snapped.

"Yeah, yeah," Madeline said nodding.

"We have class. Let's go," Paris said as she dragged her friends to their English Literature class.

After School

"Hey, babe," Lorelai said as she saw Rory step off the bus. Handing her daughter a cup of coffee she saw Rory nod in thanks.

"Hey, Mom."

"How was school?" Lorelai asked as they began on the trek to Luke's.

"Okay," Rory said shrugging. "Louise and Madeline think me and Paris had a threesome with Jess."

"What!" Lorelai exclaimed suddenly. "And how did this happen?"

"Remember when you went to the spa? I told you how Jess came over with a care package. Well, when I told them who I was with in the accident Paris decided to bring that up and ta-da."

"Wow," Lorelai said laughing. "Those two have quite a mind."

"Oh, yeah," Rory said nodding. Walking into Luke's they both took their usual table.

"Coffee!" Lorelai yelled waving her cup like a mad man…or woman.

"Luke! Problem!" Caesar yelled from the kitchen.

"What now?" Luke yelled back. Going over to Jess, who was sitting with his head in his arms, he hit him on the back of his head to get his attention. "Jess, go give those crazy people their coffee."

Slowly pushing himself up from his spot he took a moment and grabbed the coffee pot. Walking around the counter he headed towards the Gilmores until his vision suddenly blurred. Stopping he raised his hand to his head. What the hell is going on?

"Jess, are you okay?" Rory asked worried.

"Yeah, I'm-" Jess began before he collapsed to the floor.

"Jess!" Rory exclaimed knocking her chair back as she rushed to his side.

"Luke!" Lorelai yelled as she too rushed to Jess' side.

"Jess, wake up! Mom, what's going on!"

"I don't know, Rory," Lorelai said as she placed her hand on Jess' forehead. Quickly taking it away she hissed. "He's burning up. God, where is he? Luke!"

"What?" Luke yelled back sticking his head out. Seeing his nephew lying on the floor he rushed over. "What happened!"

"We don't know," Lorelai said shaking her head. "He was walking over, he stopped for a second, and then he just collapsed. He has a bad fever."

Feeling Jess' forehead himself he winced at the heat. "You're right." Looking up he yelled, "Someone call for an ambulance! Screw the no cell phone rule!"

Taking out her cell phone Lorelai quickly dialed 911 when she noticed that they were the only ones in the diner. Giving them the details she waited a moment before taking the phone off her ear. "They'll be here soon."

"Wait," Rory suddenly said. "Do you think that this has anything to do with the accident?"

"I don't know," Luke said as he watched Rory place Jess' head in her lap.

"I see the ambulance!" Lorelai suddenly said as she opened the door to let them in.

"What happened?" a young, male paramedic asked as he checked Jess' pulse. Nodding as Rory explained he made a confirming nod to his female partner. "Has anything happened recently that could have caused this?"

"We were in a car accident yesterday, but the doctors gave him a clean bill of health," Rory said.

Kneeling down, the female paramedic placed a thermometer into his ear and waited a moment for it to beep. "Fever's 105.6. The collapse could have been from the fever or an injury that got overlooked in the accident. He's going to need these cuts stitched too," she said pointing to the cuts made from the broken coffee pot.

Bringing the stretcher in the male paramedic nodded to his partner and they slowly lifted Jess out of Rory's lap and onto the waiting stretcher. Before shutting the ambulance doors the male paramedic turned to the three. "One of you can fit in here."

"You go, Luke," Lorelai said seeing Rory nod beside her. Watching Luke nod and follow the paramedics and ride off hearing the sirens blaring she sighed.

"What is with all the sirens this week!" Taylor suddenly yelled coming out from the market.

"Bye, Taylor," Lorelai and Rory said in unison before laughing lightly.

"Mom, can you pick me up at Lane's? I was supposed to meet her later. I just want her to know what's going on," Rory explained.

"Sure, babe," Lorelai said nodding. Hugging her daughter she kissed her forehead before pulling away. "I'm gonna run back to the house and grab the Jeep. Pray Mommy doesn't break her ankle as she runs."

"Starting now," Rory said nodding and laughing as she watched her mother turn and begin to run, with much difficulty from her heels. "Good luck!"

"Gonna need it!" Lorelai yelled back as her ankle bent in and she stumbled. "I'm okay!" she yelled back as she continued to run.

"Good!" Rory yelled as she laughed. Turning, she crossed the street and went in past the gates to take her into Kim's Antiques. Opening the door she called for her friend. "Lane!"

"Rory?" Lane yelled back. "That you?"

"Yeah, where are you?"

"By the chairs!"

"Please, don't say you're serious," Rory pleaded as she looked around at the millions of chairs in the store.

"Yeah," Lane's voice yelled back as she laughed. "Um…chairs to your…right. Left Street."

"Gotcha," Rory yelled back laughing as she remembered the days her and Lane had used making their own map of the store. They had named the aisles as streets once they left the main entrance. Heading down Left Street she continues until she reached the first fork. "Wood or Metal?"

"Wood," Lane called back. "Then, go down Desk Set Boulevard!"

After a couple of minutes Rory finally caught sight of her friend's raven black hair. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," Lane said turning to her friend smiling. But, once she saw her friend's swollen and red eyes her smile deflated. "What's wrong?"

"Didn't you hear the sirens?" Rory asked chucking slightly as she remembered Taylor's aggravation.

"Yeah," Lane said nodding. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Because…Jess is the reason the ambulance was even here."

"Why? What happened?"

"We don't know," Rory said shaking her head. "He just passed out and he wouldn't wake up. My mom ran back to the house to get the Jeep and then we're heading to the hospital. Um…I was wondering…would you come with me? I mean like Luke's going to have my mom and-"

"Yeah," Lane said nodding. "Let me just ask dear, old, Mama Kim." Standing she walked out and returned just a minute later nodding. "I just told her this was there big emergency."

"Thanks," Rory said hugging her friend. Hearing her mom honk the horn of the Jeep she separated from her longtime best friend.

"Let's go," Lane said grabbing Rory's hand and leading her to the door and to Lorelai's car.

"Hey, Lane," Lorelai said as the two friends climbed into the car. "You coming too?"

"Yeah," Lane said nodding. "Is it okay?"

"Absolutely, no problem," Lorelai said shaking her head. Driving onto the highway they began the half hour trip to Hartford.

Hartford Memorial

"Thank God," Rory mumbled as she jumped out of the now parked car. Quickly slamming the door she took a moment to stare at the hospital she had visited just the day before. "Why don't I just move here?" she mumbled to herself.

"Do and I'll give you a reason to be here long term," Lorelai said slapping her daughter on the arm lightly. Walking through the first set of doors they continued until they were met with a heap of flannel and a baseball cap. Seeing Luke sitting with his head in his hands she asked worriedly, "Did you get any news?"

"No, not yet," Luke said shaking his head. "I'm worried, though. On the way here his fever just shot up even higher."

"Higher?" Rory echoed amazed. "How could it get any higher?"

"I didn't think it could either," Luke said shrugging sadly.

"What was it at the diner?" Lane asked.

"105.6," Lorelai said.

"Then, what could it have risen to?" Lane asked, her eyes widening.

"107.8," Luke said shaking his head. "Just…how could no one have noticed that he had gotten so sick? I live in the same apartment as him!"

Placing her arm around his shoulders Lorelai gently hugged him. "It's not your fault, Luke. I mean, no offence to Jess, but he isn't the kind of guy that would go up to you and whine about not being able to go to school because he wasn't feeling well. He probably just thought it was a cold or something and didn't check his temperature. He was in the diner all day."

"Yeah," Luke said nodding. "You're right." Stopping he smiled slightly. "Actually, he wasn't at school because he was suspended."

"I thought so," Lane said. "I heard one of the teachers fuming. What'd he do?"

"His history teacher had to go on maternity leave so the whole class just got split up and put into different ones. And, lucky Jess got Carmella-"

"Wait," Rory suddenly interrupted. "That old history teacher that made me cry in my freshman year?"

"Oh, my God," Lorelai moaned. "That man was such a bastard!"

"One and the same," Luke said nodding. "Well, on the first day with him the teacher decided that Jess' Clash T-shirt was 'too tight for a boy' and Jess shot back at him that he was just mad because if he tried to wear the shirt then his Santa stomach would rip it into shreds. And obviously Carmella just got plain pissed."

"At least someone finally put her in him place," Lane said smiling.

"Yeah," Luke said nodding. "That was the one time I wasn't mad at him for getting suspended."

"Of course," Lorelai said.

"It's so worth it," Rory said laughing slightly. Suddenly quieting down as if remembering why they were even at the hospital. Sighing she leaned into her mother's chest and felt Lorelai wrap her arms around her. "Here we are laughing and for all we know…"

"He'll be okay, Rory," Lorelai said. Looking down at Rory she let one arm go to the pocket and bring out a bunch of one dollar bills. "Why don't you and Lane go down to the vending machines? Bring back some drinks and something to eat. I don't think we can trust the food here no matter how much money the Gilmores have put into this place."

Laughing slightly Rory nodded and took the money. "We'll be back in a little, because we have absolutely no idea of where the machines are."

Grabbing her Rory's arm Lane pulled her friend to her feet. "And, off we go."

After the girls left Lorelai turned to Luke and placed her hand on his own. "He'll be okay, Luke."

"Do you know that? Are you a doctor now?" Luke snapped. Suddenly, realizing what he did he looked at Lorelai in guilt. "I'm sorry, Lor. I-"

"I know, Luke," Lorelai said. "You're scared and nervous. You have every right to be."

"Now, I know how you felt yesterday. I mean I was scared yesterday, but not this bad. I mean he wasn't…here," he said throwing his arm up to show what he meant. "Lor, I really do think of him as my son."

"I know," Lorelai said nodding. "It shows." Looking down at her watch she glared at it as if it were a sign saying coffee was outlawed forever. "I have to call my darling parents. I'll be back in a second okay?"

"Yeah," Luke said nodding.

Standing Lorelai headed down the hall a little ways until she was out of Luke's hearing range she took out her phone and dialed the number to her parent's house.

"Gilmore residence."

"Hi," Lorelai said. "This is Lorelai, the darling daughter to Emily and Richard." We may be at a hospital, but hey, this is me.

"One moment, please," the maid, before Lorelai heard the sound of the phone being set down.

"Lorelai?" Emily asked picking up the phone.

"Hey, Mom," Lorelai said. I really should have thought about how I'd say this. She's going to flip if I want to skip for a kid I hate.

"Where are you?"

"Um…it's a funny story really…" Lorelai began slowly.

"Where are you, Lorelai?"

"The hospital-"

"What! Are you alright!"

"Yes, Mom; I'm fine."

"It's Rory then. What happened!"

"Rory's fine too, Mom," Lorelai said as she felt a headache coming on.

"Then, why are you at a hospital!"

"Jess collapsed, Mom."

"Jess? You mean that boy? The diner man's nephew?"

"Yes," Lorelai said. "We were all at the diner and he just collapsed. He had a high fever, but they weren't sure if it was from that or from the accident-"

"What accident?" Emily asked interrupting Lorelai once again.

"There was one yesterday. Rory was tutoring Jess and they went for ice cream. Rory was reading and Jess was driving and they swerved to miss an animal. Rory hit her wrist against the dash and got a wicked small fracture," Lorelai said. Now that I think about it, it wasn't really Jess' fault. He just didn't want to kill an animal.

"Are you sure she's okay?" Emily asked, amazing Lorelai that her mother wasn't blowing up about Jess.

"She's going to wear the cast for two weeks then she's free."

"Good," Emily said sighing in relief.

"Mom, I called because I just wanted to ask if you would mind if we skipped dinner this week. I'm worried about Luke and I don't want to leave him alone. Rory's freaking out too."

"And, why is she freaking out? It's not like she loves the boy, Lorelai."

"I think she might, Mom. I really do," Lorelai said.

"And, what about that other boy?"

"I don't know, Mom."

After a moment Emily replied. "All right. We'll see you next Friday. Good-bye, Lorelai."

"Bye, Mom," Lorelai said hanging up.

"Mom!" Rory's voice came from her right. Looking up she saw her daughter running at her with a mask of panic covering her face.

"What is it, babe?" Lorelai asked as Rory stopped in front of her.

"The…the a…accident," Rory said between pants. Finally, catching her breath she stared at Lorelai with tear filled eyes. "He did get hurt."

TBC

Anime Girl23: Done! Okay, this is totally different from my original version, but I think it's better like this. The last version was a little too rushed.

Jess: So you're going to do the same thing you did in the last story. Torture me.

Anime Girl23: Yes, well you have to deal with it:P

Jess: Like I say every time. I hate you.

Anime Girl23: No, you don't:P Now, everyone! Please go down and press the little purple button that says "GO!" and leave a review!

Note: Please don't flame me. But, if you really want to make me sad then your flames will be used to burn my evil history teacher. The teacher in this chapter was based on my own teacher that hated my outfit (I was showing less than a half inch of skin) and she sent me down to the office. And, when I got to my next class I did start to cry. She had just been so evil. Well, bye! See you all in the next chapter!