It was getting colder out, 29 year-old Rory Gilmore noted as she strolled through the busy streets of Providence, Rhode Island. It was a beautiful town, with giant trees crowding the side of the streets, their leaves threatening to spill onto the ground in the cool September breeze. Rory allowed herself the pleasure of reflecting on her past, something she only allowed herself to do only once in a while. After spending her summer in Washington when she was 18, she returned to find an acceptance letter from Harvard, her dream school. Her mother had reconciled with Luke, and everyone in the small town knew that a proposal wasn't too far off. Within two months she was packed and ready to leave, nothing was holding her back. She had gone through Harvard and then went through medical school and found her calling, she wanted to help people. Not wanting to work in a big city, feeling that the small towns needed her help more, she moved to Rhode Island and opened her own practice. Rory ran a hand through her now short brown hair and entered her office.

"Good morning Dr. Gilmore," her nurse/secretary/good friend Kate said with a smile, holding out the now routine coffee for Rory. Kate was twenty five and working her way through medical school, much to the joy of her parents, who had helped Rory restore the old cape cod style house she had her practice in.

"Hey Kate, what does today look like?" Rory asked as she gratefully sipped her coffee.

Kate's green eyes lit up, "Gonna be busy, you're booked solid until 3p.m and the hospital's looking to send their minor injuries to you today because they're over crowded. We are the only other practice on Rhode Island with the facilities to accept patients."

Rory groaned, "This looks like a full coffee morning." She twisted her dark brown hair and placed a clip in it to keep it out of the way.

"Yup." Kate replied and stood up, revealing her very round belly. She was six months pregnant and it seemed her hand was surgically attached to her lower back. "Oompf my back, I'm going to kill Jess." She complained.

"Now why would you want to kill me?" A male voice said from behind Rory. Rory didn't even turn around, she knew the voice, it was the voice of her partner in medicine, Jess Danes. Jess had finally cleaned up his act and got his M.D a month after Rory, specializing in pediatrics. He also had found Kate, and married her within a month. He strolled into the office and kissed Kate on the cheek. He took of his black jacket and pulled on his white lab coat. "So what's the plan for today?"

"Well you're not quite as booked as Rory, but the Hansen baby is still at County General with Jaundice and Dr. Moffatt wanted you to go down and see what you could do." Kate reported.

Jess nodded while he read over the schedule, "Okay so I'll go there after my appointments and then at 3 we'll start with the walk-ins and minors from County."

"Sounds good." Rory said and tucked her stethoscope inside her white lab coat. She grinned at Jess and Kate, "I love this job."

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"Ugh I hate this job" Rory moaned as she collapsed on a chair in the back room. It was 2:30 and after seeing seventeen patients she was about to collapse.

Jess laughed, "Come on Doc, get to work." He headed out to the waiting room, but returned and grinned at Rory, "You'll like this, the Johansen twins were our last patients, we're now all caught up."

"Thank heavens!" Kate exclaimed and opened up her medical texts.

"Well I'm gonna head over to County and see about the Hansen baby." Jess said and pulled on his coat, "You two ladies in a bit." He said, kissing his wife and heading out the door.

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Clayton Dugrey navigated his silver BMW roadster into a parking spot next to a black jeep and climbed out of his car, cradling his left hand. He was in Providence ensuring a client of his was well but things had taken a turn for the worse when his client's dog had mistaken his hand for a treat. At thirty-one Clayton was a prominent lawyer in his father's old firm and now handled over three quarters of Boston's main law cases. He couldn't afford to be incapacitated for a long time so when his client had given him directions to the local doctor's office he had taken it without question. He headed up to the door, bumping into a dark haired man. Pain shot up Clayton's left arm and he gritted his teeth.

"Whoa are you okay?" The man asked. Clayton glanced at the man. The man was about 6'2, same height as Clayton, and had wavy black hair and brown eyes.

Jess looked over the man he bumped into carefully. He was about his height, with short blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed in an immaculate black suit with a black shirt and silver tie. The only thing wrong was that he was cradling his left hand, which was wrapped in a white cloth, blood readily seeping through it. "You just head right into the office there and my partner will take good care of you okay man?" Jess said.

"Thanks." Clayton said through gritted teeth. He continued and entered the building. It was a quaint Cape Cod style home reverted into an office, with a waiting room to the left containing comfy looking chairs and stacks of magazines. In front of him was a main desk with two women standing behind it talking happily. One was a short pregnant woman with pale blonde hair and the other took Clayton's breath away. She was tall, with dark brown hair that was pulled back from her face in a loose clip. She was wearing a white lab coat and she radiated a glow that made Clayton smile. She looked up and locked eyes with him, and he thought he saw a flicker of recognition in her eyes, which struck him as odd, as he had never met this enchantress before. The first words she spoke to him nearly sent him to his death.

"Tristan?" She asked, her voice filled with hope. Clayton felt his world come crashing down as he heard this woman utter his younger brother's name. She had to be her. Rory Gilmore, the woman who captivated his little brother's heart. The woman who Tristan spoke of with such longing. The woman whom Clayton now had to inform of his younger brother's death.

Clayton cleared his throat. "I'm sorry to disappoint you--Dr. Gilmore I presume?" Without waiting for a reply he continued in a rush, "I'm Clayton Dugrey, Tristan's older brother."

Rory Gilmore felt her knees get weak. This handsome man standing in front of her looked nearly identical to Tristan. Yet, the closer she looked, the differences appeared. Where Tristan had a mass of tousled blonde locks and light blue eyes, this man's hair was blonde, but cropped and his eyes were a dark dark blue. She swallowed hard and spoke "Oh. My mistake, please, come in. Let me look at that hand." Rory led Clayton past a bewildered Kate and into an exam room. She gently took his hand and examined it. There were bite marks and a fair amount of blood. "When was the last time you had a tetanus shot?" She asked, the other questions she so desperately wanted to ask whirling in her head.

Clayton looked up and when he locked eyes with the woman again, he could see why his brother was so in love with her, she had an aura about her that made one completely at ease. "About a year ago." And concentrated on what he was going to do while Rory repaired his hand.

"All done." Rory said as she stood back and admired her handiwork. The bronzed arm held in front of her was well muscled and the white bandage she placed over the wound was in stark contrast to his dark tan. He brought back so many memories of Tristan, when she didn't even know he had a brother. Rory gave up and tried to act casual as she pulled off her gloves and turned to Clayton, "How is your brother?" Rory asked, dying to hear news of the boy she believed she had once loved.

Clayton sighed, "Tristan's dead."