Okay. I'm back. And since I delayed this chapter a little longer than I would have liked, I added some length to it so that it's longer than my previous one.
Good2Know: I intended for Lorelai to make that impression. Don't worry, she won't stay mean and callous. She explains her actions in a babbling manner to Luke. Read on, I promise.
S.Mariano: I try to sound like I know what I'm talking about. I'm a medical buff and thinking about studying it. I try to not make things up, because I hate when people point out that it's incorrect. And thank you.
ShaolinQueen: I'm horribly sadistic too. I don't know why I get so much pleasure out of torturing my characters, but I do.
Thanks to all my reviewers that reviewed both chapters so far: Kassandra27, S.Mariano, Curley-Q, Good2Know, gilmoreintraining, JessRoryYunaTidusforever, musicormisery4105, and cmtaylor531. This chapter is for all of you. I hope I didn't forget anyone.
Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. That includes any recognizable characters from Gilmore girls, the song The Rest of the Sun Belongs to Me, or the names of my chapter titles derived from song titles of various bands.
Good Enough is Good Enough
I'll be out in the hall. No, no he wasn't out in the hall. Luke was pacing the waiting room for Jess, who wasn't due out of surgery for almost two more hours. The clock on the wall ticked slower than it had before.
Luke knew Lorelai's first instinct was to blame Jess, but how could she? She knew as well as anyone how different the kid was now. And not just different, older- 20. He wasn't even a teenager anymore, for Christ's sake! But Lorelai was a parent, a mother at that, and he loved her. Somehow, he'd forgive her outbursts.
He heard a creak behind him. Lorelai was lingering in the doorway. "Luke," she said quietly.
Luke opened his mouth to speak, but Lorelai covered his mouth with her hand.
"Let me talk," she requested. She took his hand and they sat together in the stale waiting room.
"How is she?" Luke asked quickly before Lorelai could cover his mouth again.
"She's...good as it gets," Lorelai said solemnly. "She...she asked me if Jess was dead, Luke! And then it hit me. I've been a horrible, selfish person. And I realized, Jess really could die. Oh, my God. Jess could die. And I don't want Jess to die. I like Jess. He makes really good pancakes and he loves my daughter. He tries so hard to make up for his shortcomings and old flaws. Luke, I care about that kid so much. He's...well, almost like a son to me now. I was stunned. I just-Jess is Jess. Wow. That sounds even worse. I mean, it's Jess, he's a good kid, and I like him. And he and Rory love each other. And he-he's going to be fine. More than fine. He'll be more than fine. He'll be great. Better than ever."
Luke put his hand over Lorelai's mouth. "Shhh. You're babbling again."
"But what can I do to make it better, Luke?"
He turned to look at her and stared into her apologetic blue eyes. "Shut up and stay here with me."
The wrath of Emily Gilmore was not a force to be reckoned with. When she came storming through the Emergency Room, everyone just seemed duck for cover.
"Lorelai Gilmore! Wipe that smirk off your face! You've got some explaining to do!"
"Mom, calm down," Lorelai pleaded sleepily, regretting ever calling her down. "I know since this is a hospital, it's the most convenient place to destroy others with your shrill commands. However, it would be extremely embarrassing to see any one of these patient, helpful nurses kneel over because of your temper."
"All I want is to see my granddaughter, and you're babbling about nonsense!" Emily slapped her palm on the counter, causing the nurse working behind it to flinch and then flee.
It wasn't the first time Lorelai had wished she had gone with Luke rather than wait for her socialite mother from Hell. She sighed and tucked her hair behind her ears. "Mom. Listen to me. I need you to calm down for Rory's sake. Forget about me for the moment, just, please, for Rory's sake. Come sit and talk with me for a minute."
"What is it Lorelai?" Emily snapped as they sat down.
"I just need you to be calm. Me and Luke, we're frazzled right now."
Emily cut Lorelai off. "Why? Why should Luke be frazzled? And why would you call him first?" she fired off.
Lorelai sighed heavily and gritted her teeth. "I'm getting to that, mom. Okay, Luke is here because of Jess. Rory and Jess were in a car crash last night."
"Who was driving?" Emily demanded.
"That's not important right now mom..."
"Who was driving?" she demanded again.
Lorelai sighed. "You're not going to stop asking until I tell you?" Emily shot her a look. "Jess, mom. Jess was driving."
"Oh, I should have known! I always told you that kid was no good for Rory!" Emily began.
"No, mom. It really wasn't his fault..."
"Sure. Of course. I bet he was drinking!" Emily accused.
"No, mom. Jess..."
"Don't defend that incorrigible little hoodlum!"
"MOM! They were hit by a truck that ran a red light! It was in no way, shape, or form Jess's fault!" Emily didn't interject. "Truck hit the driver's side," she murmured.
"Excuse me?"
"The truck hit the driver's side. Jess is really hurt."
Emily glanced down at her expensive shoes. "I apologize for jumping to conclusions."
"Rory is really upset. She thinks Jess is dead. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't even tell her the extent of his injuries. Mostly, because we don't know the true extent yet. I lied. Told her he was fine."
"He'll be fine," Emily snapped. "How's Rory?"
"Shaken. Stitched up. Shaken. Upset. Mostly, she's torn up over Jess," Lorelai explained.
Emily stood up. "Are you finished lecturing me? Because if you are, I'd like to see my granddaughter now," she said harshly.
Lorelai sighed and stood up. She should have known Emily would react like this. No matter what, Emily Gilmore would always be irrational. "Yes, as you wish, Mother." Lorelai hit the up button on the elevator in frustration.
Luke tapped his foot on the linoleum. Liz was taking her sweet time getting to the hospital this morning. Although Liz had claimed she would be there at a decent time, Luke knew his sister better.
"Big brother?"
Luke turned around and met his sister's worried glance. "Look who finally showed up."
Liz ignored Luke's biting comment. "How is he?"
Luke fought to compose himself as he fiddled with his thumbs. "Alive. Jess is alive."
"How is he doing with, you know? Is he medically okay?" Liz asked, sighing.
"Pretty beat up. They've been doing X-rays and MRIs and all sorts of scans that I don't know the names of this morning." Luke paused. "Haven't seen him yet." Liz didn't respond. "Don't understand doctors. They talk too...professionally, in terms I don't understand."
Liz nodded in response. "How's Rory?" she asked.
"I saw her once for about three minutes. Looks banged up, but she's alive. And she wasn't in surgery for seven straight hours, so that's a plus."
"Seven hours?"
"Told you. He's alive."
Liz nodded. "Kid's unstoppable. They know what happened?"
"Truck ran a red light. Smashed into the driver's side of the car. Jess was driving."
She dropped her bag and slid into the seat next to her brother. "He'll be fine."
"That's what everyone keeps saying," Luke replied. "Figure if they say it enough, I'll believe it. Still waiting for someone medical to tell me that."
Liz didn't respond. The scene was too much for her to take in. Here she was, in a hospital, waiting to hear news on a son she hadn't seen in months. Instead of talking, Luke and Liz sat side by side in anticipation of good news.
"Mr. Danes?"
Luke's head shot up and all his attention turned to the scrub clad doctor standing in front of him with a clipboard. "Right here."
The doctor shook Luke's hand. "I'm Doctor Bently, I've been working on your nephew for quite some time now."
"Is there anything you can tell us?" Liz asked.
"Due to the impact of the crash, Jess's left side was primarily afflicted. As you were informed earlier this morning, he suffered five broken ribs. We've tried to set the breaks as much as possible, but Jess will need to wear a brace around his chest to promote healing. Again, because of the impact of the crash, two of Jess's ribs punctured his left lung. Since there were two entry wounds, it caused to lung to collapse. In surgery, we were able to repair the damage. Does Jess smoke?" Dr. Bently asked.
"He doesn't smoke regularly. Just smokes when he's really tense. Chain-smokes sometimes, but it's rare," Luke answered.
"Okay. Jess can't smoke anymore, not even on the rare occasion that he's stressed out. His left lung is not going to be strong enough to handle the stress of cigarettes. His breathing is going to be extremely weak and it's recommended that he avoid situations of breathing heavily. Especially during the next month or so, it's going to be tough for Jess to breathe. After he heals a bit, he'll probably need a therapist to assist him." Dr. Bently paused to clear his throat. "Now, there was one more thing we were worried about and had to extend the surgery time for. In addition to surgically repairing the lung, we also needed to get to the spleen."
"The spleen?" Luke interjected. "They didn't say anything about the spleen."
"Right. That was probably because it ruptured after she talked to the family." Dr. Bently chewed on his lip and shifted his papers.
"Wait. Hold up. What?" Liz blurted out. She hadn't said anything yet, but the last statement struck her like a blunt object to the head.
"There was a tremendous injury to the spleen due to the crash. While in surgery for the lung, the spleen began to hemorrhage and eventually burst. We had to perform an immediate splenectomy, which is the removal of the spleen. The removal was swift, but there are going to be certain precautions Jess is going to need to take now."
"Just a quick question. I was never any good in bio, please don't laugh. What exactly does the spleen do?" Liz asked quietly.
"That's a fine question. There are plenty of people that have no idea what the spleen is for. Typically, we try to avoid removing the spleen. It's a purposeful organ, but you can live without it. The spleen is a like rather large lymph node. It's primary function is to filter the blood from viruses and such, things you wouldn't want hanging around in your body. Does that make it a little clearer?" he asked kindly.
"Yes, that's much better. Just one more thing. You said it filters the blood. Does that mean Jess is going to have junky blood?" Liz asked tentatively.
"No, not necessarily. There are other ways to detect viruses and treat them. Because of the loss of the spleen, we'll need to put Jess on medication that needs to be taken regularly. Jess now has a condition called asplenia, which signifies the absence of the spleen function. We have given him some immunizations to prevent illness. One thing we'll need to watch out for is sepsis. It's common with inflammatory in these situations. The Intensive Care Unit will be monitoring Jess's condition around the clock."
Liz looked at Luke. Luke looked at Liz. They both looked at Dr. Bently. "He's not going to die, is he?" Liz asked the question of the moment.
"He should be fine, unless there are any other complications. We don't count on running into any. One last detail, we'll be scanning the brain to check for any post trauma. The first scan came up clean, but sometimes it takes time before a hemorrhage in the brain can be seen on a scan. You'll be kept up to date on these scans." Dr. Bently collected his paperwork and stood up. "It's been a pleasure. I apologize if I've made this at all brief. You'll see me around if you have any questions. Jess is hanging out in recovery while they prep the ICU for him. A nurse will come by when you can see him." Dr. Bently shook Luke's hand, then Liz's.
"Thank you," they chorused.
Liz sunk in her chair and turned to Luke. "Shit."
