Chapter Four

A loud melodic beeping made them Lorelai and Richard jump. It was Lorelai's cellphone. She saw the caller ID and answered it. "Hey kid!" She tried to sound cheerful.

"Mom? Are you okay? You sound weird."

She should have known she couldn't keep anything from Rory. Even two words gave it away. "I'm at the hospital right now, actually."

"What?! Are you okay?" Rory demanded.

"I'm fine. It's not me. Grandma fell in the barn at The Dragonfly and fractured her spine. She's still in surgery, but the doctors said she'll be okay. I'm in the waiting room with Grandpa."

"Oh my god. How's he doing? How are you doing? I'm coming back on the next flight I can get."

"No, don't do that. Do you know how pissed your grandmother will be if she wakes up and you don't have a job anymore? No. I'm okay, Grandpa is doing okay. We'll be fine."

Rory wasn't too convinced. "Are you sure? I won't lose my job if I come back for just a day or so."

"No, Rory. You're not even going to risk that job. I'll update you whenever we know more, okay? Promise you won't come back without permission from me?"

"Okay, fine," Rory sighed. "Can I talk to Grandpa for a minute?"

"Sure." Lorelai handed the phone to Richard. "Rory wants to talk to you."

Richard took the phone to speak to his granddaughter. Lorelai stood up and walked away down a hallway. "Rory, hello." His voice was hoarse from the emotion of the afternoon.

"Grandpa, what happened?"

"We don't exactly know yet. She took a fall of some kind presumably when she was visiting the horses at The Dragonfly. But the doctors are going to fix her up and she'll be back to herself in no time. And your mother's right, Rory. You can't come back and risk your job. Your grandmother wouldn't hear of it."

"Yeah, you're right. I just wish I could be there with you guys."

"I know. And we appreciate that. But it's just as important for you to continue to do your job. How is everything going with Senator Obama?"

"Really well. But we can talk about that another time. Actually, I have to go. I only had a minute, so I just thought I'd check in with Mom. Will you tell her I'll call her back when I have another minute?"

"Of course."

"But if anything changes, call me right away. And let me know when she wakes up."

"We will, Rory. Talk to you soon."

"Bye!"

Richard hung up the cell phone just in time to see Lorelai walk back with a pile of chips and candy in her arms. He looked at her questioningly.

"Vending machine snacks. We should eat something. What's your pick?" she asked, depositing everything on the couch between them.

"I suppose I'll take a chance on this," Richard said, picking up a small blue package.

"Chex Mix. Nice choice." Lorelai took the yellow bag of Famous Amos cookies. "Did Rory have to go?"

"Yes, she said she'd call back when she could."

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, that's how it goes nowadays. She calls to check in when she can, but we email a lot."

"She's called us once or twice in the last month. We miss her."

"Me too." Lorelai munched on her cookies and decided that even though she did miss her daughter all the time, she was a little glad she was all the way in Iowa. Because how else could she ever share junk food with her dad?

They made their way through pretzels and salt & vinegar chips and Twix and Peanut M&Ms and a pack of sour gummy worms by the time a nurse came by.

"Mrs. Gilmore is out of recovery and ICU. We've moved her to her room, if you'd like to follow me."

"Is it a private room?" Richard asked.

"Because if not, when she wakes up, that patient in there with her will be wishing for death," Lorelai added.

Richard didn't voice it, but he had to admit that she was right.

"It is a private room, yes," the nurse replied.

"Is there a window?" Lorelai asked, remembering what had happened when her father was in the hospital.

When they reached the room, there was indeed a large window. Looking out over the parking lot. Well, they would deal with that when Emily woke up, Lorelai reasoned.

"The doctor will be in shortly to update you on her condition." The nurse left them alone.

Richard immediately went right up to his wife. He took her hand and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. She looked peaceful, for which he was grateful. He was afraid she'd look pale and sickly. But she looked almost as beautiful as she did when she was sleeping in their bed. The only problem was the setting. She looked better set against higher quality bedding. Relief flooded him. He sat down beside her and gently kissed her hand.

The surgeon came in. "Mr. Gilmore?"

Richard turned to face her but didn't get up. "Yes?"

Lorelai came to shake the doctor's hand. "I'm Lorelai Gilmore, Emily is my mother."

"I'm Dr. White. I performed the surgery. Mrs. Gilmore should recover just fine. Everything went smoothly during the operation. I'd like to keep her here for a week for observation and some minor rehabilitation, but after that, she'll have weekly checkups. I would be surprised if she's fully back to normal in less than six months. Spinal surgery, especially on someone her age, is serious business."

"She's in really good shape, and once she wakes up, you'll see that there is no way it'll take her six months to heal. She won't allow it," Lorelai said, shaking her head.

Richard smiled softly in agreement. "Thank you, Doctor. When do you expect the anesthesia to wear off?"

"It shouldn't be too long now. But she did hit her head, so it might take a bit longer for her to wake up. Sometimes after trauma like that, the brain needs a little while to reboot, so to speak."

Dr. White left them alone once again. Richard went back to holding Emily's hand reverently and staring at her resting form.

Lorelai paced around the room. "Maybe I should go by the house and get some of her things?"

"That would be wonderful, thank you, Lorelai. I don't want to leave her."

"And you shouldn't," Lorelai agreed. "Can I have your keys? I rode in the ambulance, so my car isn't here."

Richard reached into his pocket and handed her the keys to the Jaguar so she could drive his car to Hartford.

"Can I call you when I get there so you can tell me what to get? I have no idea where she keeps anything."

With a frown, Richard replied, "Neither do I. But maybe she'll be awake by then and she can tell you herself."

Lorelai nodded, figuring she could figure it out herself, and left her parents alone together. A drive would be good for her. A chance to clear her head and get out of that damn hospital. She hated hospitals. Nothing good ever happened in hospitals. But this time, at least she'd gotten to become closer with her father. And Lorelai promised herself that she'd try to do the same with her mother when she woke up.