Rory broke all kinds of speed limits and made it to New York in just over an hour. It probably didn't hurt that there was no traffic at midnight. She threw her purse in the backseat when she got in the car and couldn't hear it vibrating at least half a dozen times while she was driving.

To say she was frazzled when she arrived at the hospital would be a gross understatement. The fact that she hadn't seen him in a month didn't even cross Rory's mind as she immediately set to work trying to ascertain Logan's well-being.

"Excuse me, I'm looking for Logan Huntzberger, he's..."

The nurse she was speaking to didn't even bother looking up but instead just pointed her finger to another nurse.

Undaunted, Rory tried again, "Excuse me, can you help me find Logan…"

"Sorry, this isn't my floor," the second nurse said, not at all apologetic.

Rory took a deep breath and approached a third nurse. She had a clipboard; this one had to know something. "Excuse me, can someone here help me find Logan Huntzberger?"

"He was just transferred out of the I.C.U., Room seven thirteen," the nurse said flatly.

"How is he?"

"Are you family?"

"I…" Rory started "I was his girlfriend. Until very recently," she said. She hoped that last bit would add to her credibility.

"All I can tell you is that he's not conscious right now and that he's in serious but stable condition," the nurse replied.

"What does that mean, 'serious but stable'?"

"Just what it says."

"But is it more serious or stable? Which way is it leaning?"

"I'm sorry, I can only release more information to family members."

"But I was girlfriend. We were together a long time. It was not a casual thing; we lived together," Rory was getting desperate.

"Sorry," the nurse said.

Rory was just about to make another impassioned plea when she saw Colin and Finn, unsurprisingly behaving like they were at the circus, rather than at the hospital awaiting news about their severely injured friend. Marching right over to them, she wasted no time. "How is he? Is he okay?"

"Scuttlebutt is he's not dead," Finn said with a disturbing amount of mirth.

Colin agreed. "The man is indestructible,"

"Dives headfirst off the cliffs of caldera, instantly spins out of control," Finn said with a flourish.

"Gets totally disoriented, barely gets his chute open," Colin interjected.

"Bounces off every rock and crag in the park,"

"Yet still manages to stick the landing. We gave him a nine point seven. Had to deduct point three for all the screaming and bleeding."

Rory found their callousness disgusting. "What about his family, did you talk to them?"

"Honour is on her honeymoon in Mykonos, trying to get back, and Logan's mom checked herself into some sort of spa in Arizona the moment she heard," Colin said blandly.

"When the going gets tough, the tough get hot-rock massages," Finn said with a chortle.

"What about Mitchum?" Rory pressed, steadily becoming enraged.

"The 'Dark Lord'! We left word but haven't heard anything."

"But we've come up with a plan to get around the whole 'family only gets information' thing. We're adopting him," Colin said with a self-satisfied smirk.

"What?" Rory was beginning to think they were both drunk.

Finn looked at Colin and batted his eyelashes, increasing the octave of his voice when he spoke. "Logan will make a fine son,"

"Of course," Colin said, puffing out his chest. "First we must be married,"

"Naturally, darling. I'm very old-fashioned."

"And even then, adopting as a gay couple is never easy."

"We just want to give love."

"Oh, Finn!" Colin said, embracing Finn in a showy gesture.

"Oh, buttercup!" Finn exclaimed, pretending to faint.

Rory had had enough of their bullshit. "What the hell is wrong with you two? Your best friend is lying unconscious in a hospital, and you don't even care!"

"Rory…" Finn started to say, taken aback.

"No! Why the hell aren't you two lying unconscious in there, huh?"

"Come on…" Colin said quietly.

"You don't care, because if you did, you wouldn't be like this. You couldn't. You're supposed have his back. You're supposed to watch out for each other on these stupid trips of yours. But no, everything's a big joke. Everything's hilarious. You're useless, both of you. Either start acting like human beings, or get the hell out of here," Rory said firmly.

"Sorry," Finn said sheepishly.

"Yeah, sorry," Colin agreed.

"We'll behave."

"Just, go sit down. Stop talking to me," Rory said curtly.

With Colin and Finn mercifully out of her sight, Rory snuck into Logan's hospital room. Seeing him lying there, all black and blue, with cuts and scrapes everywhere and a tube down his throat, she couldn't hold back the small sob that escaped her throat. For the first time, he looked small to her, helpless. No matter how he'd betrayed her, Rory would never wish him ill; seeing Logan unconscious, broken and vulnerable and quite possibly hanging on by only a thread shook her to her core. Upon hearing the steady beeping of the heart monitor, she was able to calm herself slightly. Rory inched closer to him and very carefully picked up his hand to place a gentle kiss on his knuckles before wiping away her tears and leaving the room quickly.

Inhaling a shaky breath, she slowly trudged over to Colin and Finn. "Do you have his cell phone?"

Colin handed it to her without a word. She threw her purse down on the empty chair next to him before turning her back and walking to the end of the hall. Rory dialled Honour's number, suddenly thankful that she'd always been on friendly terms with at least tone person in Logan's family. "Hey Honour,"

"Rory? Is that you?" Honour said when she picked up.

"Yeah it's me,"

"Thank God. If I had to continue talking to Colin and Finn, I'm afraid I might be ill. Listen, I heard about what happened between you and Logan. I'm sorry Rory, my brother really is quite the imbecile,"

"We're not back together Honour. I guess before they put him out for surgery, he told them to call me. I came, to make sure he was okay, but I'm not staying. Colin and Finn said you were trying to get a flight out of Mykonos? I hate that you're cutting your honeymoon short."

"It's okay," Honour said, "with Mom flaking out, I don't want to be here anymore. We've got seats on a flight tonight, but it's got a five-hour layover, in Ankara so we're trying to find something more direct. Either way we should be there sometime tomorrow night."

"Okay. Good. So, have you heard anything more from your dad?"

"Yeah, I just talked to him."

"Is he coming down here?"

"Nope," Honour said flatly.

"He's out of town, too?" Rory asked, confused.

"No, he's home. He's just not coming," Honour clarified.

"What?"

"It's the Life And Death Brigade thing. He's very against it."

Rory was still confused. "But he was in the Life And Death Brigade."

"Yes, but he feels that he knew when to grow up and accept responsibility and that Logan doesn't. He wanted his precious boy done with that by now, so he's boycotting."

"He's boycotting his injured son?" Again, Rory felt disgust.

"Hypocrisy runs very deep in the Huntzberger family," Honour said matter-of-factly. "Anyhow, forget it. I'm sure Logan isn't expecting him."

"Right, of course. Take care Honour. I'm glad you're coming back."

"Bye, Rory."

Rory ended the call with Honour and immediately dialed Mitchum's number from Logan's cell phone, figuring this was one thing she could do as a final parting gift for him. Mitchum picked up on the second ring. "Mitchum Huntzberger? Yes, it's Rory Gilmore. I just thought I'd call and remind you that Logan is lying in a hospital bed with a whole host of potentially life-threatening injuries. And I'm figuring a guy like you, surrounded by nothing but a bunch of terrified sycophants might not have someone in his life with the guts to tell him what an incredibly selfish, narcissistic ass he's being, so I thought I'd jump on in. Swallow your pride, get in your car, and come down here and see your son, now!"

Storming back over to Colin and Finn, Rory was very proud of herself; giving Mitchum a piece of her mind was not only personally cathartic, but it was the least she could do for Logan. She tossed Logan's phone back to Colin and scooped up her purse. "I'm leaving guys; try not to commit involuntary manslaughter by pulling out his breathing tube. Honour should be here tomorrow." Rory turned to leave. When her back was turned, Finn called out to her.

"Oi! Rory love,"

Without turning to face him, she rolled her eyes. "What do you want, Finn?"

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering…. Do you actually know a real person named Dodger?"

Rory felt the blood drain out of her face. She turned around and walked back to Finn very slowly. "What?"

"Dodger. What the hell kind of name is that for a person? Your phone was buzzing off the hook and I couldn't stand it anymore, so I dug it out of your purse to answer it, to tell whoever was harassing you to bugger off. The call display said 'Dodger'. I picked it up and I said, 'Hey mate, who decided to call you Dodger?' He was very rude. He didn't answer my question."

"Finn. What did you say to him?"

"I asked him if Dodger was his actual name and I told him if he was looking for you, you were a little busy giving a sponge bath to your critically injured love slave."

Colin burst out in uncontrollable laughter, nearly falling off his chair.

"Fucking bastards. Both of you!" Rory spat, storming away.

When she'd made it down to the lobby, Rory frantically pulled out her cell phone as she headed for her car. She had three missed calls, two voicemails and five text messages, all from Jess.

The first voicemail came in at twelve fifteen, only moments after she'd tossed her purse in the car. "Hey Ror, it's me. Hope the wedding was fun. I can't wait to hear about all of the craziness that I'm sure ensued. Call me when you get this."

The next was from forty-five minutes later. "Did you fall asleep, or is the party still going strong? Alright, listen, I'm going to bed soon. I'll try texting you again. If you're not asleep yet, call me! I miss you. I hope you had a good time tonight."

The third call came in at one fifteen, which must have been when Finn picked it up.

Rory was almost hyperventilating by the time she checked his texts, seeing that he'd sent the last one right after his second voicemail.

Hey beautiful. I hope the wedding was fun. Did you forget to send me those pictures? I've been waiting very patiently for them… Call me.

Did you get my message? I find it hard to believe that you fell asleep without checking in –but then again, you are at a wedding with a town full of weirdos, so stranger things have happened. If you're still awake, call me.

Just left you another message. I'm heading to bed soon. I know you're only in Stars Hollow, but call me or I might start to worry –do you really want me to start thinking that you ran off with another member of Hep Alien?

Okay, I've delayed going to bed, waiting to hear from you. Seriously Rory. The wedding must be over by now. I know you too well to believe that you let your phone die. Where are you?

Rory, Where the hell are you? I'm really legitimately starting to freak out here. Please just call me…

Rory was audibly sobbing by the time she shakily dialed Jess' number. She didn't know why she was surprised when he didn't pick up –it was almost two in the morning. Nonetheless, after listening to his voice apologize for not being able to take the call, she started babbling –almost incoherently- to his answering machine.

"Jess, I'm so sorry! I had to drive to New York …. God, I know you don't want to hear this…. but, Logan…. he… he went skydiving or something with his idiotic friends in Costa Rica and there was an accident. He must have told them to call me before… I don't even know when. But they called right when I was about to phone you after Lane's wedding and I got in the car and drove to New York. I had to make sure he was okay. I left my purse in the hall with his asshole friends when I went in to check on him. I'm sorry I never answered your calls or texts. I'm sorry for what Finn said to you. God, I'm just so sorry Jess."

Through her haze of tears, Rory managed to find her way to her car. Siting down in the driver's seat, she put her keys in the ignition but didn't turn them. She sat, crying hysterically for at least five minutes. Taking another five to calm herself down, she stared at her purse on the passenger seat next to her, willing her phone to ring.

When it didn't, she finally started her car. It was two o'clock in the morning and she was exhausted. Had her best friend really gotten married just this afternoon? Without even thinking about it, Rory drove south on the New Jersey turnpike towards the I-95, headed for Philadelphia.

A/N: DON'T HATE ME! I can't hand you everything; would this really be a good story if you didn't sweat it out, even a little? I promise, there will be some resolution in the next chapter and I promise, I will do my best not to leave you in a lurch for too long! Patience, grasshoppers…