Chapter Ten

When he arrived home once more, Richard instinctively went into his study. He sat down at his laptop to check his email, and before he knew it, an hour had gone by. He cursed himself for falling back into his pattern. He really should have returned some calls to clients, but he didn't want Emily to get angry at the delay in returning her own important calls to whatever ridiculous society desperately needed her attention. With a sigh, Richard went to the answering machine. He grabbed a pen and paper and pressed play.

"You have fourteen new messages." Three of them were from Floyd, desperate for Richard to speak to a Belgian client. He had already sent a few emails to quell that debacle. One was from the office clerk at Yale, telling him he had some messages from student requesting appointments. He could deal with those later.

The other ten voicemails were for Emily. He took down each one with as much detail as possible. Abigail Harris needed Emily's approval and signature to allot DAR funds to build a new wing in the Veteran's Hospital. Melanie Roberts called to ask if Emily was alright after she missed her usual time reading to the children at the foster home. Judith Smith wanted to know whether the Horticultural Society would be continuing the program Emily had started the year before in growing a vegetable garden to donate to the homeless shelter. Lynn Charles wanted to set up an appointment with Emily about the upcoming clothing drive at the library. Sandra Hagen needed to know the name of the town in Uganda where the Symphony Board would be sponsoring the new school. On and on, more and more people needed Emily's help on some kind of charity, either because she had started it or because she was in charge of making the decisions.

As he wrote down all the messages, Richard was somewhat stunned. He had no idea. He thought these societies just threw parties and teas and were full of society ladies like Emily, gossiping about inane things like china patterns and floral arrangements. But his wife was an extremely important person in all those societies, as he knew, and she was responsible for a great number of important and worthwhile things. A new wing in a hospital? Reading to orphans? Growing food for the homeless? Teaching girls to dance, providing clothes to impoverished families, funding a new school in Uganda? How could he not have known about any of this? Why hadn't she told him? Richard was a little offended that she would keep those things from him. He wouldn't have dared disparage her if she had let him know about all she did. But a little voice in the back of Richard's head told him that she probably had told him. He just hadn't paid enough attention to care about what she actually did at all those meetings with the DAR and the Horticultural Society and the Symphony Board.

Richard made sure he wrote everything down and returned to the hospital. Emily had just finished fixing her face when Richard came back. It had taken her twice as long as usual due to her limited movement and the fact that she only had a compact mirror instead of her usual full-sized lighted vanity. Richard walked in and was somewhat taken aback.

"Look at you!"

"What about me?" she asked coyly.

He grinned and walked over to kiss her cheek. "You look like your proper self. Which is to say that you look wonderful." He loved seeing the way her eyes lit up whenever she was pleasantly surprised by something. He sat down and handed her the page he took down. "Here are your messages, my dear."

She sighed. "How many are there?"

"Ten were for you. I had a few of my own, but I've taken care of most of it." He watched her eyes scan the page, likely prioritizing which calls needed to be returned first. "I had no idea you were involved in so many projects," he noted casually.

"I keep busy," she replied, not looking up from the note. Emily knew this would happen. Yesterday was supposed to be a very busy day for her. After her meeting with Sookie, she had her shift at the foster home, followed by a meeting at the Horticultural Society and a few things to sign at the DAR office. And that was why Richard's words hurt her more than they perhaps would have otherwise. She had a feeling that after seeing all the things she was responsible for, he might change his tune.

"I thought all those societies just had parties and teas and luncheons and things."

"Yes, we do a lot of that. And I am in charge of those because I'm quite good at it. But we throw those parties and things in order to raise money for the real work we do," she explained.

"And you're in charge of that too?"

"Some of it. But my approval is needed for most major actions."

There was a short pause before Richard skeptically asked, "You read to orphans?"

"Twice each month. I like children."

"You do?" He sounded surprised.

Emily scoffed, "Yes, Richard. That's why I teach debutantes to dance and have proper manners like I never got to do with Lorelai. And I read to the little ones because I never got to with Rory." Emily's mouth clamped shut. She hadn't meant to say that much. These damned painkillers were making her far too emotional.

Richard hadn't expected that. And once again, it was all his fault. He couldn't even look at her. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you more children," he said quietly.

"That's not what I'm saying." She reached over as best she could and put her hand on top of his.

He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. His eyes were fixed on their hands, his brow furrowed in distress. "I took so much from you, Emily. You could have done so much better in your life."

"You've given me a wonderful life, Richard. There's no tragedy here. So stop pitying me. I don't want to talk about this anymore." She took her hand back from him. The conversation was over.

Richard moved his hand away. He felt a stinging constriction in his chest. He hadn't meant to upset her. In fact, he had intended the opposite. But he knew better than to continue the topic by apologizing.

After a brief pause, Emily broke the awkward silence. "Richard, if you don't mind, I have to return these calls."

"Of course," he replied with a nod. "I'll go get us something for lunch, if you'd like. Anything you want in particular?"

"Anything fresh would be wonderful."

Richard nodded. He kissed his wife on the cheek and left.

Emily got right to work. "Hello, Melanie? It's Emily Gilmore. I'm so sorry I didn't call about my shift yesterday. I'm afraid I've had an unexpected interruption to my schedule…No, no, I'm fine. I'll be back next week. Can I reschedule my shift for some time then? …Yes, the twelfth should be fine. Is three o'clock available? … Perfect. I'll see you then." And on to the next one. "Hello Judith. Didn't we already discuss the vegetable garden last month? I believe I asked you to take care of it…No, I can't come in until next week…Fine, I'll have someone come and pick up the contracts from the office so I can sign them."

She spent almost an hour returning all her calls and stared at the wall for a few moments. She had a bit of a dilemma brewing inside her. There were errands that needed to be run and documents to pick up and sign, and she was obviously unable to do it. Her first thought was to ask the various secretaries at her charities to drop them off, but she didn't want anyone to know she was in the hospital if she could help it, and she especially didn't want anyone to see her like this. She could ask Richard to do it…he did seem very eager and willing to help. No, he would just start asking questions, now that he was suddenly so interested in how she spent her days. Emily sighed. Injuries made privacy so difficult. It wasn't enough that the nurses felt the need to prod her every few hours, but now her husband, who could never be bothered before, seemed intent on examining her every thought about every conceivable thing.

The phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. With a twinge of pain, she reached over to answer it. "Hello?"

"Hi Mom, Dad came by to pick up lunch for you guys, and Sookie says she'd love to whip you up anything you want. So what are you in the mood for?"

Emily gave a small smile. It was a very kind offer. "I think perhaps a nice salad. I trust Sookie's professional judgment on what exactly that would consist of."

"A nice salad of your choosing, Sook," Lorelai called out, holding the phone away as she did so. Emily could hear Richard in the background, but she couldn't make out what he said. "Dad says he'll be there with lunch in about half an hour," Lorelai told her.

"Wonderful, thank you."

There was a slight pause before Lorelai asked, "So how are you feeling, Mom?"

"The same as this morning when you saw me, Lorelai. Though I was able to return all the calls I missed yesterday, so that was helpful."

"You got everything taken care of, then?"

"Not quite…" Emily paused, debating whether she should. She swallowed her pride and said, "Actually, Lorelai, I could use your help. Though I know you're very busy."

"No, I'd be happy to help!" Lorelai suddenly felt very bubbly. When had her mother ever asked for help, rather than demanded it? Maybe those painkillers were giving her some good side-effects.

"Do you think you have time to pick up some things for me in Hartford? There are some things that I should have signed yesterday."

"Sure, Mom. Let me go into the office and write it all down." After a moment of rustling, Lorelai had her pen poised. "Okay, go."

Emily rattled off the list of things she needed done. She was shocked that Lorelai had agreed to help so readily. And without one ounce of sarcasm or silliness.