With bated breath Rory was waiting, counting the seconds in her head. Until they turned into actual minutes; two, three, then five, then… Logan eventually terminated the call with a swift movement of his hand. Tiredly, he turned to face her, his gaze flickering with some indefinable emotion. He had been quiet throughout the whole conversation with his mother, the only discernible noise coming from him a hissed intake of breath at one point. And after that? Silence; a silence so complete that it scared Rory more than any conspiratorial sounding remarks could have scared her—or an emotional breakdown, or the excessive use of expletives, or maybe even a hysterical laugh. With all that, she could have dealt. But silence?

It forced her to wait for a reaction from him that would give her at least an inkling of what had transpired throughout his talk with Shira. She couldn't wait, though, not any longer. She needed to make a decision. Was it safe to stay, or should she run? Strangely, that peculiar feeling of trust still prevailed. Or was it panic that rooted her to the spot?

But before she could even make up her mind as to how to proceed from there, how best to confront him about the phone call, Logan quietly said,

"I'm…" He stopped. Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose he stood opposite his girlfriend. He started shaking his head before he erupted into sudden humorless laughter.

"Logan?" Rory whispered cocking her head in a show of worry, her hands fidgeting uselessly in front of her.

When Logan looked up again, he was smiling.—He had never looked more distraught; lost, even. Rory felt a pang of sympathy, although she didn't even know the reason for his apparent distress. She didn't know anything anymore.

"This is… this is unbelievable. Seriously; it's—hilarious, come to think of it."

"What… what is, Logan?"

"You won't believe this, I'm—God, Rory, I'm… crap…" His voice broke, as he let his shoulders sag. "And to think that they even went as far as… as trying to kill for it to remain a friggin' secret!"

"God, Logan, you're scaring me! Please, what did she say? What happened? Why… is Jess…," Rory tried to put all her questions into actual words, but all she could think of—all her mind was suddenly capable of was thinking of Jess in the hospital. For hadn't Logan just confirmed that his family had indeed tried to kill him? Jess.

What if they'd try again? What if he still wasn't safe? What…

The blonde boy in front of her wasn't smiling any longer, only pain now etched onto his face, and utter disappointment. (Aimed at his family, though? Or aimed at her? Rory couldn't help but flinch at the possibility.) They stood there, facing each other; too much space between them and at the same time not nearly enough as she pleaded, "Talk to me, Logan."

Finally, he did.

-o0o-

Drifting back to consciousness, the first thing Jess noticed was Luke's absence. Even before his vision had cleared sufficiently enough for him to make out the different shapes in his room he was acutely aware of his uncle's missing presence. It wasn't all that surprising really. After all, the man had always been a force to be reckoned with, his mere presence in a room resulting in a complete change of atmosphere. Right? (Jess surely wasn't the only one always getting that impression, was he?) With the realization of being alone again came a sudden severe sense of insecurity, though, a feeling that refused to be ignored. He just couldn't help himself. The events of the night had shaken him worse than he'd have ever thought possible. Because, being shot… over a story?

With a sudden pang of guilt he thought of Rory. Rory, who was involved in all that crap now, too. He shouldn't have dragged her into all of this. Not her. He should have refrained from calling her. He should have plucked up enough courage to call Luke instead. No; better still, he should have called the police and let them deal with the matter. Because you don't do this to the people you love, you don't put them in danger, you don't…

Jess was still debating with himself when he heard quiet voices talking somewhere in the hallway. He tensed, the sudden movement jarring his wound uncomfortably as he fought to sit up. He had to stifle a sound of pain as his body protested against the change in position. But he couldn't just lie there and wait; not if he couldn't be sure whether they mightn't still be coming for him. (He bet on it that they were. For hadn't the Huntzbergers already proved that appearances were everything to them? That they would fight tooth and nail to protect theirs? Exactly.)

Once he could finally make out who was talking his muscles relaxed again, thus allowing the pain to subside back to its previous level. Luke and Lorelai; and—if he wasn't mistaken—Emily Gilmore. Though, could it be? What in the world was Rory's grandmother doing here if it wasn't for the fact that…

… Rory was somehow in danger…

Something in Jess suddenly went on autopilot. Fumbling for the IV, he ripped it out unceremoniously, barely aware of the trickle of blood running down his arm in the process. Absently, he wiped at it with his other hand before beginning to hoist his legs out of the bed. That did not prove to be his smartest move, though, for he had to pay for it instantly when a tearing feeling ripped through his stomach. Doubling over in agony, both arms now wrapped tightly around his abdomen, he couldn't stop a grown from escaping him.

"You all right in there?" Though the new voice startled Jess, his current state prevented him from moving into action, or even come up with some sort of answer. With closed eyes he tried to breathe through the pain.

"Hello?" At least it finally registered with his brain that 'that voice' was merely the guy he apparently shared the room with. No imminent danger then. (Aside from dying of too much pain, anyway…) "Want me to call the nurse?"

That, finally, had him bite out one quick "No!" Not the nurse, no added attention when he was trying to listen in on the conversation outside; when he was trying to find out Rory's whereabouts. When he was trying to sneak out of the damn hospital... (He'd better work harder on the sneaking out part if he ever wanted to succeed…)

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah. Thanks. It's—all good."

It took him awhile, though, before he could muster up enough strength to straighten up again and eventually even put some actual weight on his feet, not to mention walk to the door. Once he reached his destination, he had to lean heavily against it in order to stay upright, for his legs were suddenly feeling all wobbly and weak. But he was rewarded for all his efforts when he heard Emily scold her daughter loudly,

"How could you leave her out of your sight, Lorelai? Don't tell me she left the hospital while you were standing only a few feet away, watching!"

"I wasn't watching her run out, Mom!" was Lorelai's furious reply. She sounded extremely upset.

"Have the police been informed? Can anyone tell us what exactly happened?"

"Mom…"

"Lorelai. Is Rory—what if those—criminals go after her now?—I need to inform Richard; maybe if he calls Sterling.—He is head of the police department after all…"

Jess tuned out then. He had gotten all the information he needed. Rory had left the hospital. And he had to find her…

-o0o-

"I'm not a Huntzberger."

There. He had spit it out; the big secret. It sounded simple, really, if you didn't think about the actual implications twice…

"Wha—," Rory couldn't even finish that one exclamation as it got stuck in her throat halfway, her incomprehension evident. All of a sudden, the air seemed to lack a sufficient amount of oxygen as she struggled to take a deep breath.

"I know," Logan muttered, clarifying, "But it's true. I. Am. Not. A Huntzberger. I'm not Shira and Mitchum's son, I'm not…"

… a Huntzberger, Rory completed mentally, not yet able to grasp the meaning behind those words.

Logan smiled then, a dismayed expression, so full of incredulity and pain.

-o0o-

Luke gently loosened his reassuring grasp on Lorelai's arm and quietly excused himself. "I'll just step in to Jess's room and check how he's doing, okay?" She looked at him, huffing, her expression that of a small child rather than that of a grown up woman. He sighed. "You heard the police. We can't do anything. It won't help Rory if you run out and roam the streets as well now, Lorelai."

"I know," she only muttered, without the typical wordy Gilmore-rant to follow. Luke knew it to be a bad sign. Apparently his fiancée was beyond worried about her daughter's sudden disappearance in the eye of some unknown danger. And Emily Gilmore had made matters worse by once again succeeding in making her daughter feel more upset than circumstances would have made her feel anyway. What with Rory having gone AWOL and them not knowing what had led to Jess having been shot, she had been in somewhat of a state beforehand. Now, though… He didn't even remember how that woman had gotten wind of the goings-on in the first place; but she had arrived at the hospital all too quickly; of that he was sure.

He dreaded leaving Lorelai alone in this state for even one second, yet unfortunately he also couldn't stop worrying about his nephew. Then there was Rory… Having three people to worry about, it was a new experience for Luke, and none he liked too much. Opening the door a little to his side, he stepped into Jess's room, instantly noticing that something was off. His gaze fell on the rumpled sheets almost at once, wandered to the abandoned IV, until he caught sight of the most disconcerting detail in the room, an open window. It took him a moment to put two and two together, but his feet were quicker than his brain and had taken him straight to the window in two seconds flat. How could someone have managed to open it? How could someone have climbed in—and out of it without alerting anyone to their presence? How come he didn't hear anything?

Dazed, he turned to the bed again, unconsciously clenching his hands into tight fists. This was not happening. Jess couldn't possibly have been kidnapped while Luke had been standing mere feet away; he couldn't…

Then Luke's gaze found the abandoned hospital gown. Slowly taking it up, he immediately noticed the blood staining its front. Positioned right where Jess's shot wound had been… Luke's face fell.