***Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I've been sick this week.***
Rory's entire body felt heavy, like she was swimming through mud. Or pudding, she thought, conjuring up a picture of her mother diving headfirst into a pool of chocolate pudding. Her mouth was incredibly dry and she needed a drink, but her eyelids felt like they were under bags of sand and she couldn't force them open.
Her mind drifted to the faint beeping she heard in the background, and she felt someone gently holding her left hand, her right didn't seem to want to move. It occurred to her through a daze that something was wrong with her left leg too, everything was numb below the hip. The hand holding hers squeezed her fingers and she was hit with a wave of a scent she knew she recognized but couldn't quite place it. It was comforting, something she knew she'd smelled many times before, and she fought back against the voice in her head telling her to keep sleeping.
She lay there, halfway between conscious and not, random memories floating by on a movie screen in her mind. The same face kept popping up again, over and over, and she struggled to remember his name. She knew she had loved him, still did. The slideshow paused at a memory of her and this boy at an outdoor table next to the beach, eating seafood and laughing. She was cold and he wrapped his sweatshirt around her, the same scent on it as she was smelling now.
Logan, she thought, and instantly the fog in her head began to clear, as she said his name again in her mind. They were supposed to meet at the coffee shop. Why wasn't she at dinner with him? And where were they now?
Her eyes popped open and squinted towards the bright lights above her, the beeping becoming surround sound, and the hand in hers jerking back against the movement of her fingers.
"Rory?!" Logan said, his voice hoarse, as he felt her fingers twitching against his.
Lorelai looked up from her own vigil on the other side of the bed and signaled Luke to get a nurse or a doctor. She was unable to speak, watching closely as Rory blinked a few times and tried to move.
"Rory, its me, hun. Don't move ok? You've been in an accident and you aren't able to move your leg and your arm right now. Stay still until someone comes to check on you." Lorelai finally said, trying her best to remain calm and not break down in a pool of tears.
Rory looked at her mom, and then over to Logan, who looked like he had been through hell. His eyes were red and she had never seen him look so distraught in all the time she had known him. She pointed to her throat and mimicked drinking from a cup, prompting Lorelai to carefully rest a plastic cup against her lips for a few sips before pulling away again.
"What ..." Rory began, her voice raspy. "What happened?" she whispered finally.
Lorelai and Logan looked at each other and then back at her. Even through a medicated haze, she could tell that whatever had happened, it wasn't a simple accident. Logan stroked the top of her hand and Lorelai swept Rory's hair out of her face, both of them not sure what to say.
"So glad to see you awake, Rory! I'm Dr. Getty," A voice boomed in through the door, and Luke followed behind the doctor, who was making his way over to the bed and checking Rory's vitals on the machine next to it.
"I know you must have a lot of questions, but I know you are also feeling confused and dazed right now, that's mostly from the anesthesia and the pain medication. You had an operation on your left leg, it was badly broken, so we had to go in and repair it. Your right wrist is sprained, but with time and physical therapy you are going to be fine. We're going to keep you here for a few days, to make sure everything is healing properly. Once the anesthesia wears off from the surgery, you should start feeling a little more clear headed, although the pain medication is probably going to still make you drowsy. You hang in there and let one of the nurses know if you need anything, ok?"
Rory nodded and Dr. Getty patted her good foot before exiting back into the hall. Lorelai followed him, needing more information.
"Is she really going to be ok?" Lorelai asked nervously.
"Physically, in time, she will heal. Her leg will never be 100%, but it will be close enough to not impede on her every day life. Mentally though, once she starts to remember what happened, is the thing I am more concerned about. She may not remember on her own for several days or weeks, but she should be evaluated, and unfortunately, now that she's awake, the police are going to have questions. I can hold them off for a day or two, but they will question her." Dr. Getty replied, his brow furrowing at the thought of the police interfering with his patient's recovery process.
Back in the hospital room, Rory and Logan sat silently, still holding hands. Rory was starting to feel drowsy again and was glad that they had a minute alone, she needed to ask Logan a question.
"You found me." Rory said, the question coming out as a statement, she felt in her bones now that Logan had saved her.
"Yes." Logan replied, leaning closer to her.
"And it was bad." Rory said, feeling the pain killers slowing down her thoughts.
"Yes." Logan responded, after a moment. He didn't want to talk about what happened with her, and he especially didn't want to talk about it with her being so soon out of surgery. But he also realized that she remembered at least a bit of what happened, and they would have to talk about it eventually.
Rory's eyes began to close and she felt safe, in this room with Logan, her hand in his, the feel of his weight on the bed as he gently kissed her forehead. As long as she had him standing by her, everything would be ok.
"Love you." She whispered softly, and Logan smiled for the first time in what felt like years.
"Love you too, Ace. I'll be here."
