Chapter 12: Still
Rory cried and shook her head "They won't tell me anything Tristan…tell me what's going on" She sobbed
"They're here?" he asked frantically. Rory nodded.
"Okay. Just sit here okay? I'm going to go find out what's going on" he said calmly, sitting her on one of their emergency room beds.
"Tom, watch her. Don't let her leave" Tristan said quickly before making his way to the OR.
Tom looked over at Rory and tried to figure out what to do. Did he just leave her there? Was he supposed to check her out? Tristan hadn't given him any indication of what was going on. Afraid she might be hurt he walked over to her.
"Hey, are you okay?" He asked the girl who seemed to be in a daze
He sighed when he got no response. "Can I see your arm?" he asked gently, seeing blood dripping from her elbow. Rory looked down, seeming to notice the injury for the first time. She didn't even know how she got it. She nodded mutely at the doctor, indicating it was okay.
"Sorry this is going to sting" he said, cleaning up her cut. Just then, Tristan came back from the OR. "What happened?" he asked concerned
Rory didn't say anything; she just looked up at him with questioning eyes. Tristan shook his head sadly "Rory…they don't know much yet." He said quietly "Lorelai has lost a lot of blood, and Luke seems to be doing okay. He's stable for the time being" he answered
"No" She whispered tearfully, pleading with no one in particular for this not to be true
"Ror" Tristan tried. "Tom, thanks…I'll get that in a second" he said softly
Tom nodded and left the couple alone, pulling the curtain to give them some privacy. Tristan shrugged his white coat off and set it on the bed before sitting down next to her.
"She's not stable? What does that mean?" She asked, on the verge of a complete breakdown.
"We don't know." He said truthfully
"Do something please?" she pleaded. Tristan fought not to break down as well…her asking such a childish innocent question showed her vulnerability.
"I can't" he said softly
"You can…why aren't you in there! You're the best…you're the best" she sobbed, tugging at his shirt violently. A few tears escaped his eyes and he pulled her to him, stopping her struggling and spoke softly to her. "Shh" he whispered, not knowing what else to say. He couldn't say everything was going to be okay…because that wasn't certain.
"Sit tight for a sec. I'm going to tell them I'm taking the night off okay?" he said softly when he was paged several times
Rory didn't say anything, he wondered if she even heard him. He got up to leave taking her hand when she began to follow him. Just as he was walking to the desk, they wheeled Lorelai out; they were transporting her to surgery.
"Mom!" Rory exclaimed and ran towards her stretcher, ignoring the protests from the doctors surrounding her.
"Let her through" Tristan's voice ordered, making the doctors step aside. He came to stand beside Rory while studying her chart.
"Mom…please be okay. Just be okay" Rory cried harder at the sight of Lorelai. She had tubes everywhere, blood was smeared on ever visible part of her body and her face was covered with cuts and bruises. She was strapped into the stretcher, not able to move an inch.
"I love you Rory" Lorelai whispered weakly
"Stop…don't…you're going to be fine" Rory cried
"Come on Ror, we have to let her go" Tristan whispered, trying to untangle her hand from Lorelai's. His head snapped back when Lorelai gripped his hand after letting go of Rory's.
"Take care of her Tristan. She's my life" She whispered
Tristan nodded "Always" he said softly, letting her go finally
"Tristan…" She choked, hearing their exchanging of words.
"Come on, we'll go to see Luke and then my office" he said, gently guiding her in the right direction. They got to Luke's room and Rory tentatively walked in "Luke?" she called softly
Luke opened his eyes. He had a cast on his leg and a cast on one of his arms, other than that he seemed to be fine. "Hey" he said hoarsely
"How are you feeling?" Rory asked quietly, standing beside him
"Fine, they just came in and gave me some pain meds. How is she Rory." He asked hesitantly desperately
"She…she's in surgery now" she whispered "What happened?"
"I'm sorry." He choked "We were at an intersection, our light turned green and I went. A semi came from the left side and hit us head on" he whispered, on the verge of falling asleep.
"Tristan what's wrong with him?" Rory asked frantically as the line on his heart monitor went flat.
Tristan looked up from his chart and ran over to his IV, checking the tag. "Shit" he cursed, immediately ripping it out. He pushed the call button. "Push one of Epi" he ordered the nurse that came in.
"Go find who his doctor was and bring him here immediately" he ordered another one as he brought over the crash cart.
"Charging" he said, rubbing the paddles together "Clear" he said before pressing both paddles to his chest and effectively shocking his heart, sighing in relief as it found a normal heartbeat again. He set the paddles down and told the nurse to put them away as he manually checked his pulse to make sure. He finally looked over at Rory who had her hands covering her mouth and tears flowing down her face, trying in vein not to cry out.
"Hey he's fine baby. He's fine" Tristan whispered, hugging her to him
Just then Luke's doctor walked in and looked questioningly at Tristan. "Figures" Tristan muttered, looking him up and down. He was a new doctor…fresh out of med school.
"Read this chart and tell me what went wrong with your patient just now" Tristan ordered, shoving the chart angrily in his hand
The young doctor stuttered before mumbling "yes sir" he was about to walk out with the chart when Tristan shoved him back in the room.
"Read it here, now" he said
"Tristan…" Rory protested quietly
"Rory go sit down" he said firmly, not taking his eyes off of the new doctor
"Well" Tristan asked impatiently
"I don't see the problem" he said nervously
"You don't see the problem? You're patient just went into V-tach…surely there has to be a reason" he said sarcastically, trying not to rip the guy apart
"He's allergic to Morphine! His heart stopped!" Tristan shouted "Did you bother reading his chart at all? What if I wasn't in here? You would have let an innocent man die and pay for your mistakes. This is why we go to school for god knows how long! This is why we don't make mistakes Doctor" he shouted angrily. "As of now he is no longer your patient, I would consider a resignation if I were you" he added
The young doctor looked like he was going to cry. He merely nodded and walked out of the room in defeat. "Tristan" Rory said in protest, thinking he was too hard on him
"What Rory?" he shouted frustrated
Rory jumped back, he had never used that tone with her. He sighed and stepped towards her, stopping when she flinched "I'm sorry." He said softer this time, sitting down next to her
"I'm sorry sweetheart…but he deserved it. He made a mistake, we can't make mistakes, we can't afford to. Not ones like this that could have been prevented" he explained, rubbing her back slowly
"He's going to be okay right?" She asked afterwards
Tristan nodded "he'll be fine. I have him on alternate pain medication now so he should wake up soon" he said
"You're not going to have to do that thing to him are you?" Rory asked fearfully
"Do what?" he asked confused
"I mean, he's not going to be like having seizures for the rest of his life or anything right?" she clarified
Tristan smiled softly "No, he'll be fine. We got here just as they had administered his IV and the drip was pretty slow so he should be good" he assured
"Thank you" She whispered, hugging him tightly
"For what?" he asked, smoothing her hair out
"Saving his life" She said obviously
"Of course" he said immediately "You don't have to thank me Rory…I love them too" he added
"I know" he whispered "I just need to keep my mind off of my mom." She added
Tristan nodded "Your arm's still bleeding. Let me take a look?" he asked
"Yeah" she agreed
"Okay, hold it up" he said once they were in his office and he had all the materials he needed
She held her arm up, elbow facing down and wince when the began cleaning it up.
"Sorry" he said softly "You need stitches Rory. What happened?" he asked
"I don know. I didn't even notice" she said carelessly
"Come on, let's go to the ER. I need to stitch you back up" he said lightly
Rory smiled faintly "I've never had stitches before…" she said nervously, sitting down on the bed
"It'll be fine" he assured her and took out a syringe of local anesthetic. He numbed the area quickly before Rory had a chance to protest and looked back up at her. "Can you feel this?' he asked, poking at her arm
Rory shook her head "No" she answered "Will it hurt?" she asked scared
"No, you wont feel a thing" Tristan said, fighting the urge to laugh at her childish question.
"Stop smiling. It's not funny" Rory huffed
"Sorry" he said beginning to stitch her up.
"Tristan?" she asked
"Yeah?" he questioned, not looking up from her arm
"Wh…how long…what are they doing in there?" she managed to get out finally
Tristan knew she was referring to her mom "They're going to perform surgery on three areas of her body. Her leg is pooling with blood so they'll need to find the source or amputate" he said gently "After that they'll give her a transfusion" he added
"We're the same blood type." She said quickly
Tristan shook his head "the bank has plenty of blood Rory. You don't need to worry about that" he said
"Oh" she said quietly
"They also have to perform…I think you should hear it from her Rory" he said finally
"No. tell me" she demanded "what's wrong?" she asked
"They'll need to check on the fetus" he said softly
Tears filled Rory's eyes again "She's pregnant?" She whispered
Tristan nodded "yeah"
"Will the baby be okay!" She asked quickly standing up
"I don't know Rory. Sit back down" he said pushing her down gently onto the bed again
"And depending on what the CT shows, brain surgery is an possibility" he said
"Oh my god" Rory whispered
"Rory" he said firmly "Rory listen to me. She's strong, healthy and she's young. There is no reason why she wont come out of this okay." He said
"She was coming to see me to tell me about the baby" Rory said quietly
"Don't. Do not do that" Tristan said sternly "It's not your fault, I swear to god if you say it Rory…" he warned
Rory shook her head "Finish" She asked softly
"Can…do you think you can go in and watch?" She asked
"I'm not leaving you alone" he said incredulously, finishing up her stitches
"I want you to watch. I trust you…please?" she asked
"Fine. But you're staying with Tom" he stated
"Wow. Another male, risky?" she teased, trying miserably to distract herself
"Tom's gay" he stated and led her over to his office
"I was kidding" She said
"I know. But he is…" he said smirking slightly
"Hey Tom, I'm going to go sit in on Lorelai Gilmore's surgery. You mind if she hangs out in here for a bit?" he asked
"Oh yeah sure" Tom said kindly "Please take a seat" he said, motioning to the couches
"We're in OR 3 if you need anything" he said
"Bye Dad" she said, shaking her head. It felt like her mother was dropping her off at a friend's house, asking permission if I was okay if she slept over or something.
Tristan shook his head "Please don't say that now" he groaned
"So Rory…" Tom approached, not knowing what to say "How do you know Tristan?" he tried lamely
Rory chuckled slightly "I'm guessing you already know, judging from the scene you witnessed" she said not rudely/
Tom ducked his head and laughed "Right. Sorry" he said
"It's fine. I know it's sort of awkward" she admitted "So, what's your specialty" She asked in lame attempt to create conversation
"Oh I'm a surgeon as well. My specialty is neuro" he said
"Interesting. I think Tristan wants to specialize in cardio" she said
"It suits him" he remarked "Although he's a brilliant surgeon, it'll be sad to see him go for just one thing." He added
"Well you still have him for a while." She chuckled "How is the surgeon that's working on my mom?" she asked softly
"I can assure you she's in good hands, all our doctors are incredible" he said comfortingly "And the surgical department is obviously the best" He said arrogantly
Rory laughed "thanks" she said
"You want something to drink? I think you'll be here for a while if you want Tristan to observe the entire surgery" he said
"Sure, I'll have some water if you have any" she said
"Here you are" he said, handing her a bottle from the fridge
"Thanks" she responded
Rory/Tristan
"Rory?" he called out when he entered Tom's office. He found her curled up on the couch, a blanket thrown over her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful except for the frustration and worry evident even in her sleep. "Thanks Tom" Tristan said softly "I'm just going to move her into my office"
"Sure thing" Tom responded, as Tristan gently picked Rory up into his arms.
"Tris?" Rory mumbled against his chest
"Yeah its me, I'm just moving you into my office, Tom needs to go home" he whispered, kissing her forehead softly
"Kay" she mumbled sleepily "Stay?" She whispered when he tried to untangle himself from her after setting her down on his couch.
"You awake?" he asked softly, lying down with her
"Yeah" she said quietly "How'd it go?"
"It went well. Your moms going to be fine. It's going to take some time for her to recover but there was no brain damage" he said softly
"So she's going to be fine?" Rory asked tearfully
"She's going to be great with time" he said smiling "You look exhausted, go to sleep" he coaxed
"Where are you going?" she asked frowning
"I have some paperwork to finish up. But I'm not going anywhere." He said, stroking her hair gently
"I'll just wait then" She said, trying to sit up
He shook his head "It's going to take me some time." He said, gently pushing her back down "We'll go home after I'm done I promise" he said
"I brought my car. I can just go now" she said sleepily
"I'm not letting you drive like this" he exclaimed softly, partly because she was tired and the other still freaked out about what happened to Lorelai and Luke
"Okay. Goodnight Tristan" She said, letting him go
He stood up and leaned over, kissing her forehead "I love you Mary" he said softly
"I love you too" She murmured sleepily
Rory/Tristan
Rory woke up the next morning in their bed, although she had no clue how she got there…well obviously Tristan but she had no memory of it. "Hey you're awake. You alright?" Tristan asked, bringing her a cup of coffee
Rory nodded "yeah" she said softly, looking down at the coffee. It just seemed to remind her of Lorelai.
"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting down next to her.
"Nothing. Just…thanks. I know you had a lot of work to do yesterday and you probably didn't have time to watch a 6 hour surgery…" She said sincerely
"You don't need to thank me Ror…we've been over this. Now come on, drink up. Isn't it against the rules to let coffee go to waste?" He teased
Rory smiled and nodded, taking a long sip of her coffee. "You didn't sleep at all did you?" She asked accusingly
'I'm fine Ror…I guess med school does come in handy huh" he remarked
"What were you doing?" she asked
"Just paperwork, don't worry about it" he said. "Come on, go get ready and we can go visit Luke and Lorelai. I had the nursing staff stick them in the same room" He said grinning
"You're amazing" She said happily
"I try. Now go!" He ushered, practically pulling her off the bed and into the bathroom.
"Hey, do they know who was in the truck?" she asked
Tristan nodded "He passed away on the scene." He said
"Oh" Rory said quietly "Was it a mistake or…was he drunk?" she asked
"I don't know, tox screen will be back today. We can check then okay?" he asked
Rory nodded "Alright" she agreed
"Okay, now please go take a shower!" he said again, pleading with her to get ready, just as anxious to see them as she was.
"I'm going!" Se exclaimed and ran into the bathroom
Rory/Tristan
The next few weeks, both Luke and Lorelai stayed with Rory and Tristan…mostly upon Rory's request. Not to mention just incase something went wrong they had a doctor in the house.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Rory asked both Lorelai and Luke
"Sweetie I'm on bed rest. I'll be fine and you're only a phone call away" she assured her
"Okay. Fine. I love you, take care" Rory said
They had arranged for a car to take them back to Stars hollow since neither were in any condition to drive. "Bye sweets, I'll call you the second we get there" She said
"You better. Bye Luke" she said, waving one last time before the car drove off
"Come on Mar, lets go back inside" he coaxed "They'll be fine." He assured her
Rory nodded "I know" she said softly
The next few weeks went by fast; both Rory and Tristan had a lot to do and a lot of work to make up for.
"Hey mom" Rory answered, she was curled up on the couch next to Tristan who was watching TV.
"Hey sweets" Lorelai said, trying to sound cheerful but failing miserably
"What's wrong?" Rory asked immediately
"Nothing" She lied "How are you?" she asked softly
"Cut the crap mom. What's wrong?" Rory asked again
"I'm just worried about the baby…I haven't felt it move at all" she said sadly
"Tristan…" Rory said
He turned his head towards her "Hmm?" he asked
"Is it normal for…my mom hasn't felt the baby kick or move yet" She said questioningly
Tristan sighed and sat up a little straighter "Can I have the phone?" he asked
"Is that normal Tristan? I mean I'm 20 weeks pregnant and nothing" Lorelai asked
"In your case it's very normal Lorelai. You won't be feeling much at all until maybe the big ones towards the end" he explained
"What why?" she asked confused
"Your doctor didn't tell you?" he asked curiously, realizing afterwards those probably weren't the best choice of words.
"No. what's wrong with me!" Lorelai said frantically "Bible boy!" She shouted
"Calm down, nothing's wrong with you. You're placenta is attached to the front wall of your uterus. We saw that from the ultrasound. Even if the baby was moving, it would be like trying to kick through a pillow, you won't feel the subtle jabs or anything. I'm sorry. But consider it a blessing, you wont wake up in the middle of the night or anything" he said chuckling slightly
Lorelai sighed in relief "Thanks…sorry I bothered you" she said
"Are you serious?" he chuckled "Don't worry you didn't bother me…by the way, no coffee" he stated
Lorelai gasped "Its back to Evil Tristan for you!" She shouted into the phone "Okay, well I'm fine now. Tell Rory ill call her tomorrow" She said before hanging up
He set the phone down and turned back to Rory who had an odd look on her face. "What?" he asked not seeing the problem
Rory shook her head "it's just…it's kinda cool to see you work" she commented with a smile
"That wasn't work Mary" he said amused
"It kind of was…" she defended "I dunno it was just…forget it" she sighed in defeat
Tristan smirked "Sleep?" he asked, his own eyes dropping shut
Rory nodded "yeah" she said, making no move to get up
"You have to move" he said, motioning to her
"I don't want to" she whined, comfortable where she was
"Well you have to. Because if you don't, then I cant" he said annoyed, gently nudging her away from him so he could get up and go to bed
"Stop it…" Rory groaned and laid her head on his shoulder
"No…uh uh. I am not carrying you today. I'm tired Mar" he pleaded, knowing what she wanted
Rory pouted "Please" She asked with her best doe eyes
"Haven't we talked about using those on me? They don't work. Get up" he said annoyed
"You suck today" she stated and slowly stood up
"My pleasure" he called out as he walked towards their bedroom
Rory's jaw dropped "Dirty" she muttered and followed him.
A/N: Hey so I know…its super long but gah, I haven't been able to stop writing this story. And its not good because I have finals lol. So I'm trying to get it alllll out before I fail my sophomore year of college. Enjoy, and as always Read and Review please.
