The next morning, Em was back at Luke's apartment, but was destined to stay in the bed for a few more days. She was going to be in a lot of pain for a while, but would make full recovery eventually; aside from the ugly scaring on her stomach.

Luke gazed down at his watch, "Okay, I'd better get down to the diner." He replied with a bit of concern.

"And I need to go to the inn." Lorelai added. She cast a glance over to Rory who had made a bed on the couch and planned on catching up on some sleep. "Rory, promise me…"

"I promise." Rory interjected.

"You haven't even heard what it is I want you to promise, yet." Lorelai pointed out.

"I promise I won't leave the apartment. I won't say anything to anyone about Em and if Em needs anything, I'll be right here." She smiled. "Oh, and I also promise to not eat all the pop tarts while you're gone."

Lorelai shook her head and laughed lightly, "Good girl."

"Bye, Mom." She yawned as she curled under the covers on the couch.

"Bye, sweetie." Lorelai turned and focused on Em. "I'll stop by during my lunch, okay?"

"You don't have to do that." Em replied. "I may be bedridden, but I won't let Rory go on any pancake dates with strange boys. Just set a bunch of small but heavy objects beside my bed. I've got great aim."

"I'm stopping by." Lorelai repeated this time with a smirk. "Bye."

"Bye." Em smiled.

Luke had been waiting patiently by the doorway for Lorelai. They both exited the apartment together.

"Don't worry. I'll keep a check on them." Luke said as he placed an arm around Lorelai.

"I know you will." Lorelai stopped. "I'll see you later." She gently leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. It was a brief kiss, but very passion filled. "Bye." She ended sweetly.

"Bye." Luke adoringly echoed.

At the inn, Lorelai found herself up to her eyeballs in paperwork. Sookie and Michel had managed to keep the end running, but that was about as far as they got. As Lorelai tired to untangle the mess that had been weaved during her absence she was suddenly interrupted by a young man standing on the other side of her desk.

"Excuse me." The young man began, "I hope I'm not bothering you."

Lorelai looked up from her work, "Oh, not at all. Can I help you?" Lorelai flashed a smile.

"I'm hoping so." He replied. "I was hoping to rent a room."

"Okay. No problem." Lorelai grabbed the room schedule book. "I assume you need something now…"

"Yes." The young man answered. "Anything you have available will be fine." He smiled. "I'll only be in town for a few days."

"Okay. I have a room available from now until Friday. How does that sound?"

"Actually… I need something a little longer than that. Do you have anything from now till Sunday?"

"Sunday… Sunday…" Lorelai skimmed over the book. "Uhhhh…. No." she replied. "But, you can stay in room 22 from now until Friday. Then I'll have another room opening up that will be available till Sunday."

"Changing rooms? That sounds like a bit of a hassle…." The young man replied.

"I'll knock fifty dollars off your rent."

He laughed lightly, "Throw in some extra mints, and you've got a deal."

"All you can eat." Lorelai remarked. "I'll send up your own personal mint basket."

"Sounds wonderful. I'll go get my bags now." He reached over and took a mint from Lorelai's desk. "For the road." He winked.

Michel came out from the kitchen and took his seat at the desk. He let out a long sigh as he took a sip of his coffee. "Wednesday mornings are such a bother."

"Cheer up, Michel." Lorelai replied. "It's hump day."

"Hump day?" Michel raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know. You're over the hump…" Lorelai paused. "For the week… you're halfway done…"

"I see." Michel finally replied. "It still does not take away the dread, however."

"Oh, well maybe signing in our new guest will brighten up your day. He went to get his bags, when he comes back, sign him into room 22 then switch him to room 7 on Friday. Knock fifty dollars off his bill, and send up a basket of mints."

"I liked it better when you were gone…" Michel mumbled as he stood from his chair and grabbed the guest book.

(Luke's diner)

"Hey, Caesar, I'm going to go up to the apartment. I'll be right back."

"No problem, boss." Caesar replied as he continued to prepare the lunch menu.

Luke opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside. Rory was still sleeping on the couch. Em was missing from the bed. Luke gazed around the apartment trying to find her.

"Em?" He finally called, but in low whisper so that he didn't wake Rory. "Em?" He slowly stepped towards the bathroom. The door was open, but only a tiny bit. At first Luke was about to walk away, fearing he'd walked upon something indecent, but then he realized that Em was standing by the medicine cabinet. Deciding to move forward, he let his presence known. "Em." He used a louder voice.

Em shut the cabinet quickly and turned around, "Luke…"

"What are you doing out of bed?" Luke asked.

"I was going to brush my teeth." Em replied. "I was looking for an extra tooth brush."

"Why are you looking for an extra toothbrush? You don't have one?"

"Well, I was using one at the hospital, but I don't think Lorelai brought it home with us. I didn't have one from before either… Clive didn't give me time to pack anything from the apartment." She gazed down.

"Get back to bed, Em." Luke instructed. "I don't have any extra toothbrushes, but I'll run to the market later and pick one up."

Em slowly moved back towards the bed, each step a little harder than the next. Luke closed the bathroom door. He glanced back over at Rory who was still sleeping.

"Hey, when Rory wakes up… send her down stairs. Tell her I want to speak to her."

Em eased herself into the bed. "Okay."

Luke took a final look at Em and then exited the apartment. A couple of hours later, Lorelai showed up as she had promised.

"Hey." She greeted. "I need the largest cup of coffee you have."

"Things hectic at the inn?" Luke asked as he poured her a fresh cup.

"You'd think I was gone for a month instead of a couple of days." She replied taking the coffee. "How are the girls?"

"Last time I was up there, Rory was still asleep. I told Em to have her come down when she wakes up, but so far I've not seen her."

"Oh. You wanted to talk her about something?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, now that you're here, I can tell you. When I went up there earlier to check on them, I found Emalisa in the bathroom… she was going through the medicine cabinet. She says she was looking for an extra toothbrush…"

Lorelai gasped, "Oh, a toothbrush! Damn it, I never even thought about that." Lorelai quickly made a mental note. "I can pick one up on my way back to the inn. Why didn't you call me earlier? I could have stopped at Dose's on my way over here and brought her one."

"Lorelai, I think you're kind of missing the point here." Luke replied.

"Aside from the fact that Em's had stinky breath all day?"

"She was in the medicine cabinet…" Luke repeated.

Lorelai stared at him for a moment, "You think she was looking for pills?"

Luke slightly nodded his head, "Or another razor…"

"Luke, are you serious?" Lorelai immediately sat down her cup of coffee. "Why would she be looking for pills or a razor?"

"Come on, Lorelai. Don't make me say it."

"No, I think you should say it." Lorelai folded her arms.

"Alright, fine." Luke inhaled and began, "I think she may have been looking for pills because she's probably been taking them. After all, her ex was a drug dealer. Secondly, she's already used a razor once. You said yourself Em is a very emotional kid. Who knows for sure what she's really thinking?"

"Luke that's absurd. Em is not going to cut herself again. Did it ever cross your mind, she may really have been looking for a toothbrush?"

"Maybe she was." Luke answered. "But let me ask you another question. Why did you take the pills the hospital prescribed for Em to work with you?"

"I gave Em a pill this morning. She isn't supposed to take another one until 6:00 pm. I'll be home by then. I can give it to her."

Luke nodded. "Yeah, you can. But why didn't you just leave the pills at the apartment?"

Lorelai sighed, "Alright. I took the pills for safe keeping."

"And to make sure Em couldn't take more than she was prescribed." Luke added.

"Yes.' Lorelai reluctantly agreed.

"Because you've thought of this too. If her boyfriend was a drug dealer, she's bound to have tried something…"

"I'll talk to her. Later tonight when we have time to discuss everything that has happened. I'll make it clear that if she is on drugs of any kind, I'll help her with that too. She doesn't have to hide anything from me."

"I think that's a good idea. Until we're sure though, I'm locking up the medicine cabinet."