Annie didn't come to school the rest of that week.
Rory came out of English and found Tristan standing by her locker. "What do you want, Tristan?"
"I helped your friend," Tristan said.
"Point being?" Rory shoved him aside to get to her locker.
"Now you owe me a favor," he said.
"Since when?"
"Please."
It was the first time Rory had heard Tristan Dugray say "please" and she wasn't sure what to make of it. "What?"
"Get Annie to go out on a date with me."
"Tristan, she hasn't been in school for the past four days. What do you want?"
"I want you to talk to her." For once, Tristan looked, well, bashful. "I'm afraid to ask her out; she might say no."
"I doubt she will after the way you played Superman the other day."
Tristan's cheeks flamed with color. "Well…"
"If I see her, I'll ask her."
"Thank you."
"But I won't make any promises!" Rory called after him as he went down the hallway.
"Hi, Mrs. Ecclesall, is Annie there?"
"No, I'm sorry, sweetie, she can't come to the phone right now. Can I take a message?"
"Well, it's kind of personal. Do you know when I'll be able to get a hold of her?"
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then Maire Ecclesall said, "Rory, honey, I'm sorry. Annie's in the hospital right now."
"What for?" Rory asked, shocked.
"She was running a high fever and she collapsed the other day. They've put a tube down her throat to help her breathe. She can't talk right now. Would you like to come to the hospital to see her?"
"Could I?"
"I have visiting hours tonight from eight to eight-thirty."
"Okay," Rory said. "Thanks, Mrs. Ecclesall."
"Okay, bye! I'll be back at nine!" Rory called to Lorelai as she was heading out in the rain.
"Bye!" Lorelai answered. She was watching CNN and eating a day-old doughnut. As Rory left, she stood up, got her coat and umbrella, and headed out the door, going to Luke's. Well, where else would she go?
"Stop pounding on my door!" Luke demanded as Lorelai appeared on his front step.
"Well, if
you wouldn't lock it, I wouldn't have to."
"Don't pound on it!" Luke said
insolently.
"Luke, it's not a battering ram, it's an umbrella."
Luke unlocked the door and let Lorelai in. She settled herself at the counter. Luke poured her a cup of coffee. "Where's your Mini Me?"
"Rory? Oh, she went to the Hartford Hospital."
"What for?" Luke asked.
"Her new friend, Annie Ecclesall, is in serious condition there, and Maire Ecclesall suggested that Rory might like to go see Annie."
Luke's face grew thoughtful for a moment. "That's very sad."
"Yes, but I'm glad that Annie has someone like Rory, and Rory has someone like Annie."
"Truth, truth," Luke agreed. "Now, are you going to order or not?"
"Thank you so much, Mrs. Ecclesall," Rory said as they were coming up the steps and into the third floor hallway. Rory was trying not to gasp; there certainly were a lot of stairs!
"Oh, it's no problem," Maire said. "You're such a kind girl, and a good friend to Annie."
Rory's face flushed with the praise. "So, Mrs. Ecclesall –.."
"Maire."
"How did Annie end up in a wheelchair?" They were rounding the corner and going down the hallway.
"A genetic disease, called Roondalev's." She pronounced it "Roon-dull-eaves." "It dulls the nervous system and caused Annie's spinal cord to shut down. She just learned how to push herself in the chair a few months ago. Before that, she was fully paralyzed."
They came up to Annie's room. "Here we are," Maire said. She knocked softly. When a clicking noise came from inside, she pushed the door open.
Annie was lying flat on her back on the hospital bed. There was a mirror that had been placed on the ceiling and then another one near it so she could see who she was talking to. A tube was inserted into her throat (a tracheotomy, Maire said), and she was hooked up to various machines. "Hi, babe," Maire said.
Annie gave a smile and a click.
"She's saying hi," Maire translated.
Rory sat down near the mirror at the foot of the bed and said, "Tristan wants to date you, Annie."
There came a series of rapid clicks. "What does that mean?" Rory asked Maire.
"She's laughing," Maire responded.
Annie's hand flailed for a moment, and Maire put a pencil into it, and held the paper tablet for her daughter. She held up the tablet a minute later so Rory could read it: "Why does he want to date me? I'm a nobody, and he's a Black Plague Boy."
Rory grinned. "Beats me. I think he likes you, though."
Annie rolled her eyes, and Rory caught it in the mirrors. "Hey!" Rory said. "I'm just making an observation."
Annie laughed again.
"How long do you have to have that tube in?" Rory asked.
Annie took up the pencil again and laboriously scrawled, "Oh, for a few weeks, or so, until I get stabilized."
"Okay." Rory nodded. "If you need any help with your homework, or anything, I'm glad to help. I'll bring it by for you."
Annie nodded vigorously, and clicked something at her mother. It was obviously a set of coded clicks, for Maire nodded and said, "Annie wants to know if Tristan would ever come visit her, if he wants to see her so much."
"I'm not sure," Rory said, as she mused the question. "Probably not. He's not the hospital type."
Again with the laughter.
Rory smiled. She was about to say something else, when a nurse came in. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Ecclesall, but visiting hours are over."
"Thanks, Jean. Hey, this is Annie's friend Rory, and she wants to bring Annie her homework tomorrow. Will that be okay?"
"Sure thing, if you come between six and seven," the nurse answered.
"Will do," Rory agreed.
She left the room as Maire said her good-bye to Annie, and as she stood in the hall, Rory was thinking If only people knew how great Annie was, then they'd understand. If they understood what she has to go through, then they'd understand.
Headmaster Carlton called Rory to his office the next day. "Rory Gilmore?"
"Yes?"
"There is going to be a speech competition next week," Headmaster Carlton said. "I was wondering if you wanted to enter."
"Oh, yes, sir, I'd love to!" Rory agreed.
"Good. I'll expect your final draft of the speech by next Tuesday. The competition is on Friday, in front of the entire student body."
"Thank you, sir, for the invitation!"
"Oh, it's no problem, Rory. Just make sure you have it in by Tuesday." Headmaster Carlton stood, shook her hand, and Rory headed out.
And I know just what to do it on.