Why Me? - 19

"Just When Things Were Beginning To Look Up"

*Disclaimer: I realized I've never put one in my writing anywhere, so here it is, everyone ready?? - I don't own Gilmore Girls.- Whew. Done.*

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"Seriously, she's insane! What is wrong with that lady!" Jess walked down the hall at a fast pace, thinking only Luke was with him.

"Now you know where I get it from…" Lorelai said, sneaking up on the two of them.

"Oh, Lorelai, I didn't mean…" Jess stopped walking and started trying to explain his statement.

"I know, I think shes insane to." Lorelai said, smiling. They all continued walking, Luke leading the way back to Jess's room.

"Why aren't you in there with her?" Luke asked.

"She needs some time alone with Rory I think… and I need some time away. Not that I don't want to be there every second but its really hard." Luke noticed her eyes falling to the ground and decided to change the subject, hoping to cheer everyone up.

"Yea… well Jess, looks like you don't have to go to school tomorrow," Luke glanced down at his watch, it was early Monday morning now, "er, today. Just what you wanted!" Luke said enthusiastically, but Jess didn't buy it.

"Yea, If I had known these were gonna be the terms for me not to go…" Jess didn't finish. He didn't have to. Luke looked at Lorelai, hoping she would help out but she seemed just as dazed and out of it.

"Hey Jess, uh, I'm gonna take Lorelai down to the, um, the cafeteria. Want anything?" Luke asked as they made there way into Jess's room.

"No." Jess mumbled, plopping down on the bed. Luke grabbed Lorelai's arm and took her out of the room.

"What are you doing?" She asked, confused.

"I figured the kid needed some time alone. I've been there with him twenty four seven, he's getting sick of me." Lorelai smiled and while they continued walking, she entwined her arm with Luke's and leaned her head against his shoulder. At first Luke was unsure of what to do or how to react, but then relaxed and continued walking as if she wasn't clinging on to him.

"So where are we really going?" She asked, since they had been to the cafeteria not to long ago she figured they weren't going back and Luke was just trying to find a way to get out of there.

"The cafeteria…" Luke said as if she should have known.

"Oh," Lorelai said sounding dumbfounded, "I just figured it was a way to get us out of there."

They walked a few seconds then Lorelai suddenly stopped.

"Oh my God!" She screeched.

"What?! What is it!!" Luke said, sounding panicked.

"I haven't called Chris yet!!"

Luke let out a huge sigh of relief and glared at her. "Now that was totally unnecessary… you just scared the hell out of me."

Lorelai smirked, "Ill be right back, I think I need to do this alone. But when I come back, will you go to Rory's room with me?" Luke nodded and watched her walk away. She was so beautiful to him, and it amazed him how well she was holding up now considering she just broke down not to long ago. He watched her pick up the phone and dial Chris's number. He frowned at the thought, but then quickly smiled. 'She called me before him…' he thought.

*~~*

Lorelai paced back and fourth with the phone in her hand, but quickly got yanked back by the phones cord when she went to far.

"This is a hospital, they charge you up the ass for everything and they cant afford cordless phones?!" Lorelai angrily whispered to herself. 'Pick up, pick up, pick up…' She thought as the phone rang. But no answer.

"Hey, you've reached Christopher Hayden, I'm to busy to answer my phone right now but if you leave a message I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks." Beeeeep. Lorelai paused and debated in her mind. 'Should I leave a message?' 'No, that's informal.' 'Yea but I cant get a hold of him.' 'But if you don't he's gonna think you thought it was a mistake to call in the first place!' 'SAY something!'

"Chris, its um, me… Lorelai. Listen, Rory and I were in an accident. I'm fine, but Rory's not. You don't have to call me back, there is really no way you could reach me. My cell phone is gone, but anyway, if you could get down to Rye's Hospital as soon as possible that would be great. Um, I don't know directions but I'm sure you could find some. Anyway, I'll talk to you soon, hopefully. Bye." Lorelai hung up. 'Dammit!' she thought. This wasn't the way she wanted him to find out. She sighed and made her way towards Luke.

"How'd he take it?" Luke sympathetically asked.

"Wasn't there."

"Who were you talking to then?"

"The answering machine."

"Oh…" Luke nodded and there was an awkward pause.

"So, Rory's room now?" Luke looked down and Lorelai and she nodded. He took a deep breath and put his arm around her shoulder. She shuttered. He felt it, and was about to put his arm down when she nestled her head into his chest and they continued walking. He quietly sighed with relief and held on to her tightly. She smiled, but he couldn't see it. He smiled, but she couldn't see it. They both felt it.

"Thank you…" Lorelai whispered. Luke squeezed her shoulder and put his chin on top of her head to show he understood and to say thank you as well. They made there way to Rory's room and quietly walked in.

"Lorelai!" Emily screeched, Lorelai and Luke quickly pulled away as Emily stood up to 'greet' them.

"Where have you been!? Your daughters lying here, unconscious and could wake up any minute and you decided to chase your boyfriend around?!"

"Mom! I thought you wanted some time alone with her," Lorelai started, "and Luke and I aren't… like that." She quietly finished.

"Well Lorelai your just full of excuses aren't you?"

"Sure Mom…" Lorelai agreed, she didn't want to start an argument with her mother. Not here, not now.

"Wait a sec, where's Dad?" Lorelai asked, looking around the room.

"On business." Emily said, making her way back towards Rory.

"Well, did you bother to call him?"

"I haven't had the time just yet!" Emily said defensively.

"Fine Mom, just asking." Lorelai glanced at Luke who was staying as far away from Emily as humanly possible, not wanting any of her wrath. She tilted her head, signaling for him to come over to her and he did. With Luke beside her, Lorelai sudden felt better and more in control.

"Mom."

"What is it now Lorelai?"

"Go call Dad, Luke and I are here and if she wakes up we will get you the second she does."

Emily looked up at Lorelai, the pain and worry evident in her eyes and Lorelai gave her a weak smile.

"Ok then…" Emily said, trying to regain herself. "I'll be back in a couple minutes." Emily grabbed her purse and walked out as Lorelai sat down in the chair previously occupied by Emily.

"Finally…" Lorelai sighed. She looked up at Luke who was intently staring at Rory, and watched his face turn pale.

"Luke," she whispered, "she's going to be fine." Luke looked over at her and she could see his eyes begin to water. He saw that she noticed and quickly thought of a reason to leave.

"I'm uh, gonna go get Jess now…," Luke said, quickly making his way out of the room, "because you know, this may be the last time he'll get to see her since, I'm thinking Emily's gonna be here a lot."

"Ok" Lorelai quickly agreed, acting like she had noticed nothing.

After a few minutes, Luke had returned with Jess who was obviously anxious to see Rory. They all crowded around Rory and sat down. There was a long silence when Jess had finally said something.

"So what now." He somberly asked, still staring at Rory.

"What do you mean?" Lorelai said, looking at Jess confused.

"Do we just sit here and do nothing?"

"There's nothing we can do." Luke said, looking over at Jess as well. Then he suddenly noticed Jess become as white as a ghost and looked at Lorelai who obviously had noticed to.

"Jess, what's wrong?" "Are you ok?" They both asked.

He slowly pointed at Rory and Lorelai looked at her. She covered her hands with her mouth and tears began streaming down her face.

"Rory, baby, Rory!" Lorelai exclaimed, keeping one hand over her mouth and the other touching Rory's face all over.

Rory's eyes glanced around, looking terrified and confused. She tried to speak, but couldn't get anything out. The tube was still down her throat and she has no idea where she was.

"Nurse!" Luke screamed, making his way to the hallway to find one. Luckily, one was on her way in when Luke almost ran into her.

"She woke up! She woke up!" He proclaimed to her, pointing at Rory to show his proof. She quickly walked over to Rory and asked her a few questions.

"Just get the tube out of her throat I want to hear her talk, I need to talk to her…" Lorelai exclaimed, hardly being able to catch her breath.

"Ma'am, we need to talk outside and I'll page the doctor to come extibate her." The nurse said, gently grabbing Lorelai's arm to lead her out.

"No! I'm staying! I'm not leaving my daughter, she just woke up and I'm not going anywhere!" She protested, and crossed her arms to show she wasn't going anywhere.

"Ma'am if you don't come with me I will not page the doctor to remove the tube." The nurse stated just at firmly. Lorelai sighed and leaned down to Rory.

"Ill be right back baby, I love you so much, I'm just going to be outside Ok?" Rory slightly nodded as if she wasn't sure what was going on and Lorelai kissed her and walked out.

"What so important?" Lorelai asked getting impatient.

"I think its important to know that your daughter might have memory loss and some other changes…" Lorelai felt her heart stop. Memory loss. What hadn't she told her this before? The nurse continued speaking but Lorelai had blocked her out. What if she couldn't remember her? What if Rory didn't remember anyone? Lorelai shook her head. 'No,' she thought, 'she'll remember.' "… and that's something you should be aware of." The nurse finished.

"Um, yea sure…" Lorelai said, dazed.

"Everything Ok?" Luke asked, walking out and seeing Lorelai visible upset.

"Rory might have memory loss…" Lorelai managed to get out without crying. "We won't know until the tube comes out and she gets to talk."

"Oh Lorelai…" Luke started, but then the doctor walked past the two of them and into the room. Lorelai quickly followed him and Luke followed Lorelai.

"Hello," the doctor said to Jess, not knowing Lorelai and Luke were behind him. "Are you… Lorelai Gilmore?" He asked, looking at Jess weirdly.

"No," Jess pointed toward Lorelai, "that's her."

The doctor turned around and saw that Lorelai was right behind him. He extended his hand and she shook at nervously.

"Now, Mrs. Gilmore, we are going to take the tube out of her throat. She wont be able to talk very well, she will probably have to whisper. She will also cough a lot at first. And your aware of the possible memory loss, changes and overall outcome?" Lorelai nodded. Jess almost fell over.

"Memory loss?" He said loudly, everyone turned toward him.

"Yes son, your sister…"

"Girlfriend." Jess quickly interrupted.

"…sorry, girlfriend, might experience temporary or long term memory loss. We wont be sure until we talk to her." Jess nodded and sat down. He couldn't take this, this was just to much. The doctor walked behind Rory and explained to her that it might be uncomfortable, etc. And also told the three of them that they needed to back up and give Rory her space. Lorelai held on to Luke, who had his arms wrapped protectively around her. Jess was still sitting down beside her, but pushed his chair back a little bit. As he pulled the tube out of Rory's throat, Lorelai sunk her head into Luke's chest and he squeezed her even tighter.

Rory began coughing and swallowing hard. Her eyes sprinted around the room and she looked quickly from side to side, up and down. Then, she looked over at Lorelai, Luke, and Jess.

"Where am I?"

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*A/N- PLEASE review. I love writing, but I haven't been getting very many reviews lately and those are the only things keeping me writing. Long ones are the best, hint hint (Hehe). Anyways, please tell me whether or not you like this chapter and any suggestions are appreciated. I've started the L/L action, I hope you guys like that to. BTW, nice cliffhanger, eh?