Reliving the Past

Chapter Ten

I cannot believe Tristan. I never knew he could be that way. It was scary. I would hate to be in Stephanie's shoes. Stephanie looked desperate… like she was loosing control.

Tristan made her loose control.

For the nth time, I'm glad that Tristan is my brother.

We drove back to the house. I didn't say anything, I couldn't.

After about twenty minutes, I finally regained the ability to speak.

"Stephanie doesn't know I'm your sister."

Tristan glanced at me quickly. "I think."

"How can she not know? Everyone knows. Does she even know your last name?" I was loosing it. I was completely loosing it.

"I don't think so."

"She told me you guys had been involved… oh god, have you slept with her?"

Tristan's voice was carefully neutral. "I don't think that's any of your business."

I shut my eyes. "Oh my god.

"Lorelai, why are you overreacting like this?" Tristan said, sounding annoyed. "It's not the first time I've done this."

I breathed heavily. "Oh my god. Please don't let this be happening."

"What? Lor, what is wrong with you?"

"Tristan, don't you see how awful what you're doing is?"

"My life is my own business, Lorelai."

"It's not your business when you make it a game to break someone's heart!" I shrieked. "How many girls have you done this to? Do you even care about them?"

"Shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about." Tristan's voice was cold and furious.

"What did they do to deserve that? What kind of a person are you?"

"Lorelai, please. Shut up."

But I couldn't stop thinking about Stephanie's tearstained face… the pain that was written there. And it was all because of Tristan.

"Stephanie did nothing to deserve that! Why would you do that to her!?"

"Dammit, Lorelai, shut up!"

"What would mom say if she knew what you were doing? You know, she was a new girl at Chilton once too! Do you think she'd be proud of you? Playing and hurting every girl you date? Mom would be so disappointed in you, Tristan!"

Tristan took his eyes of the road and turned to me angrily. "For the last time, Lorelai, SHUT UP!"

"Tristan!" I yelled as a flash of yellow headlights shined on us.

Tristan jerked the steering wheel quickly, the car swerved off the road, and my last thought was 'Was this what mom felt?' as blackness overtook me.

*

Sorry, I have to go away from Lorelai's POV. She can't very well narrate while she's in a coma.

Tristan sat in his office at home, staring at a picture.

Rory was so beautiful… so good, so light, so sweet. She was perfect.

And it was so unfair, so unfair that she had been taken from him so quickly.

Rory had been everything to him… Rory and his kids. When Rory had died… he never told them this… he hadn't wanted to see them. Not at the funeral and just after she died… then, he had clung to them… but the month after that.

They reminded him so much of his late wife.

Tristan… when he was younger of course… Tristan had been shy, sweet, bookish… exactly like Rory. He was a mix of the two of them. Tristan was the one who had inherited Rory's coffee obsession.

And Lorelai. She was exactly like Rory. She had Rory's big blue eyes, long brown hair, and sweet smile. Lorelai was shy, sweet, charming, and smart. It had hurt so much to see Lorelai… because she was an instant reminder of Rory. Seeing Lorelai always brought back stabs of pain at his heart.

He put the family picture back in the drawer where he kept it. He couldn't keep it at his desk, it was too much. But he couldn't bear to not be able to see her face. Not that he needed a picture.

The phone rang, and Tristan nearly jumped in terror.

He shook his head. "I have to get over this paranoia…" he mumbled to himself. He picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Mr. DuGrey?" a female voice asked.

"Yes," Tristan said frowning.

"My name is Angela Butler," she paused. "Your children were in an accident."

Panic, horror, and dread filled Tristan. No. Not this again. "A-A-Are they… Are they all right?" he finally managed. "What happened?"

"A car accident. Your son took his eyes of the road, and swerved to avoid a collision with another car. Their car skidded down a ravine, and hit a tree. Mr. Buchanan, the driver of the car they swerved around, called 911."

"Are they all right?" Tristan asked, sitting down, finding himself unable to support himself. Somehow… it was his fault. Why the hell did he give Tristan a car? Why did he trust them to be on their own, driving, at night? What was wrong with him? Hadn't he learned anything?

"Your son was lucky, he escaped the crash with a broken arm and minor concussion."

Good, that was good… but… "What… What happened to Lorelai?" he said, his voice sounded foreign.

She hesitated a moment.

Tristan's hand started shaking. "What happened to her?"

"She suffered massive head injuries, a few cracked ribs, and a punctured lung."

"What hospital are they at?"

"Littleton General."

Tristan hung up, and dialed another number. On the third ring, someone finally answered. "Paris? Yeah. Can you drive me to the hospital? I don't think I can get there myself."

*

Tristan walked quickly into the hospital. "I'm looking for Lorelai and Tristan DuGrey."

The nurse looked up. "I'll be with you in a minute, sir, can you please take a seat?"

Tristan could barely contain his anger. "Look-"

"Tristan!" Paris snapped. She turned to the nurse. "Excuse me-"

Tristan didn't pay attention to what Paris said, but when the nurse, with a terrified look on her face said first room on the right, he had taken off.

Tristan burst into the room. His son was sitting on an examining table.

"Dad…" Tristan said softly. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

Tristan Sr. walked forward, and surprising his son, he hugged Tristan tightly. "I was so worried…" he said softly. "Thank God you're all right."

"Mr. DuGrey?" the doctor asked.

Tristan nodded. "How is he?"

"A minor concussion, and broken arm. We can take the cast off in a month or so."

Tristan nodded. "When will he be released?"

"In a couple hours probably. We just need to run some test and x-rays, and he can go home."

Tristan nodded, staring at his son who was looking guiltily at the floor.

Paris poked her head in. "Tristan? Lorelai's in the operating room."

Tristan nearly ran out the door, but looked at his son. "Paris, will you stay with Tristan?"

Paris nodded. "I'll call Star's Hollow."

Tristan looked at her. "Thanks, Paris."

*

Tristan sat outside the waiting room of the operating room. God… his little girl. Lorelai was too young to die. She wasn't going to die. It was supposed to be him first. Children did not die while their parents were still alive.

Lorelai, the older one, was waiting with him.

A middle-aged man in blue scrubs came out, and Tristan stood up right away.

"I'm Dr. Walsh. Are you the father of Lorelai DuGrey?"

"Yes, I am. Is she going to be all right?"

"She was brought here just in time. We were able to stop the bleeding, and fix most of her injuries. However there was severe trauma to the head."

Tristan was growing impatient. "Meaning?"

The doctor sighed. "Although her condition is stable, she's in a coma, and there's no telling when she'll wake up. If she wakes up at all."

Tristan shut his eyes. This couldn't be happening. This was his little girl. This was Lorelai.

Lorelai Danes spoke up. "Can we see her?"

The doctor glanced at the woman. "She's being moved to a private room. Follow me."

*

Tristan's heart broke at the sight of Lorelai. Her head was bandaged, there were several large bruises and scratches on her arms and face. She was hooked up to a respirator.

She looked so small and helpless in the bed. He walked forward, and kissed her forehead.

"Hey, Mary…" he whispered. "How are you doing, sweetie?"

Of course she made no reply. "If it helps any, I'm grounding Tristan. Till he's about eighty. I'll put bars on his windows so he can't sneak out."

He looked at her… looking so pale and wounded… and he was reminded of seeing Rory's lifeless face on the metal examining table.

The most horrible experience of his life.

"Isn't this ironic? You, nearly dying on the exact same day your mother did," Tristan said, voice wavering. "If you take journalism in college, you can write a book about this. We're an extremely interesting family."

Still no response from Lorelai.

"Or even if you don't. You become famous one day, your biography…" Tristan trailed off. It wasn't fair. Lorelai was too young to die… in fact, he was supposed to go first. Tristan realized he was so prepared to leave them… but he wasn't at all prepared for them to leave him.