A Gilmore Christmas
By: Alyson Tierney
DISCLAIMER: The characters of Lorelai Gilmore, Rory Gilmore, Richard Gilmore, Emily Gilmore, Luke Danes, Sookie St. James, Jackson Melville, and Davey Melville are solely the property of Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB network. The song is "All I Want for Christmas" by Roxanne. I'm just borrowing them for entertainment purposes. Don't sue; I'm a very poor college student who only paid $91 for 14 people's Christmas gifts.
NOTE: Yes, I am well aware that Christmas isn't for a month and a half, but trust me, by the time we get to the end of this, it will be Christmas, so humor me ok? I hope you will enjoy this, I wrote it last winter, and that's when it takes place. This is chapter five of 8, maybe 9 chapters. Enjoy and please review as always!
Chapter Five
The chief gave Lorelai and Rory a ride to the hospital, where they were brought to an exam room. They were told to wait there for a few moments for a doctor. Rory clutched her mother, her head on Lorelai's shoulder, and her hand gripping Lorelai's in a fierce grip. "I'm here, honey." Lorelai soothed her daughter, "Mama loves you, baby."
"Mom?" Rory asked in a small voice, saying her first word since they'd been at the shack.
"Yes, honey?" Lorelai asked, kissing her daughter's head.
"Did Christmas pass yet?" Rory asked, looking up at her mother. Her eyes scared Lorelai, so much fear and pain, yet she could see a spark of joy when Rory looked at her.
"No, honey, it's Monday. Christmas is Thursday." Lorelai assured her daughter, not sure what else she could say, other than assure her daughter she was okay now. Lorelai was unsettled at that thought. She was ok now. Was she okay then? Lorelai doubted it.
"Oh. That's good." Rory said, quietly. She didn't say another word. Lorelai was going nuts inside. She wanted to know what had happened the past five days, but she didn't want to push her daughter. Rory never talked about things until she was ready, it was one of the things that Lorelai had realized about her daughter from early on.
Once the doctor came in, Lorelai was reminded again how fearful and withdrawn her daughter was. She was reluctant to let anyone but Lorelai touch her. Rory clung to her mom through the entire physical examination, even though the doctor was very nice and gentle. Lorelai wasn't sure if the clinginess was because Rory just wanted to stay close to her mom after five days of fearing for her life or if it was paralyzing dread of being hurt again. Maybe it was both. Lorelai cuddled her daughter to her, kissing her forehead.
"Okay, Rory, we're all done. Can I borrow your mom for a minute?" the doctor asked. Lorelai thought the doctor was really nice and caring, she'd let Lorelai sit through the entire examination, and had talked Rory through her every move.
Rory nodded, but still looked fearful as she glanced at her mom. Lorelai smiled reassuringly, "We'll just be over here. You're safe, I promise." At Rory's small smile and nod, Lorelai followed the doctor to the other side of the room.
The doctor smiled at Lorelai reassuringly, "I noticed bruises on Rory's stomach, arms, and legs, but there was nothing in the vaginal region to suggest assault. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say she was pushed and shoved around a lot, but nothing worse than that."
Lorelai breathed a sigh of relief, "So she's gonna be ok?"
"She should probably see a psychologist, but yes, she should be fine. The clinginess and fearfulness is most likely an affect of the fear she experienced. You should take her home and have her get some rest after you talk to the police."
Lorelai nodded, feelings of both relief and anxiety overwhelming her, "Okay." Lorelai walked back over to her daughter, who was playing with the hem of the gown she was wearing, "Babe?" Lorelai said, kissing Rory's forehead, "We're going to talk to the police and then I can take you home and we'll get a bath and snuggle in bed, ok?" Rory's only response was a nod, as she took her mom's hand and clasped it between both of her own.
After Lorelai and Rory had gone to talk to the police, Lorelai took her daughter home. The entire group that had been with Lorelai earlier was there again, joined by Kirk, Morey, Babette, Miss Patty, and Rory's best friend, Lane, all of them milling around on the front porch. Rory paled a little, not wanting to have to talk to everyone. She knew they all cared about her, but all she wanted right now was her mom. Lorelai noticed the look on Rory's face, and got out of the Jeep, rushing to greet everyone, who rushed at her and started bombarding her with questions about Rory's well being.
Lorelai half-smiled, "Ok, listen, guys. I know you all love us and I appreciate you wanting to be here for Rory, but right now she needs her mom, so the best thing you guys can do is go home and call later, ok? She'll be fine."
Everyone murmured as they stepped off the porch. Lorelai locked eyes with her parents for a second and gave them a supporting smile, 'Call me tomorrow,' she mouthed at them. Emily pulled a face that would be a smile in her world, but was more like a grimace to Lorelai.
After everyone had gone, Lorelai went to get Rory out of the Jeep, and found her staring out the window at the trees by their driveway, "Babe?" Lorelai asked.
"They're different." Rory said, her voice sounding far away.
"They are?" Lorelai asked, opening the door and extending her hand out to her daughter.
"Yeah. I don't know why, they're just...different." Rory looked a little confused, like she wasn't sure what to say or do. She shrugged and took her mom's hand and let her mom pull her out of the car and they walked towards the door, Lorelai's arm protectively around Rory's shoulder.
"The trees are different, or you feel different, sweetie?" Lorelai asked. Rory just shrugged, and lay her head down on her mother's shoulder. Lorelai got the message, Rory didn't want to talk, "Come on. Let's get you a bath, ok?"
Lorelai helped her daughter bathe, trying hard not to notice several large bruises on her stomach and limbs. Rory shivered, even in the steamy water she was freezing cold. Lorelai wrapped her up in fluffy towels, and got her in warm pajamas. "You want to go to bed, sweetie?" Lorelai asked, running one hand along her daughter's cheek. Rory nodded, and Lorelai led her towards the stairs, but Rory tugged her in the other direction, towards Lorelai's own room. She let Rory lead her into the room, and watched as her daughter crawled into her mother's bed, hugging the pillows to her chest.
Lorelai was about to turn out the light and leave her to sleep, when Rory asked in a small voice, "Mom? Lie with me?"
"Of course, honey." Lorelai said, and her heart nearly broke as she slid into the bed, and her daughter snuggled up to her. She ran her hand along Rory's back lightly and soon heard her breathing even out. Then Lorelai cried. She sobbed softly into the pillow, trying hard not to be loud enough to wake her daughter. 'She's back. My Rory's back. Thank you so much for my Rory.'
The next morning, Lorelai had the sensation of her fingers moving...on their own. She eased open her eyes. Rory was lying on her back on top of Lorelai, and was playing with her mom's fingers. She bent them, made them into a fist, and stretched them out again. Lorelai chuckled softly, "The last time you did that, you were three and counting Mommy's fingers."
Rory stopped what she was doing, and tilted her head back to see Lorelai, clear blue eyes meeting each other. They smiled at each other before Rory spoke, "I missed you, Mom."
"I missed having you call me Mom." Lorelai said, trying to keep her tears in check. She tried her hardest not to cry in front of her daughter.
Rory turned back to her mom's hand, playing with her fingers. She noticed how dirty and chipped her mom's nails were, like she hadn't bathed in days. Rory pulled her mom's fingers to her lips and kissed them, stroking her hands over them. Rory felt a kiss on the top of her head and smiled. She continued playing with Lorelai's fingers. She'd always had a fascination with fingers when she was little. She remembered one time when an experiment to see if amputated fingers grew back went astray. She laughed to herself.
"What's funny? Are my fingers funny?" Lorelai asked.
Rory smiled, "No, I was remembering that time when I decided to see if my fingers would re-grow if hacked off."
Lorelai groaned, "You closed your toy box lid on them. I swear you shrieked so loudly, Hartford could hear you."
Rory smiled, "I hadn't quite grasped the pain factor."
Lorelai grinned, "Well, you certainly did after that. You wouldn't go near anything that Mommy said would cause an owie."
"How old was I?" Rory asked.
"Not old." Lorelai said, "Three. Maybe four." Rory smiled at that, and snuggled into her mom's embrace. She began playing with her mom's hands again, running her fingers over them. They were smooth and silky, just like the rest of her mom's skin.
Lorelai watched her daughter as she concentrated. Rory seemed a little bit better, but Lorelai was still very, very worried. She was glad to have her baby back, but she had no idea what had happened over the five days. She wasn't going to push her daughter to talk, but she hoped she would talk to her soon and not keep her feelings bottled inside. Lorelai kissed her daughter's head again, as she continued to watch her daughter.