Unconscious Fears
By: Alyson Tierney
Disclaimer: I do not own Lorelai or Rory Gilmore, or any other character associated with Gilmore Girls the way it is seen on television. Those characters and other related things and ideas belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the WB Network. However, Alicia and Arielle's characters are figments of my own imagination, so I do own them. Please do not use them without my permission. Thank you.
Author's Note: This story is the sequel to my story "Arielle." Everything that has happened up to the Gilmore Girls episode "Not as Cute as Pushkin" is consistent with this story, but after that, it takes its own path, so relationships and other facts may be different than on the show. I am not a dream doctor, or a medical doctor, nor do I know anything about dreams or medicine, so if the information is way off, please don't shout at me.
Thank you to those who have been reviewing! I'm glad to see some familiar faces as well as some new ones. It's each and every one of yours' feedback, comments, likes, and dislikes that helps this story. Enjoy and please review if you wish!
CHAPTER NINE
Rory sat in the chair, moving every which way. She looked at her watch, which now read just after one in the afternoon. It seemed so long ago that her mom had fallen, but it had just been a couple hours. Dr. Lockham sat next to her, stirring her coffee. Rory had gotten one, too, but never touched it.
"Rory?" Dr. Lockham asked, suddenly. Rory looked up, a pained expression on her face. "Do you want me to call anyone? Your grandparents?"
"Grandma and Grandpa. We should call them. No! They're not here! They're out of town. They went to…what was that place called? I can't remember where they went…" Rory turned towards the doctor, panicked; she wasn't sure how to handle this.
"It's okay, Rory. Let's just figure out how to get someone here, okay? Is there anyone else? A close friend of yours? Of Lorelai's?" Dr. Lockham asked, her hand on Rory's shoulder to calm her.
"Luke! I should call Luke!" Rory patted her pockets, "I don't have my cell phone!"
"Rory, calm, honey. I'll call Luke for you. Is that Luke Danes, from the diner?" Dr. Lockham asked. Rory nodded, rubbing her arms in effort to calm herself. The doctor crossed the row of chairs and grabbed the physicians' phone off the wall. She dialed the number, not even asking Rory for it, and listening for the ring, "I order from Luke's sometimes for my husband, daughter, and myself." She explained, "Hi! Is Luke Danes there please?" she asked.
Rory listened as the doctor talked. It sounded as if she was having trouble getting a hold of Luke. Rory assumed she was talking to Caesar, the chef at the diner. He could be incredibly uncooperative at times. Rory looked up when the doctor hung up, "He isn't in right now, but Caesar said he'd give him the message to call here."
Rory rubbed her eyes and sighed. All of the available "grown-ups" to call weren't there. There was only one thing to do, "I've gotta call Lane and Alicia…"
"Your friends?" Dr. Lockham asked, "You can use the phone at the desk."
Rory nodded, "Thanks." She got up, and breathed a few times to steel herself. She hated being alone, but the last thing she wanted to do was burst into tears and beg her friends to come to her rescue.
She picked up the phone, carefully dialing Lane's cell number. The phone rang once, twice, three times before Lane's sleepy voice answered, "Hello?"
"Lane?" Rory said, her voice immediately shaky.
"Rory? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Lane asked, her best friend sense immediately on alert.
"My mom. She had an accident. We're at the hospital." Rory said, trying to hold back tears.
"Oh, my God! Is she okay?" Lane questioned, her voice suddenly wide awake and frantic.
"I don't know. I can't get a hold of Luke, and Grandma and Grandpa are out of town. I just…I don't know what to do." Rory said, a tear dripping down her face. She brushed at her face, trying to stop the tears that were coming.
"I'm on my way." Lane said, her voice firm. Rory could hear her moving about her room.
"You don't have to…" Rory protested, but stopped as Lane interrupted her.
"I'm coming. Don't move." Lane insisted, in a voice that Rory had never heard before. She then realized she and Lane had never been thrown in a situation like this before, they'd always had Lorelai there to help them. She hung up the phone, walking numbly back to the chair. She detested that chair. All hard and cold and uncomfortable, yet she sat in it. She buried her head in her hands, trying desperately to hold back tears. She felt Dr. Lockham's hand on her knee, and looked up. The doctor gave her a supportive smile, but didn't say anything. She knew Rory well enough to know that all the comforting words in the world weren't going to make things one bit better.
She hadn't been sitting there for more than ten minutes when she heard her name called out. Looking up, she saw Lane, Alicia, and a very pregnant Sookie rushing towards her. She stood, confusion on her face. What were they doing here? Shouldn't Sookie be at home resting? She was due in a month now. Lane reached her first and grabbed her friend in a tight hug. She pulled back, and looked Rory in the eye, "Are you okay? What happened?"
Rory felt tears begin their descent down her face, "She…she fell. From the roof. And…now, there's blood in her brain." Rory squeezed her eyes shut, trying to keep the cascade of tears at bay, but they kept coming. Lane pulled her close, squeezing her friend to her.
Dr. Lockham stood and extended her hand to Sookie, "Hi, I'm Dr. Lockham, I treated Lorelai in the emergency room."
Sookie smiled faintly, "Hi, doctor. I'm Sookie St. James, Lorelai's best friend. How is she?"
Dr. Lockham looked at Rory, who nodded, "It's okay. She's family to us."
"Lorelai suffered what we call a subdural hematoma. Simply, it's when a blood vessel breaks in between the skull and the brain. The surgeons are working on her now, trying to stop the bleeding and relieve the pressure." Dr. Lockham explained. Rory felt Lane's arms tighten around her waist.
"How long will it be?" Alicia asked, standing close to Rory. She placed a comforting hand on Rory's shoulder.
"It shouldn't be too much longer. They want to do a good job, though, so they don't rush." Dr. Lockham said.
Rory nodded shakily, "Yeah." She crossed her arms over her chest, a move that both Lane and Alicia knew well. She was pulling away until she could see her mom.
Dr. Lockham's beeper went off then, and she sighed, "It's the ER. Rory, will you be okay for a little while?"
Rory smiled. She was glad the familiar doctor had waited with her as long as she could, "Yeah. I've got these guys."
Dr. Lockham smiled reassuringly, "I'll be back in a little while to check on her. I'll go let Dr. Grant know. She's the chief surgeon."
Rory nodded, as the doctor reached out and squeezed her shoulder. As she walked off, Rory collapsed back into the chair, her face in her hands. She could feel the chairs next to her move as Lane and Alicia sat on either side of her. She looked up suddenly, "Arielle? Where is she?"
"She's with Jackson. He was in the kitchen talking to Sookie when I got the call at the inn." Alicia explained. Rory breathed a sigh. She twisted her hands in her lap, looking down at them nervously. Looking up at the clock, she realized her mom had now been in the operating room for 56 minutes. She'd timed them.
She realized that Lane and Alicia were each rubbing the muscles in her shoulders. Alicia had the left and was going in a circular motion along the edges of her shoulder blade. Lane was on the right and was using an up-and-down motion, smoothing half her back and then coming up to cup her shoulder. Rory looked back at the clock, watching as it ticked away at the seconds.
Finally, a woman came out of the operating room. She was wearing green surgical scrubs and a cap. Rory watched as she approached them, extending her hand out to Sookie, "Hi, I'm Dr. Grant. You must be Lorelai Gilmore's family."
"Yes. Well, this is her daughter, Rory. The rest of us are really close friends of her and her mom." Sookie explained.
"Hi, Rory. I'm Dr. Grant, I operated on your mom." The doctor let no emotion show on her face, which left Rory terrified.
"How…how's my mom?" Rory asked, completely dreading the answer. She'd never wished she could rewind time as much as she wished it now.
