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.
I hope you like this chapter! Enjoy and please review if you wish! It's each and every one of yours' feedback, comments, likes, and dislikes that helps this story. Thank you all! A special shout out to one of my very good friends, Beci (Remote Control Princess) for her help in this chapter. I totally would have sucked writing parts of this if it wasn't for you hon! Thank you!
This is the reposted chapter. Thank you to Professer, who was so kind to point out my error in mixing up MRIs and CT scans. (Hey, I knew they were both tube-thingies!)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The rest of Monday was spent with the girls at the hospital with Lorelai. Luke and Logan dropped by that evening, bringing about half of Stars Hollow with them. Lorelai smiled and gratefully talked to everyone, reassuring them that she was okay. They left once they were positive Lorelai's head wasn't going to turn black and fall off. Only Sookie, Lane, Alicia, Arielle, and Luke were left with Lorelai and Rory. Noticing her mom's glances at Luke and Luke's guilty expression, Rory nudged the other girls out into the hall. She could tell by her mom's body language that she wanted to talk to Luke alone.
"Hey, stranger." Lorelai said in a soft voice, as she looked over at Luke. He was sitting on the couch, looking a little out-of-place as he watched the girls file out the door. The look only lasted a few seconds before he smiled and came over to sit on the side of the bed.
Luke picked up her free hand, gently stroking it with his thumb, the human contact reassuring him that she was indeed alive and in front of him. He smiled at her for a few moments before asking, "How are you?"
"I'm fine, Luke. It was an accident, you know? The only person you have to blame is Mr. Wind. Oh, and Mrs. Gravity." Lorelai said, smiling.
Luke nodded faintly, "If you ever need to talk…you know where I live."
"I also know where you work!" Lorelai chirped, and grinned. Her face turned somber, "I do. Right now, I just need to get out of here."
Luke smiled, "And you'll get out of here soon. Do you want me to call your parents and let them know what happened?"
Lorelai took in a breath and closed her eyes, debating her options. Finally she let a breath out and shook her head, "No, I'll call them. Hopefully, the sound of my charming and chipper voice will reassure them that everything's okay and they don't need to cancel the trip they so deserve to take."
Luke grinned, "You're so brave, you know?"
Lorelai shrugged, "I do what needs being done." Their silence spoke dozens as they went quiet, basking in each other's company.
Dr. Magnant stopped by then, pleased that Lorelai hadn't had another seizure. She ordered two more days in the hospital to make sure, and arranged for a MRI before Lorelai left. Lorelai encouraged everyone to go home and get some sleep, and soon it was just her and Rory in the hospital room. She'd tried to get Rory to go home with Lane or Alicia and get some sleep, but Rory wasn't having it. She insisted on staying with her mom until she came home from the hospital, and Lorelai was secretly relieved. She and Rory opted to watch a few movies on the television in Lorelai's room, just like having one of their movie nights, but there wasn't any popcorn or chocolate.
Rory spent Tuesday half in fear and half in a sense of relief. Her mom was on anti-convulsant medications to ward off any additional seizures, but Dr. Magnant took her off of them Tuesday afternoon. Rory was petrified of Lorelai having another seizure, but as luck would have it, Tuesday passed with many visitors, no seizures, and a secret chocolate sundae from a certain nearby diner.
Rory stirred on Wednesday morning, after spending the night on the couch in her mom's room. She knew the nurses were going to come in bright and early to take her mom to the MRI room, so hopefully, she could be back home by noon.She lay awake for a few moments, staring up at the ceiling. There were cracks and funny splotches up there. Rory wondered if any of them were bloodstains. She shuddered at the thought and rolled over, her eyes falling over her mom's form on the bed. Lorelai's chest rose and fell, breathing in a steady rhythm. The EEG machine beeped steadily, which Rory knew was a good sign. Hearing the rattle of a cart outside, Rory startled, but then relaxed. They'd been going back and forth all night, so she should be used to it now. She continued to watch Lorelai, who looked so peaceful and undisturbed.
Images were going through Lorelai's head again. This time, Rory was going away in a plane. She watched through the airport terminal window, as the plane took her baby away forever. Was it forever? She was just going to be a journalist in Africa for a year. A year was so long. She looked down at her belly, swollen with pregnancy. She felt the baby move and kick, and wondered why Rory would leave when her mom was so close to giving birth.
Lorelai's eyes fluttered and opened. She breathed in a few times, looking down at her arm. She still had one IV tube in it, but they'd taken the one for her medication out yesterday. She wiggled her fingers, breathing in a sigh.
"Mom?" Rory's voice asked, and she could hear Rory approach the bed from the other side.
Lorelai looked up and smiled, as Rory took her hand, "Hey, babe, good sleep? Couch cushions comfortable?"
"Well, not as comfortable as our couch, but I'd definitely prefer it over a chair." Rory said, grinning down at her mom.
"Chairs are hard and yucky." Lorelai agreed. The girls heard a rattle at the door, and looked up, seeing Dr, Magnant and a few nurses enter the room, "Oh, goody, it's time."
Dr. Magnant chuckled, "Yep, time for a MRI. Have you ever had one before, Lorelai?"
"No, but I've seen them on TV. They're like a hollow tube thingy that you get to lie in like a tanning bed." Lorelai answered.
"Yes, exactly." Dr. Magnant smiled, "We're going to take you up there, and if everything looks good, I'm kicking you out of here."
"Good!" Lorelai retorted. They moved her mom into a wheelchair, and Rory followed next to it, into the elevator heading to the testing floor. As they walked down the hall, Rory stopped cold. The MRI testing room was just down the hall from the CT room. Memories from the past few days flooded her senses, as she remembered seeing her mom limp and lifeless on the bed in the CT room. She swallowed the fear back, as she followed everyone into the room.
"Okay, Rory, you can wait back behind the glass with me." Dr. Magnant held out her hand to Rory, "We'll take some quick pictures."
Rory watched as her mom got on the table. She waved to Rory and smiled, mouthing, 'It'll be fine.' Rory smiled, she was really hoping it would be fine. As the table slowly moved into the machine, she bit back feelings of terror. Everyone was saying her mom would be fine, and everything would be okay, but Rory couldn't help but worry that there would be a tiny glitch and then everything would be set back again. She remembered her dreams, the ones that kept coming back. There was an underlying issue there, Rory could feel it. She just wasn't sure what it was, but she hoped it wasn't a literal dream. Then again, dreams almost never were.
Lorelai closed her eyes as the table rolled into the machine. It was a closed space, enough to send a lot of people into a panic. Lorelai repressed the fear by keeping her eyes closed. She thought about the fear she'd seen in Rory's eyes when she'd woken up. She had scared her baby so badly, but she'd also scared herself really badly. She just was a master at hiding it. She hoped she could hide it long enough. Lorelai didn't know what she was going to do if there had been some permanent damage. Clearly, she still had her memory and her speech skills, so it couldn't be all that bad. She was just a little headachy since they were weaning her off of pain medications. Still…she worried.
