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, Dr. Magnant, Dr. Lockham, Nurse Sayde, 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 thank you to Professer, who was so kind to point out my error in mixing up MRIs and CT scans in the last chapter. I've made corrections now.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The next few minutes went by very slowly for Lorelai and Rory. All Lorelai could hear were muffled beeps and humming noises. She didn't dare open her eyes, for fear of becoming scared. She was more scared of the machine itself than of the results of the test. A head injury was always serious, but Lorelai felt fine. She felt a click, and the table began moving back out of the machine. She breathed a sigh of relief, as she opened her eyes to see Dr. Magnant's smiling face.

Rory pressed up against the glass, watching her mom, letting her know she was there simply with her presence. After a few tense moments, Dr. Magnant went into the next room and moved the table back out of the machine. Rory's heart rose a few notches when she saw the doctor and her mom both smiling and talking. Lorelai looked up towards the window, and waved at her daughter. Rory wasn't sure if she was allowed to enter the next room, but her heart was screaming for her to run towards her mom. She still waited, as her mom got into the wheelchair again. Lorelai was perfectly capable of walking, but wheelchairs were hospital policy. The doctors didn't want the patients slipping and falling and suing the hospital for millions of dollars.

"Hey, kid! We're in the clear!" Lorelai announced the second she was wheeled through the door. Rory's face broke into a brilliant smile to match her mom's, and she squealed with happiness, rushing to engulf her mom in a tight hug.

"She's okay? There's no more bleeding?" Rory asked. She wanted to make absolutely sure.

"No more bleeding. Come here, I'll show you." Dr. Magnant answered, gesturing towards the computer screen. Rory saw a lot of pictures of a round object, which she guessed was Lorelai's brain.

"Hey, look, we have pictures of my big head!" Lorelai pointed. She took Rory's hand in hers and squeezed it reassuringly.

Dr. Magnant and the technician both laughed, "That's a picture of Lorelai's head on Sunday morning when she first came in. See the big, white clump here?" Dr. Magnant pointed to a white area near the top of the picture.

"Yeah. That's blood?" Rory asked.

"Yes. That's the buildup of blood on her brain. This is the picture we took after she was out of surgery, and the picture we took now." Dr. Magnant pointed to the screen.

"No more blood." Rory smiled, "Can it come back?"

"We fixed the broken vessels, so no, it can't spontaneously come back. Lorelai is going to have to be careful in the next few weeks, though. No highway driving, no reaching up to get heavy objects, and especially no ladders and roofs." Dr. Magnant smiled at Lorelai, who grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah. No ladders and roofs ever again!" Rory said, adamant.

"Okay, okay. I'll get Luke to do it." Lorelai sighed, dramatically.

"Good!" Rory put emphasis on that word, and looked her mother square in the eyes. She wanted Lorelai to know that she wasn't going to lose her like that.

Lorelai nodded, she got the message, "We can hit the road, then?"

"Let me sign your discharge papers, give you a prescription for some painkillers, and you're on your way." Dr. Magnant smiled.

On their way they were. After a quick stop in the emergency department to say goodbye to Dr. Lockham, Nurse Sayde wheeled Lorelai out to Rory's car. Lorelai protested, saying she could indeed walk, but since it was hospital policy, she allowed it.

"Oh, my God. Sun. Air. Trees. Hey, where's the snow?" Lorelai asked, as Rory put the key in the ignition and backed out of the space Alicia had parked her car the night before.

"It melted." Rory said, turning out of the small lot. She drove slowly down the street, coming to a gentle stop at the stop sign.

"It melted! I was in the hospital, and my dear friend Mr. Snow decides to up and melt on me?" Lorelai asked, aghast.

"It decided to let your friend Mr. Sun greet you instead." Rory smiled, as she went inching ahead down the street, turning into the town square. The town square looked a bit emptier today for some reason. The Gilmore house was only about half a mile from the hospital, but at the pace Rory was going, it might as well have been two hours away.

"Um, babe? You're being passed by turtles." Lorelai said, as Rory slowed to a stop at the only stoplight in Stars Hollow.

"I'm not going that slow, Mom." Rory said, switching on the turn signal, and the car practically crawled into the turn.

"You're going 10 miles under the speed limit! Which is 12!" Lorelai protested. She knew what was going through her daughter's head, Rory was afraid Lorelai would get hurt again, "Babe, I'm fine, you can go faster than that."

"No, I can't!" Rory said, a little frustrated. Lorelai backed down immediately, and simply rested her hand on Rory's shoulder comfortingly.

Lorelai watched as her daughter turned slowly down their street. There were only three buildings on the street; a duplex with a sign out front reading "Left Side for Rent," Babette and Morey's house, and the Gilmore's house at the end of the street. The street literally stopped at their driveway. The duplex's sign had been there for years since the couple living in the left apartment's last child had moved out. They'd relocated to Florida, so the family members in the right side apartment were the only occupants of the building.

Lorelai smiled as the car came into view of their house and parked in the driveway. She now understood why it had looked empty in the square. At least 40 people were crowded on the Gilmore porch, waving at the car. They were standing under a banner that screamed "Welcome Home, Lorelai!" in big, red letters.

"Oh, boy." Rory groaned, "I did not ask them to do this."

"I know you didn't, babe. We'll meet, we'll greet, we'll kick out." Lorelai said, as she unbuckled her belt.

The Gilmores walked into the throng of people, asking about Lorelai's well-being. Sookie was in the kitchen, cooking up lots of goodies, and Lane, Alicia, and Arielle were there, also. Lane skipped up to Rory and stage-whispered, "Guess what?"

Rory was intrigued, "What?"

"Your guy—Logan? He's helping Luke at the diner. Luke suggested it." Lane said, looking mystified.

"Oh, no." Rory groaned, "Did he have the protective-father look on his face?"

"He might have." Lane chuckled, "Logan wanted to help out wherever he could over the last few days. He's got charms, and I don't mean the cereal."

Rory smiled, "Yeah. He does." She already could tell something was very different about the relationship she had with Logan. With Dean, she felt like she had constant demands for attention, and with Jess…well, Jess simply was rude to everyone she cared about. He was even mildly rude to her, she realized now, she just had been too naïve to notice it. Logan…Logan was definitely different.