Family Portrait
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews guys, I know you're all worried about Rory and the baby but this is all for the best. Trust me, as many of you have pointed out Rory needs to follow her heart, and this was one of the suggestions on how I get her to do that. As soon as I read it I was flooded with ideas on how to do this. So, this I promise is going to be the last accident chapter, I don't want everyone to be sad and worried about Rory for too long. So, enjoy this chapter and as usual review!
Chapter 19: These Little Miracles
As he walked into the room, the first thing he noticed was that it seemed more colorful than it was supposed to. In the hours that had past since the news of Rory's accident had first hit the lives of her loved ones, everyone who knew Rory Gilmore was sending cards, flowers and balloons along with wishes of a safe recovery. He smiled slightly, she would know how much they all loved her and were worried about her the minute she woke up.
Sitting down, he pushed the chair closer to the bedside and took her hand in his. She lay flat on her back, her broken arm in a cast and lying gently at her side. She had a cut on the side of her forehead that had been patched up by the doctors when they had first brought her in. There were a few other visible cuts and bruises from the breaking windshield shattering. She looked more fragile and delicate than Tristan had ever seen her in his life before.
He had waited through the visits of Lorelai, Christopher, Emily, Richard, and Lane before Paris finally insisted that he put his mind to rest and go see her. Claiming that she couldn't go and see Rory unless she knew that he looked a little less worn with worry. Although he strongly doubted that it was true, he had thanked Paris and went ahead to come and see Rory.
Holding back tears, he stroked the back of her hand with his thumb and reached to place a hand on her belly. The doctors had said that she and the baby were both all right at the moment, and that so far there had been no complications. Still, they were fighting for their lives. If Rory didn't wake up soon, chances were they wouldn't survive. That the baby would die.
"Come on Mary," Tristan whispered, "Don't give up on us. We need you, and the baby needs you to wake up." He got no answer, and it wasn't like he expected to. It hurt watching her lie so still like that, to not have her correct him calling her Mary or to shoot back some snark remark or to have some sort of witty banter with her.
Standing up, he almost left, but looking down at her once more he couldn't bring himself to walk out of the room just yet. Not when he didn't know when the next time he would see her would be. What if she woke up? He wanted to be the first thing he saw, wanted to be able to tell her how much he loved her and how she had to continue to fight until the doctor's said they were safe. That her and the baby were going to be all right.
"Mr. DuGray?" he turned to find a young nurse standing in the doorway, her long blonde hair tied back. She looked at him with uncertain green eyes.
"Y-yes," Tristan squeaked, finding his words again. He let go of Rory's hand and stood up straight and tall, turning to face a nurse who under different circumstances he would've hit on had he been his old self.
"Ms. Gilmore…Mrs. Gilmore-Danes told me that you were in here…" the nurse trailed, she seemed nervous talking with him. For a second, Tristan felt his stomach churn, silently praying that she didn't come bearing more bad news. "The doctor got some test results back. About the baby."
"What about the baby?" Tristan hesitated slightly before speaking, not sure whether he really wanted to hear what she had to say.
"Well, he got in contact with Ms. Gilmore's gynecologist to find out about Rory and the baby and how they'd been faring over the last three months," the nurse explained, "Just in case there were any…complications." Pausing a moment she stepped forward and handed handing him a folder with some papers inside.
"What are these?" Tristan asked, confused by the whole situation.
"W-well, despite obvious circumstances," she motioned to the bed where Rory lay, "The baby is…was…is healthy, and while running tests when they first brought her in the results on the sex of the baby are in there too." She shrugged, "If you wanted to know what it was…"
"Thanks," Tristan nodded distractedly as he looked down at the papers. A lot of it was stuff he didn't understand. Doctor gibberish really.
"Do you want to?" the nurse asked, and Tristan noticed the nametag she had on for the first time. Her name was Lia. Tristan knew that it was a Greek for bearer of good news. He had been reading various sources of baby names and their meanings. "Know the sex that is," she added after Tristan didn't answer.
"Yeah," Tristan nodded, feeling almost reassured as if her name was a sign that everything was going to be fine. "How can you tell?"
"Here," she walked over and pointed to something on the paper in the folder, "It's a girl."
"I-I have a daughter?" Tristan asked in wonderment. He was going to have a little girl. He thought to Liza, and smiled. This was good; he was going to have a daughter.
"Well, you're going to have a daughter," the nurse, Lia, laughed slightly, "When she's born."
"If she's born," Tristan mentioned breaking the merry mood the news had put him in. Lia put a hand on his shoulder and Tristan glanced at her. She seemed young to be a nurse, a couple of years older than he did probably. Likely just out of school and starting her first job.
"She will be," she tried to assure him, "They've made it through this much, now all she has to do is wake up." Then, offering him another smile she was gone to take care of other things.
Tristan sat back down and took Rory's hand again, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "You hear that Mary?" he asked, "We're going to have a daughter, a little girl. Now, all you have to do is wake up."
He sat watching her a little while longer but couldn't bear to tell her how much he loved her. Afraid that if he did, he might lose her forever. After a while longer he finally got up and left, so Paris could come and see her best friend for a little bit.
On his way back to the waiting room, he wandered off and stopped by Liza's room. Jess was with his daughter, who was sitting up in bed dressed in clothes that somebody had brought by the hospital for her a while ago. They doctor's were going to give her another check-up to decide whether they were ready to let her check out of the hospital.
The four-year-old looked to be in the middle of a big story, seemingly unfazed by the accident. The medics had done a good job reassuring the little girl everything was okay when they had found the sight of the accident and the hysterical Liza calling for her mother to wake up. They pampered her and gave her chocolate and told her that her mommy was going to be all right, she had just banged her head.
Jess was doing a pretty good job keeping his daughter in good spirits too. Tristan watched them, and hoped that he would get the chance to raise his daughter. That he would be able to see her as a four-year-old, and be able to calm her fears. He watched them, and saw just how much he really wanted Rory and their baby to be okay. Although he hadn't been sure if he was ready to be a father before, he was sure as anything ready now. He wanted this.
"Tristan!" Liza spotted him standing there, and Jess turned around and nodded hello to him.
"Hey," Tristan greeted the four-year-old, stepping in, "Feeling okay?"
"My head hurts lots and lots," she told him, "But I get to have all the ice cream and candy and chocolate I want." Then she pointed out the balloons and candies in her own room, "And look what people gave me! Lotsa balloons!"
"They're cool," Tristan admitted, poking one with his finger as it swayed back and forth in the air.
"Did you get to go see mommy?" Liza wondered, looking up at him with her big blue eyes speckled with brown, "No one will let me go see mommy."
"I just came from seeing her," Tristan mentioned, glancing at Jess.
"Is she and my baby brother or sister okay? The people in the big ambulance said she hit her head and can't wake up right now," Liza explained, "Did mommy wake up yet?"
"Not yet," he shook his head, "But the doctors said that her and your little sister are okay right now."
"I'm gonna have a little sister?" this seemed to excite Liza and Tristan nodded.
"Congratulations," Jess mention, and Tristan nodded thanks to the man he was estranged from. They had little in common except Rory and an old hate for Dean, and it was hard to become friends with a man you were competing with for the love of a girl.
"Hey boys," Lorelai's voice floated in from the door, "Playing nice?"
"Always Lorelai," Jess said, standing up.
"Good, now get your butts out and let me spend some time with my granddaughter," she ordered and hurried the boys out of the room.
(The Waiting Room, an hour later.)
After she had visited Rory, Paris had gone back to the Gilmore-Danes home and taken a shower and gotten changed upon Lorelai's orders. She had thrown some clothes in a bag in the rush to get the hospital, and she felt slightly refreshed as she entered the hospital waiting room once more.
The doctors were beginning to worry slightly about Rory. She had been unconscious most of the night, and had awoken for two minutes at one point when the doctor's were checking up on her. They said she'd opened her eyes but quickly slipped back into her coma. Apparently, she had hit her head harder than they had thought, and continued to monitor her carefully.
She spotted Tristan, Jess, and Lane sitting quietly around the waiting room. Tristan and Lane both held steaming cups of coffee in their hands whereas Jess had a child's book. It was then that she noticed Liza sitting next to her father, swinging her legs as she listened to him read her a story. It relieved Paris to know that the doctor's had deemed Liza fit to be checked out.
"Any news on Gilmore?" Paris wondered, joining them. She looked around for Jamie, but he was nowhere in sight.
"Not yet," Lane heaved a sigh, tears threatening to erupt once more. It was then Paris noticed that Dave was missing as well as Lorelai and Luke. Not all of them could be visiting Rory, and she was sure that Lorelai was the one sitting with her daughter now. Chris was probably with her, the doctors were allowing both parents to be in the room at the same time, and she guessed Luke was at the diner. Maybe getting food for all of them.
"Daddy," everyone's attention turned to Liza, "I'm hungry."
"Luke's going to be back with food," Jess told his daughter, running a hand through his hair. Paris' best guess was that it was the hundredth time that Jess had had to answer that question.
"How about we take her to Luke's instead?" Dave asked, coming up alongside Jamie. They had a bag of candies in their hand and Dave popped one in his mouth. "The car's all loaded with Liza's balloons and stuff. We were going to bring them back to Lorelai's."
"I'll come," Lane decided, standing up, "I need to get out of here a bit. Take a shower."
"Good idea, you're beginning to stink" Dave joked, taking her hand as Lane swatted him lightly on the shoulder.
"So, you want to go with them to see Luke?" Jess asked, and when Liza nodded Jamie went over and scooped the four-year-old up in his arms.
"You coming Paris?" Lane wondered.
"No, just got back," Paris pointed out, "I'm going to stick around, maybe visit Gilmore again when Lorelai and Christopher come back out."
With that the three of them, and Liza left the hospital. Paris turned back to Tristan and Jess, who put down the kid's book he had been reading to Liza. "You guys want anything in the cafeteria?" Paris asked, "I'm going to get a bag of chips or something."
"I'll come," Tristan stood up and threw his empty coffee cup as well as Lane's in a nearby garbage.
"Me too," Jess nodded, standing up. The trio headed to the cafeteria and ended up sitting down at a table as they each had a bag of chips and a coke. Right then, they didn't want to head back to the waiting room just yet, they had seen enough of it throughout the previous night and that day to last a lifetime.
When they were done, Jess headed back to get a chocolate bar for Lorelai when she came out and Tristan and Paris headed to the door of the cafeteria. As Tristan stopped to throw out their garbage an all too familiar voice sent shivers down Paris' spine. "Paris?" the voice called out, "Paris Gellar."
Slowly, Paris turned to face none other than Louise Grant in all her glory. She looked the same as she had when Paris had last seen her four years ago, her blonde hair a little longer and more layered than it had been then. Next to her was her partner in crime Madeline Lynn, black hair chopped to her ears. "Louise," Paris said, mouth dry, "Madeline."
"Oh my god," Madeline said excitedly, "We thought it was you! Didn't we?"
"Yeah," Louise nodded in agreement, "Been a long time. What're you doing here?"
"Paris…" Tristan walked up behind her and stole the attention away from Paris' two old friends. They were both looked at the King of Chilton with looks of interest. Looks tigers gave their next prey.
"My, my, look who we've got here," Louise smirked slowly, "If it isn't Tristan DuGray in all of his glory. What're you going here with our good friend Paris?"
"I could ask you two the same thing," Tristan chuckled, "Not exactly the scene I'd see you two in."
"Madeline's fiancée had a bit of an accident invovling hand cuffs, glue, and a whip" Louise mentioned, "Plus, what better place to find good looking, rich doctors?"
"Rory got into an accident," Paris told her old high school best friends, the girls who had everything and wanted more. Really, Paris never understood why they were her friends, or what she saw in them. They had always followed her every order; she had been their leader.
"Rory Gilmore?" Madeline looked stricken by the news, "What happened?"
"A car accident last night," Tristan said, running a hand through his hair and glancing over at Jess who was quickly approaching them.
"Wow, is she going to be all right?" the raven-haired girl asked, seemingly concerned about the condition of a girl she hadn't seen in four years.
"We don't know yet," Paris replied, "She's still in a coma."
"That sucks," Louise breathed, and then caught sight of Jess as he joined them, "Who's the hottie?"
"Jess," Paris informed the blonde, "You remember, the guy who Rory dated that last year in Chilton after her and Dean broke up."
"The guy who got her pregnant?" Madeline asked incredulously.
"The one and only," Paris nodded.
"Wow, Rory did good," Louise muttered her approval, still watching Jess carefully. It seemed that Louise was still the same old Louise, and the same went for Madeline. Although, Paris was surprised to hear that her friend was engaged. Probably for money, she decided.
"Well, it was great running into you," Paris lied, before walking away with Tristan and Jess in tow. Meeting them reminded her of her past, and how a long time ago she used to make Rory's life a living hell. She regretted it now. Regretted giving Rory such a hard time just because she had been threatened by her. She didn't think she had ever apologized to Gilmore for it.
(Luke's Diner, some time later)
Jess couldn't bring himself to go and see Rory again after that first time. He couldn't bear to look at her lying in that hospital bed, and couldn't see that cast on her arm without thinking of that first time she had sprained her wrist. It had been his fault then, he had made her go out, and had made her let him drive that car.
He remembered how he had left her once he had made sure she was safe at the hospital, and remembered when Luke had made him get on that bus and go back to New York because of it. Then, she had showed up one day after skipping school and taking the bus to New York.
There were so many memories of Rory Gilmore, and so many memories of him hurting her. He had caused her a lot of pain, and he knew he had been the cause of the Rory-Dean public breakup at the dance marathon. Not that he regretted that, that was something he was and always would be proud of. Dean didn't deserve Rory. Jess wasn't quite sure that he did either.
A part of him couldn't help but blame himself for what was happening to Rory right now. He had had nothing to do with the accident, he knew that but still he felt some guilt about it. Guilt that he couldn't explain.
Remembering the last time he had spoken to Rory, as he cleaned up the diner having forced Luke to let him take over so he could go and be with Lorelai at a time like this. They had shown up at the diner the previous afternoon for burgers before movie night. Usually, he would slip a note in her pocket, but last night he hadn't. The diner rush had been too packed and the Gilmore girls had left too quickly for him to manage. She had given him a smile, and shared a few words when he managed to find some time. They'd had their usual banter, and she had asked if he would watch Liza while she and Tristan went to their appointment.
Jess wondered whom she would end up being with. Looking at how things had turned out with Lorelai, it struck him how similar their situations were. Sometimes, when he looked at the way things turned out he thought of himself as the "Chris" character in all of this. Rory's first "real" love, and the father of her first kid at eighteen. It worried him that things would turn out much like they had for Lorelai, and that Tristan would end up her "Luke".
He loved Rory Gilmore with all of his heart, and he knew that she loved him too. Jess didn't know if this was the kind of love that her mother still had for her father, or if this was the kind of love Lorelai Gilmore and his uncle shared to this day. He didn't fancy himself a romantic, far from it really. When he looked at how Chris still looked at Lorelai, he couldn't help but feel he would end up the same way. Perpetually in love with a girl he could never have.
Looking over at his daughter sitting at a nearby table with Dave drawing a picture he couldn't help but feel lucky that he had her. She was going to grow up, and Jess was going to make damn sure she didn't make the same mistakes as he had in his life. That was one thing he was sure of.
(The Hospital, Rory's Room)
Lorelai had watched as her daughter lay motionless for what seemed like forever. Chris was sitting beside her, holding her hand and every once and a while giving her a reassuring squeeze. She knew it was equally hard for him to be sitting there, having to leave Georgia with Michel and Sookie at the Inn because he didn't want her here at the hospital. Lorelai herself had left Lucas with her friends at the Inn. She and Luke needed to be here right now, needed to be here for Rory and the others.
Her eyes were beginning to play tricks on her. If she stared at Rory long enough she could almost see her eyes twitch, or her head move, or even her arm. It wasn't true though; Rory lay motionless and soundless on the hospital bed as she had ever since the nurses had first put her there. The doctors moved her when they gave her check-ups and put the IV in to feed her, they monitored her well and so far there were no signs of internal bleeding. All Rory needed to do was wake up and everything would be fine.
Putting her free hand on her stomach, she looked over at her daughter's own and said a silent prayer for her unborn granddaughter. Tristan had taken her aside earlier and told her the news. Lorelai was happy, but this wasn't the way she had wanted to find out. Her mind flashed to the first time, and she remembered how happy and crazy she had been. Things had changed so much.
"Lor…" Chris' voice came in a whisper, and Lorelai turned to look at him. Her first love, the father of her little girl who was lying so still in the bed in front of them. He looked worse than she had ever seen him. She studied his expression for a second.
"I know," she nodded, and looked back to her daughter, "I just…I don't want to leave. I don't want to leave in case…"
"I know," Chris whispered again, "But you have to eat. You've got the twins to think about too."
She knew he was right, as it turned out Chris had been right about a lot of things in the past day or so. Then again, she shouldn't be surprised; Chris was right about almost everything going on lately. He had grown wise beyond his years they had joked.
Glancing back at her daughter, and watching her in silence a minute longer she grudgingly stood up and allowed Chris to lead her out of the room, but not before stealing one more glance at her baby girl. If Rory wasn't all right, Lorelai didn't know what she would do. It was Rory that had kept her going all those years ever since she had become pregnant with her at sixteen. She couldn't lose her.
(Same Place, fifteen minutes later)
Tristan had taken Lorelai's spot once she and Chris had come out of the room and went to get something to eat. They must've been starving, he noted, being in the room for so long. Once again, he had taken Rory's hand in his own this time holding it with both of his hands. His breathing was loud and shallow and he was finding it increasingly harder to keep his composure.
"Rory, I love you," he whispered, for the first time he really voiced his feelings to her. It felt freeing, almost. "God, I've always loved you." He paused and looked at her, waiting to see if maybe he'd get some sort of reaction. Nothing, but he hoped she could hear him nonetheless.
He let got of her hand and reached into his pocket, taking out the baby name book from it. Now, there were numerous different post-its sticking out from different pages. Some were pink, others were blue, and some were yellow. A neutral color for names that he felt would work no matter the sex. He pulled out the blue ones; they didn't matter anymore now that he knew the baby was a girl.
"I've been thinking of baby names," he told her, "Lots of them. I'm looking forward to this Mary, really I am. So, I thought about naming her Mary?" He chuckled lightly, he could imagine what her reaction would've been, "Then I figured you'd be against it. Besides, it appears that Mary means bitter." He paused, "Not that you're bitter Mary, far from it. There's only one Mary in my life..."
He wished she would wake up, wished that he wasn't having a one sided conversation with her unconscious form. The doctor's told them that she could probably hear them, so he thought it might be worth a shot. "So, how about Juliet? Or Haley, I've always liked that name."
Then, the incredible happened. He hear a soft moan coming from her bed, and her eyes fluttered open revealing the crystal blue eyes that had haunted him from the day he met her. A small smile appeared on her face, although he saw that it seemed to hurt her to move. Reaching out, he took her hand again and whispered her name, "Rory."
"Haley," she said, her voice was hoarse and barely audible even though he heard her loud and clear, "Haley Juliet Mary DuGray Gilmore."
"Long name," Tristan laughed, so happy to hear her voice again, to know that she was all right and awake.
"It's perfect," she half smiled.
"How come Haley?" he inquired, not wanting to call the doctors and ruin this moment right away.
"It means hero," she told him, and it surprised him how she already knew this, "And this little girl is my hero. Plus, it's a pretty name, always liked it." Tristan laughed again and leaned in to kiss her forehead.
"I love you," he told he, he had to say it to her directly when she was looking at him with those big blue eyes of hers.
"I know," she nodded, even though he knew she found it hard after being unconscious for so long, "I love you too Tristan."
He didn't know what it meant, or if this was he way of choosing or if she was just saying it because she was happy to be alive and awake. It didn't matter to him right now though, Rory Gilmore was awake and for once he felt sure that things were going to work out for the best. Hearing her say those three words to him took all his fear of losing them away.