A/N: Thanks to all who reviewed. They definitely make my day a little brighter. Hope you enjoy Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Lorelai new that they had arrived at the hospital. She knew that Luke was parking the truck in the emergency parking in front of the trauma center. She knew that she should be getting out, but she couldn't force her body to move. It was all too much. She could feel the pain in her chest and she was having trouble just breathing. Suddenly something that she had taken for granted all of her life was requiring her full attention. If she didn't concentrate on it, she knew she would just stop.

Luke got out and came around and opened her door. "Lorelai." He said softly and she turned her head to look at him.

Breathe in, breathe out. "Luke I'm…"

"I know." He said, cutting her off and reaching around her to undo her seat belt. He gently lifted her out of the truck and set her down on her feet, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

She held on to him as if she would never let him go, but eventually he pulled back and looked into her eyes. "We need to go inside." He said quietly and she nodded and loosened her grip. He took her hand and led her into the hospital.

They walked up to the main desk, where Luke got the attention of one of the nurses. "We're here to see Lorelai Gilmore." He stated, using Rory's full name. "We got a call from the Hartford police…" His voice trailed off as he saw the nurse consulting her charts.

"Are you family?" The nurse asked after she had found what she was looking for on her charts.

"This is her mother." Luke said, pulling Lorelai closer and putting his arm around her.

The nurse nodded. "The doctors are with Lorelai now."

"Rory." Lorelai said softly, interrupting the nurse.

"What?"

"Her name is Rory." Lorelai told the nurse.

"Sorry." The nurse seemed sympathetic. "The doctors are with Rory now and they will come see you as soon as they are done."

"What's wrong with her?" Luke asked, unable to wait any longer. "What happened?"

"I don't know." The nurse said truthfully. "You might want to talk to that officer over there." She pointed behind Luke and Lorelai and they turned immediately and saw a young man in a police uniform.

"Thank you." Luke said and followed Lorelai, who was already heading in his direction.

"My name is Lorelai Gilmore. Are you the officer who called me about my daughter?" Lorelai asked the officer.

"Yes ma'am." The officer turned to the sound of her voice.

"How is she?" It wasn't what she had meant to ask, it had just slipped out.

"I don't know ma'am." The officer looked sad.

"What happened?" There that was what she had meant to ask in the first place.

"You are not going to believe this." He said shaking his head.

"Was it a car accident?" God, would he just tell her what happened.

"No, Ma'am."

"What happened to my daughter?" Lorelai's voice was louder than she intended and she felt Luke's arm around her again and she leaned against him.

"I'm sorry." The officer rushed on before Lorelai could yell at him again. "She was in a maze."

"She was what?"

"She was in a giant, life sized maze, and one of the pillars fell on her."

"A maze?" Lorelai still didn't understand.

"Yes, ma'am, there was this huge maze covering a whole field and it was big, it was at least 10 feet tall and one of the pillars fell on your daughter."

"Why?" Lorelai asked.

"Why did it fall?" The officer asked, not sure of the question

Why did it fall? Why was she hurt? Why was she in the damn maze to begin with? Or why was there even a stupid maze? There were so many questions that Lorelai wanted answers to. She wanted to scream at him, she wanted to wake up and realize that none of this was really happening, but she just nodded her head and listened to the officer speak.

"We're not sure ma'am."

"How badly was she hurt?"

"The pillar was heavy. We had to use a crane to get it off of her."

Lorelai felt her knees buckling, but Luke grabbed her waist and held her up.

"But she was awake." The officer stammered, seeing the pain fill Lorelai's eyes. "She was in a lot of pain, but she kept asking for you. The paramedics ..."

Lorelai turned and headed back to the nurse's station, leaving the officer in mid sentence. "I have to see my daughter." She said as she walked up and the same nurse who had talked to them earlier shook her head. "I have to see her now." This time Lorelai was not going to take no for an answer and as the nurse looked into her eyes, she nodded.

"Let me go see if it's okay." She said and disappeared through the doors that said 'Authorized Personnel Only'.

Lorelai stood completely still, waiting for the nurse to come back, but when Luke walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, she immediately turned around. She needed his arms around her. She needed his quiet strength to draw on and as always, he was there. Breathe in, breathe out, she reminded herself.

The nurse returned in what seemed like a very long time but in reality was only a few minutes. A doctor was behind her and after the nurse pointed them out, he walked towards them.

"I'm Dr. Stanfield." He held out his hand to Lorelai. "I was just working on your daughter."

"Lorelai Gilmore." Lorelai shook his hand and pointed to Luke. "Luke Danes." Luke reached out and shook his hand as well.

The doctor motioned them over to the side of the waiting room, away from the rest of the people. "Your daughter is not in good shape." He said cautiously. "Her legs and feet have been severely damaged."

"What is severely damaged?" Lorelai didn't want him to mince words. She wanted to know it all.

"Her left leg has three breaks, and her left foot has two, but we have taken some x-rays and it doesn't look like any permanent damage. We will have to place some pins and reset it but if all goes well it should heal in time." He took a breath and Lorelai knew that the worst was yet to come. She took Luke's hand and placed it around her waist and held on tightly.

"And her right leg?" Lorelai prodded, having to know, yet dreading it with every fiber of her being.

"Her right leg is a different story." The doctor motioned for them to follow him. "Let me show you." He led them into a small room and turned down the lights. Then he switched on an x-ray screen and searched through some film and nodding he clipped an x-ray to the front of it. "This is her left leg." He pointed out the breaks and explained how they would fix them. Lorelai and Luke didn't say anything they just nodded in the appropriate places. Lorelai felt the tears run down her cheeks as she looked at Rory's broken leg, but she was listening and taking in as much as she could. She was trying to concentrate on the doctor's words and not on the Rory's leg.

"Now, her right leg." The doctor removed the x-ray of her left leg and replaced it with her right. When Lorelai saw the x-ray of her right leg, she gasped. It looked like her foot was facing the wrong direction. "The good news is that the main artery to her leg has not been severed and that gives us a fighting chance. The bad news is that we are going to have to rebuild her leg."

"What does that mean?" Luke asked, holding tightly to Lorelai, feeling her weight in his hands as she stared at the screen.

"It means that we are going to use everything we have to literally rebuild it. It means steel rods and bolts and plastic braces and casts and plates and screws. It means a few operations at different intervals, but I think we can save it and hopefully we will make it as good as before."

"What else?" Lorelai asked quietly.

"What else? Dr. Stanfield was unsure of the question.

"What else is wrong with her?" Lorelai wanted to know everything.

The doctor nodded, understanding where she was going. "Other than a few bumps and bruises, nothing."

"Can I see her?"

"We need to do the first surgery right away. We need to set her left leg and begin the process on her right leg and" He added. "To do that we need you to fill out some forms."

"I'll fill out the forms, if you take her to Rory." Luke knew that Lorelai needed to see Rory. She needed to be there for her and he knew that Rory needed her mother.

"Deal."

Lorelai hugged Luke tightly, knowing that she would need all of her strength to face Rory. "Thank you." She said quietly into his ear.

"She'll be okay." He reassured her and she nodded. It was all she could do to let go of him and follow the doctor down the hall.

A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon.