A/N: I own nothing. Seriously, check my goshdamn wallet!

A/N2: This one's for lgfan452! I know you desperately wanted to find out what happened to Rory, so I wrote this real quick. Keep the Reviews coming, folks!

A/N3: For those of you waiting for the smut, it may be a while; this thing keeps twisting out of my hands. It's got a life of its own, people.

Chapter Three

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Lorelai snapped her phone shut and snatched her purse off the counter. Getting to Rory was top priority at this point, and basic maternal instinct had begun to kick in.
Gotta call Mom, let her know that Rory's in the hospital. Gotta get to the hospital. Gotta get gas. Gotta get to my kid… She occupied herself by making a mental to-do list in an attempt to forget about what happened to Rory. Panicking was not an option at this point.
She had begun to stand when she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. Lorelai could barely look at Luke. She knew what he was going to say, and she didn't know if she'd be able to hold everything in.
"I'm coming with you," he said simply. Pulling the keys out of his pocket, he tossed them to a passing Caesar, "I don't know when I'll be back. Close at nine tonight."
Without a second thought, he grabbed Lorelai's hand reassuringly and led her to the back door of the diner. Luke opened the passenger's side, helped Lorelai in, and then rounded the front of the car to the driver's side.
Just as he was about to start the car, he looked over at Lorelai.
She was looking straight ahead, her chest rising and falling rapidly, face pale and eyes frantic. He watched as one tear streaked down the side of her face.
He started the car and pulled out into traffic, heading in the direction of Hartford.

The paramedics had arrived at the scene and had seen the girl on the ground, her hair fanning out around her head in an almost angelic way. The other girl was hanging out of the flaming car, still strapped in. Police had already flooded the scene and a healthy crowd was beginning to form. The two men in the opposing car had been pronounced dead.
Detectives had deduced that the collision was head on, resulting from drunk driving on the behalf of the men in the opposing car. The two girls had been on their way home from a rare half day at school.
The girl with blond hair that had been found on the ground had been loaded into the paramedic van which had soon rushed off, sirens blaring, to the hospital. The other girl, a taller, softer featured girl had also been loaded into a second van, which followed the first to the hospital.
One paramedic had been able to locate the darker haired girl's purse in the backseat of the totaled car. Inside, it held a driver's license and a cell phone. The paramedic had smartly scrolled through the digital phonebook to find the number for a parent.

Halfway to Hartford, Luke reached out a hand, and placed it on Lorelai's knee.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" he asked.
Lorelai, having trouble finding her voice, simply nodded, and turned to Luke.
"Rory was in a car accident. Paris had offered to give Rory a ride home from Chilton – they had a halfday – and there was a car," she had to stop to keep the tears from spilling down her face, "and the driver was totally wasted. He hit Rory and Paris head on, and…" her voice broke into a sob.
"Shhh… it's okay. Everything is going to be fine," Luke said, pulling her against his side. He normally wasn't good with crying women, but comforting Lorelai provided him the distraction he needed to avoid thinking about Rory. Lorelai needed him to be her pillar, and if he broke down, who knew if they'd make it through the day?
For the next ten minutes, Lorelai had sobbed into Luke's shoulder and he had rubbed her back lovingly. Upon arriving at the Hartford Hospital, Lorelai checked her makeup – she couldn't look like she was having a breakdown – at which time Luke had ran around to her side of the car. Opening the door, he took her hand and together they walked into the strange smelling, brightly lit building, expecting the worst.

TBC… R&R!