Within two days of her confinement Rory came to the conclusion that she hated enforced bed rest. Not being able to get up and move around when she wanted to was nothing more than torture, even if she'd hadn't been that active before anyway. Being forbidden to get up made her want to do it all the more. Staying still and relaxed was making her crazy.
Lorelai brought in a load of books, CD's, DVD's and the laptop to keep Rory entertained, along with clothing and toiletries. Flowers, cards and various small gifts poured in from citizens of Stars Hollow. Rory was grateful for the distraction that writing thank-you notes provided. The phone seemed to ring itself off the hook with calls from Lane and Paris. The world Rory had tried so hard to cut herself off from was obviously not going anywhere. The only calls she wouldn't take where from Jess. She just couldn't face him right now. And she wouldn't accept visitors other than Lorelai. She'd even turned away Richard and Emily. After finally hearing the details of Emily's performance in New York, Rory wasn't sure she could speak civilly to her grandparents, much less endure a stressful visit from them.
Christmas came and went in an exhausted blur. Rory was still in the hospital and neither one of them felt like celebrating. They passed a day of forced excitement over the gifts that Lorelai brought to the hospital room and both were glad when the day was over. New Years was barely noticed.
For Rory the days of hospitalization crept by in a blur of crushing boredom, punctuated by ultrasounds, blood pressure checks and sessions with Dr. Riley. Every time she managed to lose herself in a book or movie, a medical professional would come bustling in to disturb her reverie. It never failed: for a few precious moments Rory would forget where she was and why she was there, only to have someone jerk her back to a reality she didn't want to live in. With each passing day she grew a little more frustrated and angry. She didn't develop pre-eclampsia and her blood pressure had begun to slowly fall. However it wasn't yet down to what the doctor considered a 'safe range'. As the sun went down each day she would look at the calendar and calculate how much closer she was to freedom: Valentine's Day. February 14 had been designated the earliest the baby could be born with little risk to his or her health. As the days of January began to pass, Rory began to pray for time to speed up and end her misery.
For Lorelai the days went by in a grinding haze of exhaustion that seemed to follow her everywhere. For once, she hated snow because snow meant visitors flocked to the inn, bent on admiring the beautifully frozen landscape and expecting a fairy tale Christmas getaway. In the midst of the tourist boom Sookie was on maternity leave (which meant the kitchen wasn't running nearly as smoothly as it could), the night manager quit and the DAR booked weekly luncheons that Lorelai had to oversee personally, lest her mother (whom she still refused to acknowledge) took her incessant complaints and thinly veiled insults to Mia or her son. Not that Lorelai felt her job was in danger but she couldn't stand the humiliation of having her mother complain to her boss. And of course, she was putting in hours at the hospital everyday to keep Rory company. With each passing day she seemed to grow thinner and the dark circles under her eyes grew deeper. A week after New Year's Day she nearly passed out in her office, only to realize she had consumed nothing but coffee since the morning before. She was nearing the end of her internal reserves. Something was going to have to give.
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Fainting the in diner later that afternoon was the final straw. She'd no sooner sat down than the world turned black. She came to with half the town hovering over her and an ambulance standing outside the door. Only her lack of fever, headache, nausea and bleeding convinced the paramedics that she didn't need to go to the ER. That, and the call they got for a heart attack two towns over as she was doing the fastest talking of her life. Cardiac arrest trumped the crazy woman every time. Luke and Sookie weren't so easy to placate.
"No! Sookie you are not cutting your maternity leave short! You don't work the desk anyway."
"I can learn! And keep you entertained by irritating Michel. That's got to be good for something."
"He's irritated enough alternating nights with me. If I didn't know he secretly loved it, I'd be worried about him quitting. Keeping Michel entertained is the least of my worries. Sookie, I appreciate the offer, I really do, but coming back early won't solve anything and will just make me feel massively guilty."
"Fine. But I AM leaving food for you in your fridge and you ARE going to eat it. No more of this fainting nonsense."
"Since when do I turn down food? I haven't been eating because I just don't have time, not from lack of appetite."
Luke broke in for the first time. "Well you're going to make time. For starters, Jess will be driving you to the hospital every evening. You can eat in the car or nap or read or whatever. But you WILL relax on the trip there and the trip back. He'll also pitch in at the Inn however you need him to. He's yours for the duration."
"Luke-''
"Don't." He held up a hand to stop her argument cold. "He's driving me nuts and you'll be doing me a favor in getting him out of here for a few hours a day. He won't try to sneak in and see Rory, he won't blast offensive music and he'll even dress appropriately to work at the Inn. He wants to help, he just doesn't know how to say it."
The exhaustion must have been getting the better of her. "Thank you both. I appreciate the help." She stood to go, then swayed with dizziness again. "Whoa."
In an instant Luke was on his feet to steady her and guide her back to her chair. "You aren't leaving until you eat a real meal. And it will include vegetables. No whining."
"I have to get back. Emily's DAR luncheon starts in half an hour. If I'm not there, she'll call Mia and complain to her that I'm slacking off."
Sookie's face turned a dull red. She'd heard the whole story of what had happened in New York. "I'll call Mia myself and warn her not to take Emily's calls."
"No! I don't want her thinking I can't do my job. Emily and Richard are my cross to bear, not anybody else's."
"Lorelai, Mia is not going to think you can't do your job. She's met Emily. She's knows your mother is a crazy woman and not to be taken seriously. Remember when Rory was six and Emily called you an unfit mother for enrolling her in the public school? Mia was the one who let you cry on her shoulder afterwards."
Luke watched the by-play between the two women with growing interest, keeping his face impassive. He'd been hearing Lorelai's stories about her parents for years now, especially since the Friday Night Dinners had come into existence. He'd always thought she'd exaggerated about them, that there was no way real people could behave like that, especially toward their family members. The few moments at the hospital a few years ago hadn't been as fraught as the relations being described now. Listening to Sookie run down other incidents of Emily's personality, Luke began to realize that Lorelai was luck to be as sane as she was.
"You aren't leaving here until you eat and promise to take better care of yourself. What's Rory going to do if you end up sick from exhaustion, or worse?" Luke played his trump card, the one he knew would work. Ever since that day 19 years ago when the strip turned pink, Lorelai had always put Rory's well being above her own. If taking proper care of Rory meant taking care of herself, Lorelai would do it without complaint.
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As with all trials in life, that which didn't kill Lorelai made her stronger. With the respite provided by Jess doing the driving and Sookie doing the cooking, she began to look not quite so strung out and haggard. True to her word, Sookie called Mia and gave her the heads up about Emily. When Emily did call to complain about the service, Mia simply read her the riot act about abusing the Inn's staff and made it clear that if she couldn't behave in a reasonable and civil manner then she was welcome to take her business elsewhere. Mia also made it clear that future arrangements would go through Michel and Lorelai wasn't to be bothered. What she didn't say was that right now Lorelai was busy pretending that her parents didn't exist. She knew it wouldn't last, that when Rory had the baby decency said she should notify them, but for now she enjoyed the peace.
Best of all Rory was released from the hospital after an almost four week stay. Her blood pressure had finally dropped enough that the doctor felt comfortable letting her leave, even though she'd still be on bed rest when she got home.
"There's no place like home!" Rory felt like she'd been released from prison as she fastened her seatbelt. "Please tell me I'm never coming back to the ante-partum unit again."
"Next time it'll be Labor and Delivery. Are you going to click your heels three times or are you expecting me to play chauffer?"
"Just get me out of here. And I'm not going to mind the labor ward because that means this whole maternity nightmare will be ending. I'll have my life back. I'll be able to get out of bed when I want to and drink coffee and see my feet and not waddle when I walk. I can wear my own clothes and eat what I like and start school. I'll be me again." Rory cocked an eyebrow at her mother. "Why aren't you driving?"
"I'm just trying to decide whether to laugh or cry, that's all."
"Pick one and start the engine."
"And didn't your little vacation just turn you into Mary Sunshine?"
"You know that character is supposed to be a man in drag, right? Are you trying to insinuate something about my looks?"
"Just watch the scenery and shut your mouth. We're going home."
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"There isn't going to be half of Stars Hollow on our front lawn when we get home, is there? I really don't want to have to put on a happy face right now." The elation over leaving the hospital had drained away and Rory's now-characteristic somberness had returned.
"Sookie said she might come by to drop off a 'Welcome Home' cake but that's all. I Miss Patty put the word out that you're still not up to visitors."
"Okay." Rory pulled her coat a little tighter around her and settled back into the seat. "They all know, don't they? I mean, the flowers and the cards and everything were a dead giveaway."
Lorelai sighed. "It's been common knowledge since Halloween that you're pregnant. Those overalls you were wearing didn't really hide anything. I know you're convinced that people will look at you cross-eyed and then blame Jess for knocking you up, but it hasn't happened."
"Great. What are they saying?"
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"I'd rather know what the gossip is now and start figuring out to deal with it while I've got the time."
"The absolute truth is not common knowledge. I certainly haven't told anyone other than Luke and Sookie. But most people think that something in the realm of what happened, is what happened.'
"Oh God! Why do they think that?" Rory was tempted to tell her mother to turn around and check her back into the hospital. She couldn't fathom having to face the whole town thinking she was a victim. Even if she was, she didn't want anyone to know about it.
"Babette saw the adoption papers the night you fainted. She came over to lock up after the ambulance left. Apparently she made the connection. She and Patty figured that if this were just an accidental pregnancy that you'd keep it."
"Great." Rory's moroseness became visible as they pulled through the Star's Hollow streets. "My whole life is gossip fodder."
Lorelai bit back a sigh. She wasn't happy with Babette or Patty right now either, but she didn't think they meant to be malicious. Gossip was just their way. "Almost there."
"I'm ready for a nap."
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As the days of January faded towards February, Rory found herself coming out of her self-imposed exile. It started slowly, a call to Paris, a walk to see Lane. She was still careful to avoid most of the general public but she did let her two best girlfriends back into the mix. One day she even managed to have a five-minute conversation with Jess. She didn't even burst into tears until after she was home. That he still loved her was obvious, as was the pain she was putting him through by refusing to see him. But she couldn't, not now. Maybe not ever.
