Hey! Okay, I reread this during class today and I just had to get chapter 2 started! Screw homework! Gilmore Girls is more important!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it, but I don't.

Worse Than We Thought

Chapter 2

Remembering

Hospital

"He did get hurt? What do you mean?" Lorelai asked as she saw a tear fall down Rory's face.

"In the accident; I remember hearing him scream. When I asked him if he was okay he said that he'd hit his head against the window pretty hard. After the accident I looked at the window. Mom, the window was totally shattered…I don't know. I should have put two and two together."

"Woah…hard head," Lorelai said after a moment.

"Mom!"

"I couldn't resist."

"Mom, shouldn't we tell the doctors?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, wouldn't be able to help them figure out what's going on?" Lane asked.

"Yeah," Lorelai said nodding. "Let's head back." Walking back to Luke she quickly told him what Rory had just told her. Watching him stand and go to the main desk she waited as he conversed with the nurse for a few minutes before heading back over. "Well?"

"She just said she'd let them know," Luke said sending a glare at the nurse. "She wouldn't even give me an update."

"Why not?" Rory asked.

"I don't know," Luke said shaking his head. Slumping back into his seat he took the cup of tea that Rory offered.

"Shouldn't we call Liz? I mean legally she is his guardian," Lorelai said.

"Not anymore."

"What do you mean?" Lane asked Luke, tilting her head slightly.

"Last week she sent the papers over. She signed custody over to me."

"Are you serious!" Rory exclaimed. "She just abandoned her son!"

"Pretty much," Luke said. "She said that if she was going to get her life back on track she wouldn't be able to do it with a kid like Jess around."

"What kind of mother would do that?" Lorelai asked disgusted.

"The Liz kind," Luke said angrily.

"Luke-" Lorelai began.

"It's just…I feel bad for him. His dad deserted him the day he was born and his mom, though my sister, is an awful mother."

"Um…Luke," Lane began. "I don't know…I've just been wondering for a while. Was the first time you saw or even met him when he got off the bus?"

"No, actually," Luke said shaking his head. "I'm not surprised you guys don't remember. The last time he was in Stars Hollow he was…oh, God…um…about 6. I used to keep in touch with them over the phone and he knew about the town and everything. One day he just ran away and took a bus to town. It was summer so I was able to convince Liz to let him stay the summer."

"I remember!" Rory exclaimed suddenly. "Lane! Remember! JJ!"

"Oh, my God! Jess was JJ!" Lane exclaimed laughing.

"JJ?" Lorelai asked looking at her daughter and Lane strangely.

"We used to call him JJ to annoy him," Rory informed her mother. Seeing her mother's eyes light up in realization she smiled.

"Oh, yeah! I called him Messy Jessie because of his hair!" Lorelai said as she began to laugh. "It's still so curly!"

"But, not as bad," Luke said chuckling. "Poor kid got the uncontrollable mess from the Danes side."

"Poor kid is right," Lorelai said. "No wonder he spends so much time doing his hair."

"Excuse me?" a voice asked, catching the group's attention. "You're here for Jess Mariano, correct?"

"Yeah," Luke said nodding his head frantically. "What happened?"

"It's not that rare that head injuries don't show themselves for a day or two, which is what happened with Jess," the doctor explained. "In the accident he received a serious injury when he hit his head. It caused serious internal bleeding to his brain. We're guessing he had been sick before the accident and as the fever worsened it made the head injury worse because it went unnoticed. The fever had made him too weak to notice that something other than the cold was wrong."

"Is he okay?" Lorelai asked having a feeling the doctor was trying to hold back something.

"He's stable," the doctor said. "But…he's slipped into a coma."

"He…what?" Rory asked, stumbling with her words. Feeling her knees buckle under her she felt Lane help steady her.

"When will he wake up?" Lane asked.

"It can never be sure with comas," the doctor said shaking her head sadly. "It could range anywhere from a few hours to a few years. Usually if the person doesn't wake up after three months most doctors start to talk to the family about stopping the medications. Some people just can't pay the bills, so they're forced to. Or it just gets too hard for them to see a loved one like that."

"We're not going to do that," Lorelai said. "The kid's too stubborn to stay in bed for too long." I hope.

"Can we see him?" Luke asked.

"Yeah," the doctor said nodding. "Room 1283. Take the elevator to the eleventh floor and take a left. It'll be on your left."

"Thanks, Dr. Martin," Lorelai said. Watching Dr. Martin walk off Lorelai took Luke's hand in hers and saw Lane place a comforting arm around a sobbing Rory's shoulders. Walking towards the elevator the followed the instructions they'd been given and soon found themselves outside of Jess' room.

Placing his hand on the door knob Luke took a deep breath before opening the door. Looking at his usually defiant nephew now lying in a hospital bed Luke felt his heart break. Jess…

Walking over to Jess' side Rory sat herself down in one of the chairs beside Jess' bed. Taking his limp hand in hers she raised it to her face so his hand rested against her lips. Kissing it lightly she held his hand as if he would disappear should she let go. Watching from the corner of her eye she saw Luke take the seat on Jess' other side and Lorelai and Lane sit on each edge of the bed. "Jess," Rory whispered softly.

"Excuse me," a young nurse said poking her head in the door. Looking at the group sympathetically she said, "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over."

Nodding Lorelai stood. "Thanks." As the nurse began to exit Lorelai suddenly called out, "Excuse me! Um…when do they start?"

"They start up at noon," the nurse said smiling softly.

"Thanks," Lane said nodding. Grabbing her jacket she turned and felt pity when she saw her best friend nearly in tears. "Ror? You okay?"

"Yeah," Rory said, knowing it wasn't the truth.

"All right…" Grabbing her hand Lane led Rory out the door of Jess' room watching with pity as Rory sent a longing stare towards Jess' unconscious form.

(Okay, I don't know why, but this is so hard for me to write! I feel so bad for him!)

Walking towards the car Rory and Lane climbed into the back and Rory watched Luke climb into the passenger seat, her mother the opposite. This is just a bad dream. I'll wake up and it'll all be okay. Mom will be fighting with Luke nonstop and Jess will be fine. It's all a dream. Please, please just let this be a dream. Feeling the car pull to a stop Rory looked up and noticed they were in front of the diner.

"Later," Lane said climbing out.

"Bye, Lane, Luke," Rory said smiling slightly as Lorelai placed a kiss on Luke's lips before he got out. Climbing into the front seat Rory sighed.

"You okay, babe?" Lorelai asked worried. This is killing her. "You seemed pretty out of it on the ride back."

"Yeah, I was just thinking," Rory said nodding.

"About Jess?"

"Yeah…It's just…"

"You never thought that Jess would ever be the one to fall into a coma or even be hurt like this?"

"Yeah…and stop finishing my sentences," Rory said looking at Lorelai with a small smile.

"Sorry, babe, but this is what happens when mother and daughter are best friends. We live together, we eat together, we do nearly everything together."

"So I'm stuck?"

"Yup," Lorelai said laughing. "Wanna rent a movie? Get our mind off today?"

"Yeah," Rory said nodding gratefully.

"Nemo?" Lorelai suggested.

"Bubbles," Rory said giggling. Walking Rory fell into her thoughts again. "You know what?"

"What?" Lorelai asked looking at her daughter in question.

"It's ironic."

"What is?"

"Everyone in the town is mad at Jess because we all thought he didn't get hurt in the accident. And the truth is…"

"He got hurt the worse," Lorelai finished.

"Yeah."

Not noticing Miss Patty listening at the corner she hurries after the two. "Girls!"

"Oh, hi, Miss Patty," Rory said faking a smile. Please don't let her have heard this.

"What were you saying about Jess?"

Yup, same old nosey self, Lorelai thought to herself, mentally sighing. "It's nothing."

"Are you sure? Why was there an ambulance?"

"He wasn't feeling well and got weak. We wanted to make sure he was okay," Lorelai said purposely trying to give as little information as possible. This is going to get so twisted we'll just have to tell everyone what happened. Be good to hold it off a little longer.

"Where is he?" Miss Patty asked, forever prying for information.

"They wanted to keep him overnight. Make sure it's all okay," Rory lied. I wish.

"Rory and me have to go," Lorelai said. "Movie night."

"All right, "Miss Patty said nodding. "Oh! Before you go, the showing of The Yearling will be in two days. At the crash the area was a little…destroyed. We need some time to patch it up." Not noticing Rory wince at the mention of the crash she waved. "See you soon."

"Bye, Miss Patty." Hurrying Rory into the video store she sighed. "That woman will never stop prying."

"It's Miss Patty."

"And if it wasn't I'd be scared she had a twin." Shuddering at the thought she laughed slightly. "Never going to imagine that again."

"Thank you." Walking over to the Disney section she searched for a minute. "Got it."

"Do you want to skip school tomorrow and do a fifteen movie marathon?" Lorelai asked.

"One movie," Rory said. "I have to go to school tomorrow."

"You sure? After today?" Lorelai asked worried that her daughter was pushing herself too much.

"Yeah," Rory said nodding. "I'm totally freaked, but I have to go back. In the car I'd promised Jess that no matter what I'd get into Harvard. And if I stay out I'll never feel ready to go back."

"All right," Lorelai said giving in. Nodding towards the counter she and Rory walked up. "Hey, Kirk."

"Hello," Kirk said smiling his strange Kirk like smile. "This all?"

"Yup," Lorelai said handing Kirk a nearly destroyed card and a crumpled ten dollar bill.

"Enjoy your movie," Kirk said handing Rory the bag containing the wonderful movie Finding Nemo.

"We will," the two said in unison smiling. Walking out the door they headed towards the Jeep and got in. Driving the short distance to the Gilmore house they climbed out and walked in.

"Give me a second to get changed," Rory said before running to her room. Taking off her uniform she grabbed a pair of flannel PJ pants donning a navy blue sky and silver stars. Pulling a matching navy blue tank top she put her hair into a pony tail before pausing and taking it out. Jess did compliment it when it was down. Walking out of her room she grabbed a bag of M&Ms and threw them at her mom. "It's all we have."

"We should have gone to get more," Lorelai mumbled.

"No time."

"Yeah, I know, but what is movie night with just one bag of M&Ms?"

"A bad one, but like I said there was no time. Time to start." Pressing play she leaned against her mom as the movie began. Around two hours later Rory stood and stretched. "Night, Mom."

"Night, babe," Lorelai said as she stood. Kissing Rory on the head she hugged her. "He'll be okay."

"I know," Rory said. But, it's all my fault.

TBC

Anime Girl23: DONE! I am on a roll!

Jess: And I'm in a coma! Do you have some sick obsession with those!

Anime Girl23: Like you wouldn't believe. Anyway…please review! It'll make me update faster! Until next time!

Ja ne!