"Jess is sleeping, Luke replied in an even tone. "Come back in the morning."
"Luke, come on," Liz needled. "I want to se my son."
"Liz, he's resting. He needs his rest," Luke insisted. "You can see him in the morning. You can come by here early or wait and see him at the diner."
Liz and TJ who had been traveling with the fairs didn't know about the accident or Luke's move. They were simply passing through Stars Hollow on their way back to New York.
"Why does he need his rest? Luke, is Jess sick?" Liz asked, the remnants of her mother's intuition surfacing.
Luke sighed and slipped out of the room. "Let's go down by the main house and talk. I don't want to wake Jess."
TJ was still oblivious but Liz noticed her brother's bizarre behavior whenever she mentioned her son. Liz followed Luke outside and a few feet away from the room Luke took a deep breath and sighed.
"The night of our wedding, Jess left Stars Hollow for New York. Apparently he decided to go back by way of New Haven and he stopped by Yale to see Rory Gilmore," Luke began.
"Rory is Lorelai's girl?" Lixz asked.
"Yeah, she and Jess had a thing for awhile before he took off for California and left her behind," Luke clarified. "Anyway, I'm not sure how or what transpired at Yale, but Jess left pretty upset according to Rory. Apparently since he was upset and the roads were slick when a drunken truck driver came at him, he didn't react in time to swerve and keep the car under control. He ended up getting into a very serious accident," Luke finished.
Liz covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh my God. Luke how is he? He's fine now, right?"
"He's recovering very well, considering how severe his injuries were," Luke replied. "But there is some permanent damage. He's paralyzed, Liz. He'll never walk again."
TJ finally realized what Luke was saying and held Liz's shoulders as she began to cry. "That's why he needs his rest. Two much in one day tires him out. He only came home from the rehab hospital today," Luke said.
"Why didn't you call me?" Liz asked. "Why didn't you call me immediately?"
"I did call you," Luke replied. "You and the tights man never answered my messages. Even the doctors tried to call you."
"I want to see my son," Liz insisted.
"Tomorrow morning you can…"
"Not in the morning, Luke," Liz protested. "Right now."
Liz was moving past him before Luke had a chance to react. TJ didn't comment, he just fell into step beside Luke.
"So the punk finally did it, eh?" TJ asked. "I knew it was only a matter of time."
"I'm not in the mood, TJ," Luke warned.
"I'm not saying nothing. I'm only saying the kid screwed up a lot," TJ defended.
"Well, that's something," Luke hissed as he opened the door to the room. "Isn't it?"
Liz didn't wake Jess when she went into his room. She just looked down at her son, sleeping on his back, sheets covering him up to his chest.
"He looks fine," Liz whispered. "The same."
Luke nodded. "The cuts and bruises healed a couple of weeks ago."
Liz's eyes filled with tears when she spotted the wheelchair beside Jess' bed with the back pillow on the seat and the plaid blanket draped over the arm. "I can't believe I wasn't here. I can't believe Rory…" Liz trailed off.
"Liz," Luke whispered. "You're waking him up. Come outside."
Liz followed Luke to the front part of the room. "You have a place to stay?" he asked.
TJ shook his head and Luke handed them a key. "It's for my apartment at the diner. This room's only large enough for us."
TJ took the key without a word and set his arm around Liz's shoulders leading her out the door.
It was late when Luke got out of the shower and later when he finally fell asleep annoyed by an aching pain in his left shoulder.
Jess woke before Luke the next morning, around eight o'clock. He knew Luke wouldn't leave him alone when he opened the diner and he didn't smell coffee which meant Luke must still be here.
Jess pushed himself up in bed and reached for his wheelchair. He better use the bathroom first before there was a mess, the he'd fine Luke before he showered.
Jess' bathroom adventure proved easier here than at rehab. He felt more comfortable without Harriet and Jerry staring at him and hovering over him.
Once the bathroom task was complete Jess maneuvered into Luke's room. His uncle was still in a deep sleep, his brow nearly drenched with sweat. Jess didn't want to wake him, but he needed to be at the diner.
"Uncle Luke," Jess whispered. "Uncle Luke, time to get up."
Luke stirred and sat up. "I'm up, Jess. What do you need?"
"I need a shower and you need to get to the diner. It's after 8," Jess pointed to the clock.
"After..." Luke shot up. "Is Caesar…"
"No one's called up screaming yet so it's safe to assume Lane or Caesar opened," Jess comforted. "Just get up, get showered, and get over there."
"What about your shower?" Luke asked.
"I can get one after you leave," Jess offered.
"No you can't showere by yourself," Luke protested.
"I've been doing it since I was three," Jess argued. "I'll be okay."
"Jess, I'm not eve sure if the shower chair is stable…"
Jess cut him off. "Fine. I'll shower now. Then I'll dress while you shower."
"Won't you need help with you pants?" Luke asked.
"If I do, I'll call you," Jess said. "Now, I'm going to shower. I'll be twenty minutes."
The entire showering and dressing process took longer than Jess anticipated an din the ned he was grateful Luke insisted on helping him. The lessons he'd learned at. St. Barbara's were valuable but he was still not strong enough to do the required maneuvers completely on his own. He was sure as he healed more and gained more arm strength he'd be able to manage more on his own.
It was almost 9:30 by the time Luke and Jess reached the diner. Caesar had opened and Rory was inside taking orders, serving Miss Patty and Babette. They were the only customers.
"Good morning, Luke," Rory greeted then moved to hug Jess. "Good morning. I was getting worried about you."
"Why? Luke had me," Jess replied. "Still it was sweet of you to worry."
Rory frowned, "How was your night?"
"Not bad. I went to bed early and I got up at eight."
"No more…"
Jess shook his head. "No more."
Luke set to work, gave Rory a break, but failed to mention Liz and TJ's presence to Jess. Since last night he'd forgotten his sister and her husband were even there. Thus, Luke was as startled as Jess was when Liz and TJ came downstairs.
Liz saw Jess in his wheelchair, the plaid blanket tucked around his legs. He was sipping tea and talking to a girl she could only assume was Rory from the picture Jess had carried with him. Liz sprinted at Jess before he even had a chance to react. "Oh, my baby!" she erupted throwing down her weight at Jess.
"Whoa!" Jess exclaimed as he was knocked breathless. Rory saw his shock and his grimace and set to work. Firmly she gripped onto Liz' clothing and pulled, "I beg your pardon! Who are you?" Rory demanded.
"I'm Liz Danes, Jess' mother. Who are you?" Liz asked pretending she didn't all ready know.
"Uh, Rory it's okay," Jess intervened. "Rory, this is my mother Liz. Liz, this is Rory."
Liz studied the girl who in her mind was responsible for Jess' accident. Her son was crippled permanently because of this girl who though who she was.
"Well, I must say it's nice to have a face to go with the name," Liz began. "It's really a relief to see at least you're pretty. If Jess' life was going to be over because of a girl she might as well be pretty."
Miss Patty nudged Babette. "This is going to be interesting."
"I beg your pardon," Rory said again just as firmly as before. "For your information, Jess' life is not over. He's still able to do some things, and even if this was my fault, I intend to stand by Jess. This didn't happen because of me, it happened because of a drunk driver, but nevertheless I was there for him and I will be there for him. Where the Hell were you?"
"I didn't know…"
Rory cut her off. "That's right. You didn't know. You weren't even around. Luke tried to call you, the doctors tried and no one could contact you."
"We were on the road…"TJ began.
By this time Jess was getting a headache and Miss Patty was getting a show. Jess had never seen how angry Rory got when she defended him so this new passionate Rory was a surprise.
Luke's attention had been seized by Rory's voice as she accosted TJ and Liz. "You were on the road, you were traveling, that's no excuse. Just because you're on the road doesn't mean you shouldn't call your kid or your brother. If you really care about your 'baby' you'd have checked in with him. But you didn't, you never did!" Rory accused.
Liz was speechless at Rory's harsh words. She knew the truth in them. She'd never been a good mother to Jess, and she'd always wanted to make up for that.
"I know I wasn't there then, but I'm her now," Liz replied turning to Jess and taking his hand. "I'm going to make it up to you. I'll take care of you…" she offered and Jess pulled back on his hand.
"I don't want you to take care of me or to make anything up to me," Jess argued. "I'm fine on my own. I had Rory and Luke and I don't need you or the etch a sketch man helping me."
By this time Luke decided he should intervene. Jess was getting upset and upsetment led to tension which led to muscle spasms, a scene Luke hoped to avoid in front of Liz and TJ.
"Jess," Luke said firmly. "Why don't you and Rory get some air. Have her back in thirty minutes."
Jess looked from Luke to Rory whose face was red with anger and reached for her hand. She needed to calm herself down. "That's a good idea, Sweetheart. Come on."
Rory took Jess' chair and pushed it towards the diner's exit. Liz spoke again as they left.
"You have to fix this Luke," Liz told him. "He's my son. I should take care of him. He needs…"
"You have no idea what he needs!" Luke exploded forgetting the presence of the town's biggest gossips. "You weren't around. You didn't…you didn't see him in pain lying on blood soaked sheets. You didn't see his face or hold his hand when he found out he'd never walk again. You didn't meet with doctors, nurses, and therapists. You didn't see him struggling in therapy or crying out from the pain of back spasm. You didn't carry him to bed when he couldn't do it himself or pick him up when he fell. You didn't do battle for him or with him when his body couldn't take anymore. You didn't encourage him or support him. You didn't take a single class, pay a single bill or even make a simple phone call," Luke ranted. "I did those things, and Rory, and Lorelai. We are what Jess needs. We know what Jess needs. You don't have the first damned clue! You want to help him now because it's new to you, but when his disability starts to interfere with your life he'll be right back here at my door. I'd rather you just save us the time and went on your way."
Luke finally finished on a long sigh and moved to the door. Liz and TJ were completely speechless after what Luke said hit home. Liz couldn't find a reply she just moved toward the door. TJ who was unaffected by Luke's tirade seeing as he basically was not guilty of Liz's parental offenses said quickly, "We'll call you."
