Rory sat in the town meeting holding Jess' hand as they listened to Taylor Doose drone on and on about town issues most of which were pointless. They were waiting for the announcement of the sheriff's sale on Luke's place. They'd been there an hour and he hadn't mentioned it.

"Lastly…" Taylor began.

"Finally," Jess grumbled. "I couldn't sit here any longer."

"You okay?" she asked concerned.

"Yeah, yeah," he answered. "Just listen…"

"Sadly, a staple of our town Luke's Diner formerly William's Hardware ahs been foreclosed on for failure to make mortgage payments in a timely manner. The building and it's contents except any personal belongings will be sold at auction in the town square two weeks for today," Taylor announced.

That announcement caused a raucous in the full dance studio. People were amazed at the closing of the diner, as if they weren't really themselves responsible.

"Oh, poor, Luke," Babette said. "I can't believe he lost that diner. It was his father's legacy."

"I know," agreed another resident. "William would be so disappointed in him."

"I always that Luke was more responsible," commented another.

Jess was hearing all this, how that tide had turned. It made his blood boil hearing these slights and jabs made at Luke. He tightened his grip on Rory's hand, trying to keep his temper at bay.

"Take a deep breath," Rory said to him. "It'll be over soon."

"You're damn right it will," Jess replied and waited for Taylor to open the floor. Once he did he kept a firm grip on Rory's hand and spoke up. "I have an issue."

Taylor condescendingly looked down at Jess. "Oh, Jess. I didn't see you there."

"I'm sure you didn't," Jess rolled his eyes. "May I speak?"

"The chair recognizes Jess Mariano," Taylor sighed.

"Thank you. Since the accident in May, my Uncle Luke has been taking care of me, helping me, because I needed him to. I couldn't do anything for myself, and I needed Luke, my family to help me," Jess began.

"Jess, I don't see the relevance of this to our town. Luke doesn't need a public thank you," Taylor balked.

"Yes he does," Jess countered. "And this is a town issue; this is very much a town issue, because this town, as much as Luke hated to admit it, as much as he complains about the really insane traditions in this town, is his family. My grandparents are dead, my mother's a fruitcake, the only support Luke has was this town, and he always could rely on everyone to support him. Until now, when he really needed you people, his family, his support system and you failed him. You didn't like the decision he made about how to help me and you all turned against him, you all boycotted him and you all caused him to lose the diner," Jess took a deep breath and shifted.

"And now you all have the nerve to sit there and talk about hi like he's some failure, some great disappointment to all of you. Well, rude awakening people, you're the disappointment. You let Luke down and my grandfather. This is Stars Hollow, I find it sickening, but you're all supposed to care about each other, well it's funny how you show it."

"Jess," Rory said softly. She could see the tension, hear the pain in his words.

"No, Rory, not this time," he replied. "You," he looked at Babette and Miss Patty. "You claim you like Luke, that he's a son of Stars Hollow. You even pretend to be nice to me. And you," he moved on to Kirk. "You say Luke's your friend and you trust him, and even you turned against him. That's a bad as what Taylor did, it's almost worst, at least we see him coming." Jess turned on Taylor. "That's the only complement I can pay you. At least you always made it clear that you resent Luke, you always criticized him, nitpicked him, just like you did me. Then you organize this ridiculous boycott, and when Luke defends himself and Rory from your unacceptable, abusive behavior you sue him. If William Danes would be upset with anyone, it would be you, all of you for not living up to the standards of the Stars Hollow he knew." Jess took another deep breath.

"Luke's in the hospital now, and he's not getting better as fast as he should be because he is worried about his diner, about his father's legacy. Imagine what it's doing to him knowing that building is to be sold at auction, his only link to the man he loved and respected. Now, I know all of you hate me, God knows I did enough to deserve that, but what did Luke do? Huh? What did he do but be the man he was raised to be, and take care of his family because it is what he's supposed to do, what any decent person would do. I think it really sucks that you're punishing him for that.

"Luke's Diner will not be lost, it will not be closed and it will not become an extension of Taylor's Soda Shoppe. Why? Because it's my turn. Luke didn't leave me when I needed him, I won't forsake him now. Jess Mariano's in town, I'm back and I will not be defeated!" Jess declared. "You can choose to remember all Luke's done for you and help me or you can get in my way and get run over. The choice is yours." He stopped then, his speech concluded. "Let's go Rory."

Without a word, Rory took Jess' chair and pushed him outside when he finally let out a moan of pain.

"Are you okay?" Rory asked quickly. Jess' back spasms still upset her.

"Just take me home," Jess sighed and fell silent.

Rory did as quickly as possible careful not to jostle Jess' chair too much. He was getting quiet again, brooding. It was always hard to talk to him when he was like that, because he shut her out. She hoped he wouldn't do that this time. She couldn't help him otherwise.

Once she got him home and out of his chair, Rory sat beside Jess holding his hand. "Just take slow deep breaths," she reminded him. "Nice and slow."

"This one…" he tried to tell her. "It's bad, it's so bad, Rory."

"Jess," Rory said, trying to keep her tone calm and even. "Is it worse than any other time or the worst it has been in awhile?" she asked.

"Worst ever," he managed. "It's hard to...Oh, God," he cried out. "Oh God, make it stop, please, make it stop!" he begged, not knowing if he meant Rory or the Supreme entity.

"Jess," Rory ran her hand across his back, trying to comfort him. "Maybe you should go to the hospital. Let a doctor check you out."

Jess' response scared Rory. He hated doctors and hospitals. He never wanted to go, so that fact the he said yes without argument testified to the agony he must be feeling.

"Okay," Rory kept her voice even. "I'm going to call Sookie and see if Jackson can help me get you to the car."

"No, I can do it," Jess groaned. "I don't want anyone to know it's so bad."

Rory kissed Jess' hair. "You rest here, I'll call ahead to the hospital."

It took about half an hour for Rory to get Jess up and into the car and almost another hour to get him to Hartford. It was another hour after that until Jess was finally seen by Dr. Camden, who had come in once Rory had told the ER nurse he had been part of Jess' treatment.

The nursing staff was excellent. They helped get Jess into a bed and Rory now stood by his side holding his hand. "As soon as the doctor comes in, they'll give you something for the pain, just hang on."

"It's never been…"

"Hello, Jess!" Dr. Camden greeted. "I'm surprised to see you here, and a bit upset to see you in this much pain."

"Dr. Camden," Rory greeted. "He's in such pain," she was still holding Jess' hand.

"I all ready paged Dr. Davis," Dr. Camden said. "Until I hear from him, I can't prescribe anything. Jess, why don't you rollover on your stomach, that'll take the pressure off. Rory, help him."

Gently, Rory helped Jess roll over on to his stomach and gently ran her han up and down his spine. "Doctor, this feels different," she said when she hit the spot where Jess' injury was."

Dr. Camden came over and ran his hand over the area Rory had indictated. Jess wondered what was going on, but his strength was sapped and he just lie there, pliant, under the doctor's hands.

"I want to admit Jess to the hospital, and run some tests. I think there may have been a shift in the fractures. We'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if I'm right. For now, I'm going to find the ER attending to sign off on some morphine. It's a strong opiate, but it will help his pain."

"Thank you doctor," Rory said sincerely.

Dr. Camden left them alone to find his supervisor. Rory stood next to Jess' bed, fingers gently caressing the hair on his neck. "I'm here, Jess," she kept assuring him. "I'm not going anywhere. I love you, and I'm never going to leave you. I promise." She kissed his cheek. "It'll be over soon, Baby. I promise you it will be over soon."

Rory stood there, tears leaking out of her eyes as she thought about the empty promise she'd made to Jess, this torture wouldn't be over soon, not if the fracture slipped. She thought then about the other promise she had made, to never leave him. That broke a promise she'd made not to drop out of Yale, she'd have to in order to stay by his side, but she knew, holding his hands that she wanted to.

Jess didn't speak he just lie there, until a nurse came in a injection some medication into his right arm, moments later he visibly relaxed.

"Rory?" he asked, not sure if she was even with him.

"I'm here. I'm just going to go and call Mom and Luke at their hospital. You rest," she told him.

"Mm," was the only reply.

In another hospital across the highway, Lorelai was keeping a vigil of her own. Luke was doing better, and his doctors were hoping to release him at the end of the work. Once that was definite Lorelai would approach the question of what to do about living arrangements. That would hurt him, but he'd bounce back. He was Luke, he always did.

"I'm telling you, Lorelai," Luke groaned as he slapped her hand away. "I can feed myself the damned soup."

Lorelai put the spoon back into the bowl, "Okay, fine. I'll back off," she surrendered, a huge smile on her face.

"Why are you so happy?" Luke asked.

"You," she replied. "You're grumping at me and scowling. She ran her finger across his cheek. "That means you're getting better, more like your usual self."

"I don't grump at you all the time," Luke said softly.

"Luke, more than not you grump at me," Lorelai teased.

Luke stopped eating and fell silent. Did she really see it that way? He knew he could be moody and quiet, but he didn't know Lorelai thought he directed it at her.

"What?" Lorelai asked seeing Luke's silence. "What is that face?"

"It…" he sighed. It was time now to explain it to calm things up. Luke took a deep breath. It was now or never. "I don't mean to be grumpy or gruff, Lorelai. It's nothing…there's no reason for it, none you know about at least. It's my way of covering up my feelings."

Lorelai's face grew serious. "You shouldn't do that, Luke. That's how you got here."

"I know. But Lorelai, for eight years I watched you date man after man and either you left them or they left you, broke your heart, made you cry, and that…Luke shook his head. "Since that first day you came into my diner, you were on my mind, in my heart and I was scared to death to tell you that because I didn't want to let you know what I felt. I didn't want to lose you as a friend, so when I saw you with another guy I covered my feelings and that came out as grumpiness."

"What are you saying?" Lorelai asked trying to focus Luke's rambled declaration. Since Luke's heart attack their relationship had grown, it was clear they were embarking on more definite status. It appeared that Luke was looking to secure that in spoken terms.

"I suppose I'm saying, I love you, Lorelai. I have for eight years. You bewitched me," he told her. "And I spent years covering it up under my uh, harshness," Luke confessed.

Lorelai brushed a tear from her eyes at Luke's words. "I lover you too, Luke," she replied. "And I can't say I know exactly when it happened but these last few months, watching how you cared for Jess, how you gave everything so selfishly, and after this," she gestured to his position in the hospital bed. "This made me really see how much I truly love you."

Luke reached for Lorelai's hand and cradled the limb in his. Gently he pulled on it so she came to him, enabling him to kiss her pouty lips.

It was their first kiss of any consequence since the heart attack and the intensity of it sent shivers through both of them. There was a lot of communication in that kiss, emotions revealed, promises made, and futures decided. Lorelai felt that nothing could surpass this feeling of perfection. She felt that in earnest this was her destiny to be with Luke for the rest of her life. The ringing bedside phone interrupted her musing.

"Hello," Luke answered after pulling away from Lorelai.

"Hi Luke, it's Rory," Rory said on her end of the phone. "Is my Mom still there?"

"Yeah, Rory. Want to speak to her?" Luke asked.

"No, I only have a minute. I just wanted to tell her and you that I'm with Jess at Hartford Memorial," Rory said quickly.

"What? Why?" Luke asked feeling the familiar panic he felt whenever one of his kids was in trouble.

"I took him after the town meeting ended. He was in so much pain. He went willingly Luke," Rory explained so Luke could understand the severity of the situation.

"Did the doctor see him yet? What did he say?" Luke asked.

By this time Lorelai was needling Luke with pokes and whispers. He waved her off as he waited for Rory to answer.

"Um, Dr. Camden admitted him and Dr. Davis authorized morphine to stop the pain, but he can't see Jess until the morning. He's finally asleep," Rory sighed.

"You staying with him?" Luke asked all ready knowing Rory's answer.

"If he wakes up he'll need me. I didn't want Mom to worry," Rory explained.

"I'll let her know what happened. Goiod night, kiddo," Luke said before hanging up.

Once Luke hung up the phone Lorelai insisted on know what was going on.

"Rory had to take Jess to the hospital," Luke told her. "Something about his pain and he has to stay over night until Dr. Davis can see him in the morning," Luke explained. "She's going to stay over night with him."

"Did she sound okay?" Lorelai asked.

"She sounded relieved," Luke answered. "They gave him morphine. That's what they gave Dad when he was dying of cancer to relieve the pain. It must have been pretty bad," Luke mused worry crossing his face.

"He's in good hands," Lorelai soothed. "He probably over did it, that's all."

"Probably," Luke agreed. "Let's um…" Luke didn't want to think about Jess' condition or anything else. He couldn't do anything from this place and it would be bad for his heart to panic. He was told to avoid stress. "Come up here," he patted the bed beside him. "Lie with me."

"Are you sure?" Lorelai seemed both eager and apprehensive.

"Yeah, I just told you I loved you," Luke reminded her. "In a perfect world I'd hold you all night and show you how much I love you. I can't do that in this fishbowl, but at least I can hold you all night."

Lorelai lowered the rail on the bed and climbed up next to him. Luke lifted his arm so Lorelai could snuggle next to him and lay her head against his chest. Luke's lips covered her hair, "This feels nice. Right."

Lorelai sighed and snuggled in tighter. "Perfect," she agreed then closed her eyes for the first real slip she'd gotten since Luke's attack.

Luke watched Lorelai and knew in the moment this was it. This was the moment his dad always assured him would come, the moment he knew, for certain he'd be with Lorelai until death.

Lorelai met Rory at Hartford Hospital the next morning, before Dr. Davis even arrived. With the full dose of morphine Jess had slept through the night. Rory hadn't slept a wink; she had too much on her mind.

Lorelai was being filled in on the events of the town meeting. "You really were terrific," Rory complemented proudly. "I just hope I'm out of here in time to make good on my threat," Jess replied, still a bit groggy from the medicine.

"Luke would really be proud of you," Lorelai smiled. "I know I am."

The conversation halted when Dr. Camden and Dr. Davis entered.

"Good morning, Jess," Dr. Camden greeted. "Feeling any better?"

"Yeah," Jess said. "I can at least think now and breathe. Whatever this thing is," he referred to the large metal brace around his hip. "It's working."

"That's an external spinal brace, in case you're fractures were slipping," Dr. Davis replied. "And unfortunately they are doing that. That's what caused the increased pain."

"What do we do about that?" Jess asked finding Rory's hand.

"Surgery," Dr. Davis replied. "We put an internal rod along the spine to align the fractures and prevent a future slip. It acts like a cast for the vertebrae."

"What will that do to his progress in respect to therapy?" Lorelai asked.

"Jess has made all the progress he can make," Dr. Camden replied. "Unless he becomes a candidate for laser surgery, he's recovered as much as he's going to."

"So," Rory asked. "When?"

"Obviously, the sooner the better," Dr. Davis answered. The longer we leave it the more the pain will increase. I'd like to put you on my Friday schedule."

"How long will the recovery be?" Lorelai asked.

"Um, that's conditional on the patients overall health, but barring infection, six to eight weeks," Matt answered.

"Don't worry, Sweetheart. I'll be here for the recovery," Rory assured him. "Let's just get you better."

"You go back to class in two weeks," Jess reminded her. "And Luke won't be in the condition…"

"Ah, yes. How is Mr. Danes?" Dr. Davis asked Lorelai. He learned about Luke's heart attack from Jess.

"Much better. He's going home Friday," Lorelai beamed.

"Really," Jess smiled. "He comes out, I go in, all is right with the world."

"We'll give you some times to process this," Dr. Davis said. "I'm glad Mr. Danes is getting better. Matt."

Dr. Camden followed Dr. Davis out. Lorelai opened her mouth to speak, but Jess was all ready speaking. "You are going to Yale in two weeks. Remember our deal?"

"Jess," Rory sighed. "This changes our deal."

"No, Rory," Jess argued. "You aren't leaving Yale because of me." He turned his face from her.

"Don't do that, Jess," Rory ordered. "Don't turn away from me. You are more important than Yale. I love you," she told him, kissing him.

"But you're dreams," Jess sighed. "I can't…" He winced then clammed up, becoming silent.

Lorelai heard the exchange and could see where it was leading, to more heartache, to more despair, for both of them. Once, Dr. Camden had told her he knew someone who could help them communicate, to help them understand the others desire to help, to not burden, to not require sacrifices…As Jess retreated into himself and Rory capitulated. Lorelai went to enlist that help.

It only took her a few minutes to find Dr. Camden, he was at the nurses desk talking on the phone, "Okay, call me back," she heard him say before he hung up.

"Dr. Camden," she smiled in greeting. "Can we talk?"

"Sure, let's go to the lounge," he argued and led the way. "I know it seems daunting right now, but Jess is really doing well."

"Physically, yes," Lorelai replied. "But emotionally…it seems he and Rory still can't communicate with each other in terms of Jess disability. Generally fine, no problem, but as soon as the topic leans to Jess' condition it becomes a tug of war."

"And neither one seems to understand what the other is actually saying," Dr. Camden finished. "It's a very common problem, and fortunately I can help."

"You'd said once before you could," Lorelai reminded him.

"I'm sure I can," Matt seemed confidant. "All you need to do is relax. By the time Jess is discharged from surgery, I'll have the cavalry here."

"The cavalry, hmm? Like horses, cannons, that cool stuff?" Lorelai asked.

"No, actually it's my sister and her husband. He's been a paraplegic a little over a year, and they seemed to find a way to talk to each other after a time. Maybe they can help," Matt answered.

"Any they won't mind helping? It would really be wonderful if we could clear up this communication problem," Lorelai said wistfully.

"I don't think they'll mind at all," Matt assured her. "Leave it to me. You take care of the kids."

Lorelai left and walked back towards Jess' room, while Matt picked up the phone and dialed a familiar number. His brother-in-law answered on the third ring. "Hey, Kevin, it's Matt. I need your help…"

Next in Love Equals Sacrifice Rory and Jess get advice from Lucy and Kevin Kinkirk. Rory makes her decision about Yale. A slight Seventh Heaven Crossover.