Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or the rights to the song 'Arms of an Angel' by Sarah McLachlan.

Full of Grace
Arms of an Angel

Chapter Eight:

"Her last names Hayden," Brooke finished and the nurse smile thankfully. "She's my half-sister," she explained, glancing at Rory again, hating to see her so weak and sick.

An older man suddenly walked up to them. He was dressed in a white coat with a silver stethoscope hanging around his neck and plastic gloves on his hands. He let his eyes briefly run over the group before turning to Rory on the gurney.

"What do we have?" he asked the nurse.

"They said she's having trouble breathing," the nurse explained, continuously jotting things down on her clipboard.

The doctor nodded and moved to the other side of the gurney. He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a flashlight. He quickly checked her eyes for a response and sighed, pocketing the flashlight again.

"Her pupils are unequal," he stated and the nurse nodded, her pencil moving even more furiously. "She responded to the light though, so that's a good sign."

"What's wrong with her?" Brooke asked, her voice panicking slightly.

The doctor looked up, his eyes turning sympathetic and he smiled kindly before turning to the nurse. "Put her in a room and run some tests. Take her blood and do a chest x-ray," he ordered and the nurse nodded.

"You're gonna have to let go now," the nurse told Finn, who hadn't moved from her side since they'd brought her in.

"Can't someone go with her?" he asked as he backed away and they all looked hopefully at the nurse.

"Not right now," she told them. "When we've completed the tests the doctor will come find you," she promised and then smiled before wheeling the gurney down the hall and through a pair of double doors.

The five of them stood still, each staring off at where the nurse had disappeared to.

Chapter Nine:

---
The storm keeps on twisting; you keep on building the lies
That you make up for all that you lack
It don't make no difference, escaping one last time
It's easier to believe
In this sweet madness, oh this glorious sadness
That brings me to my knees
---

The four of them couldn't tell you how long they stood in the lobby of the hospital, paying no attention to the nurses walking around them or the insistent beeping noises that echoed from the rooms.

Stephanie seemed to break away first and she turned to see Brooke and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She watched for a minute, waiting for Brooke to respond to her touch.

"Maybe we should call her parents?" she asked, her voice questioning as she wasn't exactly sure how to handle this kind of situation.

Brooke frowned, "Yeah…I guess," she replied, sighing out and running a shaking hand through her hair. She let her hand slip down to her forehead before covering her eyes with it for a moment, trying to regain some control, knowing that Rory would need her to be strong right now. "I don't know, Rory's not on real good terms with either of them," she explained.

"They would probably want to know," Steph answered and Brooke nodded, walking over to the row of chairs in the waiting room.

She sat down, letting the rough plastic of the chairs dig into her back as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, glad she'd remembered to bring it before they'd left. She slowly dialled her father's number, hesitating slightly before pushing the last number.

"Hello?" Christopher's voice rang out and Brooke swallowed before answering.

"Hey dad," she said, truing to keep her voice normal and not betray the worry she was feeling.

"Brooke?" Chris sounded confused for a minute. "Hey kiddo, kind of late to be calling, isn't it? Not that I'm complaining for course."

Brooke frowned. "Dad, something happened," she told him and heard him suck in a breath.

"What do you mean something happened?" he repeated, a panicked edge slipping into his voice. "Are you okay?"

"It's not me, it's Rory," she explained and smiled gratefully when Logan grabbed her hand, entwining their fingers together, letting her draw the strength she needed from him.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" he asked and Brooke could hear him moving around in his apartment.

"We don't know, the doctors are running some tests…"

"Tests?" he called out alarmed. "Where are you?"

"We're at the hospital," she said and after hearing her dad mumbling a few almost incoherent words she frowned. "Dad?"

"I'm coming right now honey, don't worry," he told her distractedly and Brooke actually heard a car door slam before an engine came to life.

"Dad you don't have to come right now," she told him, heaving a sigh.

"Yes I do," he said solemnly and Brooke felt a tiny smile spread on her face.

"Thanks," she said and hung up after a moment. "Our dad's on his way," she told the group, forgetting about even contacting Rory's mother.

- - -

It almost felt like waking up from a dream.

But she knew better.

Her head felt twice its size, her chest was heavy and her arm stung with every movement.

And yet she felt oddly comforted.

Rory slowly opened her eyes, cringing against the bright lights in the room and tried to swallow but her mouth felt dry and her throat raw.

With almost impossible effort she pushed herself up onto one arm. First her attention went to her other arm, alabaster skin marred by the IV sticking into her. Rory closed her eyes at the sight, feeling her stomach churn.

She waited until the feeling passed before opening her eyes again, this time used to the sterile whiteness of the small room.

Rory couldn't stop her corners of her mouth from turning up when she saw her hand completely encompassed in a much larger, darker one. She felt a sense of calm come over her at the sight of Finn by her side. His head was down, lying on the mattress and she could tell he was sleeping. She couldn't understand it but just the fact that he was there, that he hadn't left her alone made a giddy feeling erupt inside her.

She knew now that he would never let anything happen to her.

Rory tightened her grip on his hand, watching as her thumbs stroked his skin and feeling warmth flood through her. She watched as his face twitched slightly, his lips smacking together and his eyes fluttering open.

"Rory!" he exclaimed and jumped up, an action that would have amused her had he not been holding onto her arm that had the IV in it. She cringed as his action lifted her arm into the air, tugging on the needle nestled painfully in her skin.

"Sorry love," he apologized and sat back down, moving his chair closer to her. "How you feeling?" he asked, letting his free hand cup her cheek, his thumb brushing her skin.

Rory smiled, "A little better," she told him truthfully and then felt her chest tense as she started to cough again, although she was sure this was more from the strain talking was causing than anything else. "Could use some water though," she told him, smiling sweetly.

Finn nodded and reluctantly released the grip he had on her and moved over to the table that was leaning against the wall beside her bed. He picked up the pitcher of water and poured some into a paper cup before bringing it over to her. He watched, concerned, as she gently sipped at the water.

"I should probably fetch a doctor," he said and watched as her eyes widened and her grip on the paper increased until he saw it buckling under the pressure. "…or not?"

Rory sighed and closed her eyes, trying to get passed this inherent fear she'd always had of hospitals and doctors. She knew she must have looked so weak in everyone's eyes, like she was acting like a child. She'd known she was sick, straight from the beginning but she'd refused to tell anyone. She'd rather ride it out, wait for the last minute and go through all that pain before asking for help.

It wasn't that she didn't want to get better, because she did.

She had people in her past that had thought she was some kind of masochist, that she enjoyed putting herself through pain. But they couldn't be more wrong about her. She hated not being able to get herself the help that hospitals could provide her with. She'd only ever needed to go to one a couple of times when she'd been living on her own.

Every time was different. Although each time was serious enough to need the care of a professional. But it hadn't just been her fear of hospitals holding her back; it had also been what she did. She hated letting people know what she worked as, hated the prospect of having to tell a complete stranger how she became so broken.

But this time had been different. This time she didn't have that hanging over her head, this time she was free of her past. The only thing in her way had been her fears and she was finally aware of just how powerful they really were.

But she found something just as controlling. Something that had finally made her give up and surrender to what was best for herself, no matter how much it scared her.

And that one thing was sitting right beside her bed, his deep brown eyes looking over her with so much concern and affection. He'd been her breaking point, her reason to give in. She'd let herself fall back, trusting for once in her life that someone would be there to catch her.

And he had.

- - -

Finn kept his eyes on her, watching as she seemed to be caught in some sort of trance, lost in a sea of thoughts. He wanted nothing more than to reach out to her but he guessed she needed to work something out in her mind.

He could tell whatever it was she was so caught up in, it was important. He could see the raging sea of emotions in her eyes, each one empowering the other, stronger and more intense. Until her eyes snapped to meet his and their gazes locked.

He'd never felt something so powerful than he did in that moment. This one girl, so small as she lay before him, her eyes so full of passion and gratitude. She'd managed to turn his world upside down in a week, to pull him every direction and have him come out a completely different person. And he could feel it inside his veins, his heart swelling with the feelings he felt towards her, his palms sweating as he realized how deep they actually were.

He was in too deep already and he was sure things had just started.

- - -

"Finn?" Rory questioned, breaking her eyes from his, trying to calm her breathing down from his intense gaze.

"Yeah kitten," he whispered, letting a smile glide onto his lips and he watched as her eyes shifted nervously.

"You're probably wondering why I didn't want to be here," she stated, bringing her hands down to grip the flimsy sheet draped over her legs and pulled it up to her shoulders.

"You don't have to tell me, love," he reassured her although his curiosity was strong.

Rory smiled bravely, "I want to." She narrowed her eyes a little, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she tried to think of a place to start. "I've hated hospitals for a while now…it started when I was 15. Although even before that I didn't like them, but that was just like every other kid.

"It was the year I moved in with my mom," she told him, her blue eyes clouding with memories. "I had never really been that close with her, we'd never connected or anything. But I hadn't thought she was so…horrible.

"She's the reason I hate being in a hospital. She told me one day, after we'd gotten into this big fight…She told me she should have left me at the hospital after she had me…" Rory choked out, her voice becoming hoarse with emotion and Finn's eyes widened at her words.

"I tried to ignore her words, tried to forget about them. But I couldn't. It wasn't even the only time she told me something like that…For weeks, every time I would do something she didn't like or say something rude…she'd snap at me.

"Everything else she said to me didn't matter; it never hurt me. But those words coming out of her mouth, I couldn't stop hearing them. Even after I'd left the room they would echo in my head. She would tell me so many different ways…She wished she would have had the sense to abort me or left me somewhere…whished she'd told the doctor to keep her baby instead of giving it to her…"

By the time she'd gotten those last words out tears were falling down her cheeks in rivulets. Their chilliness a welcome comfort against the burning heat of her cheeks. She'd never told anyone about what her mother had said to her, not even Brooke. She'd known she wouldn't be able to stop her emotions from getting the best of her if she let it all out in the open.

She felt empty. Alone… Her skin felt like it was prickling with heat, like her whole body was flushed but it was only physical. She felt cold emotionally, her heart beating an erratic pace that echoed in her ears until it was the only thing she could hear and she felt like she was going to break down even more…

But then warmth invaded her system.

She opened her eyes, not even recalling when she'd closed them, and to her surprise she saw him sitting beside her. His arm was around her shoulders, pulling her body into his, letting her fall against him.

Rory breathed out in relief as she felt herself calming down, letting herself relax against his strong body. He pulled her closer to himself, her body fitting perfectly into his as her head rested against his chest. He placed a comforting kiss on the top of head, smoothing her hair back and whispering sweet nothings into her ear.

Rory had almost managed to calm down when their peaceful moment had been brought to its knees with the force of the hospital door slamming into the wall as it shook on its hinges. Rory had jerked away from Finn, her eyes snapping towards the door and she watched in horror as the intimidating figure of a woman walked stiffly into the room.

"Well," the woman drawled, clicking her tongue against her teeth, "if it isn't my whore of a daughter," she greeted them and placed both her hands on her hips. "Aren't you supposed to be on some street corner or something, selling yourself?"

Rory felt her heart buckle slightly under the fierce anger those words were spoken with. She was about to respond when she felt Finn's arm slowly uncurl from around her waist and her eyes were brought back to his.

And it was the look in his eyes that broke her…

The confusion swirling around inside of them…the hurt…

---
Memory seeps from my veins
Let me be empty
There's always one reason
To feel not good enough
---

AN: Okay so I'm sure I made a lot of enemies from taking so long to update this story or any of my stories. I'm not even sure if anyone's still reading this one or even remembers it but…Things have been really hard lately just some personal problems that got in the way of my writing. Let's just say they took my muse and held his hostage for a little while…but I've got him back now and I've finally figured out how I'll be ending this story which should be in a couple chapters.

Anyway I hope you guys like Rory's mom…Actually I bet no one likes her which is what I was going for. She's going to be really mean and just in case anyone's hoping for some big family reunion at the end…it's not going to happen.

I want to thank everyone for being so supportive and reviewing all my other chapters. I know you wanted to find out what's wrong with her and I was going to put it in this chapter but it kind of got away from me so it will be in the next one. Oh and sorry about the cliff-hanger but it was just so tempting!

Hugs and Kisses,
-Ella