Chapter 15

Awhile had passed after the incident in the truck. I no longer tried to hide my feelings from anyone. When they saw me sad and depressed, they understood, but thankfully, not to the point where they pitied me. That's the last thing I needed.

The week of the truck incident, I cried a lot. It seemed that there were only a few waking hours total that I wasn't crying. But after that, I was all cried out. Sure, I was still just as depressed, but I figured crying was doing me no good. Visits to the hospital were still as frequent as ever; I couldn't get enough of that cute little face. My Rosie was doing so well. She started breathing on her own, but the eating part was still causing a problem. Slowly but surely, she was getting better.

One day, on my way to the hospital, I stopped at Luke's for a little pick me up in the form of coffee. It was early, too early in my opinion. 5:30 in the morning is too early for anything, but if I wanted to get to the hospital before it was crowded with all the other parents, I had to get there early. By that point, I didn't really care what I looked like, so I just threw my hair back in a messy pony tail, pulled on my jeans and an old sweatshirt, and slipped a comfy pair of sneakers on. As I passed the mirror on my way out the door, I caught a glimpse of my reflection. I looked so old, so tired. I couldn't wait for this whole ordeal to be over with.

The bells jingled merrily over my head as I walked into the diner. "Hey, Luke," I said quietly, leaning over the counter for a quick kiss.

"Hey, Lorelai. Coffee?"

"Please."

He set a mug in front of me and poured my coffee slowly. I breathed in the warm aroma, and immediately felt comforted.

"On your way to the hospital?"

"Aren't I always?" I said, picking up my mug and looking curiously into the contents.

"Is Rory going with you today?"

"No, not today. Not right now, anyway. I told her I'd let her miss school today if she wanted to come, but she's just going to hop on a bus to the hospital after school."

"That works. I'll probably stop in around then, too. Ceasar can handle things around here while I'm down there."

"Thanks."

I looked up to him and smiled weakly. After holding his gaze for a moment or two, I looked back down into my coffee mug. We sat in a comfortable silence until I was finished, and started to head out the door.

"Bye, Luke. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

My visit to the hospital was uneventful, as usual. Around 2 in the afternoon, I decided I needed a shower. Normally, I would feel horrible leaving her all alone, without any family with her, but Rory and Luke would be there soon, and I'd be heading straight back the second I was done with my shower.

I stepped out of the scalding hot shower about an hour later, and prepared myself to head back out the door. Just as I was about to turn the handle and head out, the phone rang. I walked over to the coffee table where the phone lay, sat on the couch, and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mom?" I heard Rory's voice say frantically.

"Yeah, Rory, what's going on?" I immediately became concerned at the tone of her voice.

"You need to get back down here, right now!"

"Rory, what's wrong? What's wrong with her?"

"Just come, please! I already called Luke. He's on his way."

"Please, tell me what's wrong!"

"Mom, please, just come!"

I hung up the phone, and ran out the door to the jeep. I sped of towards the hospital, going at least 20 miles per hour over the speed limit the whole way there. About halfway there, I started to tear up. Everything was going so perfectly, and now this? It just wasn't fair. None of this was fair. What did I do to deserve this?

I pulled out my cell phone as I drove along the high way. I dialed the familiar number, and was glad when I heard the familiar voice on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Chris?" I said, through tears.

"Lor, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. Rory just called from the hospital and she said to get down there as soon as I could and she wouldn't tell me what's wrong, and… Chris, I'm so scared," I said frantically.

"Just, calm down, Lorelai. I'm sure everything is going to be fine. Where are you now?"

"I'm driving, on the high way."

"You're driving, crying, and talking on the phone all at the same time? That's dangerous, Lorelai. You have to pull over."

"No! No, I can't! I have to get there!"

"Lor, I'm gonna get on a plane and come as soon as I can. I'm leaving for the airport right now, but I'm gonna hang up. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Okay. Bye, Chris."

"Bye, Lor."

I finally made it to the hospital, and parked in the closest spot I could find. I got out of the car, and sprinted to the room where Rosie was. I came crashing through the door, almost knocking over a nurse that was coming out. I stopped abruptly as I entered the room, and slowly made my way over to where Rose, Rory, and Luke were. But, instead of being hooked up to a bunch of cords and lying helplessly, Rory was holding her, with no cords attached at all. It was the first time I'd seen her free from that crap. I was completely confused.

"Wh- what's going on here?" I asked, wiping away the tears that were still flowing from my eyes.

Rory handed my little girl to me. "She's coming home, Mom."

"She's… She's what?"

"She's coming home," Luke repeated.

I couldn't believe it. My face erupted into a huge smile. I looked down into my daughter's eyes, and whispered, "You're coming home."

All three of us stood there together, just staring at her for what seemed like an hour. Eventually, I looked up, and noticed something very unusual. There were flowers covering the little spot where Rosie called home. They were sitting on the window sill behind her little bed, on the floor, all over the desks, everywhere.

"What's all this?" I asked in amazement.

"A little 'Welcome Home' gift for Rose," Rory said. "Luke picked them all up on his way to the hospital."

"Oh my God," I whispered, in complete amazement. I turned around slowly, trying to take in all the flowers. There were pansies, and tulips, daisies, orchids, chrysanthemums, snapdragons, and begonias, dahlias, sunflowers, lilies of the valley, violets, baby's breath, azaleas… so many. It was then that I noticed, lying right in the bed my little girl had laid in for so long, was a single, long stemmed, red rose. It was then that I knew everything was going to be okay.

I looked back into her eyes. "You're coming home."

The End.

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Random Thought: Last night, I played a blank tape at full blast. The mime next door went nuts.