Chapter 8 I love you, but do you still love me?
Rory was glad to be out of the elevator, the uncomfortable tension between Jimmy and Jess's uncle and mother making the ride on the elevator very uncomfortable. Walking in front of the group of people she hurried to Jess's room. She glanced at the door to Logan's room as she walked passed it, feeling a pang of guilt knowing he was there alone and Jess was about to be overwhelmed with family and friends. She then heard Finn's voice and let out a breath as she felt the guilt inside her lessen.
As Rory entered his room she noticed the doctor was examining Jess's eyes and making notes on the chart she was holding. She smiled at an obviously uncomfortable Jess laying confined to a hospital bed. When he spotted her he smiled as well.
"Ah Miss Gilmore, just in time. You'll be happy to know your boyfriend is stable and should make a full recovery." The doctor said just as Liz, Jimmy, TJ, Lorelai, Luke, April, Chris, Matthew and Wallace entered the room.
"Oh, I'm not his-" Rory started but was ignored when the doctor redirected her attention to Liz.
"Are you the mother?" the doctor asked Liz.
"Yes, how is my baby" Liz asked as she walked over to Jess and took his hand looking concerned at him. "Oh Jessie" she said hugging him.
"Liz, I'm fine." Jess said trying to get out of her grip.
"Son, you were dying. You are not fine." Jimmy said as he walked to the other side of Jess's bed.
The doctor interrupted "I'm doctor Steward, Jess doesn't appear to have any brain damage, which is what we were most afraid of. He had lost a lot of blood and died in surgery. Until his girlfriend here managed to somehow convince him to fight. At least that's what I heard from doctor Hughes who operated on him in the OR."
Rory blushed as stares were now redirected from Jess and doctor Steward to her. Well excepts Matthew's stare who smiled amused at Jess. Some of them knew Jess had died but not that Rory had screamed at him to come back. She had only told Matthew that. Rory was surprised when Liz's arms were suddenly around her instead of her sons. Hugging her tight.
"Oh thank you, Rory." Liz said to a still uncomfortable and shocked Rory.
Rory's eyes found Jess's and the looks he gave her made her blush and smiled. Liz then let go of her when the doctor began to speak again.
"I still want to keep Jess here for the rest of the week to monitor him. The bullet missed his internal organs but came very close to his heart. He should get some rest soon, you can talk to him but make it brief." Doctor Steward told them before putting the chart back and left, giving them their privacy.
"You didn't have to come all the way out here Jimmy." Jess told his father.
"Nonsense, you're my son. I had to be there." Jimmy told him.
"Like you were there for him in those 17 years when he actually needed you." Liz muttered.
"I wasn't ready to be a father. He was better off without me." Jimmy told Liz.
"Yes he was, but maybe if you were there he would not have had such a difficult life. You think I was ready to be a mother? I was a terrible mother, I drank. Even when I was pregnant. I couldn't take care of him, so he learned how to take care of himself. Until it got him into too much trouble and I sent him to Luke to straighten him out." Liz told him.
"What makes you think it would have been any better if I was there?" Jimmy asked her.
"Stop arguing about me like I'm not here." Jess told them.
"I'm sorry son" Jimmy said to him.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Liz said and kissed him on his forehead "you go rest, your father and I will discuss this somewhere else." She said and eyed Jimmy and she, Jimmy and TJ who waved at Jess before following his wife and ex-husband out.
Lorelai looked a Jess and took Luke's hand, "Get well Jess" she said to him then to Luke "We have to talk."
"I'll check on you later Jess." Luke said as he followed Lorelai out.
April stood there uncomfortable, "I'll go check on Aunt Liz. Get well soon Jess."
"Bye." Jess said and looked at the remaining people in the room. A man (Chris), Matthew, Wallace and Rory.
"It's nice to see you awake Jess, and not dying anymore. Really should avoid the bullet coming at you next time. Better yet, let's not go back to New York for any more of your old friends." Matthew told him.
Jess smiled at his friend. "Thanks, I'll remember that."
Matthew smiled and Wallace said "And just because you're in here does not mean you have an excuse to stop writing your new book."
"There is a new book?" Rory asked jumping in.
"It's not done." Jess told her.
"He's being very secretive about it. Won't let any of us reading it." Wallace informed her.
"Well some of the notes he writes in the margins are very personal." Rory told them then added "But Jess will not be writing or doing anything to exhaust himself anytime soon. So you're just going to have to wait a little longer."
"Rory I'm fine" Jess protested.
"You were shot, you died, you are in the hospital. You are not fine." Rory told him sternly.
Matthew laughed "We'll leave you alone. We'll call you from Philly" he said as he and Wallace left.
Chris feeling like he shouldn't be here, now alone with his daughter and Jess Chris said "Well it's good to know you're going to ok Jess. I should go home, Gigi is waiting for me."
Chris walked to wards his daughter "Bye Rory, I'll call." He told her.
"Bye dad" Rory said as they hugged briefly, then Chris left and Rory and Jess were left alone.
"That was your father?" Jess asked as Rory walked to his bed and sat down next to him, taking his hand in hers as she stared at it letting her fingers go over the skin.
"Yeah, that was my father." She answered then looked in his eyes.
They were silent for a few minutes just looking each other in the eyes. "I lied." Rory then told him.
"What?" Jess asked confused "when?" he then asked.
"When you kissed me back at Truncheon Books. I lied about my feelings. To myself and to you." She told him.
"Why?" Jess then asked.
"Lots of stupid reason. Fear, stubbornness, pride." She told him looking back at his hand briefly before gathering her courage and looked him back into his eyes "While you were dying I had to face it. I couldn't keep it buried anymore. When you died I felt something inside me slip away, I knew somehow it was you. I couldn't let you. I found you, or you found me, I'm not sure. You came back, that I'm sure of. You always come back" she told him as she raised one hand to his face and placed it against his cheek.
"Rory" he started but she interrupted him.
"Let me finish, I need to get this out." She told him. He nodded and she continued "I told this to you while you were in a coma. But what I'm trying to tell you is that I'm still in love with you Jess. I don't think I ever really stopped. I just buried it."
Jess was silent and Rory looked at him fear of his response rising finally she stood up saying "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have assumed you'd still feel…I'm sorry" she said about to leave.
Jess laid there, still processing what she had said. Rory loved him. She loved him. She. Loved. Him. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Rory's weight lifting from the bed and her voice apologizing. He then realized what she must have assumed and grabbed her wrist, stopping her from leaving "Don't." he told her.
A hand, his hand stopped her and she looked at it then him. "Don't" is what he said. What did that mean don't what?
"Don't leave" Jess told her.
"Why?" it was her turn to ask one word questions.
"Because I love you too" Jess then confessed to her.
"Oh" Rory managed to get out as she looked at him and sat back down on his bed.
"How? I mean I've been horrible to you." She told him.
"Well I haven't exactly been Prince Charming to you." Jess replied.
"How is this going to work? I mean it's you Philly and me New Haven. It's about a 3½ hour drive." Rory told him.
Jess pulled her closer to him and kissed her. The kiss quickly turned passionate until Rory broke it when she felt herself almost lying on top of him. "We'll figure something out" Jess then told her as he was catching his breath.
"Good." She said as she laid down next to him and took her shoes off getting under the covers with him and snuggled close to him. "Because I don't want to lose you again."
Jess smiled as Rory snuggled close and he put his arm around her. Holding her close to him. Soon she was asleep and he studied her sleeping features smiling before he too dosed off to sleep.
Luke looked at Lorelai and knew what this was about "Let's set a date" he said to her before she would yell or rant at him again.
"Really?" She asked hopeful.
"Really" he said smiling at his fiancé.
"Oh Luke" Lorelai said flinging her arms around him hugging him tight.
End chapter 8, dunno how longer I'm going to keep this going. I think till after Luke/Lorelai's wedding. Which means at least 2 or 3 more chapters. I think next chapter I'm going to do something that will include Paris and the grandparents.