Title: Remembering Floyd Nightingale
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Jess is a nurse, with a doctor for a girlfriend. He's older, more mature, and has made friends with people he works with. So, the one thing to sour his life? Rory Gilmore. However, she doesn't seem to remember much, seeing as she might have amnesia.
A/N: I like to procrastinate. That is not a good trait in writers, I know. But, at least, I have a full chapter all set and ready to go, as soon as it's beta-ed, and I write another chapter to follow it. So chapter four is done. But who knows when it'll be out?

Betas kick ass. Asa told me to change something, and she was totally right, and it's totally better. Lydia and Alexa just told me how amazing this chapter is. And it is. It was my favorite while writing it. 'Cause it's good. Whoo-hoo! Review again. I'm up to 24. 24! That kicks butt!

And StephieM! Stephie's back! hugs You're the best reviewer, Stephie! Stick around!

Ahem. Enjoy.

--

By the time Jess' shift was over that evening, no one had called to claim Rory. He was a little worried, and actually felt sorry for her. Maybe she lived alone and didn't have anyone to check on her.

That's why, when he saw Dr. Barnes walking over to Rory, he ran over and offered to take her home. Dr. Barnes thought it over for a minute, and then said that if Jess agreed to sign the discharge papers as a family member, she could indeed be released into his care. Jess was about to sign when he realized he should ask Rory first. He left the paperwork with Dr. Barnes and asked for a few minutes alone with his cousin.

As he walked up to her he saw that she was sleeping with a satisfied smile on her face. He was almost struck dumb by her beauty. Though her hair was no longer shiny, and her almost middle aged face had a few very fine lines, he was reminded of when they were eighteen and dating. He only got to see her sleeping once, when he'd walked into her house for a date only to find her curled up on the couch, a book falling from her fingers. She looked almost exactly the same now as she did then.

Suddenly, she gave a light snort and awoke, her eyes immediately meeting Jess'. She smiled. The way he was looking at her reminded her of when they dated. She wondered if even after all these years he still loved her. She wondered if even after all these years she still loved him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said back, a soft smile playing on his lips. "I'm sorry to say, but no one's called to claim you."

She wrinkled her nose in distaste. "You make it sound like I'm a lost mitten or something."

"Well, no...although the ER sometimes does seem to function as a lost and found."

She smiled, and then asked, "Does this mean that I'm going home alone?"

"No, actually," he said with a small sigh. "This means that you're coming home...with me," he forced out after a minute, gazing at the tiled floor beneath his feet, clutching Rory's chart to his chest with both arms as if it were his saving grace.

"With you?" she asked in an almost hopeful voice. "To your apartment?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, if you want to. I haven't signed the discharge papers, but I can. As family. As your cousin."

Rory nodded, slowly. "You're gonna have to explain everything."

"Granted," he agreed.

"Okay," she said, grinning.

"Alright."

He smiled at her, and for just a second, they were lost in memories--years ago for one, months ago for another, long-lost for both--of happier times, times of love and deeply hidden affection and 22.8 miles. Then they were shaken out of their reverie by a petite blonde doctor with a lilting Southern drawl.

"Mr. Mariano," Camille said, smiling. "Would you walk me out, please?"

Rory rolled her eyes at the woman's obvious attempt to get Jess alone. Did she think she was fooling anyone? Jess, at least, would certainly see through her ploy, and shoot her down, quickly and amusingly.

"Not right now, Cam," Jess said wearily, much to Rory's--and Camille's--surprise. That wasn't in the least bit sarcastic, and even sounded like he'd actually 'walked her out' before.

"But..." Camille tried to complain, but couldn't think of a way of bringing up last night without revealing to everyone in the department that there had been a 'last night out'.

Jess raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend, waiting for her to acknowledge him or blow him off. Not to his surprise, she did the latter.

"Alright. I'll see you tomorrow, Mariano." With that, she spun on her heel and exited the hospital, without as much as a backwards glance.

Rory looked at Jess with surprise. "And she is?"

"Girlfriend," he said after a minute, watching as her face fell, just a little. Man. What did she think about him? When did she think it was?

"Ready to go?" she said, breaking the silence. She smiled hopefully at him, and he smiled back.

"Almost. Let me just go sign the discharge papers and get my stuff," he said, pointing behind him.

She nodded. "I'll stay here."

He left, and she looked around for her purse. Had they ever given it back? She couldn't remember. Did she have it with her in the ambulance, or had the paramedics taken it?

She noticed a bag sitting on the ground next to her bed. Was it hers? It was large, and pink, and she didn't recall it. Or anything remotely similar. Or liking anything like that. It was very...well, pink. Wouldn't she, as a famous reporter, have something more sedate, like a black or dark blue or deep red? Ooh. Deep red. Like the jacket she'd had in high school, the one she'd worn to Fran's funeral. She'd liked that jacket. It was wool, so it was warm, and it was pretty, too. She wished she still had that jacket. She couldn't for the life of her remember where it was.

"All set," Jess said, walking back up.

He'd changed from his scrubs and was wearing his leather jacket. Rory smiled. He looked wonderful. Just like she remembered. She sat straight up and slung her legs over the side of the bed, and then stopped. She was suddenly very dizzy.

"Whoa," Jess said, reaching to help her up. He held one hand under her elbow, and slipped his other arm around her shoulders. "Careful," he said. "You've had a big day, head trauma-wise."

Rory wanted to nod, but decided to save her head the ache. "I had glass in my head," she said instead.

"I know," he said softly. "I was the one who found it, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, blushing gently. "I guess I forgot."

"I suppose that'll happen to someone with amnesia."

"I suppose," she said, her words hardly weighing more than the air around them. She was feeling very floaty all of a sudden. She was sure that if Jess were not holding her down(,) she would make it to the ceiling, and further if she were outside.

"Do you think you can handle the subway? 'Cause if you can't, we can get a cab. Though you might not want a cab either, judging by your day. We could always walk. I only live ten blocks away."

Jess' words were floating in and out of her consciousness, and he finally noticed.

"Oh, shit, Rory. You need to pay attention to me. Stay awake, Ror!" he commanded, snapping his fingers in front of her face.

The ethereal expression remained on her face, and he turned around and marched right back to the front desk, where her chart was. Reading it over quickly, he noticed the reason for her spaced-out look--she was on medication.

Not wanting to have to watch her every step home while on the subway or walking, and trying to avoid putting her back into a cab, lest she have any post-traumatic stress, he grabbed the phone and dialed one of the only two numbers he knew by heart.

"Can you come to the hospital and drive me home?" he asked when Ben answered.

Ben, obviously having spent the day sleeping off his hangover, groggily answered in the affirmative and even promised to bring the four-door without an explanation.

Jess slipped his arms around Rory again, and finally walked her out of the hospital, into the cool air. She breathed deeply as a breeze blew up, and smiled. He shook his head. Obviously the medication was making her high. Perhaps she hadn't even needed it—that wasn't too strange a suggestion, given that she'd pretended not to know him and then, later, bring up an old argument from when they'd dated. Obviously she knew him. He was almost entirely sure she was faking, and he was going to make her tell him why.

--

Rory climbed into the back of Dr. Sugarman's dark green Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet and lay on the light brown seats. They were so soft; it felt as if she were laying on a cloud. She smiled serenely as she lay there, staring straight up into where the stars would be, were the lights of the city not so bright.

She thought she heard Dr. Sugarman and Jess talking about her, and Jess had his slightly annoyed/slightly distressed voice going on. She idly wondered what he was distressed about. Maybe it was because she was floating, floating away into the dark night sky, with no stars to catch her.

Would Jess miss her if she floated away? Maybe. He really did seem to care about herand he'd smiled at her more in one day than he'd ever smiled before. Wasn't it amazing? Jess was smiling at her. She'd always loved his smile, mainly because it was so hard to earn, but when she saw it, it was well worth the wait. It was better than his smirk, because that was almost always there. His smile, though, always seemed to be only for her. It was a little lopsided, which she adored. Sometimes he showed just a tiny bit of teeth, and that really sent her over the edge.

"Jess Mariano is very sexy," she said in her head, and giggled. It was true.

Jess glanced back at her, a half-worried, half-amused look on his face. She waved, trying to focus on his face. He turned back around before he fully came into view, though. She sighed.

Would he be mad when he learned she'd lied? She hoped not. She hadn't meant to lie. She'd just heard Jess' tone of voice when he'd seen her. "What'd you do?" he'd asked, sounding like it was only the latest in a long line of--what was the word?--bad things she'd done. Mishaps? Would that fit?

Plus, she'd been worried anyway. Who heard of someone with amnesia who only forgot some stuff? No one. No one had. It was just...weird. She'd worried that she'd get in trouble for forgetting some things and remembering others. Perhaps she'd slipped back into another life--maybe he'd time-traveled. Maybe she was Jennifer Garner in 13 Going On 30.

That was just too absurd to tell anyone. "I went to sleep in my mom's house after the Firelight Festival and woke up in an ambulance with warm, sticky blood down the side of my face. And I think maybe someone sprinkled fairy dust on me, because first I heard Jess say, 'I love you', and then I woke up and I wasn't nineteen anymore."

So she'd lied. So what? She was scared, scared that perhaps somehow she had done something that had caused this, and Jess wouldn't love her anymore, and her mother would be mad at her. Because, obviously, she'd gone to New York to see Jess again, and she could only assume that her mother didn't know.

Wait--did Jess live in New York? She thought she remembered him living in California. Or maybe he was back from California. What had been in California in the first place?

She sighed, and changed positions in the seat so she was no longer facing the sky, but the back of the seat in front of her. She closed her eyes and was asleep within seconds.