Lisa finally gave up on finding sleep and padded to the kitchen. It looked dark, and maybe she could find some food. After all, Jackson had screwed the ice cream business for her.
She tried to adjust her eyes while at the same time feeling around for the refrigerator.
Finally her hand grasped the handle and she pulled it open. As the inside light flooded the kitchen in a bluish haze, she caught sight of Jackson's lanky figure lounging in a chair nearby. She swore loudly and stumbled.
Jackson laughed. "Hungry, Leese?"
She weakly scrambled to her feet. "Maybe."
He chuckled again and clicked on the light. Lisa shielded her eyes as Jackson reopened the refrigerator.
"I don't know if you'll be interested in anything I've got. I'm an organic man."
Lisa was shocked. "Odd."
He shrugged and pulled out a plastic container of hummus.
"You like?"
Lisa frowned, and lied. "No," though she didn't know why.
"Liar."
"How-oh." It was her turn to hiss.
They ate it with Ritz crackers, standing up, and Lisa didn't speak. She chewed and swallowed ravenously, taking large quantities. Jackson marveled.
Suddenly, without warning, her stomach twirled like a tornado and she found herself running to the bathroom. Within seconds she was staring at everything she'd just eaten. She groaned and wiped her mouth, but it took a moment before she realized Jackson was holding her hair. She pulled away and scooted up against the bathtub.
"You ok?" his eyes held genuine concern.
"I'm fine," she snapped. "Just think I have the flu...or something."
"Here." He reached up to the medicine cabinet and tossed her some Pepto-Bismol. She took two and stood on shaky knees.
"Go get some rest." She nodded and staggered away, her heavy body collapsing on the soft sheets.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Luke threw open the door to the emergency room at the Hartford Memorial, where he was told to find Lorelai.
She was in a curtained-off room. Luke ran in and, seeing her conscious, praised every deity of every religion.
Her leg was in a cast and a bandage covered one of her ears.
"Baby, what happened?" he cried, ignoring the perplexed Joe, Cynthia, and Max behind him.
"I don't know," she replied, shrugging limply. "Sookie, good Jackson, Davie, Dean, and I were sitting in the kitchen when I smelled smoke. Once I told them we saw flames on the porch, so we started running out of the house. On the way out, something exploded, the gas tank, I think, and I tripped. My ankle snapped and my ear got sliced on the edge of the damn magazine rack."
"Thank God you're alive," Luke said again. "How are the others?"
"Sookie and the unborn baby are fine, Davie is fine but was squalling quite a bit last I saw him. Jackson is being treated for minor smoke inhalation."
"Dean?"
Lorelai paused and darkened. "He's in the ICU. He was the last to leave the house because he waited to get us all out first. When it exploded, he was closest to the kitchen and was burned and hit his head pretty badly."
"We have to get ahold of Rory," Luke said gravely, shutting his eyes painfully. "Do you have your phone?"
"Other than the Jeep, it's the only thing I have left," Lorelai was on the verge of tears. "The house is gone."
"Well, you have clothes and things at my place still, so you'll get by."
"Yup."
Luke tried Rory but she was out of range. After a brief introduction of Joe and Cynthia, they went to sit with Sookie and her family in the waiting room to hash out what to do next.