Rory's cell phone rang as she was driving past the exit sign for Hartford. She pushed past Jess's surprisingly still unconscious body for her purse.
"Hello?"
"Rory, its Luke, I've been trying to reach you."
"Hey, Luke, what's-"
"There was an accident at the house. Everyone's shaken but okay except Dean. He's alive but in pretty bad shape. Can you meet us at the Hartford Memorial Hospital?"
Rory's breath tore. "Yeah, I-I'll be right there." She hung up, did a U-turn, and sped the rest of the way to the hospital.

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Lisa listened for sounds of movement in the small house in the early morning. She'd discovered Jackson's bedroom was right next to her own. She heard nothing, and gently eased herself out of bed.
A floorboard creaked ever so slightly under her feet and she winced, straining her ears. When she heard nothing, she quickly tiptoed to the door. It opened silently.
She had no idea where Jackson's car keys were, but she didn't need them. Luckily, her close cousin had been an expert at hotwiring cars and had taught her one hot Miami afternoon.
Once outside, she ran to the car and gently shut herself inside, kneeling down to play with the wires.
Pull there, tear there, strip there. Lisa chewed her lip and tried to get her fingers to move faster but every time they did she fumbled.
She was so concentrated that she didn't hear the footsteps on the gravel outside. She didn't hear the door opening. She didn't hear his uneven breathing. But she felt the rough hand on her shoulder that yanked her out of the car and sent her flying to the rocks.
She moaned and then screamed in pain as a swift kick connected with her ribs.
"Nice thinking, Lisa," Jackson hissed, pulling her up by her shortened hair and dragging her inside. He was deaf to her pleas and especially to her screams.
He pulled her and her burning scalp all the way to her room, where he immediately tossed her on her unmade bed and pinned her arms down with his and her legs with his knees.
"But not nice enough." He moved to hit her again but at her desperate pleas he finally stopped.
"Why, Lisa?" he crooned, suddenly mocking. "Why are you so scared this time?" She didn't answer, just sobbed.
His hands grazed her slowly growing abdomen and she shut her eyes, tensing. He leaned to whisper hot in her ear. "Why? Could it be? Could Lisa Reisert be, dare I say it, pregnant?" Again, she remained silent. He grinned.
"With the English teacher's baby," he mused.
Lisa began crying, fat salty tears that slid down her neck.
"Answer me," he sang. "Are you?"
"ANSWER." He shook her shoulders. She slowly opened her eyes and croaked.
"Yes."
He stood up and hopped off the bed, stroking his chin in deep thought. "Wow. Why didn't you tell me?"
Lisa weakly sat up and drew her knees to her chest. Her eyes were glazed, partially with tears, partially with exhaustion, but mostly with shock. "Don't hurt my baby, Jackson," she wailed. "Please. I will do anything, just don't, please, don't hurt it."
He didn't speak for a while. Finally, "Why shouldn't I? You certainly haven't given me any reason not to kill you. Why should I care anymore now?"Lisa choked on her own tears. "I-I-I-don't know," she half whined, half begged. "I just know I..." she trailed off, at a desperate loss for words.
He slowly crouched down in front of her, his face inches away. "You'll do anything?"
Lisa looked away. "Yes," she muttered.
He grinned smugly. "You disappear, I'll keep you alive."
Lisa frowned. "What?"
"Face it, Leese, you look nothing like you do now. No one will find you if you're unwilling to leave here. My deal is, you stay with me forever without a fight and little Lisa stays alive. The baby, too. Hell, we may even grow to enjoy each other."
Lisa glared at him. "Isn't there another way?"
Jackson lovingly stroked the Ka-Bar on his hip. Lisa swallowed hard. "Fine."

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Rory threw open the waiting room door to find Luke, Max, her mother, Sookie, and her family, plus two strangers, huddled in the corner, deep in discussion. They all looked up as she entered, then their eyes fell to the character staggering drunkenly behind her.
Luke instantly thundered over, then grabbed the intoxicated Jess by the collar, slamming him into the wall.
"Where are they, Jess?" he yelled. "What the fuck have you done?" But Jess just started crying again. The receptionist reached for the security button. Luke grumbled irritably and slammed Jess's head against the wall to knock him out.
"Rory, why is he here?" Lorelai hobbled to her daughter on crutches. Rory felt horrible.
"I-he-he sasid he knew what was going on."
One of the strangers, an older man who was coincidentally standing close to Jess's body, waved a disgusted hand in his face. "Someone got a little overexcited with the tequila."
Max placed a hand on Rory's shoulder. "Ror, this is Joe Reisert, Lisa's dad, and her friend, Cynthia Grey." Rory nodded politely to each of them.
"Where's Dean?"
Luke looked seriously into her eyes. "In there. ICU." Rory teared up again.
"Can I...?" Luke nodded, and gave her a gentle push to the room.