CHAPTER TWO

Seven o'clock sharp.

Lorelai and Rory stood in front of the door to the Gilmore residence waiting to be let inside. Lorelai rung the doorbell again, wondering why no one was answering. Finally, her father opened the door.

"Wow, Rory, the new maid looks just like Grandpa!"

Richard rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore his daughter's comment. Instead he greeted his granddaughter, commenting on how lovely she looked tonight.

"Thanks, Grandpa. You don't look too bad yourself."

Richard led them into the living room, asking for any drink requests in particular. A martini was requested by Lorelai and a club soda for Rory. The girls sat on the couch as Richard prepared the drinks.

"Where's mom?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know," Richard commented, walking over to hand Lorelai her drink. "I only got home a few minutes ago myself. She must be around here somewhere."

"Well, I'm sure she'll pop up when we least expect it."

"Yes, I suppose so," Richard agreed.

"Or maybe she is already here and she's hoping we'll talk about her."

"Mom," Rory groaned. "She's a grown woman. Only you would do that."

"So you don't think she would magically appear if I said something like … "

"So, Rory, how are your classes this semester?" Richard asked. Lorelai huffed, unable to finish her idea.

"Very good, Grandpa."

"And how were your exams?" he asked, handing Rory her drink.

"They were pretty good. I got an 'A' on my journalism mid-term and another one in my 16th Century British Poetry class, too. I don't know about the other classes yet."

"That's wonderful, sweetie. You didn't tell me that." Lorelai beamed with pride that her only child had somehow inherited the genius genes. They apparently skipped a generation in this family.

"Well, it's just grades."

"They're not just grades, my dear. In fact, I might just know someone who can give you a sneak peek at your economics exam, if you're interested …."

"You could twist my arm," she countered.

"Great. Follow me," Richard instructed, standing up from his seat. "The exams are in my study." Rory sat her drink down on the table, following after her grandfather.

"Wait … What about me…?" Lorelai called after them. "Yeah, yeah, I'll just wait here, she sighed. "Maybe I'll find mom hiding under the couch…" She started to actually look under the couch, but the portrait hanging in room caught her eyes first. She hated that picture.

Richard flipped on the light to his study, walking towards his desk. Rory followed close behind him. "I must say that I'm very impressed, Rory. I know this isn't your area of study, but you really have followed the material quite well. You did far better than some of the economics students themselves."

"Well, I have a good teacher," she smiled. Richard retrieved her exam from his briefcase, handing it to her.

As Rory looked over it, Richard's gaze drifted over to the empty flowerpot that was in the middle of the floor near the bookshelf. He pushed his chair aside, to walk around to the other side of the desk and turn it right side up.

The first thing he saw was her red hair. His heart seemed to actually stop beating for a few seconds as he looked down at the sight below. His wife was lying lifelessly on the floor. There was a bit of blood splattered around her head. Not much of it, thankfully, but enough to scare him worse than anything he'd seen before in his life.

"Grandpa, I can't read this comment. What does – " Rory noticed that he wasn't listening to her. She stepped behind him.

"Oh my God!"

"Call an ambulance," Richard instructed. He bent down to touch his wife, to see if she still had a pulse. He was afraid to do so. She had no color and her skin was cold.

"Don't move her!" Rory exclaimed. "You might hurt her worse."

"Just make the call, Rory." His voice was stern, but pained. Richard wasn't about to tell his only granddaughter that he was first checking to see if her grandmother were even alive. His hand shook as he reached out to touch her neck. At first, he couldn't find a pulse. It felt as if he couldn't breathe, but he pressed harder until he finally felt something. He then noticed that she seemed to still be breathing, though not very deeply. "Thank God," he whispered.

Rory hung up the phone. "I'm going to go get Mom and then wait at the gate." Richard heard Rory, but didn't really pay attention to anything she had said. He remained kneeling next to his wife. He was afraid to move her or to even touch her for fear that he would make her worse. He wanted her to open her eyes so badly. He'd do anything to just look into her eyes at this moment.

"Emily... Emily….." he pleaded, hoping that she could hear him. "Can you hear me, Emily?" He got no response. "Please say something, Emmy." Still no response. "The ambulance will be here soon. It will be all right."

He wasn't reassuring her really, but trying to calm himself. He knew that he had to be strong and put together for his girls, but inside he wanted to pull her into his arms and beg her not to leave him. He wanted to tell her that he was nothing without her, but she probably couldn't hear him even if he did say such things.

"Mom..." Richard heard his daughter's distraught voice. He turned his head, seeing Lorelai bending down next to him. "What happened?" she asked.

"I don't know, Lorelai. It appears that she fell."

"But when? We've been here at least half an hour. None of us heard anything."

"I know," he said solemnly. "The last time I spoke to her was this morning. It could have been anytime today." He was silent for a moment. "She doesn't look like she's dressed for dinner."

Lorelai reached her hand out, covering her father's hand. It was probably the closest contact that they'd had in many years. Yet she didn't know what to say to him. And he didn't know what to say to her. So, they just waited in silence.