A/N: Methinks this'll be the longest chapter in the entire series. This is to clear the air and to add a bit more suspense. This is your drama for the next chapter... because I'm pretty sure the next one's going to be a helluvalot of filler. Enjoy it.

My Latest Mistake

Chapter Eight

Habits

Rated T

Jess emerged from the bus ride exhausted. The lights were on in the diner, beckoning him home, to rest, to think… to wait and anticipate. He loved her so much that his blood was racing with the need to see her again, just to… hear her voice. Closing his eyes, he forced his breathing down and attempted to calm his beating heart.

"Are you okay/" the driver asked as Jess hesitated, almost as though he was going to keel over at any second.

"I'm fine," Jess attempted, but the words were slurred. His vision blurred as he felt a pang of need run through him. Every pin-prick where a needle touched his arm stung and burnt, crying to be used again, but he attempted to ignore them and rolled himself as straight as he could, toward Luke's.

He made it into the middle of the street, trying to cross to get to the diner. There, the world spun and he lost his grip on the wheels. His body was shaking intolerably and his eyes started to water.

"Luke!" he cried, trying to get his uncle's attention.

-gGg-

Luke was watching the bus out of the corner of his eye. He saw Jess get out and felt confident that his nephew was doing okay. The scowl on the kid's face, visible even from this far, was generally a signal of well-being. Thus, he turned to help his last few customers of the dinner rush. A faint cry and a few screams finally drew his attention to the window again.

Jess was in the middle of the street, in his wheelchair, shaking. The plates Luke was carrying tipped from his fingers and poured on the floor as shock ran through is system. It lasted less than a second before he was out of the diner and in the middle of the street, shoving back the crowd and trying to help his nephew. The wheel chair was un-braked and rocking. As carefully as he could, trying not to tip the chair, he unlocked his nephew's legs and carefully laid his seizing body on the ground, taking off his own jacket to place beneath the younger man's head.

"Is he okay?" asked a few people fro the crowd.

"What's the matta, suga?" Babette leaned over Luke's shoulder to see Jess.

"It's nothing," Luke rebuked them roughly, still disliking most of the town for their treatment of Jess upon his first returning.

"Taylor called an ambulance," Kirk informed him emotionlessly.

"Great," Luke grumbled under his breath. More hospital bills that they probably couldn't afford anymore.

When Jess's body finally stopped shaking, his eyes didn't open and he didn't seem to regain consciousness. A few people left on the edges of the crowd, but the hardcore Stars Hollow residents remained to make sure that Jess was okay.

"Is there anything we can do?" Patty asked with genuine concern in her voice.

"Can someone roll his chair out of the street?" Luke asked, distracted, and lifted Jess into his arms. He moved him carefully onto the sidewalk and continued to crouch beside him, trying to support him as best he could.

"Here, suga," Babette said, giving him a cup of water.

"Thanks," Luke was grateful, he really was, but he also happened to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Gently, he prodded Jess's lips open and gave him a little bit of water. The boy's throat swallowed instinctively.

"Taylor told me to tell you that the ambulance told him that they'd be here soon!" Kirk announced, Luke hadn't even noticed him leaving, but he must have been the one to take the wheelchair away. No on else in his direct vision had moved.

"Huh?" Luke muttered, barely hearing anything beyond the pounding in his ears.

"The ambulance'll be here soon," Babette translated.

"Good, great, thanks," Luke repeated his little mantra of the past few minutes, making sure that Jess was as comfortable as possible.

"Are you sure there's nothing else we can do?" Patty questioned again, looking over his shoulder. "He's so cute when he sleeps."

"Almost like a baby," Babette continued.

"He's not a baby," Luke objected, knowing how much Jess would dislike this conversation.

"Of course he isn't," Patty amended sympathetically.

"Where's that ambulance?" Luke growled loudly, looking everywhere for flashing lights and observed Kirk dashing away back towards Taylor's.

"Who's watchin' the diner?" Babette asked curiously, looking at the open door.

"Damnit!" Luke cursed, realizing that he was the only one working and that it was now left unattended.

"Don't worry, Babette and I will take care of it until you get back," Patty patted his back and her and Babette went over to stand in front of the door like two large guard dogs, making sure that no one went in and taking people's money who left.

Luke felt a wave of relief run over him at that. True, he wouldn't have left it to them under normal circumstances, but these were anything but normal. Kirk ran back over to him, his face emotionless and his movements very precise.

"Taylor told me to tell you that he can't reach the ambulance again, but that he sees flashing lights on the end of town with my night-vision goggles," Kirk announced.

"Thanks," Luke muttered again and turned to see the lights himself, even more relief washing over him. The doctors had told him that this part was over… that the worst part was over. Jess hadn't seized in over two weeks. Sighing, he stood as the ambulance stopped dead in front of them.

"I'm here for a Jess Mariano," the man announced and Luke pointed down at Jess. "What's the situation?"

"He seized… he's been going through withdrawal, drug withdrawal, and he has spinal damage. Paralyzed… from the waist down," Luke informed the man shakily, who stared at him with a mixture of amazement and disbelief.

"Sounds like this kid's got a rough life," the man muttered, his eyes dashing around a bit. "Not exactly the place for a druggie."

"He's from New York," Luke supplied, and the man nodded like that solved everything. Luke was then forced back and made to follow the ambulance, yet again, to the hospital.

-gGg-

"Doctor, I thought that you told me this was over," Luke muttered, motioning at Jess's form lying in a bed beside them. It was over five hours later and they still didn't know what had caused the seizure, let alone this strange comatose-like state.

"We thought that it was. Has your nephew been exposed to any of his former habits? Was he around something that reminded him of the drugs? A needle perhaps or maybe he took some painkillers that were like the ones he got high off of back in New York?" the doctor asked, but Luke could only shake his head, the solution coming to him quickly.

"No, it as nothing like that," Luke brushed off and went to Jess's side.

"You know what caused this?" the doctor frowned, hovering over his shoulder.

"Yeah…" Luke trailed off, not supplying the doctor with anymore information.

"Mr. Danes, I am trying to help you and your nephew. I cannot do that if you keep important details from me," the man sighed, obviously frustrated with Luke and Jess's tendency to keep their cards close.

"Rory," Luke said simply.

"Rory?" the doctor repeated with a frown, not understanding.

"His ex-girlfriend," Luke attempted, but he really didn't know how to describe any more than that.

"Why would she cause this?" The doctor asked, even more confused.

"It was after a fight that he left… that he started… doing…. that," Luke continued, but still fumbled over the words.

"After a fight with his girlfriend, he began doing drugs?" the doctor rephrased.

"Ex-girlfriend, they weren't-aren't-dating," Luke amended.

"So why would that cause this attack?" the man still didn't seem to be seeing the big picture.

"He went to see her, Rory, today. He was just getting off the bus when he seized again," Luke stated, not fumbling over the words, just disliking having to say them.

"Ah… she's the catalyst," the doctor nodded, as though it wasn't that unusual. "He shouldn't be seeing her, then."

"You try telling him that," Luke grumbled, shaking his head.

"He should understand that he cannot see her if it's bad for his health," the doctor frowned, unable to understand why people were unable to keep away from things that hurt them.

"Do you smoke?" Luke asked in frustration, trying to figure out a way to describe the Gilmore-habit that the Danes men had a tendency to take on.

"No," the doctor replied, and Luke saw the man's eyes crinkle in confusion.

"The Gilmore women are like cigarettes. Every time you see them, you think that's the last time you'll hurt yourself like that, and then they show up again… and again, and again. After awhile, you want to see them so badly that you'd literally bash your head into a wall if it meant they'd stop to make sure you're okay," Luke explained passionately, thinking of his own relationship with Lorelai. "The only way to stop it is to stop seeing them… ever. Jess tried, but it didn't work."

"So this Rory is his addiction?" the doctor summarized.

"Yeah… she's his addiction," Luke agreed, brushing a bit of the hair from Jess's face.

"Then Jess cannot, must not, see her… ever. If he's ever going to kick his habit, then he needs to clear his system, even his mind," the doctor proclaimed, but Luke just shook his head bitterly.

"Don't tell that to me," Luke grumped, giving the doctor a cold shoulder and attempting to protect Jess the best he could.

-gGg-

Jess woke up to bright white lights, bad smells, and chaos around every corner. He knew it was a hospital before he even bothered opening his eyes. Sighing, he cracked his eyelids and turned his head to the side, where Luke was sitting, waiting.

"Hey," he mumbled, weakly reaching up a hand to his hair and running it through absently.

"Welcome back," Luke grumbled, but there was relief in his voice. "They thought that you might have fallen into a coma."

"How long have I been out?" Jess frowned, trying to find a clock of some sort.

"Almost twenty four hours," Luke informed him, leaning on the edge of Jess's bed.

"What time is it?" Jess groaned, his head was pounding and the track marks on his arms were still burning.

"It's seven," Luke stated, then eyed the door with worry.

"What's wrong?" Jess could only hear a rush of blood in his head, but there was the soft sound of a scuffle going on just outside his processing range. It was there, and he could acknowledge it, but his mind didn't seem to want to process it. He frowned, never having felt this before.

"I don't know, I'll be right back," Luke rumbled, but there was something in his eyes that told Jess that Luke knew precisely what was going on.

-gGg-

Luke sighed as he opened the door and saw the fiery flash of blue eyes and a mane of brown hair. Part of him longed for the older version, but he knew that there was no way the Gilmore women were getting into their lives until Jess was better, a lot better.

"Rory," he murmured, and she turned to face him, relief flooding over her features.

The nurse who was wrestling her let off when Luke came into the picture, relief flooded on her face as well. If he wasn't so tired and miserable, he would have thought it was funny. "Mr. Danes… this, Miss Gilmore," the nurse said, pointing at Rory, "is forbidden to see Jess, no?" she grumped, glaring at Rory out of the corner of her eye.

"Rory?" was called from back in the room, and Luke saw Jess struggling to get a look outside the door. He sighed and ran back into the room. Roy attempted to follow, but was quickly restrained by the nurse again, which turned into, yet another, scuffle.

"Is that Rory?" Jess asked again, trying to look outside.

"Nah, it's Lorelai. She was trying to talk to me," Luke shrugged off, hating having to lie. Jess looked at him as if being able to sweat the truth out of him, but turned away.

"You should go talk to her," Jess brushed off, as though his face didn't betray how shattered he was.

"Okay, I'll be back in a minute… don't brood the entire time I'm gone," Luke mocked, which earned him a dirty look. He couldn't help but chuckle on the way out, at least Jess was feeling good enough to scowl again.

"Mr. Danes!" the nurse shouted as she was kicked in the shins by Rory, who continued to struggle. Rory then turned around to make her dash into Jess's room and slammed right into Luke. Unceremoniously, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her away from the room, down to the cafeteria.

"The coffee here isn't that great, but you need to calm down and I need you to be holding onto something," Luke commanded, handing her a cup of coffee and paying for it himself.

"Luke?" she shook her head, eyes wide and confused, asking questions he couldn't answer yet.

"Let's go sit down," he continued to instruct gruffly.

"What's going on? Why is Jess in a wheelchair? Why is he in a hospital? Was he in some sort of accident? He said he'd been here a month, why didn't anyone tell me? I mean, it's not as though I'm a continent away, and it wasn't my choice to cut off all contact! How long has he been here, really? Did Liz send him again? What happened to California…? Luke!" her voice was gradually getting louder and louder until everyone in the cafeteria was staring at them, but he continued to ignore her until she shouted his name at the top of her lungs, shocking the busy area into silence.

"Rory, shut up!" he roared at her, and pointed at a bench. She recoiled from him, a bit of the coffee spilling on her hand. Tears flooded into her eyes and she sat, mopping at the spilt coffee meekly. "I'm sorry." He took off his cap and wrung it in his hands, unsure of how to tell her that she couldn't see Jess… probably ever again.

"I'm sorry too," she returned, eyes downcast. He sighed and sat down across the table from her and they stared at each other for a moment. "So…?"

"Jess is sick," Luke started, knowing how stupid the words sounded on his lips.

"How sick?" She asked instead of pointing out that he was stating the obvious.

"Jess is very sick," Luke sighed, looking down at the table and away from those intense blue orbs.

"I got that. What's wrong with him, 'how' is he sick?" she pleaded, leaning towards him on the table.

"Rory, please… this is hard to explain," Luke rolled his eyes away from her, trying to pick out the words. "He can't see you."

"Why?" she snapped instantly, not even giving him a second to think up an excuse.

"Because the doctor said that he can't have visitors," Luke fumbled, grabbing at straws.

"Then why are you allowed in?" she challenged.

"Family," Luke barked instantly, stiffening up and glad that his time with Jess seemed to have made him into an adept liar.

"Why did he come see me yesterday?" she drilled, glaring slightly.

"I don't know, because he's Jess," Luke shrugged, frustration. "But you can't see him anymore."

"Wait… anymore? As in, even out of the hospital?" she snapped.

"Yes, I mean no… I mean… Yes, you can't see him," Luke stammered.

"Why?" she screamed, glaring at him. "Luke! What the hell is going on!?"

"Nothing that concerns you," he shouted right back.

"It concerns Jess and that concerns me!" she shrieked.

"Why? It didn't concern you two years ago when you told him to go to hell, and it doesn't concern you now!" he hollered, standing up and marching away. "Get the hell out of this hospital, and don't come back!"

"No!" she threw her coffee at him. It bounced off the back of his head. He turned around to throttle the spirited girl when she streaked past him, running towards the unguarded side of Jess's room.

Luke mumbled quite a number of different obscenities, enough that would make Jess blush, under his breath and gave chase, hoping that all the years of caffeine would slow her down. Unfortunately, she made it to Jess's door before anyone noticed her, and had hit thrown open before a nurse came over and tackled her to the ground. Luke checked inside the room and was eternally grateful to see Jess was asleep again.

Placing an arm around Rory's waist, he lifted her off the ground, fancy dress and all, and 'escorted' her from the hospital. He plopped her outside and glared at her, breathing hard. From her position on the ground, she glared up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Why can't I see him?" she gasped.

"Because this… all of this? It's your fault," he bellowed in a fit of cold rage and turned back into the hospital. It took three steps before he finally realized what he'd said and was going to turn around to apologize, but then realized that there was a decent chance that, if she was angry at him, she wouldn't see Jess. It brightened his day a little bit, but a part of him, the part that was eternally linked to the Gilmores, sobbed in grief.