A/N: I apologize... you'll know what I mean. Yes, I'm a drama queen, but this story is immensely fun. Btw, I'm not COMPLETELY ebil. Please review and I'll give you your next chapter quickly. I already have it done. cackles

My Latest Mistake

Chapter Nine

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Rated T

"A week, doctor?" Luke asked incredulously, while Jess gaped in horror.

"Yes," the doctor nodded, eyeing both of them in warning.

"Besides the fact that I'm in a wheelchair, I wouldn't mind having a life and being stuck in the hospital for half of it is sorta fucking that up," Jess growled, pushing himself up weakly with his hands. They trembled beneath him, but he locked his elbows and forced himself to sit up.

"Jess," Luke reprimanded softly, shaking his head and gently shoving the younger man's elbows so that they collapsed and he with them. Jess groaned when his head hit the pillow, unable to lift it anymore.

"We don't know what chemicals are unbalanced. Even with his exposure to… this girl… he shouldn't have had such a violent attack. I believe that some of your drugs are malfunctioning and we need to run some tests and I would prefer to keep an eye on you rather than having you running around," the doctor explained.

"Running around," Jess scoffed weakly. His face was covered in sweat and it was running into his eyes, stinging them quite badly.

"Shut up," Luke reprimanded gently, wiping his nephew's head with a cloth.

"Mr. Danes, you're more than welcome to stay with your nephew. I would prefer having someone around him constantly if you could arrange it?" the doctor requested.

"Constantly?" Luke sighed, shaking his head.

"He can't… the diner," Jess groaned.

"Shut up," Luke scolded again, mopping Jess's forehead with a cloth. "I can take some time off."

"No you can't," Jess protested, even as the doctor moved to his side, a needle in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Luke asked protectively, frowning at the needle.

"It's a mild sedative," the doctor sighed, knowing their hesitancies with needles as such.

"Great," Jess moaned, but his body started shaking again.

"Go," Luke whispered urgently, grabbing onto one of Jess's hands comfortingly as the young man bit down to keep from crying out. After a few seconds, his body calmed down and his eyes closed.

"He shouldn't be alone," the doctor muttered, shaking his head and staring at Jess.

"I can have a group of people to look after him, but he's right… I do have to take care of the diner," Luke grumbled, running a hand through his hair and wringing his baseball cap.

"It's understandable," the doctor nodded, offering a tight smile as he left the room.

Luke looked at Jess's sweating form and sat down heavily, pondering how the hell their lives had come to this.

-gGg-

When Jess awoke, the room was a lot smaller than it had been when he'd been given the sedative. Painted eyes stared at him from every corner and he could only gape in horror. His room had been filled with cat figurines and gnomes. Eyes darting around, he used his arms to sit himself up and observed Miss Patty and Babette looking over some sort of magazine in a pair of seats a few meters away.

"Wha-?" he asked.

"He's awake!" Kirk reported, and Jess jumped, turning to see the strange, gangly man right above him, dressed in full black and staring at him with a night scope. Jess blinked and shook his head, praying that this was some sort of drug-induced dream.

"How ya feelin' suga?" Babette inquired as she scuttled to his bedside.

"You were sleeping like a baby," Patty observed, patting his hand. Jess recoiled a little bit, wondering if that comment had any hidden meanings.

"Where's Luke?" Jess scrambled, feeling like curling into a ball and ignoring the drug-induced townspeople.

"At the diner," Patty told him and smiled suggestively.

"Not to put a damper on the mood or anything, but I'm paralyzed," he reminded her.

"That won't matter," she grinned, and he couldn't help but shake his head and smirk a little bit.

"So you're my babysitters?" he sighed, somewhat calming down to his fate.

"The Baby is awake, I repeat, the Baby is awake," Kirk called into his walkie talkie before falling ungracefully from his perch above Jess's bed, directly on his armored-head beside the group.

"Baby?" Jess snapped, offended.

"First it was Wheels, but Taylor said that it was tactless," Patty pouted.

"Just call me Xavier," Jess grumbled, shaking his head in frustration and sinking into his bed a little bit.

"Do you wanna play chess?" Babette asked, plopping a board in front of him.

"I want to sleep," he grumbled.

"You can be black," Patty rambled.

"I don't want to-," Jess started.

"The Baby is objecting to playing chess," Kirk relayed from his position on the ground.

"The Baby's going to kick your ass," Jess growled at him, glaring evilly.

"I thought you were paralyzed," Kirk frowned.

"I don't need my legs to bash your head in," Jess warned.

"The Baby is objecting violently," Kirk relayed with fear in his eyes.

"Get him out of here!" Jess roared, glaring at the two women, who were now playing chess by themselves a few paces away. "And when the hell did all the gnomes get brought in here?"

"Jess?" Luke asked from the door, stumbling in with food.

"Dinner!" Babette exclaimed and she, Patty and Kirk all left the room in favor of eating in the hallway. Outside food wasn't allowed in the patient's room.

"Why are they here?" Jess begged, feeling exhausted.

"Because the doctor said that you couldn't be alone, and I agreed," Luke shrugged, sitting down on the chair beside Jess's bed.

"Who's looking after the diner?" Jess inquired absently.

"Cesar," Luke shrugged.

"Did she say why she was here?" Jess queried absently.

"She?" Luke frowned, not knowing where this was coming from.

"Yeah, Rory… Lorelai doesn't go by Miss Gilmore," Jess shrugged, looking at Luke suspiciously.

"Uh…" Luke mumbled, obviously flustered.

"You told her I couldn't see her anymore… probably mentioned something about her having to do with this…" Jess continued.

"Wait…" Luke attempted to cut him off.

"She's probably been calling the diner since I've been out. Hell, she's probably tried to sneak in here," Jess ranted.

"Stop it," Luke sighed, placing his head in his hands and looking at the ground.

"I should get to choose who I want to see," Jess growled.

"'Cept that you'd choose to see her, and that'd be really good for you now wouldn't it?" Luke roared, shocking them both when the chair flew out from beneath him. They both stared at each other, eyes wide and breathing heavily, not sure what the hell just happened. "I'm sorry."

"No… it's okay," Jess whispered, turning away and trying to calm his shock. "I think I probably deserved that."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you," Luke shook his head and made to leave the room.

"Have you talked to Lorelai yet?" Jess questioned, trying to show Luke that he wasn't angry about the blow up.

"No," Luke admitted guiltily, shaking his head and stopping his speedy exit.

"Mr. Danes?" a nurse asked from the door, and both men's eyes turned to glare at her evilly.

"What?" they asked in unison, their voices matching in pitch and anger.

"Umm… you have a visitor," she stammered, pointing out the door hesitantly, looking between them.

"Oh," Luke frowned. Jess absently wondered who the hell would be visiting his uncle in the hospital.

"Luke?" Jess asked before his uncle could disappear.

"What?" Luke grumbled, looking back guiltily.

"I don't mind… I yelled at you too," Jess offered and they gave each other tight smiles as Luke made to leave again. "Wait!"

"What?" Luke grumbled, turning to frown at him again.

"How long was I out?" Jess sighed.

"Just over twenty hours," Luke checked his watch to get the right time. Jess nodded and they shared a look for a moment as Luke left the room.

-gGg-

Luke froze when he entered into the visitor's room and saw who was waiting for him. They shared a glare as he descended upon her and sat beside her.

"What do you want?" he rumbled.

"I want to see him," Rory informed him none-too-gently.

"He doesn't want to see you," Luke snapped.

"Why can I talk to him?" she cried in frustration.

"I told you why you can't talk to him!" Luke shouted, still angry at him for his words previously, but unable to take them back.

"I have called the diner twenty times trying to talk to you. I have called the hospital hundreds of times trying to talk to 'either' of you. I want to know what's going on, and I want to know how it's my fault!" she protested loudly.

"You don't need to know how. All you could do is screw him over again," Luke pointed roughly at Jess's room down the hallway, rising to glare down at her. He didn't get the height difference for very long as Rory stood up in her heeled boots and they found themselves only a few inches apart.

"I wasn't the one who left! I wasn't the one who said 'I love you' and then drove off! I wasn't the one who asked me to run away with them!" Rory screamed back at him.

"No, you were the one who trashed his heart on the phone when he called to apologize and didn't even let him talk when he wanted to and then crushed his heart in your hand when he offered it to you! What is it about you Gilmore women? Can't you understand that this world doesn't revolve around you and what you want? Jess is family, my family, and I'm not going to let your spoiled, self-centered attitudes interfere with either of our lives from now on!" Luke exploded. "First your mother and now you! Don't you understand that you're not making things better for yourselves, you're not helping anyone else and you're not changing anything! You're just hurting people, and you don't give a damn!"

"I'm not hurting anyone!" Rory screamed.

"How long has it been since you've talked to your mother?" he snapped.

"I don't know," she stammered, flustered with the question.

"How long has it been since you've seen her or come home, and talked to anyone from the town. How long has it been since you've talked to the 'little people' who brought you up? How many more hours do you have on your community service?" he listed off. "No, Rory, you're not hurting anyone."

"Stop it!" Rory shrieked at him.

"Rory… sweetheart, what're you doin' here?" Babette asked, her eyes showing a little bit of hurt with a little bit of hope.

Rory mopped at her eyes in frustration, giving Luke a death glare. "I'm here to see Jess," Rory explained, causing Luke to stiffen up.

"I didn't think ya were allowed ta see him," Babette frowned, looking at Luke.

"She's not," Luke grumbled.

"Oh," Babette nodded, looked between the two of them hesitantly and then seemed to figure it be best for her to get to the point. "Jess wants ta see ya."

"Great," Luke mumbled, moving angrily towards Luke's room.

"Luke!" Rory shouted after him, following him.

"Get out of here," he told her once more.

"No, I want to see him, I want him to tell me that he doesn't want to see me," Rory declared loudly and Luke stopped, motioning towards Jess's room.

"Be my guest," he told her angrily, causing more than a little indecision to appear on her face. When she didn't move into the room, he opened it for her and ushered her in.

Jess was sitting up in his bed, his skin pale and sweating. Apparently the drugs were still malfunctioning and he was probably about to have another attack. Nonetheless, Luke pushed Rory into the room and stood near the back, wanting to see this interaction.

-gGg-

At first, when Luke opened the door, he wasn't sure what the hell was going on. But when he saw Rory, the visitor made sense and everything was falling into place. Sighing, he attempted to get his trembling body under wraps. The doctor had just come to tell him some good news, but with Rory here, that could just as soon be gone.

"Jess," she greeted warmly, walking to the side of his bed.

"Hey," he mumbled coldly, not particularly wanting the shaking to get any worse, but it did. With every step that she took, his body trembled ten times more. "Don't come any closer."

"What?" she asked, seemingly confused.

"I can't be around you right now," Jess stated openly, his entire body giving a tremor that made him jump.

"You okay?" Luke questioned gruffly from the side of the room.

"Yeah," Jess whispered, holding up a hand weakly and turning back to Rory.

"I don't understand," Rory whispered, tears obvious in her eyes.

"I shouldn't have come to see you," he shrugged. "It was stupid. You, me, we are what we are."

"What do you mean?" she begged him, but he didn't know how much more of this he could take.

"L-Luke," he stammered as he started to shake worse and worse.

"What's happening?" Rory asked as he started to lose consciousness.

-gGg-

Luke had known that Jess would want to say this himself, but he wasn't expecting the attack.

"Kirk!" Luke shouted, seeing the man sneaking through the hallway.

"Yes?"Kirk squeaked, looking around to see who'd found him. It was almost as though he didn't suspect that people would find a black-clothed man with a pair of large binoculars around his head to be out of place.

"Get a doctor!" Luke roared, while rushing to Jess's side and trying to prevent the kid from eating his own tongue.

"What's going on?" Rory shrieked again.

"He's having a seizure, honey," he heard Patty explain.

"Get her out of here!" Luke hollered, pointing at Rory and trying to calm Jess down again.

The room went into a red-alert and Luke was taken forcefully from its confines. He was thrown into the waiting room with the rest of the town, which now included Kirk, Patty, Babette, Mory who was playing on a keyboard for comfort, Taylor who'd brought snacks and such from Doose's, and Bootsy who'd brought tabloids to keep them all busy. The odd one out was Rory, who hadn't left even when he'd shouted at her. She sat there awkwardly as everyone stared at her questioning her presence.

"You should leave," he told her, glaring.

"No," she shook her head bitterly. "If that was my fault, I'm going to make this better."

Luke sighed, grabbed her arm and dragged her to the door of the hospital once more. He threw her outside the automatic doors and stood there on the floor mat so that it wouldn't close. She looked at him desperately, pleading with him not to do this to her again.

"You can't be here right now," he stated again.

"He needs me," Rory whispered, shaking her head.

"No, what he needs right now is for you to leave him the hell alone. Go home, Rory," Luke shook his head, stepping of the mat and allowing the door to close. As he descended upon the group, everyone seemed to be expecting something. "What?"

"Jess fell into a coma," Babette cried, and he noticed for the first time that both she and Patty were opening sobbing. His face paled and he ran to the room, noticing the doctor.

"What happened?" he screamed at the man, fighting through the arms constraining him. The doctor sighed and walked away. Luke didn't accept this and went after him, pushing away anyone who tried to stop him. "What happened?!"

"Jess regained the use of his legs," the doctor sighed.

"What?" Luke gasped, his eyes widening by ten sizes.

"But his body was weak with the feeling… he was about to be sedated again when you brought her in… You were right, Mr. Danes," the doctor paused.

"What do you mean, what does that mean?" Luke begged, looking desperately at his nephew who was now hooked up to two billion machines to keep him alive.

"It was the girl," the doctor conceded and walked away again.

"What?!" Luke shouted desperately, even as the hospital's security grabbed onto his arms and forced him back into the waiting room, where the residents of Stars Hollow all leant their support to him.