Author's Note: Ok, here's the chapter! Put in your fav. moment please! Oh, and I'm warning you: I know nothing about doctors and hospitals, so I just made up all the medical stuff in here.
PLEASE READ EVERYONE, especially Iluvjess: Thanks for taking the time to read my story. I'd like to reassure you that I'm not telling people that they need to put in a fav. moment. I'm grateful that people are even taking the time to read this. My author's notes are not an order to anyone. In case it's not clear, I've been updating with the same frequency no matter how many reviews I get. But I think it's more interesting for me and my readers to put something specific in the reviews. It's not by any means something I'm trying to force anyone to do. I am so amazed by the responses I've been getting, and I just love the reviews. Any type of review is more than welcome. Thanks for reading, I hope you continue!
Jess couldn't make himself concentrate on anything. Sitting in a plastic hospital chair waiting to hear the fate of the love of his life was not something Jess thought he would be doing tonight. Lorelai and Luke were on their way. They had called him the moment the hospital had contacted Lorelai, and Jess had felt so stupid for not calling her straight away. She had been worried that her daughter was gone, and searching frantically. With the news of her being shot, Lorelai had run straight to Luke and gone with him to the hospital in Hartford.
He couldn't get his hands to stop shaking. His shirt was stained with blood- her blood, but he couldn't bring himself to care about it. The scene in the alley kept on re-playing itself in his head. She had been awake for only a few minutes, and then had started to breath slower, slipping into unconsciousness, as much as Jess begged her to stay with him.
The ambulance had shown up with the police, and Rory was immediately taken to the hospital. Jess insisted on riding with her. He had been aware briefly of the fact that Michael was being hand-cuffed, and Tristan was carried away in a seperate police car, probably to make a Witness Statement. But after that, he had only enough strength to focus on Rory.
"Jess?!" Luke's voice rang out, breaking Jess from his thoughts. He stood up, trying to brush away the tears that had been falling, unchecked, since he had arrived.
"Hey," he said, his voice rough from disuse and the crying.
"Where is she? Is she ok?" Lorelai cut in, tired of the unnecessary greetings.
"They won't tell me anything because I'm not related," Jess said, sighing and rubbing a tired hand across his face. Without another word, Lorelai marched off toward the desk.
Luke and Jess sat down again, and Luke turned toward his nephew, concerned.
"She'll be fine, Jess. Rory's strong," he said, trying to be comforting.
"What if she's not ok, Luke? What if I lose her?" his voice cracked pathetically and Luke's heart went out to him.
Lorelai returned to them, and both pairs of eyes went to her face, searching her expression for any hint of what was going on.
She just sighed and shook her head. "No news yet, they're still running tests. She was unconscious when they brought her in, but that could just be an effect of the blood-loss, so we don't specifically know what's going on, just yet." Her voice was kept carefully professional, but Luke and Jess both saw the pain burning just behind the surface.
"Come here," Luke said, opening up his arms and pulling her down onto his lap. Despite the horrific situation they were all in, Jess smiled at the two of them together, wondering if they'd ever be a couple.
"Are you the family of Rory Gilmore?" A doctor's voice sounded. The five people present immediately jumped to their feet. Emily and Richard Gilmore had arrived shortly after Lorelai and Luke.
"Yes," Luke said. He seemed to be the only one capable of speech at this point, though they all looked pretty freaked out. Jess's stomach clenched in fear as he awaited the doctor's next words.
"I have... some good news, and some bad news," he said reluctantly. Jess vaguely felt himself sympathize with him. He wondered what kind of bad tidings he had had to bring to families on a day-to-day basis, just as part of his job. But the most dominant emotion was fear, of course. Fear for losing the most important thing in his life.
"Bad news first," Luke managed to get out. He squeezed Lorelai's hand in reassurance, and Jess observed that Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore were also holding hands. This, of course, only reminded him further of why he couldn't be holding hands with Rory at this particular moment, and his heart contracted painfully.
"Rory," the doctor continued, "is in a coma right now. However," he rushed on, upon seeing the panic-stricken faces in front of him, "Me and the rest of our team think that it is not a heavy one, and that right now, she had a very good chance of fully recovering. The longer she remains in her current state, the less certain of that we will be."
No one moved, no one spoke. Everyone was shocked. A coma? That was the kind of thing that happened to people in movies, or people on the News. Not to Rory. Not to someone that they all knew and loved.
Luke, once again, played the part of spokes person for the group. "So... I mean... I know she can't exactly hear us right now, but do you think that we... could visit her?"
The doctor replied in the affirmative, and told them that Rory had been moved into a more comfortable private room, after being reassured by the elder Gilmores that money was not an issue.
"Thanks," Lorelai replied, before taking Luke by the hand and dragging him after her, towards her room, Number 159. Jess had a feeling he would be getting quite used to this particular number.
Shakily, he entered the door to her room. After Lorelai and Luke had spent some time with her, he felt like he should probably go in and see her.
Glancing in, he cringed, seeing her, so frail, tied up to all sorts of tubes and wires. His breathing was shaky and he felt his stomach clench.
"Rory..." he whispered, approaching her timidly and sitting in the chair provided for visitors right by her bed.
"Hey," he started softly, not sure what to say to an unconscious person, especially an unconscious person that he was in love with. "God, this is the most cliche thing in the world, you know that? I really need a favor from you, Rory. You need to wake up, do you understand that?" he said, pausing to take a shallow breath. "Please. You need to be stronger than this... you can- I know you can fight this."
He gave up on talking and grabbed her hand between both of his, kissing it lightly. "I love you. Fight this, Rory. Please don't leave me."
He sat with her for about 45 minutes, before it became too much, and he went back into the waiting room.
In the past two weeks, they had fallen into quite a simple routine. Not that it was a pleasureable one, by any means, but Jess was rather used to it. He spent the majority of every day in the hospital, as well as Lorelai. Luke came in for an hour or two every day, and the Gilmores made an appearance every other day to check on their beloved granddaughter and hassel the nurses to make sure that every possible comfort was being made for Rory and for the others around her. Christopher had yet to make an appearance, but Lorelai seemed to prefer it that way.
Jess was skipping school, but having his work emailed to him by Zach and Brian each night, so he wouldn't fall too much behind. He wouldn't have bothered with it, but he couldn't sleep at night, and reading let his mind wander too much, thinking about Rory.
Of course, doing homework also reminded him of her, and that, of course, tortured him to no end.
Luke had at one point almost asked him if he thought he was ready to go back to school, but he knew what his answer would be. Jess wouldn't leave Rory's side, no matter how long she was out.
All five of Rory's permanant support system were in the waiting room when the doctor assigned to Rory came out of her room and walked toward them.
"Dr. Wallace, anything new?" Lorelai asked eagerly.
"Actually, yes," Dr. Wallace began, and all five pairs of eyes snapped up to watch his face attentively. "She isn't awake yet, but we are picking up more and more thought activity. We think she is beginning to be aware of her surroundings, only slightly. We observed that when we raised our voices substantially, her heart rate spead up."
Jess's head was swimming. He didn't know what it meant, but he could tell it was a step in the right direction.
"Can I- can I see her?" Jess asked.
"Yes, you may," Dr. Wallace responded. Jess looked at Lorelai, asking for permission to go first. Lorelai was reluctant, but nodded and allowed him access to Rory's room.
"Rory?" Jess said, stepping up to the bed. "Hey, it's me again. The doctors say you're- doing better." He sighed, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "They say you can hear things. I don't know if you can hear this or not, but I need you to know that you have a lot of people worried about you. You need to wake up, soon Rory. Please."
He listened to her breath, the steady, even inhales and exhales that kept him sane. As long as she was breathing, he could breath. As long as she was alive, he could live.
His thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of Richard Gilmore to the room.
Jess got up as if to go, but Mr. Gilmore put up a hand. "Stay, please. I know she would want you in here, with her."
Jess stared at him with disbelief, but sat down again, any way.
"So. You are dating my granddaughter, I understand," he said as a way of striking up conversation.
Jess paled. He was going to have a- talk- with Rory's grandfather. Lovely. Richard noticed his reaction, and chuckled lightly. "No need to be concerned, son. I wanted to tell you that I'm alright with this. Lorelai has told me how much she cares for you, and it's obvious that you care a great deal about her, too, or you wouldn't be here so often."
Jess nodded. "She's- everything to me," he admitted.
Richard smiled. "You are a Junior in High School, as well?" he asked.
Jess answerd in the affirmative.
"If you don't mind me asking, young man, do you think what the two of you have is serious?" Richard asked.
Jess squinted, confused. "What- do you mean?"
"Do you think it will last?" he clarified.
Jess nodded furiously. "I have no intentions of letting her go."
Richard smiled approvingly at this response.
At first, it wasn't clear, what she was hearing. It was more like a constant buzz. But being the logical mind that she was, she focused on one thing at a time. What was her name? Rory. Her last name? Gilmore. The voices in the room? This one was harder. There was two people, having a conversation. Both male, by the sound of it. It was her grandfather, and... Jess! Suddenly, the full extent of what had happened rushed upon her, and she had to force herself to calm down. She focused on the voices, which were becoming clearer and clearer.
"If you don't mind me asking, young man, do you think what the two of you have is serious?" Rory heard her grandfather say.
There was a pause, and Rory, irrationally, feared for Jess's answer. She heard his voice. "What- do you mean?"
"Do you think it will last?" was Richard's immediate response.
Rory's heart swelled when she heard him respond, "I have no intentions of letting her go."
"Look," Richard said.
Jess turned to look at Rory, frightened that something might have happened. He was met with the welcome sight of her hand moving, ever-so-slightly.
"Oh, my God," he muttered, running to her side and taking her hand in his. "Rory? Baby? Can you hear me? Oh, God, please open your eyes." And then, she did.
"Jess?" her voice was hoarse and weak, but it was the most welcome sound Jess had heard in a long time.
"Rory..." he breathed, shaking his head in utter amazement. He turned around and noticed that Richard had left, probably to get the others, along with a doctor.
"Jess, tell me the truth, how long have I been out?" Rory said, worry filling her eyes.
Jess's eyes closed, and he squeezed her hand tighter. "Two weeks," he responded, and Rory let out a gust of air, surprised.
"Wow. Ok, and... What- happened?" she said. And Jess knew exactly what she meant by the question.
"They caught Michael, and their still looking for his partner. Tristan... they had him write a witness statement, and he got six weeks in Juvenile Hall for basically kidnapping you, but he called the hospital to see if you were ok. He wanted to tell you that he had a change of heart. He's going to leave you alone now."
Rory nodded, satisfied with his answer.
"Rory?!" The voice of a frantic mother sounded from the doorway, and Lorelai rushed in. Jess reluctantly dropped her hand, and let Lorelai and Rory reunite.
Upon the news that she was awake, Emily and Luke entered the room with Richard. Jess and Lorelai remained, and Lane made an appearance, along with Sookie, Jackson, Zach, Brian, and many of the other townsfolk.
With Jess on one side and her mother on the other, Rory truly felt that everything was going to be alright, despite recent events.
And for now, that was all she could ask for.
AN: Don't worry, It's not over! Please Please Please Please Review!!