Thanks for all the great reviews…keep them coming! This story "Accidents Happen" is based on the wonderful "Gilmore Girls" television series and characters created by…not me!

Accidents Happen

Chapter Two Sleeping Beauty

Jess blindly followed Lorelai through the glass doors into the ICU. He felt as though he was in a daze, not quite sure where he was, how he got there, or why he was there. Then, reality came rushing back to him: an accident. Rory.

He heard the whirs and beeps of machines keeping people alive and felt what he could only describe as a lead weight fall into the pit of his stomach. One of those machines could be keeping Rory alive, too, he thought. He quickly pushed the thought from his mind, not wanting to think about her like that, but he couldn't keep the tears from coming to his eyes.

"You can't do that," Lorelai said firmly.

"What?"

"You can't cry. I won't allow it. If you cry, then I'll cry, and I can't cry."

"I'm not crying," Jess said, a little too defensively.

"Oh, okay. My mistake. Here," she said, stopping outside of a hospital room. "This is Rory's room."

"Here? Already?"

"Sorry, kid. It's now or never. What's it going to be?"

"Now or never?"

"Jess, you came. I didn't think you would, but I'm so glad that you did. Luke said you would, that you were just like him, but I didn't listen. I can be so stubborn sometimes – I'm trying to work on that. Anyway, you came, but that's only the first step. You need to go in there and try to wake her up."

"That's what Luke said. What happened to Rory, Lorelai? What's going on?"

"Go on in and see her for yourself. You can only stay in for 10 minutes though. Her doctor will be stopping by and needs to see her. I'll come in and get you before the doctor comes."

"Can I talk to him?"

"The doctor? Sure, you can talk to her," Lorelai said pointedly, a smile flashed on her lips for a split second. "Come on, tick tock. Go in there, Jess. Rory needs all the motivation she can get. I'll be right out here."

Jess took a deep breath and pushed the door to Rory's room open. He didn't know what to expect, but he was blown away by what he saw. He knew it had been Lorelai. No one else would transform a hospital room into the spitting image of Rory's bedroom from her home in Stars Hollow.

All her travel posters, her Yale memorabilia, framed photos of her friends and family, it was all there. Her bed was covered with real sheets, not hospital sheets. Stuffed animals and throw pillows were arranged on the small couch and chairs that were in one corner. And her books, they were everywhere. Jess knew that they couldn't all be there, but there was definitely a great selection of her favorites piled about.

On the rolling table next to her bed, there was a reading light and three books with bookmarks tucked carefully inside: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and The Subsect by Jess Mariano.

He couldn't help but smile at the fact that his little book was on that table surrounded by classic works of literature. He could hear Rory yelling at him in his mind for referring to his book as little. To him, while an amazing accomplishment, it was nothing like the other books that they read, reread, and discussed all those years ago.

Out of curiosity, he picked the copy of his book up, opening to the page where he assumed she had left off. A piece of paper fluttered to his feet. He bent to pick it up and saw a picture of them. He grinned. They looked so happy. Then he frowned, suddenly remembering that he had probably left Stars Hollow before that picture had been developed. He shook that memory from his head. He and Rory had already had it out about his leaving and now was not the time to revisit that. He flipped the picture over and slipped it back into place. As he did, he noticed that she had made notes in the margins, had underlined lines or words, and had questions posed for the author. He just shook his head in surprise at how much and yet how little had changed.

After acclimating himself to her room for a few minutes, he finally got up the courage to actually look at Rory. She was beautiful as always, but her beauty was peeking out from beneath a bandaged and left eye. She was hooked to a monitor, had oxygen tubes coming from her nose, IV tubes coming from her arm, and a tube coming from a catheter into a collection bag. There was a stitched cut closed with a butterfly bandage on her right cheek. Her right arm was in a cast as were both of her legs. He assumed her right leg was worse since it was in traction.

Aside from all that, she looked like a princess from a fairy tale, like Sleeping Beauty. Her hair was shorter than it had been when she came to see him in Philadelphia and he wondered when she had cut it. He liked it, though. Somehow, it suited her. It made her look older, more sophisticated.

He stepped toward Rory slowly. He carefully lowered himself into the chair that was positioned beside her bed and he perched on the edge. He reached out and took Rory's hand in his, holding it carefully in one hand while softly running his fingers over the back of her hand with the other.

She mumbled incoherently upon his touch.

"Rory? Rory, it's me. It's Jess. Rory, please, wake up. You have to wake up. There is so much we need to talk about and so much lost time we need to make up for. I need you, Rory. I need you to wake up."

Rory mumbled again, but she softly squeezed Jess' hand.

"Rory, can you hear me? Rory, if you can hear me, will you squeeze my hand again?"

Rory squeezed Jess' hand again and mumbled a bit louder and so Jess could hear what she said.

"You came."

"Oh, Rory. Of course I came. I just wish you just called and asked me to come. God, Rory, you need to wake up so that I can talk to you."

"Jess, the doctor's ready to see Rory," Lorelai told him from the door. "We've got to leave them alone for a little while."

"Just let me tell her what's going on," Jess said. "I'll be out in just a minute."

"Okay," Lorelai said. "Come meet me and Luke in the family room. It's right around the corner." She let the door close behind her on the way out.

"Rory, I will be back as soon as I can. I want to talk to you and tell you all about what has been going on with me and about the new things I'm doing at work. I brought some new stuff that I'm working on and I want your opinion. I know I haven't had be best track record with keeping my promises, but I really mean it. I'll be back soon. I promise."

Jess squeezed her hand gently and waited until he felt Rory squeeze his hand back in response before he let go. He stood and leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. Unable to help himself, he kissed her again, on the lips this time and he swore he felt him return his kiss.

"I love you, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore," Jess said before he left her room.

Before he met Luke and Lorelai, he needed some time to himself to collect his thoughts and make since of what was happening. He ducked into the men's room and locked himself inside a stall. He let the emotions from the past few hours out and he let the tears escape his eyes. He got himself under control and he splashed some cold water on his face and washed his hands before he left the restroom and found Luke and Lorelai.