Author's Note: My story, "Accidents Happen," is based on the wonderful "Gilmore Girls" television series and the amazing characters created by…not me!

Accidents Happen

Chapter Fourteen: The Line

She woke in a cold sweat, screaming in fear and clutching the sheet she was wrapped in close to her. She started to hyperventilate. She shook out of fear and cold. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them close to her.

"No!" she screamed. "No, no, no!"

"Rory! Rory, baby, what is it? Are you okay?" Jess asked quickly, rushing into the bedroom and leaping onto the bed. He had been in the bathroom and ran in as soon as he heard her screams.

"No! No way. This is not happening! This is not happening to me. I can't believe that this is happening, that this happened."

"Rory, you're okay. It's okay. You're safe. I promise that you're safe, Rory. It was just a dream." Jess wrapped his arms around Rory and hugged her close to him.

"No! It wasn't a dream, Jess, it was real. I remember the accident. I remember everything that happened that day. I know who hit me."

"Are you sure, Rory? Are you really sure?"

"I'm positive. Oh, my God! I think I'm going to be sick!" Rory jumped from the bed and ran into the bathroom, making it to the toilet before she vomited. She sat on the cool tile floor of the bathroom and cried.

Jess stood outside the bathroom door and watched Rory. He felt helpless. She was beside herself and he didn't know what he could do to help her. Jess was almost positive that Rory had just dreamed the memories of the accident, but she seemed so certain about what she had seen in her dream.

After leaving her alone for a few minutes, Jess went into the bathroom and sat on the floor beside her. He pulled her hair back away from her face and wiped her tears away with a tissue.

"Rory, are you okay?" Jess asked.

"I will be," Rory said, sniffling. "I remember what happened, Jess. I just have to learn to deal with it."

"What do you remember?" Jess asked her quietly. "What happened?"

"I remember the dog. It was a German Shepherd. I was on the phone with Mom when I heard a screech. I looked up and saw this car speeding toward me. It was a silver BMW convertible with the top up. It side-swiped my car and then it hit me. I hurt everywhere. I was laying on the ground on the side of the road for what seemed like hours. Then I remember hearing the footsteps."

"The footsteps?"

"The driver was coming over to check on me. He touched me and started talking to me. He apologized for hitting me, kept saying it wasn't supposed to happen. Then he said goodbye and left. He ran. He left me on the side of that road and he didn't know if I was alive or dead. He thought I was dead. I could hear the sirens, so the police must have been close. I'm surprised they didn't see the car, but it doesn't surprise me. Money can make anything happen."

"Money?" Jess asked, confused. "What does money have to do with this?"

"Yeah," Rory said. "After all, money talks. It buys expensive lawyers, creates alibis out of thin air, makes expensive cars disappear and makes evidence go up in smoke."

"Rory, you mean you really know who hit you? You know who it was?"

"Oh, yeah," Rory said. "I know exactly who it was."

"Who was it, Rory?" Jess asked, afraid of her answer. She had been hit not far outside Stars Hollow, which indicated that Rory would know whoever it was. Based on her reaction, she knew whoever it was very well.

"No. Not yet. I need to tell the police what happened first. I need to make sure that my testimony isn't tainted."

"When did you get so Law & Order?"

"I'm serious, Jess."

"I know you are. Rory, you can tell me. I promise, you can tell me. Who was it?"

"No," Rory replied. "You'll kill him."

"Rory, you have to tell me. I promise, I'll let the cops do their job and I won't kill anyone. You have to tell me who hurt you or I'll go crazy!"

"I need to tell the police first," Rory said, jumping to her feet. "I'm sorry, but when you find out what happened, you'll really go crazy, Jess, and you will kill him. Actually, you'll have to get in line to kill him, and it'll most likely be a really long line! I've got the phone number of that detective in my purse."

"Hurry up and call him," Jess said. "I need to know what's going on, Rory. I don't like being in the dark with this one."

"I'll be out in a few minutes," Rory said. "This is something I have to do by myself."

"I understand," Jess said quietly with a reassuring smile as she locked herself in the bathroom. "I'll be out here when you're done."

Jess started thinking about what Rory had told him about her memories of the accident: the car, recognizing the man who hit her, and money. Lots of money.

"Oh, my God, Rory. No. No way in hell. Oh, fuck!" Jess muttered, finally putting all the pieces together. "That son of a bitch! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Jess started slamming things around the apartment, like drawers and cabinet doors. "God damn him!" In a fit of rage, Jess punched the closed front door, shaking his bloodied fist and then he cursed himself for being so stupid.

Jess crossed the room to his jacket to find his cell phone in his pocket. He started to dial a familiar phone number and then quickly he flipped his phone shut before completing the call. He needed to be supportive of Rory. This mess was Rory's mess and he needed to help her deal with it in her own way.

"It's probably a good idea to wait," Jess thought to himself as he put the phone back in his pocket. "Luke and Lorelai would be at the front of the line to kill Huntzberger."

Jess needed to find out information about his enemy so that he could protect Rory and help assure that he would go to jail for a long time and that he would pay for what he did to her. He unhooked his laptop from its power supply and brought it from the bedroom and into the living room. He sat on the couch and balanced his computer on his lap.

"Man, I love Google," Jess said with a half-smile as the search engine revealed up to the minute information about Logan's newest business venture in San Francisco.

When Rory came out of the bathroom, she had obviously calmed down, but her eyes were rimmed in red and her face was tear-stained.

"How did it go?" Jess asked. "Did they believe you?"

"Yeah, they did. It came as a bit of a shock, but they said that it fits with the forensic evidence they gathered from the scene of the accident," Rory said as she sat down on the couch beside Jess. "I still need to make an official statement when I get back next week, but he said that they would approach the DA about getting a search warrant."

She glanced at the computer screen and saw all of the search results about Logan Huntzberger.

"Hey, Jess, how did you know it was Logan that hit me?"

"I figured it out," Jess said. "It all fit, Rory. Come here," he said, pulling her close to him and wrapping his arms around him. "I'm so sorry about all of this. I wish you didn't have to deal with all of this shit. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I guess I am okay. It's tough to think that I lived with a man who was capable of leaving someone he supposedly loved enough to want to marry for dead on the side of the road after a hit and run accident."