Luke returned to the dim room and sat down by Jess' bed.
"Luke?" Jess's hoarse voice was barely audible.
"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. Get some rest."
The ice pack had slipped off and he smoothed Jess' hair back and placed it back on his forehead.
Luke sat back in the recliner and stared at the monitor trying to will the numbers to move in a more favorable direction. He remembered sitting in a similar room eighteen years ago, watching his dad slip away, and tried to remind himself that this was not the same. Jess would be okay. Luke would be okay. Everything would be okay.
He awoke from an uncomfortable sleep in the chair to the sound of Jess' steady, hacking coughs. He lifted his nephew to a sitting position to help him breathe easier. Jess leaned his head against Luke's shoulder as the rattling coughs shook him. Luke rubbed his back gently as his coughs slowly subsided. Looking at the clock on the bedside table he saw that it was four in the morning. There was a soft knock on the door and the nurse, Maria, came into the room.
"Everything okay?"
"He's just been coughing again." Luke said. Jess didn't lift his head or move at all. She came over and listened to Jess' breathing with her stethoscope. She adjusted his oxygen and pillows, lifting the head of the bed a bit so that he was in more of a sitting position.
"Jess, how are you feeling?" She asked.
He didn't respond. "Jess, can you hear me?"
Jess gave a non-committal grunt.
"Can you tell me how you're feeling?"
Jess started coughing again, his face scrunched up in pain. Finally, after a long minute or two of coughing he managed to half open his eyes. Luke got right in front of him and said gently, "Hey kid, can you hear me?"
"I'm okay," came the exhausted whisper. Jess' eyes closed again.
Maria hung another bag of fluids and made some notes on Jess' chart.
Luke sat back in the recliner and closed his eyes.
Rory woke up to Lorelai's face inches from her own. "Hey kiddo, are you awake?"
"Mom, what are you doing? It's not even light outside!"
"Can you be awake?"
Rory sat up. "What's going on? What time is it?"
"It's six thirty."
"On a Saturday?"
"I know. Get dressed."
"Get dressed for what? This is our do nothing weekend! The whole point is to do nothing." Rory whined.
"We're going to New York."
"New York City?" Rory said it in the Pace picante sauce voice.
"Come on, get dressed, I'll catch you up in the car."
Lorelai's voice was weirdly serious. Rory got out of bed, grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweater and ran to the bathroom. She washed her face and brushed her teeth. She threw a couple of books into her backpack and grabbed her wallet and beeper. As she jumped in the front seat of the already running Jeep, Lorelai handed her a steaming thermos of coffee.
"Okay, so what's going on mystery woman?"
Lorelai looked over her shoulder, pulling out of the driveway. "So, Luke called me at one in the morning."
"Rude."
"To tell me that he and Jess are at the hospital in Woodbury because Jess has pneumonia."
"What? But I thought it was just the flu? I saw him Thursday morning, how could he be hospital sick?"
"I don't know. It sounds pretty serious, Luke said they're keeping him for a few days."
"But he's going to be okay?"
"I hope so."
"So wait, why are we going to New York?"
"Luke asked me to go pick up Liz."
"Liz? Like Jess' mom, Luke's sister, Liz?"
"No, Liz Cheney."
"Okay, dumb question, it's just a lot to process."
"I know. It's an adventure, but not like a fun adventure. A serious adventure," Lorelai said as she pulled onto the highway.
"A mission," Rory added.
"Yeah, we're on a mission."
Almost two hours later they turned off the FDR onto 25th street. "It's so crazy that we're going to meet Jess' mom," Rory said.
"What do you think she'll be like?" Lorelai asked, "I'm picturing a cool rocker chick, like Lori Mattix."
"Yeah maybe, I don't know. Jess never really talks about her, I have no idea. I kinda got the impression she might be…a little unstable."
"I guess we're about to find out," Lorelai said as they turned onto 2nd Avenue, heading down towards the Lower East Side. The address Luke had given her was deep on the LES, almost in Alphabet City. They pulled up in front of a place above a takeout joint and a deli with a window display full of hookahs. Lorelai got out and rang the buzzer at the door next to the smoke shop. "I'll be down in a minute," came a garbled response through the ancient intercom.
A woman with short blonde hair in black jeans with a Metallica t-shirt under her oversized jean jacket came rushing out the door. "Hey, I'm Liz, Luke's sister. You must be Lorelai! Thanks so much for the ride, you didn't have to do all this. Luke worries too much, I would have gotten the bus or the Metro North. Is this your Jeep? I dig the yellow!"
As they got to the Jeep Rory climbed into the back seat to let Liz have the front. "Liz, this is my daughter, Rory."
"Oh wow, nice to meet you, Rory, do you know Jess, my son?"
"I do, we're friends."
"Oh that's great, I knew he'd do great there, he's such a good kid and a hard worker."
"Jess?" Lorelai asked as they pulled away, trying not to sound too incredulous.
"Oh yeah, he's such a sweetheart and he works so hard at school and his after school jobs, in the summer he volunteers at the library. He always helped me with money and the cooking and cleaning. I really miss him. Thanks again so much for the ride. I really appreciate it. I feel like the universe has really brought us together today, and I'm so glad that it's brought rad people like you into my brother's life."
Lorelai was baffled. It sounded like Liz was describing a completely different person from the one she knew. "Well, Luke has done a lot for us over the years. We owe him big time for the caffeine alone."
"Oh yeah, he's stubborn as a bull but you'll never meet a person with a better heart. Are you two dating?"
"Me and Luke? No, just good friends for many years."
"That's funny, you seem like exactly his type."
"'Me, no, more like the friend type. Do you mind if we listen to some music?"
"Oh sure, what you got?"
"Uh Rory, what's in the CD changer?"
"Bangles, The Kinks, The Cramps, Bananarama, Bowie…and I think Garbage."
"Shit, just hit shuffle, that all sounds great to me! Who knew my old stick in the mud brother had such cool friends?"
"Have you heard from Luke? Any update on Jess."
Liz's whole countenance changed for a second, and Lorelai realized that the manic chatter that rivaled her own usual garrulous nature was masking Liz's fear and concern. "Oh no, not since the middle of the night. He caught me just as I was getting home from work. I'm sorry he called and woke you up so late!"
"No bother at all," said Lorelai, merging back onto FDR as the first chords of "I Was a Teenage Werewolf" came over the stereo.