Rory's Anatomy

Rory had probably never been this frazzled in her life. She was sitting in the middle of the waiting room in the chaotic E.R., waiting for a nurse to slow down enough for her to explain her problem. And it was a pretty big problem, Rory felt.

Somehow, her colleague, Lisa, had managed to rope Rory into babysitting her five year old, Lucy, while Lisa spent a day at the spa, getting ready for her fifth marriage. It had been great, until Lucy had swollen six marbles! Apparently, Lisa had forgotten to mention Lucy's love of marbles.

"Excuse me" Rory called to a passing nurse. "We really need to see a doctor!"

The nurse turned and looked at Rory and Lucy, who was happily playing on her Nintendo.

"Did you fill out a form?" Rory handed her the form. "Six marbles?" The nurse made a face. "Usually they stop a three. I'll page the paediatrician for you."

"Thank you" Rory breathed and felt like hugging the nurse. She turned to look at Lucy again. She didn't appear to be affected by the situation at all, but really, it couldn't be healthy to eat six marbles? She had already left about twenty messages on Lisa's phone, varying between sobbing for help and apologizing and yelling at her to get down to the E.R. Rory sighed; she had a feeling she looked more like the one in need of help than Lucy, who was humming along in the seat next to her.

"Lucy Hale" someone called out and Rory almost jumped out of her seat, pulling Lucy with her.

"That's me, us, her" Rory answered, hurrying to where the doctor were. She helped Lucy on the table and turned to send Lisa another text.

"So, what seems to be the problem?"

"Lucy here swallowed… Oh my god!" Rory dropped her phone in utter shock when she noticed the person sitting in front of Lucy, wearing a labcoat and a stethoscope.

"She swallowed your god" Finn asked, looking amused. He turned to Lucy and gave her a smile. "That's mighty greedy of you."

"I swallowed six marbles" Lucy helpfully supplied.

"Right. Six? Really?" He looked at Rory, who was still looking rather surprised.

"Yeah… It happened pretty fast, but I'm sure it was at least six" she said. "You're the doctor?"

"Hm, they usually stop at three. And yes. I don't sneak into E.R.'s anymore, pretending to be a doctor."

"Oh wow." It pretty much blew Rory's mind to see him sitting there (and knowing that he actually used to sneak into E.R.s pretending to be a doctor). It had been at least five years since she had seen him last, and he had been violently throwing up into a toilet that time. She also couldn't remember a single thing about Finn that pointed in the direction that he would one day end up as a doctor. A paediatrician, no less.

"So love, how've you been" he asked, as he looked into Lucy's mouth.

"Um, fine, I'm fine… Well, obviously I was somehow roped into babysitting, but other than that."

He gave her another smile. "Well you look good, love. And you, too" he said to Lucy. "Were the marbles ordinary marbles?" Lucy nodded and Rory agreed. "No magnets?" They both said no. "Than you should be just fine, love."

"You talk funny" Lucy said with a smile.

"Maybe you're the one who talks funny" he said, still smiling.

"Nooo" Lucy denied, also smiling. "Can I have a lollipop?" Rory noticed that he had several lollipops in his front pocket in the labcoat.

"You can have two, if you promise to lay off the marbles!"

Lucy nodded solemnly and he gave her the lollipops with a smile, as Rory's phone started to ring. "Oh thank god" she breathed and answered it. "Hey Lisa. No, she's fine, we're with the doctor right now… Oh, um yeah, sure…" She handed the phone to Finn. "She wants to talk to you?"

Finn stared at the phone like he'd never seen one before. "And who she might be?"

"Lucy's mom."

"Oh great… I love moms" he said with a face. "Hello?"

Finn had a brief conversation with Lisa, as Rory sat down next to Lucy, helping her with the lollipop wrapper. "Promise never to eat marbles ever again?"

"I promise" Lucy said (she was lying, Rory just knew it) and put the lollipop in her mouth.

"Well, young miss Hale, you have a very worried mother who will be here shortly to pick you up and I suggest you finish those two before she gets here, because she did not sound happy" Finn said, handing the phone back to Rory. He found a chart and wrote something down and then he stood and began to walk away.

"Wait, so she'll be fine" Rory asked, following him (Lucy was already fully engrossed in her Nintendo again).

"Yes. Well, I might think about some therapy for her marble fetish, but other than that."

"Oh okay… Um…" Rory shuffled a little. Meeting Finn again, like this, it was so random and she wasn't sure how to act.

"Don't worry, love, I won't mention You-Know-Who" he said, looking over a new chart.

"Voldemort?"

"Well, him either… But I was thinking a little blonder and a lot shorter."

"Oh right… Logan" Rory said, looking at her feet. "I doubt he'll turn up just because we say his name."

"Would you like him too" Finn asked, finally looking up from the chart.

"No, me and Logan ended a long time ago. It was for the best, he just didn't understand that at the time."

"I see."

"You two still hang out" she asked.

Finn shrugged. "We had a fallout some odd four years ago. Colin dutifully calls me once a month to make annoying chitchat and his lovely wife still turns up unannounced every once in a while to make sure I have a full fridge and clean underwear."

"Colin's married?"

"Yeah, he knocked up Stephanie a couple of months after graduation. And when Stephanie's father finally caught up with him in Amsterdam, well, it was an easy decision, I think."

"Wow…"

"I know, it's like a modern fairy tale."

Rory looked over her shoulder to make sure Lucy was still playing with her Nintendo. "What happened between you and Logan."

"He didn't approve of my lifestyle choices, I believe. Honestly, I didn't ask." He gave her another smile. "You look good, love. How's life been?"

"Ok, I guess. Got engaged last year."

"Really? Congratulation."

"It didn't last, he was a photographer and well… He was more interested in taking pictures of the war in Congo than discussing who to invite to the wedding, so it ended. I understand him, it was just a bit of a blow…" Rory wasn't sure why she was telling him all that.

"Sorry about that. But Africa is a tough thing to beat, it draws you in."

"You've been there?"

"Yeah, Congo and Sudan with Doctors Without Boarders."

Rory was just about to reply when Lisa almost blew into the E.R. like a deranged hurricane consisting of Chanel and foundation. "I better go take care of this…"

"It was nice seeing you" Finn said and with one last smile he disappeared behind a white door.

Lisa had, thankfully, not been angry, she was just upset that Lucy had, once again, managed to eat a lot of marbles. They had let Lucy finish her last lollipop while they talked a little about the forthcoming wedding between Lisa and entrepreneur John Hart. Rory wondered how many surnames Lisa could pick up before she finally settled down, but didn't say anything and just smiled as Lisa started to talk about the bridesmaids' dresses.

When Lisa and Lucy finally walked out of the E.R., Rory had made a decision; she would ask Finn out for a drink. It was late afternoon, so it wasn't like it was completely far fetched to have a drink with a friend, right? Even if said friend had never really been her friend, but a friend of a boyfriend and she didn't actually know much more about him than his first name and his great love of everything alcohol.

"Um, I was wondering if doctor…." Rory stopped herself. She didn't actually know his last name. The nurse looked at her expectantly. "Um, this is going to sound weird, but I don't actually know his last name, but his first name is Finn and he's a paediatrician… Do you know when he get off?"

The nurse gave her a knowing smile. "He's off at six…. Happens all the time" she muttered and walked away.

Rory briefly debated dropping the idea of asking him out for a drink, but her curiosity won out and she finally sat down with a cup of coffee and a book, waiting for the clock to turn six.

"Good god, you're not actually drinking that tar?"

Rory smiled and looked at the almost full cop of coffee in her hand "Gave up after a sip."

"Good. That stuff will give you an ulcer! Are you waiting for someone?"

"Actually, I was kinda wondering if you'd like to have a drink with me" Rory asked, fighting the blush.

"Can't… But how about I buy you a burger? There's a diner around the corner."

"Oh okay, sure…" Rory got up and followed him out of the hospital and around the corner to the diner.

They sat down opposite each other and Rory suddenly noticed how different Finn actually looked. He still looked the same, the black hair, easy smile and green eyes, but he looked tired and he wasn't as tan as he used to be.

They ordered and Finn gave her a look. "So, you just couldn't resist my manly charms?"

"Something like that" she said with a smile. "What was wrong with drinks?"

"Well, nothing, but I don't think my sponsor or my employers would be too impressed if I went on a binge."

"Sponsor?"

He gave her another smile. "Really love, you didn't see the signs in college?"

She shrugged a little. "I guess I never gave it much thought."

"Yeah me neither, until I woke up and had no idea where I was. You know, that Hangover movie is a lot more realistic than one might think."

"Really? Did you wake up in a hotel room with a tiger?"

"No, it was three penguins and a mongoose. I still have no idea how they ended up there!" He winked at her. "Why didn't you marry Logan?"

"It wasn't right. I think I never truly forgave him for all those bridesmaids and I think we just had different ideas about our future. I wasn't ready to marry. What really happened between the two of you?"

"Well, after a very successful trip to Las Vegas, where we woke up with all those lovely zoo animals, I was forced by my parents to take a good hard look at my life and trust me, it was not pretty. So off to rehab I went and Logan didn't approve."

"Why not?"

Finn shrugged. "You know Logan. Everyone has to stay on the bandwagon and party with him. He was still hurting after you turned him down, I think, but I couldn't keep pawning my liver to his misery. We broke it off when I didn't want to go an a three month trip to Monaco."

Rory nodded. Logan had been headstrong, that she remembered, and he didn't like it when things didn't go his way. "But you still talk to Colin and Stephanie? That's good?" It made Rory a little sad that she had lost contact with them all (well, except for Paris, who she was apparently to be buried with when they died). It wasn't like she had been tight with any of them, but they had had a lot of fun and she had really liked Stephanie.

"Yeah, Steph waters my plants and feed Hunter Thompson when I'm away."

"Hunter S. Thompson?"

"Don't laugh, Gilmore! A man gets lonely!" He rolled his eyes. "I came home late one night and there was this miserable little creature sitting on my steps and it would have taken someone with a truly cold heart not to take him in and feed him. And he just stayed around after that and I named him that because it felt right."

"Aw Finn, that's really sweet." He had certainly turned out differently than she imagined, what with him travelling with Doctors Without Boarders and adopting stray cats.

"What can I say, I'm a sweet guy. The sweetest actually, which you might want to mention to some of your single girlfriends."

"So you're not dating the hot nurse from ICU?"

"Oh I wish. Unfortunately I'm not living in a Grey's Anatomy episode. And I've slept with most of the nurses and now they all hate me."

"I'm pretty sure that's like the definition of a Grey's Anatomy episode" Rory pointed out.

"Yeah well, if you have any hot girlfriends who likes a guy who's never home, has a spoiled cat and absolutely hates vacuum-cleaning, let me know."

"I'll be sure to check my address book" Rory said with a half smile.

"As a thank you, I'll fix you up with Bill from radiology. He has really big front teeth and still lives with his mother."

"Gee thank you Finn."

He gave her a wicked smile. "Misery loves company."

"Apparently" she snorted and took a sip of her coffee, that was thankfully much better than the crap she had gotten at the hospital. "It's weird, seeing you again after all this time" she said, looking at him again. "I know we were never really that close at Yale, but still… I felt like when I turned down Logan I lost all of you and that kinda sad."

"Breakups are supposed to be sad" he said, "and when you break up with someone you break up with all their friends as well. Stephanie was sad too, for a while. She really liked you."

"I imagine Shira threw a party."

"Well, it was more like a soiree, really. Or a mixer, one might call it."

"I'm so happy I am not stuck with her as a mother in law." Rory shuttered. The mere thought alone was enough to give her nightmares.¨

He looked at a clock. "I hate to eat and run, but I am really tired and I have an early shift in the morning. But listen, love; it was really great to see you again. Don't be a stranger, yeah? And bring that marble eating wonder with you some time, I'll be sure to stock up on lollipops." He gave her a kiss on the cheek before he left the diner.

Rory decided to call up Stephanie after her evening with Finn, asking her if she wanted to go to lunch, which she agreed to. They didn't have a lot in common anymore, but Rory liked spending time with her anyways and Stephanie would give her small updates on all the people she used to know. Logan had apparently met a very nice cocktail waitress named Candy, which had made Shira miss the good old days where he was dating Rory. Colin was working in his father's law firm and Robert had bought a parrot named Polly.

She didn't see Finn again after their dinner together. Rory had mulled over their conversation a lot, and even walked past the hospital a few times, but she hadn't gone in. she wasn't sure why, maybe she was afraid of getting close to him or maybe their meeting was just a one time affair, a chance meeting between old acquaintances and that was all.

A couple of months after first going to lunch with Stephanie, she has told Rory that Finn had signed up for another trip with MSF and would be going to Pakistan for an extended stay. Stephanie had been violently opposed, but he had been adamant, and Rory, who had been engaged to someone like that, could understand both their viewpoints. She admired Finn for his commitment and his ability to turn his life around. Maybe when he got back she would give him a call and take a leap of faith? Anything had to be better than Bill from radiology and actually, she kinda liked cats.

A/N: I am, in fact, not dead. Just wanted to make that clear. I'm sorry about the lack of updates, especially because all your reviews have been so lovely and nice and a lot of other really positive words… So yeah, sorry about me dropping off the radar. I haven't been in the mood to write for a long time and whenever I tried, it was crap. I'm actually not overly fond of this little tidbit either, but I wanted to put something out there.

Again, huge thanks to everyone who reviews – if I could I would send each and ever one of you a basket of cookies and macarons (my new guilty pleasure), and you would love them because I rock at baking, but unfortunately you'll all have to settle for my undying gratitude instead. Sucks to be you, I know. But review anyway, and if you're sitting around with an idea for a oneshot of something like that, don't be shy! Share! I love sharing!

Lots of love Anne

Oh, and roseinthegarden: you sent me a PM, but you've disabled the PM function, so I couldn't PM you back (believe me, I tried). I'll answer here in stead: First of, thank you so much, flatter will get you everywhere! I'm not too sure about an epilogue for Gilmore Girls continued, but I won't rule it out. Maybe when I'm past exams and other evil stuff like that, I'll sit my ass down and write a proper ending. I hope you'll be patient enough for that.

Oh and another thing: how many of you are excited for this Friday? I can hardly wait myself, but I'm a sucker for those kinds of things. And Harry….