Under different circumstances

[Lorelai]

In an effort to be prepared for any eventuality, Lorelai carried a number of names, addresses and phone numbers in her purse. It was perhaps an outdated method of carrying ones ‘in case of emergency’ information but it worked for her and she really wasn’t all that trusting of her mobile. With her newly acquired hacking sills, she was learning that technology was a hell of a lot less secure than it ought to have been. Today, her efforts to be prepared were to be rewarded. Though rewarded wasn’t a word that fit well with the situation she was to find herself in.

Lorelai was out shopping when the pain cut through her abdomen. At first she didn’t worry, as it was manageable but then it intensified. Knowing that something was wrong, she placed both hands on her stomach and concentrated her powers into herself. Sorcerers were known for their healing abilities but whatever was wrong wasn’t something she could fix and she realised this just moments before she collapsed unconscious in the middle of the supermarket.

* * *

When Lorelai came to, she was in a brightly lit room. Through blurry eyes and heavy eyelids, she was unable to fully take in her surroundings and yet the feeling she had was all too familiar to her and so she instinctively knew that she was in the hospital. She'd not been out for long, a few hours perhaps but it was long enough that her mother and Lyle were not far out. Panic set in when she realised where she was and that she was alone. She began clawing at the bed sheets, fighting to free herself from their clinic grip as they were tightly wrapped around her body. The sudden flurry of movement notified her next door neighbour that she was alive and well and so she spoke up.

"Err...There's a call button on your right if you need something. You don't need to go looking for a nurse."

Of course this wasn't what Lorelai was doing. She was going home. Hospitals had an oppressive atmosphere that she couldn't handle alone what with the overwhelming energies of fear and depression threatening to choke her. She was far too sensitive to the energies of others, something she put down to her sorcerer roots wherein energy seemed to be the be-all and end-all of their powers. Without someone there to focus on, someone with a more calming and loving energy, she knew she wouldn't be able to stay in the place.

Having ignored the words of her neighbour, she stumbled out of bed, whereupon the red-headed female in her late thirties decided she'd best call the nurse on Lorelai's behalf. There was a space of a few minutes between her pushing the button and the nurse coming in, which proved just long enough for Lorelai to gather her strength and be heading for the exit.

"Back to bed now."

The kindly nurse grabbed Lorelai by the arm and began to both support and guide her back to her place.

"My baby. How's my baby?"

Lorelai allowed the woman to distract her and bring her back to the bed, even if she knew she wasn't going to be staying there long. As soon as the coast was clear she'd make another escape attempt. At least that was her plan right up until the nurse told her that she should rest until her family arrived.

"What? My family? They are coming here?"

The nurse had managed to get her seated on the bed but knowing that her parents would be walking into the lion’s den if they stepped foot inside the city limits made Lorelai feel sick. They couldn't protect themselves. Not from what was out there. If she was with them, then perhaps they stood a chance, perhaps she'd be able to distract a supernatural attacker long enough for them to get away but alone, in Harper Rock, they stood no chance.

It was a valid if not slightly irrational fear. Yes the city posed a danger to those that dwelt within but the number of humans vastly outweighed the number of vampires and then there were the champions of human kind, the paladins who were helping to keep the fragile citizens safe. The chances of her family becoming victims within the first few hours of their time in the city were slight to non-existent. Regardless, she couldn't shake the feeling that they shouldn't be there.

So distracted she was by the possible plight of her family, that it failed to register with her that the nurse had fobbed her off. The question as to her baby's health had gone unanswered. She would have to wait until her parents arrived before she would be given answers. Of all the worries going through her mind, this one had failed to find its place among them.

[Lorelai]

Lorelai tried once more to escape before the nurses decided it might be an idea to give her a mild sedative to help her relax, so when her mother and Lyle, her ex-boyfriend and father of her unborn child, finally arrived, she was asleep. They didn't have to wait long for her to wake though, as the sounds of their voices roused her from her unnatural slumber.

"Mother?"

Her first words were as much a habit as they were an understanding of who was in the room with her, any female voice at that moment would have been attributed to the woman that had given her life. The petite blonde went about pacifying her child as soon as she realised that she was awake, by stroking her hair and cheek and telling her that she was there.

After a few minutes of grogginess Lorelai's head began to clear, as did her vision and she was able to ascertain that the male voice was in fact that of Lyle and not that of her father. A small groan escaped her lips and she rolled her eyes as she processed this particular piece of information and began to right herself in the bed. As she struggled to sit up under her own power, both her visitors moved to make her more comfortable.

"What's he doing here?"

Her whispered tone was not quite as discrete as she could have hoped and Lyle shot her a pained look, as he finally allowed himself to see that she had no real feelings left for him.

"Now don't be ungrateful Lorelai. Lyle has every right to be here. You know that."

The woman muffled her words with a hug and a kiss, an action that sent a shooting pain through Lorelai. It was only then that she knew something was terribly wrong. She may have noticed this earlier, had her head not been so full of the need to escape but now in the presence of those she loved, she was less eager to leave the clinical institution to which she'd been brought.

"My baby?"

She looked into her mother's blue eyes, that were like mirrors of her own, hoping to find the answers there she sought. The knowledge that was escaping her, a comfort that only her mother could provide, but there was no such spark within those light blue orbs.

"We haven't seen the doctor yet Lorelai. The nurse said she'd fetch him when we arrived. That was..."
"A while ago," Lyle finished off Linda's sentence before adding, "I'll go and see if I can hurry him along."

He didn't waste any time, in less than a few seconds, he was out of the door and looking for someone that could help him track down Lorelai's doctor. Linda stayed at her daughter's side and tried to keep her calm. There were certain aspects of her life that she was not allowed to mention and so, in the hopes of distracting her child, she began to tell her all about her journey and her thoughts on the city so far. Lorelai half expected the lecture to follow, the one in which her mother told her that she never should have left home and that she'd abandoned her family to go on her frivolous pursuit of god knows what, but it never came. Her mother was all smiles, her words carefully chosen and oddly optimistic.

They were laughing together when the doctor came in, a grave look on his face, Lyle following on his heels like the faithful puppy Lorelai knew him to be. The silence before he spoke was palpable and then as he found his voice, Lorelai’s world was truly ripped asunder.

[Lorelai]

She couldn't breathe for the tears and was soon sedated. To lose a child was one thing but she would still have to bring him into the world. Even as her eyes closed, she could not fathom the pain the next few days would bring. The fact that her mother was there gave her strength and yet even that was not enough. Lyle too was beside himself, his usual steady demeanour had vanished along with his hope of becoming a father. He'd welcomed the chance to be bonded to Lorelai in such an intimate way. He had been happy and excited at the prospect of having a son. New life was so very precious and he'd not for one moment feared that anything like this could happen. As Lorelai slept, her mother consoled him. He was young. He had time. It simply wasn't meant to be. All the usual platitudes. Of course the discussion soon turned to the path that Lorelai had started on and how if she'd of remained at home that none of this would have happened. Of course nothing was certain and they would never know if that was actually true or not. If he wasn't still so in love with Lorelai, he might have allowed himself to hate her. If he was smart, he'd of hardened his heart to her long ago. She was never going to marry him. He was not her future, even if he felt that she was his.

Hours later, Lorelai awoke to find herself cradled in Lyle's arms. For the briefest of moments she thought his arms might be that of another, the arms of someone whom she'd of loved to have awoken in but it just wasn't so. She rolled onto her back with a little effort and gently stroked Lyle's cheek.

"Lyle," she whispered, as the pain of everything she knew threatened to bring on another fit of hysterics. "Lyle... Is my mother still here?"

The poor guy opened his puff eyes and looked into hers. Despite everything she had ever said to him, her eyes were never unkind, at least not when directed at him and so he pulled her closer and gently kissed her lips.

"I'm sorry Lorelai."

That was all he managed to say. The question as to her mother's whereabouts was to go unanswered as she wrapped herself around him and buried her face in his chest. He may be a puppy dog, but he was her puppy dog and he'd known that she'd need him when she woke. If she weren't so wracked with pain and guilt over the death of her child, she might have wondered if this kind of love was what she had really been searching for all this time. Lyle loved and respected her. He knew her and was capable of anticipating her needs. He wanted to know her in every way possible. Neither her darkest thoughts nor her sharpest words had ever been enough to drive him away. Now, when she needed someone most, he was the one that was there to comfort her; their shared grief bringing them closer than ever. She may have asked for her mother. She may have desired to be in the arms of another. But if she were completely honest with herself, this was exactly where she wanted, if not needed, to be.