realist ━━ jess mariano

22| crime and punishment

THE NEXT HOUR PASSED BY WITH A BLINK OF AN EYE. She could only faintly recall the sudden pain on the side of her forehead from slamming against the dashboard as a reaction to the abrupt slam on the brake. The first twenty minutes hurt the most, and she could only recall Jess's constant cursing to himself and apologies to her as he sped to the hospital.

     He walked her inside the emergency room, going in with her to doctor's office up until it was time for them to call her guardians. She didn't remember if he said goodbye, she could hardly remember when she realised he wasn't there anymore. But by then, her cut was bandaged and she had the doctor's reassurance that it would only take a week or two to heal, although it might leave a small scar.

    To Rosemary's dismay, the hospital had to call Emily and Richard instead of Lorelai.

    "Rosemary?" She heard Emily's voice from behind her. Turning around, she saw the two walk into the doctors office just as she was being handed additional bandages. "My god, is everything alright?" They rushed inside, examining her bandage. "Is she okay?" They asked the doctor.

"I'm fine."

The doctor nodded, glancing down at her notepad. "She has a small cut on her forehead, we checked for any sign of traumatic injury but she's clear." She said. "The cut should heal within two weeks."

"She doesn't have a concussion, does she?" Richard asked anxiously.

"No, there's no sign of a concussion."

They waited promptly until the doctor left the room to begin the interrogation Rosie knew she'd get. "Well, what happened?" Richard asked hastily. "How did you crash the car?"

"I..." She started, wishing now more than ever than Lorelai was in the room instead. "My friend was driving my car, and there was an animal in front of us— I swear, it came out of nowhere, so he turned and..." She lifted her shoulders.

"He?" Richard repeated with horror. "You let a boy drive your car, Rosemary?"

Rosie squeezed her eyes shut at the mistake she blurted out. "It doesn't matter, I would still be here if it was me driving."

"Well, where is he now?" She questioned her.

She remained silent, shaking her head at the question. The room was still quiet, her parents waiting impatiently for her to answer the question. "He left." She muttered.

"He crashed your car and left you here?" Richard exclaimed.

"He didn't leave until the doctor said I was fine." She said irritably in his defence, although she knew how bad it must've sounded to them.

"Well, how pleasant of him!" Emily exclaimed sardonically. "Give us an address, we should send him a fruit basket to express our thanks!"

Richard sat down on the chair, giving her a disapproving expression. His gaze was so tormented that she had to look away instantly. She drags a hang over her face, feeling instant guilt at how disappointed they were in her. "I'm sorry. I really am, but it was just a small accident."

"You got hurt, they had to bandage your head!"

     "It didn't hurt." She lied.

The door opened, and they all turned to see Lorelai walk in with an alarmed expression. "I came as soon as I heard." She said, looking relived when she saw Rosie seemingly in good shape aside from the bandage. She pulled her into a tight hug.

"Not soon enough." Emily muttered.

"Honey, what happened?" Lorelai asked, ignoring her mother's comment. "Are you okay?"

"Animal on road, street light, small crash." Rosie summarised, growing more and more exasperated from everyone's concern. "I'm fine. It was nothing."

Emily stepped in to fill her daughter on the details Rosie avoided mentioning. "She let a boy drive her car, and he crashed it and left it here."

"You're making it sound way worse than it was." Rosie groaned, digging her face into the palm of her hands in dread of her sister's reaction.

"Boy? What boy?"

"Jess." Rosie responded almost inaudibly, still covering her face.

Lorelai took a moment to process the information, her expression shifting from shock to realisation before finally landing on anger. "Jess?" She repeated, her brows raised and her jaw tensed.

"It was a small accident, not even the car got hurt." She guessed she could mention the shattered headlights a different day, or maybe even fix it herself before they notice it.

"But you did, Rosie." Lorelai gestured to the bandaged cut. "You got hurt."

"This wouldn't have happened if you stayed with us in Hartford." Emily said pointedly. "You know what, you should come back. Clearly, Lorelai isn't watching over you properly."

Rosie's eyes widened. "Woah, woah, woah, let's not jump to that."

"I agree with Emily." Richard said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry, is Hartford a miracle place where car accidents don't happen?" Rosie said snakily, then heaved out a sigh. "And we had a deal. You can't just take this meaningless situation as an opportunity to go against that."

"Rosemary, you're lucky the street light didn't fall on the car!"

    "That never would've happened—"

"Alright, stop." Lorelai interjected. "Rosie is going back home to rest. You can call tomorrow."

"I am sorry." She muttered one last time before leaving the room. Walking out of the hospital room, they made their way to the parking lot. She didn't speak a word to her sister on the way to the car, and she wasn't given much opportunity to from Lorelai's speed walking.

  The two got into Lorelai's car silently. It was quiet for a good five minutes before Rosie couldn't help but say something to cut the torturous tension. "I'm sorry." She let out. "I know you're mad at me for making you look irresponsible in front of them."

"I'm not mad because it made me look irresponsible, Rosie." She said crossly. "I'm mad because I was irresponsible."

"What are you talking about?"

"I should've seen this coming."

Rosie scoffed at how ridiculous that sounded "I'm sorry, did the spirits prophesies this? Been to a fortune teller recently?" She asked sarcastically. "Because you couldn't have predicted this."

"You and Jess, Rosie, I should've seen that coming." She attempted to say calmly, but her intensity still cracking through. "I pushed him away from Rory because I knew he was a bad influence, but I thought you were too smart to be influenced."

    "Influenced by what?" Rosie cried out. "You can't possibly think he did this on purpose."

    Lorelai ignored the assumption, keeping her eyes on the road as they neared their house. She gave herself a moment to think about the situation. "I'm supposed to take care of you, Rosie." She said softly, her own guilt piercing through. "I'm supposed to see things like this coming."

    "Would you stop blaming yourself!" She pleaded before dropping her head. "God, I need a nap." She whined into her hands. 

      When the car stopped outside of their house's driveway, Lorelai could see how utterly tired her sister looked. "Look, I'm sorry." She said sympathetically. "It's not your fault. I'm just glad you're okay, really."

      "It's not his fault." She said in a quiet whisper.

      Lorelai rubbed her back in support. "Go to sleep, Rosie." She suggested softly. "Get some rest."