Chicken Pox

It was a busy day at the Independence Inn. Lorelai Gilmore was running herself ragged working the front desk. Just as Michel was talking in her ear about some wedding guests arriving for their event, the front desk phone rang.

"Independence Inn. This is Lorelai Gilmore speaking….. Oh, hi, Mrs. Saunders… What?... Rory has the chicken pox? Oh….. is she burning up?... 102? Oh, God….." Lorelai bit her lip. "I don't know if I can get away from the Inn…. Of course, I understand you have to send her home…." She got a sudden flash of inspiration. "Mrs. Saunders, I have an idea, let me call you back!" She hung up before immediately dialing another number…..


Lunch rush was always busy at Luke's Diner. Luke Danes was trying to keep himself calm, or at least relatively less gruff, as he took his customers' orders. Suddenly, the phone rang on the wall. Just what he needed….. but he picked up anyway.

"Luke's Diner."

"Luke? It's Lorelai."

"Well, that explains why you're not in here, nagging me for your coffee."

"Rough day," Lorelai explained. "And it just got worse! Rory's school called and she has the chicken pox! I can't get away from the Inn."

Luke dropped everything. "I'm so there. I'll get her!"

"Would you? Oh, Luke, thank you!" Lorelai gushed.

"Wait – what if they ask why I'm there?"

"Just tell them Lorelai Gilmore sent you and you won't have a bit of trouble. You're the best ever, Luke!"

Luke ended the call, yelling for Caesar to hold down the fort as he raced for his truck to head for Stars Hollow Middle School.


When Luke arrived at the school, he followed the signs to the nurse's office. There, he found 12-year-old Rory Gilmore with red dots all over her face, hot with a fever, and coughing. Though he had only known the Gilmore girls for about a year, Luke's heart went out to the little girl.

"Luke? What are you doing here?"

"Your mom couldn't get away from the Inn, honey. She tapped me to come pick you up." Luke noticed the nurse frown. "If you need proof, I can get her mother on the phone right now." This he did, and Lorelai confirmed her consent. Permission in writing may have been preferable, but as this was an unforeseen circumstance, such a luxury was not an option for the school. Picking Rory up as though she weighed nothing, Luke carried her to his truck and placed her in the passenger seat. He then set his sights on Number 37, Maple Street.


Rory fell asleep on the drive over. Upon arriving home, Luke carried her into the house, letting himself in through the spare key that Lorelai had hidden; she had directed him as to where it was. Luke then carried Rory upstairs, going room to room until he found what must be her bed. Placing the little girl into it, he removed her socks and shoes before letting her sleep on the comforter. Tucking her in would be a poor choice, considering she had a fever. And he figured that it was Lorelai's place to change Rory into jammies if she wanted to. All Luke could do at this point was to kiss Rory's forehead. It was burning. "Good girl. Rest easy." Stealing back downstairs, he figured out how to operate the TV, waiting on the couch until Lorelai came home.

The elder Gilmore arrived a few hours later, around dusk. "Oh, Luke, you didn't have to stay!"

"The heck you talking about? Couldn't leave Rory in the house all alone! Besides, I cleared it with Caesar. I'll be back to work in the morning."

Lorelai pointed up the stairs. "Is she…..?"

"She fell asleep on the drive back and hasn't moved since. I didn't tuck her in, given how hot she is; her forehead is burning. Shoes and socks removed, but I left the rest up to you."

"You are a saint!" Lorelai patted his shoulder affectionately. Then she sprang into action, rushing for the kitchen to grab medicine. Luke followed her.

"Do you want me to stay? Cause I can….."

"Oh, no, don't let me keep you! You've done more than enough, Luke. Thank you."

Luke nodded, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. "Say goodbye to Rory for me. And call me with any updates." Then he left.


It was the middle of the night when Luke was pulled from a deep sleep by the ringing of his apartment phone. Living above the diner as he did, he sometimes didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse to have two phones in the same building, especially at this time of night. But he reached over and picked up anyhow. "Hello?"

"Oh, Luke, I'm sorry, I woke you up didn't I?"

Lorelai's voice woke up Luke faster than he otherwise would have. "Is Rory OK?"

"Her fever's spiked. She woke up just a little bit ago. She was calling for her Daddy."

Luke groaned, remembering Lorelai's grousing about Christopher, the mystical deadbeat dad who had ensured Rory's existence and then little else. Luke sometimes wondered if the little prick was more myth than man. "Oh, I'm sorry….."

"No, don't be, it's just that…. when I tried to explain to her, Rory said, 'No! Daddy! Luke!' I think….. when she said Daddy, she meant you."

There was a brief pause as Luke considered this. He found himself blushing, even as his brain tried to brush it off with some joke about how Rory must have passed the chicken pox off to him. "I'm coming right over."

"Luke, it's OK, it's the middle of the night…."

"No arguments. I'm coming."


Luke didn't even have to ring the doorbell for Lorelai to let him in. Upon entering, he took the stairs two at a time to reach Rory's room. He found the tween sitting up in bed, coughing and with hot tears running down her cheeks.

"Daddy, it hurts…" Rory moaned, looking directly at Luke. But there was something about the look in her eyes that indicated she was not all there.

"She's delirious," Luke concluded without a hint of irony, hoping his diagnosis did not come off as some denial of Rory's claim that he was her father. He turned to Lorelai. "Have you given her any more medicine?"

"I have. Twice!" Lorelai said, her eyes filled with worry.

Luke racked his brain, then suddenly remembered when he and his sister Liz had gotten the chicken pox as children. "Lorelai, do you have any bubble bath mix?"

She nodded.

"Get it, and run a bath filled with it. We need to get Rory cool."

Lorelai obeyed lickety-split. Fetching the bubble bath mix, she and Luke split forces. He filled the bath, while she stripped Rory and then carried her to the tub. Luke dutifully waited outside the bathroom until Rory was submerged. Lorelai then let him back in. Luke sat on the tiles next to the tub.

"How you feeling, princess?"

"I feel cooler. It's just that….. I woke up and it was dark. And you were gone."

Luke glanced away, even though he had nothing to be ashamed about. "Sorry, kiddo. I waited until your mom came home from work, and she took it from there."

Rory leaned back in the tub, her eyes fluttering as she began to drift off in the suds of the tub. She blindly reached for Luke's hand. "Daddy, I want mashed potatoes."

Chalking up her 'Daddy' reference to her still being in a delirious state, Luke laughed. "All right, princess. I promise I'll make you as much mashed potatoes as you want."

Within minutes, Rory was asleep in the tub. When Luke readily agreed to stay the night without being asked to, Lorelai looked thoroughly grateful. She gave him a hug from behind. "You're my hero."


For the next week, Luke slept on the Gilmores' couch. He had Caesar take over duties at the diner, opting instead to stay home all day, every day and cater to Rory's every whim while Lorelai was working at the Inn. Such duties pretty much consisted of cooking pan after pan of mashed potatoes. When Luke had exhausted Lorelai's entire supply of the foodstuff, he would briefly leave Rory in the house as he popped over to Taylor Doose's grocery to buy more. In fact, mashed potatoes were all Rory would eat for that entire week.