A/N: This is set somewhere in between the original series and the revival. Sometimes a girls needs her angst. Also I have no medical knowledge so I apologize ahead of time for any inaccuracies.

As Rory hung up the phone, the color drained from her face and her stomach dropped. The only phrases she had truly understood were "Luke" and "hospital" and "you don't need to come", the last of which was of course bullshit. Her mind went into attack mode; it would take almost 3 hours to get home and her car was at a friend's house in Jersey because parking in the city is a nightmare so that would add another hour. Another hour of panic and worry and thinking of the worst possible situations. What made this timeline worse was that her mother was alone waiting for answers thinking all of the same horrible thoughts.

She had to get someone there first who would take care of things in her absence. Grandma and Grandpa were in Europe, April was on Study Abroad in South America, Jackson's million year old grandmother had died so Sookie was out of the running too. Jess! The last time she talked to Luke he had mentioned the Truncheon was looking at spaces to open a new branch in Hartford.

"Please answer, please answer, please answer," Rory begged as the phone continued to ring and she began to throw every article of clothing she could reach into a duffel bag.

"Hello?" A groggy Jess answered.

"Were you sleeping? It's 6 pm, why the hell are you sleeping?"

"I was up all night writing and didn't get much sleep. Now, what did I do deserve this cheery and surprising call from my favorite step-cousin?" Jess laughed as he heard her groan from the other end of the line.

"Ugh, gross! I wish you would stop calling me that! But that's not why I called," Rory took a breath, knowing that for all of their gruffness Jess and Luke did care very deeply for each other. "Jess, Luke is in the hospital."

"What hospital?" Jess' heart had dropped just as instantly Rory's had.

"St. Francis, in Hartford. Are you still close by? When I talked to Luke a few weeks ago he said you were in the area and I am killing myself getting there but my mom is all alone and freaking out and god Jess, I don't know she'd do without him, what I'd do without him!" Rory's rambling had led to panic and the scenarios she had attempted to keep at bay were now flooding her mind with dread.

"Rory slow down, I'm still here. Do you know what happened?" Jess was bracing himself for the worst, as manic as they could be sometimes in reality it took a lot to rattle the Gilmore girls.

"Something about the diner and Taylor, I'm not really sure. Mom just said he's in surgery, again for what I don't know. She wasn't exact in an expansive, story telling mood. Look, I should finish packing and get to my car, call me when you know something. And Jess?"

"Yea," Jess responded rubbing his temple, trying to process her brief and uninformative explanation.

"Thank you. He'd want you to be there," she waited for a response, knowing gratitude and sentimentality, however deserved made him uncomfortable.

"Yea. I'll call you later. Drive safe, ok?" Predictably, he ignored her, Rory snorted in return.

"Ok. Bye," she quickly threw another pair of underwear into her bag, grabbed a jacket and ran out the door.

Jess rushed into the emergency room, scanning the waiting area for Lorelai. As close as he'd been to his former home he hadn't seen much of his de facto Aunt, which until this moment he'd thought was for the best. And just when he was thinking he had forgotten what she looked like,

"Jess?"

He turned and saw the woman his uncle had been in love with for as long as he had known her and he suspected well before. She must have come to the hospital straight from work because for the most part she looked her normal professional self despite her tear stained cheeks and hair pulled into a haphazard bun. The last of which Jess only noticed due to the fact that she had wrapped him in a tight hug the moment he turned around.

Once he had gotten over the shock of it, his arms wrapped themselves around her shoulders and he relaxed slightly in her embrace.

"How's he doing?" He asked, bracing himself for the worst.

"He's in surgery. They said it'll be few more hours," Lorelai released him and wiped the remaining moisture from her face using a crumpled tissue. "Did Rory explain what happened?"

Jess shook his head, "She was pretty much only good for the highlights, a quick panic and a demand that I get my ass over here."

Lorelai laughed dryly as both sat down in the plastic waiting room chairs, "Yea we're not too bright when we're in panic mode, that's what we have Luke for," her chin quivered but she continued. "He was in the diner during the lunch rush and it was totally packed. Then Taylor came in and started complaining about his lease and next thing I know Miss Patty is calling me saying that one second he was arguing with Taylor, the next he's grabbing his arm and collapsing on the ground."

While Lorelai caught her breath, Jess asked tentatively, "Was it his heart?"

Nodding slowly, she continued, "Yea, same thing that killed his Dad. They said he's lucky this is his first 'episode' otherwise surgery wouldn't have even been an option."

They both had to sit in silence for a while after that revelation. Jess never knew his grandfather but the way Luke talked about him he had the same obsessive need to care for those around him that Luke did. A quality Jess respected (and needed) more and more the older he got.

"He is so proud of you."

Jess looked up and where before Lorelai was having a hard time looking anywhere but her shoes, she was now looking him directly in the eye, a soft smile plastering her face.

Jess scoffed, "What?"

"I know I don't say this enough but you've come a long way form that little punk who stole a beer out of my fridge and my daughter's heart while you were at it," she looked at the floor again seeming to remember the person she really needed there. "Luke barely reads anything other than the occasional airport dad novel but every once in a while I catch him reading your book again and it's just about the sweetest thing I've ever seen."

Jess just shook his head in response, "This coming from the woman who not that long ago didn't want me anywhere near Luke or her daughter ever again."

"I'm sorry about that. You had hurt Rory before and Luke when you came back to get the car. I tend to get a little over protective when it comes to the people I love," she continued without missing a beat. "You know seeing him with you and Rory were some of the first moments I fell for him in the first place. He refused to see the worst in either of you from the very beginning."

"Ok now you're just being delusional. I specifically remember an incident involving my darling uncle pushing him into a large body of water less than a week after my arrival," Jess responded.

"Don't get me wrong he wanted to drown you in that lake everyday for that first month but I think in the back of his mind he always knew you were going to be ok," her voice wavered slightly but followed through to the end.

"He's going to be ok too, you know?" Jess said this for himself as much as for her.

"I don't know what I'll do if he's not," she fidgeted in her seat at the thought. "I mean, I was a single mom for 22 years I'd survive in all of the ways necessary to sustain life but there's something about him that has always made me feel calm, at rest. I never really had that before him."

"Me either," Jess admitted quietly.

Lorelai raised her eyebrows and nodded, completely silent for the first time since his arrival. She knew and loved Liz but having her as a mom couldn't have made for the easiest childhood. Between the husbands, the boyfriends, the drugs and Liz's general tendency to ignore reality it's a wonder Jess survived to adolescence at all. At this moment, Lorelai turned her head and really looked at the young man sitting next to her. His head was resting in hands like the weary traveler he was, his dark hair was wildly disheveled and his clothes seemed to have been hastily chosen as she noticed his usual leather jacket had been traded in for an old sweatshirt that barely fit him.

Hesitantly, she reached her hand over to his back and began to draw her hand in tight circles, willing away the anxiety that comes from knowing the only constant person in your life was in mortal danger. At first, he looked up at her with raised eyebrows but eventually the soothing motion had calmed them both and their eyes began to droop from both physical and emotional exhaustion.

By the time Rory finally made her way into the waiting room over two hours later she stumbled upon a most unexpected sight. Collapsed into two of the most uncomfortable chairs she'd ever seen were her mom and Jess. Lorelai's head and arm were resting behind Jess whose body was slumped forward, head leaning so far forward it nearly touched his knees. Her heart all but melted right there on the waiting room floor.

She made her way over to them, kneeling in front of her mother's limp form. Close up she could see the tear tracks on her cheeks and the redness of her nose from hours of panic and worry. Rory hated that she had gone through this alone, much less that she had to go through it all. As gently as she could she nudged Lorelai awake with a quick shake of her knee.

"Mom, wake up."

Lorelai startled awake and stared blankly at her daughter for a moment before pulling her into her arms as quickly and as tightly as possible. Rory squeezed back in response.

"How's our guy?" Rory mumbled into her mother's shoulder.

Abruptly, Lorelai let Rory go and stood up, "Oh my god, what time is it? What if he's out of surgery? What if he woke up all alone?"

Rory could see the familiar panic on her face and had to step in, "Let's find the doctor, maybe he's not even out yet."

"Oh god I didn't even think about that, what if something went wrong?"

Placing a reassuring hand on Lorelai's arm, Rory looked around for someone official, "I'm sure they would have woken you up if anything urgent happened, speaking of which should we wake Jess up?"

They both looked down at the snoring young man beside them.

With a soft and admiring smile Lorelai replied, "Let's let him rest until we know something."

Rory nodded in agreement, finally spotting a nurse coming out of the surgical wing.

Catching up with the nurse in question, Rory asked, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to bother you, but could you tell us if Luke Danes is still in surgery?"

"Are you a relative?" The nurse seemed nice but was clearly held back by this necessary, albeit inconvenient, professional protocol.

"I'm his step-daughter," Rory replied quickly, not wanting the undefinable nature of their relationship to deter her or her mom from seeing the most important man in their life.

With a kind and patient smile, the nurse replied, "Well then it's no problem, dear. I was actually in on Mr. Danes' procedure and it went very well. I believe the doctor is giving him a quick post-op exam at the moment but he's in recovery room 119 if you'd like to see him."

"I would, thank you very much," she turned to her mom as the nurse walked away. Lorelai had clearly been listening in and was frantically looking around for the designated room number. Rory took both of her mom's hands and took them in her own, looking her directly in the eye, "Let's go see Luke then we can come back and get Jess, ok? He's gonna be ok mom. He is."

Lorelai nodded quickly, rushing with her daughter in the direction of her partner's recovery room.

As they reached his doorway and looked inside, her breath caught in her throat. Because there he was, her guy, her rock, her diner boy hooked up to more machines than she could count, skin paler than she'd ever seen it but he was breathing and she wasn't sure she'd ever loved him more.

"Mrs. Danes?" The doctor must have noticed their presence and Lorelai was too tired to correct him.

"Yes," she shook his hand and moved to sit next to bed, grabbing Luke's hand on instinct.

As Rory moved to sit next to her mom, the doctor continued the examination, "We were able to repair both tears to the major artery, the fact that there were two is what made for such a long and complicated surgery but I'm happy to say that with a check on his stress levels and several dietary restrictions your husband will recover very nicely over the next couple of months."

Lorelai nodded blankly as the doctor spoke but continued to stare at Luke. When they walked in she hadn't noticed the way they'd swept his hair back, as they'd gotten older he obviously had less and less and it had begun to gray around the edges. Seeing it like this still reminded her of the first time she dared to touch it, all those years ago placing that blue cap on his head.

"His hat," Lorelai mumbled under breath.

Rory leaned towards her mother, obviously concerned, "Mom, what did you say?"

"He um, he needs his hat, he never goes anywhere without it. He must have been wearing it when they brought him in but I don't remember seeing it. I'll go ask the nurse, maybe she saw, excuse me," Lorelai moved from her place beside Luke to hurry past Rory and into the hallway.

She was turning in circles, unsure of who to ask which had given Rory time to make her way beside her.

"Mom, what's going on? Are you ok?" She hadn't seen her mom this worked up since her and Luke broke up the first time.

Lorelai finally stopped moving, her lips were pursed and her arms were wrapped around her middle, a sure fire sign that she was trying not to cry.

"We wasted so much time, I knew all those years ago that he was the one. I knew that he would always be there for us, that he would take care of you in any way he could and still I waited."

"It wasn't the time yet, you had to go through all of those things with Max and Dad and raising me!" As much as Rory hated it, she knew she was a factor in the period of time during which her mother didn't seriously date anyone for fear of somehow negatively effecting her.

Lorelai shook her head, "I cheated on him Rory, I walked away, I gave up."

"Mom that's crazy, he messed up too but he loves you so much and he's here now. That's what matters," Rory looked at her mom pleadingly, "You both still have so much time to be together."

"He just looked so small in there. It reminded me of that first heart attack your Grandpa had when you were in High School and I thought my god, are we there already? When we first got together we talked about having kids, about our future but then everything happened with the broken off engagement and then your Dad came back into the picture and then we were so happy to just find each other again that neither of us wanted to rock the boat and now it's been years and we missed the window, we missed our middle."

Rory's heart broke for her mom, it broke for all of the missed opportunities her existence caused; college, career, marriage, babies. And yet...

"Mom you and Luke have an amazing life together. You have kids who love you, a community that supports you, businesses that wouldn't have lasted as long or as successfully as they have if you didn't have each other, " Rory had to continue because Lorelai had looked up and seemed to be paying attention for the first time since she arrived. "And you know what? Even though you both made a few missteps, took a few wrong turns, you found the love of your life, a partner, a parent to your kid."

Rory crossed to the other side of the hall and wrapped her mom into a tight hug.

"I love you kid, did you know that?" Lorelai whispered into her daughter's hair.

"I had a feeling," Rory responded, letting go slowly. "Why don't I go find Jess and you can have some alone time with Luke?"

Lorelai wiped her face uselessly and nodded, "Thanks, hon."

As Rory turned and walked down the hall, Lorelai took a deep breath and made her way back into room 119. The doctor had left either because he had finished his exam or it's possible he may have been trying to escape from his patient's crazy relatives. As she moved to stand next to the bed, she could see his eyes begin to twitch and she quickly leaned in.

"Luke, are you awake?"

He responded with a groan and Lorelai released a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She brushed his hair away from his face with a gentle stroke of her hand.

"Hey babe, how ya feeling?" She watched his face closely as she sat down on the edge of the bed, attempting to detect any pain he might be in.

"Tired," he groaned, barely above a whisper.

Lorelai nodded and stroked his arm with the back of her hand, "Go back to sleep, I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" He whispered, smiling lightly.

Her own smile at the sound of teasing voice was entirely involuntary, she nodded again and said in her sternest voice, "As long you promise we won't be back here for a very long time."

"I promise, come here," he lifted the arm on his good side, allowing her to slip in beside him.

As she laid on her side next to him, careful not to pull any wires or tubes, she listened to the constant beating of his heart, "Hey Luke?"

"Hmmm."

"You're not allowed to die, ok?"

"Hmmm."

She lifter her head, indignant, "Luke Danes, did you hear me?"

"No dying, got it," he used what little strength he had to pull her closer and kiss the top of her head.

"Good," she rested her head on his arm once again.

As Luke drifted to sleep, Lorelai thought of their life together, of Rory and Jess and April, of their blue house with a huppah in the front yard. She took a deep breath and thought even after being in the hospital for hours he still smelled like home, like coffee from the diner, like warm flannel just out of the dryer. As she began to drift off herself, she knew that for all of the memories they'd made and all of the roots they'd already planted, they had a long way to go and with any luck decades more of this man teasing her as they fell asleep in each other's arms.