In a Flash
The ramifications of a car accident extend far beyond the lives of those directly involved. In a split second, things change drastically for Luke, Lorelai, and the future of their entire relationship.
L/L
Takes place about a month after Sookie gives birth to Martha (At least I think they were serious about naming her Martha…).
Logistical note: Writing of this began prior to the last 3 episodes of the season, so it does not take into account the season finale at all. Everything else through 521 still works with the story, as long as you put the blinders on and just assume the phone call from Rory at the end of 521 is just to say that she's missing dinner, and that she sucks it up and continues with her interning and newspaper career path. So no jail time for yachting escapades or quitting Yale. She's home for the summer, as was the plan. Other events from 521 and before (pregnancy scare, Twickham house – let's figure Luke bought it, etc.) are as they were on the show.
Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Gilmore Girls, except for the 3 dvd sets. Everything else is the WB's and the Palladinos'.
Feedback is always much appreciated :)
"Sookie, hand over the baby," Lorelai demanded, waving her hand in Martha's direction. "Now. You're going to be late."
Sookie took a half step forward and balked, cuddling little Martha even closer to her than before. It wasn't that she didn't trust Lorelai, but… "I don't know…"
Lorelai clenched her fists in frustration. This had already been going on for over five full minutes, and she was nearing the point when she'd simply have to take Sookie out and just hope she could catch the kid before she hit the floor. "Sookie!" she screeched, "Jackson's already in the car waiting!"
"But she's so little…" Sookie trailed off, showing only the slightest signs of weakening…
"And Luke and I are any less qualified to take care of her little-ness than whatever Ashlee-Simpson-listening mallrat teeny-bopper of a babysitter you were going to have?" was the incredulous response she got from Lorelai. Obviously Lorelai was stretching it a little by tossing Luke's name into the mix; he didn't deal with children, especially those toddler age and younger, unless it was to begrudgingly shove a high chair in their direction at the diner. He was essentially there to entertain Lorelai during the post-baby-bedtime hours, but Sookie didn't have to be reminded of that at the moment…
Regardless, very little headway was being made with Sookie and the handing over of Martha anyway. "No, well…" She stuttered in protest, but trailed off, the thought crossing her mind that maybe, maybe, Lorelai did have a point… But it didn't matter! "I don't like baby sitters either," Sookie finished proudly, nose as high in the air as her vertically-challenged stature would allow, "I was glad when she cancelled!"
Crossing her arms firmly across her chest, Lorelai glared at her friend and added a foot tap for some extra emphasis, "You're going."
"It's too soon," Sookie wailed, her resistance finally beginning to crumble.
"Sookie, see that other kid over there?" Lorelai pointed and nodded, wide-eyed and patronizing, "That's Davy, your son, who is still thriving, despite you leaving him alone with other people multiple times in the past year and a half." Sure Lorelai could understand Sookie's feelings to some degree – she herself had insisted that she sleep on a cot in the gaudy nursery her parents had arranged for Rory, and she did, for a full four months. But seriously, she was a paranoid kid herself back then! And this was Sookie's second child, she reminded herself inwardly.
Sookie was silent for a moment. And then a weak, "But…"
"She'll be fine," Lorelai assured with a wide smile. "He'll be fine. We'll all be fine," she confirmed, clasping her hands together in over-dramatized glee. "Right Luke?"
Luke, already incredible uncomfortable with the whole situation, just held his hands up and tried to back away as he skeptically eyed the little pink and yellow bundle in Sookie's arms, "I am not a part of this…"
"See?" Sookie jumped on Luke's actions and sneered pointedly at Lorelai, "Luke doesn't want to babysit, I should just stay…"
Lorelai barely missed a beat as she succeeded in simultaneously cutting off Sookie's protest and sending a swift elbow in the direction of Luke's ribcage, "Luke is dying to watch the kids with me." She turned, giving the grimacing Luke an overly sweet smile, "Aren't you Luke?" Not waiting for whatever annoyed response Luke was sure to grumble under his breath, she whirled back around to point accusingly at Sookie, "And you, missy," she declared, "Are making your poor husband wait out there, suffering in this disgusting humidity."
Sookie pouted, flustered, Lorelai finally having hit the guilt trip nerve when she threw Jackson into the mix again. But she wasn't giving up without attacking from all angles, "But you guys were supposed to do your own going out thing tonight, Jackson and I can just…"
Quick again with the cutting in was Lorelai, rightfully pointing out to Sookie that her argument wasn't really holding water, "Sookie, you going out for your first night of freedom in a month is way more important that whatever we were going to do tonight…" Lorelai trailed off, not even knowing what it was that she and Luke had been planning before the chance to re-create 'Adventures in Babysitting.' Lips pursed in confusion, she momentarily put her spat with Sookie on the back burner, turning to Luke quizzically, "What were we going to do tonight anyway?
"Not this…" Luke muttered, failing miserably at his attempt to mask his lack of enthusiasm over the change in plans.
"See?" Sookie piped up in the background, trying once again to play up the fact that Luke didn't want to be there.
Lorelai continued to ignore everyone else, and just spun back around with a shriek. "Sookie you can drink again! Go for it. Now go! Give me the kid," she demanded as she inched closer to Sookie with a wicked grin on her face, "She'll end up even more damaged if I have to pry her from your evil clutches than if you'd just give her to me."
The knowledge that she was probably fighting a losing battle coupled with visions of martinis dancing in her head was enough to finally get Sookie to relent, however begrudgingly, "I guess…"
The words were barely out of Sookie's mouth before Lorelai snatched the tiny infant away, smiling giddily and swinging and bouncing her ever so slightly as she cooed, "There ya go! Hey there baby Martha!" Settling Martha against her chest, she tickled under her chin, continuing in the voice she reserved only for children under two, "Hello little sweetheart, can I call ya Martie? Huh? Yeah, you love your new nickname from your Auntie Lorelai, yes you do!"
For all the antics involved, they elicited the expected non-response from the one-month old. Sookie, however, was already experiencing typical parental withdrawal symptoms. Her hands were balled up nervously as she shuffled apprehensively around Lorelai, "Don't… Make sure you hold…," she fussed nonsensically.
Her voice back in its normal register, and only moderately patronizing, Lorelai looked up and questioned, "Sookie?"
Wide-eyed, Sookie replied, hoping that the mere act of holding the baby would somehow change Lorelai's mind, "Yeah?"
"How old is Rory?" Lorelai asked, head tilted pensively.
"20?" Sookie answered, her response laced with confusion. She had no idea where Lorelai was going with this… In her flighty mind, Rory was a complete non sequitur.
"Yes," Lorelai congratulated zealously, "And a half." She grinned widely as Sookie began to realize exactly how much fun was being had at her expense. "And do you think she'd have made it all the way to 20 if I was that incompetent around kids?" Lorelai continued slowly, as if she was speaking with Davy rather than his thirty-something mother.
A sigh and a roll of the eyes followed. "Sorry," muttered Sookie.
Lorelai laughed, bouncing Martie a few more times, "Silly Sookie. Martie, your mommy's silly, isn't she?" she cried. "Yes, yes she is!"
Even Luke had to crack a shadow of a grin at that, despite himself. Was he completely comfortable with the thought of being thrown into the mix as a babysitter for a toddler and a newborn at the last minute? Hell, no. But seeing Lorelai dance around so happily with the kid probably boded well for him - if he was hoping to see her do the same with their own kid in a couple years or so… Though that was something else to deal with completely. Technically he now owned a family home, but he was the only one who knew that, and the conversation had yet to be had. He was also slightly more creeped out by Martha and Davy than he would have liked himself to be… It'd be different with his own kid though, right? Right…
He shook those thoughts out of his head momentarily as he heard Sookie begin to rattle off seemingly important information. Information that Lorelai would surely forget, but, of course, expect him to know…
"Ok, um, so, you know my cell number. And Jackson's. And the pediatrician's number is on the fridge. So is Jackson's sister's," Sookie continued nervously, terrified that she'd forget something vital, "And his parents', and poison control, and 911." She paused, re-thinking her last words sheepishly, and giggled, "Well, I guess you know that one."
Lorelai smirked, "Wait, no, what?" She batted her eyes innocently, "Nine… Nine, one… What? I'm not sure…"
A look of sheer panic flashed across Sookie's face in the split-second before Luke jumped in for damage control. "Sookie, she's kidding." Glaring at Lorelai, he sent a stern "She's kidding." in her direction as well.
Cowering under Luke's watchful eye, Lorelai nodded contritely, "911, yeah, I think I've got that one, Sook."
Sookie nodded, only somewhat comforted. But not sure what else she could do at that point, she continued stammering all sorts of directions to Luke and Lorelai, "So they both had dinner, and Davy can have a little apple juice before bed, which is soon… And she'll wake up for another bottle around 11, the formula's in the fridge, and the bottles…"
"Sookie," Lorelai insisted, "I've got it covered. Go." Clutching Martha tightly to her with one arm, Lorelai deftly used the other to steer Sookie towards the door.
Acquiescing, Sookie finally began inching her way out of the house. She glanced one last time at Davy, who was too preoccupied with a Duplo block set across the living room to even notice that his mother was leaving. Halfheartedly, she added a few more instructions before stepping out onto the front porch, "We'll be back by 12 at the latest…"
"Sookie," Lorelai interjected, "Go have a nice dinner. And enjoy the play."
Lorelai was literally closing the door on Sookie as she continued to fret, "I should…"
Eyes wide with unspoken threats that, if spoken, would have probably involved something along the lines of taking away lunch at the Dragonfly again, Lorelai glared at Sookie. "Just go," she ordered flatly.
Sookie didn't even have a chance to protest again before the door shut in her face. Though she must have gotten the message, because the doorbell ring Luke was half expecting never came.
"Holy separation anxiety," Lorelai exclaimed in exasperation as she slouched against the back of the door, "What a production that was…" Gazing down at the baby in her arms, she grinned, "Better hope you didn't get that gene kiddo."
And as if on cue, Davy chose that moment to lose interest in his gigantic Legos and zero in on the fact that, all of the sudden, Mommy wasn't there anymore. Luke was forced to deftly sidestep as the little boy toddled inadvertently towards him. From there, Davy took off down the hallway, his babblings of "Mama? Mamamamamamama…" growing more and more frantic as he wandered the house in search of Sookie.
Lorelai was already preoccupied with Martha, and failed to notice immediately when Davy disappeared. Luke didn't know a whole lot about kids, but he figured a year-and-a-half wasn't exactly old enough for a kid to be independent around the house, and spoke up awkwardly, gesturing down the hallway in the direction Davy had run off to, "Uh, apparently someone got it…"
"Hmm?" Confused for a second by Luke's words, it took Lorelai a moment to register the fact that Davy, apparent recipient of the St. James separation anxiety gene, was no longer in the room. She was just scanning the room for him when she caught strains of his little voice from somewhere at the other end of the house. Hefting Martha a little further up in her arms as she moved to take a seat in the living room, she gestured over her shoulder to Luke nonchalantly, "Hey, grab him?"
Luke's next expression was one of mild disbelief, "And do what? I'm not the one he's looking for," he pointed out logically. Or what was logical to him, anyway.
Across the room, Lorelai rolled her eyes, getting the feeling she was in for a long night with the two kids and Luke on her hands. "Fine," she replied, eyeing Luke pointedly, "Take her?" She motioned with her chin to the sleepy infant on her chest.
That gesture, in turn, elicited a skeptical snort from Luke.
Lorelai just raised an eyebrow knowingly in his direction as she called down the hallway, "Davy? Davy, honey, where'd you go kid?"
Realizing that Lorelai just might be serious, Luke's arms went slack at his sides in disbelief, "You're kidding…" The baby? He might… break her or something…
"Luke, pick one…" Lorelai ordered, her tone growing more urgent the longer Davy was out of sight.
Luke was baffled. But, he reluctantly admitted to himself, the baby looked a lot easier to deal with than the other one, what with all the walking and talking that he could already do. Giving in, he moved infinitesimally closer to Lorelai, a slightly quizzical expression on his face as he peered at Martha. "How?"
Lorelai broke into a smile of mild amusement. This would be interesting… Thinking quickly, she kicked at Luke's shins to get him moving in the direction of the couch, "Ok, sit." As Luke obeyed and got situated nervously, she called out again, if only to make herself feel better, "Davy, sweetie, come back here!"
Turning her attention back to Luke, she barked out orders quickly, "You. Sit. Arms out." Once she deemed Luke to be in an acceptable posture, she carefully leaned over and gingerly placed the tiny infant in Luke's arms. The fact that he didn't drop Martha right away was good enough for Lorelai. She called out her last few directions over her shoulder, as she'd already set off in search of Davy, "Just keep her head at your elbow and hold tight enough so she can't get too squirmy."
"I don't…" The feel of another little person in his arms was not making Luke feel particularly confident or comfortable, a sentiment very clearly echoed in his weak protest.
Lorelai sensed this, and paused at the end of the hallway, looking back at Luke with pleading eyes, "Luke. Two seconds, ok? All you have to do is not drop her. I'll be right back." And that was that, she was off after Davy again, "Davy!"
"Uh…" And the panic set in. "Uh, Lorelai?" Luke tensed as he watched Lorelai disappear down the hallway, and Martha picked up on the sensation. Her complexion quickly reddened, and coupled with some increased wriggling and a scrunched up face, it was indication enough that she was not a happy camper, even to an amateur like Luke.
"Lorelai?" The first few whimpers starting to escape from Martha's little mouth had Luke in a tizzy. He had no idea what to do… "Hey kid, what's the deal here?" he begged, "What do I do?" What had Lorelai done that he wasn't doing? Think Danes… Position was different, yeah? Yeah. Not lying down, she had her up against her chest. Ok, I can do that… Wait, how do you do that without breaking the neck or something?
The baby quickly growing louder and unhappier, Luke improvised, doing the best he could. A little contortion of his own spine and some careful head cushioning allowed him to complete the maneuver with minimal trauma to either party involved. Once she was settled, curled up against Luke's chest, Martha quieted almost immediately.
"Ok, ok…" Luke breathed a sigh of relief. And pride, for that matter… Until the thought crossed his mind that maybe he had broken her, and that was the cause of the lack of crying. Frantically, he repositioned his hand on Martha's back, and was relieved to feel the tiny, rhythmic movement of her respirations. Another sigh of relief whooshed from his own lungs. "Still breathing, good sign, no more crying…" he muttered as he gently rubbed her back, "I can deal with this…"
And suddenly, as promised, Lorelai was back in the vicinity. Luke could hear her down the hallway, making a variety of highway sound effects, much to the apparent delight of Davy. His high-pitched squeals echoed through the room as he ran in, followed by Lorelai crawling in on her knees and pushing some sort of toy dump truck. "Vroom, vroom!" she cried, before sending the toy skittering across the wooden floor, "Go get it kid!"
As Davy trailed after the truck, Lorelai dragged herself up off the floor, only raising her gaze to check on Luke after she'd brushed the dust off the knees of her new jeans.
The unexpected sight of Martha cuddled up against Luke nearly left her speechless, a rare feat for her. She sucked in a quick breath, but recovered well, continuing with a run-of-the-mill Lorelai quip, in her run-of-the-mill cutesy, teasing Lorelai-voice, "Well, aren't you two the most adorable thing I've ever seen?"
"Yeah well," Luke stuttered, shrugging modestly as best he could with the baby in his arms. "She was all movin' around and stuff, and not looking so happy, so I…" He trailed off, almost embarrassed at having been caught actually doing something right with the kid, and without prompting. Fighting off the blush creeping up on his cheeks, he quickly freed one hand and grabbed the remote control and flipped on a random television show.
It may have served as enough of a distraction for Luke, but Lorelai barely noticed the TV. She was still focused on the sight before her…
Sure Lorelai had felt a couple motherly pangs back when Sookie had been dealing with baby preparations when she'd been pregnant with Martha, though they were significantly overshadowed by the blind panic brought on when she'd found herself in the position of having her own little pregnancy issue. Really, the impromptu little dance she'd done in the bathroom the next time she'd found she needed a tampon, confirming, beyond orange soda and snack cakes, the lack of any Gilmore/Danes offspring? Genuine happiness right there, no sign of the pangs whatsoever.
And taking the advice she'd given to Rory, she'd taken matters into her own hands and finally gotten that birth control pill prescription that she should have gotten so long ago, potential pesky weight gain side-effects be damned. She'd be even fatter if she got pregnant, so the rationale was there… At the time…
But seeing Luke with Martie cuddled up on his chest like that… Lorelai found out rather quickly that maternal instinct really could pack a punch out of nowhere. And that it was one hell of a right hook…
She was still lost in her thoughts, leaning against the kitchen doorway, gaze stuck on the oblivious, but picture perfect, Luke and Martha, when Davy sent another toy car sailing towards her feet. This was followed shortly by Davy himself barreling full-speed at her shins for a hug, effectively jarring Lorelai from her short-lived pensive mode.
Of course, that didn't stop her from periodically stealing glances at Luke and Martha throughout the remainder of her toy car games with Davy.
It was a few hours later when Lorelai was seated in the kitchen, just finishing up with giving Martie her last bottle of the night. Davy was long since in bed, though Luke was up past his bedtime, still flipping, bleary-eyed, through random television channels in the living room.
"All done, sweetie pie," Lorelai whispered to Martha as she hoisted her up to her shoulder for the requisite burping. Moving back out into the living room, she smirked and called out to the groggy Luke, "Hey Luke, you want to do the last diapering honors of the night?"
It only took Luke one eyebrow raised in disgust to get his message across.
Lorelai frowned in mock disappointment and stuck her tongue out at him in return. "Well isn't Uncle Luke just a big old party pooper?" she asked Martie, bouncing her playfully as she did.
It only took Lorelai a few moments to make it up the stairs to the nursery and complete the diaper change – at only a month old, Martha hadn't yet learned how to put up the screaming, wriggling fights during diaper changes that her big brother had so expertly demonstrated earlier. Twice… Lorelai cringed at the new memories she was less than fond of.
With Martha buttoned back up in her little footie pajamas, Lorelai gently placed her in the crib, smoothed down the few wisps of hair she already had, and flipped off the teddy bear lamp in the corner. Grabbing the baby monitor extension for the room, she gave one last wistful gaze across the dimly-lit room at the already-sleeping baby before heading back downstairs to Luke.
"Hey you," she smiled at Luke over on the couch, who was already taking cues from Martha and starting to nod off himself. She flopped down next to him, taking care to expertly nestle herself up against him, curled up under his outstretched arm.
The motion was enough to rouse him from his semi-comatose state, "Hey."
"Hey again," Lorelai murmured with a grin, and leaned into Luke for a long, languid kiss, full of teasing tongues and lazy love.
Once they finally parted, Lorelai gave Luke a proud pat on the chest, "You survived." She hadn't meant it as much of anything, just a silly observation she felt the need to point out.
But it rang a little truer in Luke's ears as he gave a simple "Yeah," of agreement. Sure, he'd survived, but sitting there with a sleeping baby on your lap wasn't much to have to survive. He hadn't done anything else, no feeding, no diapers, nothing at all with what's-his-name, the bigger kid… And, disappointingly enough to him, he'd been fine with that.
Not that he told Lorelai, but once he got suckered into the whole babysitting fiasco, he figured it'd at least be good to gauge how things would be for him with kids, like a little trial run… End result? Still far more creeped out than he would have liked himself to be. He couldn't help it. He'd wanted kids, or at least he'd thought he did… But you couldn't force something like that… Right?
In his mind, it was the familial equivalent of all those crazy fancy foods that people like Lorelai's parents probably always had. Caviar and stuff. Luke involuntarily cringed inwardly at the thought of the slimy fish eggs. But it was the same, right? It looked pretty, it's what all the 'acceptable' people had, so you wanted to like it. But in the end it was just disgusting, and you can't make yourself like things like that… Maybe he'd have to rethink the whole kids thing…
Lorelai took Luke's silence as an opportunity to review the night in her mind – she just couldn't get the picture of Luke with Martha out of her head. Not that she wanted that per se… She managed to convince herself that it had only struck her so hard because she'd never really seen him with any kids, never mind a newborn. Which got her thinking… "Hey Luke?"
"Hmm?" By that time, Luke had forced himself to exile all unsettling thoughts of babies and families from his mind, focusing instead on SportsCenter on TV. Baseball scores were a lot less trying on the tired mind.
Lorelai, however, as she always had, ignored all things sports, and asked curiously, "When's the last time you were even around little kids like this? Ever?"
"Oh God, I don't even…" Luke let out a pensive sigh as he scratched his neck aimlessly, trying to figure out when he was last around kids for an extended period of time. "Probably when Jess was little?"
"Wow," Lorelai breathed, a little stunned. No wonder the poor guy had been uncomfortable. Once she thought about it, it made complete sense that he hadn't dealt with small children in nearly two decades. Apparently the poof of smoke and spinning baseball cap wasn't so far off… "This wasn't so bad, was it?" she asked, sounding almost guilty for having thrown all of this at him because of her spur-of-the-moment decision to sub for Sookie's AWOL sitter.
Luke shrugged, answering honestly, "No." It hadn't been bad… Just enlightening…
Snuggled down against Luke's chest where he couldn't see her face, Lorelai surprised herself with a smile of – relief? – as she replied contently, "Good."
The next thing Luke knew, he was being jarred awake by the harsh ringing of the telephone and the chill he felt on his side that marked where Lorelai had been until a few seconds before. As he watched Lorelai make a sleepy stumble for the phone in the kitchen, he blinked at the clock on the VCR in front of him, squinting at the tiny green numbers. 2:47? Really? Weren't Sookie and Jackson supposed to be home by midnight, he wondered?
Things not making complete sense in his slumber-slowed mind, he gave up on telling time, instead focusing on Lorelai.
Across the room, she blinked hard a few times, stifling a yawn as she picked up the phone, "Hmm? Hello?"
As an expression of utter bewilderment washed over Lorelai's face, Luke eyed her curiously.
Lorelai held up a finger, silently telling Luke to wait, as she spoke again, "Yes, this is Sookie and Jackson's place…"
Luke grew more concerned as the level of confusion in Lorelai's voice escalated as she replied to whatever question had come next, "I'm a friend of the family, and the babysitter… What's going on?"
Whatever was said next was bad, that much Luke could tell from the immediate change in Lorelai's features. Gone was the natural rosy glow of her cheeks, replaced instantaneously by a sickly white pallor as the blood drained away. Her eyes, instead, grew red, shining with tears, and her free hand quickly rose to her gaping mouth in disbelief.
Very few things in the world elicited such a sudden reaction from his persistently happy-go-lucky, if not overly quirky, girlfriend. The sudden unknown had even Luke panicky within an instant, and he rushed to Lorelai's side. Whispering urgently in her ear as unobtrusively as he could, he fished for some sort of explanation, "What's going on?"
Despite the few tears that had escaped and were running down her cheeks, Lorelai had managed to compose herself enough to shoo Luke away temporarily. He obliged, remaining in the living room as she rushed into the kitchen, though more out of concern over the million horrible possibilities running through his mind than his heeding Lorelai's orders.
Over the chaos in his mind, he could just make out the sound of Lorelai rifling through papers on the refrigerator with abandon, magnets clattering to the floor. "Uh, yeah, I have Jackson's sister and parents or something…" she managed, sniffling into the phone.
Luke heard that, and the true implications of what this phone call could mean began setting in. Sookie and Jackson… The next thing his heard was Lorelai finally getting to ask her own question rather than answer, "Is it just family, or can I…" She trailed off, choking up. With a sniffle and a swipe at her damp cheeks, she finished the conversation efficiently, "I'll be right there. Thank you…"
Luke heard the quiet beep of the cordless handset being shut off, and… nothing.
He gave her a moment before cautiously approaching the kitchen. "Lorelai?"
She was still frozen in place clutching the phone as he rounded the corner into the room. Another split second of stilted silence. Then, lifting her tearful gaze to meet his questioning one, she gave him all the answer he needed, "They were in an accident."
"Oh my…" The breath flew from Luke's lungs as he took in the news. He gravitated toward Lorelai unconsciously.
Once he reached her, she collapsed against him, sobbing. "It was bad, Luke. They didn't say that, but they wouldn't say anything, so I know it was bad…"
"Ssshhh," Luke attempted in vain to calm her, enveloping her in his arms and stroking her hair, "You don't know that…"
"An accident!" she wailed, "That's all they'll tell me…"
Pulling back from her, Luke mustered up his own composure as best he could, trying to paint things as positively as he could. He gripped her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes as he spoke calmly, "Look, Liz and TJ were in that accident. All they had was a couple broken limbs and a few missed days at the Renaissance Fair."
Lorelai sniffled and nodded, attempting a feeble interjection, "But…"
"No," Luke continued firmly, "I know you watch that ER show for the Clooney guy. And the dorky looking other one that they just can't seem to get rid of…"
Amidst everything else, Lorelai hiccupped a strangled laugh at Luke's attempt to follow pop culture, "Carter, Luke. But he is gone now."
Luke shook his head slightly as he continued, a gentle reminder to Lorelai that now was not the time to correct him on his misguided television references, "From that show, if for no other reason, you should know that hospitals are big insane bureaucratic under-staffed messes and they probably don't even know who they're talking about, so they probably couldn't tell you what happened even if they tried." Sure Luke knew there was truth in his words, but they were of no comfort to him. In his gut, he knew that it could be bad…
In any case, somewhere mid-rant, Luke had lost Lorelai, her eyes now focused somewhere in the maze of plaid on his shirt. "I have to go," she murmured quietly, "I have to go there."
"You can't go like this," Luke protested immediately. The last thing he could ever deal with would be her getting into her own accident as she raced to the hospital in a fit of emotions.
Her eyes pleaded with his as her voice echoed the sentiment, "I have to go."
Luke knew there'd be no more arguing on the subject. "I'll drive," he stated, giving in to the inevitable. He'd made the drive with her for her father, and though he was more emotionally entangled with the parties involved this time – Sookie and Jackson could be one hell of an annoying pair, but they were good people, his friends – he could do it again.
"Fine." Lorelai agreed readily, already tearing around the house in a frenzy of preparation. Devastation over the possible implications of the phone call had quickly given way to urgency as she attempted to get to Sookie and Jackson in record time. Grabbing phone numbers, digging under the couch for her shoes and purse… Luke was just standing awkwardly still, watching the spectacle, wondering what he could do to help and not feel so useless when he heard her muffled voice from somewhere in the living room. "Oh, fuck…"
"What, what?" Luke hurried over to her, almost afraid to find out what else had suddenly gone wrong.
From her current spot, cross-legged on the floor next to the couch, Lorelai waved her arms as she stated the obvious, "Kids?"
"Yeah?" Luke wasn't sure what she was getting at.
"They can't stay here alone!" she wailed in defeat.
That earned a bizarre stare from Luke. Of course they couldn't stay alone… "We'll bring them…" he informed Lorelai carefully.
And that was enough to calm Lorelai again, "Right, right, bring kids…" Momentarily. She'd gotten as far as shoving her feet into her boots before hitting the next roadblock in her mental plan, "We don't have car seats!"
"Right…" Luke had no answer for that problem.
"I…" And neither did Lorelai. She stayed on the floor another few seconds before leaping to her feet, suddenly frantic again. "I gotta go. Just stay here with them," she told Luke distractedly, as she sought out her car keys at the bottom of her messy purse.
Luke's eyes went wide in fear, "I can't watch kids alone!" he exclaimed.
"Luke, what do you want me to do?" Lorelai cried, "I have to get there…" She trailed off, biting her lower lip, trying to fend off a fresh wave of tears as she realized how much time they were wasting…
"We'll call Rory," Luke spat out, trying valiantly to keep Lorelai from breaking down again. He didn't particularly want to dwell on anything heavier than logistics either… "Or Patty," he added, "Or both. Or Babette…"
Sniffling, Lorelai nodded slowly in agreement, grateful for Luke and his logic, "Right, yeah, ok. Rory. Right. Uh, I'll call Rory…" She began heading back to the kitchen for the phone. Halfway there, she paused to yank her cell phone from the purse she was still clutching. "Here, you call anyone else…" she directed, shoving the phone at Luke.
A few minutes were all that was necessary for the pair to stumble over explanations for their calls.
As Lorelai returned to the living room, Luke reached out to hand back her cell phone. She took it silently, barely looking at him.
And there they stood, the pair of them, silent, until Luke blurted out "Patty's coming right now." in a half-hearted effort to distract Lorelai, and keep both of their minds from wandering back to the unsettling possibilities that lay ahead for them once they reached the hospital.
"Good, uh, so's Rory…" Lorelai stammered back awkwardly. But she could find nothing else to say…
Suddenly finding themselves with nothing to do but wait for the first time since the phone call, Luke and Lorelai were helpless to stop the emotions from taking over.
Even Luke, palm over his face in disbelief at the whole scenario, could almost feel the beginnings of tears springing up in his eyes when Lorelai finally threw herself at him. Her body suddenly wracked by full blown sobbing, she buried her face in his flannel shirt as she whimpered, "Luke this can't happen to them…"
That did it for Luke. While he normally prided himself on his steadfast stoic nature in all situations, he just couldn't do it anymore. A tear escaped, running down his stubbly cheek. "I know, I know…" he murmured into Lorelai's hair as he held her tightly to him. His fears about the accident's outcome, however unwarranted, were the same as hers. There were no more words of comfort he could offer – he wouldn't have believed them himself. So he remained silent, rocking Lorelai ever so slightly, rubbing her back as she continued to sob against him.
To them, it may have been two minutes later or twenty when they finally broke apart at the sound of a timid knock on the front door.
Not even waiting for a response, Rory pushed the door open and slipped in, still clad in her My Little Pony pajama pants. She carefully closed the door behind her and turned to face Luke and Lorelai. Not having quite gotten all of the details on the phone, her face was pale and eyes wide with concern, "Mom? Luke?"
"Ror…" Lorelai pulled away from Luke, effectively just exchanging him for Rory as she pulled her daughter into a tight embrace.
Not really expecting her mother to be able to handle a coherent sentence, Rory directed her question over Lorelai's shoulder in Luke's general direction, "What happened?"
But it was Lorelai who spoke, surprising Rory. "I don't know, they won't tell us anything…" she managed, stepping back from her daughter in an effort to regain her composure. "We're going there now. I don't…" She trailed off, her face contorting a bit as she valiantly fought a losing battle with the tears.
Stunned, Rory knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this accident was no little case of whiplash. Lorelai was somewhat prone to the overemotional, but another glance at Luke's face was confirmation enough. "Go Mom," she implored, steering her to the door, "Go."
Lorelai submitted to Rory's instructions, allowing herself to be guided to the porch, Luke following close behind the Gilmore pair. Before Lorelai headed down the front steps, she turned to Rory again, wiping her eyes and smearing the last of her mascara across her damp cheek. "Uh, Patty's coming to help… I'll call as soon as we know something," she declared with a wan, forced smile.
Rory gave a nod of acknowledgment, and then, without even realizing the heavy connotations her words held, offered a parting, "Drive safe…" She froze upon hearing herself, and the façade of strength she'd been fighting to keep up quickly crumbled. Her own eyes grew teary, and she dashed down the steps towards Lorelai for a parting embrace. "I love you," was the muffled sentiment uttered into Lorelai's shoulder, "They'll be ok."
Rory pulled away reluctantly, and bit her lip in contemplation for half a second. Suddenly, acting on the emotion of the current circumstances, she then flung herself at Luke, hugging him tightly as well.
Luke barely had the chance to register any degree of awkwardness before Rory stepped back again, her eyes downcast and cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. She gestured with her arms apologetically, once again urging a hasty departure, "Sorry, go…"
With a slight wave and a barely audible "Bye," Luke flew into take-charge-mode, guiding the subdued Lorelai to the passenger side of his truck.
And with that, Luke and Lorelai left Rory alone on the front lawn, the two children blissfully unaware in the house, and took off into the night, neither knowing what lay ahead for them at the hospital.
To be continued…