Ch. 2 Hospital Emergency
"Beep, beep beep," the alarm sounded.
"Ugh," groaned Lorelai. "Turn it off."
"Sorry," said Luke, reaching for the snooze button.
"Okay," Lorelai sighed. "I'm up, I need coffee."
Sitting up, she pushed back the covers, and grabbed one of Luke's T-shirts conveniently awaiting her next to his bed and put it on. She threw her legs over the side of the bed. "Sucko!" Exclaimed Lorelai.
"What?" Asked Luke attentively.
"Cold floor," she replied.
Luke showed no interest to this, rolled to his side, and returned to his dream.
Lorelai walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth. She looked into the mirror, repulsed by what she saw. "Yuck!" She thought to herself as she opened the medicine cabinet to fetch her toothbrush. She quickly brushed her teeth and fumbled through her hair with her fingers. And with that, she smiled staring at the ravishing reflection of herself, more awake now. It doesn't take much to be beautiful.
"That's better," she said to herself.
She walked out of the bathroom and headed downstairs for her morning pick-me-up, being coffee and a donut. As she entered the diner, she noticed how very quiet it was this morning. She acknowledged that. She stood still at the end of the staircase as the silence wrapped itself around her like she was in a cocoon. She was captivated. She looked at the clock next to the "no cell phones" poster above the counter. Six-thirty in the morning. It was dark outside the Diner's windows. Very eerie. The feeling crept up Lorelai's toes, and shot straight up her backbone. She shivered. Back to reality. She walked over to the coffee pot, and made enough for the two of them. "Even though Luke doesn't drink coffee, he might want a little something to feel more awake today," she thought to herself.
She looked around for the morning paper and spotted it on the counter. She walked over, and pulled out the sports section so she could make fun of all the football players. She rested her elbows on the counter, when the sudden craving for a popsicle emerged. She opened up the freezer, and pulled out a grape popsicle. She threw away the wrapper, and continued making fun. She once again rested her elbows on the counter, and shoved the popsicle in her mouth. After about a minute of hearing nothing but the coffee maker gurgling, two hands from behind her wrapped around her waist. They moved up to her front side, and stopped just above her bellybutton.
"Morning," said Luke. He buried his face in the hair that covered her neck.
She turned around, popsicle still in her mouth, and said, "Morning."
Luke slid the juice-covered popsicle stick out of her mouth, and placed it on a donut napkin.
Slowly, he leaned in for a kiss. He kissed her slow at first, but then passionately. He felt her yanking back, and abruptly stopped.
"Sorry," he said.
"Don't be, I liked it. My lips are just still frozen," she said wrapping her arms around his neck. She kissed him. "About last night, I'm sorry I never answered you. But I'm not sure how I feel. Just give it time, okay?"
"Alright, I'm sorry for being too you know..."
"No, I don't, why don't you tell me," she said.
"I should have waited until you were ready to say that. And I'm sorry."
"No, Luke, don't be sorry. Because then I feel sorry for not saying it back. And I shouldn't, it was our first date. And even if I did feel it last night. I wouldn't know if it was just under the circumstances, or if that's how I really felt. That's why I wanted to wait."
"I understand."
He leaned forward so their foreheads were touching. "Since it's too early to say I love you, which I already did, thus breaking the rules of dating someone you've known for ten years. I just want to say, that I care about you, and that you are safe with me, Lorelai. Okay. You can trust me."
Lorelai smiled a small smile, and kissed him. "I care about you to. More than you'll ever know. And who knows, I might just love you. But like I said, I can't take any chances. I've been hurt too much in the past because I've been told that so much. I just want it to be true. For someone to actually feel that way about me someday. And who knows, it may be you." She smiled and kissed him again. The kiss lasted long. It lasted until her cell phone started ringing from upstairs.
"Who the hell calls at six forty-five in the morning?!"
"It could be Rory," said Luke.
"Nah, Rory doesn't roll out of bed 'till around seven thirty."
"Then if it's not Rory, it's not important," said Luke.
"On the contrary. Rory's not the only person in the world who is worth answering to phone to. It could very well be my parents calling. It could be an emergency, it could be anything."
"Then answer it," said Luke.
"Nah, I'm good," she said, wrapping herself around him. She kissed him slowly. The ringing stopped. "Finally!" Screeched Lorelai.
"You gonna check and see who that was?"
"Nope, if it's not Rory, it's not important, right?"
Luke smiled. Once again, the phone rang.
"Oh my God!" Shouted Lorelai.
"I think it be a tad important," said Luke.
Lorelai ran upstairs. She dug through a pile of clothes on the floor from the previous nigh. She grabbed her phone from the front pocket of her purse.
"Hello," she answered it.
"Hi, Lore. It's Chris." He sounded distracted.
"What?" She asked hastily.
"It's Gigi, she's in the hospital. She's not okay, Lore. You need to be here. Please come. I need you right now." Lorelai could hear the tears through the phone.
"Oh, Chris, what happened?"
"I'll tell you when you get here. We're at the one off of Main Street. Hurry."
"I'll be there soon." She hung up.
"Who was that?" Asked Luke, concerned.
"Christopher, Gigi's in the hospital. I have to go," she said, gathering up her clothes. "You may be all mad and whatnot, but just because you and Chris have issues with each other, doesn't mean I'm going to exclude him from my life completely. There are boundaries. I'll be back in a few hours to get the rest of my stuff, okay?" She said, pulling on her clothes. She kissed him, and walked out of his apartment doors, heading downstairs.
"Wait, Lorelai. I'll drive you."
"You sure?"
"Yes, let me get dressed, okay?"
"Hurry," she said as he raced upstairs. She knew that the only reason he wanted to come, was to make sure things between Lorelai and Christopher didn't get all melty.