Better start with the disclaimer before I get into any trouble: Not mine and to be honest after season 6 and 7 I don't even want to own it and those who do should hide in a hole.

Thanks to all of you who reviewed. Keep them coming.

If you find mistakes, keep 'em.

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Chapter III

Rory had already past Babette's house and was nearly around the corner on her way to Luke's diner when she heard a door slam shut.

"Rory! Wait up!" Lorelai yelled after her daughter. She walked down the steps and fell into a little jog to catch up with Rory.

"Are you training for the Olympics without telling me?" She asked out of breath when she reached her offspring.

"Jesse Owens has nothing on me." Rory joked back.

"I'm sorry." Lorelai turned serious again. Rory gave her a soft smile in response and linked her arm through her mother's.

"One small step for man." Rory turned them around and started to walk towards the diner again.

"But one giant leap for Lorelai Gilmore." Lorelai whispered.

A small smile appeared on Rory's face. She knew how hard that step was for her mother but she was glad she made it. After all Luke just meant too much to her – to both of them.

The closer they got to the diner the more nervous Lorelai became. She started fidgeting with her fingers and the worried look on her face became more serious. Rory knew her too well to not know what went on in her head. Besides the same questions run around in her mind as well.

What was going on at the diner? Who was injured and how bad was it? What if it was in fact Luke who got hurt?

Both girls entered the main street which would lead them to the diner and already gave them a good view down the road. The fire truck was no longer there. Only the ambulance was still present.

When they got closer Lorelai and Rory saw some of the Stars Hollow usual suspects. Kirk was running around like a chicken without a head. Taylor tried to calm him down but failed miserably. He tried to catch him after some fruitless attempts of talking Kirk into calming down. Together with Miss Patty he chased after Kirk.

A couple rounds through the town square later they still haven't got Kirk. Andrew, sick of watching the whole act, came to their rescue. They were finally able to trap him at the dance studio. Kirk was yelling and screaming from the inside. Taylor, Miss Patty and Andrew caught their breaths on the steps outside.

When Rory and Lorelai got closer to Luke's they stopped paying attention to those lunatics. Rory stood in front of the big diner window and looked inside. She tried to sneak a peak at what was going on in there.

"Can you see anything?" She asked her mother but didn't get a reaction from her. Rory didn't even notice Lorelai had stopped at the Soda Shoppee and therefore couldn't look into the diner. She was pale and the tears in her eyes ready to spill over any second. Rory was just about to ask her if everything was alright when they heard commotion from inside the building.

Rory turned back around and saw two men pushing a gurney from the storeroom through the diner. Someone was lying on it but she couldn't see who it was. When Lorelai heard the noises she moved closer to the diner window and stood next to Rory. She peaked through the glass and she inhaled sharply.

"Oh my god." Lorelai barely whispered. Rory knew immediately from her mother's reaction that the man on the gurney was indeed Luke. She turned back around and moved closer to the door. She could already hear Luke. He obviously didn't seem too pleased to be carried out on a stretcher.

"This is insane." He fumed at the paramedics. "A stupid shelf fell on me and not the whole building. You have me tied down on that thing like I'm almost dead here. I'm not hurt that bad. In fact I don't even feel any pain."

"It's for your own safety Mr. Danes. Besides you have a pretty ugly cut on your thigh. We have to keep you immobile to keep the bleeding at a minimum." One of the paramedics said calmly. Luke was so caught up in his rant the fact he had a deep cut on his leg didn't even seem to register with him.

"This is ridiculous." He growled. "I'm not some lunatic you have to tie down in order to keep him from running away." Ironically just at that moment Kirk had found a way out of the dance studio and was running around the town square again. Taylor, Patty and Andrew were on his tail screaming after him to stop running around.

Luke just looked up at the paramedics and dryly said: "You better get the straight jackets out for them. This", he patted the gurney, "is not going to slow them down." Luke smirked at them. When he looked at the second paramedic Luke saw someone standing behind him.

"Rory?" He asked surprised.

"Hey Luke." Rory responded and moved slowly around the paramedic.

"I saw the ambulance and fire truck on my way home through town. Is everything OK?" She asked him worried.

"Ah a stupid shelf fell on me and apparently I cut my leg. No big deal. I just had to call them since I was trapped under the shelf and couldn't get out by myself." He dismissed it.

"You should go back home Rory." He turned serious. "It's your weekend off from school. You should relax and not worry about me and my baby scratch here."

"Well after I saw all the blue lights everywhere I needed to make sure you were alright. Well mom and I actually needed to make sure."

"Your mom's here too?" Luke asked her surprised and looked behind Rory. When she saw his gaze wander behind her she turned slightly to give him a better view and to make sure herself her mother was indeed still there.

Lorelai was still rooted to her spot at the big diner window. Still as pale as when they first spotted Luke through the glass. She wanted to step forward, she really did but she simply couldn't. Her feet didn't respond to her and she was too scared they would give in under her if she moved.

When her eyes met Luke's they instantly started to tear up. She had to fight hard to keep them from spilling over. Her mouth on the other hand was completely dry and when she tried to say something it got stuck in her throat. Luke couldn't turn his gaze away from her. His mouth was dry as well. Speaking right now was impossible. They kept their eyes on each other and even though they went through a lot and hurt each other deeply in the past at that moment they didn't need any words. They let their eyes speak for them.

The moment however didn't last long. One of the paramedics interrupted and ordered to finally get Luke into the ambulance and take him to the hospital.

"I'm sorry ma'am but we really have to get him into the ambulance and to the hospital." He told Rory.

"Yeah sure. I'm sorry." She apologized. "Where are you taking him?" Rory wanted to know.

"Saint Francis ma'am." He replied and ushered the gurney towards the ambulance. Luke kept his gaze on Lorelai as long as he could. Meanwhile Rory had moved to stand next to her mother again. She took Lorelai's hand in hers and squeezed it.

"He is going to be ok mom." She whispered.

"I hope so kid." She replied softly. Her eyes were still on the ambulance that disappeared at the horizon.

"OK let's get moving." Rory squeezed her hand again to get her mother's attention. Lorelai turned towards her daughter and looked quizzically at her.

"Where are we going?" She asked, blinking the remaining tears away.

"To the hospital. I want to make sure the cut is really everything Luke got." Rory answered and started to walk back to the house and get her car. When she realized her mother didn't follow her she turned around.

"What? That was it on your part? Just show up here, finding out if he is still breathing and then it's back to I don't know this guy again?" Rory asked in disbelief.

"Rory…" Lorelai started but got cut short by her daughter again.

"Forget it mom. Go back to pretending nothing happened and that it didn't affect you one bit. That's what you do best but don't asked me to do the same. I care for Luke mom and I'm still concerned there is more to the accident then we think. So I'm going after the ambulance if you are coming or not I don't care." Rory snarl angrily at Lorelai. She couldn't believe her mother. One minute she was concerned and close to tears and the next she was back to she could care less about what happened to Luke.

"Hey don't tell me I don't care about Luke." Lorelai barked back at Rory. "I do care but…"

"But what mom?" Rory challenged her.

"But I have to take your dad into consideration here." Lorelai replied.

"Dad?" She asked incredulously. "Did he have an accident? Did an ambulance take him to the hospital? Do we know nothing about his condition right now? How bad the accident really was? Is he the one going to be alone at the hospital? A place we both know he hates more than anything and feels uncomfortable in?" Rory glared at her mother waiting for an answer.

"No." Lorelai answered in a low voice averting her gaze from her daughter.

"Then I don't know where the problem is here." Rory said coolly.

"You saw how he reacted earlier. What do you think his reaction will be when I tell him I'm going to the hospital with you?" Lorelai cried out.

"I see my mother standing in front of me but the woman speaking to me sure is not her." Rory shook her head unbelievingly. "You are concerned about a friend and want to make sure he is alright."

"This is not that simple Rory." Lorelai interrupted her. "Luke and I have history."

"Right mom. You were best friends and you care about your friends. It's his problem not yours if dad doesn't see that or doesn't understand that. What if it was Sookie? Would he act the same way?"

"I wasn't about to marry Sookie." Lorelai responded.

"You didn't marry Luke either." Rory shot back at her.

"That was his decision not mine." Lorelai said angrily.

"And you made sure he only had one option." Rory bit back. Both girls glared at each other. After a couple of seconds Rory was the first to move.

"I don't have the time and energy to get into that with you right now. If you can make your peace with your decision good for you. I have to go." Rory turned to walk away. After a couple of steps she turned slightly back towards Lorelai.

"How many times did Luke come to your or our rescue no matter if you two were in a fight or not?" Rory asked her mother before she left.

Lorelai watched her daughter walk away. Her last words hung thickly in the air repeating over and over in her head.

To be continued

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