September 16, 1995
Hartford General

Luke had just about had it here, the beeping machines, the smell, the constant fussing of the nursing staff was enough to drive a man insane. Sure he'd hit his head, necessitating the 24-hour hospital stay to make sure he didn't have a concussion, but was it really necessary for every nurse under 40 to take his vitals or check on his wounds? Didn't they have anything better to do? Surely there were more patients than just him needing their attention.

He'd had his fill of hospitals years ago when his mom died and then again just a few years ago when his father passed away both from drawn out illnesses, he would have loved more than anything to get out of here… or at least have a reason other than his own disgruntlement to yell at the staff. It wasn't that they were incompetent, far from it, it hadn't taken the ER nurse more than twenty minutes to remove the bullet and stitch his, now bandaged, shoulder up.

Luckily the only things that could break him of his mood came swinging through the door of his room. He couldn't help but smile when he saw them, "Hey, there are my girls." He said, trying to sound upbeat.

"Oh, Luke," Cried Rory, running to his side and carefully hugging him so as to not jostle his injured shoulder or bump the IV line that was attached to his right arm. "I was so worried."

"I'm okay, kiddo," He reassured her, stroking her hair with his good hand, "It wasn't more than a flesh wound, they only kept me here to make sure I didn't hurt my head too much when I fell."

"Yeah, but even the black night claimed his injuries were flesh wounds when all he had was stumps for appendages." Rory protested.

"Thankfully, Luke isn't a Monty Python character," Lorelai quipped, "And that he has such a thick head."

Rory just nodded and moved to the side so that her mother could take her place as she took a seat in a nearby chair. She was quickly absorbed in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, it was the third time reading through the whole series, and she'd already finished A Horse and His Boy and The Magician's Apprentice.

"Speaking of being thick headed, what the hell were you doing running out there like that?" She demanded, her blue eyes turning to ice, "I know you're not stupid, and you damn well better not have a death wish because, if you get yourself killed pulling another stunt like that, so help me God, I will bring you back to life and kill you again!"

"Glad to know you care," Luke quipped, trying to lighten the mood.

"Rory, would you wait for me in the hall, please?" Lorelai's words coming out more order than question, luckily the 9-year-old knew better than to question. She simply closed her book and went to sit in the hallway.

"What were you doing with a gun anyway?" Lorelai demanded, as soon as she heard the door latch closed. "I didn't even know you knew how to shoot. Nice shot, by the way, the other guy wasn't as lucky as you."

"Lorelai, I was in the Marines, of course I know how to shoot; it's not a skill you tend to forget." Luke pointed out, "I got to the range every Saturday morning, why do you think Caesar opens for me? And I own the gun, it's for situations like what happened today, self-defense and protection only."

"But how did I not know you have a gun?" Lorelai questioned him, "We've been dating for almost two years now, I should have been informed that you were armed, wait, how often are you armed?"

Luke sighed, not really wanting to have this conversation, but knowing they needed to talk about it, especially since he was seriously considering proposing to her sometime soon. "I'm almost always armed." He spoke as calmly as he could, "The one you saw me use today is usually holstered on my belt under my shirt."

"That's why you wear the flannels?" Lorelai mused.

"Partly, I also think they're comfortable." Luke nodded before patting the side of the bed indicating for Lorelai to sit down next to him. He took her hand as she did and looked right into her eyes, "I want you to know; I would never leave any of my weapons out where Rory or any child we may have or be around could easily get to it. I lock my guns away in my safe where no one but me can get to them. I do occasionally sleep with a small pistol in my bedside table, but it is always unloaded and my clip is kept in a separate place; that is also locked away when I am not in the apartment."

"But why do you have them in the first place? It's not like Stars Hollow has all that much of a crime rate, yesterday notwithstanding."

"I wish I could tell you," Luke shook his head sadly before meeting her eyes again. "I know it may take a while for you to trust me again, I should have told you from the get-go that I had weapons not only in my apartment, but on my person."

"Luke," Lorelai smiled weakly, "I do trust you, and I believe that if there was any way you could tell me everything, you would. I don't care why you feel the need to carry a gun, only that you felt it was necessary to hide that fact from me. You can't do that, especially when you are armed around my child."

"I would never hurt Rory," Luke repeated. "You know that."

"I know, but as her mother, I had the right to know." Lorelai reminded him, "It should have at least been mentioned when we started seeing each other. How many times have the three of us gone out together while you were armed?"

"I've never been armed when the three of us, or even the two of us, spent time together outside of the diner." Luke spoke evenly, "Part of the reason I would go and change before we would go anywhere was so I could put my gun back in the safe. Even after we're married, the safe will stay in the apartment, guns and all."

"After we're married?" Lorelai teased a little, "What makes you think I would want to marry you?"

"Because you love me," Luke said, a smirk playing on his lips.

"You're damn right I do," Lorelai smiled before giving him a soft kiss, "And you're damn lucky I do. I don't know who else would put up with you. And for the record, next time you propose, I expect you to do it right, candles, flowers, down on one knee, the works."

"Next time?" Luke asked

"You just mentioned getting married, generally a proposal precedes the actual wedding." Lorelai explained, "And you presuming that I would marry your stubborn ass doesn't count as a proposal."

Luke simply nodded his understanding as she rose from the bed and walked towards the door.

"I have to get back to the Inn, so I'll see you once you're released," Lorelai smiled, "If you need a ride, just let me know." She paused for just a brief moment before opening the door, "By the way, if it comes up again, the answer will likely be a positive one." With that she slipped through the door letting it close behind her with a light click as the latch caught.

The door didn't stay closed for long before Rory stuck her head in and said good bye before closing it again. He was glad the Gilmore girls left when they did because about fifteen minutes later, Director Green, Kirk, and two other marshals entered the room for the requisite debrief. Luke told them everything that had happened from hearing the shots to sending Kirk to keep an eye on the diner patrons, to the hostage and ultimately shooting the thief before ultimately being shot himself. As soon as that was complete, the marshals got up to leave, all except for Greene who told him to head home once he was released and to not officially report back to duty until he got the all clear from the doctors.

"You know that leaves just Gleason watching Taylor, right?" Luke asked the older man. "You sure that's the right thing to do?"

"Don't worry about that, the sheriff has already been briefed and has volunteered to keep an eye on him herself."

"Herself?" Luke was confused, "Um, hate to break it to ya, Director, but Tom Smith is a man."

"He retired; the interim sheriff is Moira Dell." Greene said simply, "You might know her."

"Know her?" Luke laughed, "We dated in high school, and have been friends for longer than that. Moira is probably one of the only people who could soundly whip my ass with or without military training. At least the county is in good hands again."

Green just nodded as he exited the room, pausing long enough to let the doctor come in to have Luke sign his release paperwork. A few hours later, Luke was back in his apartment, his service weapon which he'd dropped when he was shot had been returned to him by Moira herself and locked away. Luke didn't know what he was going to do with himself while his shoulder healed, but he knew that at some point his plans would have to include heading to Woodbridge Jewelers. If he knew anything, it was that if Lorelai was willing to revive him just to have the satisfaction of killing him again for being stupid enough to get killed, that she was the one he wanted by his side forever.