A/N: Thanks everyone for reviewing! And I wanna thank Morgann for being the coolest sister in the world and editing this for me!

Chapter 14: Bra trouble…

The doctor entered her room while Lorelai was in the middle of her favorite Andy Griffith episode- the one where little Opie Taylor thought he could get his way by throwing tantrums and holding his breath; of course, Andy wouldn't have anything to do with it. She noted the serious expression on his face and quickly turned off the television and looked at him.

"Good morning, Miss Gilmore," he said, checking her clipboard at the end of her bed.

"Please, call me Lorelai. Miss Gilmore sounds so ancient." She smiled. "And good morning to you too."

The doctor nodded. "Do you have anyone here with you?" He asked, glancing around the room.

Lorelai gave a slight nod. "Yeah, my friend; he just went down to the cafeteria."

"Do you mind if I take a look at your shoulder?"

"No." Lorelai shook her head, slipping her gown down slightly. "Not at all."

Dr. Schneider moved over to her, taking a quick look at the swelling and bruising surrounding the injured shoulder. "Well, it is definitely looking better then yesterday, but not good." He frowned slightly; seeing her worried face, he quickly added, "It's nothing that won't go away. I just thought the swelling would have gone down more then it has."

"But I can still leave today, right?" Lorelai asked, slipping her hospital gown back over her shoulder. She didn't know how she could handle being stuck in the hospital any longer then she already had.

"Yes," he quickly assured her, "I don't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to heal up at your own home instead of the hospital. But," he added, "you won't be able to go back to your regular activities right away. I don't want you moving that shoulder of yours for a couple of days at least. And you'll have to wear the sling for at least four weeks; we'll see if we can take it off any sooner after your next appointment which should be sometime next week."

"Next week," Lorelai repeated with a sigh. "And here I thought I wouldn't see this place for awhile."

The man grinned. "'Fraid you can't get rid of us that easily." He said, writing something down on his pad of paper. "Here's a prescription- if it doesn't help much, come back and I'll write you something a little stronger." He handed her the paper. "Okay, you should be all set to go. Just remember no lifting anything, not even a pillow with your right hand for at least a couple days, got it? You don't want to end up back in here, do you?"

Lorelai quickly shook her head. "No, I do not," she agreed. "But I can go to work, right? I mean, I run an inn, I wouldn't have to use this shoulder at all…"

"That should be fine. But I think it would be better if you waited a few days, just to let heal up." The doctor suggested. "A couple days of relaxing, letting someone take care of you- that's what I recommend. Too many people try to get back on their feet too soon, and they end up hurting themselves worse. I'd hate to see that happen to you."

"Yeah, me too." Lorelai gave him a warm smile. "Thank you, doctor."

He smiled back. "I guess I'll see you next week then." He walked over to the door. "Do you need a nurse to help you get dressed?"

"No, no," Lorelai said, a little too quickly. "No, thanks, I think I can manage it by myself." The thought of someone helping her dress sent shivers down her back; she wasn't disabled- she could dress herself.

Lorelai watched him leave before letting out a sigh. A few days of just sitting around doing nothing? How could she do that? She had an inn to run and she'd already been away for a few days. Michel could run it by himself, but that was asking much from him and also he tended to get even crankier when she wasn't around – if that was even possible.

Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, Lorelai sat there, catching her breath from such a small task. It made her feel even weaker then she thought she was. Glancing over at the bag of clothes Rory had sent over, she sighed. She didn't feel like moving- already the pain was back in her arm and she didn't want to irritate it further. But Luke would be here any minute, ready to take her home.

Lorelai groaned and slid herself carefully off the bed and onto the floor, almost surprised when she didn't get the dizzy feeling or the pain increasing. With a small smile of accomplishment, she grabbed the bag and walked slowly over to the bathroom.

If the thought of someone else changing her was disturbing, she was even more disturbed when she realized she couldn't snap her own bra strap. She was still in the bathroom, underwear and pants on- all that was left was her bra, which she couldn't snap, and the shirt, which she couldn't put on because she couldn't snap the bra. Sighing, she was surprised as she found herself regretting not taking Dr. Schneider's offer for a nurse. Even though it would have been embarrassing, it was more embarrassing standing in the bathroom with an unsnapped bra strap for over five minutes.

"Lorelai?"

The voice from outside the door; she immediately recognized Luke's voice. How long had he been waiting for her? She hadn't even heard him come in.

"Hi," she said somewhat nervously. "Um… how long have you been out there?" She looked over at the closed door and grimaced.

"A couple minutes," Luke replied. "Is everything okay in there?"

"Yeah," Lorelai said slowly, trying once again to snap it close with one hand. "Yeah, everything's great!"

"You sure? You've been in there for a while…"

Lorelai rolled her eyes at his words- like she didn't know that. "Seriously, I'm fine." She insisted, her words sharper then she would have liked. When there wasn't a reply, she sucked in a shaky breath and let it out slowly. "I'm sorry, Luke…" She sat down on the toilet; her legs weren't used to her standing yet. "I uh, I kinda have a problem here…"

"What's wrong?"

His voice sounded worried; she didn't want him to worry.

"Nothing, well, not nothing, but nothing seriously wrong. I just…" She felt her face growing hot as she muttered her next words quietly. "I can't snap my bra."

"Sorry," Luke apologized. "What did you say?"

If it was embarrassing to say it the first time, it was even more so when she had to repeat it louder. "I can't snap my bra."

"Um, I uh, I…" Luke stuttered, not sure how to respond. "Want me to go get a nurse?"

Lorelai bit her lip. She really did not want a complete stranger snapping her bra for her. Not only would she feel like lame for not being able to do something as simple as snapping a bra, she really wanted to prove to everyone she could manage on her own, which she was slowly realizing, she couldn't.

"No," she finally answered Luke's question. "I don't want a nurse… um…" she couldn't believe the thought that popped into her head, but what shocked her most was that she actually said it. "Luke, would you, um, would you snap it?"

How weird would that be? Yeah, sure, Luke had seen her completely naked before, but that was also when they were together. Now that they were broken up, it would be weird… wrong, not to mention completely awkward. She didn't really want Luke to get a shot over her bare back, but it seemed as though she had no choice, except for the nurse of course.

"Uh…"

Lorelai could hear the uncertainty in his voice, and at once regretted asking it. There was no way she wanted Luke to see her helpless. Better to just have a nurse come do it. After all, they had seen it all before. "I'm sorry," she quickly apologized. "I didn't even… the words flew out of my mouth before I even realized what I was saying. I'm sorry."

"No, uh, it um… I… I was just surprised." He cleared his throat. "I guess I could… help you…"

Though she didn't really want him to, she was secretly glad he didn't refuse. "Well, the door's unlocked…"

"Okay…"

There was a pause.

"I can't really open the door; my only free hand is keeping the bra somewhat closed," Lorelai said.

"Oh, right." From the other side of the door Luke could feel himself sweating; he wasn't sure why- he'd seen her without a bra, had both snapped and unsnapped it before… but that was before… Taking a long breath, he reached for the handle, and pushed the door open.

Lorelai glanced over her shoulder as Luke walked into the room. Her cheeks turned a nice shade of pink and she gave him an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry about this," she whispered.

He nodded. As he moved closer to help, he carefully kept his eyes focused on the strap, nothing else.

As his fingers touched her cold, bare back, a shiver went up her spine. As she let go of the bra, letting Luke snap it for her, she grimaced again. This is so not how she thought the day would start out. It would be awkward enough just the two of then driving back to Stars Hallow, and now this? How much more was she going to make this man go through?

"All done," Luke informed her as he glanced away. "Um, I'll be… in the room."

Lorelai picked up her shirt and watched Luke shut the door behind him. Letting out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, she said after him, "Thanks!"

The t-shirt hadn't been so easy putting on by herself either; it involved moving her shoulders, and barely holding back a cry of pain. But after a few minutes of slowly inching her arm into the shirt, she smiled at herself in the mirror. She had done it, all by herself, except for the bra-strapping bit, of course.

As she walked back into the bedroom, she stopped, watching Luke try to collect all the balloons and put them in trash bags. "What are you doing with my balloons?" She demanded, snatching the Clifford the Big Red Dog from him. "You're not throwing them away, are you? Why would you do that? They're mine! You gave them to me! You can't just throw them away!"

"Hey, hey," Luke said, holding one hand up in surrender, he probably would have raised the other if it didn't hold a large black trash bag. "I wasn't going to throw them away. I'm just putting them in bags so it'll be easier to take them home. They all won't fit inside the truck, so I was thinking about putting a rock in the bag and throwing them in the back of the truck."

"Oh…" Lorelai handed Clifford back, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry." She gathered up her few stuffed animals and various other items she could hold in her one 'good' hand. "Is your truck outside?"

Nodding, Luke gathered up as many of the large bags as his hands would allow him to carry. "Yeah, my truck's out front." Glancing up at Lorelai, he asked, "Are you okay to walk? Because normally they like to wheel their patients out, I could go-"

"No!" Lorelai exclaimed. "No, I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those."

Luke shrugged. "Okay," he said, moving over to the door. "Come on."

"I'm comin'," she said as he followed him out of the room. Either the bags in Luke's hands slowed him down or he was purposely making her walk slower then her normal pace. "Luke, did you suddenly grow a bad leg or something? Speed it up mister, it's not my leg that's hurting."

"Lorelai, it's not a good idea for you to be rushing out of here. You were in an accident- you had a concussion."

"Thanks for the info," she said, rolling her eyes as she moved into the elevator. "'Cause the pain and gash in my head didn't give anything away."

"I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying and I'm saying you don't have to worry about me. The doctor said I was fine; he said I could walk, run, jump, and do anything that didn't involve my arm. And for your information, walking doesn't involve this arm."

"That's not exactly what the doctor told me," Luke said, eyeing Lorelai sternly.

Lorelai scuffed. "I can't believe him!" She muttered, outraged. "He told I wasn't supposed to do any of those things? Isn't there such a thing as doctor patient confidentially anymore?!"

"Not when he has a feeling you won't listen." Luke said, with a serious look on his face. "What would you be doing if he hadn't told me? Running across town only to wind up in the hospital a few hours later?"

"I wouldn't have done that!" Lorelai objected.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Come on, Lorelai. Admit it; you never would have listened to the man."

Lorelai's mouth opened to speak, but she quickly shut it, knowing he was right. "Well…" she said in a Samantha-the-witch sort of way. "I might have gone to the Inn… but only to check on it! I wouldn't have done anything to use my arm! It hurts too much!"

The elevator 'dinged,' letting them know they had arrived on the ground floor. Deciding not to argue with the woman anymore, he stepped onto the floor, heading towards the door.

As Lorelai stepped outside, she immediately raised her arm, blocking the bright rays from the sun. The rain was obviously gone, and left the hot sun in its place. "God! I think my headache's back," she moaned, following Luke over to his parking spot. "I hate the sun."

Luke shook his head, but didn't say anything. After putting the balloons in the back of his truck, safely secured with a rock in the bags, he opened the passenger door for Lorelai, who he carefully helped in. "There's still some more balloons in the room," he said suddenly. "You sure you wanna take them all?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yep."

Rolling his eyes, Luke shut the door. "I'll be right back." He disappeared into the hospital once again.

Lorelai let out a long sigh. A trip home with Luke, what would that bring?

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