Chapter 7
* * *
The phone kept ringing, and Luke was aware that whoever was on the other end of the line wasn't going to give up. That meant it was most likely Taylor, who'd probably been watching from his market, saw that the diner was busy, and was only doing it to hassle Luke about proper business phone etiquette. He dropped off two plates at a table, walked back to the counter, grabbed the phone with one hand and the bag of coffee with the other.
"Luke's," he said, tossing the old filter out and replacing it with a new one. He dumped the coffee in, and involuntarily thought of the time Lorelai had used half the bag for one pot when she was helping him out. He wondered if she'd found the box yet. He'd wanted to knock on her door last night, but was afraid another yelling match might ensue and figured it would be safer if he just left it on the porch where she'd find it the next morning.
It was Morey on the other end of the line, who promptly told Luke that Babette was taking Lorelai to the hospital. "What?" Luke yelled, loud enough to make the entire diner stop talking and stare at him. He failed to notice. "What happened to her?" Morey didn't really know, he wasn't there, he explained, Babette just said to call him and say it was his fault. "What? How?" he yelled again, only to have Morey quip back that he didn't know, and if he wanted to find out he could go to the hospital and find out for himself.
Luke slammed the phone down. He yanked off his apron and poked his head into the kitchen. "Emergency," he told Caesar, "Finish with the people in here, then close up. Jess'll be at summer school all day so unless you wanna do all the work yourself…" Caesar nodded, and Luke grabbed his keys from behind the counter.
"Hey," he yelled at the diner patrons, even though he'd already had their attention since the phone call. "I gotta go, so I'm closing. Take your time if you want but no one gets anything else to eat, you hear me?"
He flipped the sign to closed and ignored Kirk's comment to the diner of, "Lorelai probably needs a light bulb changed." Maybe he could get Kirk and Jess into the lake in one shot.
Miss Patty nearly barreled into him as he was walking to his truck. "I told you!" she said. "I told you all about Jake and Lola but you didn't listen to me."
"What? How do you know?"
"Babette called me to make sure you knew, in case Morey forgot to call you."
"What's wrong with her?"
"Oh, I know, but I'm not telling you. You'll just have to sweat it out."
"You're banned for two weeks now," he said, and got in his truck. These people were all crazy.
* * *
Luke stalked into the hospital and asked where Lorelai was. The receptionist just stared back at him. "Lo-re-lai Gil-more," he said more slowly, in case she didn't understand him the first time.
The receptionist looked down at her computer, then back up at Luke. "She's in Urgent Care right now, family only. Are you family?"
Before he could answer her, he heard his name being called. "Luke, sugar, you came!" Luke turned to see Babette crossing the waiting room, the soda in her hand coming dangerously close to sloshing over onto the floor. At least if anyone slipped in it, they were at the hospital already, Luke observed.
"What happened to her?"
"She tripped over a box somebody left in front of her door, and fell down the porch stairs. I think her arm's broken."
A wave of guilt flooded over Luke and threatened to drown him. "I knew I should have knocked on the door. Is she okay? Is she mad at me? Of course she's mad at me, I sent her to the hospital. Great, because things were going so well before."
The receptionist tapped the desk and got his attention. "You family?" she asked again.
Luke started to shake his head, but Babette put her hand on his left hand and leaned over to the receptionist. "He's her husband." Babette squeezed his hand hard so he wouldn't protest. "He was at work so he just found out. Do you think he can go see her?"
"Room 244."
Babette and Luke walked away from the desk. "Why'd you do that?" Luke didn't know why, but he was embarrassed.
"So you can go in and see her, silly. It worked in 'While You Were Sleeping.'"
"Thanks, I guess." Luke headed over to the elevators. "Is Lorelai mad at me? Just let me know so I can be slightly prepared."
"Oh honey, I don't know. She's been there a while, they've probably given her pain medication, so chances are she's in a good mood."
The elevator doors opened and Luke stepped in. Babette gave him a hopeful look before the doors closed.
Luke spent a few minutes looking for room 244, which turned out not to be a room but a tiny closet-sized area surrounded by a curtain. Since he couldn't knock on the curtain, he called out, "Lorelai?"
"Yeah," came the reply. He opened the curtain and stepped in, then closed it behind him.
"Hey." He stood there awkwardly looking at her. Her arm was in a cast, and the guilt he'd been feeling in the lobby doubled. "I'm sorry, it was stupid of me to leave a box right in front of your door. I just thought that if I put it off to the side it might be three weeks before you noticed it. I'm sorry."
Lorelai watched him fidget, shifting his weight from foot to foot and stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. She believed him when he said he was sorry, but finally, after all this time, she was in control. Now it wouldn't be her begging for forgiveness. Maybe falling down stairs and breaking her arm wasn't too bad after all. "You know, it feels like we've done this before…not too long ago."
"Yeah, what are the chances. Wow. Did you uh, call Rory yet?"
Lorelai shook her head. "She wasn't in; she usually doesn't get back to the dorm until after seven. Later if Paris insists on library time."
"I'll have to ask her if this is irony or satire or some other word they teach you at those fancy schools." He edged closer to the bed and sat in the small chair next to it. Lorelai turned her head to follow him. He reached out to touch her hand, then thought about it and pulled his hand back. "I hate hospitals," he muttered.
"Then maybe you Danes boys should stop sending us Gilmore girls to them." Though she was serious, Lorelai wasn't being harsh. She reached over and squeezed his hand.
"Here I was, thinking I was doing a good thing. This is why I shouldn't do good things, because they always end up bad."
"Hey, that cake you baked for Rory didn't come out bad."
"Never gonna let me live that down, are you?"
"Nope. Every time I think of you blowing up balloons, I giggle. It's better than Prozac."
Luke took off his baseball cap, ran his hand through his hair, and put it back on. "Did you uh, like the coffeemaker?"
"My love for the coffeemaker is what got me through the pain. It's like a second child. Rory better watch out, I might love it more than her by the time she gets back from D.C." She laced her fingers through his, then got serious. "It looks expensive; you shouldn't have wasted your money on me."
"Forget about it, the important thing is you like it. I really am sorry about breaking the other one. I know you probably had some sentimental attachment to it. It probably had a name."
"How did Harry get broken?"
"I kicked the box."
"You kicked Casper?" Lorelai mock gasped. "You big bully!"
"Well, I'm not big on verbal expressions of feelings. I like to use my foot."
"True. Or you could have pushed Harry in the lake." Lorelai tried to readjust her position on the bed, her butt had fallen asleep again. She winced when her head hit the pillow a little too hard.
"Are you hurt? Does it hurt?" Luke quickly asked. He felt like throwing up every time she looked like she was in pain.
"Yeah. I kind of hit my head on the stairs, it's a little tender. Still got all my ABCs and 123s, though, so I'll be fine." Lorelai felt the pain killers she'd been given start to take effect. "Whee," she said, a small smile playing over her face. When Luke look confused, she explained, "The dope. They wouldn't give it to me right away, something about a possible concussion. I threatened to use the stash of cocaine I keep in my purse instead, but they still refused to give it to me. I just took a pill a few minutes before you came."
"Before you get too loopy, I want to make sure you know how sorry I am."
"Why the Wonder Woman mug?" Lorelai asked, out of the blue.
"You don't like it."
"I like it. 'Wonder Woman!'" Lorelai sang. Then she frowned. "I don't get it."
Luke sighed. Maybe she wouldn't remember this. "I always kinda thought you looked like Wonder Woman, and I saw it in a store when I was leaving with the coffeemaker. My first ever impulse buy."
"Awww. Maybe I'll be Wonder Woman for Halloween then."
Lorelai, a red bustier, blue underpants, knee high boots, and a lasso. Luke could find no objection whatsoever to this idea. "Sounds like a plan."
"You know who you could be?" She lifted her index finger from his grip and pointed, but didn't let go of his hand.
"Say Superman and I'll smother you with the pillow before the nurse can get in
here and save you."
"Don't worry, I wasn't going to. You and tights, I'm guessing it's not a winning combination. No, I thought that maybe, instead of wearing your flannel shirt tucked out, you could tuck it in, and let your stubble grow out some more, and carry a hammer and be Bob Villa."
Luke actually smiled, both at the idea and the cute way she was getting drowsy. Her words were getting a little slurred, and her eyelids were drooping. If he had to be serious, and he did, then he needed to do it soon. "I've decided that fighting with you is stupid."
"I already knew that. Knew it a long time now. Don't want to fight. Shouldn't have said some of those things. It was just…it was Rory, and she's my baby, and I love her more than anything. I love her more than you, and your kid hurt her, and you were right there, and she wasn't, and you were fine and I didn't know how she was, and it made me angry that you were okay and that Jess was okay but Rory wasn't."
Lorelai's eyes were closed now, but Luke could see the glimmer of tears under her lashes. He wondered what she meant by 'I love her more than you,' then dismissed it. It didn't necessarily imply that she loved him like that. She loved Sookie, after all, but it wasn't like she wanted to get in Sookie's pants.
He held her hand a little tighter. "I forgive you. You forgive me. I'll give you coffee when you ask for it. Sound like a deal?"
Lorelai smiled and nodded. "Mmm-hmm." He let her fall asleep, and sat there for a few minutes, holding her hand and watching her, but not in a creepy, stalker way. Or at least, he hoped it wasn't. He squeezed her hand and she rolled a little closer, and without thinking he leaned over and kissed her forehead.
Of course, the curtain was pulled aside at that very moment and he jerked back, mortified.
"Good thing you're here. She's ready to go home," the doctor informed him. He introduced himself as Dr. Cox, and held out his hand.
Luke shook it with the hand that wasn't entwined with Lorelai's. "I'm her husband!" he quickly stated, afraid of getting caught lying but also afraid they would kick him out and not let him take her home. He calmed down a little when Dr. Cox didn't ask to see some form of identification. "Is she okay? She was a little groggy when I got here. She says she's fine but she's very stubborn."
"It's just a small, hairline fracture in her ulna and a couple of bruises. She has a very mild concussion from a bump on her head but she'll be okay." Dr. Cox handed him a couple of pills and a prescription. "These are for any pain she might have. One or two every six hours, there's a few to get you going until you get the prescription filled. The cast will probably be on for three weeks."
Luke thought that maybe Lorelai should be the one getting all the instructions, so he gently nudged her. She pouted in her sleep. "Five more minutes," she mumbled and turned her head further into the pillow. Damn her.
Dr. Cox shrugged his shoulders and continued his lecture; he had six other patients to see, lunch to eat, and he didn't have time to discuss the details with a doped-up patient. It was better off he tell the husband what to do anyhow. "Make sure she doesn't put pressure on the arm and if she feels dizzy or has problems with vision, come in. Otherwise, she'll only need to come back for the removal." He looked at her chart. "That should be it…" he trailed off as he read, then his eyebrows raised. "How does she eat?" he asked Luke.
"Like a pig that got into a stash of pot."
"That's the problem with high cholesterol; even skinny, healthy looking people can have it. The routine bloodwork shows hers is on the high side of normal. Triglycerides look okay, so does glucose…for now, anyway. She should try lowering her cholesterol through dietary changes since it's not high enough to warrant medication. Yet."
"You want her to eat healthier?" Luke scoffed. "I've been trying for years now."
"What's her typical daily meal consumption like?"
"Seven cups of coffee, all before noon, usually pancakes with bacon and/or sausage for breakfast, burger for lunch, five more cups of coffee, and at some point in the day there's pie, ice cream, or both. And her best friend's a chef who puts Emeril to shame in the amount of butter used in every dish."
Dr. Cox actually looked impressed. "I wish I had that metabolism. Get her to cut out some of the fattier meats, at the least."
"She won't believe me when I tell her you said that. Can I get a note, or something? And just for the hell of it, could you tell her to lay off the caffeine?"
Dr. Cox smirked. "Any other grievances you wish me to address?" He scribbled away on his clipboard, then handed Luke the note.
Luke took the note and put it in his pocket. "Trust me, you don't have enough paper."
"Any questions? Someone'll be here with discharge papers to sign and to wheel her out."
"No, I think I got it. Thanks." He shook Dr. Cox's hand before he left, and waited for the papers impatiently. He really hated hospitals.
* * *
Luke stepped out of the elevator into the lobby, followed by an orderly pushing Lorelai in a wheelchair. Lorelai, for her part, wasn't even enjoying the ride because she was too busy sleeping.
"Lorelai, are you better, sweetie?" Babette rushed over when she saw them. "Why isn't she speaking?" she asked, nervous.
"The pain medication knocked her out," Luke explained. "I'm gonna pull the truck around, wait here with her, okay?"
Babette nodded and for the first time noticed the cute, young orderly pushing Lorelai's wheelchair. "With pleasure, honey."
Luke drove up to the entrance and got out of the truck.
"I can take her home," Babette said.
"The doctor said she needs to be watched for the next day or so, and it is my fault, so I thought I'd just let her sleep in my apartment, that way I can watch the diner and her."
"Whatever you say, sugar." She winked at him.
Luke rolled his eyes, fidgeted with his hat, and wished Babette would stop using sweetener-related endearments on him. He dug the prescription out of his pocket. "Do you think you can get this filled for her?" Babette nodded and took the prescription. He gently shook Lorelai's shoulders. "Hey, can you get up?"
"Don't wanna," she mumbled. Luke rolled his eyes again, and scooped her out of the wheelchair. Lorelai snuggled her cheek against his chest. "Mmm…smell good."
Luke was turned on and suspicious at the same time. He kept expecting her to reveal this to be a charade and laugh at him. He put her in the passenger seat of the truck and managed to get the seatbelt on.
Babette grabbed his arm before he got in the truck. "I called the inn to let them know what happened, but I couldn't get a hold of Rory. Lorelai said the number's programmed into her phone, in her purse."
Luke nodded and got in the truck. "I'll call her."
Babette handed him the purse; Luke awkwardly held the girly item, then dropped it on the seat next to him. "Great. Thanks for taking her here."
"It's no problem." She waved as Luke drove off. He had no doubt in his mind that she'd be calling Patty the second she got home.
* * *
Luke found a spot not far from the diner to park, and was trying to get Lorelai to wake up so she could walk on her own. "Come on, Lorelai, rise and shine." He shook her. "Look, the only way they wake people up in movies is buckets of cold water, which I don't have, or a slap, which I'm not gonna do, or a kiss, which I'm really not gonna do. So wake up. This is turning into a monologue here, which isn't good since I'm not known for my verbosity." He shook her again, and she opened her eyes.
"Carry me," she ordered.
"If you can talk, you can walk."
"Carry me," she whined, holding out her arms and waving them.
"You owe me," he said, picking her up and minding her arm. When she rubbed her cheek against his chest, he thought that was a pretty good way to make it up to him.
"You smell good," she said again, slightly more lucid than when they were leaving the hospital.
"Yeah, like bacon and coffee."
"Like Luke," she corrected.
"You smell good too," he admitted. She was still using that apple shampoo.
"Trees in the rain," she mumbled, and slipped back into sleep. He had no idea what she was talking about and dismissed it as drug-induced.
He turned the corner and almost ran into the small crowd that had gathered on the other side. "What are you people doing here?"
"Waiting for you to come back. It's lunch time," Kirk said. He looked at Lorelai in Luke's arms. "Carrying your new bride over the threshold?" He caught sight of the cast. "Did you beat her into submission?"
"Shut up, Kirk." He walked up the stairs and opened the door.
"So are you open for lunch, or not? Because I'm hungry."
"Ten minutes," Luke barked, and closed the door on Kirk's face. He turned the lock with a satisfying click before Kirk could open the door.
"Caesar?"
"In the kitchen."
Luke headed toward the sound of Caesar's voice. "Hey, open up in ten minutes or so. If Kirk's still there, make it twenty."
"What happened to her?"
"She tripped on something and broke her arm. She's in the magical world of prescription pain killers right now. I'm putting her upstairs to sleep it off, then I'll be down." Caesar nodded and Luke headed for his apartment. He opened the door and glanced at the clock. Twenty three minutes after noon, which meant Jess would be back from school in under three hours, and Lorelai would be out longer than that.
He put her in his bed, wryly noting that it would probably be the only time she'd ever sleep there. Digging the little packet of pills out of his pocket, he left it on the nightstand in case she woke up in pain, then filled a glass with water and left it there too. He looked at her one last time, until he reached the time limit where 'concerned friend' turned into 'obsessed stalker,' and went back to the diner.
-end ch. 6-
When Lorelai mentioned thinking herself Wonder Woman in the S3 premiere, I was like "Yes!"
Because she will be Wonder Woman.
(cue Yoda voice)
She will be…
And again I'd like to extend my unending gratitude to everyone who reviewed for both this fic and The Substitute. It makes me happy to know that you guys are still reading and enjoying, and not groaning in pain whenever I put a new chapter up. Well, maybe some of you are groaning in pain and are groaning silently. *g*