Chapter 30: Still In The Dark
Twenty minutes later, Emily had returned to the waiting room, allowing Luke a chance to visit Lorelai. Looking only straight ahead, Luke walked quickly to Lorelai's room. He paused outside the room, willing himself to be strong for Lorelai.
When Luke pulled aside the curtains over the entrance to Lorelai's room, he saw Rory sitting next to Lorelai's bed holding her mother's hand in both of her own. Lorelai lay in bed covered by a sheet, apparently asleep.
The noise of his entry caused Rory to turn. When she saw him, she smiled sadly, and softly said, "Hi."
"Hi," Luke replied, as he walked to the side of the bed opposite of Rory. "How is she?"
Rory shrugged and said, "She's mostly sleeping, and I think she's in some pain." As if to emphasize Rory's statement, Lorelai let out a soft groan, and shifted slightly, but her eyes remained closed. Rory looked at Luke, biting her lip.
Luke glanced around the room and spotted a stool in one corner. He crossed to the stool and wheeled it next to the bed. He bent over and placed a gentle kiss on Lorelai's forehead, and then he sat down on the stool and took Lorelai's free hand in his.
They sat there quietly for a time watching Lorelai who would occasionally moan softly. After a while, Rory looked at Luke, and asked "Luke…?"
Luke looked at Rory, the rest of her question obvious in her eyes. Trying to sound confident, Luke smiled and replied, "She's going to be fine."
Not entirely convinced, Rory replied, "Luke?"
Luke sighed and admitted, "I don't know."
When his response brought tears to her eyes, Luke added, "But if there's one thing I know, it is that your mother is one of the strongest people I know. Besides, she wouldn't want to miss out on years on annoying everyone in town, would she?"
Rory smiled in response to Luke's comments.
"You guys know I can hear you, don't you?" Lorelai surprised them when she softly spoke.
"I'm sorry, Mom," Rory said, stroking her mom's hair. "Did we wake you?"
Lorelai smiled weakly and said, "That's okay, sweetie." She turned to Luke and with a slight squeeze of his hand that was holding hers, said, "Hey, there."
"Hey, yourself," Luke replied. "Are you feeling any better?"
"Maybe a little," Lorelai shrugged.
"So have the doctors told you anything?" Luke asked.
"Yeah," Lorelai answered. "They said it's your fault because I haven't had any of your coffee all week."
Luke rolled his eyes, looked at Rory and said, "See, she's already back to her annoying ways. She's going to be fine."
They all chuckled, till Lorelai winched in pain, reaching for her stomach.
"Are you alright?" Luke asked, slightly panicked. "Do you need me to get the doctor?"
As the pain subsided, Lorelai shook her head and said, "No, just don't make me laugh."
They sat quietly holding hands for a while. Lorelai nearly drifted back to sleep, but suddenly jerked as the pain once again gripped her. After the pain passed, Lorelai tried to distract them by asking, "So, how was school today, Rory?"
They spoke of little things for a few minutes, till Lorelai looked at Rory and asked, "Rory, sweetie. Could you give me and Luke some time alone, please?"
"Is this about…?" Rory let the question hang, as she stood up.
Lorelai replied with a nod.
"Sure," Rory leaned over and kissed her mother on the cheek, then said, "I'll be outside."
After Rory left the room, Lorelai looked at Luke, and said, "We need to talk."
Luke swallowed hard, and then asked, "About what?"
"About…" Lorelai's reply was cut short when a woman of about thirty pulled open the curtain covering the entrance to her room.
The woman was wore green hospital scrubs, with a long white coat over them. She had a stethoscope in the lab coat pocket, a clipboard in one hand, and a pleasant smile. She pulled the curtain closed behind her and said, "Hi, Lorelai."
"Hi, doctor," Lorelai replied. She turned to Luke and said, "Luke, this is Doctor… I'm sorry, Doctor, I forgot your name."
Still smiling, the doctor said, "That's alright. It's Lassater. Is that your daughter I saw in the hallway?"
"Yeah, that's Rory."
"She's lovely."
"Thanks. She's finishing up her second year at Yale," Lorelai offered.
"That's nice, you must be proud?"
"We are," Lorelai answered. "Doctor, this is Luke Danes, my fiancée."
"Ah, nice to meet you Mr. Danes," the doctor said, holding out her hand.
"You can call me Luke," he replied, taking the hand.
Luke watched as the doctor looked back to Lorelai with an expression he couldn't read. He glanced at Lorelai, and thought he detected a slight nod, followed by a slight shake of Lorelai's head, as if in answer to an unspoken question.
Before Luke could ask anything, Dr. Lassater said, "Mr. Danes, would you mind waiting in the waiting room? I need to examine Lorelai again."
"Could you at least tell us what's going on?" Luke asked.
The doctor smiled, and said, "As soon as I finish I'll be out to talk to you." Luke started to protest, but the doctor cut him off, "I promise as soon as I finish here."
"It's alright, Luke," Lorelai said.
Luke nodded, as he leaned down and kissed Lorelai on the forehead. He stood up and said, "I'll be outside."
"Thanks," replied the doctor. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
Once again banished from the room, Luke collected Rory and headed back to the waiting room, still with no idea what was happening.
"There's the doctor," Luke said, twenty minutes later, when he saw Dr. Lassater enter the waiting room, and walked towards them.
"It's about time," Emily said, as they all stood up.
The doctor walked up them, smiled and said, "Sorry, that took a little longer that I thought."
"Is everything alright?" Emily asked, curtly.
Dr. Lassater looked at Emily, slightly taken aback by her forcefulness. The doctor pointed towards the hallway, and said, "Let's find someplace a little more private, shall we?"
The doctor turned and headed from the waiting room and into the hallway. Luke, Emily, Rory, and Kyle collected their things and quickly followed. Once she reached the hall the doctor turned right. She walked a short distance up the hallway to a door marked Physician Consultation. She opened the door then walked into the room turning on the light, and holding the door for the others to follow.
The room resembled a small conference room, with a small table in the middle, with chairs surrounding the table, and against the walls. As they entered the room, the doctor said, "Just have a seat."
Once they were all seated, the doctor said, "I'm Dr. Lassater, the Resident on call for OB-G…"
"I'm really not interested in your resume right now," Emily interrupted. "Can you tell me what's the matter with Lorelai? Is she going to be alright?"
"And you would be?" asked the doctor.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Luke said, "This is Emily Gilmore, Lorelai's mother."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gilmore," The doctor replied. "Now Lorelai has experienced acute…"
"Please save us your medical mumbo jumbo," Emily declared, with a very frustrated edge in her voice, "and tell us if Lorelai is going to be alright."
The doctor paused at Emily's outburst. They all sat there on the edge of their seats, waiting for her response. After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor leaned back in her chair and said, "Lorelai's going to be fine."
A nearly visible wave of relief swept over the room. Rory turned to Kyle and hugged him tightly. Luke exhaled loudly while leaning back in his chair, and closing his eyes, while Emily released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, relief visible on her face.
For a moment, they sat quietly, Luke speaking first, "When will she be able to go home?"
"We'd like to keep her overnight for observation, but barring any unforeseen complications, she should be able to go home tomorrow."
"So, will there be any long term problems?" Emily asked.
"No, she should be fine in a few days," the doctor answered.
"Can we see her?" Rory asked.
"I just gave her a sedative, and she'll probably sleep for the next twelve hours," the doctor replied.
Emily turned to Rory and said, "I better call your grandfather and give him an update."
"Before you go, there's one more thing I need to tell you," Doctor Lassater said, stopping Emily as she started to rise from her chair.
"What is it?" Emily asked. "I thought that you said Lorelai is going to be fine?"
"I did," nodded the doctor, "and Lorelai will be fine, but I'm afraid she lost the baby."
Sinking back into her seat, Emily asked, "Baby, what baby?"
"What do you mean, baby?" Luke asked.
"Lorelai was approximately four weeks pregnant," the doctor replied.
"Did she know she was pregnant?" Emily asked.
"Yes, she did."
"I'm sorry doctor, but there must have been some mistake," Luke started. "Lorelai and I have been together for over two years, and we're due to be married in June. I think she would have told me…"
Luke stopped mid-sentence as he and Emily turned to look at Rory who had been strangely quiet for the last few minutes. Looking uncomfortable under their gaze, Rory smiled weakly and said, "I'm sorry, but we just found out last weekend?"
"Well, why didn't she tell anyone?" Emily asked.
Rory glanced at Emily, then looked at Luke and said, "She was going to tell you last weekend, when she called you in Ohio, but…"
"Oh…"
"Oh?" Emily asked, "Oh, what? What happened in Ohio?"
Not meeting Emily's gaze Luke said, "Nothing."
"Nothing? Don't tell me nothing," Emily said. I want to know what happened."
"It was just a little misunderstanding," Luke explained. "It's all been straightened out."
"If it caused Lorelai to lose her baby, I would hardly call it a little misunderstanding," Emily declared.
Luke paled and looked at the doctor, "Oh, Doctor. Could having been upset have caused her to lose they baby?"
"It's often hard to tell what went wrong in cases like this," the Doctor replied. "Lorelai briefly explained some of the stress she had been under lately, and I consider it highly unlikely that it was a factor. I know it may not be much comfort, but sometimes these things happen. It's nature's way."
They sat, quietly absorbing the doctor's words. After a minute the doctor's pager started to beep. She looked at the pager then began to stand as she said, "If there's nothing else, I'm needed elsewhere. If you want to wait about twenty minutes, Lorelai should have been moved to her room. She'll probably sleep till morning, but you can see her. She's being moved to room 567."
Seeing there were no questions, the doctor said, "I'll check on Lorelai later. Goodnight."
After the doctor left, the four of them sat quietly with their own thoughts. Emily spoke first when she said, "I better see if I can find that phone and call Richard. I suppose I'll see you all in Lorelai's room later?"
No one spoke, but they all nodded in agreement. Emily gathered her things and left the room.
After a moment, Rory looked at Luke and noticed him, refusing to look in her direction. Rory patted Kyle's knee and asked, "Would you be a sweetie and get me a cup of coffee?"
Kyle was confused by Rory's request. She noticed his confusion and pointed at Luke with her eyes. Kyle followed her gaze and nodded his understanding. He stood and said, "I'll just meet you upstairs." Kyle kissed Rory on top of her head and left the room.
Once Kyle had left, Rory stood and walked toward Luke, asking, "Luke, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Luke replied, without much conviction and still not looking at Rory.
Rory sat in the chair next to Luke rested her head on his shoulder, and took his hand. Together, they sat quietly mourning the loss of what might have been.
Twenty minutes later, Emily had returned to the waiting room, allowing Luke a chance to visit Lorelai. Looking only straight ahead, Luke walked quickly to Lorelai's room. He paused outside the room, willing himself to be strong for Lorelai.
When Luke pulled aside the curtains over the entrance to Lorelai's room, he saw Rory sitting next to Lorelai's bed holding her mother's hand in both of her own. Lorelai lay in bed covered by a sheet, apparently asleep.
The noise of his entry caused Rory to turn. When she saw him, she smiled sadly, and softly said, "Hi."
"Hi," Luke replied, as he walked to the side of the bed opposite of Rory. "How is she?"
Rory shrugged and said, "She's mostly sleeping, and I think she's in some pain." As if to emphasize Rory's statement, Lorelai let out a soft groan, and shifted slightly, but her eyes remained closed. Rory looked at Luke, biting her lip.
Luke glanced around the room and spotted a stool in one corner. He crossed to the stool and wheeled it next to the bed. He bent over and placed a gentle kiss on Lorelai's forehead, and then he sat down on the stool and took Lorelai's free hand in his.
They sat there quietly for a time watching Lorelai who would occasionally moan softly. After a while, Rory looked at Luke, and asked "Luke…?"
Luke looked at Rory, the rest of her question obvious in her eyes. Trying to sound confident, Luke smiled and replied, "She's going to be fine."
Not entirely convinced, Rory replied, "Luke?"
Luke sighed and admitted, "I don't know."
When his response brought tears to her eyes, Luke added, "But if there's one thing I know, it is that your mother is one of the strongest people I know. Besides, she wouldn't want to miss out on years on annoying everyone in town, would she?"
Rory smiled in response to Luke's comments.
"You guys know I can hear you, don't you?" Lorelai surprised them when she softly spoke.
"I'm sorry, Mom," Rory said, stroking her mom's hair. "Did we wake you?"
Lorelai smiled weakly and said, "That's okay, sweetie." She turned to Luke and with a slight squeeze of his hand that was holding hers, said, "Hey, there."
"Hey, yourself," Luke replied. "Are you feeling any better?"
"Maybe a little," Lorelai shrugged.
"So have the doctors told you anything?" Luke asked.
"Yeah," Lorelai answered. "They said it's your fault because I haven't had any of your coffee all week."
Luke rolled his eyes, looked at Rory and said, "See, she's already back to her annoying ways. She's going to be fine."
They all chuckled, till Lorelai winched in pain, reaching for her stomach.
"Are you alright?" Luke asked, slightly panicked. "Do you need me to get the doctor?"
As the pain subsided, Lorelai shook her head and said, "No, just don't make me laugh."
They sat quietly holding hands for a while. Lorelai nearly drifted back to sleep, but suddenly jerked as the pain once again gripped her. After the pain passed, Lorelai tried to distract them by asking, "So, how was school today, Rory?"
They spoke of little things for a few minutes, till Lorelai looked at Rory and asked, "Rory, sweetie. Could you give me and Luke some time alone, please?"
"Is this about…?" Rory let the question hang, as she stood up.
Lorelai replied with a nod.
"Sure," Rory leaned over and kissed her mother on the cheek, then said, "I'll be outside."
After Rory left the room, Lorelai looked at Luke, and said, "We need to talk."
Luke swallowed hard, and then asked, "About what?"
"About…" Lorelai's reply was cut short when a woman of about thirty pulled open the curtain covering the entrance to her room.
The woman was wore green hospital scrubs, with a long white coat over them. She had a stethoscope in the lab coat pocket, a clipboard in one hand, and a pleasant smile. She pulled the curtain closed behind her and said, "Hi, Lorelai."
"Hi, doctor," Lorelai replied. She turned to Luke and said, "Luke, this is Doctor… I'm sorry, Doctor, I forgot your name."
Still smiling, the doctor said, "That's alright. It's Lassater. Is that your daughter I saw in the hallway?"
"Yeah, that's Rory."
"She's lovely."
"Thanks. She's finishing up her second year at Yale," Lorelai offered.
"That's nice, you must be proud?"
"We are," Lorelai answered. "Doctor, this is Luke Danes, my fiancée."
"Ah, nice to meet you Mr. Danes," the doctor said, holding out her hand.
"You can call me Luke," he replied, taking the hand.
Luke watched as the doctor looked back to Lorelai with an expression he couldn't read. He glanced at Lorelai, and thought he detected a slight nod, followed by a slight shake of Lorelai's head, as if in answer to an unspoken question.
Before Luke could ask anything, Dr. Lassater said, "Mr. Danes, would you mind waiting in the waiting room? I need to examine Lorelai again."
"Could you at least tell us what's going on?" Luke asked.
The doctor smiled, and said, "As soon as I finish I'll be out to talk to you." Luke started to protest, but the doctor cut him off, "I promise as soon as I finish here."
"It's alright, Luke," Lorelai said.
Luke nodded, as he leaned down and kissed Lorelai on the forehead. He stood up and said, "I'll be outside."
"Thanks," replied the doctor. "I'll see you in a few minutes."
Once again banished from the room, Luke collected Rory and headed back to the waiting room, still with no idea what was happening.
"There's the doctor," Luke said, twenty minutes later, when he saw Dr. Lassater enter the waiting room, and walked towards them.
"It's about time," Emily said, as they all stood up.
The doctor walked up them, smiled and said, "Sorry, that took a little longer that I thought."
"Is everything alright?" Emily asked, curtly.
Dr. Lassater looked at Emily, slightly taken aback by her forcefulness. The doctor pointed towards the hallway, and said, "Let's find someplace a little more private, shall we?"
The doctor turned and headed from the waiting room and into the hallway. Luke, Emily, Rory, and Kyle collected their things and quickly followed. Once she reached the hall the doctor turned right. She walked a short distance up the hallway to a door marked Physician Consultation. She opened the door then walked into the room turning on the light, and holding the door for the others to follow.
The room resembled a small conference room, with a small table in the middle, with chairs surrounding the table, and against the walls. As they entered the room, the doctor said, "Just have a seat."
Once they were all seated, the doctor said, "I'm Dr. Lassater, the Resident on call for OB-G…"
"I'm really not interested in your resume right now," Emily interrupted. "Can you tell me what's the matter with Lorelai? Is she going to be alright?"
"And you would be?" asked the doctor.
"I'm sorry, Doctor," Luke said, "This is Emily Gilmore, Lorelai's mother."
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gilmore," The doctor replied. "Now Lorelai has experienced acute…"
"Please save us your medical mumbo jumbo," Emily declared, with a very frustrated edge in her voice, "and tell us if Lorelai is going to be alright."
The doctor paused at Emily's outburst. They all sat there on the edge of their seats, waiting for her response. After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor leaned back in her chair and said, "Lorelai's going to be fine."
A nearly visible wave of relief swept over the room. Rory turned to Kyle and hugged him tightly. Luke exhaled loudly while leaning back in his chair, and closing his eyes, while Emily released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, relief visible on her face.
For a moment, they sat quietly, Luke speaking first, "When will she be able to go home?"
"We'd like to keep her overnight for observation, but barring any unforeseen complications, she should be able to go home tomorrow."
"So, will there be any long term problems?" Emily asked.
"No, she should be fine in a few days," the doctor answered.
"Can we see her?" Rory asked.
"I just gave her a sedative, and she'll probably sleep for the next twelve hours," the doctor replied.
Emily turned to Rory and said, "I better call your grandfather and give him an update."
"Before you go, there's one more thing I need to tell you," Doctor Lassater said, stopping Emily as she started to rise from her chair.
"What is it?" Emily asked. "I thought that you said Lorelai is going to be fine?"
"I did," nodded the doctor, "and Lorelai will be fine, but I'm afraid she lost the baby."
Sinking back into her seat, Emily asked, "Baby, what baby?"
"What do you mean, baby?" Luke asked.
"Lorelai was approximately four weeks pregnant," the doctor replied.
"Did she know she was pregnant?" Emily asked.
"Yes, she did."
"I'm sorry doctor, but there must have been some mistake," Luke started. "Lorelai and I have been together for over two years, and we're due to be married in June. I think she would have told me…"
Luke stopped mid-sentence as he and Emily turned to look at Rory who had been strangely quiet for the last few minutes. Looking uncomfortable under their gaze, Rory smiled weakly and said, "I'm sorry, but we just found out last weekend?"
"Well, why didn't she tell anyone?" Emily asked.
Rory glanced at Emily, then looked at Luke and said, "She was going to tell you last weekend, when she called you in Ohio, but…"
"Oh…"
"Oh?" Emily asked, "Oh, what? What happened in Ohio?"
Not meeting Emily's gaze Luke said, "Nothing."
"Nothing? Don't tell me nothing," Emily said. I want to know what happened."
"It was just a little misunderstanding," Luke explained. "It's all been straightened out."
"If it caused Lorelai to lose her baby, I would hardly call it a little misunderstanding," Emily declared.
Luke paled and looked at the doctor, "Oh, Doctor. Could having been upset have caused her to lose they baby?"
"It's often hard to tell what went wrong in cases like this," the Doctor replied. "Lorelai briefly explained some of the stress she had been under lately, and I consider it highly unlikely that it was a factor. I know it may not be much comfort, but sometimes these things happen. It's nature's way."
They sat, quietly absorbing the doctor's words. After a minute the doctor's pager started to beep. She looked at the pager then began to stand as she said, "If there's nothing else, I'm needed elsewhere. If you want to wait about twenty minutes, Lorelai should have been moved to her room. She'll probably sleep till morning, but you can see her. She's being moved to room 567."
Seeing there were no questions, the doctor said, "I'll check on Lorelai later. Goodnight."
After the doctor left, the four of them sat quietly with their own thoughts. Emily spoke first when she said, "I better see if I can find that phone and call Richard. I suppose I'll see you all in Lorelai's room later?"
No one spoke, but they all nodded in agreement. Emily gathered her things and left the room.
After a moment, Rory looked at Luke and noticed him, refusing to look in her direction. Rory patted Kyle's knee and asked, "Would you be a sweetie and get me a cup of coffee?"
Kyle was confused by Rory's request. She noticed his confusion and pointed at Luke with her eyes. Kyle followed her gaze and nodded his understanding. He stood and said, "I'll just meet you upstairs." Kyle kissed Rory on top of her head and left the room.
Once Kyle had left, Rory stood and walked toward Luke, asking, "Luke, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Luke replied, without much conviction and still not looking at Rory.
Rory sat in the chair next to Luke rested her head on his shoulder, and took his hand. Together, they sat quietly mourning the loss of what might have been.