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Length of Time, Chapter 3
At Luke's-
Luke watched the officer enter, and he felt as if everything had stopped.. he felt as if his heart stopped, his breathing stopped, and everything was slow and still.
"Can I help you?" he finally managed to muster out, now standing in front of the older officer.
"Uh, yes, I'd like two cups of coffee, to go, please."
"You're not Stars Hollow officers," Luke said, more to himself than to the cop.
"Right. Do you not serve coffee to out-of-town cops? Because me and my partner just need a quick fix, really. I promise, we won't tell anyone you gave us coffee, it there's some sort of odd rule against-"
Luke walked, in a zombie-like fashion, over to the counter, where he started fixing the officer two cups of coffee... angrily ripping open the plastic on the cups that Lorelai had been obviously trying to open just hours ago.
"What brings you guys to Stars Hollow?" he asked, in what he hoped was casual, conversational tones, but he knew he sounded miserable, and was confusing the cop as to why he was even attempting small talk.
Sookie and Jackson now seated themselves at the counter, next to this officer, listening as well.
"We are just checking up on someone, to see if they're home," the officer said, uncomfortably, clearly thinking that these people were odd.
Luke just stared at this officer, debating on whether or not it would be wise to stand him up, shake him and threaten to poor the scalding hot coffee from the to-go cups onto his face if he didn't tell him what was going on and if it had ANYTHING to do with Lorelai Gilmore.
Before Luke had the chance to make up his mind, another officer entered, located his partner and headed over to the counter.
"She's not home. What should we do?"
"Uh, who's not home?" Luke asked, his patience wearing out.
"Sir, I realize this is a small town, and you all probably tell one another everything, but as you've pointed out, we are not from around here, and aren't in the habit of telling our business to everyone else, let alone complete strangers."
Luke had just about made up his mind that he would jump over the counter and beat it out of them, when Sookie noticed the look in his eyes, and touched his arm, so to calm him and let her take over for a little bit.
"Um, we just want to know if this has anything to do with Lorelai Gilmore. She's a friend of ours, who-"
"Oh, great, then do you know where she is?" the first officer asked Sookie.
"No, we haven't seen her today. And we are concerned. Why are YOU guys looking for her?" Sookie asked, in her best patient voice. But she was starting to understand how Luke felt.
"Obviously I don't know where she is today or we wouldn't be talking to YOU about her," she thought.
The officer took a deep breath. "Well we found her car abandoned on Route 58. The driver's side door was open and her pocketbook was still inside. There was no sign of her anywhere near the area. The car is being dusted for prints now, and we have her license picture and got her address from it-"
Luke felt all the color drain from his face just then. "What's being done?!" he demanded. Then, more calmly, he added, "I mean, to find her."
He tried to pull himself together, but it was obvious to the officers that this man was on the edge.
"Well, now that we know she hasn't been home-"
"-Or to work," Sookie added, trying to be helpful, but growing more frantic as well.
"-We are going to check all the local hospitals... just in case... but we aren't sure what could have happened. I mean, first of all-"
"Hey, Luke, could I get those waffles?" someone called out.
"The diner is closed! Everyone out!" Luke yelled, feeling like he was really starting to lose his mind. The customers exchanged a lot of confused looks, as he turned back to the officer.
"First of all.." Luke started, motioning for the cop to continue.
"Well, first of all, there is not one dent on her car to suggest that she was forced off the road and then kidnapped," the officer started, daring a look at the three people staring intently at him.
Luke rested one hand on his cheek, in utter disbelief at this entire thing, as he listened to the officer.
"And her cell phone does not have any 911 calls listed in her recent call history. And we want to rule out theft as well, as her pocketbook was still in the car and if someone had mugged her, somehow, they would have taken that. And also we are ruling out car trouble, as no mobile service was called on her phone either, and her battery and gas level are fine in her car."
"So, as far as you're concerned, she's just disappeared. This is all a mystery..." Sookie suggested, starting to tremble. Jackson placed a hand around her waist and offered comfort. He glanced at Luke and saw a look of sheer... pain. That was the only way Jackson could see fit to describe how Luke looked.
"Well, no, we are not saying she has disappeared and it's a mystery," the other officer began. "I mean, we don't know where she is, but we have ruled out a few possible explanations. But there could be other explanations that we haven't ruled out."
"Which are-" a very upset Luke encouraged further elaboration.
"She could have been hurt and someone could have driven her to a nearby hospital, or she could have pulled over to take a nap, if she were very tired, and someone could have driven up.. Route 58 isn't the best road to pull over on. I mean, not many people drive by.. a few commuters, but mostly truckers."
"Are you suggesting that-" Jackson started, noticing that Sookie had now also gone as pale as Luke.
"We are not suggesting anything. We are just tossing around possible explanations. The only trouble is, unidentified people are brought into hospitals all the time, and as Lorelai obviously would not have had identification on her upon arrival at a hospital," the officer said, holding up her driver's license.
"So she would be another unidentified patient. And we won't know it's her until we can see some of the Jane Doe's at all the local hospitals if that might be what happened to Lorelai. Unless she was actually conscious OR someone took her and happens to say where they found her, both of which would lead the hospital to contact the police, which hasn't happened."
Luke took a deep breath and turned to face his customers at the diner. "Did you hear me? I said I am closed! Out! All of you! Now!" he demanded, as customers scurried to get out, obviously detecting that Luke was having a personal crisis.
Luke turned back to the officers. "If I can help, I will go to any hospital and help to identify if it's her there, one of the unidentified people, I mean."
"Well, we've sent a copy of her picture to all the local-" the officer stopped, looking at Luke, seeing his expression painted over with desperation and anxiety. "Okay, sir, that would really help. Why don't you head over to St. Marks's Hospital. It's not the closest to the place she was abandoned on Route 58, but it's directly off the truck route."
"Well, that's just ASSUMING a trucker picked her up. Shouldn't I go to the hospital closest to where her car was?" Luke asked.
"We already have a few men there, keeping an eye out for her. There has been no one, so far as they can tell, admitted that could be her."
Luke looked at Sookie and then at Jackson. "Take her back to the inn, in case she calls. Maybe she's somewhere else."
"Yes, someone definitely should be somewhere that you think she might call, if she should be somewhere we haven't considered and she comes across a phone," the officer said.
Without another word or a look back at anyone in the diner, Luke grabbed a coat and headed out the door.
Meanwhile, in Lorelai's unconsciousness-
Lorelai could feel herself drifting in and out of consciousness. She was recalling bits of conversation she remembered-but she couldn't see his face. She could only hear an older man's kind voice.
"You look so sick... I wish you would wake up.. Miss, we are close to the hospital.. hang on.. just hang on.. "
She could feel herself being hoisted out of a vehicle and into those same, kind arms.
"I have to leave you here. I can't stay.. they can't know who I am.. you're in good hands now..."
And then she could feel lips on her forehead, the whiskers from his growing beard on her cheek, and she could sense he was gone. She heard more noise.. chaotic noise.
"Doctor, who is this?...... what?...... Ugh, another drop-off. Help me get her inside.."
And that was all Lorelai could feel before she passed out again, hoping she would soon be able to wake up for good.
Meanwhile, in the car enroute to the inn-
Sookie jumped when she heard her cell phone ring. She wiped her eyes and picked up the phone warily.
"Hello?...... Rory," she said, trying to find something to say to her, but having no idea how to tell her anything. "How the hell are ya, kid? How's the first day of class?"
Meanwhile at Yale-
Rory made a face at the phone, confused at Sookie's odd behavior. "Sookie, you called me before, but I was in class. What's up?..... Sookie, stop acting weird. Just tell me what's going on.."
From a little ways away, Jess watched Rory on the phone, trying to figure out how to get back into her good graces. He was brought out of his thoughts of plans and schemes to win her back by a shriek that came from.. Rory.
"Sookie, are you serious!? I.. I'm on my way.."
Jess followed a running and seemingly-very-upset Rory, thinking, "this is it."
Length of Time, Chapter 3
At Luke's-
Luke watched the officer enter, and he felt as if everything had stopped.. he felt as if his heart stopped, his breathing stopped, and everything was slow and still.
"Can I help you?" he finally managed to muster out, now standing in front of the older officer.
"Uh, yes, I'd like two cups of coffee, to go, please."
"You're not Stars Hollow officers," Luke said, more to himself than to the cop.
"Right. Do you not serve coffee to out-of-town cops? Because me and my partner just need a quick fix, really. I promise, we won't tell anyone you gave us coffee, it there's some sort of odd rule against-"
Luke walked, in a zombie-like fashion, over to the counter, where he started fixing the officer two cups of coffee... angrily ripping open the plastic on the cups that Lorelai had been obviously trying to open just hours ago.
"What brings you guys to Stars Hollow?" he asked, in what he hoped was casual, conversational tones, but he knew he sounded miserable, and was confusing the cop as to why he was even attempting small talk.
Sookie and Jackson now seated themselves at the counter, next to this officer, listening as well.
"We are just checking up on someone, to see if they're home," the officer said, uncomfortably, clearly thinking that these people were odd.
Luke just stared at this officer, debating on whether or not it would be wise to stand him up, shake him and threaten to poor the scalding hot coffee from the to-go cups onto his face if he didn't tell him what was going on and if it had ANYTHING to do with Lorelai Gilmore.
Before Luke had the chance to make up his mind, another officer entered, located his partner and headed over to the counter.
"She's not home. What should we do?"
"Uh, who's not home?" Luke asked, his patience wearing out.
"Sir, I realize this is a small town, and you all probably tell one another everything, but as you've pointed out, we are not from around here, and aren't in the habit of telling our business to everyone else, let alone complete strangers."
Luke had just about made up his mind that he would jump over the counter and beat it out of them, when Sookie noticed the look in his eyes, and touched his arm, so to calm him and let her take over for a little bit.
"Um, we just want to know if this has anything to do with Lorelai Gilmore. She's a friend of ours, who-"
"Oh, great, then do you know where she is?" the first officer asked Sookie.
"No, we haven't seen her today. And we are concerned. Why are YOU guys looking for her?" Sookie asked, in her best patient voice. But she was starting to understand how Luke felt.
"Obviously I don't know where she is today or we wouldn't be talking to YOU about her," she thought.
The officer took a deep breath. "Well we found her car abandoned on Route 58. The driver's side door was open and her pocketbook was still inside. There was no sign of her anywhere near the area. The car is being dusted for prints now, and we have her license picture and got her address from it-"
Luke felt all the color drain from his face just then. "What's being done?!" he demanded. Then, more calmly, he added, "I mean, to find her."
He tried to pull himself together, but it was obvious to the officers that this man was on the edge.
"Well, now that we know she hasn't been home-"
"-Or to work," Sookie added, trying to be helpful, but growing more frantic as well.
"-We are going to check all the local hospitals... just in case... but we aren't sure what could have happened. I mean, first of all-"
"Hey, Luke, could I get those waffles?" someone called out.
"The diner is closed! Everyone out!" Luke yelled, feeling like he was really starting to lose his mind. The customers exchanged a lot of confused looks, as he turned back to the officer.
"First of all.." Luke started, motioning for the cop to continue.
"Well, first of all, there is not one dent on her car to suggest that she was forced off the road and then kidnapped," the officer started, daring a look at the three people staring intently at him.
Luke rested one hand on his cheek, in utter disbelief at this entire thing, as he listened to the officer.
"And her cell phone does not have any 911 calls listed in her recent call history. And we want to rule out theft as well, as her pocketbook was still in the car and if someone had mugged her, somehow, they would have taken that. And also we are ruling out car trouble, as no mobile service was called on her phone either, and her battery and gas level are fine in her car."
"So, as far as you're concerned, she's just disappeared. This is all a mystery..." Sookie suggested, starting to tremble. Jackson placed a hand around her waist and offered comfort. He glanced at Luke and saw a look of sheer... pain. That was the only way Jackson could see fit to describe how Luke looked.
"Well, no, we are not saying she has disappeared and it's a mystery," the other officer began. "I mean, we don't know where she is, but we have ruled out a few possible explanations. But there could be other explanations that we haven't ruled out."
"Which are-" a very upset Luke encouraged further elaboration.
"She could have been hurt and someone could have driven her to a nearby hospital, or she could have pulled over to take a nap, if she were very tired, and someone could have driven up.. Route 58 isn't the best road to pull over on. I mean, not many people drive by.. a few commuters, but mostly truckers."
"Are you suggesting that-" Jackson started, noticing that Sookie had now also gone as pale as Luke.
"We are not suggesting anything. We are just tossing around possible explanations. The only trouble is, unidentified people are brought into hospitals all the time, and as Lorelai obviously would not have had identification on her upon arrival at a hospital," the officer said, holding up her driver's license.
"So she would be another unidentified patient. And we won't know it's her until we can see some of the Jane Doe's at all the local hospitals if that might be what happened to Lorelai. Unless she was actually conscious OR someone took her and happens to say where they found her, both of which would lead the hospital to contact the police, which hasn't happened."
Luke took a deep breath and turned to face his customers at the diner. "Did you hear me? I said I am closed! Out! All of you! Now!" he demanded, as customers scurried to get out, obviously detecting that Luke was having a personal crisis.
Luke turned back to the officers. "If I can help, I will go to any hospital and help to identify if it's her there, one of the unidentified people, I mean."
"Well, we've sent a copy of her picture to all the local-" the officer stopped, looking at Luke, seeing his expression painted over with desperation and anxiety. "Okay, sir, that would really help. Why don't you head over to St. Marks's Hospital. It's not the closest to the place she was abandoned on Route 58, but it's directly off the truck route."
"Well, that's just ASSUMING a trucker picked her up. Shouldn't I go to the hospital closest to where her car was?" Luke asked.
"We already have a few men there, keeping an eye out for her. There has been no one, so far as they can tell, admitted that could be her."
Luke looked at Sookie and then at Jackson. "Take her back to the inn, in case she calls. Maybe she's somewhere else."
"Yes, someone definitely should be somewhere that you think she might call, if she should be somewhere we haven't considered and she comes across a phone," the officer said.
Without another word or a look back at anyone in the diner, Luke grabbed a coat and headed out the door.
Meanwhile, in Lorelai's unconsciousness-
Lorelai could feel herself drifting in and out of consciousness. She was recalling bits of conversation she remembered-but she couldn't see his face. She could only hear an older man's kind voice.
"You look so sick... I wish you would wake up.. Miss, we are close to the hospital.. hang on.. just hang on.. "
She could feel herself being hoisted out of a vehicle and into those same, kind arms.
"I have to leave you here. I can't stay.. they can't know who I am.. you're in good hands now..."
And then she could feel lips on her forehead, the whiskers from his growing beard on her cheek, and she could sense he was gone. She heard more noise.. chaotic noise.
"Doctor, who is this?...... what?...... Ugh, another drop-off. Help me get her inside.."
And that was all Lorelai could feel before she passed out again, hoping she would soon be able to wake up for good.
Meanwhile, in the car enroute to the inn-
Sookie jumped when she heard her cell phone ring. She wiped her eyes and picked up the phone warily.
"Hello?...... Rory," she said, trying to find something to say to her, but having no idea how to tell her anything. "How the hell are ya, kid? How's the first day of class?"
Meanwhile at Yale-
Rory made a face at the phone, confused at Sookie's odd behavior. "Sookie, you called me before, but I was in class. What's up?..... Sookie, stop acting weird. Just tell me what's going on.."
From a little ways away, Jess watched Rory on the phone, trying to figure out how to get back into her good graces. He was brought out of his thoughts of plans and schemes to win her back by a shriek that came from.. Rory.
"Sookie, are you serious!? I.. I'm on my way.."
Jess followed a running and seemingly-very-upset Rory, thinking, "this is it."