All disclaimers apply (aka the show and ALL its characters belong to Amy
Sherman-Palladino!)
And, again, thanks everyone for the words of encouragement!!
Length of Time Chapter 7
Luke walked into the room, and saw Lorelai for the first time today without feeling like the world as he knew it, and liked it, was ending. She was just lying there and looked so small.. and still a little pale. He sat down in a chair by her bed. Then he stood up again. And he looked at her again, and sat down again. He dared just then to look at her. Really look. He watched her steady breathing and expressionless expression, and although he knew she was okay now, he couldn't bare to see her like this. In a hospital. Not talking a thousand miles a minute and drinking coffee to her deathbed. "Ooh," he thought. "Not the best thing to think right now."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He didn't want to risk waking her, quibbling around like a nervous wreck. He looked down at the floor and then, slowly, back at her face, which was resting toward him.
He realized how much he wanted to see her eyes. Just her eyes. Those animated, lively eyes which so rightly personified her. He just wanted to see them, to know she was okay again. He felt that as soon as he would see her eyes, he'd then know. Know she was okay, know she was going to stay okay, and know if she would forgive him. And he also wondered if maybe those eyes would tell him more.
He tried to think of something to say, and opened his mouth many times in attempts, but just kept closing it, telling himself that this wasn't because he was scared, but because he just didn't want to wake her. He heard a noise, and popped his head up to see the nurse peek her head in, and then back out again, so to tell him to hurry up.
He stood up again and looked down at her. She looked so peaceful, he mused. And so beautiful. He smiled a small smile down at her, and decided to just say whatever came to his mind, without screening his thoughts so much. "I love you," he whispered, practically, as it was very barely audible, and he inhaled after he said it and raised his eyebrows slightly, in surprise. He couldn't believe he said it..and he couldn't believe it was so easy. He just looked down at her and smiled again at her still and clearly sleeping form before walking back out into the hallway.
Meanwhile, in the hallway-----
Rory was curled up in a chair, with a notebook on her lap, writing on her own, while Sookie leaned on Jackson's shoulder. No one was really talking, but there wasn't any need. Everyone felt at ease and peaceful, and was just enjoying the companionable silence of the moment.
"Already doing Leafus's reflection?" Jess asking, sitting in a chair next to Rory. She looked up briefly, shielding her page from his prying eyes.
"Uh, well, making an outline for what I want to discuss. I'm just writing down some thoughts I have about it, and just things I am thinking about right now," she answered.
"What other classes did you have today?" he asked---- not in a way that suggested he was actually interested, but moreso in a way that implied he just wanted to talk to her, and it was all he could think of to say.
"I had an introductory journalism course and a Freshman English course. But Paris actually was in that one too. So, she'll take good notes. Believe me," she said, straight-faced.
"I believe it. So... you have to see her during two classes, like three times a week? That's seeing her six times a week. That's a lot," he said-- -- but it was obvious that he was trying too hard, to talk to her.
"You have no idea," she said elusively, staring at her notebook again.
He nodded, noticing that she was starting to write in the notebook again. He decided he didn't want to bother her anymore and was about to get up, when she, keeping her face toward the notebook, looked sideways at him, with her eyes. She looked back at the notebook and kept writing as she said, "I just mean that we actually ended up living together this year also."
He allowed himself a small smile and looked at her. "Really?"
"Yeah, we are officially now like the Saved by the Bell kids. We went to high school together and have ended up at the same college, in the same dorm, taking the same courses," she said, in a humorous monotone voice.
"The only difference is, they were all like best friends in high school," Jess said.
"Good one," she said, smiling. "And very true."
He sat back and relaxed as she kept writing in her notebook.
"Where is my daughter!?" a shrill tone broke through the comfortable silence that was permeating the waiting room. Rory looked up and saw her grandmother harassing a nurse. She ran toward them.
"Her name is Lorelai Gilm----"
"Grandma," Rory said, giving the nurse a look that said "get away! Get away now!"
"Ah, Rory," Emily said, trying to feign strength and indifference, and not show she was even upset at all. But Rory knew better and drew her into a hug. Emily rested her hand on Rory's back and shut her eyes. After a few moments, Rory pulled back.
"She's out of surgery and she's okay. But she's still asleep. We're just waiting for her to wake up."
Emily made a quick move to wipe a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye, and nodded at Rory. She decided to change the subject.
"So, how's the new car driving?"
Rory smiled. "Oh, it's driving. I'm living proof. It got me all the way here today. And all the way to Yale last week."
Emily beamed at her granddaughter. "Well, good to hear."
And back in the waiting room-----
At some point, between Rory's writing in her notebook and Emily's loud arrival, Luke had slipped back into the waiting room and taken a seat beside Jackson. They were just sitting there, peacefully, and Luke just quietly thought about seeing Lorelai. He rested his elbows on his knees and thought about everything that had happened.
He knew the next time he would see her, she would be awake. And then he would have to have something more to say to her than all of the NOTHING he said back in the room. Well, he did say one thing, and he couldn't believe he had said it. He knew, deep down, that he always loved her. But lately he had grown to think that his love for her was always friendship, mixed with the obvious attraction to her, as she was very attractive. But he had been starting to think it wasn't really... well, love.
But after today, he'd never been more sure of anything in his life.
"Okay, Michel, thanks," Sookie said, as she hung up the phone. She turned to Jackson. "So, he's called in for a temporary chef for today, and said the guests are really enjoying themselves!"
"Oh good," Jackson said happily.
"Okay, so on to the next matter of concern," she said, now addressing everyone, not just Jackson.
"Which is..." Jackson said, encouraging her to continue.
"Lorelai, of course," she said.
"What about her?" Rory said, now turning toward Sookie too.
"Well, she is living alone right now, but she needs a lot of care next week when she is out of the hospital. She has to stay somewhere," Sookie explained.
"Oh, well, I can let my professors know that I will be staying home for the next few weeks and explain. I can arrange to have notes taken for me----" Rory started, to which Luke, Sookie and Emily all declared, strongly, "No!"
Rory looked at the three intense faces, staring at her. "Tough crowd," she muttered to herself. Then to everyone else, she asked "now what is the matter with my suggestion?"
"Only that Lorelai would never let you miss your first two weeks of school to take care of her," Sookie said, very matter-of-factly.
"Well that may be true, but she needs to have someone there all the time, and I already have a room reserved at her place, for whenever I choose to stay, and I happen to choose right now," she declared, in a proud, yet calm tone, that felt confident she had stumped them all.
"I'd say she could stay with us, but the place is a jungle with baby stuff everywhere and Sookie needs taking care of, herself," Jackson pointed out, to which Sookie nodded reluctantly. She wanted to take care of her best friend, but she was in no condition to do it well.
"Oh, well, this is silly. She can stay with us when she gets out," Emily chimed in, to which everyone looked at each other, panic rising within them.
They all knew that if Lorelai woke up and learned that not only she would be in the hospital during the opening week of the Dragonfly but THEN going to Hartford to live with her parents... in her old bedroom... having dinner with them SEVEN days a week, she would kill each and every one of them... slowly and painfully.
They all started saying, in the nicest voices they could muster up at her suggestion, "ah, no, I don't think.."
"I am staying home from school. It's fine. It's settled," Rory said, resolutely.
Luke stood up and looked at Rory. "No, Sookie's right. Lorelai won't LET you do that. And it makes no sense for you to do that. I... uh, I'll stay with Lorelai, if it's okay with her."
He could see Emily start to protest. "It's just.. Hartford's so far away, and she might wanna visit her inn next week," Luke explained, as everyone breathed a silent sigh of relief and nodded in agreement, looking as though they hadn't thought of that, but he made a very interesting point.
"I can stay in Rory's room.. if that's okay," Luke started.
"Uh, sure, that's fine by me," Rory answered.
"... and then just make sure she's okay until she can do everything on her own," Luke said, beginning to feel embarrassed, as if everyone could read his face and thoughts. He looked down just then, wanting the earth to open up beneath him and just swallow him in.
Rory smiled at his shyness and in a way that implied she was impressed, and then nodded, addressing everyone else "well, I think it's a good idea."
"Yes, I suppose," Emily said, looking more like a child who was just punished unjustly, rather than a concerned mother.
"I think she's starting to wake up," the nurse said, coming over to them, chiming into their conversation, suddenly.
Everyone looked at Rory. Her face got a little more serious then, and she grabbed her notebook and followed the nurse into the hospital room.
Rory opened the door and walked in very quietly. She saw her mother lying there.. moving a little, but still out of it. She sat down and just waited for her. Rory started looking around the room, at the monitors, and the sterile-looking walls and stillness of everything. She listened to the sound of her mother's steady breathing, and all of a sudden, started getting emotional again. She stared down at her notebook, starting to sob a little more outwardly.
"Oh my God, I've died and I am looking down at my own funeral," Rory heard a voice say. She looked up and saw Lorelai looking at her. Her voice was raw and scratchy, but held all the humor that WAS Lorelai Gilmore.
"Oh God. Only ONE person came to my funeral? I mean, I wasn't hoping for the Pope or Elvis Presley, or even the entire town, but.. I won't lie... I did kind of always harbor a secret desire that more than ONE person would come to my funeral. I mean, it's the final goodbye! And this church is so ugly!"
"Mom!" Rory shrieked, now laughing through her tears. "Stop, stop, it's not your funeral!"
"I know, honey," Lorelai said, now smiling at her daughter, but getting more serious. After a moment, she decided to ask, "sooo... what happened? Why exactly am I here and in ever so much pain?"
"Luke was right. It's the coffee, mom," Rory said, very seriously.
Lorelai dropped her mouth open. "Don't even joke about that!"
"Well, actually, your appendix exploded. Mom, didn't you know something was wrong? Appendicitis doesn't just creep up on you all of a sudden."
"Ah, so THAT was what that incessant and annoying, might I add, pain in my stomach was all about. I thought it was pain from the emptiness that is now my life since you've gone away," Lorelai said, now starting to slowly, and painfully, sit up and smile at her daughter. Rory shot her a look. "Okay, okay, I thought it was food poisoning."
"You only really eat at Luke's or Sookie's food," Rory pointed out. "And you know they wouldn't poison you."
"True, true. But there was this one night that I ate some fast food on my way home for the night, and I figured----"
Lorelai trailed off when she realized that Rory was starting to cry again.
"Oh, honey, don't cry, I'm okay," she said, wishing she could get up and hug her, like she would normally do if Rory were crying in front of her. But in truth? She couldn't really move.
"I know you're okay. But....but I was really scared. You know, Sookie called me, and..and there were cops involved, and no one knew where you were, and, and Luke closed the diner---"
"He closed the diner?" Lorelai said, very confused. "And there were cops? Was.. was I on the show COPS?"
Rory shook her head at her mother. "No, you were not on TV. No one knew where you were. It was really scary. And.. and I wrote down some thoughts about how I felt."
"I should have known you'd find an intellectual way to handle your fear and nervousness. Okay, let's have it," Lorelai said, resting her head.
Rory cleared her throat and looked at her mom. "Okay." She looked down at her notebook. "Well today I think my life changed," she read. "I found myself at about ten past nine with my biggest problem being that I had to spend an entire period staring at an ex-boyfriend, who ended up going to my school----"
"Dean goes to Yale?"
"Jess. So.."
"JESS goes to YALE!?" Lorelai said, in her best attempt at yelling, but it came out more like a very angry whisper.
"Mom, I am pouring my heart out here!" Rory said, stomping a foot on the floor.
"Right, sorry," Lorelai said, making a mental note to find out about that later.
"When we did this exercise, I felt that my world was crumbling. That life was so unfair. That all I wanted was to forget this person. And that this was the longest stretch of time anyone should ever have to suffer such a travesty. And then class was over, and I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. Until I found out that someone I care about more than anyone else in the world was missing.. and possibly hurt, and I realized that I was being childish before. If my biggest problem had to do with having to see someone who I was simply mad at, then my life was pretty good. Because all my loved ones and friends were okay in the world, and my world, as I know and like it, was okay. It was better than okay. It was perfect. But my life REALLY fell apart for the hours that ensued in which I thought that something.. that something horrible.. could have happened to my mom, who also happens to be my best friend. The length of time she was.. well, the length of time that she wasn't okay.. THAT was the longest stretch of time for me, and the time it took me to realize where the weight of the world really lies for me. And it's only now, just been lifted," she finished.
Lorelai smiled at Rory and held out her hand to her. Rory took it and held it, smiling. "You know," Lorelai said, quietly and seriously. "A simple 'I love you' would have sufficed."
Rory rolled her eyes and laughed with her mother, relishing in the moment.
And in the hallway----
Luke was flipping through a pamphlet, when he read something and did a double take. He jumped out of his seat and ran to the counter, where the nurse was writing something on a clipboard. She smiled when she saw him run up.
"Yes, Mr. Danes."
"I was just reading this thing about stomach surgeries, and it says that when patients are recovering, there are a few things they should stay away from, and one of them is coffee."
"Yeah. That's right. It could upset her stomach," the nurse said, confused at his dilemma.
"Yeah, but I may be the person watching her next week, and if I have to deprive her of coffee, SHE could upset my FACE," he said.
'Uh, Luke, you can go see her now, if you want to," Rory said, breaking in. The nurse used the distraction to get back behind the counter and picked up the phone. Luke looked at Rory confused.
"Uh, wouldn't it make more sense for your grandmother to go in next, I mean, she's her moth----"
"Luke! Use your head! The woman is in pain right now!" she said, looking disappointed that he would even suggest such a thing.
He smiled. "Yeah, sorry... how is she?"
Rory shrugged.. "She's being.. Lorelai," she said.
"Oh God.. Wish me luck," he said at an attempt at humor, but it was clear that he was nervous to go in.
He turned to walk into Lorelai's room.
"Good luck, Luke," Rory called after him, smiling. He didn't look back, but as he turned the knob, he heard her words and hoped that luck was enough to give him strength to say everything he wanted to.
And, again, thanks everyone for the words of encouragement!!
Length of Time Chapter 7
Luke walked into the room, and saw Lorelai for the first time today without feeling like the world as he knew it, and liked it, was ending. She was just lying there and looked so small.. and still a little pale. He sat down in a chair by her bed. Then he stood up again. And he looked at her again, and sat down again. He dared just then to look at her. Really look. He watched her steady breathing and expressionless expression, and although he knew she was okay now, he couldn't bare to see her like this. In a hospital. Not talking a thousand miles a minute and drinking coffee to her deathbed. "Ooh," he thought. "Not the best thing to think right now."
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He didn't want to risk waking her, quibbling around like a nervous wreck. He looked down at the floor and then, slowly, back at her face, which was resting toward him.
He realized how much he wanted to see her eyes. Just her eyes. Those animated, lively eyes which so rightly personified her. He just wanted to see them, to know she was okay again. He felt that as soon as he would see her eyes, he'd then know. Know she was okay, know she was going to stay okay, and know if she would forgive him. And he also wondered if maybe those eyes would tell him more.
He tried to think of something to say, and opened his mouth many times in attempts, but just kept closing it, telling himself that this wasn't because he was scared, but because he just didn't want to wake her. He heard a noise, and popped his head up to see the nurse peek her head in, and then back out again, so to tell him to hurry up.
He stood up again and looked down at her. She looked so peaceful, he mused. And so beautiful. He smiled a small smile down at her, and decided to just say whatever came to his mind, without screening his thoughts so much. "I love you," he whispered, practically, as it was very barely audible, and he inhaled after he said it and raised his eyebrows slightly, in surprise. He couldn't believe he said it..and he couldn't believe it was so easy. He just looked down at her and smiled again at her still and clearly sleeping form before walking back out into the hallway.
Meanwhile, in the hallway-----
Rory was curled up in a chair, with a notebook on her lap, writing on her own, while Sookie leaned on Jackson's shoulder. No one was really talking, but there wasn't any need. Everyone felt at ease and peaceful, and was just enjoying the companionable silence of the moment.
"Already doing Leafus's reflection?" Jess asking, sitting in a chair next to Rory. She looked up briefly, shielding her page from his prying eyes.
"Uh, well, making an outline for what I want to discuss. I'm just writing down some thoughts I have about it, and just things I am thinking about right now," she answered.
"What other classes did you have today?" he asked---- not in a way that suggested he was actually interested, but moreso in a way that implied he just wanted to talk to her, and it was all he could think of to say.
"I had an introductory journalism course and a Freshman English course. But Paris actually was in that one too. So, she'll take good notes. Believe me," she said, straight-faced.
"I believe it. So... you have to see her during two classes, like three times a week? That's seeing her six times a week. That's a lot," he said-- -- but it was obvious that he was trying too hard, to talk to her.
"You have no idea," she said elusively, staring at her notebook again.
He nodded, noticing that she was starting to write in the notebook again. He decided he didn't want to bother her anymore and was about to get up, when she, keeping her face toward the notebook, looked sideways at him, with her eyes. She looked back at the notebook and kept writing as she said, "I just mean that we actually ended up living together this year also."
He allowed himself a small smile and looked at her. "Really?"
"Yeah, we are officially now like the Saved by the Bell kids. We went to high school together and have ended up at the same college, in the same dorm, taking the same courses," she said, in a humorous monotone voice.
"The only difference is, they were all like best friends in high school," Jess said.
"Good one," she said, smiling. "And very true."
He sat back and relaxed as she kept writing in her notebook.
"Where is my daughter!?" a shrill tone broke through the comfortable silence that was permeating the waiting room. Rory looked up and saw her grandmother harassing a nurse. She ran toward them.
"Her name is Lorelai Gilm----"
"Grandma," Rory said, giving the nurse a look that said "get away! Get away now!"
"Ah, Rory," Emily said, trying to feign strength and indifference, and not show she was even upset at all. But Rory knew better and drew her into a hug. Emily rested her hand on Rory's back and shut her eyes. After a few moments, Rory pulled back.
"She's out of surgery and she's okay. But she's still asleep. We're just waiting for her to wake up."
Emily made a quick move to wipe a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye, and nodded at Rory. She decided to change the subject.
"So, how's the new car driving?"
Rory smiled. "Oh, it's driving. I'm living proof. It got me all the way here today. And all the way to Yale last week."
Emily beamed at her granddaughter. "Well, good to hear."
And back in the waiting room-----
At some point, between Rory's writing in her notebook and Emily's loud arrival, Luke had slipped back into the waiting room and taken a seat beside Jackson. They were just sitting there, peacefully, and Luke just quietly thought about seeing Lorelai. He rested his elbows on his knees and thought about everything that had happened.
He knew the next time he would see her, she would be awake. And then he would have to have something more to say to her than all of the NOTHING he said back in the room. Well, he did say one thing, and he couldn't believe he had said it. He knew, deep down, that he always loved her. But lately he had grown to think that his love for her was always friendship, mixed with the obvious attraction to her, as she was very attractive. But he had been starting to think it wasn't really... well, love.
But after today, he'd never been more sure of anything in his life.
"Okay, Michel, thanks," Sookie said, as she hung up the phone. She turned to Jackson. "So, he's called in for a temporary chef for today, and said the guests are really enjoying themselves!"
"Oh good," Jackson said happily.
"Okay, so on to the next matter of concern," she said, now addressing everyone, not just Jackson.
"Which is..." Jackson said, encouraging her to continue.
"Lorelai, of course," she said.
"What about her?" Rory said, now turning toward Sookie too.
"Well, she is living alone right now, but she needs a lot of care next week when she is out of the hospital. She has to stay somewhere," Sookie explained.
"Oh, well, I can let my professors know that I will be staying home for the next few weeks and explain. I can arrange to have notes taken for me----" Rory started, to which Luke, Sookie and Emily all declared, strongly, "No!"
Rory looked at the three intense faces, staring at her. "Tough crowd," she muttered to herself. Then to everyone else, she asked "now what is the matter with my suggestion?"
"Only that Lorelai would never let you miss your first two weeks of school to take care of her," Sookie said, very matter-of-factly.
"Well that may be true, but she needs to have someone there all the time, and I already have a room reserved at her place, for whenever I choose to stay, and I happen to choose right now," she declared, in a proud, yet calm tone, that felt confident she had stumped them all.
"I'd say she could stay with us, but the place is a jungle with baby stuff everywhere and Sookie needs taking care of, herself," Jackson pointed out, to which Sookie nodded reluctantly. She wanted to take care of her best friend, but she was in no condition to do it well.
"Oh, well, this is silly. She can stay with us when she gets out," Emily chimed in, to which everyone looked at each other, panic rising within them.
They all knew that if Lorelai woke up and learned that not only she would be in the hospital during the opening week of the Dragonfly but THEN going to Hartford to live with her parents... in her old bedroom... having dinner with them SEVEN days a week, she would kill each and every one of them... slowly and painfully.
They all started saying, in the nicest voices they could muster up at her suggestion, "ah, no, I don't think.."
"I am staying home from school. It's fine. It's settled," Rory said, resolutely.
Luke stood up and looked at Rory. "No, Sookie's right. Lorelai won't LET you do that. And it makes no sense for you to do that. I... uh, I'll stay with Lorelai, if it's okay with her."
He could see Emily start to protest. "It's just.. Hartford's so far away, and she might wanna visit her inn next week," Luke explained, as everyone breathed a silent sigh of relief and nodded in agreement, looking as though they hadn't thought of that, but he made a very interesting point.
"I can stay in Rory's room.. if that's okay," Luke started.
"Uh, sure, that's fine by me," Rory answered.
"... and then just make sure she's okay until she can do everything on her own," Luke said, beginning to feel embarrassed, as if everyone could read his face and thoughts. He looked down just then, wanting the earth to open up beneath him and just swallow him in.
Rory smiled at his shyness and in a way that implied she was impressed, and then nodded, addressing everyone else "well, I think it's a good idea."
"Yes, I suppose," Emily said, looking more like a child who was just punished unjustly, rather than a concerned mother.
"I think she's starting to wake up," the nurse said, coming over to them, chiming into their conversation, suddenly.
Everyone looked at Rory. Her face got a little more serious then, and she grabbed her notebook and followed the nurse into the hospital room.
Rory opened the door and walked in very quietly. She saw her mother lying there.. moving a little, but still out of it. She sat down and just waited for her. Rory started looking around the room, at the monitors, and the sterile-looking walls and stillness of everything. She listened to the sound of her mother's steady breathing, and all of a sudden, started getting emotional again. She stared down at her notebook, starting to sob a little more outwardly.
"Oh my God, I've died and I am looking down at my own funeral," Rory heard a voice say. She looked up and saw Lorelai looking at her. Her voice was raw and scratchy, but held all the humor that WAS Lorelai Gilmore.
"Oh God. Only ONE person came to my funeral? I mean, I wasn't hoping for the Pope or Elvis Presley, or even the entire town, but.. I won't lie... I did kind of always harbor a secret desire that more than ONE person would come to my funeral. I mean, it's the final goodbye! And this church is so ugly!"
"Mom!" Rory shrieked, now laughing through her tears. "Stop, stop, it's not your funeral!"
"I know, honey," Lorelai said, now smiling at her daughter, but getting more serious. After a moment, she decided to ask, "sooo... what happened? Why exactly am I here and in ever so much pain?"
"Luke was right. It's the coffee, mom," Rory said, very seriously.
Lorelai dropped her mouth open. "Don't even joke about that!"
"Well, actually, your appendix exploded. Mom, didn't you know something was wrong? Appendicitis doesn't just creep up on you all of a sudden."
"Ah, so THAT was what that incessant and annoying, might I add, pain in my stomach was all about. I thought it was pain from the emptiness that is now my life since you've gone away," Lorelai said, now starting to slowly, and painfully, sit up and smile at her daughter. Rory shot her a look. "Okay, okay, I thought it was food poisoning."
"You only really eat at Luke's or Sookie's food," Rory pointed out. "And you know they wouldn't poison you."
"True, true. But there was this one night that I ate some fast food on my way home for the night, and I figured----"
Lorelai trailed off when she realized that Rory was starting to cry again.
"Oh, honey, don't cry, I'm okay," she said, wishing she could get up and hug her, like she would normally do if Rory were crying in front of her. But in truth? She couldn't really move.
"I know you're okay. But....but I was really scared. You know, Sookie called me, and..and there were cops involved, and no one knew where you were, and, and Luke closed the diner---"
"He closed the diner?" Lorelai said, very confused. "And there were cops? Was.. was I on the show COPS?"
Rory shook her head at her mother. "No, you were not on TV. No one knew where you were. It was really scary. And.. and I wrote down some thoughts about how I felt."
"I should have known you'd find an intellectual way to handle your fear and nervousness. Okay, let's have it," Lorelai said, resting her head.
Rory cleared her throat and looked at her mom. "Okay." She looked down at her notebook. "Well today I think my life changed," she read. "I found myself at about ten past nine with my biggest problem being that I had to spend an entire period staring at an ex-boyfriend, who ended up going to my school----"
"Dean goes to Yale?"
"Jess. So.."
"JESS goes to YALE!?" Lorelai said, in her best attempt at yelling, but it came out more like a very angry whisper.
"Mom, I am pouring my heart out here!" Rory said, stomping a foot on the floor.
"Right, sorry," Lorelai said, making a mental note to find out about that later.
"When we did this exercise, I felt that my world was crumbling. That life was so unfair. That all I wanted was to forget this person. And that this was the longest stretch of time anyone should ever have to suffer such a travesty. And then class was over, and I felt like the weight of the world was lifted off my shoulders. Until I found out that someone I care about more than anyone else in the world was missing.. and possibly hurt, and I realized that I was being childish before. If my biggest problem had to do with having to see someone who I was simply mad at, then my life was pretty good. Because all my loved ones and friends were okay in the world, and my world, as I know and like it, was okay. It was better than okay. It was perfect. But my life REALLY fell apart for the hours that ensued in which I thought that something.. that something horrible.. could have happened to my mom, who also happens to be my best friend. The length of time she was.. well, the length of time that she wasn't okay.. THAT was the longest stretch of time for me, and the time it took me to realize where the weight of the world really lies for me. And it's only now, just been lifted," she finished.
Lorelai smiled at Rory and held out her hand to her. Rory took it and held it, smiling. "You know," Lorelai said, quietly and seriously. "A simple 'I love you' would have sufficed."
Rory rolled her eyes and laughed with her mother, relishing in the moment.
And in the hallway----
Luke was flipping through a pamphlet, when he read something and did a double take. He jumped out of his seat and ran to the counter, where the nurse was writing something on a clipboard. She smiled when she saw him run up.
"Yes, Mr. Danes."
"I was just reading this thing about stomach surgeries, and it says that when patients are recovering, there are a few things they should stay away from, and one of them is coffee."
"Yeah. That's right. It could upset her stomach," the nurse said, confused at his dilemma.
"Yeah, but I may be the person watching her next week, and if I have to deprive her of coffee, SHE could upset my FACE," he said.
'Uh, Luke, you can go see her now, if you want to," Rory said, breaking in. The nurse used the distraction to get back behind the counter and picked up the phone. Luke looked at Rory confused.
"Uh, wouldn't it make more sense for your grandmother to go in next, I mean, she's her moth----"
"Luke! Use your head! The woman is in pain right now!" she said, looking disappointed that he would even suggest such a thing.
He smiled. "Yeah, sorry... how is she?"
Rory shrugged.. "She's being.. Lorelai," she said.
"Oh God.. Wish me luck," he said at an attempt at humor, but it was clear that he was nervous to go in.
He turned to walk into Lorelai's room.
"Good luck, Luke," Rory called after him, smiling. He didn't look back, but as he turned the knob, he heard her words and hoped that luck was enough to give him strength to say everything he wanted to.