Thanks everyone for the wonderful words of encouragement! It means a lot!
Disclaimers all apply!! Amy Sherman-Palladino owns these people and places, and I do not, or Luke and Lorelai would be together already!
Length of Time, Chapter 10
The second their eyes locked and he realized that hers were crying, he wanted to run over and give her a huge hug, take away all her pain and sit with her until she fell asleep. While that's how he felt, he opted for saying the exact opposite. "Uh, do you want me to come back later? Or.... tomorrow?"
Lorelai quickly swiped at her eyes. "No, no. I just... I thought visitors hours were over. I figured everyone was gone. So, did you... was there something you wanted?"
He had had one hand behind his back when he entered and kept it there, but put his other hand in his pocket and walked over to her. "Everything okay?" he asked, noticing that while she had wiped away her tears, she still looked like she was about to cry.
"Yeah," she said, but looked up to him, noticing that he was making a face that said he knew better. "The painkillers are starting to wear off," she said, now laughing and crying together. "I'm a real trooper, huh?"
He just smiled at her, wishing she wasn't in pain right now, that there was some way he could take it away. "Listen, if you just wanna rest, I'll come back tomorrow."
"No, company's good. It gets my mind off it. I just wish I weren't being such a baby about this," she said, shifting uncomfortably to get comfortable, and laughing at the irony of that.
"You're not," he said. She started to protest, but he held a hand out to her. "Believe me, you're not." He put his hand back in his pocket and walked to the side of her bed, sitting down in the empty chair next to it.
"I probably don't have a lot of time before the nurse comes back, but I just wanted to give you something. Well two things, actually. First thing's first," he said as he pulled from behind his back a to-go cup from the diner, with steam coming out of it.
"Is that-----"
"---- before you get your hopes up, this isn't coffee. It's fake coffee---- "
"-fake coffee---"
"I heard about it on this talk show----"
"---- you watch TV?"
"Sometimes, when I'm bored," he said, his tone impatient, although he didn't really feel impatient. "Anyway, I had heard about this mix that has none of the effects of coffee, no caffeine----"
"----everything good about coffee,"
"BUT, when brewed in a certain way, can taste just as good. I got some and added a few things, I won't tell you what they are, it's my own special mix of things and.. well, here," he said, handing her the fake coffee.
She looked at it skeptically and then looked at him skeptically. He motioned his head in a way that said 'drink some already' and she smiled, as if she were scared. She sipped it slowly and then pulled her head back, surprised.
"Luke! This.. this Fake Coffee..it isn't bad!" she said, taking another sip.
He sat back in the chair and smiled. She drank a few more sips, and then rested the cup on her lap. "Are you sure this is Fake Coffee?"
"I am 100% sure."
"You know this might just mean I'll be just as annoying as ever when I want THIS for the next two weeks," she said, taking another sip.
"That's okay," he said, watching her enjoy the drink.
"But isn't making this a little more tedious than brewing the average java?"
"A little, but it's okay. It's not rocket science." He sat for a moment, and then added "I just figured, flowers and teddy bears and all that other get-well stuff is overdone, I just wanted to get you something different."
"Well you did. Thank you, Luke. I think it's honestly making me feel better already," she smiled. Then, just thinking of it, she asked, "Luke, have you eaten today?"
He thought about it. "I had two eggs this morning. But no, not after that," he asked, surprised himself that he hadn't eaten. "I guess I forgot."
"You forgot to eat, Luke! You know, I figured you did. You just look..hungry."
"Did my eyeing your Jello give it away?"
"You have no excuse to not have eaten. It's not like you were unconscious for hours on end and couldn't physically access food!"
"That's true. I guess food just wasn't on my mind today," he said, as Lorelai kept sipping the Fake Coffee.
"What did you do to this Fake Coffee to make it taste so good? I mean, this CANNOT by definition be fake, it's just too good!"
He smiled. "I assure you, it is. I am not about to give you coffee, real coffee, under any circumstances, got that?"
"Luke, I think you're taking the doctor's orders a little too seriously. And next week, when I'm home from the hospital, I'll be on my own, and who's to say I won't brew a nice, REAL, cup of java for myself?"
"The nurse actually said you'll need someone with you at first, when you get home. So nice try," he said, and let out a small grunt.
"And who might I ask is going to be with me? Rory is most certainly not staying home from school. Sookie has the baby and her own condition to worry about, and you'd have to knock me unconscious all over again, if you thought I would go to my paren----"
"I'm staying with you," he interjected, uncomfortably.
She stopped and looked up at him. "What?"
"Only if it's okay with you. We all saw it as the best way. Rory said I can stay in her room."
Lorelai smiled. "My own coffee man, all the time?"
"Your own Fake Coffee man, for the TIME being," he corrected.
"I guess it's okay. And you ARE the only person out of everyone who can carry me around, wherever I want to go, when I want to go there----"
"Lorelai, your stomach was operated on, not your legs. You can walk around on your own."
"Yes, well, sometimes the pain travels right down to my legs----"
"Really."
"Sometimes," she said, thinking about it.
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we-----" Luke started, but looked up when he started hearing voices in the hall coming toward the room.
"I should get going," he said, and reached his hand into his pocket, revealing a small package. He handed it to her. "Here. Just open it when I leave," he said.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Something I saw awhile ago, and it made me think of you, and I just..." he suddenly got very embarrassed. "I thought you might like it."
"Aw, thanks, Luke," she said smiling.
He looked at her a moment, and was just about to turn to leave when she held her arms open to him.
"Come on," she urged, noticing his reluctance.
"I don't wanna.. hurt you," he said.
"Come on!" she demanded, and he walked over, giving her a very gentle and quick hug.
He pulled back and smiled at her. "Get some sleep, okay?"
"I will. With all this Fake Coffee by my side, I'll be asleep in no time," she said.
"I'll, uh, see you tomorrow," he said, leaving.
"Yup, tomorrow, and not until the diner closes! You keep that baby open all day! And go eat!" she said, watching him leave.
He turned and smiled once more, before heading through the door. She saw him run toward the exit once he got out the door, through the window in her door. She then looked at the package in her hand, and was about to open it, when she heard the voices of two doctors.
"What was that?" one said.
"I don't know. It sort of looked like Al from "Home Improvement" running out of here," the other said. "Only taller."
Lorelai burst out laughing, and then stopped right away. "Yup, laughing hurts. Laughing hurts." But she started laughing again, in a less painful way. She turned her attention back to the package and opened it up. There was a note:
"A little incentive for the next two weeks, and a bribe to keep you from biting my head off. -Luke"
She opened the tissue paper underneath, and it revealed a small necklace. A small, silver chain with a coffee mug with smoke coming from it as a charm. She smiled and shook her head. She put the necklace back into the box, with the note, and placed them on the bedside tray, with the Fake Coffee.
The door opened. "How are you feeling, Ms. Gilmore?" the nurse asked, getting Lorelai positioned for sleep.
After she was comfortable, Lorelai looked up to the nurse.
"I'm good," she answered. And within ten minutes, she was sleeping soundly.
And enroute to Yale University-----
They had been driving in a comfortable silence for about ten minutes, and Jess decided to try to make conversation, as they still had a little ways to go. He opened his mouth and turned toward Rory, but shut it, thankfully, before anything was said, when he noticed she had fallen asleep, her head against the window on the passenger's seat side. He turned his attention back to the road, a smile playing on his lips, as he listened to the sound of her breathing and the whisper of the radio for the rest of the ride back.
And back at the diner-----
Luke grabbed some food from downstairs, and walked up to his room. He sat on his bed and thought about the day's events. He ate his food in a daze, thinking of all the different emotions he went through in this one day. He started out feeling angry and annoyed, followed by upset, which was followed by nervous and worried (or frantic, some might call it), and then relieved and by the day's end, even happy.
He wondered what had suddenly given him so much nerve too---- how had he summoned up the nerve to say "I love you" to Lorelai (even if she WAS asleep), and also to tell her---- honestly----how he felt during the day when she was missing, and then in surgery. Telling her how scared and upset he was. And lastly, he had no idea where he had gotten the nerve to give her the necklace. He had seen it months ago, and would never have dreamed of giving it to her. Today, something changed though.
His emotions were dragged through the dirt today. All he knew was that within 12 hours, he felt many things. He had insulted Lorelai, felt horrible about it, and then learned she was missing. His words from earlier haunted him as he thought about the possibility of never seeing her again. Then when he learned she was in the hospital and having surgery, he was worried yet again. The relief that she would be okay overwhelmed him, and somewhere between then and now, he learned she possibly said, in a delusional state, that she loved him, and now she was okay, and he could only now wonder one thing----
"How could a day that started so horribly end so good?"
She was awake, and looking (and acting) so... Lorelai. They were talking like usual, joking and bantering, and while she was in pain, she was okay, and he knew it for sure now. She would be okay. And he couldn't even explain to himself his own happiness at that. He had realized he loved her, in full, today, and also was given a sort of promise that she may feel the same, and it just changed him. He figured that was where his nerve came from.
He laid down, hoping to fall asleep soon, so the day would be over. That horrible day. He never wanted to relive that day again, he was thinking. But in another part of his mind, which brought him to smile slightly, he mused that there were certain parts of the day that he hoped to relive again in his sleep. And with that, he fell asleep.
Disclaimers all apply!! Amy Sherman-Palladino owns these people and places, and I do not, or Luke and Lorelai would be together already!
Length of Time, Chapter 10
The second their eyes locked and he realized that hers were crying, he wanted to run over and give her a huge hug, take away all her pain and sit with her until she fell asleep. While that's how he felt, he opted for saying the exact opposite. "Uh, do you want me to come back later? Or.... tomorrow?"
Lorelai quickly swiped at her eyes. "No, no. I just... I thought visitors hours were over. I figured everyone was gone. So, did you... was there something you wanted?"
He had had one hand behind his back when he entered and kept it there, but put his other hand in his pocket and walked over to her. "Everything okay?" he asked, noticing that while she had wiped away her tears, she still looked like she was about to cry.
"Yeah," she said, but looked up to him, noticing that he was making a face that said he knew better. "The painkillers are starting to wear off," she said, now laughing and crying together. "I'm a real trooper, huh?"
He just smiled at her, wishing she wasn't in pain right now, that there was some way he could take it away. "Listen, if you just wanna rest, I'll come back tomorrow."
"No, company's good. It gets my mind off it. I just wish I weren't being such a baby about this," she said, shifting uncomfortably to get comfortable, and laughing at the irony of that.
"You're not," he said. She started to protest, but he held a hand out to her. "Believe me, you're not." He put his hand back in his pocket and walked to the side of her bed, sitting down in the empty chair next to it.
"I probably don't have a lot of time before the nurse comes back, but I just wanted to give you something. Well two things, actually. First thing's first," he said as he pulled from behind his back a to-go cup from the diner, with steam coming out of it.
"Is that-----"
"---- before you get your hopes up, this isn't coffee. It's fake coffee---- "
"-fake coffee---"
"I heard about it on this talk show----"
"---- you watch TV?"
"Sometimes, when I'm bored," he said, his tone impatient, although he didn't really feel impatient. "Anyway, I had heard about this mix that has none of the effects of coffee, no caffeine----"
"----everything good about coffee,"
"BUT, when brewed in a certain way, can taste just as good. I got some and added a few things, I won't tell you what they are, it's my own special mix of things and.. well, here," he said, handing her the fake coffee.
She looked at it skeptically and then looked at him skeptically. He motioned his head in a way that said 'drink some already' and she smiled, as if she were scared. She sipped it slowly and then pulled her head back, surprised.
"Luke! This.. this Fake Coffee..it isn't bad!" she said, taking another sip.
He sat back in the chair and smiled. She drank a few more sips, and then rested the cup on her lap. "Are you sure this is Fake Coffee?"
"I am 100% sure."
"You know this might just mean I'll be just as annoying as ever when I want THIS for the next two weeks," she said, taking another sip.
"That's okay," he said, watching her enjoy the drink.
"But isn't making this a little more tedious than brewing the average java?"
"A little, but it's okay. It's not rocket science." He sat for a moment, and then added "I just figured, flowers and teddy bears and all that other get-well stuff is overdone, I just wanted to get you something different."
"Well you did. Thank you, Luke. I think it's honestly making me feel better already," she smiled. Then, just thinking of it, she asked, "Luke, have you eaten today?"
He thought about it. "I had two eggs this morning. But no, not after that," he asked, surprised himself that he hadn't eaten. "I guess I forgot."
"You forgot to eat, Luke! You know, I figured you did. You just look..hungry."
"Did my eyeing your Jello give it away?"
"You have no excuse to not have eaten. It's not like you were unconscious for hours on end and couldn't physically access food!"
"That's true. I guess food just wasn't on my mind today," he said, as Lorelai kept sipping the Fake Coffee.
"What did you do to this Fake Coffee to make it taste so good? I mean, this CANNOT by definition be fake, it's just too good!"
He smiled. "I assure you, it is. I am not about to give you coffee, real coffee, under any circumstances, got that?"
"Luke, I think you're taking the doctor's orders a little too seriously. And next week, when I'm home from the hospital, I'll be on my own, and who's to say I won't brew a nice, REAL, cup of java for myself?"
"The nurse actually said you'll need someone with you at first, when you get home. So nice try," he said, and let out a small grunt.
"And who might I ask is going to be with me? Rory is most certainly not staying home from school. Sookie has the baby and her own condition to worry about, and you'd have to knock me unconscious all over again, if you thought I would go to my paren----"
"I'm staying with you," he interjected, uncomfortably.
She stopped and looked up at him. "What?"
"Only if it's okay with you. We all saw it as the best way. Rory said I can stay in her room."
Lorelai smiled. "My own coffee man, all the time?"
"Your own Fake Coffee man, for the TIME being," he corrected.
"I guess it's okay. And you ARE the only person out of everyone who can carry me around, wherever I want to go, when I want to go there----"
"Lorelai, your stomach was operated on, not your legs. You can walk around on your own."
"Yes, well, sometimes the pain travels right down to my legs----"
"Really."
"Sometimes," she said, thinking about it.
"Well, we'll cross that bridge when we-----" Luke started, but looked up when he started hearing voices in the hall coming toward the room.
"I should get going," he said, and reached his hand into his pocket, revealing a small package. He handed it to her. "Here. Just open it when I leave," he said.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Something I saw awhile ago, and it made me think of you, and I just..." he suddenly got very embarrassed. "I thought you might like it."
"Aw, thanks, Luke," she said smiling.
He looked at her a moment, and was just about to turn to leave when she held her arms open to him.
"Come on," she urged, noticing his reluctance.
"I don't wanna.. hurt you," he said.
"Come on!" she demanded, and he walked over, giving her a very gentle and quick hug.
He pulled back and smiled at her. "Get some sleep, okay?"
"I will. With all this Fake Coffee by my side, I'll be asleep in no time," she said.
"I'll, uh, see you tomorrow," he said, leaving.
"Yup, tomorrow, and not until the diner closes! You keep that baby open all day! And go eat!" she said, watching him leave.
He turned and smiled once more, before heading through the door. She saw him run toward the exit once he got out the door, through the window in her door. She then looked at the package in her hand, and was about to open it, when she heard the voices of two doctors.
"What was that?" one said.
"I don't know. It sort of looked like Al from "Home Improvement" running out of here," the other said. "Only taller."
Lorelai burst out laughing, and then stopped right away. "Yup, laughing hurts. Laughing hurts." But she started laughing again, in a less painful way. She turned her attention back to the package and opened it up. There was a note:
"A little incentive for the next two weeks, and a bribe to keep you from biting my head off. -Luke"
She opened the tissue paper underneath, and it revealed a small necklace. A small, silver chain with a coffee mug with smoke coming from it as a charm. She smiled and shook her head. She put the necklace back into the box, with the note, and placed them on the bedside tray, with the Fake Coffee.
The door opened. "How are you feeling, Ms. Gilmore?" the nurse asked, getting Lorelai positioned for sleep.
After she was comfortable, Lorelai looked up to the nurse.
"I'm good," she answered. And within ten minutes, she was sleeping soundly.
And enroute to Yale University-----
They had been driving in a comfortable silence for about ten minutes, and Jess decided to try to make conversation, as they still had a little ways to go. He opened his mouth and turned toward Rory, but shut it, thankfully, before anything was said, when he noticed she had fallen asleep, her head against the window on the passenger's seat side. He turned his attention back to the road, a smile playing on his lips, as he listened to the sound of her breathing and the whisper of the radio for the rest of the ride back.
And back at the diner-----
Luke grabbed some food from downstairs, and walked up to his room. He sat on his bed and thought about the day's events. He ate his food in a daze, thinking of all the different emotions he went through in this one day. He started out feeling angry and annoyed, followed by upset, which was followed by nervous and worried (or frantic, some might call it), and then relieved and by the day's end, even happy.
He wondered what had suddenly given him so much nerve too---- how had he summoned up the nerve to say "I love you" to Lorelai (even if she WAS asleep), and also to tell her---- honestly----how he felt during the day when she was missing, and then in surgery. Telling her how scared and upset he was. And lastly, he had no idea where he had gotten the nerve to give her the necklace. He had seen it months ago, and would never have dreamed of giving it to her. Today, something changed though.
His emotions were dragged through the dirt today. All he knew was that within 12 hours, he felt many things. He had insulted Lorelai, felt horrible about it, and then learned she was missing. His words from earlier haunted him as he thought about the possibility of never seeing her again. Then when he learned she was in the hospital and having surgery, he was worried yet again. The relief that she would be okay overwhelmed him, and somewhere between then and now, he learned she possibly said, in a delusional state, that she loved him, and now she was okay, and he could only now wonder one thing----
"How could a day that started so horribly end so good?"
She was awake, and looking (and acting) so... Lorelai. They were talking like usual, joking and bantering, and while she was in pain, she was okay, and he knew it for sure now. She would be okay. And he couldn't even explain to himself his own happiness at that. He had realized he loved her, in full, today, and also was given a sort of promise that she may feel the same, and it just changed him. He figured that was where his nerve came from.
He laid down, hoping to fall asleep soon, so the day would be over. That horrible day. He never wanted to relive that day again, he was thinking. But in another part of his mind, which brought him to smile slightly, he mused that there were certain parts of the day that he hoped to relive again in his sleep. And with that, he fell asleep.