( thanks everyone!
Disclaimers all apply-aka, Amy Sherman-Palladino owns this and I do not, or else Luke and Lorelai would already be TOGETHER!!!
Length of Time, Chapter 12
Luke glanced sidelong at Kirk, an evil glare resonating from him--- he would not stop asking him questions about what he was "fiddling" with in the corner.
"It looks like coffee," Kirk would say. To which Luke would respond:
"It's not coffee," with a grim tone.
And then Kirk would add:
"Smells like coffee----"
"It's NOT coffee."
"Can I have some----?"
"No."
And then it would start again.
"It looks like coffee."
Now Luke was at the point of just glaring at Kirk, instead of giving him the time of day for conversation.
"I just heard the news!" Babette ran into the diner, practically screaming, and Luke actually welcomed the distraction, as now Kirk unwillingly but most definitely, shut up.
"I saw Miss Patty, who heard from Mrs. Kim, who heard from Lane, who is best friends with Rory---"
"I know who Lane is," Luke said harshly---- or maybe not harshly so much as very Luke-like.
"And it turns out that Lorelai is sick and dying at one of those medical research centers---"
"No, Babette," Luke started, holding up a hand, his hatred for town gossip escalating within him.
"I should have known! She was so pale when she left here yesterday! I saw it on her face! She must have picked up something in Europe----"
"Yeah, a bad appendix. She picked that up in Europe," Luke said, getting more annoyed. Off Babette's confused look, he added, sighing, "her appendix exploded, and she's in a HOSPITAL, not a research center," by now, rolling his eyes. "She'll be fine; she's okay," he added, trying to calm Babette, since he was noticing that fear and eccentricity did not mix well.
"Did you see her? Can she talk? Will she walk again?"
"Since they operated on her STOMACH, I don't see why not. She's talking her head off, as usual, and yes, I saw her."
"Was she still a pretty girl?" Babette said, and Luke raised one eyebrow, confused as ever by this woman.
"Babette, do you know what an appendix is?"
"Do I know what an appendix is, of course I know what an appendix is! I lost mine years ago," she said, touching her stomach for emphasis.
Luke shook his head and walked away from her, to take another order.
Meanwhile, at the hospital----
Lorelai pushed open the door that read Room 225. An elderly woman lifted her head up hopefully, as if she were expecting family, or a nurse, or doctor--- but she looked over her shoulder, to see if there was someone else in the room besides herself when she noticed another patient in a wheelchair no less, heading expectantly toward her.
"Hi," Lorelai said, smiling.
"Hi," the woman said, cautiously, now thinking, based on the expression that Lorelai was giving her, that Lorelai had wandered over from the mental health ward. "Um, I'm Millie," the woman said, sounding a little scared now.
"Ah, Millie, you know, you look like you have a lot of life experience. I myself.. well I have a lot of life experience too, but obviously not as much as you. Oh! Not that I am suggesting that you're old! It's just you're older than me, obviously. Not obvious in the sense that one would look at you and think, 'hey, old lady'" she said, deepening her voice for the imitation. "But I just mean that you seem a little older than me. I'm thirty-five. Yes, I have thirty-five years of life experience behind me. It's not that much, in the grand scheme of things, but still, a good amount. And after all these years, things still happen that shock me and make me want to bang my head on walls! Or... or doors! But it's all about life, isn't it. Lessons in life. We never stop learning them, do we? I mean... please tell me, because I am dying to know, is there an age, and please tell me there is, where everything just becomes clear and we don't have to still do things that make us want to bang our heads on walls and doors? And please, please say that the age is thirty-six."
Millie blinked wildly for a few long moments, while Lorelai waited for an answer. She finally managed one thing to say to her:
"Who are you?"
And at Yale----
Rory had rolled out of bed, finally, and gotten showered, dressed and ready to go for breakfast, since she had awhile before her first class.
"What time did you finally roll in last night? And you already ditched classes; it's barely the second day!" Paris said, while Rory was brushing her teeth.
With toothpaste goo covering her lips, and her speech impaired by the water and toothpaste in her mouth, Rory glared at Paris through the mirror. "I dah-ed dah!"
Paris just shook her head, severely. "Well if you expect notes from Flaherty's class, think again. I will not be your babysitter, while you party away your Ivy League days," she said authoritatively.
Rory finally spit out the toothpaste. "I said, I didn't ditch. There was an emergency at home. My mom's in the hospital," she finished, walking past Paris, who only was able to mumble a pathetic, "oh".
Paris breezed into the room, feigning cheer. "Is she okay? I have notes from Flaherty's class, in case you're interested."
Rory just laughed incredulously, shaking her head at Paris. She went through her closet. "She'll be okay. It was her appendix-----"
"Oh!" Paris said, as if she were unimpressed, and thought it might have been something more serious and worth concern. "Well, the offer for the notes still stands," she added, realizing how she sounded.
"Thanks so much, that's really nice of you," Rory said, sarcastically, rolling her eyes with her back to Paris. She finally located an outfit. There was a knock on the door of the suite. Rory used this as an opportunity to stop talking to Paris.
She walked out of the room, through the cutely decorated (thanks to Lorelai) common room, and answered the door.
"Jess!" she exclaimed, surprised to see him, and then embarrassed to be seeing him in her pajamas.
"Hey, I just----" he started.
Her embarrassment and lack of sleep caught up with her around that moment. "I told you, we'll be acquaintances, and maybe later, even friends. Acquaintances, almost by definition, don't seek each other out. They just happen to see each other or something. Like in class, or in the dining hall, or in their common hometown, or... or in the laudry room... or---"
Jess stifled a look of amusement and handed her a notebook that belonged to her. It went without saying that at some point when they'd been doing a little work in the waiting room, he had stuffed her notebook into his bag accidentally. He did a sort of sarcastic salute to her with his pointer and middle fingers, and without another word walked away.
Rory felt herself go very red, and after reluctantly shutting the door, once he was long gone, she placed her back against the door, now much more embarrassed than she had been about her pajamas.
And back in Room 225, at St. Marks's Hospital, in Millie's Room----
Lorelai was in a full-swing one-way conversation.
"So the nurse decides to take this whole complicated history into her own hands, basically, even though she doesn't know me, and she doesn't know Lu-- --- uh, Ken----- at all."
"I thought his name was Bill."
"Yeah, that's what I meant," Lorelai said. "Bill. And she's all 'yeah, she said I loooove you and was talking about YOU, Bill,'" Lorelai went on, in a flighty voice that was her impression of Nurse Lady. "And now Lu---- Ken----ah, BILL, thinks that I am this crazy lovesick puppy, that melts when he comes into a room, and, and can't tie my shoes without thinking about him, let alone have surgery---- I mean, it speaks volumes when your subconscious can't stop thinking about people, everyone knows that; he must feel bad for me now. I hate pity, Millie. More than I hate not being able to drink coffee---"
"Coffee again---" Millie said, rolling her eyes.
"More than even THAT, I hate pity. It's like this large, ugly, black, miserable, horrible, grotesque, pathetic, stupid CLOUD over me now. I mean, you do something like this, and it can really ruin a friendship. And we.. now there's a good friendship. Never did a better friendship exist. Did you know that?"
"I caught that somewhere in the thirty minute lecture about the history of your friendship," the older woman said tiredly, albeit looking mildly amused.
"Well a friendship like ours can't be summed up in a sentence. Well, I suppose it could; it would definitely be an extremely long-winded run-on sentence, though----"
"Sadie?"
"My name's not Sadie," Lorelai said, seriously.
"You never told me your name, so I am calling you Sadie. Now, if I give you advice, will you leave? It's past my nap time!"
Lorelai smiled guiltily. "Of course! I'll leave. Just tell me what to do."
Millie shook her head at Lorelai, looking at her like she was stupid to even need to be told that this was obviously the best and only course of action in her situation. "Kiss him, already!" she finally spat out, to which Lorelai's amused face suddenly turned serious, and she fell back against her wheelchair, her mind reeling.
And back at the diner----
Luke was getting ready to leave. He was pouring lots of Fake Coffee into a to-go cup, while talking to Caesar.
"I'll be back in a few hours, and Kirk's not allowed in for the rest of the day," he joked, his expression serious though.
"Okay," was all Caesar said, and Luke nodded at him, grabbed the Fake Coffee and left, enroute to the hospital, with a hope and a prayer that he would have the courage to do what he wanted to do today.
Disclaimers all apply-aka, Amy Sherman-Palladino owns this and I do not, or else Luke and Lorelai would already be TOGETHER!!!
Length of Time, Chapter 12
Luke glanced sidelong at Kirk, an evil glare resonating from him--- he would not stop asking him questions about what he was "fiddling" with in the corner.
"It looks like coffee," Kirk would say. To which Luke would respond:
"It's not coffee," with a grim tone.
And then Kirk would add:
"Smells like coffee----"
"It's NOT coffee."
"Can I have some----?"
"No."
And then it would start again.
"It looks like coffee."
Now Luke was at the point of just glaring at Kirk, instead of giving him the time of day for conversation.
"I just heard the news!" Babette ran into the diner, practically screaming, and Luke actually welcomed the distraction, as now Kirk unwillingly but most definitely, shut up.
"I saw Miss Patty, who heard from Mrs. Kim, who heard from Lane, who is best friends with Rory---"
"I know who Lane is," Luke said harshly---- or maybe not harshly so much as very Luke-like.
"And it turns out that Lorelai is sick and dying at one of those medical research centers---"
"No, Babette," Luke started, holding up a hand, his hatred for town gossip escalating within him.
"I should have known! She was so pale when she left here yesterday! I saw it on her face! She must have picked up something in Europe----"
"Yeah, a bad appendix. She picked that up in Europe," Luke said, getting more annoyed. Off Babette's confused look, he added, sighing, "her appendix exploded, and she's in a HOSPITAL, not a research center," by now, rolling his eyes. "She'll be fine; she's okay," he added, trying to calm Babette, since he was noticing that fear and eccentricity did not mix well.
"Did you see her? Can she talk? Will she walk again?"
"Since they operated on her STOMACH, I don't see why not. She's talking her head off, as usual, and yes, I saw her."
"Was she still a pretty girl?" Babette said, and Luke raised one eyebrow, confused as ever by this woman.
"Babette, do you know what an appendix is?"
"Do I know what an appendix is, of course I know what an appendix is! I lost mine years ago," she said, touching her stomach for emphasis.
Luke shook his head and walked away from her, to take another order.
Meanwhile, at the hospital----
Lorelai pushed open the door that read Room 225. An elderly woman lifted her head up hopefully, as if she were expecting family, or a nurse, or doctor--- but she looked over her shoulder, to see if there was someone else in the room besides herself when she noticed another patient in a wheelchair no less, heading expectantly toward her.
"Hi," Lorelai said, smiling.
"Hi," the woman said, cautiously, now thinking, based on the expression that Lorelai was giving her, that Lorelai had wandered over from the mental health ward. "Um, I'm Millie," the woman said, sounding a little scared now.
"Ah, Millie, you know, you look like you have a lot of life experience. I myself.. well I have a lot of life experience too, but obviously not as much as you. Oh! Not that I am suggesting that you're old! It's just you're older than me, obviously. Not obvious in the sense that one would look at you and think, 'hey, old lady'" she said, deepening her voice for the imitation. "But I just mean that you seem a little older than me. I'm thirty-five. Yes, I have thirty-five years of life experience behind me. It's not that much, in the grand scheme of things, but still, a good amount. And after all these years, things still happen that shock me and make me want to bang my head on walls! Or... or doors! But it's all about life, isn't it. Lessons in life. We never stop learning them, do we? I mean... please tell me, because I am dying to know, is there an age, and please tell me there is, where everything just becomes clear and we don't have to still do things that make us want to bang our heads on walls and doors? And please, please say that the age is thirty-six."
Millie blinked wildly for a few long moments, while Lorelai waited for an answer. She finally managed one thing to say to her:
"Who are you?"
And at Yale----
Rory had rolled out of bed, finally, and gotten showered, dressed and ready to go for breakfast, since she had awhile before her first class.
"What time did you finally roll in last night? And you already ditched classes; it's barely the second day!" Paris said, while Rory was brushing her teeth.
With toothpaste goo covering her lips, and her speech impaired by the water and toothpaste in her mouth, Rory glared at Paris through the mirror. "I dah-ed dah!"
Paris just shook her head, severely. "Well if you expect notes from Flaherty's class, think again. I will not be your babysitter, while you party away your Ivy League days," she said authoritatively.
Rory finally spit out the toothpaste. "I said, I didn't ditch. There was an emergency at home. My mom's in the hospital," she finished, walking past Paris, who only was able to mumble a pathetic, "oh".
Paris breezed into the room, feigning cheer. "Is she okay? I have notes from Flaherty's class, in case you're interested."
Rory just laughed incredulously, shaking her head at Paris. She went through her closet. "She'll be okay. It was her appendix-----"
"Oh!" Paris said, as if she were unimpressed, and thought it might have been something more serious and worth concern. "Well, the offer for the notes still stands," she added, realizing how she sounded.
"Thanks so much, that's really nice of you," Rory said, sarcastically, rolling her eyes with her back to Paris. She finally located an outfit. There was a knock on the door of the suite. Rory used this as an opportunity to stop talking to Paris.
She walked out of the room, through the cutely decorated (thanks to Lorelai) common room, and answered the door.
"Jess!" she exclaimed, surprised to see him, and then embarrassed to be seeing him in her pajamas.
"Hey, I just----" he started.
Her embarrassment and lack of sleep caught up with her around that moment. "I told you, we'll be acquaintances, and maybe later, even friends. Acquaintances, almost by definition, don't seek each other out. They just happen to see each other or something. Like in class, or in the dining hall, or in their common hometown, or... or in the laudry room... or---"
Jess stifled a look of amusement and handed her a notebook that belonged to her. It went without saying that at some point when they'd been doing a little work in the waiting room, he had stuffed her notebook into his bag accidentally. He did a sort of sarcastic salute to her with his pointer and middle fingers, and without another word walked away.
Rory felt herself go very red, and after reluctantly shutting the door, once he was long gone, she placed her back against the door, now much more embarrassed than she had been about her pajamas.
And back in Room 225, at St. Marks's Hospital, in Millie's Room----
Lorelai was in a full-swing one-way conversation.
"So the nurse decides to take this whole complicated history into her own hands, basically, even though she doesn't know me, and she doesn't know Lu-- --- uh, Ken----- at all."
"I thought his name was Bill."
"Yeah, that's what I meant," Lorelai said. "Bill. And she's all 'yeah, she said I loooove you and was talking about YOU, Bill,'" Lorelai went on, in a flighty voice that was her impression of Nurse Lady. "And now Lu---- Ken----ah, BILL, thinks that I am this crazy lovesick puppy, that melts when he comes into a room, and, and can't tie my shoes without thinking about him, let alone have surgery---- I mean, it speaks volumes when your subconscious can't stop thinking about people, everyone knows that; he must feel bad for me now. I hate pity, Millie. More than I hate not being able to drink coffee---"
"Coffee again---" Millie said, rolling her eyes.
"More than even THAT, I hate pity. It's like this large, ugly, black, miserable, horrible, grotesque, pathetic, stupid CLOUD over me now. I mean, you do something like this, and it can really ruin a friendship. And we.. now there's a good friendship. Never did a better friendship exist. Did you know that?"
"I caught that somewhere in the thirty minute lecture about the history of your friendship," the older woman said tiredly, albeit looking mildly amused.
"Well a friendship like ours can't be summed up in a sentence. Well, I suppose it could; it would definitely be an extremely long-winded run-on sentence, though----"
"Sadie?"
"My name's not Sadie," Lorelai said, seriously.
"You never told me your name, so I am calling you Sadie. Now, if I give you advice, will you leave? It's past my nap time!"
Lorelai smiled guiltily. "Of course! I'll leave. Just tell me what to do."
Millie shook her head at Lorelai, looking at her like she was stupid to even need to be told that this was obviously the best and only course of action in her situation. "Kiss him, already!" she finally spat out, to which Lorelai's amused face suddenly turned serious, and she fell back against her wheelchair, her mind reeling.
And back at the diner----
Luke was getting ready to leave. He was pouring lots of Fake Coffee into a to-go cup, while talking to Caesar.
"I'll be back in a few hours, and Kirk's not allowed in for the rest of the day," he joked, his expression serious though.
"Okay," was all Caesar said, and Luke nodded at him, grabbed the Fake Coffee and left, enroute to the hospital, with a hope and a prayer that he would have the courage to do what he wanted to do today.