Disclaimer:  I don't own anything except the story idea.

~~

Two days later Lorelai stopped at the diner on her way to New York with Sookie.  They were supposed to be meeting with one of Lorelai's old contacts from the Independence Inn who could offer them serious discounts on restaurant supplies. 

Luke was behind the counter pouring a cup of coffee for Kirk.

"Hey," he said, smiling.

"Hey yourself," she replied.  "Can I get some of that to go?"

He poured her a to-go cup and put a lid on it.  "So what time will you be home tonight?"

"The meeting is at one.  Depending on how long it goes and then driving back I would say hopefully by four.  But that doesn't include any stops we make after the meeting."

"Stops?"

"Bergdorf Goodman is having a sale," she said happily.

"Ahh," said Luke with a nod.  "And where's Sookie?"

"In the jeep."

"Gotcha."  Luke came around to her side of the counter and said, "Drive safely, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah.  No blindfolds, I promise."

"I'm serious, Lorelai."

"I know."  She gave him a kiss.  "I'll see you tonight.  Love you."

"Love you, too."  He watched her leave the diner.

"So, Luke," said Kirk, "I noticed that Lorelai didn't pay for her coffee.  Is there anything I can do to get free stuff?"

Without looking, Luke strode toward the kitchen with a "Get out, Kirk," tossed over his shoulder.

~~

Two hours later, at about noon, the diner's phone rang.  "Luke's" he answered.

"May I speak with a Mr. Luke Danes, please?"

He didn't recognize the voice and his head snapped up from the batter he'd been mixing.  "This is he."

"Hi, my name is Cheryl SanMartin.  I'm a nurse here at Yale-New Haven Medical Center and I'm calling with regard to a Miss Lorelai Gilmore."

Luke was confused.  Lorelai was supposed to be going to New York, not Yale.

"Hello? Are you still there?" asked Cheryl.

"Yeah, sorry.  I'm here."

"You do know Miss Gilmore?"

"Yes, I know her, what happened?  Is she okay?"  Luke thought his heart would explode inside his chest.

 "Mr. Danes, Miss Gilmore asked us to contact you when we couldn't reach her mother."

Light dawned in Luke's brain.  "Rory?  You're calling about Rory?"

"Um…no, the chart says Lorelai Leigh Gilmore."

"She and her mother have the same name.  Lorelai Leigh goes by Rory.  That's why you had me confused for a second.  Is she okay?"  Luke asked impatiently.

"Everything is fine now, but she came in with a fractured ulna."

"She broke her arm?"  Luke gripped the telephone receiver until his knuckles turned white.

"Yes.  Apparently she had broken it a year or two ago and today it re-broke.  We can't get a hold of any of her suite-mates and she's on some pretty heavy medication for the pain, so she needs someone to drive her back to the dorms."

"Got it.  Just tell me where to find you."

Forty-five minutes later Luke pulled into the hospital parking lot and made his way to the Emergency Room.

At the main desk he said to the first nurse he found, "I'm looking for Rory – uh, Lorelai Leigh Gilmore.  I'm here to pick her up."

"Right," said the nurse distracted.  "You're…" she consulted the chart in her hands, "Mr. Danes, correct?"

"Yes.  Can I see her?"

"Right this way.  She signed the discharge papers already, so she's ready to go, but we felt it was better for her to wait for someone since she shouldn't be alone when she's on the meds we gave her.  The pain was pretty bad and someone needs to watch her for the next twenty-four hours."

The nurse led Luke to a curtained off little room where they found Rory lying on the bed with her eyes closed and a cast on her left arm.  She was dressed and ready to go, except for the fact that she appeared to be asleep.

The nurse stepped to the bedside and touched Rory's shoulder.  "Lorelai," she said.  "Time to get up.  Your ride's here."

Rory's forehead wrinkled as she opened her eyes.  "Mom?"

"No, Ror, it's me," said Luke softly.  He looked closely at her, looking for any sign that she wasn't completely okay. 

Rory gazed at him befuddled and groggy from the drugs.  "Oh, hey.  I broke my arm again.  This time Jess wasn't there for it, though.  Mom's cell isn't working.  I'm hungry and boys are dumb."

Rory sat up.  The nurse turned to Luke and said, "She's still a little bit foggy from the pain meds.  Once they wear off, she'll be fine.  Here's the prescription for later.  It's much less potent."

Luke nodded, took the slip of paper and helped Rory stand up.  She leaned heavily into his side and said belligerently, "They wouldn't let me drive home.  Do they know I've got a license?  And a car?  My grandparents gave me a CAR for graduation," she said to the nurse.  "Although," she added carefully, "I don't think it's here."

Luke helped her stand up straight and said, "How did you get here?  Did someone drop you off?  And how did you break your arm?"

Rory cocked her head to one side and regarded him with dazed interest.  "Where's mom?"

"She's in New York today with Sookie.  I don't know why her cell isn't working."

Rory nodded as they walked toward the door.  Luke had her backpack over one shoulder as he herded her through the parking lot to his truck.

Once in, he turned to her and said, "So where are we going?  Is there anyone at your dorm who can stay with you?"

Rory looked out the window and said again glumly, "Boys are dumb." 

"Thanks for the newsflash."  Luke started the truck and headed back to Stars Hollow. 

Half-way there, he broke the silence and said, "How did you break your arm?"

Rory sighed and said slowly and with great pains at enunciation, "I was being stupid."

"Come again?"

"Why do I have to such a GIRL sometimes?" She seemed to be asking no one in particular.

Luke wondered if it was a trick question  "I don't know.  Maybe because you're a girl?"

"That's not what I mean.  There was this guy and he was so cute and I wanted to get to know him and he asked if I wanted to play touch football and of course the answer was no, but I really wanted him to like me so I did and it turned out that I misunderstood him and touch football was really tackle football."

Luke tried to process the jumble of information she was relaying to him.  "You were tackled?"

Rory nodded dreamily  "By an Adonis."

Luke rolled his eyes.  "A word of advice:  if it works out between you and the Greek god don't ever tell your mother he's the one who did this to you.  I don't think she'll look kindly on him.  How did you get to the hospital?"

"After the tackle my arm hurt so I caught the campus bus."

"You took the BUS with a broken arm."

"Well, should I have walked?"

"Where was your Adonis?  Couldn't he have driven you?"

"He had class."

"Oh, I see.  So he can break a girl's arm, but can't drive her to the hospital.  On second thought you better not tell me who this joker is or I'll put his head through a wall."

The rest of the ride to Stars Hollow was quiet.  Luke pulled up in front of the pharmacy.  "Wait here, I'm going to drop off your prescription."

Rory nodded and leaned her head against the window.  Her head hurt and her arm was radiating pain.  The strong painkillers were starting to wear off a little and she was horrified that she'd allowed herself to play – ugh – football just so a boy would like her.  Where had her ideals gone?  And now she was left with another broken arm.  She pulled her cell phone out of her backpack and tried her mom's number.  She got the voicemail again, though, so she left another message.

Luke came out of the pharmacy and got back into the truck.  "It'll be ready in about an hour, but until the stuff you're on completely wears off, you can't have any of the new meds."

Rory nodded.  Luke looked at her.  "Are you okay?"

"Just embarrassed.  I can't believe I thought he'd like me if I just played football.  How stupid."

"You're not stupid," replied Luke.  "You just lost your head a little, that's all.  Happens to everybody."  He awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed a little.  She looked at him and smiled sheepishly.  "We need to get in touch with your mom," he said as he headed for the Gilmore house.

"I just left another message."

"Good."  They pulled up in front of the house and they both got out.  Rory unlocked the door and headed straight for her room.  "I'm gonna lay down."

Luke watched her close her bedroom door and then he sighed.  The clock on the microwave said one-thirty.  Lorelai would be in her meeting right now.  He called her cell anyway and when he got her voicemail said, "Hey, it's me.  I know Rory called already, but I wanted to let you know that she really is fine.  She broke her arm at school and the hospital called me because they couldn't get a hold of you and I picked her up and we're both at your place now.  She's in a cast, but she's totally fine, okay?  Don't freak out.  Drive home safely.  See you soon."

Next Luke called the diner.  Caesar answered and said that everything was fine.  "I'm at Lorelai's, so if you need anything give me a call, but I won't be back today," he said.

They disconnected and Luke sank into the couch.  He didn't even want to think about what Lorelai's reaction to Rory's arm would be.

~~

A/N:  Okay, I have mixed feelings about this chapter.  I'm sort of stalling because I don't know what Luke and the elder Gilmores would have in common to talk about, plus I wanted he and Rory to have some one-on-one time, and I wanted Rory to grow a little in terms of dating.  I have never seen her like a boy more than he liked her and I thought it would be funny to see how far she'd go to get a boy's attention.  Can you picture a Gilmore Girl playing football?  Yeah, neither can I.  But I've never met a girl who hadn't done at least one really stupid thing to get a guy's attention. 

And I still haven't figured out what Luke and Lorelai will go as for Halloween.  Anyway, let me know what you guys think.  I love all the feedback.