Chapter 4 - Lives Rearranged
The roads were cleared in Hartford and he sped through town...when he got to the hospital he raced inside. And shouted at the lady at the desk.
"Lorelai Gilmore."
"One moment please." they woman said.
"No...no moments...where is she."
"Sir."she stared.
"Where is SHE!" he demanded.
"Fourth floor ICU." she said.
Luke ran from the desk to the elevator.
"Sir wait...you can't...there are no visitors in the ICU."
Luke didn't hear her though...when he arrived on the fourth floor he immediately found Rory. She ran to him
"LUKE!" she shouted running up to him with tears in her eyes. She hugged him and cried even harder.
"Shhh..hey it's gonna be fine ok. What have they told you." he said remaining as calm as he could. Luke you have to keep it together for Rory, it isn't just you anymore. He thought.
"They said that she rolled the Jeep. A couple of times...and she is hurt...bad.
And.." Rory began to sob again. Luke felt the tears hot in his eyes...but he had to be strong for Rory.
"Wait here I will go find something out."
Just then a doctor came out of the double doors.
"Emily Gilmore." the doctor said.
"I'm Emily." she said and stood. "What is going on."
"Yeah doc, what is going on." Luke said walking up.
"Are you a relative?" The doctor asked.
Rory interjected before Emily had a chance to respond on that question.
"They're engaged." Rory said. "How is my mother."Rory walked up and curled into Luke hugging him.
Emily saw the way Rory reacted to Luke and the way he reacted to her. Rory seemed to really care about him and trust him and Luke was definitely there for her.
"Well, she is lucky." he started. "It could have been a lot worse. Thankfully she was wearing her seat belt and the air bags deployed, also she arrived here soon after, thanks to a passer by that called 911."
"So she is ok?" Luke asked. "Can we see her?"
"Well, no...I mean she is stable, but we aren't out of the woods. She has broken her pelvis and a few ribs...also, she sustained a fairly serious head injury. There doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding but we are watching her closely. There is a chance that she could lose some of her memory, use of some of her motor skills temporarily. The next 24 hours are critical."
Just then a nurse came into the waiting room. and shouted....
"She's crashing."
The doctor...ran into the ICU with the nurse.
"Who, who's crashing." Luke yelled.
"Yes...who. God Damnit can't anyone tell me if my daughter is all right?" Emily yelled and then broke down herself.
"Rory, wait here with your Grandmother." Luke said and rushed through the double doors of the ICU.
"Luke..Luke...you can't" Rory tried to stop him.
Luke hated hospitals...he had lost both his parents in a hospital he was not going to lose her too.
"Sir, sir...You can't be back here...sir." A nurse said.
"Where is she?" he said.
"Sir come with me out the the waiting room." The woman said trying to lead him by the arm back out of the ICU.
"Where is she." he said shaking her off and he continued to walk down the hall.
Then he saw her through the glass in a room. About 8 doctors and nurses around her. Someone shouted...
"Clear!" and her body lept from the table.
"Oh God." Luke said...finally falling apart..."Oh God...Oh God...No...NO!" He screamed the most primal sound you have ever with me. I know you are upset, but your family needs you now and the doctors need to work on your wife." The nurse said.
"No. Not until I know she is ok." he cried. "You can't let her die...you can't...she is all I have..." he sobbed.
The nurse looked at Luke and sympathetically said "They are doing everything they can..." she said.
"She is all I have." He melted against the wall.
Just then he heard them say...
"I've got a rhythm."
"Pulse is 55. Blood Ox is stabilizing...BP 120/60..." Another said.
"Quick we need to get her to surgery." the doctor said.
The team of doctors quickly started to wheel her out of the room. As they wheeled her past him he yelled to her.
"Don't you die on me!! I love you!!" Then he allowed the nurse to show him out.
He joined Rory and Emily in the waiting room. A doctor that was "too young" according to Emily told them that one of her ribs had punctured he lung and it had collapsed and caused her to code. They got her on a heart lung machine and were taking her to surgery to fix the hole. All they could do was wait.
Emily called Richard and he said he would get on the next flight. Though she had not lived with her husband for months she needed him there, she needed someone to take this weight from her. Luke called Liz and Sookie. Rory called Chris. Two hours later the population of Stars Hollow was waiting in that room with them. Sookie was comforting Luke. Lane and Paris were sitting with Rory up on a sofa. Ms. Patty and Michel were with Emily. Chris and Richard were on their way.
"I can't lose her Sookie." Luke said his head in his lap.
"Shhh....don't you even say that." Sookie had tears in her eyes.
"I asked her to marry me." he said. "She said yes." he said.
"And...you are gonna marry her."Sookie said. Oh please let Lorelai be all okay,
he just got her...he can't lose her...we can't lose her. She thought.
"It's all my fault." Emily said to Ms. Patty. "I drove her away. I upset her, I..."
"Now, now dear...you cannot blame yourself..."
"And now she might never know...." Emily stared to sob.
"There, there...now you let it out." Patty said.
"Our Lorelai she is a fighter...she is gonna be fine." Ms. Patty said the words but wasn't sure that she believed them.
Sookie walked over to Rory and the girls.
"How are you doing?" Sookie asked Rory, holding her hand.
"I just...wish...they knew something." Rory said.
"Ahh honey...your grandma has the best doctors in Connecticut in there, and we all know Lorelai, she wouldn't give up on us." Sookie said.
"Sookie." Rory said sobbing and grabbing her tight.
Sookie rocked her.... "Shhh Shhhh...everything is gonna be all right."
Three hours later the doctor came out.
He walked up to Luke.
"Your wife is in stable condition." he told him.
"Oh, no..she's my...well..fiance' not my...she is stable. What does that mean?"
Rory again snuggled up to Luke.
"She sustained some serious injures, the operation went well. She is still on the breathing tube...but she is doing well. She is going to be out for a while...there is some fluid on her brain from the swelling...we aren't out of the woods, but...you can see her if you'd like."
"Yes..very much."
"Can I go too." Rory asked.
"Yes, but just two at a time please. And be advised...she is still very swollen from the accident, and she is in a brace and has some stitches. Go on and talk to her though..let her know you are there...it has been known to help. Oh and Luke was it...here are her personal things...her ring and so on...we had to take them off for surgery."
"Thanks doctor." he said taking the package. He opened the envelope and took out her ring. It was covered in blood.
"I'll take that and get it cleaned up for her." Sookie said. She knew seeing that wasn't going to help him right now.
"You two go on and see her." The doctor said.
"I want to go see her, I am her mother after all." Emily said insistent.
"Emily...please...you can see her in a while...I am not her husband yet, but I love her and she was coming to see me and I am going to see her, I don't know what was said between you two but I am sure it was about me and your constant disapproval of our relationship. I really think that right now would be a great time for you to show some respect for me as a man and let me go in there and see her."
"Yes...yes of course...you are right." Emily could not believe he just stood up to her like that. She felt instantly foolish about her objections that evening.
Luke and Rory walked into the ICU and found room 1007. Luke opened the door and let Rory go in first. She saw her mother and started to cry.
"Luke." Rory said.
"Shhh shhh shhh, it's ok...I'm here...shhh, she is gonna be okay." Luke said fighting the burning in his eyes. He couldn't stand to see her there like that. Her lower body in a brace, stitches on her forehead, tubes in and out of her and that one in her mouth helping her breath was the worst.
"Hi Sweetheart. It's me Luke. I am here for you babe, as soon as you wake up I will be right here ok. Don't rush it, but I need you to come back to us soon ok.
We need ya." Luke said...starting to choke on his tears.
"Mom...you can't leave me." Rory said. "You promised. You promised me you would never leave me." Rory said grabbing Lorelais hand and touching it to her face. "I need you." she said.
Lorelai heard her daughter and Luke. She wanted to open her eyes, but she couldn't. She remembered when she made Rory that promise.
"Mommy, Mommy Mommy!!!" Rory yelled.
Lorelai was studying for her GED in the living room. She got up and raced into Rorys bedroom.
"Honey what is the matter, did you have a bad dream?" She asked her four year old daughter.
"Yes." Rory said.
"What was it about?" Lorelai asked.
"You."
"Me??" Lorelai said.
"Yes."
"Well honey if your dream was about me it couldn't have been bad, all dreams with me are good and welcome things." Lorelai joked.
Her daughter gave her a look that was not amused. Lorelai couldn't wait for the day that Rory would understand her sense of humor.
"Well why was it bad honey." Lorelai asked.
"You left me."
"Oh honey I would never leave you."
"You did though."
"Where did I go?"
"You left, you said you were going on tour with the Bangles and that you would see me when I was 20."
It was evident at this point that the going on tour with the Bangles joke was lost on her daughter.
"Oh honey I would never leave you."
"Not even for the Bangles?"
"No even for the Bangles. Here...take Cornel Plucker..."she said handing her daughter a large stuffed Chicken. "And snuggle in. And go back to sleep."
"Promise you won't leave me?"
"I promise, in fact, you can't ever leave me either no matter how emotionally stunted that makes you. Just take that up with your therapist when you are 18 ok?"
"What is stunted?"
"Ask your therapist. Shhh honey shut your eyes."
Lorelai began to get up.
"No!" Rory shouted. "Stay with me."
"Ok... but when you talk about this with your therapist make sure she knows it was your idea."
"Ok."Rory said.
"Mommy."
"Yes Sweets."
"Sing me a song."
"Ok. Six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream I was kissin' Valentino...."
Rory laid there with her mother for what seemed like an eternity. When Emily came in.
"Rory...your dad is on the phone, he is snowed in in Cleavland, he'd like to talk to you." she said as she peaked in.
"Oh right...Dad. Mom...I'll be back in a while. Remember your promise." Rory said as she got up and walked out of the room.
Emily walked in and looked at her daughter and then at Luke. She could see he had been crying.
"Luke." She said.
Luke was holding Lorelais hand in his kissing it gently every so often.
"She is gonna be fine Emily, she is gonna pull through this..." He started. He began to cry uncontrollably.
Emily stood there, not sure what to do. She couldn't stand to see her daughter laying there. She couldn't stand the things she had said to her.
"Luke, could I...have a moment?" Emily asked.
Luke looked up at her. Wiped his eyes.
"Uh, yeah... I'll just be right outside if..." He said standing. He leaned in to her ear, "I love you crazy lady...I'll be back." Luke said and kissed her forehead.
Lorelai wanted to tell him she loved him too but, she couldn't break free from the prison of her body. She remembered the first time she knew that she loved him. She and Sookie were at a Bangles concert with Rory and he new friends from Chilton. She and Luke had, had a fight the day before about a shirt that she got in the town rummage sale that once belonged to an ex of his. She was hurt and jealous that she didn't know about it, and wanted to know about her more.Sookie made a comment about her being jelous and she knew she was. But then things happend..first Max, then Chris, Nicole, and a the list went on. But they were together now, planning on getting married, if only she could open he eyes.
When he came out Sookie met him at the door.
"I almost lost her." He said sobbing on her shoulder.
"Hey, hey, come on now...shhh. She is going to be ok. This is Lorelai we are talking about." "I know..I know Sookie, but, I just got her...I love her so much. I am gonna marry her." he said.
"Yes...you are...just as soon as she is better." Sookie said. Emily didn't know where to start. She guessed the begining would be the best place.
"Lorelai." Emily said clearing her throat. "This is your mother." She gathered her thoughts for a moment...wiped a tear. "I am sorry Lorelai. If you would just wake up...I would tell you to your face.
You could see how much I mean it. I was wrong about Luke Lorelai. He is a good man. He..." She choked a little on her tears. "He really loves you. And don't worry about Rory, he is making sure she is ok. You..." she paused. "You deserve to be happy Lorelai...and if he is what makes you happy, then...I approve." Emily looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know...your grandmother Lorelai...she didn't want me to marry your father...but, he loved me...and he fought for me just like you fought for Luke tonight. I guess I have always been a little jealous of you Lorelai. You live in a different world, you are so free, you are a friend to all you meet, a millionaire or a beggar. I wish I could be so free. I lived in a different time. What I am trying to say is...I promise...if you wake up...I will..." She cleared her throat again. "I promise I will be a better mother." Emily cried and held her daughters hand.
Richard walked into the room.
"You are a good mother Emily." He said. She looked up and he went to her side.
"Richard thank God you are here." She said hugging him.
He looked at his daughter and blinked hard to keep back his emotion at the sight of her.
"What do we need to do?" He asked. "What have they told you? Did you tell them we wanted the best doctors." He asked.
"Yes. All we can do is wait." Emily said.
"That isn't acceptable." Richard said.
"They have done all there is to do." Emily said.
"Then why isn't she awake? I refuse to believe that this is all they can do." Richard said.
"I am afraid so." Emily said. They hugged for the first time in months they were talking they were touching. They both felt it for the first time then. Richard took his daughters hand.
"Lorelai...we both love you." He said. The two sat with her for about an hour. Emily told Richard all about what had happened earlier. And about how Luke was taking charge and how Rory acted with him. They both agreed what needed to be done.
Richard left Emily with their daughter and went to find Luke.
"Grandpa!" Rory yelled when she saw him walk into the waiting area. Richard embraced his granddaughter.
"How's mom." Rory asked.
"She is still unconscious. But I don't want you to worry, your mother is strong.
She is going to be ok you understand?" "Yes. I am going to go in there with grandma."
"You do that. Rory. Do you know where I can find Luke?" Rory looked at him.
"I need to thank him."
"He went with Sookie to get moms ring cleaned up. You know...that...I mean..grandma told you?"
"Yes. I know. He is a good man this Luke?"
"The best." Rory said.
"Good."
Rory went in to see her mother.
Sookie returned with Luke and Richard introduced himself.
"Luke?" Richard said.
"Yes sir."
"Richard Gilmore."
"Yeah, we have met...a couple of times...Rory's birthday...my diner."
"Yes, yes, I know. I'd like to speak with you for a moment if I could" He looked at the ring, he really wanted to get it back to Lorelai.
"Yeah, sure...I need to get back in there though."
"I will only take a second."
"Okay then."
"I have spoken with my wife and my granddaughter. And I know how my daughter feels about you. I just wanted to let you know, that when you marry our daughter...you have Emily and I's blessing. You have been a real man tonight look. It is obvious you love our girls very much." Richard said.
"Yes sir, I do." Luke said. Normally he would consider it pompous to for Richard to give permission for something that was already happening and for him to talk to look as though he were a child. But, Luke understood that this was as close to an apology as he was going to get and that in their world that is the type of thing that is done. Luke got up and walked into the ICU and switched spots with Emily.
Around 3 am most of the people had left. Emily and Richard remained. Sookie was sleeping on the couch the roads had gotten worse so she hadn't left. Luke and Rory were still in Lorelais room when they told them that they were going to move her out of the ICU.
Luke insisted that Rory go with her grandparents to get a good night sleep and come back with them in the morning. At Emilys insistence she complied. Sookie would have a bed at their house that night as well. Luke promised to call if anything changed.
The roads were cleared in Hartford and he sped through town...when he got to the hospital he raced inside. And shouted at the lady at the desk.
"Lorelai Gilmore."
"One moment please." they woman said.
"No...no moments...where is she."
"Sir."she stared.
"Where is SHE!" he demanded.
"Fourth floor ICU." she said.
Luke ran from the desk to the elevator.
"Sir wait...you can't...there are no visitors in the ICU."
Luke didn't hear her though...when he arrived on the fourth floor he immediately found Rory. She ran to him
"LUKE!" she shouted running up to him with tears in her eyes. She hugged him and cried even harder.
"Shhh..hey it's gonna be fine ok. What have they told you." he said remaining as calm as he could. Luke you have to keep it together for Rory, it isn't just you anymore. He thought.
"They said that she rolled the Jeep. A couple of times...and she is hurt...bad.
And.." Rory began to sob again. Luke felt the tears hot in his eyes...but he had to be strong for Rory.
"Wait here I will go find something out."
Just then a doctor came out of the double doors.
"Emily Gilmore." the doctor said.
"I'm Emily." she said and stood. "What is going on."
"Yeah doc, what is going on." Luke said walking up.
"Are you a relative?" The doctor asked.
Rory interjected before Emily had a chance to respond on that question.
"They're engaged." Rory said. "How is my mother."Rory walked up and curled into Luke hugging him.
Emily saw the way Rory reacted to Luke and the way he reacted to her. Rory seemed to really care about him and trust him and Luke was definitely there for her.
"Well, she is lucky." he started. "It could have been a lot worse. Thankfully she was wearing her seat belt and the air bags deployed, also she arrived here soon after, thanks to a passer by that called 911."
"So she is ok?" Luke asked. "Can we see her?"
"Well, no...I mean she is stable, but we aren't out of the woods. She has broken her pelvis and a few ribs...also, she sustained a fairly serious head injury. There doesn't seem to be any internal bleeding but we are watching her closely. There is a chance that she could lose some of her memory, use of some of her motor skills temporarily. The next 24 hours are critical."
Just then a nurse came into the waiting room. and shouted....
"She's crashing."
The doctor...ran into the ICU with the nurse.
"Who, who's crashing." Luke yelled.
"Yes...who. God Damnit can't anyone tell me if my daughter is all right?" Emily yelled and then broke down herself.
"Rory, wait here with your Grandmother." Luke said and rushed through the double doors of the ICU.
"Luke..Luke...you can't" Rory tried to stop him.
Luke hated hospitals...he had lost both his parents in a hospital he was not going to lose her too.
"Sir, sir...You can't be back here...sir." A nurse said.
"Where is she?" he said.
"Sir come with me out the the waiting room." The woman said trying to lead him by the arm back out of the ICU.
"Where is she." he said shaking her off and he continued to walk down the hall.
Then he saw her through the glass in a room. About 8 doctors and nurses around her. Someone shouted...
"Clear!" and her body lept from the table.
"Oh God." Luke said...finally falling apart..."Oh God...Oh God...No...NO!" He screamed the most primal sound you have ever with me. I know you are upset, but your family needs you now and the doctors need to work on your wife." The nurse said.
"No. Not until I know she is ok." he cried. "You can't let her die...you can't...she is all I have..." he sobbed.
The nurse looked at Luke and sympathetically said "They are doing everything they can..." she said.
"She is all I have." He melted against the wall.
Just then he heard them say...
"I've got a rhythm."
"Pulse is 55. Blood Ox is stabilizing...BP 120/60..." Another said.
"Quick we need to get her to surgery." the doctor said.
The team of doctors quickly started to wheel her out of the room. As they wheeled her past him he yelled to her.
"Don't you die on me!! I love you!!" Then he allowed the nurse to show him out.
He joined Rory and Emily in the waiting room. A doctor that was "too young" according to Emily told them that one of her ribs had punctured he lung and it had collapsed and caused her to code. They got her on a heart lung machine and were taking her to surgery to fix the hole. All they could do was wait.
Emily called Richard and he said he would get on the next flight. Though she had not lived with her husband for months she needed him there, she needed someone to take this weight from her. Luke called Liz and Sookie. Rory called Chris. Two hours later the population of Stars Hollow was waiting in that room with them. Sookie was comforting Luke. Lane and Paris were sitting with Rory up on a sofa. Ms. Patty and Michel were with Emily. Chris and Richard were on their way.
"I can't lose her Sookie." Luke said his head in his lap.
"Shhh....don't you even say that." Sookie had tears in her eyes.
"I asked her to marry me." he said. "She said yes." he said.
"And...you are gonna marry her."Sookie said. Oh please let Lorelai be all okay,
he just got her...he can't lose her...we can't lose her. She thought.
"It's all my fault." Emily said to Ms. Patty. "I drove her away. I upset her, I..."
"Now, now dear...you cannot blame yourself..."
"And now she might never know...." Emily stared to sob.
"There, there...now you let it out." Patty said.
"Our Lorelai she is a fighter...she is gonna be fine." Ms. Patty said the words but wasn't sure that she believed them.
Sookie walked over to Rory and the girls.
"How are you doing?" Sookie asked Rory, holding her hand.
"I just...wish...they knew something." Rory said.
"Ahh honey...your grandma has the best doctors in Connecticut in there, and we all know Lorelai, she wouldn't give up on us." Sookie said.
"Sookie." Rory said sobbing and grabbing her tight.
Sookie rocked her.... "Shhh Shhhh...everything is gonna be all right."
Three hours later the doctor came out.
He walked up to Luke.
"Your wife is in stable condition." he told him.
"Oh, no..she's my...well..fiance' not my...she is stable. What does that mean?"
Rory again snuggled up to Luke.
"She sustained some serious injures, the operation went well. She is still on the breathing tube...but she is doing well. She is going to be out for a while...there is some fluid on her brain from the swelling...we aren't out of the woods, but...you can see her if you'd like."
"Yes..very much."
"Can I go too." Rory asked.
"Yes, but just two at a time please. And be advised...she is still very swollen from the accident, and she is in a brace and has some stitches. Go on and talk to her though..let her know you are there...it has been known to help. Oh and Luke was it...here are her personal things...her ring and so on...we had to take them off for surgery."
"Thanks doctor." he said taking the package. He opened the envelope and took out her ring. It was covered in blood.
"I'll take that and get it cleaned up for her." Sookie said. She knew seeing that wasn't going to help him right now.
"You two go on and see her." The doctor said.
"I want to go see her, I am her mother after all." Emily said insistent.
"Emily...please...you can see her in a while...I am not her husband yet, but I love her and she was coming to see me and I am going to see her, I don't know what was said between you two but I am sure it was about me and your constant disapproval of our relationship. I really think that right now would be a great time for you to show some respect for me as a man and let me go in there and see her."
"Yes...yes of course...you are right." Emily could not believe he just stood up to her like that. She felt instantly foolish about her objections that evening.
Luke and Rory walked into the ICU and found room 1007. Luke opened the door and let Rory go in first. She saw her mother and started to cry.
"Luke." Rory said.
"Shhh shhh shhh, it's ok...I'm here...shhh, she is gonna be okay." Luke said fighting the burning in his eyes. He couldn't stand to see her there like that. Her lower body in a brace, stitches on her forehead, tubes in and out of her and that one in her mouth helping her breath was the worst.
"Hi Sweetheart. It's me Luke. I am here for you babe, as soon as you wake up I will be right here ok. Don't rush it, but I need you to come back to us soon ok.
We need ya." Luke said...starting to choke on his tears.
"Mom...you can't leave me." Rory said. "You promised. You promised me you would never leave me." Rory said grabbing Lorelais hand and touching it to her face. "I need you." she said.
Lorelai heard her daughter and Luke. She wanted to open her eyes, but she couldn't. She remembered when she made Rory that promise.
"Mommy, Mommy Mommy!!!" Rory yelled.
Lorelai was studying for her GED in the living room. She got up and raced into Rorys bedroom.
"Honey what is the matter, did you have a bad dream?" She asked her four year old daughter.
"Yes." Rory said.
"What was it about?" Lorelai asked.
"You."
"Me??" Lorelai said.
"Yes."
"Well honey if your dream was about me it couldn't have been bad, all dreams with me are good and welcome things." Lorelai joked.
Her daughter gave her a look that was not amused. Lorelai couldn't wait for the day that Rory would understand her sense of humor.
"Well why was it bad honey." Lorelai asked.
"You left me."
"Oh honey I would never leave you."
"You did though."
"Where did I go?"
"You left, you said you were going on tour with the Bangles and that you would see me when I was 20."
It was evident at this point that the going on tour with the Bangles joke was lost on her daughter.
"Oh honey I would never leave you."
"Not even for the Bangles?"
"No even for the Bangles. Here...take Cornel Plucker..."she said handing her daughter a large stuffed Chicken. "And snuggle in. And go back to sleep."
"Promise you won't leave me?"
"I promise, in fact, you can't ever leave me either no matter how emotionally stunted that makes you. Just take that up with your therapist when you are 18 ok?"
"What is stunted?"
"Ask your therapist. Shhh honey shut your eyes."
Lorelai began to get up.
"No!" Rory shouted. "Stay with me."
"Ok... but when you talk about this with your therapist make sure she knows it was your idea."
"Ok."Rory said.
"Mommy."
"Yes Sweets."
"Sing me a song."
"Ok. Six o'clock already I was just in the middle of a dream I was kissin' Valentino...."
Rory laid there with her mother for what seemed like an eternity. When Emily came in.
"Rory...your dad is on the phone, he is snowed in in Cleavland, he'd like to talk to you." she said as she peaked in.
"Oh right...Dad. Mom...I'll be back in a while. Remember your promise." Rory said as she got up and walked out of the room.
Emily walked in and looked at her daughter and then at Luke. She could see he had been crying.
"Luke." She said.
Luke was holding Lorelais hand in his kissing it gently every so often.
"She is gonna be fine Emily, she is gonna pull through this..." He started. He began to cry uncontrollably.
Emily stood there, not sure what to do. She couldn't stand to see her daughter laying there. She couldn't stand the things she had said to her.
"Luke, could I...have a moment?" Emily asked.
Luke looked up at her. Wiped his eyes.
"Uh, yeah... I'll just be right outside if..." He said standing. He leaned in to her ear, "I love you crazy lady...I'll be back." Luke said and kissed her forehead.
Lorelai wanted to tell him she loved him too but, she couldn't break free from the prison of her body. She remembered the first time she knew that she loved him. She and Sookie were at a Bangles concert with Rory and he new friends from Chilton. She and Luke had, had a fight the day before about a shirt that she got in the town rummage sale that once belonged to an ex of his. She was hurt and jealous that she didn't know about it, and wanted to know about her more.Sookie made a comment about her being jelous and she knew she was. But then things happend..first Max, then Chris, Nicole, and a the list went on. But they were together now, planning on getting married, if only she could open he eyes.
When he came out Sookie met him at the door.
"I almost lost her." He said sobbing on her shoulder.
"Hey, hey, come on now...shhh. She is going to be ok. This is Lorelai we are talking about." "I know..I know Sookie, but, I just got her...I love her so much. I am gonna marry her." he said.
"Yes...you are...just as soon as she is better." Sookie said. Emily didn't know where to start. She guessed the begining would be the best place.
"Lorelai." Emily said clearing her throat. "This is your mother." She gathered her thoughts for a moment...wiped a tear. "I am sorry Lorelai. If you would just wake up...I would tell you to your face.
You could see how much I mean it. I was wrong about Luke Lorelai. He is a good man. He..." She choked a little on her tears. "He really loves you. And don't worry about Rory, he is making sure she is ok. You..." she paused. "You deserve to be happy Lorelai...and if he is what makes you happy, then...I approve." Emily looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know...your grandmother Lorelai...she didn't want me to marry your father...but, he loved me...and he fought for me just like you fought for Luke tonight. I guess I have always been a little jealous of you Lorelai. You live in a different world, you are so free, you are a friend to all you meet, a millionaire or a beggar. I wish I could be so free. I lived in a different time. What I am trying to say is...I promise...if you wake up...I will..." She cleared her throat again. "I promise I will be a better mother." Emily cried and held her daughters hand.
Richard walked into the room.
"You are a good mother Emily." He said. She looked up and he went to her side.
"Richard thank God you are here." She said hugging him.
He looked at his daughter and blinked hard to keep back his emotion at the sight of her.
"What do we need to do?" He asked. "What have they told you? Did you tell them we wanted the best doctors." He asked.
"Yes. All we can do is wait." Emily said.
"That isn't acceptable." Richard said.
"They have done all there is to do." Emily said.
"Then why isn't she awake? I refuse to believe that this is all they can do." Richard said.
"I am afraid so." Emily said. They hugged for the first time in months they were talking they were touching. They both felt it for the first time then. Richard took his daughters hand.
"Lorelai...we both love you." He said. The two sat with her for about an hour. Emily told Richard all about what had happened earlier. And about how Luke was taking charge and how Rory acted with him. They both agreed what needed to be done.
Richard left Emily with their daughter and went to find Luke.
"Grandpa!" Rory yelled when she saw him walk into the waiting area. Richard embraced his granddaughter.
"How's mom." Rory asked.
"She is still unconscious. But I don't want you to worry, your mother is strong.
She is going to be ok you understand?" "Yes. I am going to go in there with grandma."
"You do that. Rory. Do you know where I can find Luke?" Rory looked at him.
"I need to thank him."
"He went with Sookie to get moms ring cleaned up. You know...that...I mean..grandma told you?"
"Yes. I know. He is a good man this Luke?"
"The best." Rory said.
"Good."
Rory went in to see her mother.
Sookie returned with Luke and Richard introduced himself.
"Luke?" Richard said.
"Yes sir."
"Richard Gilmore."
"Yeah, we have met...a couple of times...Rory's birthday...my diner."
"Yes, yes, I know. I'd like to speak with you for a moment if I could" He looked at the ring, he really wanted to get it back to Lorelai.
"Yeah, sure...I need to get back in there though."
"I will only take a second."
"Okay then."
"I have spoken with my wife and my granddaughter. And I know how my daughter feels about you. I just wanted to let you know, that when you marry our daughter...you have Emily and I's blessing. You have been a real man tonight look. It is obvious you love our girls very much." Richard said.
"Yes sir, I do." Luke said. Normally he would consider it pompous to for Richard to give permission for something that was already happening and for him to talk to look as though he were a child. But, Luke understood that this was as close to an apology as he was going to get and that in their world that is the type of thing that is done. Luke got up and walked into the ICU and switched spots with Emily.
Around 3 am most of the people had left. Emily and Richard remained. Sookie was sleeping on the couch the roads had gotten worse so she hadn't left. Luke and Rory were still in Lorelais room when they told them that they were going to move her out of the ICU.
Luke insisted that Rory go with her grandparents to get a good night sleep and come back with them in the morning. At Emilys insistence she complied. Sookie would have a bed at their house that night as well. Luke promised to call if anything changed.