A/N: Thanks LorelaiAkaCoffeeAddict for proofreading so fast, even with everything going on right now! You're the best! And thanks to all of you who read and reviewed. You're amazing! Well, not much to say, just hope you like this chapter!
Chapter 27 Waiting
Lorelai had no idea how long she had slept when she finally opened her eyes. She had no idea where she was when she woke up and it took her a few seconds to realize. She shifted carefully not to wake Luke as she stood up. She was holding a still sleeping Lucan in her arms. She looked around and noticed her father was asleep as well. She had to find out what time it was and if there was any information about her mother yet She walked towards the nurses station and waited politely for someone to notice her. After a few minutes someone approached her.
"Hello, can I help you?"
"I was wondering if there is any information about my mother yet?" She sounded hopeful.
"I'm sorry. They are still working on her, and as soon as they've taken her to recovery, someone will come and explain her condition to you. I know it's hard, but you have to hang on. At least no news is good news right?"
"That's easy for you to say." Lorelai sighed. "What time is it?"
The nurse looked at her watch. "8.45"
"Okay thanks." She looked at Lucan and wondered why he hadn't woken up yet. He was probably exhausted from being up that long last night. Lorelai wished she could lay him down for a while and take a nice hot shower, but knew that wasn't an option. The shower was out of the question and she was afraid Lucan would wake up as soon as she'd lie him down, so she started to walk around, checking out the area where she probably had to spent a lot more hours. Walking back to the nurses station she asked. "Is there any information about how long the surgery might take?"
"Not that I know of. When they started the surgery there wasn't much information about your mothers injuries. Basically we only knew that she had them and in big lines where, but the doctor didn't knew how severe they were. But I understand that it would be nice if you knew a little more than you know now, so I'll go and see if I can find out anything. I can't promise anything though."
"Thank you. I really appreciate this."
"No problem." The nurse walked away.
Lorelai started pacing around the room again. She hoped the nurse would come back soon. She looked at Luke who was still asleep. Than she looked at her father. He was still asleep as well. She noticed how tired and fragile he looked. The man she was looking at wasn't the father she knew. He was nothing like him. She had to swallow away the lump that was forming in her throat and turned to look away. She couldn't stand to see her father like this. After walking around for another 5 minutes, the nurse came back. "Mrs. Danes?"
Lorelai turned around, her eyes hopeful again. "Yes?"
"The surgery will take at least a few more hours."
"What is a few?"
"3 at least, but it could also be 4 or 5 or 6. It's hard to tell."
"Oh…" Lorelai let herself fall in one of the chairs. "Is there any information about her condition?"
"Officially, I'm not allowed to tell you this but you're mother's injuries are very severe. She ruptured her spleen and left kidney and her colon perforated. The surgeons are doing the best they can. The biggest problem is that your mothers heart is very week. A cardiologist is paged to see if there is any damage to her heart as well that needs to be taken care of. But this is all the information there is right now, and I don't know if there will be any information available until they're done."
"Thank you. This is a lot already. I really appreciate your help."
The nurse looked at Lucan. "I'll see if I can find you a bassinet so you can clear your arms for a while."
"That would be nice. Thank you so much."
The nurse nodded and walked away.
Lorelai felt like crying. News about her mother was supposed to make her feel better, but she had a feeling this was bad news, and that made it even worse. If only time went by faster, then she would get some real news about her mother, and Rory would be home. Finally, after all those months.
She couldn't help but wonder if Rory had changed during her time abroad. She knew she last saw her at her wedding, but that was 4 months ago. So much can change in 4 months. So much had changed already. She got married. She became a mother for the second time. She learned how to be a mother again, struggling with it at first, and now being pretty good at it again. She had fought with her mother, but they made up again and improved their relationship. And now, her mother was in the operating room fighting for her life. She thought that even though it was only 4 months, it seemed like a lot longer. I felt so much longer. The last few hours had felt like days, and those months… somehow they went by so fast, she knew that when she watched the baby and how much he had grown already, but on the other hand….
She was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt a hand on hers. She looked up and saw Luke.
"Hey, you're awake."
"You too." He smiled and kissed her. "So, any news on your mother yet?"
"Not much, she's still in surgery and it will take at least a few more hours. It can be 3 but it also can be 6 so they really don't know."
Luke didn't knew what to say. He hated to see Lorelai like this. She was scared and he wished she never had to be scared, although he knew that wasn't very realistic. No matter what he would say, it wouldn't make her feel better. So he just pulled her to his chest and held her close for a while.
Lorelai pulled back after a minute or so. "Can you hold Lucan for a while?"
He nodded and took the baby from her. "He didn't wake up yet?"
"No. I think he will soon, though. I'm going to use the ladies room. It won't take long."
"Take your time." He knew she needed to be alone for a while to process everything.
Lorelai went to the ladies room. She looked in the mirror and for the first time noticed how horrible she looked. Her hair was all messy and she had dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes looked red from all the crying. She threw some water in her face which made her feel a lot better already. After that she took a hair brush out of her purse and combed her hair. She put on a little make up, although she knew that this wouldn't be useful with the big risk of crying again. At least she looked good for a little while and that felt great.
When she was done she decided to take a walk. She first walked past the waiting area to see if Lucan was awake already. Making sure he wasn't and that nobody saw her she walked away. She took the elevator to the main floor. Besides a gift shop there was also a little clothing store. Entering she noticed that they had only a small collection. Just for the people laying in the hospital. Pajama's, and also some other clothes.
She looked around and found the children section. As she walked there the desk clerk approached. "Can I help you?"
"I was looking for some clothes for my son. We went here in a hurry last night and all he has are his pj's. I know that he's only a baby and that it doesn't matter to him what he wears, but see, my daughter is coming today. Not that my daughter cares, but she's meeting her baby brother for the first time. My mother was in a car accident last night and they are operating on her and the doctors are not sure if she'll make it.
Normally my daughter wouldn't come back until June, but now her grandmother is sick she decided to take the first flight home. She's in London, my daughter. She wants to become a journalist, and she's really good. I haven't seen her since Christmas break, she left again January first. I told her that it didn't really matter if she would leave again, and that she would see the baby when she came back, but see, I do. I miss her so much, and I am so happy that she's finally coming back. But… well I just wish that it was for other reasons.
My mother and I haven't been on good terms for years. My daughter was born when I was 16. I ran away from home when I was 17 and took a job as a maid. I only saw my parents on holidays. When my daughter was 15 she wanted to go to Chilton and she got in. Of course, because you see, my daughter is this amazing girl that can do anything she wants."
Lorelai wiped away a few tears. "But I couldn't pay the tuition myself so I went to my parents. And the wanted to give me the money, but wanted Friday night dinners in return. So that's when I started seeing my mother regularly. And now you'd think our relationship would become better after seeing each other more often, but that wasn't true. We still had our fights and our difficulties. We both tried you know, but… I guess it just wasn't for us."
The desk clerk kept listening silently. She looked at the woman in front of her and knew she had a very rough night. It happened more often that people ran into her store and started telling their story. That's why she loved her job so much.
When I told her I was pregnant with my son, she became angry. There was a huge fight and I thought that was it. But it wasn't. I went there the next day to make up, and after that things were better. We had to take it a step at the time, but… When Luke proposed she helped me with the wedding. He arranged for Rory to come home to spent the holidays with me, and we decided to get married immediately. On New Years Eve. Otherwise we had to wait till the summer, and we waited so long. We waited for 8 years before we even went out on our first date. Too much time was wasted already. My mother helped planning my wedding just the way I wanted it to be, and it was perfect."
Lorelai paused and realized that she was rambling. "I bet you don't have the time for this. I better go." She started to walk away.
"Wait." Lorelai turned around. "So Rory, I assume she's your daughter, left right after your wedding, and she never met her brother?"
"No. Lucan was born a month and a half ago. It was the same day I told her I was pregnant, that she told me she was going to London. She didn't want to go because of that, but I told her that she had to go. You see, before I got pregnant at 16 I had a lot of dreams, but everything changed when Rory was born. And I don't care that I had to give up my dreams for my daughter. I love my daughter so much, and I wouldn't want to miss her for the world. I just don't want her to give up her dreams. Even though it was very hard without her. Especially in the beginning. I was cranky and miserable for months. When she left for collage last year that was hard, but at least I got to see her on the weekends. Now I didn't get to see her at all."
"And now she's coming back?"
"Yeah." Lorelai smiled. "I just hate the circumstances. I am so happy to finally see my daughter again, but knowing that I can loose my mother in the process, that's just so hard."
"Maybe you won't." The woman was careful to say that, knowing very well that her mother could die.
"Maybe… I'm just so scared. I can't loose my mother now. So many moments in my life I wished my mother was gone, but death… I don't think I can handle that."
"I understand. It seems very hard, especially since you only started to get along recently."
"Even after that it wasn't perfect. When Lucan was born she was very angry that we named him after Luke's father and not after mine. It took her a few days to call again and to apologize. It's just that Luke's father passed away when he was young. Both his parents did. And we thought that by giving Lucan his father's name, they would share some kind of connection. You see my husband isn't that talkative. He doesn't talk about his past a lot, and I don't know how it will be in a few years when Lucan starts to ask questions about his grandfather, but now…. I just thought that Lucan would grow up knowing my father so they don't need that connection he needs with William. But what about my mother? My father was in that car crash too. He only has a few bruises, but he could have been seriously hurt as well. Was my decision wrong? Should I have named my son after my father as well?"
"I don't know. What do you think?"
"I'm not sure. I don't think I can name a kid of mine after one of my parents. Even though we're getting along better now, it doesn't seem right. I hope that if I ever get another child, I'll get a daughter so I can name her after Luke's mother. But I won't think about that now. I'm just glad that my family will be complete today. Finally."
"And you came here because you wanted your daughter to meet your son while he was dressed in actual clothes?"
"Yeah."
"What did you imagined your son in, if you thought about picking up your daughter from the airport so they could finally meet?"
"Jeans, flannel shirt and baseball cap."
"What?" The woman looked at her curiously.
"That's what Luke always wears. I imagined them wearing matching clothes. I thought that it would be cute. But I guess I'll take anything you have in his size."
"How long do you have before your daughter arrives?"
Lorelai looked at her watch. About 5, 6 hours.
"And your son is a month and a half right?"
"Yeah."
The woman held up a shirt. "So this would be his size."
"Yeah, that would fit him perfectly."
"Good. Judith will arrive soon. She can take care of the store for a while. I don't have the kind of clothes your asking for, but I'll drive to the mall for you and pick them up. You have enough time before your daughter arrives."
"You don't have to do that."
"I know, but it seems like you've been trough enough lately. You deserve the meeting you want."
"Thank you so much." Lorelai opened her purse, took out her wallet and handed the woman some money. "I think this should cover it. I really appreciate this, but you really don't have to do it."
"I want to. I assume you're in the surgical waiting room?"
"Yes. I better get back up. Lucan should be awake right now, and he won't stop crying until I feed him."
"Okay. I'll meet you upstairs later. Judith will be here within half an hour."
"Thanks again." Lorelai walked away but before she exited the store she turned around. "I don't even know your name."
"Karen. Karen Mc. Crane."
"My name is Lorelai. Lorelai Danes."
"It was very nice to meet you Lorelai. I'll find you later."
"Thank you. And it was a pleasure to meet you, too." With that Lorelai went back upstairs.
As soon as the elevator doors opened she heard her son crying. She saw the panicked look on Luke's face and felt guilty for walking away instantly. When she came closer he saw her approach. "I know I told you to take your time, but that didn't meant you could stay away for over an hour. He's crying for half an hour, 'cause he's hungry."
"I'm sorry."
"Well, that's very helpful. You're sorry." He handed her the baby. "Here take him, I'm out of here."
"Luke."
"Not now."
She watched him walk away. Than she sat down to feed the baby. That was the only way to calm him down again. It took him a while before he calmed down enough so he could even start drinking.
Luke calmed down half an hour later. When he came back he found Lorelai sitting in the chairs. Lucan was laying in the bassinet the nurse had brought over earlier. Richard was still looking in front of him.
"Hey."
"Hey." Lorelai looked up.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure." She stood up and they walked away so they could talk in private. They found 2 chairs from where they could still keep an eye on Lucan and Richard.
"Look I'm sorry." Luke started.
"No, I'm sorry. You had every right to be angry."
"No I had not. This was a rough night for you, I understand that you needed some time alone."
"That doesn't matter. I still have to be there to feed our son. I left him with you, crying. It's just… I started walking and lost complete track of time. First I cleaned up myself and then I went downstairs where I started talking to the woman from the clothing shop."
"What were you doing there?"
"Promise me you won't laugh."
"Lorelai." He sighed and shot her an angry look.
"I went to find Lucan some clothes. I don't want him to wear those pajama's when he's finally meeting Rory. I know it's crazy to worry about that, but.."
"You found any?"
"Kind of. Karen will bring them by later."
"Karen?"
"The sales lady."
"Oh… I see. And why didn't you bring it with you immediately?"
"Long story." Lorelai laughed. "You'll see."
"Whatever." He stood up to walk away.
"Luke wait. You're still angry at me."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are. I can here it in your voice. Talk to me."
"It's nothing. I just hate hospitals, that's all."
"Why don't you go home then? I bet Lane and Caesar could use some help in the diner."
"I'm not leaving. They're fine and they can close up otherwise. I don't care."
"But.."
"No buts. I'm staying, end of discussion. I'm not angry at you anymore. I understand that you needed the time and Lucan is fine now so. But I would appreciate it if you make sure you're here around the time he gets hungry again."
"I'm not going anywhere." She took his hand. "I'm really really sorry and it won't happen again, I promise."
He leaned in to kiss her. After they pulled apart he took her hand and leaded her back to their son. He was still awake. His arms and legs were moving. Luke leaned in a little and Lucan started to look at his father, a serious expression on his face. Than his expression changed and a smile appeared on his face.
Luke watched his son smile and when the smile faded he turned to look at Lorelai. "Did you see that?"
"Yes I did. I definitely did." She kissed Luke and than moved to kiss the baby on his forehead.
About 3 hours later Karen walked upstairs. She had been to the mall and found what she was looking for. It didn't take her long to find Lorelai. She saw a man in flannel shirt, jeans and backwards baseball cap sitting next to her. She smiled and knew exactly what Lorelai had meant earlier. She smiled at the colors she had picked for the babies clothes, because they were almost similar to the colors the man was wearing. She also saw an elderly man sitting next to them. She assumed that it was Lorelai's father.
"Hey."
Lorelai smiled. "Hey. And you found it?"
"Absolutely."
"Cool." She turned to Luke. "Luke, this is Karen, the woman I told you about earlier. Karen this is Luke, my husband."
"Hey, I heard a lot about you." Karen shook Luke's hand.
"Don't believe everything she says." Luke replied gruffly.
"I won't." Karen smiled. She handed Lorelai the bag. "I hope this is what you were looking for."
Lorelai opened the back and pulled out a small pair of jeans. She laid it on the chair next to her. Than she picked out the flannel shirt and smiled.
"Oh no, you got to be kidding me." Luke rolled his eyes.
Lorelai pulled out the baseball cap. It was almost similar to Luke's. The color was only slightly lighter and of course, it was smaller.
"Lorelai, you can't be serious about this. This is what you want our son to wear?"
"Yes." She smiled but noticed the expression on Luke's face. "Oh come on Luke, first you tell me you want to have that special connection with him, and now I can't even dress him like you? You don't know what you want now, do you?"
Inwardly he was really proud that she wanted to dress Lucan like himself. But on the other hand it was kind of weird. "Do whatever you want." He looked away.
"Karen, this is perfect. This is exactly what I had in mind. And the colors of the shirt, it's like you're a psychic."
"Yeah, I noticed."
Lorelai started undressing the baby and changed him into his new clothes. After she placed the baseball cap on his little hand he looked even more like Luke than he already did before. He was like a copy, only a lot younger and a lot smaller. "It's perfect. God I wish I had a camera."
"I figured." Karen pulled a throw-away camera out of her pocket.
"You're brilliant." She picked up the baby and handed him to Luke.
"Oh come on."
"Laugh to the camera." Lorelai cheered. When Lucan started smiling Luke had to smile as well, and Lorelai could take a few pictures. She already knew that these would be one of her favorite pictures and she couldn't wait to see how they turned out.
"When your daughter arrives later you can take a few pictures of them together as well. If you bring the camera to me later I'll take them to the one hour photo service. That way you can give your mother a picture of both her grandchildren when she comes out of surgery."
Lorelai looked at Karen grateful. "Thank you so much. You're an amazing person you know that. But I wonder, why are you doing all of this for me?"
Karen sat down next to Lorelai. "10 Years ago my only daughter got sick. My husband had died a few years before and she was all I had left. In the hospital there was a nurse and she helped me out all the time. Even when her shift was over she staid to be with me. She listened to my stories or she was there just to sit with me and hold my hand. My daughter died about a week after she was admitted to the hospital, and after that the nurse kept coming by to check on me. My friends had no idea how to act around me, but she came. That's when I promised myself to get a job in the hospital and to do the same for other people. I didn't see myself becoming a nurse, so I opened the store. That's what I was good at, and there are always people like you that just need to talk to someone."
"Wow.. Uhm… I'm so sorry about your daughter and your husband."
"So am I. But it was a long time ago. I remarried 3 years ago, and I have a 2 year old daughter. It's not the same, but I'm happy."
"Wow.. And what happened to the nurse? Do you still see her?"
"We staid friends for a while, but after a year or so she moved to Seattle. We wrote letters to each other first, but we don't see each other anymore now. Just a regular Christmas card. But it's good to get one every year because we know the other one is doing okay. And I did name my daughter after her. Louise."
"That's a beautiful name."
"Yeah. That's what I thought. And I don't think I would have made it without her back than, not after loosing both my husband and my daughter."
"I can imagine. I don't know what I would do."
"Don't even try to think about that. Just enjoy your family and cherish what you have."
"I do, I definitely do."
"Good. I better go downstairs, Judith is waiting for me and it's after lunch time already."
"Okay. Thanks again. And I'll come by later."
"That would be nice." The women hugged and after that Karen walked away.
"Wow, that's a special woman." Luke looked amazed.
"Yeah. She is. I went in there and I started rambling about my life and she just listened. And when I said that I was looking for clothes for Lucan she asked me what I imagined him to wear when he would finally meet Rory. And than she offered to go to the store for me to pick it up. You really hate it don't you?"
"Well, it's not that bad."
"Oh come on, you find it cute." Lorelai smiled.
"Don't use that word. I am not cute, and neither is my son."
"No, you're my two cool men."
"That sounds better. Hey, I think he's starting to get hungry. Why don't you feed him so we can go to the cafeteria afterwards to have some lunch ourselves? I bet your father could use something as well."
"That sounds like a great plan."
When they came back after having lunch in the cafeteria there was still no news about Emily and it didn't look like that there would be any soon. A nurse promised to check the operating room to see if there was any information available but there wasn't. The surgeons where still operating and Emily's condition was still serious. There was no way they could say how long the surgery would take.
Richard was sleeping in his chair, and Lucan was taking a nap in the bassinet. Luke and Lorelai were reading magazine's that were laying in the waiting area. Or at least, Lorelai was trying to read.
It was a little after three when Rory's cab pulled in front of the hospital. She paid the driver and stepped out, taking her heavy bag with her. She had left most of her stuff in England. She didn't know if she would go back to get it, but otherwise Warren would sent it to her, or bring it by later.
She walked into the hospital trough the main entrance. There was a big information desk. She didn't had to wait long for her turn. "Hello. I'm looking for Emily Gilmore. She was brought in here after a car accident last night. Last thing I've heard she was in surgery. I wonder where I can find her or my family?"
The man behind the desk looked in his computer. "Mrs. Gilmore is still in surgery. I think you can find your family in the surgical waiting room. If not, there's probably someone who can tell you where they are up there."
"Which floor?"
"Fifth."
"Okay thank you." Rory walked towards the elevator. Patiently she waited for the doors to open. She entered the crowed elevator and saw someone already pressed the button for the fifth floor. It was hot and the elevator had to stop at every floor, letting people in and out. It seemed like minutes later when the elevator stopped on the fifth floor. Rory was happy she could finally stepped out and made a mental note to take the stairs the next time. She looked around and wondered which way to go. Lucky she found signs on the ceiling that told her in which direction she had to walk. After that it wasn't hard to find the waiting area. She stood still for a few seconds when she saw her mother. Than she almost screamed. "Mom"
Lorelai turned around and for the first time in months she saw her daughter. A huge smile appeared on her face as she stood up and started running towards her daughter. Rory did the same and they met each other in a big hug somewhere half way. "God I missed you so much." Lorelai held her daughter tight, afraid that if she let go, her daughter would be gone.
"I missed you too. I can't believe it has been 4 months."
"It was way too long."
"Yes it was."
After a while Lorelai pulled back so she could look at her daughter. "It's like you grow. Did you grow?"
"Mom. I'm 21 years old. I don't grow anymore."
"Are you sure? You seem taller." She looked down to see if her daughter was wearing heels. "No heels, you must have grown."
"I swear, I haven't."
"Okay." Lorelai lifted her shoulders and pulled Rory back into another hug."
Rory pulled back after a few seconds. "Now let me finally meet my brother."
Luke heard this and picked up the baby. With his son in his arms he walked to Rory. Rory had to laugh when she saw them approaching. "Now I see what my mother is talking about. I kind of noticed it in the pictures but…"
Luke had to laugh and handed the baby to Lorelai so he could hug Rory. She put her arms around his chest and let him hold her for a while. When she pulled back she kissed his cheek. "Thanks for taking such a good care of my mother and my brother."
"Always." He smiled.
Than Rory turned to her mother again who handed her the baby. "This is your big sister Rory. I've told you a lot about her, but here you finally get to meet her."
"Hey baby. I'm Rory. I missed you so much. I know I've never seen you so it sounds weird that I missed you but I did."
Luke pulled Lorelai to him and laid his arm around her shoulders and together they watched the interaction between their kids.
"I'm so sorry it took so long before I could finally meet you. I know I saw many pictures from you and even some small movies but it's nothing like holding you in my arms. I promise you I will never go away for such a long time again."
Lorelai hoped this was true, but knew that was a promise her daughter probably couldn't keep. Then she remember the camera. She went to the chairs and kneeled in front of her father. "Dad, Rory's here."
He nodded but remained in his seat. Lorelai didn't know what to do so she just stood up to get the camera. She walked to her family again and stood next to Luke as she made a few pictures of Rory and Lucan.
Than she heard some walking behind here. It was a doctor, dressed in green scrubs. He was walking to her father. Luke noticed this as well, and placed a hand on Rory's back. Together they walked towards Richard and the surgeon.
"You're the family of Emily Gilmore?" He asked as he pulled the mask off of his face...