"Rise and shine, sleepyhead," Lorelai woke to the all-too-cheerful sound of her daughter's voice. She blinked open her eyes and was greeted by a bright smile.
"What time is it?" she asked groggily.
"Eight thirty," Rory replied sitting on the arm of the couch. "The auction starts in an hour and a half so I figured we could get dressed, drop our baskets by the gazebo, and get some coffee at Luke's before it starts."
"My, aren't we a woman with a plan this morning," she teased sitting up. "Sounds good."
"So how are you after last night?" Rory asked, her voice showing a hint of concern Lorelai hadn't notice before.
"I'm fine," she assured her. "It was just a little too much last night. With the treatment and the party and the dancing, I needed some well-deserved sleep."
"And you're fine now?"
"Perfectly fine," she said, standing up to prove her point. "Couldn't be finer. I'm the definition of fine. The epitome of fine. In fact, that's fine-al."
"Glad to have you back, Mom," Rory smiled. "Now go get dressed so we can get coffee."
"Okay," she headed up the stairs. "I'll get dressed. And you know what? I'm going to look so fine. And that's my fine-al answer."
"Bye Mom," Rory closed her bedroom door, blocking out the sound of her mother's wordsmith antics as she got dressed.
"So what will you guys have?" Luke asked coming up to them as they sat at a table near the back. The diner was pretty crowded so that was their only option. The counter was full.
"Guys?" Lorelai said in mock confusion. "I don't see any guys at this table. Rory, do you see any guys here?"
"I don't believe so," Rory replied following along. "Hey, maybe they're invisible. Wouldn't that be cool?"
"But how would I know if these invisible guys were cute?" Luke just watched the two go back and forth with impatience written all over his face. "I mean, if there were invisible guys sitting with us, I would like to think that they were cute invisible guys, but how would I really know, ya know?"
"So," Luke cut in quickly, "what would you ladies like to eat?"
"I'll have scrambled eggs with bacon and toast," Rory replied smiling up at him. "And of course, coffee."
"Like I had to ask," he said dryly as he scribbled on his pad. "And for you?" he asked Lorelai.
"I'm not really hungry," Lorelai replied. "I'll just take a cup of coffee."
"Are you kidding?" Luke asked, shock etched across his features. "In all my life, I've never seen you not hungry. Even when you couldn't eat anything before went to the doctor's, half the time you complained for an hour about how hungry you were. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Lorelai cried. "Why does everyone keep asking me what's wrong? I'm completely fine."
"Okay," Luke relented. "Whatever you say. So coffee it is."
Lorelai sighed deeply as Luke went to put in their orders, grabbing a couple mugs of coffee and dropping them at the table on his way to take another order.
"So what do you want to do before the auction?" Lorelai asked before Rory could ask her again how she was feeling.
"Well," she replied, "I figure we'll have just enough time for me to eat breakfast and drag Jess to the gazebo before it starts."
"Sounds good," Lorelai said. "So what are you and diner boy doing today?"
"After the picnic," she said, "I don't really know. Probably just hang out, read, watch movies, whatever."
"Don't tell me you guys have gotten to the old, married couple 'whatever' stage already," Lorelai teased. "There's nothing worse than going through the entire relationship life cycle in less than three months."
"Don't worry, Mom," Rory laughed. "Jess and I haven't even started wearing matching t-shirts and finishing each other's sentences yet. We still have a few more sickening stages to go through."
"When you get to those stages," Lorelai told her, "remind me to shoot myself."
"Will do," Rory deadpanned.
"I wonder who'll buy my basket this year," Lorelai mused. "I mean, we could really use some work on our roof, so if Henry Kandin put in a good bid, I think I could charm my way into a discount." She raised her eyebrows and gave her daughter a cocky smile.
"What about Luke?" Rory asked, lowering her voice so only the two of them could hear.
"What about Luke?" Lorelai countered.
"Why don't you ask him to bid?" she pushed. "I'm sure neither of you would mind a picnic for just the two of you."
"I am not asking Luke to bid on my basket," Lorelai declared. "That goes to a point of pathetic I dare not go. What would people think if they saw me, Lorelai Victoria Gilmore, begging a grown man in flannel to buy her picnic basket? And you know Luke would not give in without an immense amount of begging."
"Probably not," Rory agreed, "but how would that be any different than the numerous times you've begged him for coffee?"
"I never begged!" Lorelai protested with mock indignation.
"Oh come on!" Rory laughed. "I've seen you get down on hand and knee and grab his leg so he couldn't walk away until he gave you a cup. Tell me that that's not begging."
"That's not begging," Lorelai said with a completely straight face. "That's pleading; there's a difference."
"You know denial of the obvious is one of the first steps to senility," Rory teased. "After this many years of it, I'm surprised you aren't in a home by now."
"This from the girl who I raised from birth," Lorelai sighed, taking a sip of her coffee. "I don't get any respect around here."
"I could refer you to a good shrink if the home doesn't work out for you," Jess said coming up to the table with Rory's food. "It didn't do anything for my mom, but I don't think Freud could have done a thing with her."
"Don't talk like that about your mom," Rory said as he bent to place a soft kiss on her lips. "She may be an angry, bitter woman, but she's still you mother for all intents and purposes."
"Whatever you say," he replied absently. "Listen, I have to cover a few more tables here before you have full permission to drag me to this inane auction thingy. Just give me twenty minutes."
"Sure," Rory smiled. "Mom and I are going to head out there as soon as I'm done eating so we can get a good spot, but we'll meet you."
"I'll be there," he kissed her once more before heading back behind the counter.
"So how are you two doing?" Lorelai asked as they both watched the boy walk away. "I mean, I know you haven't been spending that much time together with you hovering over me 24 hours a day, but you guys are still good, right?"
"Great," Rory smiled. "I know he's feeling a little neglected, but I plan on making it up to him today."
"Just don't do anything I would do," Lorelai said shaking a mock parental finger at her daughter. "I don't want to be having any serious conversations with you in the near future."
"You mean babies don't come from the stork?" Rory questioned with the most innocent expression she could muster.
"Funny girl," her mother sent her a warning stare. "Just don't give me any heart attacks this week, okay?"
"Promise," Rory laughed putting another forkful of pancake in her mouth. "So are you going to ask Luke or what?" she asked as she saw the man glance their way for the twelfth time in ten minutes. He seemed to want to approach their table again, but decided against it and continued to sort through something behind the counter.
"Luke and I are friends," Lorelai said once more, "nothing more and nothing less."
"Are you sure?" Rory asked with a lopsided smirk. "Because he seems to be looking over here a little more than you would think one would call friendly."
Lorelai seemed tempted to turn and look, but refrained and merely looked frustrated and fed up. "That's it!" she huffed, though Rory could tell she wasn't really upset. "I'm leaving! Are you almost done?"
Rory took a few last bites of her eggs and a last sip of coffee before standing to her feet. "Okay, okay. I'm done."
"Let's get going then," Lorelai said standing up. Instantly, Rory was aware of her mom's death grip on the table, her body seeming to waver only the slightest bit.
"Mom?" she said questioningly, her eyes alarmed.
"I'm okay," Lorelai said, quickly regaining her composure. "Just stood up a little too fast, got a little dizzy."
"Are you sure?" Rory bit her lip worriedly.
"Yeah," Lorelai said quickly as if impatient with herself. "I'm fine. Let's get out of here."
They waved a goodbye to Jess and Luke and headed out toward the gazebo. They got about ten feet before Lorelai stopped. Rory looked back and saw her mother's eyes blinking rapidly, her hands pressed flat against her temples.
"Mom?" she said again, her voice filled with the same trepidation as before. "Are you okay, Mom?"
Lorelai didn't respond for a few moments, still holding her head as if it would roll off her shoulders. "Maybe," she said slowly after a second, her voice somehow faraway, "maybe I was a little hasty on the whole fine thing."
Without another word, her legs seemed to give under her and she collapsed into her daughter's arms, compelling them both to the ground as Rory began to scream.
Luke watched Lorelai leave, debating with himself as to whether or not he should follow. He wanted to talk to her about what had happened the night before, to tell her that he had felt something there, but he knew that he didn't have the guts. He'd never had the guts. He'd wanted to talk to her for years, since he'd first seen her in fact, but she was from another world. She was way out of his league.
He knew that Lorelai had always been his weakness. She was the only one in the entire town who could make him smile way she did. She intoxicated him, and he would never want it any other way. The night before, with the shadows caressing her features and the porch light shining in her eyes, he'd wanted nothing more than to kiss her, put his arms around her. When she'd been standing in front of him, telling him that she'd be lost without him, he'd wanted to dance with her in the moonlight. And now she was walking out the door again.
He was just turning away from the window to take an order when he heard the scream. His head whipped around with those of the rest of the crowd, his eyes landing on where Rory was catching her mother as she fell. The scene seemed to unfold in slow motion as Rory stepped forward, trying to steady Lorelai but unable to hold up her weight. Together, they collapsed to the pavement, and Luke remembered one time when he'd seen them collapse in giggles. They had been playing one of their strange magical Gilmore games that only the two of them could ever appreciate, and then they'd spend five minutes on the floor of the diner trying futilely to stop laughing. Now the memory seemed corrupt. Now, the happy picture was torn.
"Lorelai," he whispered inaudibly, his legs moving in her direction even before he could think to do so. "Someone call 9-1-1," he called as he ran out the door.
"Someone help me," Rory was screaming as she tried to shake her mother awake. "Please," she cried hysterically, "someone help me."
"Lorelai?" Luke said as he lifted her gently off of Rory. "Lorelai, wake up."
"She just fell," Rory cried. "She was walking and then she stopped and she said something and then she fell." She was crying in hiccupping sobs, looking over Luke's shoulder so she wouldn't lose sight of her mom.
"Lorelai, open your eyes," Luke said as he checked for a pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found one, trying to calm his own. He began softly slapping her cheek as he searched for some sign of consciousness. "Come on, sweetheart, open those baby blues."
"I called for an ambulance," Jess said as he ran out the diner door. "They should be here any minute."
"Get some water and a washcloth or something," Luke ordered, not looking away from the fallen woman. "Hurry up."
Jess was torn between going to Rory and following Luke's instruction, but only a second before he ran back into the diner. He emerged again seconds later with a glass of water and an unused dishrag. Once he'd given them to Luke, he collected Rory into his arms.
Dipping the rag in the cold water, Luke blotted Lorelai's face, trying to get some kind of reaction, but received nothing. He was still trying to wake her when the ambulance arrived.
Paramedics lifted Lorelai out of Luke's arms and placed her on a gurney, checking her vital signs and putting an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. They kept throwing medical jargon back and forth and in all of it, Luke couldn't find the one answer he needed to know.
"Is she going to be alright?" he asked as they loaded her into the back of the ambulance. "Is she okay?"
"Her vitals are stable," the paramedic said climbing in with the gurney. "We'll know more once we get her to the hospital. Would you like to ride in the ambulance with your wife?"
"Oh," he said, unable to gain his bearings. "Um, I'm not her . . . We're not . . ."
"Can I ride with her?" Rory cut in, lifting her head from Jess's shoulder.
"Come on," the man said. He gave her a hand as she climbed in beside her mother.
"We'll meet you at the hospital," Jess said, and she nodded anxiously as they closed the doors.
Luke stood still, watching the ambulance get further and further away. Its siren's wail broke through the quiet of the night as the rest of the town began to crowd around to watch, but he didn't hear or see any of it. He was spellbound by the lights of the ambulance disappearing around the corner.
"Luke," Jess's voice broke through his stupor. "Luke, let's go. We have to get to the hospital."
"Yeah," Luke said watching the last of the lights fade, "let's go."
"What's going on?" Rory asked franticly as she rushed to follow her mother's stretcher through the emergency ward's halls. "What's wrong with her?"
"She's in stable condition," the paramedic told her as they walked. "Her doctor should be here shortly to examine her and let you know more, but until then, you need to stay in the waiting room while we try to revive her."
"But she's going to be okay, right?" Rory asked as they wheeled her through a set of swinging doors with the words hospital personnel only stenciled across the frosted glass. "Right?" She assumed that they didn't hear her because she received no answer.
She sat down heavily in a chair, laying her head in her hands and trying to calm herself. It really wouldn't help Lorelai if her daughter had a heart attack in the waiting room. She could imagine Lorelai waking up and finding her lying in a bed next to her. Wouldn't that be a shock?
A million things went through Rory's head as she sat there. Mostly, she thought of all the good times she'd spent with her mom over the years: decorating the little tool shed behind the Inn, Lorelai seeing her off to her first day of kindergarten, moving into the house, movie nights that lasted until the early morning, random conversations that left them both in hysterical giggles. There were so many things she could look back on and smile. And now she was sitting in a hospital waiting room trying not to think the worst.
After a few minutes, she stood up and began pacing. She couldn't sit still and wait for someone to decide to let her in on the situation. She wanted too know, needed to know, what was wrong with her mother, and she couldn't be patient. It wasn't part of her programming. She had just resigned herself to busting through those frosted glass doors when she heard her name.
"Rory," she turned around as Jess swept her into his arms. "Rory," he said softly into her ear, "what's going on? How's she doing?"
"I don't know," she said pulling away to look at him and Luke. "They took her away through those stupid swinging doors and told me to wait here for the doctor. How do they expect me to do that, huh? How am I supposed to just sit here and wait for them to tell me what's wrong with her? She never taught me how to be patient."
"I'm sure she's okay," Jess assured her, cradling her face and looking directly into her eyes. "She probably just got a little lightheaded and fainted. She'll be back on her feet in no time; I'd count on it."
"Yeah," she nodded looking away from him, trying to convince herself of his words. "Yeah, you're right. I mean, she was up and walking around only a few minutes before she fainted. She was okay just a few minutes before then. I'm sure it's not as bad as I keep thinking, but I just wish I knew for sure."
"I know," Jess said pulling her into a tight hug. "I know."
Rory looked over his shoulder to where Luke was nervously shifting from foot to foot. "How are you holding up?" she asked him as she pulled away from Jess again, and Luke seemed surprised at the question.
"Me?" he asked looking up and then quickly down again. "I'm okay; I'm fine. Why?"
"Are you sure you want to be here?" she asked him. "I mean, I know you hate hospitals. Why don't you go back to the diner? You know I'll call you the second she wakes up."
"I'm staying," he said resolutely. "You know I'm here for your mom, no matter what."
"I know," she smiled slightly though her eyes were sad. "And thank you for that."
And then there was nothing else to say. They sat down, all trying to pretend that they were calm when any blind man could see how antsy they were. Luke was staring down at his hands, which were clamped together so tightly they were shaking. Jess was looking between his uncle and his girlfriend, his features alluding to the fact that he was more worried about his two companions than the woman they were there to see.
Rory looked more troubled than the other two combined. Her foot seemed to have a life all its own, bouncing incessantly as she glanced everywhere at once. It was as if she thought that not concentrating her stare on any one point for too long would keep the tears at bay. And along with biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood, her technique was almost working. Almost.
"Miss Gilmore," they all looked up as Doctor Fergus approached the waiting area.
"Is she okay?" Rory asked anxiously. "Can I see her?"
"Rory, your mother is fine," the doctor said with a reassuring smile, and everyone breathed a deep sigh of relief. "She's awake and responsive, and in good spirits considering. She seems to have suffered a spell of anemia, but we're giving her a blood transfusion and putting her on meds and she's going to be able to go home in a couple days."
"Can we see her?" Rory asked again, her eyes filling with relieved tears.
"I see no problem with her having visitors," Dr. Fergus replied. "Only one at a time, though, and keep it short. She needs her rest, so try not to excite her too much."
"Promise," Rory said as she and the boys followed Dr. Fergus down the hall.
Through the glass observation window outside Lorelai's hospital room, Rory saw her mother lying in the crisp, sterile blue bed, her eyes closed and her figure stiff. Her cheeks were flushed with the new blood entering her system, but her chapped lips made her look sickly.
"I thought you said she was awake?" she asked the doctor quietly, not looking away from the window.
"She's resting," Dr. Fergus replied. "She needs her sleep, but I really think she'd like to see you anyway."
Rory nodded, chewing at her bottom lip as she took a last look at Jess and Luke before gently pushing open the door.
She tried to be as silent as possible as she moved into the room. Sitting in the chair next to the bed, she just stared at her mom for a few minutes. Lorelai didn't look like herself. She looked more her age than she ever had, the lines in her face more prominent with her features strained into a grimace. She didn't look like herself at all. Rory looked down at her hands, unable to stand the sight.
"Hey babe," she looked up again and saw her mom smiling back at her.
"Hey Mom," she sniffled back, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "How are you feeling?"
"Not bad," Lorelai replied weakly, though one could tell she was trying to hide it. "You know, caught a nice nap. Got to ride in an ambulance. They've promised me all the food I want to get my strength up. All in all, I think I'm pretty good."
Rory laughed through tears. "Yeah," she chuckled, "they treating you good?"
"Like the queen I am," Lorelai assured her. Then a little more seriously, "I didn't scare you too bad, did I babe?"
"Oh, you know," Rory said trying to keep the tears out of her voice. "Just a minor heart attack or two. Nothing big."
"I'm sorry, sweetie," Lorelai said remorsefully. "I didn't mean to get you all panicked and worried over nothing."
"Was it nothing?" Rory demanded. "I mean, could you have died? Could you have?"
Lorelai took a deep breath, weighing her words before she answered. "Yes," she said slowly. "If you hadn't gotten me here, there's a chance it could have been serious."
"So you could have died," Rory said with agitation she didn't know she was feeling. "You could have died, and yet you wouldn't admit that you weren't feeling well. What were you thinking?!"
"Why are you yelling at me?" Lorelai demanded.
Rory rose from her seat, looking at her mother with a mix of anger and anxiety. She just stood there for a few moments, her breath moving raggedly in and out of her chest. Then, without warning she leaned forward and hugged her mother as tightly as possible around Lorelai's IV tube. She hugged her with all the anxiety and fear and relief and love she had in her, her tears coming now without restraint.
"Never do that to me again," Rory said adamantly. "Promise me that if you ever feel weak or faint or whatever, you will not tell me you're fine. Because I swear to God, if you ever do this to me again, I will never forgive you. Do you hear me?"
"I hear you," Lorelai replied smiling through her own tears, hugging her daughter back with the same force. "I hear you loud and clear."
"And you promise?"
"I promise," she said solemnly. "Cross my heart and hope for decaf."
"What a tragedy that would be," Rory laughed pulling away and sitting down again. "I mean, Luke would probably love it, but you'd be dead in less than a week."
"Well, it seems like I'd better keep my promise or I'll be gone either way," Lorelai smiled. There were a few moments of silence before she spoke again, "So how many other people are worried sick about me?"
"About the entire town by now," Rory replied, and Lorelai cringed a little. "I mean, Babette was walking down the street at the time, so I think you'll have a flower shop or two in here by tomorrow."
Lorelai smirked a little. "Let everyone know I like yellow daisies and lavender roses. We can decorate the town when I get out."
"Will do," Rory smiled. She sighed deeply and sat for a few moments, just happy to have her same old mom back. "Well," she said after a while, "I should be getting out of here. I've already taken up too much time and I think maybe Luke wanted to see you before you crash."
"Luke?" Lorelai asked, her voice confused and, in Rory's opinion, a little intrigued. "Is Luke here?"
"I think he's right outside," she replied. "He ran out of the diner when you fell, tried to wake you up. He and Jess followed the ambulance, along with half the town, probably."
"Well," Lorelai said as casually as she could muster, "by all means let him in."
"Then I have to go," Rory said. "Only one of us is allowed in to see you at a time."
"Well, I can always see him later," Lorelai replied. "I mean, it's not like I'm breaking out and pulling a bank job in the next 12 hours. It'll take at least a couple to convince the nurse that I'm good for the bribe as soon as my bandit career takes off."
"That's okay," Rory hid a smirk. "I'm going to get going anyway. You need your rest and I'm sure a visit from Luke will help you get better."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lorelai asked, trying with all her might to remain oblivious.
"Don't play dumb with me young lady," Rory shook a parental finger at her mother, talking in her sternest maternal voice. "The sooner you two stop dancing around each other, the sooner the rest of this town can close the pool on the topic, and I put ten bucks in for this month so hurry your asses up."
Lorelai looked at her in shock. "That may be the most inappropriate thing I have ever heard come out of your mouth." The slightest hint of a smile flickered on her lips. "I'll do what I can."
Rory stood to her feet, giving her mother an encouraging smile and hugging her one last time. "Good luck with that," she said as she headed towards the door. Just before she left, she turned back one more time. "I love you, Mom," she said quietly.
"Love you too, babe," Lorelai replied, and finally she looked like herself again. Her smile lit up her face and her eyes like they always had. And now Rory walked out of the door with a smile on her face as well.
"Luke," she said closing the door behind her, and the man looked up from where he was sitting. "Would you like to go in and talk to her?"
For a moment, he looked almost afraid. "Does she want to talk to me?" he asked nervously, then shook his head as if he didn't know why he'd said it. "Never mind," he continued quickly. "Are you sure she's up for another visitor?"
"Go on," she practically pushed him towards the door. "Get in there and cheer up my mother. I want book money."
"What?" he asked turning back to her.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, continuing to urge him towards the doorway. "Just go."
"Okay, I'm going," he said quickly.
Swiping off his cap, he ran his fingers through his hair and replaced it again. For a moment, he just stared at the door, wanting to open it and yet wanting to run. He had always hated being around sick people. There was always way too much death and sickness and grief in hospitals. It didn't sit well with him, and now it was Lorelai.
Slowly, he pushed open the dreaded door.
"Hey," he said quietly when she looked up at him.
"Hey," she replied, smiling that wonderful smile of hers. "How ya doin' tiger?"
Smiling back, he closed the door behind him and sat down next to her. "I'm doing pretty good, but I'm not the one laying in the hospital bed, now am I?"
"Good point," she chuckled. "But as I told my beloved daughter, I am perfectly fine. I have a little remote control for my own personal television, a cafeteria that delivers 24 hours a day, and a nice comfy bed with this little controller that makes it go up and down. See."
To illustrate, she raised the bed to a sitting position, then lowered it to almost flat, then repeated a few times until Luke took the controller from her hand and adjusted it so she was half-sitting.
"So how long is this going to entertain you before you move on?" he asked, amused.
"Oh, I'm pretty easily amused," she replied. "It could be a while."
"Ask me if I'm surprised," he actually smiled this time. Then after a moment his smile faded. "So really, you're okay?"
"I'm okay," she said sincerely. "Really, all I remember is walking out of the diner and waking up here, and now I feel a lot better. I'll be back on my feet before you can say Constantinople."
"You know," he said, "they want to keep you here a couple days, just to be safe."
"I know," she replied grumpily. "Paranoid people don't want me stressing myself out."
"I happen to agree with those paranoid people," he told her. "Ever since you got back from London, you've been doing too much for your own good. I even thought about tying you up and throwing you in my closet just to get you to relax."
"Because that's so relaxing," she said sarcastically.
"Seriously," he continued, "I want you to take this time and get some rest. I mean it."
"Yes mother," she replied, but there was a smirk on her lips. "So," she said after a moment, her voice more serious, "Rory said you were right there when I collapsed, doing what you could to help."
"It was nothing," he said looking down and rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I didn't really do anything."
"You were there," Lorelai said, "and you're here. That means a lot to me, you know."
"Well," he finally looked up at her again, "you're welcome. As I told you before, I'm here for you whenever and wherever you need me."
"And that means a lot to me too," she smiled.
They held an intense stare for a moment before Luke looked away, and Lorelai chuckled at his shy behavior.
"What?" Luke asked, self-conscious.
"Nothing," Lorelai replied. "I was just noticing how you blush high in your cheeks when you're complimented."
"I do not blush," he argued indignantly. "It's just a little hot in here."
"Yeah sure," she smirked, her voice teasingly placating. "I'm sure that's it. Do you want to open a window? Turn the AC up?"
"I'll be fine," he replied gruffly.
"Are you sure?" she asked trying to suppress her laughter. "I mean I wouldn't want you to keel over from heat stroke or something."
"You know what?" he said with mock agitation, leaning forward as if getting ready to stand. "If you're going to—"
Before he could finish, he felt something he couldn't even begin to imagine. He felt her kiss him. He felt her take his chin in her hands and press her lips to his. And then he couldn't feel anything but her.
After a moment, they separated slowly, both dazed. "What was that?" Luke asked, his face still inches from hers.
"That was me kissing you," she replied slowly, a little unsurely.
"Oh," he said taking a deep breath. "May I ask why?"
"Because I felt like it," she smiled sweetly, nibbling at her bottom lip.
"Oh," he nodded, taking another breath as if about to dive underwater. "Do you feel like it again?"
Lorelai's smile spread to a grin as their eyes met. "Yeah," she said almost giddily. "I'm pretty sure I do."
"Oh," Luke smiled the slightest little smile, his eyes looking the exact same way they had the night before. "Good. Are you sure you should be feeling like it with you being in the hospital and everything?"
"Yeah," she chuckled, leaning in, "haven't you ever heard the study that says kissing is cathartic?"
"Well here's to catharsis," Luke said finally closing the gap.
When their lips met again, it was as if a dam had broken. The kiss was deep and passionate, holding in it years of unrequited love and sexual tension. Luke ran his fingers through her hair, his hand landing at the back of her neck and pulling her closer. It was a little hard to maneuver around the hospital bed and the IV in Lorelai's wrist, but they didn't care. They were just intent on being with each other for the first time.
Looking through the observation window, Rory smiled and rejoined Jess in the lobby down the hall.
"Let's see," she said to herself, leaning back against his arm, "at least ten people at ten apiece. That's a hundred, plus I think there were more than ten, so at an average of nine bucks a book, that's at least 11 books . . ."
"What are you babbling about?" Jess asked smiling.
"Oh," she smiled to herself, "just calculating my book money."
"Do I want to know?" he asked skeptically.
"Probably not," she laughed glancing back toward her mother's room. "Probably not."