Disclaimer: ASP and the WB
Author's note: Sorry it took so long, but I have to write two term papers, and this really keeps me busy. Not that I actually started writing them yet….
I want to thank all those of you, who reviewed again. You keep me going, and I could hug you all for your frequent reviews!
Drama queens
Emily studied herself in her hand mirror and was satisfied with what she saw. She still had to apply more makeup than she usually would, but it served its purpose and made her look like her old self again. Today the two weeks were up and she would be allowed to go home again. She wanted to look good for that. She had even managed to get her hair looking almost as good as it usually would. She hadn't trusted the hospital hairdresser, and was looking forward to go to her own entrusted hair stylist again.
Emily put down the mirror and surveyed her room. It looked like a flower shop. Emily had to smile softly. Although she had done nothing else, but whish for the last two weeks to pass, she had enjoyed the attention she had gotten. All her friends had stopped by and those, who couldn't come personally, send large flower arrangements that smelled heavenly, instead.
The only thing she was waiting for was Dr. Johanson to come by and check on her one final time. He had been away over the weekend, and his colleagues had told her to wait for him. She did so happily. She knew that she would have to take it easy at first, and do rehabilitation for a while, but she couldn't care less. The prospect of sleeping in her own bed again without a nurse storming into her room at six o'clock in the morning to check her temperature, was wonderful enough. She would be able to get up without anyone hurrying after her. Emily hated nothing more than having her private sphere taken away from her, and there was definitely no private sphere in hospitals.
Even though she was looking forward to being released from hospital, it scared her as well. The last two weeks had been a time of peace and quiet for her. Richard had been amazing. He had stopped by as often as he could and at times Emily was wondering whether he was working at all. Lorelai had kept her promise, and together with Rory she had visited as often as she had been able to. She hadn't even complained about the fact that she lost every single bridge game, although Emily knew her daughter hated losing.
Her family had been there for her when she had needed them, and Emily was very grateful for that, but there were things that still had to be discussed. Lorelai had brought Luke along once or twice, but they had generally tried to avoid talking about him. Neither Lorelai, nor she wanted to start fighting again.
Emily knew that Richard's unshared attention for her would end as soon as she was home again and doing better, and she knew that she still had to discuss a few things with him as well.
Before Emily was able to think about those things any further, her door opened and she knew it had to be Richard right away. No one else would dare to enter her room without knocking first.
"Hello Emily," he greeted her with a smile. He walked over to her bed, and pressed a light kiss on her lips.
"Hello, dear," she replied and smiled at him as he sat down next to her.
"I see you're all ready to go," he said and grinned at her. He playfully touched her hair.
"Yes, well," Emily murmured and lowered her eyes. She hadn't wanted it to be that obvious.
"You look beautiful," Richard assured her softly.
"Thank you," Emily replied and couldn't help smiling at her husband again. This was just perfect. There was a soft knock and Emily looked up to see her daughter and her fiancé enter.
"Lorelai? What are you doing here?" Emily asked in surprise.
"Luke wanted to come and visit you," she explained and drew Luke, who looked clearly uncomfortable, closer to her. "I told him to wait till you're home, but he insisted on coming right away," Lorelai went on and grinned at her mother.
"Well, how nice of you, Luke," Emily played along and actually enjoyed teasing Luke.
"Yes, well….. How are you?" Luke asked somewhat helplessly.
"I am fine, thank you Luke," Emily replied simply. She just couldn't help herself, but something inside of her rebelled against the thought of this being her future son-in-law.
"So, it's your big day, huh?" Lorelai asked and walked closer to her mother's bed, Luke staying close to her.
"Yes, all I have to do now is wait for Dr. Johanson to let me go," Emily replied and smiled at her daughter. As if the doctor had heard this, there was a short knock on the door, and the medical director entered.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Gilmore. I see everyone is here," he said and nodded curtly at Richard and Lorelai and Luke.
"Yes, almost," Emily replied and looked at the doctor with expectant eyes.
"Well Mrs. Gilmore, I looked at your recent test results and talked to my colleagues and we came to the conclusion that it would be better if you stayed in hospital for another week," the doctor explained slowly. He knew that this wasn't the news his patient had hoped for.
"I beg your pardon?" Emily asked and her voice was cold as ice. She felt Richard taking her hand, but her eyes rested on the doctor in front of her.
"I know that this isn't what you were hoping to hear, but we really think that your condition isn't stable enough to leave hospital yet. You still have trouble getting up and walking is very strenuous for you. The recent tests of your lung capacity show that it is far from normal yet. The risk of you fainting at home and hurting yourself is too high," the doctor continued in a calm and understanding voice, which didn't help to calm Emily down though.
"But you told me that I would be allowed to return home after two weeks," Emily said and her voice reached a dangerously low level.
"I merely gave you a prognosis. The time of convalescence is different form patient to patient. All I know is that given the current situation I am against releasing you," the doctor replied patiently. Emily stared at him with the best death glare she could muster, but before she was able to say something else, Richard spoke up.
"Thank you Dr. Johanson. We'll talk about it," Richard said and looked at the doctor intently. The medical director got the hint and with a last apologizing smile he left the room.
"Emily, look, another week isn't the end of the world. It will be over sooner than you think," Richard said, trying to sooth his wife.
"Yes, you can say that. You don't have to stay here," Emily spat. She was more than disappointed.
Lorelai looked at Luke with an apprehensive look on her face and nodded towards the door. Luke instantly understood what Lorelai was getting at, and started walking towards the door slowly. He didn't want to catch Emily's or Richard's attention.
"Emily, please try to be rational. If the doctor thinks you are not ready to go home than we will listen to him," Richard stated firmly. He was looking at his wife, and his expression showed that he wouldn't tolerate any protest, but Emily was not about to give in that easily.
"I am fine, Richard. I won't get any better than I am now. I want to go home!" Emily exclaimed and returned her husbands stare.
"Emily, you sound like a small child," Richard said and he sounded clearly unnerved. He had gotten up and was pacing in front of Emily's bed. Emily stared at her husband with cold eyes. This was exactly the kind of behaviour that had made her so angry in the past weeks. He behaved towards her in this superior manner that made her hair stand on end.
"Thank you very much," Emily said coldly, and Richard knew he had lost. She had that look on her face that showed him that she was ready to argue with him come what may.
Lorelai and Luke were carefully inching towards the door. Both knew that the situation was explosive at least.
"Emily, do you know how lucky you were? You could have died in that accident," Richard tried again. He was walking towards the window to keep himself busy and calm.
"Could have, should have," Emily murmured angrily. She heard a soft gasp from her daughter and instantly realized that she shouldn't have said that. She knew that she had gone too far now, but her hurt pride kept her from taking her last words back.
Lorelai had stopped walking suddenly, which made Luke almost bumping into her. She turned around to look at her father, who still had his back turned to them.
Luke looked at the door yearningly, they had gotten so close to get out of danger.
Richard turned around slowly and Emily had a hard time keeping her composure as her husband's eyes came to rest on her. She couldn't remember the last time Richard had looked that furious.
"Of all the stupid things you've ever said in your life, those were by far the most stupid ones," Richard said coldly. He didn't wait for Emily to reply to that, but turned around and stormed out of the room.
Lorelai pulled Luke out of her father's way. It took her only a second to decide on what to do. She hurried after her father, which left Luke standing in the middle of Emily's room looking rather lost. He had his back turned to Emily, and was trying to think of what to do. It was too late to run after Lorelai now.
Luke turned around slowly, and wasn't surprised by the picture that met him. Emily was staring at him with hard and cold eyes.
"Uhm, are you alright?" Luke asked carefully. He wanted to make sure that Emily wasn't going to suffer some sort of attack.
"I am fine," Emily replied, trying to keep as much dignity as she could. She continued to stare at Luke, who was starting to squirm.
"Okay, I guess I'll just… ," he pointed towards the door and then quickly exited the room, before he became the next object of Emily's anger.
Lorelai had a hard time catching up with her father.
"Dad!" she called out, but wasn't surprised that he didn't stop. She continued to run after him, and after she had finally reached him, put an arm on his shoulder.
"Nice display of the condition you're in," Lorelai panted, trying to catch her breath. "It wasn't fair though, you know. I am wearing high heels, and you don't. We'll have to repeat this race under fair conditions," she said and smiled at her father.
"Lorelai, I am not in the mood for this," Richard said simply, and stared down on his daughter.
"Dad, listen, she was angry, she didn't think. I am sure she didn't mean those words," Lorelai tried to defend her mother.
"She didn't think alright. She had no right to say those things she did," Richard said forcefully. Lorelai flinched, when she heard the tone in her father's voice.
"Dad, please, maybe you could talk to her again. Without me and Luke there," Lorelai tried again, even though she knew it was futile.
"No Lorelai, I can't. Not now. I almost lost my self- control in there," Richard explained quietly and lowered his eyes. Lorelai gently put an arm on her father's shoulder and patted it.
"Well, alright. Just don't do anything stupid, Gilmore," Lorelai said and tried to sound light hearted.
Richard nodded, and then turned around and walked towards the exit. Lorelai watched her father go, and then turned around purposefully.
She had never seen her parents like this before. One thing about her parents Lorelai had always admired was the fact that they always acted as a unit. It had never happened that one would disagree with the other one in front of others. Not even in front of her. It had driven Lorelai mad as a child that whatever her father or mother would say to her, the other one would agree right away. They might have discussed it later on, when she wasn't there, but she had never witnessed it.
Later on Lorelai came to admire that ability of her parents. They never fought in public, and they would never embarrass the other one in front of others. The only exception had been their time of separation, but even then they had manages to keep their fights private or in the family.
When she reached her mother's room again, she found Luke standing in front of it.
"Don't ever do that again," he said with a horrified look on his face. Lorelai wanted to ask what he meant, but then remembered that she had left him in the lion's den.
"Uh Luke, I am so sorry. Did she bite you?" Lorelai asked and smiled at him.
"No, but it wasn't very pleasant. I asked her whether she was alright, but she looked like she was trying to kill me with her eyes, so I left," he explained. Lorelai just nodded and then turned towards her mother's room.
"Lorelai, what are you going to do?" Luke asked. He held her back by her arm.
"Luke, I need to talk to her. Someone has to talk some sense into her," Lorelai explained firmly. Luke lifted his eyebrows questioningly.
"Are you sure? She isn't in the best mood, you know," Luke warned her. He knew how much her new found relationship with her mother meant to Lorelai.
"Yes I am sure. Someone has got to do this," Lorelai said, and with a last smile at him, she knocked on her mother's door and entered.
Emily looked up in surprise, but when she saw who it was, the lines on her face hardened again.
"Lorelai, I don't want to discuss this with you right now," Emily said with a firm voice.
"Yes I know, but this time you are not able to leave the room and end the discussion, so you'll have no choice, but to listen to me," Lorelai stated and returned her mother's stare. She was not going to give in.
"He had no right to talk to me like that," Emily said defensively. She was still tending to her hurt pride.
"Mum, you had no right to say those things, and you know it. If you left your hurt pride aside, you would actually be able to realize that," Lorelai retorted. She wasn't going to make this easy for her mother.
"I won't accept this kind of behaviour towards me," Emily hissed and narrowed her eyes.
"Well, I don't think you have a choice. This time you managed to behave highly inappropriate," Lorelai said in a mocking voice.
"Lorelai, you will stop this right now," Emily said warningly.
"No, mother, I won't, because you have to listen to some things, whether you like it or not," Lorelai started and then held up her hand when Emily was going to interrupt her.
"Do you have an idea what it was like for Dad in the last weeks? Well, of course you don't, because he didn't want to worry you," Lorelai continued.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked suspiciously.
"Floyd Stiles has made the past weeks hell for Dad. There was this important conference Dad didn't take part in, because he chose to be at your side. He has a really hard time in the company right now, because he did everything to help you," Lorelai explained. She had started pacing in front of her mother's bed. Emily watched her daughter quietly. She remembered Richard having said something about a conference before the accident, but it had slipped her mind afterwards.
"Uh and the day of the accident. I know that you weren't able to see it, because you were busy elsewhere, but I was there, and Luke was there. We all saw how much Dad suffered, how afraid he was to lose you," Lorelai was talking faster and faster as she continued her rant.
"I know that you have or had your problems, but he did and risked everything for you in those past weeks, and he definitely didn't deserve this kind of behaviour from you," Lorelai finished, but before Emily was able to reply something, Lorelai remembered something else.
"Uh and while we're at it. Would it kill you to be nicer to Luke? He just wanted to make sure you were okay. You may think I didn't realize that we were avoiding talking about him, but I did. You'll have to learn to deal with him, because we are going to get married. I didn't tell you before, because I didn't want to start fighting, but I guess it doesn't matter anymore now. We've set a date. We're going to get married in June, whether you like it or not," Lorelai exclaimed and then stopped to catch her breath. This wasn't how she had planned the talk with her mother to go, but as always her temperament had gotten better of her. Her mother was still silent, and Lorelai wasn't entirely sure whether this was a good thing.
"Are you done?" Emily asked coldly, and continued to stare at her daughter. As always when she was attacked, she dug her heels.
"Is that all you have to say?" Lorelai asked incredulously. She had expected some sort of reaction from her mother, but this was even worse than Emily's screaming.
"What do you expect me to say, Lorelai? You barge in here, and attack me, even though none of this is your business," Emily stated simply. Lorelai gaped at her mother.
"Great, so you barging into my life is fine, but me telling you something is not okay?" Lorelai asked, and noticed how she began to lose her temper again.
"I am your mother, Lorelai," Emily replied. Lorelai waited for some further explanation, but when none came, she started laughing sadly.
"Well, you know what the sad thing about this is? I knew this was going to happen. I knew that this harmony wouldn't last, but I so wished it would. I really did. Well, I guess it's not supposed to be," Lorelai finished sadly, and for the first time, Emily began to think about her daughter's words.
Before Emily was able to say something though, Lorelai turned around and left her room.
Luke instantly noticed the sad and disappointed look on Lorelai's face, and put an arm around her shoulder.
"You okay?" he asked carefully.
"No, but I should have known it," Lorelai replied quietly, and Luke knew better than to question her any further. He could imagine vividly what had happened in Emily's room.
"The good thing is, that we'll save the money for the gas from now on, because we won't be driving to Hartford anymore," Lorelai said, and then put her head on Luke's shoulder. He quietly started walking her towards the exit, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly.
I know that many people were really unhappy with the last chapter, and I hope you liked this one better. One way or the other, let me know. Make the author (me) happy, and leave a review. Thank you!