The next morning,Logan anxiously waited for Luke and Lorelai by the entrance of the hospital. He texted Lorelai, letting her know that he was there. She replied and told him that they would be there soon.
Emily called Lorelai and said she'd be there in the afternoon. Lorelai was still a little worried about her mother, but she tried to push those feelings away and focus on right now. Logan would be seeing Rory today. Lorelai was curious to see how he would react. Rory had never really talked to Lorelai about her affair with Logan; she usually changed the subject when it came up. Lorelai wondered if a part of Rory had still been in love with Logan and vice versa.
Luke took her hand once they stepped out of the car into the hospital parking lot. They walked hand in hand. They spotted Logan from a few feet away.
"Hi." Lorelai greeted him casually.
Logan nodded, "Hi."
It was awkwardly silent for a minute until Luke spoke.
"So I guess we'll head to Rory's room?"
The three of them slowly made their way to the ICU and Rory's room. Lorelai glanced from Luke to Logan before she hesitantly opened the door to Rory's room.
A nurse was in the room, checking Rory's vitals.
Logan made a noise that was a mix between a gasp and a sob. Lorelai and Luke were a little shocked to hear it. They had been looking at the nurse and Rory, but they couldn't help but look at Logan when they heard him.
"Wow." Logan muttered under his breath. Seeing Rory for the first time was overwhelming. He hated it. She looked so lifeless. She doesn't deserve this, was his immediate thought. He carefully stepped up to the bed.
Luke and Lorelai introduced themselves to the nurse and told him who Logan was.
"Um… so has there been any change in her condition?" Logan asked the nurse.
The nurse shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry. There's no sign of her waking up anytime soon."
Logan bit his lip as he continued to stare at Rory.
The nurse excused himself and left the room. Lorelai went to the opposite side of Rory's bed and took her hand.
"Hi hon. I don't know if you can hear me, but we're here." She swallowed and let out a breath. "Luke, Logan and I are here."
Logan glanced at Lorelai then back down at Rory. "Do you… do you believe she can hear you?"
"I don't know… I mean I like to believe she can but then I think there's no way because she'd wake up." Lorelai sighed. "It doesn't really make sense. You know, my mind's all jumbled."
Logan just nodded. Luke stepped up behind Lorelai and she reached back for his hand. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she put her own hand on top of his.
"Hey Ace." Logan said gently. He reached out to touch her face but then stopped. "I wish you would wake up so you could see our son. Uh… Owen is pretty cute."
After a minute of silence, Lorelai rubbed her face and sighed. "I need some coffee."
"I'll got get you a cup." Luke offered.
Lorelai scrunched her nose and pouted. "Hospital coffee sucks compared to yours, but it'll have to do."
Luke just nodded. He asked Logan if he wanted anything.
"Oh no, I'm fine thank you."
Luke left the room and Lorelai told him she'd meet him in the cafeteria.
Lorelai squeezed Rory's hand and wiped at a tear on her cheek then stepped away from the bed. She took a seat on the only chair in the room.
Logan found that he couldn't look away from Rory. It was like looking at a train wreck. He kept finding new bruises or cuts on her body and he cringed. He tried to imagine what the car crash must have been like. He figured Rory's last thought before losing consciousness was probably of their baby.
"See you later, Ace." He managed to whisper. For some reason it was easier to use her nickname rather than her name. He walked over to Lorelai who was still sitting. He face was in her hands and she was silent.
"Um Lorelai?"
It took Lorelai a minute to compose herself. Logan noticed tear stains on her cheeks. She cleared her throat.
"Sorry… I just…"
"I understand." Logan answered. He knew this had to be twenty times harder for Lorelai.
"So, I'm going to go back to my hotel for a bit. There's better internet service there and I was going to see if there are any job openings in Hartford. I have a couple interviews in New York in a couple days but I need to see if anything's available here."
"Oh okay." Lorelai replied. "Good luck." She added with a small smile.
"Thanks. I'll stay in touch. I think I'll come back later today to see Owen."
"All right,"
Logan left the room without saying another word.
"Drive safe." Lorelai whispered when she found herself looking at Rory again.
Luke was about to leave the cafeteria to find Lorelai when he saw her coming ten minutes later. She had gone to the bathroom to collect herself. She even put a little makeup on, just the eyeliner and lipstick that was in her purse.
"Hey." Luke said gently as she approached him.
She took the coffee he held out and sipped it cautiously.
Luke looked at her more closely and noticed the makeup. Lorelai caught him looking.
"I just didn't want to look like the Cryrptkeeper anymore." She told him.
Luke shrugged, "You looked fine."
She nudged him gently. "You have to say that, husband."
Luke didn't reply. He gestured for her to sit and she did.
"So Emily said she's coming this afternoon, right?" He asked.
"Yep,"
"Okay and the NICU visiting hours don't start 'til noon so what do you want to do until then?"
"Can you take me to the Inn? And then you could go check out the diner, make sure Caesar didn't hire Kirk or anything."
"Sure." Luke answered simply.
Lorelai called Michel at the Inn and told him she'd be stopping by. Luke got out of the truck with Lorelai when they arrived.
"Call me when you're ready to go back to the hospital."
"I will." She replied.
Before she could turn away and walk up the steps in the Inn, he pulled her into his embrace.
She sighed. He could tell she was pretending to be fine when she really wasn't. She hugged him back, wrapped her arms around his neck.
When she kissed his cheek and started to pull back, he tightened his hold of her and leaned in to kiss her on the lips.
They shared a few soft kisses of comfort before finally pulling apart. Lorelai saw a tear slide down his face and her heart sank. She reached up and wiped at it with her thumb.
"I'll see you soon." She whispered.
He nodded his short Luke nod and gave her a tiny smile. He turned around and got back in the truck and slowly drove off.
Lorelai turned and walked up the steps and into the Inn. She was immediately greeted by Sookie, who practically tackled her.
Sookie wouldn't let go and Lorelai held onto her just as tightly.
When Sookie finally pulled away, her brow furrowed and she said: "I'm so sorry, honey. I don't know what else to say… I just…" She let out a deep breath.
"It's okay, I know Sook." Lorelai said with a small smile.
Michel came over then. He looked between Sookie and Lorelai a few times before he stepped up to them.
"Lorelai, I am truly sorry." Michel said sympathetically.
"Thank you, Michel." Lorelai knew he was sincere and she appreciated it. She was also saying thank you for taking over the Inn temporarily.
They walked back to Lorelai's office and chatted for a bit. She told them that Rory's condition hadn't changed and they told her the Inn was running smoothly, there was nothing to worry about.
"Hey Lorelai?" Sookie asked.
Lorelai turned her attention to Sookie.
"Would I be able to visit Rory?"
"Oh um I don't know… Logan was able to but he's sort of family now since he's the father of Owen." Lorelai wasn't certain if family friends were able to visit patients in the ICU, she'd have to ask.
"Oh yeah, how's Owen?" Sookie questioned.
"He's doing well. He has to stay in the hospital a little longer though. He's very cute; he could give Prince George a run for his money."
"Oh but Prince George is three or four… not a newborn." Sookie replied.
"I know, I meant when he was a newborn…" Lorelai laughed a little. It was nice to joke around a little, not be serious for a moment.
"Frederic is with our little one right now, thankfully." Michel grimaced.
"If you didn't want to adopt Michel, you shouldn't have signed those adoption papers." Lorelai said.
"Fredric wanted him…. I can deal with the child, at least he's not in diapers anymore." Michel replied. His adopted son was six years old. There wasn't any babies available when they adopted him a few months ago.
"'The child', you can't even call your son by his name. What was it again?" Sookie chimed in.
"His name is Leroy, I know his name. I just call him the child when he annoys me..." Michel scowled.
Lorelai and Sookie just rolled their eyes. The three of them chatted a little bit more before Sookie and Michel had to get back to work. Lorelai felt a little bad about them taking over for her but they insisted they could handle it. Michel surprised Lorelai by offering her a quick hug when she left.
A couple hours later, Luke and Lorelai returned to the hospital. On the drive back there, Luke told Lorelai that Caesar and his other employees were handling the diner fine, but Kirk was there asking a lot of questions and he had to tell him about Rory.
"That's okay." Lorelai said.
"Really? You don't care if the townies know?"
"Rory is sort of their kid too… and they were all excited about Owen being born. And besides, it's not as if they're going to come to the hospital to visit."
"You think so? I wouldn't put it pass them." Luke deadpanned.
Lorelai just shrugged. The townies would be able to meet Owen once he came home with them. If he comes home with us. She reminded herself. Logan might want to take him home if he finds a place and he feels like he's ready.
Emily called Lorelai while she and Luke were still on route to the hospital. She said she would meet them near the NICU.
Logan showed up when Emily was in the NICU with her grandson.
"How's Emily doing?" He asked Luke and Lorelai.
"I think Owen calms her. He gives us a little joy, which is what we all need right now." Luke said, surprising Lorelai.
"I agree with that." Logan said. He turned and looked at Emily through the window of the door.
Emily came out a few minutes later. She carefully took off her scrubs without looking at the three of them.
"Oh, Logan!" She exclaimed when she almost bumped into him.
"Hello, Emily." Logan smiled.
Emily frowned and stepped aside to whisper something to Lorelai.
"Uh, I'm just going to go see Owen." Logan said a little loudly.
"Wait a minute. I'd like to speak to you, Logan." Emily said tonelessly.
"Mom, I think he wants to visit Owen for a bit, can you wait?" Lorelai butted in.
"No, I'd prefer to speak to him now." Emily responded. She was clearly angry.
"All right," Logan gave in. He quickly took off his scrubs and followed Emily.
Luke and Lorelai stepped in the NICU room and walked over to Owen's incubator.
"His great grandmother lulled him to sleep. She's very good with him." The nurse on duty told them.
Lorelai smiled. That made her happy. Luke reached down and gently touched Owen's head.
"He should be able to go home in a couple days." The nurse said.
"Really? That soon?" Lorelai asked.
"Yep. He's responding well to the jaundice treatment and his weight is healthy. There are no other complications."
"That's great." Luke said.
"Yeah," Lorelai knew she would have to talk to Logan again soon. If Emily didn't skin him alive,
"Well we've got everything all ready at home." Luke told the nurse.
"We should put the car seat in the Jeep when we get back home." Lorelai said.
"Yeah," Luke agreed.
Rory's car had been totaled. She hadn't put the car seat in the car yet as she wasn't planning on giving birth for a couple more weeks when the accident happened.
Luke and Lorelai watched Owen sleep for a bit before they left the NICU area and tried to track down Emily and Logan.
Author's note: Thank you for reading, following and reviewing this story.
Feedback is appreciated.
