Thanks for all the reviews! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I'm trying to make this story a little more suspenseful than my last one. And just for those of you who were wondering, I will never ever kill off Luke, Lorelai, or any other of the major characters, because what would the point of having a story be?

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter

The doctor led Lorelai and Rory into a quiet hallway, then into an office. It was a typical doctor's office, a large desk in the middle with two chairs in front of it. Awards and certificates lined the walls, but Lorelai didn't pay much attention to any of it.

"Please," she said as she sat down in the chair next to Rory's. "What happened? Is Luke going to be okay?"

"I'm Doctor Tompkins," the doctor said. "Itook careof Luke. He's in recovery now."

Relief flooded through Lorelai's body. "So he's not..."

"He hasn't woken up yet," Dr. Tompkins replied. "But he's alive, yes."

"Oh, thank God," Lorelai replied. "Can I see him?"

"There's still some concerns I have," Dr. Tompkins replied. "There was minimal damage to the brain, but his leg was broken quite severely. We can talk more about this later, but is there any family that he has?"

"He has a sister," Lorelai replied. "She and her husband live in Maine. I can call them."

"Good," Dr. Tompkins replied. "Luke's leg was broken pretty badly. He's going to need some serious surgery to reconstruct it, and a long time in physical therapy."

Lorelai was hearing the words, but she knew that the only way that she would feel even remotely comforted at that moment would be to see Luke. "I'm sorry," she said, interrupting the doctor. "I really do want to know what's going to happen, but do you think for now...do you think that I could see him just for a few minutes?"

Dr. Tompkins smiled. "Of course," she said. "I just wanted to make sure that it was okay for Luke to stay with you until he's recovered."

Lorelai's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"

"You are his girlfriend, correct?"

"Yes," Lorelai replied in confusion.

"Well, he won't be able to live alone while he's recovering," Dr. Tompkins said. "At least not right away. So I figured that it would be all right for him to stay with you."

Lorelai looked at Rory, who was looking at her with curious eyes. "Okay," she finally said.

Dr. Tompkins noddded and stood. "Let me show you to Luke's room," she said.

Lorelai and Rory stood and followed Dr. Tompkins into the hall. They walked to the end and Dr. Tompkins stopped outside a room on the right. "This is his room," she said. "He hasn't woken up yet, but he should anytime. There should be nurses to come and check on him every half an hour or so, but they'll make sure to give you your privacy."

Lorelai nodded. "Thank you," she said softly.

Rory touched Lorelai's arm gently and said gently, "I'll wait outside, Mom."

Lorelai nodded and leaned in to hug Rory gently. "Thanks, babe," she said. "I'll be out in a while, okay?"

"I'll come let you know when I'm heading back to school," Rory said.

Lorelai nodded. "Okay," she said.

Rory left the room and Lorelai turned to look at Luke. He was lying on the hospital bed, hooked up to various machines, a beep echoing through the room every few seconds with every beat of his heart. His leg was elevated and in a brace, and cuts and bruises were visible on his face. Lorelai's heart broke just looking at him, and she knew that she would never forgive herself for this if Luke didn't get better.

She pulled a chair up to sit next to Luke's bed and reached out to take his hand. She brought it to her lips and brushed a soft kiss over it before she brought it down to rest in her lap.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after a moment. "I wish you weren't here, I wish you were okay, and I wish we were really together so that I would have to lie to everyone about my rights to see you. I wish thatthe worst of our problems was the fact that you try to make me eat better while I try to keep you from becoming a grump. Luke, you have to wake up. I was wrong about what I said, I do want to be with you more than anything in the world. I'll give anything to hear you tell me that you love me right now. I need to be with you, Luke, I don't care what it takes."

She leaned her head down on the side of the bed, crying quietly into her hands as she tried to regain control of her emotions. After a moment, she felt a hand run through her hair, and she looked up, tears running down her face. "Luke?" she dared to whisper.

"Lorelai," Luke said softly. "You're here?" he asked as trying to make sure she was real.

Lorelai nodded. "I'm here," she said. "Do you really think I'd let you go through this alone?"

Luke opened his mouth to speak, but no words would come out. "Water," he requested hoarsely, and Lorelai rushed to the end table to pour water from the pitcher into the plastic cup. She held the cup as Luke drank eagerly, then sank back into the pillows. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I saw the crash," Lorelai said. "You scared me. I thought I'd lost you."

"You'll never lose me," Luke whispered as his eyes drifted closed again. Lorelai watched as he drifted off to sleep, knowing that there was still a lot for them to work out. But she was there, and he was glad that she was there, and that was all that mattered for now. The rest would work themselves out in due time. But until then, Lorelai knew she would have to be patient and help Luke to recover.

She pushed his hair back from his forehead and leaned down to give him a gentle kiss there before she walked out of the room to inform Rory what had happened and tell the nurses that Luke was awake.

As Luke dreamed, he could feel her presence beside him. He could feel her hand clutching his and he knew that she would be there for him no matter what. The comfort that she offered him by simply sitting next to his bed was all that he needed to recover from this accident.

Next chapter: Luke recovers and plans are discussed for where he should stay when he gets out of the hospital.