(I'm posting a lot recently because I know that once school starts up again I'll be too busy to post as much, since I have a Machiavelli book review of 'The Prince' due in January & A Romeo and Juliet project due within the week I get back)
Chapter FIFTEEN
Lorelai stood, pacing, in the hospital lobby while Luke sat with his head between his knees once again. Lorelai wondered when he'd got flexible enough to do that...then stopped, realizing how dirty it sounded. The two of them had just arrived from the cafeteria. Luke was going to go by himself to get Lorelai coffee, but then he realized that he couldn't turn a corner without getting nauseous or dizzy. So Lorelai had to go with him to warn him and cover his eyes whenever a patient was wheeled by.
So now Lorelai was irritably standing in the lobby with her burnt hospital coffee, growing more anxious by the second. The man she recognized as Rory's doctor finally came walking out, with an assistant holding her files.
"Lorelai Gilmore?" He asked, as she jogged over to him.
"Yes, what is it?" She asked rapidly.
"Well, your daughter's doing fine. She did need quite a few stitches, forty-three, to be exact," The doctor explained, as Luke writhed in discomfort in the background, just imagining the pain.
"Okay…So how's she now?" Lorelai asked.
"She's good. She should be waking up any moment now," The doctor nodded.
"Well, thank you…Thank you v-very much…Thi-this gave me quite a scare," She replied, her words coming out jumbled.
"I completely understand. You may not believe me, but you two are probably the calmest parents that've ever come in here with an injured child of her age," He said.
"Oh, we're not…he's not her… He was just our ride," Lorelai gestured towards Luke, flustered.
"Oh," The doctor simply added.
Then another female assistant emerged from the hallway and walked up to the doctor.
"She's awake, doctor," She informed him.
"Really?" Lorelai asked.
"Yes, she's awake and asking for her Velveteen Rabbit book," The assistant chuckled.
"Can I go see her?" She asked.
"Yes, we just got her all set up in there and comfortable, so she's good now," The woman nodded.
"Okay, thank you," Lorelai replied, and finally allowed herself to breathe for the first time in about 3 hours.
Then she turned to Luke.
"Hey Luke, Rory's okay, so I'm gonna go visit. But she wants something to read…" She trailed off.
"I'll look for something in the gift shop," He interrupted, nodding.
"Okay thanks. And you can just come in whenever," She shook her head.
"Alright. Good luck," He said, giving her shoulder a small squeeze.
Lorelai walked down the hallway, while Luke wandered into the book store. He glanced around at the numerous sun catchers, stuffed animals, and wind chimes, mostly with uplifting sayings plastered across them. There was no good reading material, only newspapers and "bedside Bibles". Luke muttered to himself and just picked the best thing he could find.
He found Rory's room and entered slowly.
"Hey!" Lorelai greeted.
"Luke!" Rory chirped.
"Hey," Luke offered a small wave and made his way over to the bed, where Rory was lying and drinking water.
"Y'know what they said?" Lorelai asked.
Luke shrugged.
"No caffeine for 24 hours, poor girl. This one's a martyr," She ruffled Rory's hair.
"I've got reading material," Luke replied.
He handed them over.
"Ooh, 'Thirty-Two Psalms and Bible Passages', that's some heavy stuff," Lorelai remarked. "And the Wall Street Journal."
"It was the best I could find," He shrugged.
"Yes well, I'll remember this book when Rory begins worshipping Satan, which I believe will happen around age four," She said.
"Always good to be prepared," Luke remarked sarcastically.
"Thanks. I understand the gift shop kinda sucks for books," She shrugged.
"Yeah, it does," He agreed.
Lorelai handed Rory the paper and she flipped through it contentedly. She added a few "hmmm"s and "ohh"s on a few stories.
"So how ya feeling kid?" She asked Rory.
"I'm good," She shrugged.
"Does it hurt?" Lorelai asked, rubbing Rory's arm soothingly.
"Kinda, but I'll be okay," She answered.
"You're a trooper," Lorelai smiled.
Luke took a seat in the extra chair. It had gotten late.
"Ah, you must be tired. I'm sorry you had to drive me all the way out here," Lorelai apologized.
"Don't mention it. It's really not a big deal," He shrugged.
"You can go," She offered.
"No, no, I'm fine. I'll just wait until you're ready to go," He replied.
"I plan on waiting until Rory can leave," She reasoned.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" He asked, jokingly, but about 0.1 serious.
"No, I'm just saying, you have a diner to run tomorrow, and we've been here for hours, I can tell you're tired, and I know you hate hospitals," She said.
"They do make me queasy…" He nodded.
"Then get out of here! Just driving me in the first place means a lot to me. And the fact that you didn't bolt right when we got here, it shows you care about Rory," She said, stroking her daughter's forehead, who was drifting off to sleep.
"Then I'll go," He shrugged. "Just call me when you need to get picked up."
"Okay, even though I'll probably be able to dump the job onto someone else," She said.
"Well I'll be at the diner if you need me," he chuckled lightly.
"Thanks," She nodded.
"Bye," He said.
"Bye Luke," She smiled.
"See you later, Lorelai," He smiled back.
Author's Note: I'm a sucker for the hospital fluff. Unfortunately I think that's the end of that. But there is, of course, more moments to come. Reviews are greatly appreciated. I love them more than Kirk loves Cat Kirk (haha, flashback to Season 3. I know Kirk loved that cat). Have a nice day. I'm in a good mood.