A/N Thank you to all who reviewed and continue to read this story. I hope you enjoy.

I own nothing

Ch 47 Richard

As they were flying Lorelai's thoughts kept going to try and figure out what had happened. "Luke, what if my dad…" She couldn't continue because to say the words meant that it could be true.

Luke took hold of her hand and softly said, "Lorelai, your dad's going to make it and he's going to be fine. We need to keep thinking that because to worry when we can't do anything is useless." He gently kissed her temple.

Lorelai wept quietly and nodded. She was thinking of all the things she wanted to tell her dad. "You know dad and I weren't close when I was growing up. He was always working and I was, well I was always a disappointment to both my parents. But I love him. Do you think he knows I love him?" She looked at Luke with her brow furrowed and he gently smoothed it with his thumb.

"I know your dad knows you love him. I don't think you are or were a disappointment to them. I think you're different from them and they don't do too well with different. I disappointed Emily when she realized that we aren't going to any parties that she and Richard like to go to." Luke grinned at her. "In a little while we'll be in Hartford and you can tell your dad that you love him in person." Luke hugged her until they started the descent to land.

Luke and Lorelai arrived at Hartford airport and looked for the drivers Paige had set up. They were surprised and pleased to see Henry waiting for them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Danes, I have the car outside. This is Sam who is going to wait for your luggage and bring it to the hospital. If you have your baggage claim checks he can get started there."

Luke gave Sam the claim checks and they followed Henry out into the loading area where he had left the limo. They rushed over to the hospital and as they were getting out of the car Henry said, "When it arrives, would you like me to deliver your luggage to your home sir?"

Luke was grateful to Henry and said, "Thank you Henry. That would be wonderful. I'm not sure when we will be getting back to the house and it would be good to have that part taken care of."

Henry closed the door and took Luke's extended hand. "Good luck sir. I hope everything turns out well."

"Thanks Henry. Drive carefully back to the city."

Luke and Lorelai rushed into the hospital to find Richard and the family. They got directions to the cardiac surgery floor and when they got off the elevator Rory and Jess were pacing in front of the elevator. Lorelai hugged Rory and they both started crying.

"Mom, they won't tell us anything. Grandma tried to get them to tell us what's happening and they just keep telling us that they are running tests." Rory couldn't let go of her mother and she kept crying.

"Sweets, we'll find out and I'm sure everything is going to be fine. Where are Grandma and Gran?"

"They're over by the nurse's station. They keep picking at each other Jess and I had to get away."

"Well let's get over there and referee." Lorelai took Rory's hand and looked at Luke and Jess who were both looking uncomfortable.

They heard the two women before they saw them. "You know Emily, if you didn't feed Richard those fatty foods I wouldn't be in the hospital waiting to hear if my son's going to live or die."

"It isn't my fault he wants to eat what he wants to eat! Try and tell Richard to do anything he doesn't want to and see how successful you are!" Emily and Trix were faced off and sniping at each other. Lorelai couldn't believe that they were doing this in the hospital.

"OK, that's enough you two!" Lorelai yelled. The two women looked at her shocked.

"I have just spent two hours trying to get here to see how my father is only to come upon you two engaged in hand to hand combat. That is enough and I don't want to hear you two say another word to each other tonight. Dad is somewhere in this hospital apparently getting tests and I want to know what the hell happened and I want to know now!"

Emily was the first to recover. "Lorelai, you were on your honeymoon. What are you doing here?"

"My father collapsed and, I don't know, I thought it might be nice to ya know be in the same city! Yes mother, I know I was on my honeymoon, but for God's sake my father is in the hospital. What kind of heartless daughter do you think I am?" Lorelai was amazed that Emily could think she was so cold. Luke took Lorelai's hand and squeezed.

"Lorelai, I'm sure Emily was just surprised that we knew, not that we'd hear about it and still stay away. Right Emily?" Luke looked pointedly at Emily who had the good grace to blush.

"Of course, Lorelai. I would expect that if you heard your father was in the hospital you'd be here. I didn't know who had phoned you, that's all." Emily had been surprised that Lorelai would have cut short her honeymoon, no one had known where they'd gone, Luke had kept that from everyone but Rory. "I suppose Rory called you then?"

"Yes, mother, my daughter saw fit to let me know about my father's condition. Something my mother and grandmother seemed to forget to do." Lorelai was using all her fear about what was going on and channeling it into anger at her mother and grandmother.

Luke recognized this and stepped in. "Emily, why don't you tell us what tests have been run on Richard so far and what they suspect?" He was still holding tightly onto Lorelai's hand.

Emily started, "Well so far all they have told us that they have run an echocardiogram and they have him scheduled for a heart catheter. Then they'll know if he'll need further procedures."

"So it was his heart? Where is he now?"

"He's still in the testing area. Joshua says that if they show constriction of the arteries he'll need either an angioplasty or bypass surgery." Emily was barely holding it together and she started to tear up. Lorelai saw this and went to her mom. She placed her hand on her arm and Emily covered it with her own hand.

"Mom, I'm sure dad will be OK. He's strong and stubborn and he won't let this get the better of him." Luke still had Lorelai's other hand and she squeezed his for strength. She didn't know what she'd do without him she couldn't imagine facing this trial alone having to be the strength for her family.

Lorelai suddenly realized that Luke had done this, on his own without any support from his family when his dad was sick and then died. Liz from what he said wasn't around and his mom had already died. Her heart went out to him and she buried her face in his chest and held on to him tightly.

Luke stroked her hair and whispered to her, "Lorelai it'll be ok. Please don't cry. I'm sure he'll be fine." Lorelai shook her head and held onto him.

"Luke I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I can't imagine what it was like for you to have to face your dad's illness alone. I couldn't do this without you." Luke was stunned that she was thinking of what he went through with his dad when they still didn't know about hers. He kissed her forehead and wiped away her tears.

"It was difficult, but I got through it and now I just want to look forward to the future with you and our family. Your dad's gonna be ok and we'll look back on this and it'll all be just a bad memory in a few days."

Just then Joshua came out and talked to Emily. "It's not as bad as we feared Emily, Richard has undergone the heart cath and it looks like only one major artery is effected so an angioplasty is suggested instead of a bypass at this time. He's going to have to change his eating habits and get exercise or I'm going to refer him to a cardiothoracic surgeon in the not too distant future for bypass surgery."

"Thank you Joshua, when can we see him?"

"We're prepping him for the angioplasty which shouldn't take more than one hour total. He's going to need to remain sedated for a while to allow the swelling to diminish. If he moves too soon the stent could dislodge and we are looking at a heap of trouble. You can see him before he goes in, he's still groggy. The rest of the family will need to wait until he's finished." Emily followed Joshua through the double doors and the rest of them were left out in the lobby.

They all took seats against the wall and Luke looked at Lorelai as she sat sagging under the weight of what Joshua had said. "Luke, does this mean dad's going to be all right or not?"

"It sounds like it. The heart cath and whatever else he said didn't sound like it was as extensive as bypass surgery." Luke held Lorelai who held onto Rory's hand as well.

Jess spoke up, "Why don't I make a run for some food? I know Rory hasn't eaten anything tonight and I assume you guys haven't had anything since you left for Hartford, right?"

Luke nodded and said, "Thanks Jess. That sounds like a great idea. Why don't you go across the street? They have grilled chicken sandwiches and as a compromise why don't you get some fries." Luke smiled halfheartedly at Jess who took off.

An hour later Dr. Kinser came out and let them know that Richard was resting and doing well. He'd be in his room within the hour. Lorelai collapsed on Luke and he hugged her tightly. Trix and Emily were both relieved and Rory hugged her mother like she wasn't going to let her go. Only Jess looked out of place as they had a small celebration of Richard's recovery.

Lorelai was the first to speak. "Jess, why don't you take Rory back to the mansion, Luke and I'll stop by there later. Gran, after you see dad do you want to go back and get some rest? Dr. Kinser said dad wouldn't be awake until early tomorrow morning."

Trix looked at Emily and she gave a sharp nod. "That would be logical Lorelai, but what about you and Emily?"

"I'm not leaving until I talk to Richard." Emily had gotten her back up that her mother-in-law would suggest such a thing.

Lorelai jumped in. "Gran, dad won't be awake until tomorrow, so mom and I can take the first shift and you guys can come back in the morning and relieve us, ok?"

"Very well, Lorelai." Trix started towards the recovery room to see Richard as Emily rolled her eyes.

Hours later Lorelai and Emily are asleep in chairs in Richard's room. Richard is asleep and Luke is in a chair right next to Lorelai watching her. It's four o'clock in the morning but Luke hasn't been able to sleep in hospitals since his dad got sick. He gently moves the hair out of Lorelai's face when he sees Richard's eyes flutter.

Luke smiles at him and whispers, "Hey, Richard. Good to see you awake. How're you feeling?"

"Like an elephant sat on my chest and kicked me in the groin. Joshua didn't say that that was going to be a side effect." Richard's voice was raspy and Luke got up to offer him a glass of water with a straw.

"What are you and Lorelai doing back? Is it Monday already?"

"No, it's Saturday morning, very early morning. Rory called and said you'd collapsed so of course we came back. Lorelai was a wreck on the plane." Luke grinned at Richard.

"Well, while I'm always glad to see you two, I wish you would have stayed. This was nothing, I'll be up and around in no time."

Luke shook his head. "Richard, you had an angina attack which caused them to find a sixty percent blockage in one of your major arteries. You just had major surgery and it will be at least six weeks before the doctor releases you to drive. Three or more before you can go back to work. This was not nothing."

"Nonsense m'boy, I'll be up and out before you know it. Doctors don't know everything. Joshua wants me to stop smoking, drinking and no red meat. Can you imagine? I'd be better off in an old folks home." Richard chuckled and was surprised to see Luke's jaw tighten.

"Richard, you know I love your daughter right? You know, you have to know that if I lose her I lose my life?" Luke's looking at Richard with penetrating eyes and a steely glare.

Richard barley nodded, somehow he realized that he offended Luke and he wasn't sure how.

"Lorelai is as fearless as Emily, but she's as stubborn as you are." Richard started to say something but Luke just rolled on. "Lorelai now has heart conditions in her family medical history. The fact that you're taking this lightly means that I'll never convince her that the truck load of red meat she eats on a regular basis is bad for her. No matter what I say to her about the vats of coffee she likes to drink causing high blood pressure and putting undue stress on her heart; nothing will make one iota of difference to her because her father had a heart cath and a stent and still did as he pleased. Until it was too late."

"Richard you know that I love you like my own father, but if you can't see that acting like a jackass is going to cost me my wife then nothing I say will change your mind. Now before I say anything more that I'll probably regret I'm going to take a walk and cool down." With that Luke got up without waiting for Richard's response and walked out of the room.

Richard was stunned by Luke's outburst. He'd never been talked to like that except by Trix. Even Emily wouldn't be that blunt. He was starting to feel very self righteous when he heard Lorelai. "He's right Dad. Of course if you ever tell him I said so I'll deny it. But he's right about almost all of it. If you choose to ignore this warning I get a free pass, so does Rory."

"Lorelai, how can you say that? This was just a minor episode. Joshua always over reacts. If it was really serious I would have had major surgery."

"Dad, Dr. Kinser told us tonight that your heart stopped on the table. He said that they were able to get it started with an electric shock, but that your heart stopped. How major do you want this to be? Now the part about what Luke said where I wouldn't listen to him is where he was wrong. I never thought I could love someone so much that I can't think about my life without him because I wouldn't be able to function. For Luke I'll cut back on my fatty foods and even after we conceive and have the children we want I'll keep a close watch on my blood pressure and if it starts to go high I'll cut back on my coffee again."

"Dad, if you won't follow the doctors orders for me, Rory or even Mom, maybe you'll do it for your future grandchildren. Luke and I want them to have the same gift that Rory had with getting to know you. And any children Luke and I have you'd get to know from their birth. No gaps. As long as you're here. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to find my husband." Lorelai got up and left the room.

Richard laid on his bed contemplating what his daughter and son-in-law had said. He looked at Emily who was still sleeping and he whispered, "I suppose you have something to weigh in on as well?" He laid his head back on his pillow and heard Emily chuckle.

"I think they said it well enough. My two cents are that if you die before I do I'm not going to talk to you in heaven. You can spend all eternity without me. So help me God Richard, if you don't do everything the doctor says to keep healthy I'm moving to the pool-house." Emily was sitting up and looked him straight in the eye. To anyone else it was a look of defiance, but Richard knew better. She was scared in a way he'd never seen her scared before.

Richard reached out his hand and Emily walked over to him, took it and sat in the chair closest to him. She lays her head on his shoulder and a tear slid down her cheek. Richard's other hand stroked her hair and he simply said, "I promise I'll try and listen to the doctors dear." Emily just nodded her head.

Out in the corridor Luke was walking back towards Richard's room when he ran into Lorelai. He wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly. "I just needed to stretch my legs," he whispered.

She chuckled and gently kissed him. "Before you took my father out? That was very kind of you, although he did deserved the tongue lashing. I think he realizes that it's more serious then he thought. He was unaware that his heart stopped during the procedure.

Luke gave a sheepish grin, "Busted. So does that mean you heard everything or just the part I called your dad a jackass?"

"From the part where you told him you couldn't live without me." Lorelai grinned widely up at him.

Luke held her head to his shoulder and she felt him shudder. His voice was thick with emotion as he said, "Lorelai it's not joke. I couldn't even imagine what my life would be without you."

"Me either babe, me either."

Luke and Lorelai walked back into the hospital room to find Emily with her head on Richard's shoulder. Luke cleared his throat and Richard looked up. Luke bent his head and apologized. "Richard, I'm sorry, I was out of line to tell you how to live your life, well the life you have left and I'm sorry."

"No Luke, I owe you and all of my family an apology. I went on living as though I was the only one that mattered. As Lorelai pointed out after you left, I may miss out on seeing any children you may have grow up. I missed out on Rory's life because we were all so damn stubborn, but this time it would only be my own fault. Thank you for caring enough about your family to speak out Luke." Richard held his hand out and Luke took it gratefully.

"You know Richard, I'm pretty glad you're sticking around for my own selfish reasons as well." Luke grinned.

"What would that be?" Richard raised his eyebrow in interest.

"Otherwise I have to deal with Floyd Stiles on my insurance." Luke smiled wickedly.

Richard started to laugh until he realized how much it hurt and he shook a finger at Luke. "Were you trying to make a point?"

Luke shrugged and chuckled, "Not on purpose, but hey, I take credit whenever I can."