yes, i know it took me 10000 years to update this, but lately my life was really like a rollercoaster, with ups and downs and all...

But here it is, I hope there are few people out there who are still reading this... there are right?

I promiss I will try to update faster. With my other fics as well. Rigth now I'm fighting with my computer at home, so it won't happen tomorrow, but sooner, than later for sure

HUGE thanks to Kari for beta, without her you wouldn't know what you're reading LOL.

And to all my patien reviewers- this is for you!

enjoy...

"Christopher?" Lorelai whispered at the same time at the sight of the person.

Both Luke and Chris stood frozen in their spots, eyeing one another.

"Hello?" Chris said, looking at the other man suspiciously. Chris was sure that he looked familiar, but couldn't figure out from where.

"I'm Chris, Lorelai's…" he started but Luke cut him off with a raise of an eyebrow.

"I know who you are" Luke said, not wanting to hear more from this man who had brought up Lorelai's name first, rather than his daughters – the person who he was biologically connected to. "I'm Luke," he added, seeing how Christopher seemed to have no idea who he was and what he was doing there.

"Ah! The guy from the diner? The one who keeps my girls on coffee?" Chris replied smiling.

"Yeah" Luke replied, now glaring at Christopher, anger rising inside. Who does this guy think he is, Luke wondered. After all, he was never around and the few times he managed to show up he destroyed both Rory and Lorelai by leaving. But yet now he was there calling them 'his girls'?

"I'm just the coffee guy," Luke said through clutched teeth. So this was all he was? Just the coffee provider? But at least he was there for them. Even if he was only just the coffee man, he was still there when they needed him, just like he was there now.

Luke knew he shouldn't give a second thought to what this guy in front of him was saying, but still something inside him was making his anger rise - the fury that had been simmering since his fight with Lorelai, since he found out about her accident, since they told him she was in coma, since she somehow showed up at his apartment. And now after just one comment from Christopher, it was starting to burn inside of him, causing him to clenching his wrists, trying to somehow control himself a little bit longer. There were just too many things happening around him all at once.

Lorelai, who was still standing on the opposite side of the bed, remained silent throughout the whole exchange (not that Chris could hear anything she said, since it was obvious he couldn't see her). But the way he was talking to Luke, as if Luke was just some random person from the street, rather than who he really was to her and her daughter. More than that, it totally shocked her Chris was there in the first place. How did he find out? What was he doing here? Shouldn't he be with Sherry? She couldn't think straight until suddenly it hit her. Emily Gilmore. It could only be her work. Only she was be capable of manipulating people even in this situation.

On the other hand Rory needed her father more than ever and she hoped that Chris would be there for her daughter for once in his life.

"How is she?" Chris asked, looking at Lorelai lying motionlessly on the bed. The expression on his face, so different from Luke's, Lorelai could see it right away. There was still concern in his eyes, but nothing like Luke's. Most of all she could see the pity and a little bit of fear, probably due to all the tubes and bruises.

"She… She's…" Luke started, trying to bottle up all the emotions inside of him. "She's in coma, I don't know bad it is, I just got here," he explained, not wanting to get into the details and admit just how he was able to get in there and find out all the information about Lorelai's condition. The fact that Rory probably knew what was going on was enough for Luke, who knew how Chris would react.

"But she's Lorelai," Luke added, stronger now with more confidence in his voce. He looked back at her body lying in bed as if he'd forgotten that some part of her was still present in the room, listening to his every word, catching his every breath. "She's a fighter, the strongest person I've ever known. And most of all, she's stubborn as hell!" He chuckled softly, looking briefly in the direction of the window where she was standing, almost radiant in the light of the sun.

But the short eye contact they had broke immediately when Luke looked back at Christopher, trying to make his point.

"Oh yeah, that she is," Christopher started. "I remember when we were 16…"

"I should go!" Luke suddenly interrupted. The atmosphere was already awkward enough for Luke. He didn't have enough power to also deal with the presence of Mr. Hayden, Lorelai's childhood boyfriend.

"Luke?" Lorelai finally spoke, her voice just above a whisper. The sound was almost pleading and her eyes were filled with her desperate need for him to stay. But Luke had already turned away, making his way to the door, not glanced behind himself for a second.

"Sure man," Chris said without any hesitation. Still wondering how Luke managed to get in thte room and what the hell he was doing there in the first place. All he wanted was some time alone with Lorelai.

"Hey there Lor." Chris's voice brought her back to reality. She was still standing and looking at the now closed door that Luke left behind him. She didn't want him to leave. He was supposed to help her, and not just leave her alone with Christopher. What was he doing there anyway, Lorelai wondered for the second time, watching the man that was now sitting on the chair next to her bed, looking rather uncomfortable and awkward.

"I have to tell you, you looked better the last time we saw each other," he joked, laughing quietly at his own joke, but then another silence came over the room, only the beeping of the machines could be heard.

"Tell me about it," Lorelai said to herself, chuckling.

After few seconds, the annoying, monotonous sounds started to get on her nerves. She looked back at Chris, realizing he was trying to focus on something other than her swollen, broken, weak body, lying in hospital bed. She stayed on the other side of the room, looking warily at him, trying to figure out what was he thinking, what was he really doing there.

This was the man she'd been ready to start a serious relationship with no more than 2 weeks ago. The man she'd thought she'd been the last 17 years for. The father of her child. It was clear to her, just how uncomfortable he felt there, barely even looking at her, probably wondering how to get away as soon as possible. The look in his eyes revealed the most to her. He didn't want to be there. Not like Luke.

Luke. She remembered the look in his eyes when he entered the room. Full of concern. Full of worry. She knew he hated hospitals, but he was staying strong for her. His eyes were always fully focused on her.

Suddenly her eyes caught sight of Chris holding her hand, a touch she wasn't aware of till she saw it. She brought her hand in front of her immediately, examining it, hoping it would make her feel. But it felt numb, just like it had ever since Luke had tried to reach for her hand.

And here was Chris, keeping his hand in hers, even stoking his palms over her fingers. and she felt nothing, absolutely nothing, as if there was no connection between them.

Lorelai started to panic. She hoped that maybe somehow she was still connected to her body, to the rest of the world. She frantically looked at all the machines her body was connected to, wondering if maybe something was happening to her, but all the beeping sounds were still the same as were the numbers on the little monitors.

All of a sudden she felt a rush of emotions washing through her. She could feel anger, hopelessness, frustration, all coming out of nowhere. She could feel a strange trembling inside of her, and yet everything around her stayed in one piece. Christopher was now looking hopefully in the direction of the door, probably wondering if he should leave or stay a bit longer.

What was happening to her? What more could possibly happen to her…

Luke left Lorelai's room in a hurry, closing the door behind him more forcefully than he should have. Not skipping a beat, he quickly hurried in the direction of the elevator, passing the nurse's station without even a glance. He suddenly became angry and he couldn't say why exactly. He should have expected that at some point Christopher could show up, but yet it still surprised him.

Luke hit the elevator bottom a bit too hard and when the light in it didn't turn on, he started to repetitively banging it again and again, trying to get rid of his frustration. After few more seconds, he just turned around and made his way in the direction of the stairs, ignoring all the people watching his moves carefully.

Suddenly Lorelai's sight got blurry and the next thing she could see was Luke standing beside his old, green truck, leaning forward against the passenger seat. His hands were gripping the space between the roof and the open window. His knuckles practically white. His forehead touching the window. By the sudden rise and fall of his back she could tell that his breathing was erratic.

"Damn it!" Luke exclaimed, all of a sudden kicking the side of the door with his knee, causing Lorelai to jump a bit.

"Damn it," he repeated, no longer whispering, hitting lightly the roof with his right wrist.

Lorelai couldn't believe it, but somehow she felt as if she could feel and experience all of Luke's emotions. As if that sudden rush of feelings that had hit her in the hospital was coming directly from him.

She could pick up his anger, his frustration and something else - something she couldn't name - as if she never felt it before.

Next thing she knew Luke was walking around his truck to the driver seat, getting in, not registering the world around him, especially not Lorelai witnessing the whole scene. And just then, standing all by herself, Lorelai realized she'd been in the parking lot of the hospital. She didn't know how she got there.

She was desperately trying to wrap her mind around it all. Her body was lying in the bed, on the 5th floor of the hospital building that was now behind her. Yet she was here and no one was able to see her but Luke. What the hell was the connection they apparently shared that allowed him to communicate with her and see her or made her feel the stirrings of his strongest emotions? Why couldn't she feel the touch of the man she supposedly was ready to build a life with just weeks ago? Even Rory, her own daughter, couldn't sense her presence! What was so special about Luke?!

tbc...

Good? Bad? In between...? Review?