Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Well, look who's back! And it didn't take me months to do so either. Now, all together: Bow to the beta! I am learning so much from you, Lori, it's amazing. Hope there's going to be less red in our future. ;o)

Lorelai stormed into the kitchen of the Dragonfly Inn. The frown on her face made everybody spin in the other direction to avoid her gaze.

"Coffee," she growled, grabbing a mug. Seeing that there was no coffee in either of the two glass cans in the machine, she grabbed one and spun around, her eyes blazing with angry fire. "Coffee!" She shoved the pot in the hands of the unfortunate soul who had been closest and made the mistake of having eye contact with her, who immediately shrunk back at her tone.

Sookie plastered a broad smile on her face and carefully stepped closer, her voice gentle. "Alan will get right to it," she smiled at the still shaking young man, "Won't you, Alan?" She watched him nod before she eyed Lorelai carefully. The Chef furrowed her brow slightly. "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" The brunette all but yelled, gesturing broadly. "The guest in number 15 complained about getting two pillow mints instead of one, the guy who was supposed to deliver tulips got here with lupines, and Michel is in the lobby, singing along to Celine Dion!"

"Who would complain about getting two pillow mints?" Sookie looked at her doubtfully.

"Apparently, she's on a diet." Lorelai shrugged, smiling when her friend suddenly giggled. Sighing, she hung her head before looking at Sookie again. "I'm sorry. I just..."

"It's okay, hon." Patting her friend's upper arm, she smiled. "Hey, look!" Pulling the pot from the coffee machine, she grinned broadly. "Coffee!"

Lorelai smiled weakly as she watched the dark liquid being poured into her mug. Breathing in the comforting scent, she closed her eyes for a moment, feeling herself relax slowly.

She had just taken a small sip, when her cell phone began ringing. Walking out the back door, she opened it with one hand while taking another gulp of coffee. "Hello?"

"Lorelai, it's Joshua." His grin was audible in his voice.

Smiling, she walked further into the garden. "What's up, Doc?"

"Well, I have some good and some bad news for you."

She sat down on a bench and leaned back. Her eyes closed, she let the sun warm her face while trying to stay calm. "Okay, good news first."

"You are a match." Joshua smiled, looking down on the medical reports in front of him.

"I am?" Her eyes snapped open again.

"Yes, you are. Which brings me to the bad news: You are going to be poked and prodded some more." He grinned, waiting for her answer.

Still trying to process the information, she was somewhat dumbstruck. "Duh... okay. Well, I guess that was to be expected." A slow smile formed on her lips. She would be able to help her mother. "When do you expect me?"

"Not so fast." Doctor Reynolds chuckled at her sudden enthusiasm. Taking a deep breath, he knew she would not like what he was about to say next. "At this point in the process we usually have a meeting with the donor and the recipient..."

Her shoulders sagged slightly. "You mean, I have to tell her already?"

"Well, you should. As I told you in our last meeting, I have already pulled some strings to get you this far ahead in testing without her knowledge. Usually we have the two parties meet after the initial testing." Flipping through the chart in front of him, he explained further. "The x-rays and angiogram we completed usually get done after the consultation."

"But there's gonna be more testing, right?"

"Yes, but--"

"--So why can't I just get past all those upcoming tests before we tell her?" She knew she was grabbing at straws.

"Lorelai," he shook his head. It would have been so much easier to have this conversation face-to-face.

"Come on, Doc. You know my mother. She doesn't know I've been tested. She didn't want me to even find out she was ill."

Furrowing his brow, Joshua switched the phone to the other ear. "So you think she will be mad if she finds out?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"Uh, yeah? I mean it's Emily Gilmore we're talking about here." Animatedly rolling her eyes, she was surprised by his question.

"Lorelai; we both know Emily is not going to be very happy with us for conspiring behind her back, but I need to ask this: If she becomes upset and starts an argument with you, will this have any effect on your decision to donate this kidney to her?"

"What?"

"We both know she is going to argue about it. I need to make sure that you are standing behind your decision no matter what."

"Uhm..."

Leaning back in his chair, he took a deep breath. "All right. I tell you this not only as a doctor, but as a friend of the family... if you have any second thoughts about the donation, that's okay. You don't have to do this. I want you to understand that you still have the choice to say no without it having any effect on anything. The moment you tell your mother, this is going to change. So before you tell her, I want you to look inside yourself and ask if this is really what you want. If you are not a hundred percent sure, you should not go through with this."

She felt a lump in her throat. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she nodded. "Okay." Rubbing her nose with the back of her hand, she sat up straight. "Thanks, Doc."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for, right?" He smiled mildly, trying to cheer her up a little.

"Yeah, I guess so." Lorelai shrugged.

"Okay, I have to get back to my patients. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, sure. I ... I'll call you again soon, okay?"

"Whenever you're ready," Joshua nodded, not totally convinced. After all, she was her mother's daughter.

Closing her cell phone, she leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Lorelai took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment before she stood up and walked back into the kitchen.

She refilled her cup, headed for the storage room, and sat down on a stack of cardboard boxes. Looking around, she saw some bubble wrap hanging out of a box in reach and pulled it towards her. She placed her mug next to her and began popping the bubbles as Sookie walked into the room.

"What are you doing?"

"Playing the piano?" She answered absently.

Looking around, Sookie tried to find a place to sit, quickly deciding to just hunker down next to her friend. Eying her with concern, she watched as Lorelai kept popping the bubbles one by one. "If you don't stop than soon we're going to run out of this stuff." She tried to joke.

"Therapy is expensive, popping bubble wrap is cheap. You choose." Lorelai shrugged, finally looking at her, when Sookie pulled the bubble wrap from her hands. "Hey!"

Giving her a stern look, the stout woman cocked her head to the side. "Spill it."

"I'm a match," Lorelai shrugged, her voice not showing any emotion.

"Duh... well... I'm glad I'm not a striking surface, I guess." Sookie tried to joke, receiving a confused stare.

"Huh?"

"Uhm, well, when you're a match and I'm a striking surface, hugging you might make me lose a friend." Sookie shrugged, grinning broadly.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at her friend's attempt to cheer her up.

"C'mon." Sookie nudged her. "Give me that smile I like so much."

Granting the woman's wish, Lorelai's smile widened.

"There," the Chef giggled, "That's better." Standing up, she grinned down at the other woman. "And now I'm going to make you some oatmeal cookies and you tell me all about it."

Lorelai smiled apologetically. "I'd prefer to stay here for a little longer, okay?"

"Uhm. Okay." She pointed towards the kitchen. "I'll get started on the cookies and you join me whenever you feel like it." Walking out of the room, she pointed her finger at her. "But keep your hands off the bubble wrap!"

Watching her closing the door, Lorelai looked down at her mug and sighed.

She was a match. ... What now?

Author's Note: Tada!! Happy? Sad? Angry? Was it too dull? I don't know. Oh well, I hope you liked it. By the way: It's true. They do an angiogram of you, to check whether you're fit enough to donate or receive a new organ. If your heart can't handle the extra stress you can get turned down. So. That was your little biology lesson for today. Let's review some reviews:

First to the ".." annonymous review I received.
Thanks for saying that the story is 'nicely written'. It means my writing style doesn't completely suck.
Now to answer you properly: Yes, I am not much of a L/L fan, but I took what you said to heart and checked my story line again to see whether you were right -in my eyes-.
Going back over the timeline, I have to admit, I do not see your point too clearly. The first chapter starts with a Friday Night Dinner. The 2nd and 3rd take place the following night. In the 4th it is later that night for the E/R scene and then ends with Lorelai sleeping next to a man. I presumed every L/L would believe it's Luke, even though I didn't spell out his name. So she ran to him.
In the 5th chapter, later that day, Lorelai is at the Dragonfly, so naturally: No Luke. Since she talks to Sookie there, the first emotional wave is over and she doesn't have to go to Luke 'inside' my story again. As far as I remember, Luke never made her talk when she didn't want to. He'd let her cry.
Plus, I skipped the part post waking & pre Dragonfly. The 6th chapter plays the following Monday and since I had Sookie at the hospital -since she was around when Lorelai made the appointment I found her the most natural choice-, I didn't see room for Luke. In the 7th it's Friday - big jump ahead that I still don't like 100% - and we learn that Luke knows something, so 'off screen' Lorelai talked to him.
Yes, you are right. I don't have Luke in this story -yet-. But since this story is filed under Emily/Lorelai and everybody who has taken a look at my other stories knows that I'm usually writing Emily/Richard, I still don't think it's necessary for me to explore the L/L relationship in this one as much as other stories do.
It's true, Luke has had her back when she was under pressure or stress but until now I always had some other character that was already there the very moment, so there was no need to run to Luke.
I think there will be Luke in future chapters and I think as soon as I get to the serious stuff he is going to make a longer appearance but for now I think it's fine the way it is. I will have to get Rory back soon. That's going to be hard to write as well.

Thanks for caring enough about this story to give me your honest opinion. However, I hope that you see my POV too.

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DramaQueen1103
Thanks for the compliment. :o)

Valerie
Honest. I'm proud of you. ;o)
Well, I'm very glad you took the time to write one of your marvelous reviews, even if you were a bit late. I remember a German one, so it's all good.
But yeah, you had every right to. *turns lovely shade of deep crimson*
Rory is a smart kid. It was actually somewhat hard to write her suspicious but not suspicious enough to actually pack her bags and get home early. I guess Lorelai is just good at lying.
*lol* Richard, the white knight of the maids. Great, now I'll never get that picture out of my head.
Let's face it - I made Joshua one fabulous doctor. But hey, I couldn't do anything else.
So I didn't let you wait so long again for a new chapter ... and I will try not to make you wait for the next so long either, because this one was all Lorelai.

lilienprinzessin
*thud* ... Oh my. Wow. I mean ... wow. All those reviews! I'll do a little happy dance now. No cameras! *happy dance* ... :oD It's so easy to make my day, huh? ;o)
Well, THANK YOU for reviewing. And thank you even more for actually going back and reviewing ALL CHAPTERS! I feel blessed. 0:o).
Yeah, I feel somewhat sorry for Rory too. I mean, I would have done the same as Lorelai but it's still mean.
Oh, I don't think she would have told the maid to thank Richard, but I thought it sounded cute.
Ah, another pro-Joshua person. :oD I'm somewhat glad that I made him so sympathetic. And I think as the Gilmore Girls' doctor, he'd be the most likely to recognize similarities between them.
I'm not quite sure whether I'll write the counselling. I'm tempted to, but I don't know whether I have enough ideas to pull it off. We'll see. Who knows - maybe my muse hits me over the head and *bing*! There it is. *shrugging shoulders* Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
It actually is part of the usual procedure. Just like Joshua said, the added stress is bad for the patient's system. So they are usually asked to go and search counselling. Or at least that's what those articles I've been reading told me *lol*.
The way I see it, Joshua has been Emily's doctor for most her adult life, so I guess he'd know her well. ;o)
If the scene would have gone further, I guess Emily would have eventually let him examine her. She's stubborn but not stupid. So if the doctor says 'I have to', she'll pout and complain but not refuse.
So, how did you like the 'finding out part'?
You will have to wait a bit longer for a decent talk. It would be OOC to not make them yell at each other just yet. ;o)
Hmm... a counselling session with both Gilmore women ... now that might actually be fun to write. *evil snickers* ... Here's hope for the future.

Miss GoodManners
OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!! OH MY GOD!!! A rELLIEview!!!! *major happy dance*
I could hug you! :oD *grinning in circles*.
Well, I guess since it had almost (?) been a year, it was clear that you'd have to freshen up the memory. Actually, before writing, I had to go and re-read the chapters. *lol* Oy.
Yes, we all seem to love my Joshua. Isn't he just great? I want to marry him, but I think he's gay ;o).
I guess if he wouldn't be this way, Emily would have gotten a new doctor years ago. You know she always expect to get the best. So that's what I'll have to make Joshua to fit right in. ... Either that, or he knows some dirty secrets that make her stay his patient. And -even though that would be fun- I don't think that's likely.
I actually got Rory off the Obama campaign and into some assignment in Europe, so I had the time difference to pull off some of the jokes in the first phone call. But I have to admit, I never really gave much thought to where and why exactly Rory was there. 0:o).
I hope I didn't make Emily too clingy. I just think that in a situation like this, she sometimes has to 'break'. Never completely, but a bit.
The whole 'I might die' aspect just changes her. And I'm glad it does. It is part of what I want the story to be. ;o)
*lol* You liked Michel? Yeah, he's an added bonus. I think I wrote him quite well. I didn't even have to think about what he'd say, it just came to me. It was fun.
Oh and my muse told me to say hello to you too. ;o)

Mary
I'm glad it was fun to read, Mary! After all, a fan fiction should _always_ be fun to read. Okay, maybe not when it's Angst but hey, even my Angst has comfort. I just can't seem to make my favorite characters suffer for too long. It tortures me *lol*.
So... are you glad that Lorelai ended up being a match?

Brillows4ever
How very wicked of you. ... Are you related to me? ;o)
So, since it took me a bit to get out the results ... are you dead yet? Or did you live long enough to see the day? I do hope so. But that's basically because I don't want to lose a reviewer. *evil snickers*
Oh well, I hope I'll continue to do it right. After all, I want you to keep reading & enjoying this.