Thank you so much for all your support so far! I've managed to find some time to write so here's the next chapter! :)

Chapter 18

A few days had passed and Luke had still not woken up. He had been transferred to Hartford Memorial Hospital though so Jess had been staying at the diner apartment with Hayley. He had refused to go home until Luke had woken up. Lorelai had stayed vigil by Luke's bedside.

Anna Nardini raced into the hospital after finally managing to get a flight back and rushed up to the reception desk. "Hi, I'm looking for Luke Danes and April Nardini. They were in an accident three days ago. I'm April's mother." She said.

"Mr Danes' room is just down that corridor. Room 201." The receptionist said.

"Thank you!" Anna said and rushed down the corridor. She was about to push open the door when she heard Lorelai's voice.

"Come on Luke. It's about time you wake up now." Lorelai said.

Anna pushed the door open slightly and saw Lorelai sat next to Luke's bedside holding his hand.

Lorelai sighed. "I miss you Luke. I really miss you." She sniffed. "I feel like I should be angry at you. I know you would have deliberately swerved so that the car went into your side to save April. You deliberately risked your life for April. I should be angry at you doing that. You could have been killed but...but I'm not. That's the reason I fell in love with you. You're an amazing man and an amazing dad. You were there for Rory when you didn't need to be and now with April, you just automatically stepped up when you found out about her. She's a great kid. And I promise you...I promise that...that if you don't...uh...if you don't wake up, I'll make sure I still see her and make her feel like part of the family. Because she is. She's part of you." Lorelai said her voice cracking. "I love you Luke. Please, please just wake up. It's time to wake up now."

Anna stood there not knowing what to do. Luke risked his life to save April? Lorelai's still promising to make April feel part of the family even if Luke wasn't there? She felt awful. She had tried so hard to keep April away from them and keep her all to herself but what she was really doing was keeping her from people who would also love April as much as she did. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open more. "Lorelai?" She said nervously.

Lorelai looked round and quickly wiped some tears away. "Oh. Hi Anna." She said awkwardly.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to get here. All the flights were fully booked until this morning." Anna said.

"It's ok." Lorelai said.

Anna glanced at Luke. "How..How's he doing?" She asked.

Lorelai looked sadly at Luke. "He still hasn't woken up yet. They say we just have to wait but...I don't know how much more of this I can take." She admitted.

"It must be hard." Anna said sympathetically. They were both silent for an awkward minute. "Where's April?" She asked.

"Down in the canteen." Lorelai said.

"Ok..I'm just going to go see her." Anna said.

Lorelai nodded and watched her leave.


Anna headed down to the canteen and heard her daughter's voice before seeing her. An immediate smile came to her face hearing her daughter. Of course she'd known April was ok. Lorelai had reassured her when she had phoned her. Still, actually hearing April's voice made it real. Her little girl was really ok. She looked around the corner and saw April sat at a table with Rory and three other people, two boys and a girl.

"Is it normal for dad not to have woken up yet?" April asked quietly.

"The doctors have said they were certain he will make a full recovery." Rory said.

"Yeah but they couldn't be sure. What if he never wakes up?" April said worried.

"He'll wake up." Jess said. "Do you really think he would miss his own wedding? Lorelai wouldn't let him."

April smiled slightly. "Yeah but what if he doesn't wake up?" She asked. "Please don't try and sugar coat it. I know it's a possibility."

"Well then..we'll get through it together." Rory said giving April a small smile.

"Together?" April asked.

"We're still family. Do you think we would just send you away because Luke's not around?" Rory asked surprised.

"Well no...but I added so much dram to your family." April said quietly.

"Hey, none of that was your fault, April. You're family. End of." Rory said. "Plus I've kind of gotten used to having a sister." She smiled.

April smiled back. "Yeah, me too." She said softly.

Anna watched as her daughter interacted with them all and realised how much support she had. She sighed. She really had messed up and she put April through a lot when she didn't need to. She took a deep breath and walked towards them. "April..." She said.

April turned around and her face lit up, much to Anna's relief. "Mom!" She exclaimed getting up and rushing over to her, giving her a hug.

"Hi sweetheart." Anna said softly, reciprocating the hug. "How are you?"

"Physically yeah, just this." April said holding up her cast. "Emotionally, well...dad still hasn't woken up."

"Yeah I know. I just saw Lorelai." Anna sighed.

"You saw Lorelai? You and Lorelai spoke?" April asked surprised.

"Yes we spoke." Anna rolled her eyes. "I am able to act civil, you know."

April just shrugged.

Anna sighed. "Come over here. I want to talk to you." She said putting her arm around her daughter. She gave Rory a small smile and a nod before turning her attentions back to April. She found some chairs and sat down with her. "April, I think I owe you an apology."

"What?" April said surprised.

"I was so worried that I was going to lose you. I was...well I was selfish. I wanted you all to myself and I didn't want to share you." Anna admitted.

April was surprised at how much her mom was opening up to her. "Mom..."

"No, let me finish." Anna said. "I thought if I let you hang out with your dad and Lorelai, that...that you may somehow like Lorelai more than me and want to live with them or something and then you would forget about me."

"You're my mom." April said quietly. "I'll always love you. I love Lorelai but that's different. You will always be my mom."

"I know. I was being silly and I freaked out." Anna sighed. "And I caused you all so much emotional pain because of it. So I'm sorry."

"It's ok." April said softly.

"It's not but thank you." Anna gave April a small smile.

"I've missed you, mom." April said giving her a hug. "I just want things to go back to how they were with us."

"So do I." Anna said relieved. "So do I."

April gave her a small smile. "Dad will be ok, won't he?"

"I'm sure he will." Anna reassured her. "Luke's strong. He'll wake up soon, just you wait."

April smiled at her and nodded, cuddling into her more. "Thanks mom." She said softly.


"Hey, you ok?" Tristan asked finding Rory sat on a chair outside Luke's room.

"Me? Yeah I'm fine." Rory smiled.

"You don't fool me." Tristan said sitting down next to her. "I know how much Luke means to you. This must be hard for you as well."

"Not as hard as it is for April and my mom." Rory said quietly.

"Rory..."

"I just...I need to stay strong for them." Rory said.

"Ok. I get that." Tristan said. "But they're not here at the moment. You don't have to be strong infront of me."

Rory glanced at him and blinked back tears. "He's always been there for me. I guess I've always taken it for granted. He's never let me down once and now...well now I feel like such a horrible person for taking him for granted because...because he might not wake up..."

"Rory, you're not a horrible person. You're allowed to be upset." Tristan said softly.

"I just want him to wake up so I can tell him I appreciate it. All of what he's done for me and mom over the years." She sniffed leaning into him.

"And you will. He'll wake up, I promise." Tristan assured her. "He'll be your step father before you know it."

Rory gave him a tremulous smile. "Yeah." She said. "Yeah he will." She said softly. "Thanks Tristan."

"It'll all be ok." Tristan smiled giving her a kiss. "I'm here if you ever want to talk ok? You don't have to be strong in front of me."

"Ok. Thanks." She said softly, smiling lovingly at him.


Later that day, Lorelai was sat with Luke when she heard the door open. She was surprised to see Anna appear. "Oh. Hi. I didn't realise you were still here."

"Yeah. I hope you don't mind." Anna said nervously.

"No..uh..not at all." Lorelai said confused. "I'm sure April's happy you're here."

"Yeah." Anna said giving her a small smile. "We had a little talk about things and..uh..I was wondering if I could have a minute with you."

"Oh..uh..ok..." Lorelai said nervously.

Anna sat down awkwardly next to her. "Being here has made me realise a few things.." She started. She glanced at Lorelai who wasn't saying anything. She sighed. "I've been a bitch." She said.

Lorelai was shocked by her bluntness. "Anna..."

"No you don't need to pretend. I know I have. I heard you earlier talking to Luke. I swear I wasn't eavesdropping or anything. I didn't want to interrupt you. I heard how you said you know he risked his life for April. And how you would make April feel part of the family if...well if the worst happens." She said quietly. "And I was just stood there thinking why did I put up so much of a fight. Why did I stop April from being with people who would love her as much as I do?"

"Anna, it's fine..." Lorelai said softly.

"No it's not. I know I should have told Luke about April earlier. I know that now. And I will regret that for the rest of my life." She said. She then sighed. "I'm sorry." She said. "I'm sorry for giving you such a hard time and I'm sorry I put you all through that court case. April deserves to spend time with you all. I saw her with Rory downstairs. They get on really well, don't they?"

Lorelai smiled. "Yeah they do." She said softly. "They have a lot in common."

"I can see that." Anna smiled. "You did a great job with Rory. I can tell April idolizes her."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks Anna." She said softly.

Anna let out a breath. "So...uh...are we ok?" She asked.

Lorelai looked at her and could tell she was being sincere. "Yeah we're ok." She said.

Anna gave her a small smile. "Thank you." She said relieved. She glanced at Luke and then back at Lorelai. "I promise things will be different when Luke wakes up. We'll sort out dates and make sure April sees a lot of you."

"I'm sure Luke will be relieved to hear that." Lorelai smiled. She then smiled more. "Hey, you said when..."

"What?" Anna said confused.

"You said when Luke wakes up, not if he wakes up. Everyone seems to be saying if..." Lorelai said.

"I know he'll wake up." Anna said. "It's obvious how much he loves you. There's no way he would miss your wedding."

Lorelai smiled. "Thanks." She said gratefully. She glanced at Luke and then back at Anna. "Hey, why don't you come?" She asked.

"Come? Come to what?" She asked.

"Our wedding. You should come." Lorelai smiled.

"What? Are you sure?" Anna asked surprised.

"Well April will be there so I figured maybe she'd like you there as well." Lorelai shrugged. She looked at Anna. "Come." She said softly.

Anna knew this was Lorelai's way of accepting her apology and offering a truce. "I'd like that. Thank you." She smiled.

Suddenly Lorelai gasped and turned back to Luke. "Luke?" She said.

"What? What is it?" Anna asked.

"He just squeezed my hand." Lorelai exclaimed. "Luke? Can you hear me?"

Luke's eyes fluttered for a moment and slowly opened. "Lorelai?" He said hoarsely.

"Oh thank god...Luke!" Lorelai smiled through her tears. "I'm here Luke. I'm here and you're ok. You're ok!" She exclaimed.

So I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think by giving me a review! I love reading your comments so thank you! :)