AN: Edited to show Christopher's section first per request.
Christopher Hayden had tried to block Lorelai's early morning phone call from his mind. It took all the effort he had to go on with his Saturday, without calling her or trying to track her down. She said she'd call if she needed anything, and he just needed to wait.
He took Gigi shopping for a birthday gift, and they went out to lunch, and a matinee of the new Pixar™ film. Although at this point he couldn't even tell you the name of the film, much less what it was about.
When they returned to the house around 4:00, he began to worry in earnest. He broke down and dialed her mobile number. It went straight to voicemail. He left a message and began to wait again. Around 5:00, he hadn't gotten a response, so he tried her home number. No answer. In a last ditch effort he dialed the number to the Inn.
"Szank you for calling zee Dragonfly Inn, zis ez Michel speaking." The Frenchman answered the phone.
"May I speak to Lorelai please?" he asked nervously, hoping she was in.
"I'm sorree, Lorelai ez not in today. May I ask who's calling?"
"This is, uh, Christopher, Rory's dad."
"I shall tell her zat you called," Michel told him.
"No, wait…" he paused hoping for a flash of brilliance, "is… Sookie in?" he asked quickly.
"One moment." He heard Michel set the phone down on the desk, not bothering to mute it. Sookie, zee phone ez for you, it ez Rory's father. The annoyance was clear in the Frenchman's tone. He heard a slight rustling, and then she picked up the phone.
"Christopher? What's wrong? Is Rory okay?" she asked clearly worried.
"Rory's fine, but I'm looking for Lorelai. Do you know where she is?" he asked desperately.
"She's…" Sookie trailed off, obviously not wanting to give her best friend's ex any information.
"She called me from the hospital this morning Sookie, I just want to make sure she's okay, I'm worried about her."
He could hear Sookie sigh, "She's still at the hospital."
"Which one?"
"Hartford Memorial."
"Thanks," he said, preparing to hang up the phone.
"Chris," Sookie started.
"Yeah?"
"If you're going to hurt her, or cause trouble, don't go. She's got enough on her plate right now, without having to deal with you too."
Ouch, the truth hurt. "I'm just going to support her. I know Rory's out of town, and she'd never call Richard and Emily about this. I promise Sookie, I just want to help." He tried to reassure her.
"Okay," she said warily.
"Sookie?" he asked, wondering if she was still there?
"Yeah?"
"She's lucky to have a friend like you." Before the chef could respond, he hung up the phone. Now he knew where to find her.
He immediately called his mother.
"Hayden residence," the maid answered. Unlike the Gilmores, the Haydens could keep a maid, and Marsha had been there for at least the last 10 years.
"Marsha, it's Christopher. Is my mother about?" he asked.
"Just one moment Mr. Hayden." Marsha had better phone etiquette than Michel, and put him on hold while she went to track down his mother.
"Christopher, is everything alright?" Francine Hayden asked when she picked up the phone only a few moments later.
"Hello to you too Mother," he teased. "Actually I was wondering if Gigi could spend the night with you?"
"Of course, I'd much rather spend the evening with my granddaughter than go to yet another boring dinner." Now that his father was gone, his mother still kept up appearances, but he knew how much the society scene could bother her. "What's going on?" she asked again.
"It's Lorelai," he started. He heard her gasp on the other end of the phone. "Mother, it's not what you think, don't you dare call Richard and Emily. She was in a small accident this morning, and she's not hurt, but the person driving the car was, she's still at the hospital, and I just want to go check on her and see if I can do anything to help."
"That's very thoughtful of you. What time shall I expect Georgia?" she asked.
He glanced down at his watch, it was 5:30 now. Hartford was an hour away in good traffic, and it was Saturday night and he still had to pack a bag for Gigi. "Around 7:30. I'll drive through somewhere and get her some food on the way, so you don't have to worry about that."
"It's not any trouble Christopher. I know you're anxious to get to Lorelai, and every minute counts," his mother assured him.
"No, it's not that, I'm sure Gigi will be hungry soon," he explained.
"Alright then, I'll see you both around 7:30," Francine said.
"Thank you Mother."
"Of course darling."
He hung up the phone and shouted for Gigi. "G, pack your overnight bag, you're going to Grandma's house."
"But Daddy, what about Abby's birthday party?" she whined from the other room.
"I promise you'll be home in time for Abby's party tomorrow. Don't you want to see your Grandmother?" he asked.
"I guess. But I really don't want to miss the party. There's going to be pony rides."
"I'll tell you what, G. If you miss the pony rides tomorrow, I'll take you to a farm and let you ride a pony for as long as you want," he told her.
"Okay!" she said eagerly, rushing towards her room to pack her bag.
*******************************
An hour and 45 minutes, and one stop at Burger King™ later, Christopher pulled up to his parents' house. In his wild disobedient phase, he hated the place. As a child he saw it as a prison, and in the years he feuded with his father you couldn't pay him to set foot in the door, but now, as he settled and with his father gone, the house lost its power. It was still big, and imposing, but now it felt almost like home. Five years ago he'd be hard pressed to find any even decent memory of the house, but now making new memories with his mom and Gigi, old happy memories were occasionally triggered.
He opened the door without even bothering to knock or ring the bell. "Mother, we're here."
Marsha came running to greet them, not wanting to be considered lax in her duties. "Good evening Mr. Hayden, Miss Georgia."
"Hello Marsha," Christopher said in return, Gigi waved shyly.
"Georgia!" Francine called as she came in from the living room.
"Hi Grandma," Gigi said quietly.
"Hi Mom," Christopher said, as he bussed a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you for doing this."
"I'm happy to help."
"Gigi, I'm off now, but I'll pick you up in the morning okay?" He scooped his daughter into a hug.
"Okay Daddy. I love you," she said into his neck.
"I love you too. Have fun tonight, and be good for Grandma." She nodded. With that, Christopher rushed back to the car and headed to the hospital.
*******************************
He parked his car in visitor parking and took a deep breath. The last time he'd been in this hospital was when Richard had his heart attack. He was such an ass then. Lorelai needed him, and he was too busy being hurt and angry to do the right thing. He remembered being so upset when he finally arrived and Luke was there. At that time he wished that he could put Luke in the hospital bed instead of Richard. But he knew better now, he'd never wish for anything that could hurt Lorelai. He slammed the door to the car and strode confidently into the hospital.
"Yes, I'm looking for Luke Danes," he told the woman at the front counter.
"Family?" she asked, as she typed the name into the computer.
"Yes," he answered confidently. He was Lorelai's family, and she was Luke's family.
"Sixth floor, room 624." She gestured toward the elevator bank.
He looked down at his watch, it was well after 8:00 now, and he still hadn't heard from Lorelai. It had been more than 12 hours since her panicked call. The elevator stopped, and he stepped off following the signs to rooms in the 620's. He saw Lorelai sitting in the hall as he approached. She was sitting on the bench in front of the door, picking at the rim of her paper coffee cup, staring into it as though it held the answers to the world's problems.
"Hey," he said as he approached.
"Christopher! What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I tried to call, but it went straight to voicemail. I was worried."
"My phone died," she said simply as she stood up. He looked at her, her right arm was in a sling and she had some small cuts across the side of her face.
"I thought you said you were okay!" he exclaimed.
"I am. The cuts will heal, and my arm is just sore, the sling is only temporary."
"How's Luke?" he asked. "Why aren't you in there with him?"
"Oh Christopher," she flung herself into his arms. "It's all my fault, he wouldn't want me in there."
"I seriously doubt that," he tried to reassure her brushing her hair out of her face and rubbing her back lightly.
"I caused the accident," she said quietly.
"You made someone else run a stop sign?" he asked remembering what she'd told him that morning.
"Well, no. But I was fighting with Luke and made it so he wasn't paying attention."
"Even if you weren't fighting, Luke may not have noticed the guy."
"This is all my fault."
"Lorelai," he said firmly as he shook her gently, "This is not your fault. What were you fighting about?"
She began to cry. "April is coming for a few weeks this summer, and he's planning to take her on a trip. I suggested that maybe we could all go away for a few days. I didn't want to go on the whole trip, I just thought it would be nice to get to know her a little," she paused sobbing. "He got annoyed, claiming that I wanted to take over his time with his daughter. I tried to explain that I only wanted to go for a bit, but he was convinced that she would like me better, and he didn't want to cause a problem with Anna." Her voice rose, "It's been two years now! She loves him! She knows him now! How are we ever going to work if he won't let me get to know his daughter?"
"Just because he wants to keep his daughter to himself doesn't mean he doesn't love you, and want to make things work with you," Christopher tried to soothe her.
"I told him that you had no problems with me and Gigi, and I that I didn't understand his hesitation," Lorelai continued.
Instantly Christopher stiffened. He did not want to be the any part of their fight, especially in this case, when Lorelai was in the wrong, at least about his feelings. "I did have problems with it, but we have a different history, and a shared daughter, so I dealt with it more quickly. It was hard for me when I left Lore; Gigi wanted you all the time, it was bad enough to have her crying for Sherri in Paris, but then for you too, I began to wonder if I'd ever be good enough. I know what it's like to lose a daughter to the wonderfulness that is you. After Aunt Lorelai, Dad is never cool enough. Hell, both of my daughters like you better than me most of the time, I can sort of see why he wants to protect his relationship."
"But…" Lorelai started. "Christopher, your daughters love you. Both of them. A lot. I would never want to replace you, just like I'd never want to replace Luke." Tears flowed freely down her cheeks.
"I know that Lore, and deep down Luke knows it too. You can't help who you are, and I would never want you to change. I'm sure Luke feels the same way. But sometimes you can't help the way you feel. Luke needs to let you get to know April, but HE needs to be the one to take the steps to do it."
"Thanks Chris," she said, stepping back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "For what it's worth, you're a great dad to Gigi." He appreciated her honesty. She acknowledged his failings with Rory, without throwing them in his face, and still managed to reassure him.
"Thanks Lore. Is anyone else coming? Did you call Luke's family?" he asked. "Did you call Rory? How can I help?"
"April is flying in from New Mexico her flight is due in at 11:00. Luke's sister's mobile is out of range, but I left a message, and I tried to reach Jess, Luke's nephew, but had to just leave a message."
"How is April getting here from the airport?"
"I, ugh, don't know," Lorelai mumbled. "I hoped Luke would have woken up by then, and I could just go pick her up, but now I don't know. I don't want to leave, but I can't send someone she doesn't know, that would be weird."
"She doesn't even really know you though. Maybe we could just send a car, then it's not a random stranger, but a professional," he suggested trying to be helpful.
"I suppose that could work. I'll call her and leave her the name of the car company and driver as soon as you set it up. Oh wait, my phone is dead. Crap." She smacked her forehead animatedly.
"Here, take my phone battery. The only person that would need me on a Saturday night is my mother, and she knows where I am," he said, powering off his phone.
"Wait. Rory should know, but I can't call her. I can't tell her I screwed up again." Lorelai's eyes welled up with tears again.
"Lore, you didn't do anything wrong. Arguments happen - to all of us. There's no way Rory will blame you. However, I will call her for you," he added quickly when the tears began to fall.
"Thank you," she whispered as he dialed.
"'lo," Rory answered in a gravelly voice.
"Ror? Did I wake you? Are you okay?" he asked.
"Dad?" she croaked. "I'm okay, I've just got a bad cold. What's going on? Why are you calling me on a Saturday night?" He could hear the panic rising in her voice.
"Rory, I need you stay calm for a minute. Can you do that?" he asked.
"I'll try."
"Your mom and Luke were in a car accident this morning," he started. She started to interrupt and he cut her off, "Your mom is fine, a few bruises and scratches, but Luke is in a coma. I just thought you should know."
"Why didn't Mom call me? How come I'm just finding out about this now if it happened this morning?" she asked frantically.
"Your mom's pretty shaken up, I insisted that you be notified, I know how you feel about Luke. I'm sure he'll be fine, but still." It hurt to admit how much his daughter loved Luke. Luke was a father figure to her growing up, while Christopher was out trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. As much as he despised the man, he owed him a debt of gratitude for taking such good care of Rory.
"I'll be on the next plane to Hartford," Rory said sharply. "Thanks for calling Dad. I'll text you when I know my flight info."
"Your mom's mobile is dead, so I'm giving her my battery, text her instead. I love you kid."
"I love you too, Dad. See you soon I guess." She hung up and Christopher turned off his phone and handed the battery to Lorelai.
"She's pretty upset with me isn't she?" Lorelai asked as she put the battery into her phone and turned it on.
"She's just worried. She'll be fine by the time she gets here. You check your messages and make calls, I'll go set up a car for Luke's daughter. April right?" She nodded, and he headed off to the nurses station.
******************************
Three hours later April arrived, she briefly asked Lorelai how her father was, then took up a spot next to his bed, waiting for him to wake up. Lorelai still refused to enter the hospital room, and remained resolutely planted on the bench outside the door. Christopher did his best to make her comfortable, brought her coffee, and offered food, but it seemed to make no difference.
Rory showed up around 2:00 am. "Mom! Dad!" she called, and began running towards them when she finally found them.
Christopher stood up to greet his daughter, but she ran straight to her mother's side. "Mom, what happened? Luke's going to be okay, right? Is April here?"
Rory's presence seemed to snap Lorelai out of her funk. "Rory?" She stood up to hug her daughter, "I'm so glad to see you." She then began filling in all of the details for Rory.
"Well, I guess I'm going to go," Christopher said awkwardly. He felt very much like an outsider looking in. This caused Rory to break her hug from Lorelai and turn to hug her dad.
"Thanks for calling me Dad. I'll call you tomorrow and let you know how things are going." He nodded, then turned toward the door.
"Christopher, wait," Lorelai said. She walked over to him and hugged him. "Thank you so much for everything."
"No problem, if you need anything else call me," he instructed.
"But I have your phone battery," she reminded him.
"I've got a charger in the car, and a spare battery in my brief case, I'll be fine. Besides, you need it more than I do." He smiled wanly at her. She hugged him again, and he kissed her on the head. "It'll all be okay Lore, I promise," he whispered. He just hoped he could keep his promise.
******************************
Christopher Hayden was absolutely, positively, 100% in love with Lorelai Gilmore, but right now, he didn't know if that even counted for anything at all.
******************************
******************************
Saturday night found Logan Huntzberger in no better frame of mind to email his beloved. His golf game had been miserable. He was lucky if he could make par on most of the holes, and the random people he was paired with were all stodgy old men, which reminded him of his father and grandfather, and thus made him question his decision to return home for Richard and Emily's anniversary party. And to make matters worse, the drink carts were all manned by middle-aged women, who cooed over him, but did nothing to take his mind off Rory and did not serve scotch. He was stuck drinking beer - cheap beer at that.
He ordered an assortment of Indian food, and sat down again in attempts to compose an email.
To: Rory Gilmore
From: Logan Huntzberger
Re: Anniversary Parties
Rory-
You're right. I just got the invitation to your grandparent's anniversary party. I'm torn as to whether or not I should go. If it were just seeing my friends, and you, it would be worth it in a heartbeat, but then I have to factor in the horridness that is my parents. Unfortunately, my mother would never miss a social event that would give her the chance to look down her nose at other people, so I know they'll be in attendance. But of course there is always the sub-party, which is almost always worth it in the end.
You know what? Screw it. Here's the truth: I'll go if you want me to go. If you don't want me there, I can completely understand that, and I won't go. I want to see you, but I don't want it to be awkward for you. After all, it is YOUR family event. So let me know what you decide. You have two weeks until the RSVP date. I'll wait for your decision. If I don't here from you, I'll assume that's a no.
I hope you're doing well, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Logan
He quickly hit the send button, not allowing himself time to over think the situation. She deserved the truth, and he was tired of trying to say and do the right thing, hoping it was interpreted correctly. He shut down his computer, so he wouldn't be tempted to check for a reply every two minutes, and headed to the living room.
Logan had just settled into the couch when he heard the doorbell ring. He grabbed his wallet and head to the door to get his Indian food.
A perky blue-eyed brunette stood on the other side of his door, holding an expertly tied bag of take out food. "Your total is $22.61," she told him.
He paused momentarily and stared at her. She wasn't his Rory, but she kind of looked like her. She was shorter, and younger, but not all together unappealing.
"Sir, are you alright?" she asked after a few moments when he seemed to be frozen at the door.
"Oh yeah. Of course. Sorry about that, you just reminded me of someone I know," he explained. He handed her two twenties, "Keep the change."
"Wow, that's really generous of you, but it's too much," she said.
"Don't worry about it. As I have been told in the past, you can never pay too much for the convenience of having food delivered to your house." He thought of Rory, and his heart throbbed painfully. The delivery guys in their old neighborhood absolutely loved it when she ordered food. He had it on good authority from one of the restaurant owners, that they would fight about who got to deliver the orders, knowing how well she would tip them.
"Well, then, thank you very much," she told him. "Have a good night."
"You too." He shut the door as she walked away, and returned to his living room.
Logan set the bag down on the coffee table and went over to the bar to pour himself a drink. The startling appearance of Rory's junior doppelganger took him by surprise, and left him slightly shaken. He returned to the table with his scotch and began unpacking the bag of food. He opened the cartons only to find that he was no longer hungry.
*******************************
The remainder of his weekend passed without a response from Rory. By Monday morning, when he left for work, he was desperate to have something to distract him from waiting for a response that may never arrive.
Upon arrival in his office he buried himself in work, taking painstaking time to answer each email and respond to each voicemail. He even went out of his way to make a coffee run for the entire office just to keep busy. He found that was the problem with being good at what you did, you became so efficient you had time to spare. He couldn't afford to have spare time right now.
Around 3:00, after his desk was perfectly organized, he was prepared for all of his meetings for the next few days, and he had no outstanding messages (except from his father, but then when did Mitchum ever count?), his mobile began vibrating in his pocket. He grabbed the phone quickly, wondering who would be calling him. Most of his friends waited until after his work hours anymore, and if it was work related people called his office, his mobile number was a closely guarded secret. After years of being at Mitchum's beckon call he decided he would at least try to leave work at work for a while. Sure there were emergencies, but not everything was an emergency anymore. He looked at the screen before he answered.
"Hey man!" he answered happily, "What's going on?"
"How soon can you get here?" Colin asked frantically.
"Colin, what's going on? Where's here?" he asked, suddenly filling with worry. "Is it Steph? Finn?"
"It's Rory." Colin told him quietly.
"Rory?" Logan roared. "What's wrong with her?" He began shutting down his office preparing to take all necessary steps to be on the next plane to wherever 'here' was.
"Calm down Logan. Physically she's fine, but her mother and Luke were in an accident. Her mom is doing well, but Luke's in a coma, and well, Rory's freaking out."
Logan's heart rate slowed to almost normal. "You scared me Colin." He started setting his stuff back down in his office. "Why is it that you think I should be there?" Now that he knew Rory wasn't in physical danger, his stubborn side kicked in.
"You know how close she is to Luke. She's in a total panic and no one can calm her down," Colin explained.
"Not even Lorelai?" Logan asked. "What makes you think I can? I could just make it worse."
"Lorelai is pretty inconsolable herself. You always had a way of calming Rory down. Besides if nothing else, she could use you here to throw around your name." Colin said the last part flippantly, but Logan could hear the hope behind his voice.
"If you just want a Huntzberger, call Honor. Why are you even there?"
"Well Rory called Stephanie when she flew into town on Saturday night. Originally they were told that Luke should wake from his coma relatively quickly, and Rory just came in to give Lorelai support. But now, it's been three days, and things are getting worse. We've all been taking turns staying with her trying to calm her down, but she hasn't slept in days and I think she's got more coffee in her system than blood at his point." Logan could hear that Colin was genuinely worried about her.
"Colin, I don't-" Logan started, but Colin interrupted.
"Look, damn it! I never get in the middle of your stuff, but you need to get past your stupid pride and come be here. The next time you get in trouble I promise, I'll come bail you out no questions asked, but you need to be here now."
Logan sighed deeply. "Fine I'll call you as soon as I book a flight."
"No. One of the McRae planes is out there, I've sent it to the San Francisco airport. It should be there within the next hour, go straight to the airport." Logan started to protest that he needed to stop at home and get his stuff but Colin wouldn't even let him get a word in. "Between Finn and I, I'm sure we have plenty of your clothes, or hell, we'll buy you new ones. JUST GET HERE." The last part came out as an order.
"Sir, yes Sir," Logan quipped smartly.
"I'm sorry Logan, it's just-" Colin started.
"No worries. It's part of her charm, you just want to take care of her."
"We're at Hartford Memorial. Call me when the plane lands." Logan stood motionless for a moment after Colin hung up the phone. It must be bad if Colin was worried, he was the one resolutely against letting Rory back into his life. He walked to the door and flicked out the lights.
"Beth, something's come up and I have to go out of town for a couple days. Rearrange my meetings set for tomorrow, see if I can teleconference, and I'll call you some time tomorrow morning when I know what's going on and when and where my meetings can be reset," Logan informed his assistant briskly.
"Is everything okay?" she asked curiously, knowing he likely wouldn't share, but still having to try.
"No. It's not. But, hopefully it will be soon enough." He strode into the elevator and hit the button for the garage.
******************************
He made it to the airport in good time. The plane was gassed and ready to go when he arrived.
"The flight will be about 6 hours sir, we've got a strong headwind today. I'm James, your captain, and this is Margot, my co-captain. Mr. McRae had some food delivered just a few moments ago for your flight, so help yourself if you get hungry."
Logan nodded at the man, but barely registered any of the words he said. Food and 6 hours. He pulled his mobile out to text Colin, only to be rebuked by the pilot. "Sorry sir, since there's no cabin crew, I'm going to have to ask you to turn that off now."
"No problem," he said numbly. What was he going to do for 6 hours. The last thing he wanted right now was 6 hours alone. He couldn't get drunk, he needed to function as soon as he got off the plane, he couldn't work, he didn't even have time to grab any of his files, he couldn't even use his iPod at the moment to drown out the sound of his own thoughts.
He rummaged around in the armrest between the seats. It contained several magazines as well as a notepad and pen. He pulled out the pen and pad, and began making lists. Lists of people to call, people to email, information his assistant needed from him, information he needed sent to him, places he could stay, places he could have meetings or use conference facilities, and lastly, things to say, or not say, to Rory. At some point he fell asleep, only to be awoken by the pilot telling him to prepare for landing.
Between the flight time and the time difference, he arrived in Connecticut around midnight. He rubbed his bleary eyes and stepped off the plane at the private airstrip to find a car waiting for him. He turned on his mobile to find several missed calls, all from his assistant, within the first hour of his flight. Too late to do anything with those now.
"We're here sir. Mr. McRae said to tell you they're on the 6th floor," the driver told him kindly.
"Thank you, my good man. I'm sorry to have kept you out so late," Logan told the man as he stepped from the car.
"Think nothing of it. Should you need a ride feel free to call me and I'll come take you where you need to go." He pressed his card into Logan's hand. Logan nodded and pocketed the card. He straightened his tie, put on some confidence, and walked purposefully into the hospital.
He stopped at the nurses station on the 6th floor just outside the elevator bank. "I'm looking for Luke Danes' room?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake anyone sleeping in the waiting room.
"Room 624, end of the hall on the left," the nurse pointed down the furthest hallway. "I'd tell you that visiting hours are over, but for some reason, it doesn't seem to apply to that room. There have been people here nonstop for days."
He smiled knowingly, no one stood a chance against a Gilmore Girl on a mission. "Thank you for your help."
As he approached the room he paused to take in the scene. Colin was sitting on the end of a bench reading a paper, Finn was curled up asleep, with his head in Colin's lap and his legs draped across Rory, holding her hand, and Rory was sitting eerily still, staring at the wall with the tracks of dried tears staining her cheeks.
He walked up to Colin and rested his hand lightly on his shoulder. "Hey man, I got here as soon as I could, is there any new news?"
Rory's head snapped in his direction, and she shoved Finn's legs from her lap. "Logan?" she croaked, her voice hoarse from either crying or lack of use, or both. He nodded once. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I called him and asked him to come," Colin explained. Colin pushed at Finn's head to get him to move.
Finn stood up, blinking several times, "Logan? Mate is that you?" he asked sleepily.
"Yeah, Finn it's me." Logan smiled at his friend.
"It's about bloody time. I'll go get the coffee." Finn headed off towards the cafeteria. Rory and Colin both stood up.
"I'll, uh, give you guys a minute," Colin said, following Finn down the hall.
They both waited until the hall was clear to speak. "Ace, do you want to tell me what happened?" he asked gently.
"It's Luke," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. He held out his arms, and she walked into them, wrapping her arms around his waist so tightly he was afraid he wouldn't be able to breathe.
"Shhh," he soothed, stroking her back and her hair. "It's going to be okay. Just let it all out."
She stood there for another minute or so weeping into his shirt, before she finally pulled back. He didn't want to let her go, but knew that it was for the best, least for now.
"Can you give me some more details now?" he asked softly, not wanting to upset her further.
She nodded, than began, "My mom and Luke were in a car accident, my mom is fine, but Luke's side took the impact, and he hit his head on the drivers side window. He lost consciousness on the ride to the hospital, and he hasn't woken up yet. He's got a broken arm and some broken ribs. The doctors thought he'd come around, but it's gotten worse, he's in a coma." She broke down again, but instead of letting Logan comfort her, she walked over to the door of the room and looked in.
Logan followed her over and peered in the window. The Luke that was normally larger than life looked frail lying in the bed, with monitors and tubes everywhere. He searched the room for Lorelai, but didn't see her. "Where's Lorelai?"
Rory sniffed before answering. "She took April to my grandparents to get some sleep, and stayed with her because she didn't think it would be fair to leave her in a house full of strangers. They'll be back in the morning."
Logan could see the scene unfolding before him. Rory volunteering to stay just so someone was there if he woke up. "Doesn't Luke have other family?"
"His sister Liz and her husband TJ are on the Renaissance Fair Circuit right now, and aren't accessible by phone, and no one's been able to find Jess yet," Rory explained. "Logan I'm scared. What if…" she trailed off.
"Rory," he grabbed her by both arms, "don't think like that. We'll get through this. I'm here with you for anything you need. Do you need me to Huntzberger someone?" he asked in a teasing tone, then watched as a small smile played upon her lips.
"Well, we've Hayden'd them and Gilmore'd them already, maybe a Hunzbergering would help," she retorted. She almost laughed, he was making progress. Right now his goal was small, get her to relax a little. Not even leave the hospital, but relax enough to get a little rest.
"Why don't we sit down for a while? When was the last time you ate? Or drank anything other than coffee? Or slept?" He tried to keep his tone light, but was genuinely concerned for her.
She agreed and returned to her spot on the bench. "Finn, Colin and Steph have been good about bringing me food. I see no reason to drink anything but coffee. And, I think I slept Saturday morning, before my dad called."
She was working on 72 hours of no sleep. "How about this, you try to get some sleep and I'll stay awake for the next shift?"
"No Logan, I can't sleep."
"Then how about you just rest your eyes for a few minutes. I'm on West Coast time, so it's not even midnight for me and I slept on the plane. I'll stay right here with you and catch up with Finn and Colin." He tried again.
"Send Finn and Colin home, they deserve a night of rest."
"So do you."
"Okay, send Finn and Colin home and I'll rest my eyes for 10 minutes," she compromised.
"30 minutes."
"20."
"Deal." Logan agreed readily, knowing if she could get to sleep she'd be out for at least 2 hours.
Logan watched as she tried to get comfortable on the bench, with no pillows and a thin blanket. "Here," he said as he shrugged out of his jacket. "Use this. And I'll sit down at this end and you can lean on me."
"Okay," she said surprisingly willing.
Ten minutes later, she was asleep, and Finn and Colin returned with the coffee. Logan held his finger to his lips to indicate that they should be quiet.
"Finally got her to sleep Mate?"
"She's resting her eyes for 20 minutes. Why don't you two go home and get some rest?"
The two men glanced at each other. "She asked that I send you home. You can come back in a few hours and bring supplies, decent food, a blanket or two and a pillow, and a change of clothes for me please. I don't want to sit in this suit forever."
They agreed and Logan watched the walk away, grateful he had such good friends to look out for his girl.
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"Rory!" a loud male voice yelled. Logan woke up with a start, not knowing what time it was, and saw a man coming down the hall. Rory was still asleep on his lap until the man yelled, at which point she woke up, and rushed towards the man quickly, throwing herself into his arms.
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Logan Huntzberger was absolutely, positively, 100% in love with Rory Gilmore, but right now, he didn't know if that was enough.
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Author's Note: Okay, okay I know it's been a while. I'm sorry. School, well, is taking up way too much of my time right now.
Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, David Sutcliffe, or Matt Czuchry, or anything else you recognize. I do however enjoy Matt Czuchry on The Good Wife every week.
To any of you still reading: Thanks, and I appreciate your comments and feed back.
Next on Winning Back the Gilmore Girls: Who's yelling for Rory in the hall? Will Luke ever wake up? Will Christopher continue to be helpful, or is helping Lorelai with Luke involved too much for him?