Disclaimer: As always, I do not own the Gilmore Girls, or any of the characters, or any of the brilliant plot ideas. Please don’t sue me. I don’t have any money to speak of, so it would be disappointing.
Rating: PG-13, maybe… maaaaaybe R…
A/N: Thanks for all of the great reviews! I’m glad that everyone is enjoying the story! Here’s chapter 3…
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Chapter 3: Rescue
Lorelai found herself praying—something she rarely did—as she reached for the handle of Luke’s truck. She could see Luke's still form through the window and she found herself thinking the unthinkable.
That he was dead.
But she pushed those thoughts away and pulled open the door. Tears sprang to her eyes as she saw him there, his eyes closed, a bloody washrag in his limp hand.
“Oh God,” she said again, breathing quickly.
She had to stay calm. Taking a deep breath in an attempt to control her rising panic, Lorelai forced herself to concentrate. She had taken a first aid class years ago. Right after Rory was born. It had been a lame attempt on her part to try and regain control of her life—to get a grasp on something in a world that was spinning out of control.
She remembered little of the class now, of course, but the basics were still there. She reached out with a shaky hand, holding her fingertips centimeters above Luke’s mouth.
And she felt it. The flutter of air moving against her fingers. Lorelai let out a breath she hadn’t even known she had been holding.
He was breathing. He was alive. And her tears began to fall.
Lorelai’s eyes traveled over Luke’s still form, looking for any obvious injuries. She stopped when she saw the cut on his forehead. The wound was large, stretching from his left temple to just above his left eyebrow. It was still bleeding a little, but not nearly as much as it had been, if the bloody rag in Luke’s hand was anything to go by.
Lorelai shuddered. She hated blood. Hell—she had barely been able to bandage Luke’s hand a couple weeks ago, when he had cut it on her window.
But even worse, she couldn’t stand the sight of Luke so vulnerable. So helpless.
She was the helpless one. Not him. She was the one who lost it every time something went wrong in her life. And he was the one she ran to. He was the strong one.
But not tonight. Tonight, he needed her to be strong for him.
Cautiously, ignoring the tears that had started to stream down her face, Lorelai crouched down next to the open door, reached forward again to rest her hand on Luke’s cheek.
“Luke?” Lorelai whispered, her voice wavering. “Can you wake up for me?”
She paused, watching his face for a reaction. Luke remained silent, and a small sob escaped her lips. She stroked his cheek with her thumb. “God, Luke… This really isn’t a good time to be stubborn.”
Suddenly, Luke’s eyes fluttered open for a brief moment, before sliding shut again. Lorelai moved closer to him, encouraged by the reaction.
“Good…” she said softly, sniffing back her tears. “Listen. I’ll make you a deal. If you wake up now, I’ll give up coffee. Forever. You know what a big sacrifice that is for me.” Lorelai paused. “But I know how much it bugs you. So I’ll do it for you. I promise. Just open your eyes.”
For a moment, Luke remained motionless. But slowly, his eyes opened. He blinked, focusing on his surroundings as he tried to remember where he was.
“Lorelai?” He asked, his voice rough. “What are you doing here?”
“Hey…” Lorelai said softly, moving her hand down his cheek as she wiped away her tears. “Welcome back to the world of the living.”
“What are you talking about?” Luke asked, pushing himself up in the seat. He winced, and reached up to touch his injured forehead.
“You had an accident. I was driving back from Hartford—”
“What?” Luke asked, his voice rising. “You were driving? The weather was terrible… you could've gotten hurt!” Lorelai rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help the relief she felt at his angry words. If Luke felt good enough to scold her for driving in bad weather, then his injuries couldn’t be that bad.
“You’re one to talk, Mr. Roadside Assistance.” She replied. “I saw your truck in the ditch. And, being the wonderful friend that I am, I decided to stop and help you out, rather than leave you out here for the wolves.”
“There aren’t any wolves in Connecticut,” Luke muttered testily. Lorelai ignored the comment, glad, at least, that her attempt at humor had disguised the fear in her voice. Despite Luke’s macho man act, she knew that he must have been shaken by what he had been through. The last thing he needed was to deal with her hysterics. He didn’t need to worry about how she felt when she saw him through the truck window.
When she thought that he was dead.
The thought still made her shudder, and she shook it away quickly. “Are you okay?” She asked.
“Never better,” Luke muttered, gritting his teeth as he unbuckled his seatbelt.
“Are you sure?” Lorelai asked. “Can you move your legs? Is your neck broken? How many fingers am I holding up?” Lorelai raised her hand, two fingers extended, only to be greeted with a frown from Luke. “Fine,” Lorelai continued, realizing that she was babbling. “No paralysis. No broken neck. No double vision. At least let me look at your head,” she said, reaching towards him.
“It’s fine,” Luke said. “I just have a headache.”
“Luke… you were passed out for God knows how long before I got here. Your forehead is swollen. You’re bleeding. I don’t think that counts as being fine.”
Luke muttered something under his breath, but again Lorelai ignored him. “I think I should take you to the hospital,” she said.
“No!” Luke said loudly. “It’s not that bad.”
“But—” Lorelai started.
“Don’t even think about it,” Luke cut her off. “It stopped bleeding anyways.” He pressed a finger to the wound and pulled it away to illustrate his point.
Lorelai wrinkled her nose. “Gross,” she grumbled.
Luke slowly slid to the edge of the seat, moving to stand up. Lorelai reached for his arm to steady him as he stood up. He wavered slightly, and she unconsciously tightened her grip on his arm.
“Luke…” She began again. “Are you sure that you don’t need to go to the hospital?”
He nodded, though his face was pale and drawn. “I hate the hospital.”
“I know you do. I remember. But you could have a concussion. Or…you know…internal bleeding or something.”
Luke snapped at her, exasperated. “I don’t, okay? I’m fine. I just want to go home.” He paused, wincing again as he brought a hand up to rub his temple.
“I’m sorry,” Lorelai said softly, stung by the harshness of his words. “I’m just worried about you. You had me scared there for a few minutes.”
Luke’s face softened, touched by her concern. He reached up to rest his hand on hers, where it was still wrapped around his arm. “I know. I’m really okay. I just need to go home, take some tylenol, and put some alcohol on this cut. I can call about the truck in the morning.”
Lorelai narrowed her eyes suspiciously, studying him for any sign that he was lying to her. Finding none, she nodded.
“Fine. But I have one condition.”
Luke groaned. “Lorelai…”
“This is non-negotiable,” she said, looking at him sternly. “You’re staying with me tonight.”
“Oh, come on. I told you I’m fine.” Luke said.
“And I’m sure you are,” she said. “But you could still have a concussion. Don’t you ever watch ER? A couple weeks ago, there was this episode, where Dr. Carter had a patient with a head wound. He decided that it was minor—no concussion or anything. But his diagnosis was wrong. The patient fell asleep that night, and never woke up.”
Luke stared at Lorelai in disbelief as she relayed this information, her eyes wide, her hands flailing about excitedly.
“ER?" Luke said.
“My point is, I don’t want you to die in the middle of the night. I want to be able to check up on you. According to Dr. Carter, it’s important to check up on a patient with a concussion at least once every few hours.
Luke continued to stare at her, trying to hold back a smile. “So, you’re giving me medical advise from an overdramatic, unrealistic television show…”
Lorelai looked at him, shocked. “Of course. Where else would I get my medical advice? Dr. Carter is the most talented ER doctor on Must-See TV.”
Luke rolled his eyes, ignoring her last comment. “I don’t have a concussion.”
“You probably don’t,” she agreed. “But will you just do this for me?” Lorelai asked, her voice serious. “It’ll make me feel better.” She stuck her bottom lip out, pouting, and Luke’s heart melted, just like it always did with Lorelai.
“Fine. If it’ll make you happy...” he replied reluctantly.
“It will.” Lorelai smiled.
“...And as long as I’m not intruding…” Luke said slowly.
“On what?” Lorelai laughed. “Rory’s at school. Sookie and Jackson are busy with Davey. My parents aren’t talking to me. Jason and I broke up. I’m all alone in a big, scary house. I’d appreciate the company. In fact, I’m beginning to think that there's a ghost living in the downstairs bathroom, and I have to admit that it’s freaking me out a little—”
“What?” Luke asked.
“Yeah… sometimes I hear something thumping around in there. I know. You’re probably going to say that it’s just the wind, or a mouse, or something logical like that. But I don’t think it is—”
“No,” Luke interrupted, shaking his head. “Not the ghost. Jason. You broke up?”
Lorelai rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “Oh yeah… that. Just one part of a long, long story. I’ll tell you later.” She gestured to her Jeep. “Right now, though, you need to get out of the rain, and into some dry clothes. And I want to clean up that cut. I’ve gotta be honest with you… it’s grossing me out.”
Luke stared at her for a few seconds, before she tugged on his arm, leading him up to her car.
They had broken up. Luke considered this as he climbed into the passenger’s side of the car. He couldn’t help the feeling of relief that came with this information. He had never liked her boyfriends. Chris. Max. Alex. And he’d never met Jason, but he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t have liked him, either.
But was it really that he didn’t like her boyfriends? Or did it bother him more that, through all of the years they'd known each other—through all of the men she’d dated—she’d never given him a second glance?
“You okay?” Lorelai asked, interrupting his thoughts as she climbed into the driver’s seat next to him. “You look upset.
“I’m fine. My head just hurts a little.”
Lorelai smiled sympathetically. “Well, in about ten minutes we’ll be home, you can lie down, and we’ll put some ice on it.”
Luke nodded as Lorelai backed up and drove around the fallen tree. They drove in silence, Luke distracted by the pounding ache in his temple, and Lorelai focused on getting him to Stars Hollow as soon as possible.
Finally, they pulled into her driveway, and Lorelai jumped out of the car, moving to the passenger’s side to help Luke.
“I can get out of the car on my own,” he muttered as she reached out for his arm.
“Oh, stop being such a baby and let me help you for once,” Lorelai muttered, wrapping her arm around his waist as he got out of the car.
Luke paused, looking down at her arm around his waist, steadying him... moving his eyes up to study her face. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she tried to navigate her way to the front door while supporting him and simultaneously digging around in her purse for the house keys.
And for a moment as he watched her, he couldn’t breath.
She was beautiful.
“Lorelai?” He asked suddenly.
“Yeah?” She replied, preoccupied as she struggled to unlock the front door. Luke continued to watch her, not quite sure now what he had wanted to say. After several seconds passed in silence, she looked up at him. “You alright?” She asked again, concerned at his silence.
Luke nodded, sighing as the moment disappeared. “Yeah. I just wanted to say… thanks.”
Lorelai beamed back at him. “No problem. Now come inside.”
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