TALK TO ME

An accident happens to Luke and puts both Luke and Lorelai in an uncomfortable position. But it's OK, though, because it gives them the opportunity to brainstorm and come out with a few fun ideas. Set in no particular season, but Rory is still at Chilton and Luke and Lorelai are both single. JavaJunkie.

AN: Many many thanks to my precious beta, Junienmomo!

Chapter 1

The hospital doors swung open and a tall brunette with long curly hair and sparkling blue eyes entered in a hurry. Her high heels resonated through the hall while she half-walked and half-trotted, turning to her right to greet the nurse at the information desk. "Hi Sue! Nice coat! I like the sexy-nurse look on you!" she winked awkwardly while waving in the nurse's direction, her hair bouncing in sync with her fast pace.

"Thanks Lorelai. Same as every day. It almost makes me believe that I am a sexy nurse!" Sue giggled.

"You definitely are, honey!" Lorelai added in a slightly higher tone, to make her statement heard while she increased her speed to enter the elevator before its doors closed. She positioned herself between a teen-aged girl and an old woman, unconsciously creating a living age range. She sighed loudly, happy to be on track for her daily routine. She straightened her jacket over her hips to regain her composure after the short run. The elevator stopped with a ting at the second floor and she stepped out, smiling her goodbyes to the people still waiting to reach the desired floor. She then turned to her right and started walking through the long corridor, just like she'd been doing every day for the last week. She was softly humming an unrecognizable song, stopping only to greet the nurses she met, whom she already knew by name. She was wearing grey slacks, a flowery shirt and a grey form-fitting jacket. Her very formal attire clearly showed that she was coming directly from work and that she was due to go back to work at the end of her visit. In fact, she had arranged her duties so that she could come to the hospital every day, just after lunch, and stay there for a couple of hours. Since the night she found out about the accident, there was no way on earth that she could even think about skipping one single daily visit to her best friend Luke.

That fatal night Lorelai was in Hartford having dinner with her parents and her daughter Rory, as they usually did on Fridays. After dinner, she and Rory drove back to Stars Hollow, singing at the top of their lungs, just happy to have survived another Friday night at the infamous Gilmore mansion which, according to Lorelai, was the source of all evil. As soon as Lorelai stopped her Jeep in front of her house, they saw a short blond woman coming running to them, panting and yelling with a very raspy voice that something happened to Luke and that he was now at the hospital.

"Calm down Babette! We can't understand a single word," Lorelai told the woman while seizing her by her shoulders and looking in her eyes "It seemed that you said that Luke's at the hospital, but that's just impossible. We were at his diner a couple of hours ago to drink our usual pre-dinner coffee and he was his perfectly healthy and grumpy usual self."

Babette, one hand on her heart, still panting because of her short run from the neighboring house, tried to regain her breath. "It happened later, Sugah. He was out of the diner, disposing of the day's garbage as he usually does each night. You know, running a diner he must have a lot of garbage. I just can't imagine how many huge bags he has to carry out and about each day." Babette's eyes went wide at the thought of the quantity of garbage the poor man had to handle every day.

"Babette, please, focus!" Lorelai snapped her fingers in front of her neighbor's face to bring her attention back to the story she was telling.

"Right. So, as I was saying, he was out of the diner disposing of his daily garbage when a very heavy flowerpot fell from Mrs. Gleason's balcony, hitting him hard on his head. Luckily enough, Kirk was passing nearby, so he immediately called the Ambulance and alerted the town that Luke was being transported to the hospital with a concussion." Babette got closer to Lorelai and Rory and lowered her voice in a conspirational tone "We still don't understand the reason why Kirk was out that late at night, that's quite intriguing, you know…"

Lorelai was not in the mood to gossip about Kirk's nightly habits, so she cut Babette off asking her "Do you know if he's OK?"

"Oh Sugah…" Babette started whining, "he's in a coma!"

That night Lorelai tried in vain to get some sleep, but she couldn't get Luke off her mind. She knew she couldn't go to see him that late at night because she was not part of his family and they probably wouldn't let her see him, but not knowing anything about him was killing her. She didn't know whether he was still in a coma, or he already woke up, or… No. He's fine. He is strong. He is the healthiest person I ever met and he will be OK very soon. He will recover perfectly and he will soon be able to rant and banter again. But she didn't know it for sure, and that was simply unbearable.

So she arranged her daily routine in the only way that could allow her a couple of hours each day to go to the hospital and see her friend, and she tried to completely stop any feeling or concern about him; she had always been better at keeping herself occupied instead of analyzing things. Not going to the hospital was simply not an option because not knowing what was going on there would make her think and worry about Luke nonstop, just like she did during that awful first night. She simply needed to check the situation with her own eyes, talk to Luke for a couple of hours, and then she was ready to face her day again - if only she could ignore that persistent knot in the pit of her stomach.

However, today it seemed that someone wanted to disrupt her daily routine: a young tall doctor was waiting outside Luke's door. When he saw Lorelai approaching, he started walking towards her, holding out his right hand with the clear intention of shaking Lorelai's hand. "Excuse me. I'm Doctor Sullivan. Are you Mr. Danes' girlfriend?"

Lorelai was taken aback by the question and immediately started to panic. Oh my God, here we are. He will discover that I'm neither family nor his girlfriend and I won't be able to come and see him anymore. She took a sharp intake of breath and braced herself for what was coming, shaking the doctor's hand and starting to ramble one mile a minute, as it was her habit whenever she felt uncomfortable.

"Lorelai Gilmore. Actually I'm just a friend. A very good friend. He's maybe the best friend I ever had! Were you looking for a girlfriend here? Because, if you were… well, I don't think there actually is one. Of course, I can't be 100% sure about it, because Luke is a very private person, but I'm pretty certain that I should know by now if he had a girlfriend."

"It's OK, Miss Gilmore. I was not looking for his girlfriend. I only wanted to talk to you. I noticed you come here always at the same hour, so I was waiting for you."

Lorelai stopped rambling, but didn't stop being worried. "Oh" she quietly exhaled.

"Please follow me," Doctor Sullivan instructed and guided her to a nearby office, then kept the door opened for her to enter the room. "Please, have a seat," he said while circling the wooden desk at the center of the room and sitting behind it.

She sat rigidly, her back stiff, her hands trapped between her long legs, still feeling anxious about what he was going to tell her. "Is he OK?" she blurted.

Doctor Sullivan took in her concerned attitude and immediately said "Oh yes, he's fine! Well, at least nothing new happened from yesterday, when you last saw him."

Lorelai immediately released the breath she didn't know she was holding. Her main cause of fear gone, she could start to relax a little. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, crossing her legs and shifting on the chair so that she could now rest her back.

"As I told you, I noticed that you always come visiting him at the same hour of the day. Do you know why I did?"

"Well…" Lorelai cleared her throat. She was slightly embarrassed at the direction this conversation was taking. She could only hope that the latter was not the doctor's pick up line. She really was not in the mood for that.

"I hope this isn't getting too personal." She started babbling, "I really don't know you, even if I'm sure that you are a totally great person! I mean, obviously you care a lot about other people's health and stuff…"

While babbling, Lorelai noted that the doctor looked extremely confused at her speech. Slowly the puzzlement on his face gave place to an amused expression, and he interrupted her "I see how my question could be misinterpreted, Miss Gilmore. Let me rephrase it for you. The other doctors and I who take care of Mr. Danes noticed that your visits raise a reaction in our patient: his heart rate and blood pressure increase, his breathing gets faster and so does his pulse. At the beginning we didn't understand the reason for these changes in his parameters, but after a few days we noticed that they took place each day, always at the same hours of the day, which happen to be the hours you come visiting him."

They sat silently for a couple of seconds. Lorelai was apparently fascinated by some pattern on the edge of the desk, which she continued to follow with her right hand index, intently staring at it while trying to hide her blushing cheeks. She was two times embarrassed: first of all, for assuming that Doctor Sullivan asked her to follow him in his office just to ask her out. Secondly, she felt strangely warm inside from what he just told her. Luke's heart beats faster when I'm around… She couldn't stop thinking about it.

Seeing that Lorelai was not going to comment on this news and wanting to give her more information, Doctor Sullivan resumed. "This discovery implies really good news because it means that he can recognize your voice and that he can actually hear it, so we can deduce that his state is not too far from consciousness. We studied his reactions to other people's visits very closely and nothing more emerged. He really seems to react only to your voice. That's why I asked if you were his girlfriend."

Feeling her cheeks burning, Lorelai cast a glance over the doctor, to check if she unintentionally offended him assuming that he could be interested in her, in a very unprofessional way. Seeing no hurt in Doctor Sullivan's smiling face, she felt nonetheless the urge to apologize.

"Right. Listen, I'm really sorry for what I said before. I just didn't know what to think about you wanting to talk to me. Actually, I'm afraid I haven't been able to think straight since the night I knew about Luke's accident."

"It's OK, it doesn't matter." The doctor said smiling. "I understand that you are worried about your friend and my question just came out of the blue." Sensing that the air was now clear between them and that the woman sitting in front of him was ready to listen to all he had to say, he resumed.

"As Mr. Danes seems to be sensible to your presence, we think you could have the power to wake him up. Of course, patients in a coma are always a bit of a mystery, but I wanted to talk to you and ask you if you are willing to collaborate with me. I believe that you could be of great help with Mr. Danes' case."

Lorelai was astonished and perplexed. She never thought she could be used as a medical treatment, but she was quick to answer.

"Anytime. Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll do it." She flipped her hair and slightly tilted her head to the right to adopt a better listening position.

He smiled again and said, "That's good. Thank you for your support. Today I just want you to touch him."

Lorelai's head snapped from her tilted position. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Nothing major. Just hold his hand, stroke his arm or his face, whatever you want. Anything will work for this step of our attempt. Just be sure you talk to him while you touch him. He has to know it's you, otherwise it will be useless. His sister is often touching him, but this led to no progress at all, so we want to be sure that he knows this time it's you and not his sister. Do you think you can do it?" he asked with a piercing gaze, noticing her evident initial discomfort to his request.

"Of course I can do it." Lorelai was relieved to know that what the doctor was asking her was not so far from what she usually did during her visits to Luke. "It's no problem at all." She paused and bit her lower lip, then said, "Do you really think this can be useful?"

Doctor Sullivan stood up before heading to the door and gesturing for Lorelai to follow him again.

"Well, of course we can't be sure about it, but we are trying to raise a bigger reaction out of him and we are starting from the only opening he lets us see," he once again held the door open for Lorelai, and added, looking squarely in her eyes, "Which is you."

She nodded sheepishly and murmured "OK", then they walked out of the office in the direction of Luke's room.

"If you don't mind, I'm coming in with you," the doctor said.

"Of course I don't mind." Lorelai answered.

They walked in silence until they reached Luke's room. Then Doctor Sullivan walked in, approaching the monitor behind Luke's bed, which was connected to the patient's body through needles and tubes. Lorelai hesitated in the doorframe, casting sidelong glances at Luke's unmoving figure on the bed and at a very intent Doctor Sullivan close to the monitor. She felt oddly shy having an audience to her usual nonstop chatter. Sensing her hesitation, the doctor turned to her and invited her in. "Don't bother about me. I won't listen to what you are saying. I'll just check his vitals here. Please, come on in."

Lorelai entered the room, a faint smile on her lips as she approached Luke. He was so quiet and still. He showed no emotions at all. Lorelai tried to recollect what the doctor had told her, and she marveled that any internal turmoil could be so perfectly hidden inside that motionless body. And quite a nice body we have here! She surprised herself at this thought. Luke was wearing only a short-sleeved hospital gown with a wide neckline, which was left untied on the back to allow easy access to the heart rate sensors attached to his upper body. From the waist down he was covered with a sheet and his right index finger was inserted into a finger sensor.

Lorelai carefully sat on Luke's bed on the opposite side from where the monitor and the doctor stood and whispered "Hey Luke!" She felt very self-conscious, probably due to the fact that Doctor Sullivan was going to scientifically assess the results of her silly one-way conversation. She looked at her hands currently abandoned in her lap, and saw them trembling.

Great! If the mere thought of touching him makes my hands shake, what will I do at the end of this visit? Faint? Dissolve in a pool of sweat? Come on Gilmore, get a grip! It's Luke! She took a deep breath. You only have to talk to him, like you always do, and take his hand or something. It will be fine. You don't have to kiss him to his senses! She winced, then shot a glance to the doctor to check if, by any chance, he could read her inappropriate thoughts on that monitor.

The thought of kissing Luke, as quick as it was, sent a shiver through her already shaken body, and she shot another glance to the doctor to be sure that she was not embarrassing herself in front of him. The doctor chose that same moment to look at her, raising his eyebrows and gesturing with his right hand in an invitation to say something.

She cleared her throat and tried to steady her voice. "Doctor Sullivan here tells me that I can hold your hand. I hope you don't mind if I do. I know you're not much into PDAs, but desperate times call for desperate measures." She once again glanced towards the doctor, who was very intently studying the monitor and scribbling something on a folder. Ok. Maybe he really isn't listening to the silly things I'm saying. That's good. Now let's get to the next step. She took a couple of deep breaths to try to calm her pounding heart, then moved her right hand closer to Luke's left hand.

"OK, I'm gonna take your hand now, Luke. If you don't want me to, please shout, rant, punch me on the nose or something," she tried to joke in a further attempt to calm herself. She slightly raised her right hand and softly put it upon Luke's left hand. "Well, here we are. You didn't shout and my nose is not bleeding, so I take it you don't mind. That's good." She closed her fingers around Luke's motionless hand and started to lightly caress its back with her thumb. She marveled at how big, tanned and rough his hands looked compared to hers. Yet they also looked extremely vulnerable and trusting due to his current state. She was silently savoring this new intimacy, studying the texture of his hand and reminiscing about all the wonderful things that same hand was able to do, serving her coffee and food or helping her fixing things and furniture at her house, when she suddenly remembered that she was supposed to talk. The doctor had told her that she had to make sure he knew it was her and not Liz who was touching him. She now felt more relaxed, having successfully passed what she thought was the toughest part of her assignment, so she started to tell him about her work, the news of the town, Rory's school progress and all the simple little things she liked to tell him every day. Gradually she forgot about the doctor and regained her usual liveliness, laughing, teasing him and re-enacting some situations she was telling him about. She did that without ever interrupting the connection through their hands: she kept holding, caressing, lifting his hand and turning it to study its palm. She even squeezed it a few times, when she thought that she needed more emphasis to her tale. She was concentrated on his hand and on his face, hoping to catch any sign that showed that he really recognized her, as the doctor said, but she could see nothing.

She lost track of the time and of their location until she heard Doctor Sullivan saying, "Very well. We've got a quite strong involuntary reaction, but unfortunately that's still not enough. We'll have to work further on that."

The sudden eruption of the doctor's voice in the bubble Lorelai's chatter created around her and Luke made Lorelai jump. Without letting go of Luke's hand, she shifted her eyes from his friend to the apparently very satisfied doctor. What the hell is he talking about? she thought, frowning.

After a few seconds, Doctor Sullivan realized that Lorelai had no idea what he was talking about.

"You really didn't notice anything?"

"I'm sorry. Should I have? He didn't move at all."

"Believe me, he did. But it's OK if you don't notice it. As I said before, it's a completely involuntary reaction to the combination of your voice and your touch together. This gives us hopes because he seems to be aware of these two factors, which are voice and touch. We just have to find the most effective way to get to him and wake him up."

Lorelai was puzzled. "You said that it's OK if I don't notice. You mean that this reaction you are talking about is still visible?" Her hand was still holding Luke's and her thumb was now lazily caressing his palm.

Doctor Sullivan closed the folder he had been writing on and put his pen inside his coat pocket "I think that, as long as you keep touching him, it can only escalate. I don't know if you want to know the details, maybe you don't, but call me if you need anything. I'll be in my office."

Lorelai couldn't believe her ears. What does it mean that maybe I don't want to know? I swear, this man is totally crazy. Of course I want to know.

"Wait a moment," she called. "Of course I want to know!"

The doctor had already opened the door and was going to exit the room, but stopped and turned at Lorelai's request. Then, he emphatically glanced towards Luke's body lying on the bed. Lorelai followed the doctor's gaze and violently blushed. A very noticeable bulge could be seen under the covers, at Luke's groin level. She immediately averted her eyes and started absent-mindedly to play with Luke's hands, causing his reaction to intensify, proving the doctor's previous forecast to be right.

"Oh, right." She mumbled, "Involuntary reaction. I get it now."

The doctor nodded. "If anything new happens, or if you need to talk to me, you know where to find me. If not, I'll see you tomorrow, Miss Gilmore."

"Yes, doctor. See you tomorrow," Lorelai managed to answer.

The doctor finally exited the room and Lorelai was left alone with Luke. She was still playing with his left hand: her right hand was holding it, while her left hand was running on his hand's back, between his fingers and up to his wrist. She was still feeling her cheeks burning and didn't dare to look at the part of Luke's body that was actually occupying her thoughts.

Come on, I'm supposed to be a grown-up woman! And Luke is a red-blooded man, so his reaction is perfectly normal. No big deal at all. She started giggling nervously. Actually, from what I saw, it is indeed a huge deal! She cleared her throat, trying to at least stop giggling like a horny teen-ager. OK. He is not conscious, so he can't help it. That's all. It's exactly like… she tried to think about some of Luke's characteristics that didn't make her feel unsettled. His stubble! Yeah, his stubble doesn't stop growing and he can't shave in his status. I am not embarrassed by his stubble, am I? So why should I be embarrassed by this other perfectly natural process?

She took another deep breath, which came out quite troubled and then remembered that she was supposed to talk to Luke. So, without stopping the movement of her hands, she looked at his face and exhaled.

"Hey!" The sight of his familiar features and of his strong stubble-covered jaw made her smile with affection and gave her the additional courage she needed to slowly shift her focus from his face to his Adam's apple. "So, here I was worrying that you may not want me to touch you and it turns out that you are really enjoying it!"

Her gaze shifted a little lower to his left shoulder, covered by the light hospital gown, down to his naked forearm, which she was now slowly caressing with her left hand, without allowing her right hand to let go of Luke's left hand. "Actually I like it too." She giggled again. "Who knew that you had such a beautiful skin? Very smooth. A little hairy, yes, but it's very soft hair, and I must admit that I love it on a man."

She wanted to shoot a glance to the very area that was causing her breathing issues, but couldn't bring herself to do so. Her eyes were almost watering in the attempt to remain fixed on his upper body. Never once stopping her chatter, her eyes started to slowly follow an imaginary line from his forearm up to his shoulder again, then slightly down to his chest. How comes that I never noticed that Luke was so well built? It must be because of all that flannel he usually wears.

She sighed, shifting uncomfortably on the bed she was sitting on. "Hey Luke. Who knew that a hospital gown could be so sexy, huh? I bet the nurses fight all the time to be on duty in your room!"

Her gaze shifted a little downwards toward his stomach. "All that healthy food is really paying off, isn't it?" She took another deep breath, then she closed her eyes, sighing. This is ridiculous. Just do it Lorelai!

She opened her eyes again, this time staring directly at his groin area. She gave a fast glance and a loud gasp, absent-mindedly squeezing Luke's arm, then she shut her eyes closed again. The sight of his conspicuous erection, veiled only by the thin covers, made her feel both extremely turned on and embarrassed. Oh. My. God, she panted. I saw it twitching when I squeezed his arm! For the first time since she sat on Luke's bed, she stopped touching him, trapping her shaking hands between her thighs.

OK. Breathe in. Breathe out. That's good. Cool down. Breathe in. Breathe out. I have to go to the Inn before I go insane. She slowly stood, feeling weak in the knees. Another deep breath. Great. Now I turn towards the door and open my eyes. Not facing Luke anymore, she felt a little safer. She opened her eyes and was relieved to see that no one was there to witness her own involuntary reaction to Luke's one. "Goodnight Luke. I'll see you tomorrow, sleepyhead!" she softly muttered. She then took her purse on the chair near Luke's bed and quickly exited the room to avoid any further temptation to look at his prone body.

She reached the parking lot almost running, this time totally unaware of the nurses she crossed on her way, then she opened her Jeep door and sat down, shutting the door closed, exhaling loudly and closing her eyes to try to recover in the peaceful refuge offered by the passenger compartment. But that proved to be an error: vivid images of Luke's body immediately sprung in her mind. She snapped her eyes open, feeling a warm, liquid sensation spreading from the very core of her body. Oh come on! she thought, shaking her head in an attempt to clear the lustful fog that was enveloping her. What's wrong with me?

She knew she was already late, but she couldn't bring herself to go to work in these conditions. I guess there's no time for a cold shower. And I'm pretty sure that a shower won't be enough to banish all dirty Luke thoughts from my mind until the end of the day. Gah! I can't believe I just put the words "dirty" and "Luke" in the same sentence! She dry-washed her face with both hands, then finally started her car. OK. I have to go to the Inn because otherwise I'll be late. That's perfect: maybe working can help me to focus on something different than Luke's amazing…

She shook her head and tried to collect her thoughts. Let me see. I have to check the Bannister's reservations for next week and to ask them for a confirmation. Then I have to double check Sookie's menu for tonight's dinner, because lately she's been a little too creative and it cost the Inn a fortune. After that, I have to do inventory with Michel: soaps, shampoos, linen, bathrobes… mmmm… Luke in a bathrobe! I wonder whether he's a bathrobe or a towel kind of guy…With a chest like that, he must be breathtaking in a towel! She stopped at a red light and shouted, "AARGH! Stop it!" A man who was crossing the street at the traffic light stopped with a jump, gaping at her with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry! I was not talking to you. I just had a very hard day," she called out to the terrified man. Hard, yeah. You have no idea, buddy! she smirked.

She reached the Inn in no time, paying no attention to the journey and driving in automatic mode. Her mind was still engorged with images of the hospital. She mentally traced a path starting from the hospital hall, going up with the elevator, along the almost endless corridor, ending at Luke's door, all the while feeling a growing tingle in her guts. Reluctant to enter the room, she finally gave in to her eagerness to recollect where he was lying, remembering exactly how his gorgeous body looked, with his strong frame, broad shoulders, smooth yet hairy forearm skin that covered hard muscles, his big hands.

Yeah, big hands. I wonder how they feel on my skin. I bet they can also be delicate when touching a woman. Hard muscles to touch. Oh God! The shape of that bulge is forever branded in my mind! The difference in its size and angle from the first to the second time I dared to glance. Its distinct outline under the thin cover. And the twitching… She swallowed hard, then was surprised to notice that she was already at the Inn parking lot. Another brief session of breathing in and out, then she exited the Jeep and entered the kitchen in a rush, with flushed cheeks, large pupils and hectic breathing.

"Hey Lorelai, where's the fire?" Sookie asked her friend, a spoon in her right hand and a mocking smile on her lips.

"Sookie!" Lorelai jumped, still breathless, running her hands through her dark locks and making her hair a ruffled mess.

Sookie giggled. "Of course it's me. I work here, don't you remember?" Getting no response from a very absent-minded Lorelai who was standing in the middle of the kitchen, a hand still buried in her thick hair at the top of her head and the other hand at her throat, Sookie asked worriedly, "Honey, what's up? Do you feel sick?"

Lorelai turned towards the coffee-maker. "Sort of. But I'll recover soon. Any coffee left? That will help me. Yeah, a good, hot, steamy…" then she froze, suddenly realizing what she just said.

Lorelai freezing while getting her beloved coffee was something Sookie was not going to let pass without further inquiries. "Honey, please talk to me. What's wrong? Is it Luke?" She put a hand on Lorelai's shoulder, a concerned expression on her face, presuming that maybe Lorelai's strange behavior was caused by something bad that had happened at the hospital.

"Why are you assuming it's Luke?" Lorelai quickly turned to face Sookie with wide eyes, astonished that her friend could read her mind.

"Well, you're just coming from the hospital, right? Didn't you go to see Luke after lunch, like you do every day? I thought that maybe that was the reason for your discomfort," Sookie reasoned, trying to soothe her friend.

"Oh Sookie! I wish I could tell you!" Lorelai said with sincerity, wringing her hands.

"But nothing is wrong with Luke, right?" the red headed chef asked anxiously.

Lorelai hesitated, took a shaking breath, then looked down and said sheepishly, "Right. Nothing wrong happened." She paused an instant "At least, nothing anybody else has to know about."

Sookie took Lorelai's left arm and guided her into the storeroom for some privacy. "OK. You are scaring me here. What is it?"

Lorelai followed her trotting on her high heels and giggling uncomfortably. "What are you doing? Holding me captive until I spit it out? I have to warn you that I can resist a long time in a storeroom - it's full of food!"

"Yeah, but no coffee!" Sookie stopped abruptly and closed the door after them "Now spit it out!"

"I can't! It's too embarrassing!"

"Oh come on, honey. I'm your best friend! What am I here for if we can't share our embarrassing moments?"

Lorelai glanced at her friend, unconvinced. "Right. But believe me Sookie, this is totally beyond embarrassing. If embarrassing was a cupcake, this would be a wedding cake. It would be the hugest wedding cake in the world. So big that it would make me feel sick only thinking about it. And you know how much I love cakes! The Queen of all wedding cakes! No, wait! A whole country made of wedding cakes, with wedding caked buildings, wedding caked vehicles, wedding caked streets… something to cause diabetes to anyone who dared getting close enough!" Lorelai was getting very caught up in her fantasy and was gesturing widely to her puzzled friend.

"Is wedding caked even a word?" Sookie frowned.

"That's so not the point, dear!" Lorelai paused.

"Well, leaving alone all that wedding cake madness, I'm here to tell you that you can count on me. I won't tell anyone and I won't judge. I'm very good at this, you know?"

Lorelai softened her voice, with a sincere affection for her friend. "I know Sookie. You're a great friend! But I don't know if I can say this aloud. It's…"

"…embarrassing, I get it!" Sookie interjected, rolling her eyes. "Let me tell you this. Do you remember when I dated Colin? The one who lived in Litchfield?"

"Yeah, it didn't last too long, did it?" Lorelai answered, trying to understand what this had to do with anything.

"No. Of course it didn't last too long. Did you forget that I had to wax entirely for him because he liked me - and I'm quoting here - as smooth as an inflatable doll? Don't you remember that you had to help with the waxing process and that we made a mess in your bathroom, laughing like maniacs?"

Lorelai smiled at the memory. "Oh yes! I remember we told Rory that we were going to wax each other's legs and she heard us laughing all the time and couldn't understand what was so funny in having our legs hair pulled out!"

Sookie giggled. "Yeah. That was embarrassing! And do you remember when we followed that poor unsuspicious guy for an entire day, just because you thought he really looked like Bono, trying to find out what your favorite rock star was doing in Connecticut?"

"Hey! That was not embarrassing! He gave me his number and took me on a date the day after!" Lorelai said indignantly.

"Yeah, yeah, talking about being in denial…" They both burst into laughter. When they regained their composure, Sookie resumed. "You see? We already have a nice track record of embarrassing moments. What's one more added to the list? I saw your condition when you entered the kitchen earlier, so I know that this is not trivial. That's why I think that maybe talking to a friend would help you feel better."

Lorelai sighed. "I know. I would really love to talk about it, because I already feel like this is driving me crazy and there's no other person on earth I could share this with! I will try, but I can't promise you that I'll be able to tell you everything."

"OK. Just try. I'm listening." Sookie sat sideways on a pile of cartons lying on the floor of the store room, one foot swinging and the other on the floor, in a very attentive attitude.

Lorelai stood against the door, facing Sookie, with crossed ankles and arms folded over her chest. "OK. It's about... no wait. I feel… no, no, this isn't coming out right!" She frowned.

"Why don't you start from the beginning, honey?"

"Right. I went to the hospital, you were right about that. I met a doctor. Actually he was waiting for me outside Luke's door. He asked me if I wanted to collaborate with him. He told me I had to touch Luke's hand, or his arm, or his face… whatever," she shrugged, "while talking to him. The talking part was very important. I had to keep talking. That was also the easy part, you know I'm very good at the nonstop talking thing!" Sookie smiled encouragingly. "Anyway, that's just what I did: I talked and talked as I always do, about the usual stuff, you know? I didn't try anything funny, just the usual talkative me. And all the time I was holding his hand." She stopped and blinked, suddenly remembering the feeling of her hands on Luke's hand and forearm. She looked at Sookie with a desperate gaze. "I didn't anticipate it would happen. I didn't even notice it until the doctor showed me. I swear I didn't do it on purpose!" Her eyes were watering.

Sookie got up and took her friend in her arms. "Sssh. Calm down, honey. It's OK. I don't understand a thing here, but it seems that you did exactly what the doctor told you." Lorelai was sobbing now, holding her friend and feeling comforted by her soothing voice. "Was the doctor satisfied that you did what he asked you to do? What did he say?"

Lorelai snuffled, then dried her tears with her right hand and whined, "He said it was very good, but not good enough, and that we had to work further on that."

"Can't you see? You did very good, honey."

Lorelai took a step backwards to look her friend in the eyes, her own eyes still watery. "Do you think so?"

"Sure. Now sit down and start again, because I didn't understand a word. First of all, why did the doctor want you to do something like talking and touching at the same time?"

Lorelai and Sookie sat down, each on a pile of cartons, side by side, Lorelai's feet both on the floor while Sookie's, being shorter, one on the floor and the other dangling. Lorelai took a deep breath to steady her still trembling voice. "He said he noticed from Luke's vital signs that he reacted to my voice. So he wanted to use my help to get a bigger reaction from him."

"Oooh! That's so sweet!" Sookie joined her hands to her heart, with a dreamy expression. "Why did you think this could be embarrassing? It's not! It's awesome!" Then she eyed Lorelai with suspicion. "Why are you crying?"

Lorelai ran her hands through her hair, then sighed. "This is not the embarrassing part. The embarrassing part is me noticing an unmistakable bulge, then getting the hots for a comatose man with an involuntary reaction to some body stimulation!"

Sookie started giggling. "Yeah, that is pretty embarrassing!"

"Sookie! You are supposed to be supportive!" Lorelai exclaimed in aggravation.

"Right. Ahem. I'm sorry! I'll try to be serious." But she started giggling again. "Excuse me. I can't help it. Give me just a minute to recover!" Lorelai rolled her eyes at her. "Come on, you must admit that this is funny!"

"I admit nothing of the sort."

Noticing Lorelai's seriousness, Sookie stopped and turned slightly towards her friend, trying to meet her eyes "I'm serious now. I see that this is really bothering you. Why don't you tell me more?"

Lorelai sighed. "I don't know how to feel about this. I know that his reaction to me touching him is probably only a mechanical reaction, as if I pushed a button to make his…Lukey spring to life!"

Sookie chuckled. "A dirty button! I wish I had something like that too!"

Lorelai gave her a dirty look. "I think we all have it, Sook, it's inherent to our feminine nature!" She looked downwards, to her left hand which was playing with a small ring on her right one "I'm not embarrassed because of his reaction: I think that it doesn't mean anything, even if Doctor Sullivan seemed to imply that Luke was specifically attracted by me - well, at least by my voice. But I can't help thinking that I shouldn't be witnessing it, you know. I feel like I'm peeping, not respecting his privacy and his dignity, as if I was taking advantage of his state to blatantly stare at his groin for my own dirty pleasure. It is not nice to feel like a rapist."

"Come on, Lorelai! You didn't rape him!" she paused. "Did you?"

"Sookie!" Lorelai screamed, irritated. "Of course I didn't! Who do you think I am? Some sort of sick and disgusting Almodovar character?"

"Right! Of course I don't think that about you! Go on."

"I can't stop thinking about him and lusting after him, but this makes me feel awfully guilty!"

"You lusting after Luke! That could be extremely good!"

"Yeah, if I don't lose my mind once and for all!" Lorelai skeptically said.