Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to France

or

What Happens When All of Our Wishes Come True

"Luke."

"What?" he thought he said. He didn't. What he actually said sounded more like…Hurumph.

"Luke. The doctor's here, babe."

Doctor got through to him. Unsteadily, he surged to his feet, and Lorelai's coat fell to the floor. She stood up too and put her arm around his back, providing him with some balance and support.

Doctor. April. Emergency room. The events of the day clarified in his brain, and he tried to focus on the man in the blue scrubs standing in front of him.

"No worries," the doctor said pleasantly. "I'm glad you were able to get some rest. I know how exhausting the waiting can be."

Luke made an attempt to clear his throat, but his voice still sounded like gravel when the words came out. "How is she?"

"Your daughter is out of surgery and into recovery. Things could not have gone better, and I fully expect she'll be ready to be discharged within 48 hours. She's young, healthy, and will probably bounce back even faster than I expect. Best of all, the appendix was intact, and no infection was found in her abdominal cavity. You did the most important thing of all by bringing her in so quickly."

Luke shook his head and put his arm around Lorelai's shoulders. "That's all because of Lorelai. That was her instinct, to get April to the hospital so fast."

"Nervous single mother here," Lorelai said, seeming flustered. "I memorized every symptom of every possible illness that could strike my kid as soon as she was born."

The doctor smiled. "Well, that effort paid off for you today. Getting April into surgery quickly made a huge difference."

Luke squeezed Lorelai's shoulders gratefully.

"You said April's mother was on the way?"

"Yeah. Probably won't be able to get here until tomorrow," Luke confirmed.

"When she arrives, if she'd like to talk to me, or has any questions for me, just have her tell the nurse and they'll get in touch with me. I'm happy to go over everything with her."

"Thanks. I'll pass that on to her."

"Pretty soon they'll let you go in to recovery and see her, and after that, they'll bring her up to her room, once the anesthesia has worn off." The doctor smiled at them again. "More waiting, I'm afraid."

"That's OK, it will be mostly a stress-free waiting period this time," Lorelai assured him, sending that million-dollar smile of hers back at him.

The doctor noticeably startled, then looked at Luke with new respect. "Uh, just let the staff know if you need anything. I'll be by to check on her tomorrow."

"Great. Thanks," Luke said, now ready for him to be on his way. "Thanks for the good news."

Once the surgeon left the area, they both sat back down on the couch where they'd been waiting. Luke leaned over to pick up Lorelai's coat off the floor and handed it back to her. "You covered me up like a baby?"

She grinned. "It's chilly in here."

He rubbed his eyes, still trying to fully wake up. "Didn't I say I didn't want to take a nap?"

"You did. But then you put your head on my shoulder and basically passed out, which I thought was your body's way of cancelling out your words. Your need for sleep took precedence over your need to stand guard." She shrugged. "You'd already had a long day, Luke, and worrying and stress zaps your strength even more. You needed the rest to recharge."

"But what if something…" He couldn't even finish the sentence.

"Then I would have awakened you immediately. Besides, I was here. I was the guard on duty. I wasn't going to let anything happen to April."

The warmth of her words comforted him more than a dozen coats. "Yeah, I know," he said softly, and squeezed her hand. "I know both of us can count on you."

"You bet," she said, putting extra emphasis on the words. Her eyes suddenly looked suspiciously dewy. "I promise I won't ever buy a Reggae Fever CD without you."

"Ah." Luke put his arm around her again, and laid his head against hers. "I thought that sounded familiar."

"Is it sad that we have a collection of reconciliation catchphrases?"

"No, what would be sad is if we didn't have them."

"Glass half-full. Got it." She smiled, closed her eyes, and leaned up against him too.

"We're both going to fall asleep," he muttered, beginning to feel drowsy again.

"If we do, the nurse will wake us up when it's time to see April."

Before sleep could catch them, Lorelai's phone buzzed. She sat up and fished it out of her purse.

"Everything OK?" Luke watched her eyes dart across the message once, then go back and read it again.

"Yeah, it's just Rory." She typed out a quick response and added a smiley face. "She wanted to let me know they've landed in Paris and everything's going fine so far." She slipped the phone into her pocket.

Luke nodded, suddenly feeling colder, and not just because she was no longer leaning up against him. "They got her to her mother?"

"Not yet, but they're on the way."

Luke stared across the empty room, at some old black and white movie playing on the TV attached to the wall. "He wanted you to go, didn't he?"

"Only after I pointed out that it was practically child abuse to send G.G. on a nine-hour, overseas flight by herself," she said easily.

"But still, he wanted you to go with him."

"He hinted heavily that he'd be willing to make the trip if he had a companion." Lorelai smiled resolutely. "Wasn't it lucky that it coincided with Rory's fall break? He not only gets a companion, but prime bonding time with both of his daughters." She chuckled a little bit. "And Rory gets a free trip to Europe. It all worked out beautifully."

"In the interest of honesty, I'm not thrilled that he still thinks he can ask you to do things like that."

"I've put up the boundaries, Luke. I've been more clear and firm with him than I've ever been in my life, and he knows that the only crossover between us now is Rory. I understand that it's hard for you to trust me yet –"

"I trust you fine. It's him I don't."

"Then you need to trust that I'm handling it. And I promise you, if he ever says or does anything that makes me uncomfortable, I will tell you about it. I learned my lesson about believing it was sometimes better to keep you in the dark."

"Yeah, don't make me go into drama queen mode."

"Whoa, points to you for that reference."

As much as Luke wanted to stew about it, he soon realized that he was lucky enough to have Lorelai at his side, his daughter out of surgery and doing fine, and like it or not, his life was looking pretty good. A smile lit up his face.

"What's that about?" Lorelai wanted to know, immediately pouncing on the smile. For one brief moment, she put her finger against his bottom lip. "Are you thinking about something slutty?" she stage-whispered.

"No, I was thinking about what a disgustingly new-age family we've turned out to be." He shifted so he could see her better, still smiling. "Here you are, sitting in the hospital with me, after diagnosing my daughter and rushing her to the emergency room. You just got a text from your daughter, who's in Paris with her father and her half-sister, who they're taking to…" Luke paused, struggling to keep the relationships straight. "Her one-time stepmother?"

"Yes, as much as it pains me to admit it, at one time Sherry was Rory's stepmother." Lorelai shook her head, as if she couldn't quite believe how it was all connected, too. "And don't forget, when Anna gets here, she's staying at the Dragonfly."

That succeeded in wiping the smile off his face. "You know how you said you set up boundaries? I promise you, with Anna I will set up barricades."

"I think it will be OK, Luke. We've got April on our side." Her words were upbeat, but her eyes turned pensive.

"Are you worried about Anna? Because I promise, I'll make sure –"

"No, it's not Anna." She smiled hesitantly, and shrugged. "It was just that a little bit ago, you called us a family."

Instantly, a sliver of alarm slipped down his spine. "Aren't we?"

"In my world, yes. I just wasn't sure if you were ready to go that far yet."

He searched her eyes for the telltale sheen of tears, using that as a guide for how sappy he could be. "In my world, that's not very far to go, Lorelai. You've already been my family for a long time." She began to blink harder, so he lightened it up. "Besides, look at the great deal I get. I get Rory."

She pressed a fingertip against the corner of her eye, but she smiled, too. "So what? I get April."

"Pretty even deal, then."

"Well…until April starts dating. Then I might give you the reins and bow out for a year or two or five."

"No way. This isn't a part-time gig. You're with me every step of the way."

"Slave-driver," she pretended to grumble. She cuddled up against him and he put his arm around her again.

Both of them stared at the movie playing out across the room. "What is this?" Luke asked, after following the action for a few minutes. "It looks familiar."

"A truly great movie," Lorelai pronounced. "Philadelphia Story."

"Oh, yeah. I have seen this, but it was a long time ago." He watched some more. "Cary Grant, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm more of a Jimmy Stewart gal."

He glanced at her. "Are you now? I would have thought ol' Cary was right up your alley, all GQ'ed out and everything." His eyes went back to the screen.

A few more minutes into the movie, Lorelai picked up his hand. "Angry?" she inquired.

"What?" He was slightly irritated that she'd interrupted the movie.

"This." She patted his hand. "You've got your hands balled up into fists. Thinking about how much you'd like to go and punch out the rich pretty boy?"

The movie no longer held his attention. He worried his bottom lip with his teeth for a moment before he turned to look at her. "He told you, huh?"

"No, he whined to Rory about it, and Rory told me."

Luke shook his head. "You'd think he'd know by now that Rory tells you everything."

"You'd think," Lorelai agreed mildly, and then was surprisingly silent.

"So am I supposed to apologize to him or something?"

Lorelai considered that. "I don't think that's my call."

"Then why are you bringing this up?"

"I guess I'm just wondering if you went and hit him because you couldn't hit me."

"No." He immediately turned further towards her and gently put his hands on either side of her face, holding her gaze. "No way, ever. That was never, ever in my mind."

She stared back at him. "Then why? I don't understand guys and this urge to punch. Why'd you drive all the way to Boston and do it?"

He dropped his hands from her face and turned back straight in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. "Because…because he hurt you, Lorelai."

"I think we can argue that I hurt myself." She shivered a little bit. "And you, of course."

Luke shook his head emphatically. "He should have taken care of you, and he didn't. By the way, this is a totally separate thing from everything that went on between us, and it also doesn't matter what you did once you got there or how much tequila was floating around. He should have had your best interests at heart that night. He should have been watching out for you. Instead, he was a selfish bastard and did the one thing guaranteed to cause you the most pain." Luke paused to take a breath and review what he'd just said. "That's why I punched him out. I was furious that he hurt you like that."

Lorelai leaned her head against his shoulder. "I think you're being remarkably generous to me, Luke."

He shrugged, which made her head bounce against his arm. "I think I love you."

"David Cassidy, Partridge Family, 1970." She sighed. "Just…no more punching anybody, OK?"

Luke froze into place and deliberately said nothing.

"You can say it, you know. You have the right."

"What?" he asked, and then cringed at how badly he lied.

"Some variation of 'Stay out of Boston and then I won't have to, Lorelai.'" Her voice went low, pretending to be him. "It's OK. We can say this stuff. We can talk about it. That's what's gotten us to where we are now."

He thought for a minute. "I don't have to say it, though, do I? I mean, we're past the point where that's even a hypothetical option, aren't we?"

"So far past it." She fought to get her arms around him, because he was leaning back against the couch, but once she'd succeeded, she hugged him tightly, burying her face against his arm. "It's all the way in Canada, or someplace. Far, far away, where it will never bother us again."

They both grew quiet, appreciating their unexpected cuddle in the deserted surgical waiting area, and let their thoughts turn away from the past, enjoy the present, and look hopefully to the future.

"You know what? You still feel cold to me." Lorelai roused herself and got to her feet. She grabbed up her purse. "I'm going to go find you some hot tea, or maybe soup. Would you like soup? I'm sure you could use some nourishment."

"I'm fine," he protested, thinking he'd rather have Lorelai pressed up against him for warmth rather than soup any day.

"I'll be right back. There are vending machines at the end of the hall."

Luke smiled. "You're right. This 'being taken care of' stuff is pretty sweet."

"You deserve it, especially today." She took a step away.

Without any thought, Luke leaned forward, stretched out his arm, and snagged the back of her sweater, preventing her from taking one more step. He didn't want soup, or tea, or anything that came out of a vending machine. He wanted the woman in front of him. Wanted her immediately, and so desperately that he was willing to ignore the fact that they were in public. He pulled harder on her sweater.

"Luke!" She laughed at his antics, and playfully tried to reach behind her to swat at his hand. "Stop it! You're going to stretch it out."

"Then come here." He tugged with enough force that the backs of her legs hit his knees. He put his hands on her hips and turned her around.

"Luke!" She was still laughing, but then she saw his face and sobered. "What are you…?"

Instead of answering, he pulled her into his lap. He put one arm behind her shoulders and tipped her slightly to the side. He ran his other hand along the side of her face, up into her hair, and watched her beautiful symmetrical eyes as they widened and darkened. Her purse slid down her arm and hit the floor.

"Luke, we said – we said no touching, not until –"

"We've touched plenty, these last few weeks."

"But we said – no sexy touching – no kissy stuff, not while we were still trying to…to…"

"I think we've talked enough, don't you?"

"Maybe. Yes. I don't know! But we agreed! No physical stuff that might derail us until –"

"Hold on. I agreed to that?"

"You know you did!" Her eyes were focused on his lips, and she was gasping as she struggled with her own desire, but still, she was able to banter. "It was either you or your evil twin."

"Hmm. Maybe I'm the evil twin." Not able to hold back any longer, he captured her lips.

Whatever vague idea he had about how the kiss was going to unfold was immediately blown away by reality. Lorelai got an arm around his neck and pulled him closer. She whimpered and he took the kiss deeper, to that sublime place where they used to reside. His hands lost control and stroked wherever they wanted.

Lorelai pulled her mouth away from his for one moment, just long enough to replenish the air in her lungs. "Evil Twin Luke rocks," she whispered shakily, before eagerly continuing the kiss.

Luke was beyond words or any conscious thoughts, for that matter. His only functioning brain cells were busy cataloging all of the touches and touching he'd missed so desperately.

"Um…looking for April Nardini's father?"

Lorelai nearly ended up on the floor when both of them jumped in shock at the interruption.

"Yeah, um, that's me." Luke's chest was heaving as he tried to recover some oxygen. "I'm her dad." He felt his cheeks blazing in embarrassment.

Lorelai quickly hopped over onto the empty space beside him on the couch. "Sorry. We were…uh, just so relieved that April's OK, and uh…" She shook her head, and looked pleadingly at the nurse. "Sorry, there's no excuse for that. We got back together not that long ago, and well…things just got out of hand."

The nurse's eyes snapped with amusement. "Looked to me like things were well in hand."

Luke covered his face, but Lorelai giggled. "We're really sorry," she said again.

"Don't sweat it. I used to work in the ER, nothing shocks me anymore." She gave them a wink. "Besides, this means I'll have the best story to share at shift change. You guys will be famous for 24 hours."

"Great," Luke groaned.

Lorelai got them back on track. "So, April?"

"She's still groggy, but you can come and see her for a minute or two."

They both stood up, but only Luke followed the nurse. He turned back to Lorelai, confused. "You're not coming?"

She shook her head. "I think it should just be you, for now."

"Don't be ridiculous. That's the deal, remember? I get Rory, you get April." He held out his hand to her. "Now, come on. Let's go."

Lorelai's face absolutely glowed. She hurried to catch up to him and grabbed his hand.

Then, together, they walked into the recovery room to see April.

They spent about ten minutes beside April's bed, stroking her hair, trying to get her to sip some water, and reassuring her over and over that the surgery was done and that she'd be home before she knew it. She was still fading in and out of consciousness but was breathing easy and didn't seem to be in pain. Luke leaned over and kissed her forehead when it was time for them to leave.

The recovery room nurse knew the room number assigned to April. They went up there, thinking they'd wait, but the nurse on the floor said it would be at least another hour before she was moved from recovery. So instead, they went down to the cafeteria to get something to eat.

When they got back, April had just been transferred into her bed. The nurse was checking her I.V. and other staff were tucking in her blankets and getting her comfortable.

"Dad," she murmured, spotting Luke.

He wasted no time getting to her side. "How do you feel? Are you hurting?"

"No, I'm fine." She shifted her position and winced a little bit. "When are they gonna take it out?"

"They have. It's all over. You're in your room now."

"Oh." She yawned. "That's good."

"Yeah, it's really good." Luke began to stroke her hair again. He looked into her peaceful face, and a lump came to his throat when he realized that last year at this time, he had no real idea who April was or how much she was going to come to mean to him.

April opened her eyes again and looked around the room, frowning in confusion. She spotted Lorelai. "Oh, hey. You're here, too."

"You bet I'm here." Lorelai said, coming closer so that April could see her easier. "How are you doing, sweetie? Do want us to get you something?"

"Sure," April said slowly.

"What?" Lorelai asked eagerly.

"What?" April asked, bewildered.

"Nothing," Lorelai said, trying not to laugh. "Go ahead and close your eyes."

"Your mom will be here tomorrow," Luke reminded her, in case she was worried about Anna not being there.

"OK," April mumbled, beginning to drift off.

"That's the way it's going to be for a while," the nurse told them. "The best thing for her is to sleep. If you want to go on home, go. I promise you that we'll be taking good care of her. She won't know if you're here or not. Go home and get some rest."

"I don't know about that," Luke said uneasily. "We live about 45 minutes away. I'm not sure I want to be that far away from her."

"You're welcome to stay, of course. We can get you some blankets and pillows, and I'm told that couch isn't too bad, although…" She looked at Luke appraisingly. "You're pretty tall. Not sure how comfortable you'd be."

"No problem," Luke said, determined to stay with his daughter. What did he care about comfort?

"There is another option," the nurse said. "There are a couple of hotels over in the next block. We could call you, if necessary, and you could be back here lickety-split."

At the word hotel, Luke and Lorelai locked eyes.

"That…might not be a bad idea," Luke said slowly, staring at Lorelai.

"That might work for us. For tonight. Because we need…to rest." Lorelai gave him that mischievous look he knew so well.

"I think there's a map of the area out at the nurses' station. Just ask as you're leaving. And let me check…" She flipped open the chart. "Yes, we've got your contact information and cell phone numbers. We'll call you if anything changes at all, but I'm sure she'll be fine."

Luke tore his eyes from Lorelai and bent over April again. "Listen, we're going to leave now, OK? We'll be back in the morning, and you know that you can call us anytime, if you need us. You know that, right?"

"Yes, Dad, I know that," April said, sounding like any other teenager dealing with an overly concerned parent. If her eyes had been open, she would have rolled them.

"Sleep tight," Lorelai whispered to her. "We'll see you soon, and you'll feel so much better by then."

They began to carefully make their way out of the room, but April suddenly stirred. "Hey, Lorelai?"

"What sweetie?" Lorelai made a beeline back to her.

"Don't let Dad wear that black hat anymore," April mumbled. "It's ugly."

Lorelai grinned at Luke. "I won't. I promise. No black hat, ever again."

"'K…" April was asleep.

They picked up the map, made sure the desk staff had their phone numbers too, and walked to the elevator.

"You're OK with this, right?" Luke asked, somewhat nervously. He kept his eyes glued to the red numbers over the elevator door, showing how soon it was going to arrive at their floor.

"Oh, my God, Luke, of course I'm OK with it. In fact, if the elevator's empty, I might jump you as soon as the doors open," Lorelai informed him. "But, are you OK with it? With leaving April tonight? I can put aside my carnal desires for another night if you want to stay here – and I mean that. She's much more important right now."

"No, after all, they told us to go," he pointed out. He put his hand on her shoulder and caressed it.

"It was almost an order," Lorelai stated. She put her arm around his waist and leaned against him.

"Doctor's orders. Well, nurse's orders, anyway."

Lorelai stepped in front of him and linked her arms around his neck. "Think we can get Evil Twin Luke to play doctor with me tonight?" Her voice was full-on seductress.

He wrapped his arms around her and studied the face he loved so much. "If it's OK with you, I think that just regular Luke will be with you tonight. He has some catching up to do."

"That's fine too," Lorelai agreed. She looked down the hall, then cautiously pressed a discreet kiss against his cheek.

The elevator doors opened, catching them off-guard. It was packed with people. They smiled secretively at each other, then eased inside the space, saying 'excuse me' as they bumped into elbows and floral arrangements.

Luke pulled Lorelai to stand in front of him and placed his hands on her shoulders, creating a small sanctuary of protection for her.

She glanced backwards at him, her eyes sparkling. "Maybe the hotel will have an elevator!" she suggested. "We might still get our chance!"

He looked straight ahead and shook his head, but he grinned, too.

He'd missed this part of their relationship so much: the give and take, the banter, her special brand of sauciness. He honestly didn't know how he'd managed to survive without her.

The hotel did have an elevator, but they were only on the second floor.

"Guess we'll just have to wait," Lorelai said, pouting prettily. She hoped the innuendo was masking her nervousness. Because, God, she was nervous.

When the desk attendant learned they were checking in to be close to the hospital, he offered to send up a bag of complimentary toiletries to see them through their unexpected stay. While they waited for the delivery, they both wandered around the room, first looking out the window, and then checking out the bathroom. The room was nothing special, since it was designed to be merely functional, but it was very clean. Luke fiddled with the thermostat on the heater. Lorelai pulled the curtains closed.

Finally, the knock at the door came. Luke hurried to answer it. He thanked the maid effusively for the care package. He stuck the 'do not disturb' sign on the door, then pulled it closed and locked it. He tossed the bag of travel size deodorant and toothpaste onto the desk, uninterested in whatever might be inside.

Lorelai could feel her heart jumping erratically. She remembered the night not that long ago, standing before the diner, terrified to open the door and walk in. Now, here she was again, trying to make herself take that next step, not knowing what might happen if she did. As soon as they'd decided to fight for their relationship, to put everything they had into trying again, she'd been petrified about this exact moment. When Luke suggested they put the physical part aside until they hashed out the problems in their relationship, she'd been only too happy to go along with it. Her desire for him was as strong as it ever was – stronger, even – but her anxiety over what would happen when they got to this point beat out her craving for him, hands-down. What if he decided he didn't want to touch her after all? What if her residual guilt made her freeze? What if they couldn't find their way back to what they'd had? What if this long-anticipated night turned out to be nothing but a disaster?

Luke crossed the room to her, as quickly as he could. He swept her up in his arms and kissed her the same way he had back in the surgical waiting area.

And Lorelai found out she had nothing to be nervous about at all.

Later, draped over his chest, listening to his heart beating under her ear, Lorelai decided she felt confident enough to ask the question that had been bugging her for the past few weeks.

"Hey, Luke?"

"The answer's yes."

She raised her head slightly, trying to see his face. "What answer?"

"Whatever you're going to ask me. Doesn't matter what. The answer to anything right now is yes."

She smiled, liking the note of tired satisfaction she heard in his voice. But then she got serious again. "It's about something you said in the diner that night, when we decided to give us another go."

She felt him tense. "Sure, ask away," he said blandly, but his hand tangled in her hair before beginning to uneasily stroke her curls.

"When I asked you if you could ever forget what happened, you said no, which was not a surprise to me. But then you said that you didn't want to forget it."

"Right," he agreed.

"That confused me then, and it still confuses me. If you can't forget it – if you don't even want to forget it, then why are we here? I mean, I'm not complaining." She kissed his chest. "I just don't understand your thought processes, I guess. To me, that statement still sounds like a deal-breaker."

"I think…you heard it differently than the way I meant it. Which shows that we still have a long way to go with the whole communication thing."

"This is your chance, then, Butch. Communicate the hell out of that statement."

He dropped a kiss to the top of her head, and then settled back again, considering his response. "Those words were aimed at me, not at you. But I see how they confused you. I meant that I didn't want to forget that I almost lost you – What am I saying? I did lose you. It's a miracle that we're here right now. I don't want to forget any of the lessons I learned while we were apart. I want to remember that you are the biggest, most important part of my life, and I need to show you that every day. I never want you to question your place in my life again."

Lorelai closed her eyes and breathed in and out, feeling at peace as the lingering anxiety completely vanished. "Thanks for explaining that. Thanks for…believing that." She pushed herself up on her elbows and stretched upwards, reaching his face for a kiss. "Thank you for showing me that."

"Any time," he said, reverting to the exhausted satisfaction stage. "Ask me anything. I don't want there to be anything between us that we can trip over again."

"Right back at you, babe."

"Mmm." He sighed, then wrapped his arms around her, snuggling her close. "Are you going to be warm enough? You can wear my shirt, if you want to."

"No, I'm a huge fan of the skin-to-skin." She placed sleepy kisses on his neck, jaw, and the side of his face. "If I get cold, I'll wake you for a warm-up."

"That sounds like a plan I can thoroughly endorse."

Lorelai molded herself up against him. "I'm going to be right here by your side for the rest of my life, Luke. I'm going to take care of you, and love you, and never ever leave you."

"Yeah, I know that," Luke said, sounding baffled.

"Those words were for me, not you."

He chuckled drowsily. "Got it."

"Sleep tight, babe. I love you."

"Love you too, sweetheart."

Lorelai fell asleep, with the words she thought she'd never hear again repeating in her head.

They got to the hospital later than they intended the next morning. As much as they wanted to see April, they found it difficult to leave their Love Shack, the Reconciliation Edition, as Lorelai christened it.

"Hey there!" April greeted them, when they cautiously peeked in the door to her room. She was sitting up in bed, eating a modified breakfast. "Did you know, going to the bathroom by yourself is a huge deal in this place!"

Luke looked dismayed, but Lorelai laughed. "Is it, now?"

"Oh, yeah. Once I showed them I could do that, they got me something to eat and took out my I.V." She showed off the bandage on the inside of her arm proudly.

"Sorry we weren't here," Luke grumbled.

"No big deal," April said with a shrug. "I think they were getting tired of all of the questions I asked, though. But this might be my only time in a hospital! I had to ask when I had the chance."

"Well, sure," Lorelai agreed.

"Oh, and Mom called, right before she got on her plane. She should be landing around 2, if nothing gets delayed. Her friend Tina is going to pick her up and bring her over here."

Luke and Lorelai exchanged a glance, glad that they'd be spared the long, uncomfortable ride from the airport, at least.

"I'm sure you'll be glad to see her," Lorelai said diplomatically.

"Yeah, but she didn't have to come. I'm fine."

Luke put his hand on April's head. "You're not hurting at all?"

"Not unless I forget and move too fast or something."

Lorelai and Luke exchanged another look, this time one of thankfulness.

Luke's phone rang. He startled, then pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the display. "Looks like it's Caesar. I'm just going to…" He motioned towards the hallway and headed that way, putting the phone to his ear.

"Tell Caesar hi!" April called after him.

"You seem very perky," Lorelai observed.

"Life is good," April said with a grin. "Now that I'm not doubled over in pain, it's all good."

Lorelai laughed. "You make a convincing argument."

April looked at her more solemnly. "Thanks for taking care of me, by the way. I was really scared, but you made it OK."

"Well, turnabout is fair play. You took care of me, not that long ago."

"All I did was go and get Dad."

"All I did was get you to the hospital so the doctors could fix you."

April grinned again. "I guess we just need to admit that we're both awesome."

"We are indeed." Lorelai held up her hand for a high-five.

April scooped up the last of her breakfast and settled back against the pillow, wiping off her mouth with a napkin.

"Do you want anything else?"

"No, I think I'm good for now. Maybe I can score some pudding later."

"You know, the best pudding I ever had was at my mother's house a couple of years ago. She served it in these fancy crystal bowls. I should try and get the recipe and see if Sookie could replicate it."

"Maybe it wasn't the pudding. Maybe they were magic bowls."

Lorelai laughed. "Maybe. That would explain a lot, actually."

April tilted her head and studied Lorelai carefully. "You seem awfully happy today."

Lorelai ducked her face, feeling a blush creeping up her cheeks. "I am, April. I'm really happy."

"Because of Dad?"

"Because of your dad," Lorelai agreed. She leaned over and squeezed April's hand. "And because of you, too. Where would I be if you hadn't come to my house to not trick or treat?"

"Stuck with a lot of PayDays," April said sensibly.

Lorelai sat down on the edge of the bed. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure!"

Lorelai glanced at the door, making sure that Luke wasn't coming back in yet. "I think I'm starting to like the stupid things."

"Congratulations. You passed the test." April threw her arms over her head, only wincing momentarily. "Welcome to the family!"

For a New York minute, Lorelai couldn't speak. "You're sure you're feeling OK? No pain?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"Because I'm going to hug you so hard that I might make your stitches pop."

"Bring it on," April challenged her, smiling widely. She opened her arms eagerly.

That was the scene that greeted Luke when he walked back into the room. He saw the woman he loved wholeheartedly embracing his daughter. Since he still had his phone in his hand, he raised it to his eye and clicked. Not many people were lucky enough to have photographic documentation of the precise moment when their life transitioned into the next level.

And no doubt about it, he was a lucky guy.

THE END

Author's Chat: I am totally convinced that this story was a gift from the story gods. It felt like I was a conduit that words were flowing through, rather than struggling to find a couple to fit together into some sort of a sentence. Trust me, this was unlike any writing experience I've ever had, and I'm a little depressed that it's over. Who knows, maybe this was my final hurrah. Maybe I'll never have another story idea again…Nah, probably not! In any case, thanks for following along as we got Luke and Lorelai together yet again. (Eledgy, the title is all for you! Hope it gave you a chuckle or two. Fish Bag, of course Evil Twin Luke was meant for you!)