A/N: Hi everyone, thank you to all those who have read my story so far, the reviews have made me feel like maybe I can do this! I know it has been a while since my last update and I apologise but it has been a rough 6 months for me personally as not long I after my last update my mum was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer. It is a continuing journey my family is on with my mum currently having chemotherapy. I hope you will continue to read the new chapters and I ask for your patience if I don't get them up too quickly, however I will try my best. Please enjoy the latest instalment!
Chapter 4
Lorelai had been extremely busy in the few weeks following her and Lukes amazing weekend away, and she felt like she had barely seen him since they got back. All of her time seemed to be spent at the Inn which had been crazy with two weddings and preparing for Sookie's maternity leave which was starting next week. As it was Sookie was moving much slower and relying on her staff to make sure the Kitchen was running smoothly. Lorelai had been monitoring her best friend and was ready to put her on bed rest if she saw it was getting too much for her. She was sitting her office mulling over plans for yet another wedding that was taking place in a couple of weeks time making sure even the smallest details had been taken care of when she felt the need for coffee coming over her. She pushed the papers back onto the desk and decided she could do with a break anyway.
Lorelai entered the kitchen "Hey Sookie, coffee craving alert!" She was making her way to the coffee maker when she noticed Sookie had not responded as she normally would and now she had reached the coffee maker and seen no coffee she started to worry. Sookie was standing on the other side of the kitchen near the stove.
"Earth to Sookie!" Lorelai jested as she walked over to her. She squeezed Sookie's arm and looked at her searching as if the problem would just jump out at her. "Hey master chef, are you ok?" she asked. Sookie turned slowly to look at where the voice had come from.
"Oh hey Lorelai, where did you come from?"
"Sookie, I announced my arrival when I entered the kitchen and there is no coffee, what is going on, are you ok?" Lorelai asked looking at her friend with concern.
"Oh yeah I'm ok, just been a little distracted I guess" Sookie replied softly. Lorelai wasn't convinced her friend was ok but she had learnt not to argue with her especially in the kitchen and even more so when she was pregnant.
"Well if you are sure your ok, I might pop out to Luke's for Coffee then." Lorelai gave Sookie's arm another gentle squeeze and turned to make her way out of the kitchen. She had only walked a couple of steps when there was a bang from behind her and she turned around to find Sookie collapsed on the floor. "Sookie...Oh my god SOOKIE!" Lorelai hurried over and bent down over her best friend. She grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Sookie can you hear me? Sookie come on wake up!" When there was no response from her friend Lorelai panicked. "MICHELE!" she screamed. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Lorelai was in full panic mode and knew she needed to ring an ambulance but did not want to leave Sookie. She found enough sense to reach up and turn off the stove above her and just she was about to scream out again the dining room door swung open and Michele came flying through it.
"Lorelai? Were you screaming?" he enquired looking around the Kitchen.
"MICHELE!" Lorelai took a deep breath and tried again. "Michele can you please call an ambulance, Sookie has collapsed and is not responding" Lorelai was shaking and looked up to see Michele was now standing in front of her cell phone in hand talking to the 911 operator.
"Lorelai does she have a pulse" Michele asked relaying the questions from the operator. Lorelai's first aid training was slowly kicking in as she tried to push the panic aside. She put two fingers on Sookies neck and let out a sigh of relief when she felt her heart pumping and then placed one finger under her nose and counted to ten waiting to feel the soft blow of breath.
"Yes she has a pulse and she is breathing." Lorelai relaxed slightly when she realised her friend wasn't dying right this moment. Michele continued speaking to the operator until the Ambulance arrived and as Lorelai climbed into the back with her friend he reassured her.
"Sookie is going to be ok, don't worry about the inn and I will call Jackson and let him know what has happened and to meet you there"
"Thanks Michele" Lorelai looked up as the doors of the ambulance closed and gave him a small smile. Everything seem to happen quickly after that. When they arrived at the hospital Sookie was taken in and had people all around, Doctors and Nurses doing what needed to be done. Lorelai had to sit in the waiting room while the tests were being run and she was anxious to find out what was going on with her best friend. Jackson arrived shortly after the ambulance and found Lorelai in the waiting room.
"Jackson she just collapsed and I panicked and..." Jackson hugged Lorelai.
"How is she, do we know anything yet?" he asked tears in his eyes.
"No not yet there still running tests and she hasn't regained consciousness yet" Lorelai had tears streaming down her face. "She has to be ok" she whispered.
The colour drained from Jacksons face as he took in Lorelai's words. He sank into the chair behind him and put his head in his hands. Lorelai had sat back down in the seat next to him and reached out for his hand.
"Sookie is a strong woman Jackson, a fighter, she will get through this" Lorelai said soflty as she gave his hand a squeeze. Jackson looked up at Lorelai and it wouldn't matter how many times she ressaured him he would still see the fear in her eyes, the same fear he knew was reflected in his own eyes.
Lorelai wiped a tear from her cheek and realised that her phone was vibrating in her bag. Somehow in all the chaos she had ended up with her bag, she wasn't sure how and thought perhaps Michele had grabbed it and given it to her at some point. She pulled her phone out, saw Luke's name on the screen and quickly answered the call.
"Luke" Lorleai's voice cracked on that one word.
"Lorelai, whats wrong? People are saying they saw an ambulance leave your inn"
"People are right Luke, Im ok, it's Sookie, she collapsed in the Kitchen and we still don't know what's wrong with her, they just keep saying they are still running tests and no change. I'm scared Luke"
"Oh Lorelai, I'm on my way ok, Ill be at the Hospital shortly"
"Luke, the diner, you cant just.."
"Lorelai don't worry, Caeser will take care of it and you need me, I'm coming"
Lorelai heard the clunk on the other end as Luke hung up and was feeling slightly less anxious knowing Luke was coming.
Ten minutes later a doctor approached and Jackson stood up.
"Are you Sookie's family?" the doctor asked.
Jackson extended his hand. "I'm Jackson, Sookies Husband and this is Lorelai" he said shaking the Doctors hand.
"I'm Doctor Kate Beckett and I have been looking after Sookie." The doctor responded. Jackson looked at the doctor anxiously and then at Lorelai. The doctor opened her file. "Jackson, we have run multiple tests and examined Sookie, She is still unconscious at the moment and we are unsure of why. The reason Sookie collapsed was due to extremely low blood pressure, but that doesn't explain why she has not regained consciousness, we are continuing to monitor her and are running more tests to try and find an answer."
Jackson looked even paler now than before. "Is the baby ok?"
"The baby is fine but we are keeping watch to make sure she doesn't go into early labour, there is something else you should know. We did some ultrasounds and we discovered a mass in Sookies Abdomen. We are having a specialist look at the scans and they will determine what to do from there."
Jackson felt his knees go weak and he stumbled into the chair behind him. He had a million things going through his head. "Can I see her?" he whispered.
"Of course, right this way"
Jackson followed Dr Beckett out of the waiting room and Lorelai sat down feeling numb with shock. Her best friend was unconscious with a mass inside of her and there was nothing she could do. Lorelai burst into tears as Luke walked in. He saw her go from shock to tears as she walked toward her. Lorelai couldn't stop the tears as she felt two arms close around her and pull her up into a hug. Luke held her until she calmed down and then he sat down and Lorelai told him what the doctor had said. Luke squeezed her hand.
"Sookie is strong Lorleai, she will beat whatever this is" Luke brushed a tear from her cheek. Lorelai nodded and squeezed his hand. Luke reached down with his free hand and picked up the cup of coffee he had bought with him. "Here I thought you might need this" he handed her the cup and she accepted gratefully.
"Thanks" It was another half an hour before Jackson returned to the waiting room.
"How is she?" Luke asked Lorelai looked up upon hearing Luke's voice and saw the tears welling in Jacksons eyes.
"There is no change, she looks so not like her..."
Lorelai stood up and gave Jackson a hug. "We are here if you need anything you know that."
"Thanks I know. My parents are coming to look after the kids and I'm going to stay here with her for a while longer. You don't need to stay if you don't want to." Lorelai gave Jackson one last squeeze and he walked back towards Sookies room.
Luke put his arm around Lorelai. "Come on let's get you home" Luke guided Lorelai out of the hospital and bundled her into the car and they headed towards home.
The next morning Lorelai woke to noise coming from the kitchen. Slowly the events of the day before came flooding back and she looked around for her cell phone wanting to check if there had been any word on Sookie. It was no where to be found in the bedroom so Lorelai gabbed her bathrobe and threw it on as she hurried down the stairs. Upon entering the kitchen Lorelai stopped as she saw Luke standing by the stove cooking pancakes and coffee brewing in the pot.
"Luke! What...shouldn't you be at the Diner?"
Lorelai spotted her cell on the kitchen table as she spoke and checked it. No new messages. Luke watched as she looked at her phone and when her face fell he quickly flipped the pancake he was cooking onto a plate and then pulled Lorelai into his arms.
"Caeser is at the diner, so don't worry about that. Sookie will be ok and Jackson will contact you as soon as anything changes." Luke had no sooner spoken when Lorelais cell rang.
"It's Jackson!" Lorelai sank into a chair as she answered.
"Hi Jackson"
"Hi Lorelai, just wanted to let you know that Sookie woke up this morning. She is still not completely with it but she is awake"
Lorelai let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh thank god. Thanks for letting me know, I will be in later to see her if that's ok?"
"That's fine, she would want you here, see you later Lorelai"
"Ok bye"
Lorelai put the phone down and looked up to see Luke standing next to her pancakes in hand. "Sookie woke up Luke..." Lorelais voice cracked and a tear slid down her cheek. Luke placed the plate on the table and put his arms around her.
"That's great, I'm sure she will be ok" he wiped the tear from Lorelai's cheek and sat down next to her. "You need to eat something, I'll take you over to the hospital when your ready."
Lorelai looked at Luke a small smile on her face, picked up her fork and started to eat, realising that she was quite hungry.
A couple of hours later Luke dropped Lorelai at the hospital after telling her he would go check on the diner and come back to pick her up when she called. Lorelai made her way inside and found Sookie's room. She opened the door quietly and entered to find Sookie awake.
"Hey you, glad to see those eyes open." Lorelai smiled as she approached the bed. "These are for you, ill get some water for them soon" she placed the bunch of flowers she had bought with her on the shelf in the corner and sat in the chair next to her friend.
"Thank you they are beautiful" Sookie shifted in her bed and reached out for Lorelai's hand.
Lorelai gave Sookie's hand a squeeze and tried hard to hold back the tears. "I'm glad your ok, you had me scared" Lorelai smiled at Sookie and swatted the tear away that had snuck down her cheek.
"Lorelai, I don't know what's going to happen, the doctors haven't told me much. They still haven't got the results back on what the mass is inside me yet. I have a specialist appointment this afternoon" Sookie lay back on the pillow and sighed.
"I'm sure everything is going to be ok" Lorelai reassured her friend. They sat together chatting away making small talk but both had bigger thoughts on their minds. What is going to happen to my friend thought Lorelai, is she going to be ok, what would I do without her?