Warning: Not-betaed. I apologise for all the grammar and spelling errors.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for Big Mike, Pee Wee, the Hemmingways and Caster.
Luke groaned as the phone rang in his room. He got up and felt around in the dark for the phone. Who the heck would call at this hour? "Duke Farm. Who's this?"
"Hello, my name is Seth Berley." Luke frowned, why would the owner of a department store be calling him at this hour. "Um…I don't know how to tell you this, but you're cousin, Bo is at the hospital right now."
Luke was wide awake now. How is that possible? Luke reach around for the light switch, "Mr Berley, you must have the wrong man because me cousin is…" He switch on the lamp and froze. Bo wasn't in his bed. "I'm on my way." Luke didn't waste any time or bothered to ask any questions. He'll get his answers later; right now his cousin needed him. Luke got changed and ran out the door and straight into his uncle.
"Luke, what in blazes are you doing? And who the heck was that on the phone?" Jesse growled, his eyes barely open.
"Bo's in the hospital, Uncle Jesse. I'm going there now. You wake Daisy up and get out there." Luke didn't explain anymore, he couldn't because he didn't know why his cousin was at the hospital.
Jesse stared at this nephews retreating back in shock. Why was Bo at the hospital? After standing in the same spot for a minute, he shook himself and quickly woke Daisy and got changed. He couldn't waste anymore time. Daisy was just as shocked when her uncle barged into her room and woke her up, but she wasted no time in getting changed after hearing the words Bo and hospital in the same sentence.
Luke forced himself to breath deep as he drove to the hospital. He didn't understand. Why was Bo in the hospital and why was Mr Berley there with him? What in the world happened to his cousin and why the heck didn't he know about it? ? Because you're a jackass who ignored your cousin for an entire week and didn't even notice there was anything wrong with him until it's too late. Luke berated him. For once in his life, he wasn't around for his cousin, someone else was. God, Bo, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to turn my back on you. It wasn't what I intended, I just thought you'd get in less trouble if you thought I might not be there to get you out. I just wanted to keep you safe. I should've listened to Cooter. I should've spoken to you sooner.Luke took a deep breath and tried to clear his mind. He could blame himself some more after he sees that Bo's okay, then he'll make sure Bo knew he would always be around.
Luke threw the doors to the hospital open. He looked around and spotted Mr Berley on a chair in the waiting room. "Mr Berley!" Mr Berley turned around and stood up when he saw Luke Duke walking towards him. "How's Bo? Where is he? Is he okay?"
Mr Berley put his hands out to calm Luke down. "Please, Luke, calm down. Bo's okay. The doctor said he's cracked his ribs in his back."
"Broken ribs? How did he break his ribs and why are you here with him?" This was getting more and more confusing for Luke. None of this made any sense.
"Luke, sit down and let Mr Berley explain." Jesse came up behind Luke with Daisy. He had just got to the hospital and heard Luke throwing questions at the department store owner. Jesse pushed Luke down into a seat. Jesse and Daisy remained standing.
Mr Berley sat down and started explaining, giving Jesse a grateful look, "Bo came to me last Sunday and asked me for a job," Jesse put a hand to Luke's shoulder to stop him from asking another question, "He asked me not to tell any of you. I didn't see the problem in that. It's not as if he's doing anything illegal. Yesterday night, he had an accident. Jack, the man he works with, said he fell off the ladder and landed on his back." Daisy gasped at that. Jesse put an arm around her shoulders. "Bo said he was okay so Jack let it go, but tonight, he looked worse and after they unloaded the truck, Bo passed out. The doctor said it was most likely from the pain. The muscles in his back are bruised and because he ignored it for so long the pain got to the point his body couldn't handle it anymore. The doctor gave him a sedative to numb the pain. He should be waking up soon." Mr Berley finished off, letting the information sink in. "I'm sorry. I assure you, Bo's hospital bill will be covered since he was working for me at the time."
When Luke didn't answer, Jesse spoke up. "Thank you, Mr Berley. It's very late. You should go home. We'll take care of Bo."
Berley nodded, "He's in room 302." He told them before he left.
Daisy started heading towards the room when she noticed no one else was following. Luke was still sitting there, staring into space. Jesse still had his hand on Luke's shoulder, knowing his oldest nephew was feeling guilty over everything that had transpired. "Luke, Bo needs you right now." He told Luke, gently.
"He needed me before this." Luke looked at Daisy and Jesse. "He needed me and I wasn't there."
"You're here now and he still needs you. He will always need you." Jesse told him. "Now, are you going to let him wake up alone?"
Luke shook his head, "No."
"Let's go take care of Bo." Jesse said, leading the way to their youngest.
Bo was resting on his right side to keep the pressure off his broken ribs. The doctors had rapped his ribs to try and keep it stable but that was all they could do. Ribs needed to heal on their own. Luke winced at the bruises all over Bo's back. It must have been quite a fall. He walked up to him and sat in the seat next to the bed, facing Bo. Brushing Bo's hair from his face, he placed a hand on the side of neck, his thumb, gently brushing his jaw line. "Hey, Bo. I'm here." Luke said softly, "I'm sorry, I haven't been, but I'm here now." Bo started stirring, making Luke smile. He took his hand away and waited patiently for Bo to open his eyes.
Bo opened his eyes. Someone was in front of him. He squinted. Luke. Bo rubbed his eyes and groaned, about to roll onto his back. "Whoa, Bo, don't go doing that. You're gonna damage those ribs even more."
Bo frowned at him, "What are you talkin' about? Is it mornin' already?" He lifted his head and looked around the unfamiliar room, then realising where he was, he groaned and let his head drop back on the pillow. "How'd I get here?" Bo closed his eyes. He knew he'd have to tell his family everything now.
"You collapsed at the store. Jack brought you in and then Mr Berley called us and told us everything." Luke answered, Bo could hear that Luke wasn't happy about any of this. "You wanna tell me what's goin' on?" Bo kept his eyes closed. He didn't want to look Luke in the eyes. He didn't want to see Luke's disappointment. He couldn't even do something as simple as unloading and stacking shelves without getting into trouble. "Bo, tell us what's going on?" Us? Bo opened his eyes and for the first time noticed Daisy and Jesse where in the room too. Great, now they can all know I'm so stupid that I can't even do a simple job right. Bo ignored Luke's warning and rolled away. He groaned as he felt the pain in his back flare up. Luke got up, swiftly. "You okay?" When Bo's eyes remained shut tight, Luke called to his uncle, "Uncle Jesse, go get the doctor."
"No." Bo grunted, "I'm okay. Just give me a minute." His family watched on as their youngest tried to get his pain under control. In the end, Bo had to move back onto his side. After a couple of more breaths, Bo finally got the pain to just a dull ache. He opened his eyes and looked at the three pairs of worried eyes looking back at him. "Sorry to worry you."
Luke shook his head, "If you didn't want us to worry, you should've told us what you were doing? Since when did we keep secrets in this family?" Luke tried to keep his frustration from showing in his voice, but his worrying got the better of him.
"Just wanted to help, didn't mean to cause any trouble." Bo said quietly, not looking at anyone. He wished he could turn away but his injury made it impossible.
"Bo…"
"I'm tired." Bo announced, closing his eyes. "Y'all don't have to stay. I'm okay." Luke looked at Jesse, not knowing what to do. He's never seen Bo like this and he didn't know how to handle it. Jesse shook his head, telling him not to push his cousin. Luke reluctantly agreed but he wasn't leaving. He got up and headed out the door, gesturing for his uncle and cousin to follow.
"It's almost morning, I'm going to stay here. I want to talk to the doctor." Luke told them.
Jesse studied Luke. He wanted to determine his state of mind. Luke would do anything to help Bo and if he thought questioning him would help, than he would. "Don't push him, Luke. He's not the Bo we know. Hasn't been for a while now."
"I won't, Uncle Jesse. I'll just sit with him. If he wants to talk, he can, if he doesn't want to, I'll leave it, but I ain't leaving him here, alone." Luke told them.
"I should've known." Daisy said to herself, she had been quiet the entire time at the hospital. "I knew he was in pain."
"Daisy?" Jesse put his arm around his niece, "What do you mean, Daisy?"
"In the morning, I saw Bo chopping wood. He couldn't lift the axe over his head. I knew there was something wrong, but Bo told me that his muscles ached. I should've done something." Jesse hugged his distress niece after hearing her guilt.
"At least you noticed something, Daisy." Luke said, trying to comfort her. "You checked on him. Couldn't've known Bo was injured so badly."
"Let's go home. You can come back with some lunch for Luke." Jesse led her down the corridor, nodding to Luke to tell him he'll take care of her, which left Luke to take care of Bo.
Bo opened his eyes as soon as his family had left the room. He was tired but he couldn't sleep, he just wanted to be alone. He didn't understand why he couldn't seem to do anything right. Why did Luke always have to get him out of trouble? He thought about what he could do about this mess. "I need to make sure I still have my job." Bo pushed himself up, wincing at the pain his back. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took a couple of breaths before pushing off the bed. He, gingerly, walked over to his where his shirt and jeans were, feeling as if his back was trying to send him to the floor. By the time he was done, he was sweating and could barely stand. Breathing heavily, he leaned his forehead against the wall of the room, concentrating on the coldness instead of his pain.
"What the heck are you doing?" Bo jumped at the booming voice, causing the pain to shoot straight up and down his back. He didn't even know he was falling until he felt Luke's arms supporting him around the waist. "Easy, Bo. Relax." Luke pulled Bo's right arm over his shoulder and help him back to the bed, sitting him on the edge. "What did you think you were doing?" Luke asked as he sat down in the chair in front of Bo.
Bo wrapped his right arm around his ribs and waited for the darkness on the edge of his vision to clear before he spoke. "I need to speak to Mr Berley." He answered finally answered, breathlessly.
"What for?" Luke asked, incredulously. "What is so important that it's was worth this much pain?"
Bo hesitated before answering. "Want to know if I still have a job."
"Even if you did, you ain't goin' back to it." Luke decided for him.
Finally, for the first time since he woke up, Bo looked at him, but it was in anger. "It's my job."
"A job that's making you so tired, you fell off a ladder!" Luke challenged.
Bo looked away again, "It was an accident. Not gonna happen again."
"You're exhausted, Bo! Your eyes are red, you can barely get yourself up in the morning! How long has it been? A week? You go on like this and broken ribs will be the least of your problems."
"That's my decision."
Luke shot off the chair in frustration, knocking it to the ground. "Dang it, Bo! Can't you see this ain't good for you? Geez, how can you be so st…"
"Stupid?" Bo finished for him, looking Luke in the eye. Bo's eyes held no anger, just resignation. Luke looked back at him in shock, then started shaking his head to deny it, but Bo just continued, "Yeah well, if I want to be stupid, that's my problem. It's none of your concern." Bo kept eye contact. He was sick of trying to avoid Luke now, sick of feeling like all he did was cause trouble for his family. This job was all he had to help out his family and he wasn't going to let anyone take it away from him.
Luke couldn't believe what he was hearing. None of his concern? Anything about Bo was his concern. Bo knows that. He knows that Luke will watch out for him. Doesn't he? "Bo…"
"I don't want to hear it, Luke." Bo didn't want Luke to tell him what he really thought of his cousin.
Luke closed his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on. He didn't know how to talk to the man in front of him. "I wasn't…"
Bo shot off the bed, "I said I don't want to…aaaahhh!" He doubled over in pain as his body let him know that it had reached its limit for pain.
"Bo!" Luke caught Bo before he could fall for the second time in fifteen minutes. This time Luke laid Bo onto the bed. He hit the nurse's button when it looked like Bo's pain wasn't going away. The pain was so bad; Bo thought his entire body was on fire. He didn't hear Luke talking to him, or feel Luke grip at the back of his neck. When the nurse came in, she took one look at Bo and ran to get the doctor. "Doctor's on the way, Bo. Hold on."
"What happened?" The doctor asked when he came in the room. Luke got out of his way, but wouldn't stand too far from Bo.
"He stood up too fast." Luke answered him.
"Why is he changed? I haven't discharged him yet." The doctor listened to Bo's breathing. He moved his hand over Bo's back to ensure his ribs hadn't moved out of place. Bo groaned at the pressure. "Okay, Mr Duke, I know it hurts. Nurse, prepare 800mg of ibuprofen." The nurse nodded and stepped out to get the medication. "Mr Duke, I'm going to give you some pain relief, but I need you to relax." The doctor waited, but Bo was still too tense. The nurse came in and the doctor injected the medication into his vein. "Mr Duke, the medicine will take longer to relieve the pain if you don't relax."
Luke watched as Bo seemed to not even hear the doctor. "Let me try, Doctor." The doctor moved aside to allow Luke room. Luke sat on the edge of the bed and combed his fingers through Bo's hair. "Relax, Bo. I know it hurts but it's going to be okay."
Bo didn't know what was going on, but could feel the serenity he's always felt when his Aunt Lavinia ran her fingers through his hair when he was a boy. Bo finally let his body relax. He tried to open his eyes to see if his Aunt Lavinia was back to help him. The pain coupled with the medication didn't permit him to think clearly, otherwise he would've realised there was only one person in the room who knew that trick. He gave in to the comfort of the darkness that came with the pain medication.
Luke smiled when Bo fell into a peaceful sleep. "That's it, Bo. You sleep. I'll watch over you." He jumped when the doctor spoke, forgetting that there were other people in the room.
"It's a good thing you're here." The Doctor told him. He held out his hand. "I'm Dr Rachet."
"I'm Bo's cousin, Luke Duke. How's he doing?"
"Well, all four of the ribs below his left shoulder blade are fractured. The x-rays show that they haven't moved, so as long as he takes it easy, it should heal nicely. He's very lucky that he didn't do any more damage considering it was a whole day after the accident that he came in. The muscles around the area are inflamed, so he'll need to take some anti-inflammatory medicine as well as pain medication. That's all we can do for him. The ribs will have to heal on their own. I can release him later today, once I've checked him out one more time after he wakes up. I'll give you more instructions before you take him home."
Luke nodded and shook the doctor's hand again. "Thank you, doctor." Luke breathed out in relief, glad that the injury wasn't as serious as he first thought.
"And try to keep him in that bed until then." Dr Rachet said before he left the room.
Luke pulled the white blanket over his youngest cousin, then sat down and leaned forward to place a hand over Bo's cheek. "Stubborn." He said quietly, "I was going to say, stubborn, not stupid." He wanted to tell Bo that, but Bo was like a possessed man. Luke could barely get a word in edgewise. "You're not stupid, Bo. Why would you think that?" You tell someone enough times that he's stupid, he'll start believing it. Jesse's words came back to haunt him. "Because I keep teasing you about it." All of this was his fault. Everyone tried to warn him about the way he spoke to Bo, but he didn't listen and the one week where Bo really needed him, Luke wasn't there; all because they lost a race. "I should've noticed there was something wrong with you in the morning. You looked terrible, but I just ignored it." Luke closed his eyes and took a deep breath, sitting forward, he looked at Bo determinedly. "I promise I will never turn my back on you again." Because, even though he didn't know he was doing it, Luke, for the first time in his life, had turned his back on Bo.
Bo slept on, oblivious to the promise, to any of Luke's words.
