Chapter 9: I'm Sorry
Luke woke up the next morning to find Doc Petticord in his room. "Doc?" he said.
Doc Petticord looked up. "Oh, Luke. You're up. I was just checkin' on your status," he told him, setting the clipboard down. He went over to Luke's bed. "I have good news and good news," he said, smiling.
"Really?" Luke asked, surprised. "What is it?"
"The first good news is, you can now see Bo. And the other good news is, you can go home today." Luke sighed in relief while Doc Petticord walked out.
An hour later, Luke was dressed in his clothes and was checked out of the hospital; and it wasn't long till he found himself in Bo's room. He noticed that he looked the same as when he last saw him as he made his way towards one of the chairs. He quietly sat down as to not to disturb anything like last time. It was quiet for a long time as Luke watched his cousin's chest go up and down, and looked at the heart monitor every once in a while.
"Bo?" he whispered. "The, uh, nurse told me that ya might be able to hear what's goin' on around ya. I really hope ya can," he confessed, laughing. He looked down before looking back up. "Everythin' that Floyd said, was true. Ya are my weakness. So are Jesse and Daisy. I would die if anythin' happened to ya." Luke wiped away the tears that were pouring down with his hand. "Please Bo. Ya gotta wake up. Ya can't die, not now. Please Bo. Wake up, please," he begged, praying that Bo could hear him. "Please. I'm sorry for anythin' I've done. I'm sorry that I didn't do anythin' to try and stop Floyd and Ben. I'm sorry that I broke my promise ---- that I wasn't there for ya like I was suppose to be. I'm just ---- so sorry, and I hope that one day, ya can forgive me." This time, Luke didn't try and stop the tears that came.
Before Luke knew it, it was already Monday. He had spent all of Sunday by his cousin's side, talking to him like he was awake. He had also slept some of the time, and most of the time, he would wake up from, yet another, nightmare. It was still morning when there was a knock on the door, and Jesse, Daisy, and Cooter walked in. "Luke!" Daisy greeted, going up to him and giving him a hug.
"Hey," Luke greeted her back, standing up to return her hug. When they parted ways, Luke went up to Jesse and Cooter and gave them a hug. "Hey Uncle Jesse, Cooter."
Cooter hugged him. "It's good to see ya up and around, buddroe," he said, smiling.
Luke smiled back. "How ya feelin', Luke?" Jesse asked his nephew.
Luke took in a breath and let it out. "Sore. But I'm more worried 'bout Bo," he told them. He went back to the chair and sat down. Before anyone could ask how Bo was doing, Luke answered their thoughts. "He stopped breathin' Saturday night, after all the visitors left. They got him back, but Doc Petticord told me that he fell deeper in his coma." He didn't look at them when he was finished. All he heard were gasps from all of them. Then he saw Daisy walk over to the other chair, sit down and held Bo's hand in hers. Not long after that, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw his Uncle Jesse standing over him.
"Luke. Don't tell me that you're blamin' yourself," he said. When Luke didn't say anything, Jesse knew what his answer was. "This ain't your fault Luke."
"Yes it is. And like I said before, it's always gonna be my fault, not matter what anybody says," Luke said, not just to his uncle, but to everyone.
Before anyone could say something, Doc Petticord walked in. "Oh, Jesse. I'm glad you're here. I suppose Luke told you three what happened to Bo while you weren't here?" he asked.
"Yes, sir, he did," Cooter answered when no one else did.
"Good," Doc Petticord said, going over to the foot of Bo's bed. "Now, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave so I can check on Bo." Everyone nodded and went out the door. A few minutes later, Doc Petticord came back out, and it looked like he was shocked. "I can't believe it," he said. "Bo, he's, improving!"
"What?!" the crowd said, happy and shocked. "I thought ya said he fell deeper into his coma," Luke said.
Doc Petticord nodded his head. "He did," he told them. "But he must of heard whatever you said and is fightin' it! If he keeps fightin' it at this rate, he might wake up."
The group sighed in relief. When the doc left, everyone else went back into the room. "That's just what we need, some good news!" Jesse said, smiling.
"Yeah," said a grinning Luke, sitting down into a chair. "Hear that Bo? Just keep on fightin' and you'll be as good as new in no time," he said to his deathly still cousin.
Cooter looked at the clock that was hanging up on the wall. "Oh, shoot. I gotta go, ya'll. I have to go to Atlanta to pick up some spear parts. I'll see ya later," he said, walking out the door.
The Dukes said 'bye' to their friend and went back to Bo. They spent most of Monday at the hospital, talking to Bo and telling him everything that he missed, hoping and praying that he would wake up. After a while, Jesse and Daisy finally went back to the farm, while Luke stayed behind. And whenever a nurse would tell him to leave, he would stay where he was until Doc Petticord told the nurse it was okay. After everyone had left and everything was cleared up, Luke was left alone, watching his cousin. He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, folded his hands, rested them on his chin, and closed his eyes. "Please God. Please make my cousin feel better. I want him to wake up, I want things back to the way it's supposed to be, before all this happened. I want those sons of bitches in jail, I want ---- I just want all this to never have happened. But if You can't do all those things, then just please, if Bo doesn't make it, tell him how sorry I am....for everythin'. Please? I'm beggin' Ya ---- please," he whispered, opening his eyes. That's when he noticed the tears that were rolling down his face. 'Oh, great. That's the third time now,' he thought, wiping his face. 'I can't stand to see a grown man cry,'he laughed. It wasn't long before Luke was asleep in the uncomfortable chair.
