A/N I promised to update a little more frequent, and I hope this will do for now... School has been crazy for the past week, and will be for a few weeks to come. But I will definitely try to keep up with these updates! This one is pretty short, but I hope you like... Enjoy! ;-)

10

"Uncle Jesse?" the quivering voice was not what Jesse had expected to hear when the phone had rung. Bo had been alright when he had left the hospital. This could only mean one thing…

"What happened?" the older man questioned as he sat down heavily, expecting the worst.

"They's gonna cut off his leg uncle Jesse…"

Closing his eyes and bowing his head, Jesse sighed. 'It could have been worse' was the only thought flowing through his mind right now. In the meantime, Bo continued to talk, his voice getting more exasperated by the second.

"- his fever shot up, but he woke up, and the doc said they had to amputate or he'll die. But he don't know Luke like we do, cause Luke would never want to lose a limb, he'd rather we try to solve it any other way…" he ended, a little out of breath after spewing his view of what had happened just yet.

"Bo," Jesse's calm voice was like a bucket of cold water being dumped on him, and his anger dissipated immediately, only sadness remained.

"I know he wouldn't want it uncle Jesse," he ended, knowing he wasn't only convincing his uncle.

"Bo, listen ta me, I'm comin' right now with Daisy, an' we'll talk then alright? You just stay there, an' take care of yur cousin until then."

"Okay… Thanks uncle Jesse, I love ya," Bo whispered, knowing the situation would be taken care of by his uncle now.

"That's my boy, I love ya too, now you go to Luke and we'll be there as soon as we can," Jesse ended before hanging up the phone and calling for Daisy.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

When the door opened and his uncle and Daisy stepped in, Bo had never felt so relieved. Sitting here with Luke, who's fever was getting higher and higher, had been absolute torture. Doc Ramirez had come in a couple of times, telling him he needed permission to operate as soon as possible, but Bo could only tell him to wait for their uncle to arrive.

So when Luke was moaning in pain, his eyes closed, with sweat still dripping of his face as if he had just climbed out of Hazzard Pond, Bo had felt completely helpless. He had taken the sponge from the nurse, to wipe away the drops from Luke's forehead, trying to cool him down, just a little.

He was just washing the clot with more cool water when Daisy and his uncle walked in.

"Uncle Jesse," he murmured, instantly walking over to the man he considered a father and hugging him for dear life.

"Don't let them do it, uncle Jesse… He wouldn't survive it…" Bo spoke in his uncle's shoulder.

Pulling his youngest charge away from him, Jesse looked him in the eye.

"Now Bo, I just spoke to doc Ramirez, an' he told me that if we don't consent ta this, Luke won't make it through the night."

Daisy, who had taken a seat next to Luke, gently swiping his face with the clot Bo had held just a minute ago, put her hand against her mouth to suffocate the sob which was welling up.

Looking at his cousin, his blood-brother, lying there with his leg elevated and his body being ravaged by the fever because of that leg, Bo made a decision.

"No, I won't let ya take away his leg," he said hotly.

Jesse sighed, he had already made his decision after talking to the doc. He had expected some resistance from Bo, but he hadn't expected this…

"Son, have ya listened ta me or the doc?" he asked, knowing Bo only had the best in mind for his cousin.

Bo nodded, his curls bouncing a little as his cheeks were getting flushed when he spoke again.

"I know that his fever is gettin' higher, and that he could die because of it, but uncle Jesse, Luke's strong, he'll fight it, I know him!"

Putting one hand on Bo's shoulder, Jesse was shocked when the young Duke shook it off, stalking to the bed where Daisy was still cooling Luke's face.

"I know him…" he repeated, looking at his uncle again, "And I swear ta you uncle Jesse, he don't want them to take his leg."

Jesse looked at his oldest charge, lying there, helpless as to what decision had to be made about his life at this very moment.

"Bo, I understand what yur sayin son, but I have ta think about what's most important now, an' that's that I want him here alive. With or without a leg, that don't matter ta me now, all that matters is that he's alive to yell at me for making that decision for him…" Jesse ended his voice raw with emotion.

Deep inside, he knew Luke would hate him for this íf he made it. But that was something he would take for granted, as long as his boy was alive so he could have a future. Even if that was gonna be a future where he would hate his uncle and have to learn to live with a disability.

"I can't let ya do that uncle Jesse," Bo retorted, angry at this whole mess they were in. He didn't blame his uncle for having his opinion, but he would fight till the very end for his.

His uncle was about to respond to this, when Luke let out a loud moan, causing all eyes to focus on the young man lying in the bed before them.

Luke shifted a little, pain showing clearly on his blushed face and Jesse knew what he had to do.

"Bo," he started, seeing his own worry being reflected in his nephew's eyes, "Ya know that this is the right thing ta do. If we want Luke ta live, it's the only thing ta do…"

Lowering his head from the sight of his pleading uncle, his silent cousin and the hospital bed where Luke was dying, Bo choked back the tears that were filling his eyes.

"But…" he started, not knowing how to finish. Luke was one of the most important people in his life. They had grown up together, shared their hopes and dreams, even their fears. They had seen each other at their best and at their worst. From Bo's point of view, they weren't cousins, they were brothers. And brothers took care of each other.

But how did you take care of someone if the wrong decision meant death? And what if no matter what you decided, death would be the outcome?

Lifting his head, Bo's troubled eyes met Jesse's, and the Duke patriarch could almost physically feel the tug of war going on in there.

"Bo," he murmured, placing on hand on his nephew's shoulder, while the other rested on Daisy's, "Ya know this is the only choice…"

Nodding a little, Bo felt defeated.

Looking in his uncle's eyes, he needed to try one more time.

"Uncle Jesse, just wait for a few more hours…" he pleaded, eyes getting wet with the idea of them changing Luke's life with one simple word.

Jesse could only nod. For Bo to give up on his argument like that had probably cost him a great deal of strength. All he could do for him now was give him a few hours. Hours in which Luke could get worse, but also hours where there could be a chance of it getting better. And even though Jesse knew it would probably get worse, if there was even a fighting chance, he would take it, just like Bo did.

As if on cue, dr. Ramirez walked in, Luke's chart tightly in his hands. Seeing the Dukes standing with each other, he immediately knew they had made a decision.

"Jesse?" he asked, seeing the old man look up slowly.

"Give us a few more hours doc, then, you can do whatever you need to do."

Nodding slowly, dr. Ramirez took Luke's temperature, noticing it kept climbing.

"You have to understand though, if this fever keeps rising, he won't make it till midnight."

"You keep us informed doc, if it gets too high, we'll sign the papers. We just want ta give Luke a fighting chance…"

Seeing the finality in the Duke's eyes, dr. Ramirez turned around and left the room, leaving three Dukes in there who were now praying for Luke to fight whatever fever was raging in his body.

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And deep inside one Duke-boy's mind, one black crow still pecked at the bodies around them, as his own limbs started to feel like lead while he laid on the moist jungle ground, bugs crawling over him while he slowly let himself sink in…