Chapter 21: Going out of my Mind

"Come on, Jo. You've been sick for days. It's time that you went to the doctor." The general had only been planning to come up for a quick trip over the weekend but when he'd arrived Friday and saw how sick she was, he wasn't about to leave his little girl alone.

"I'll be fine. It's probably just the flu," Jo said as she scratched the irritating rash that had steadily been forming since yesterday. She'd been stuck in bed since Thursday, now it was Sunday and she still felt so bad. Every single joint practically screamed at her every time she had to get up. Looking at the rash of red dots, she considered them for a moment. "Have I ever had the chicken pox?"

"Yes, when you were four I believe. Why?" The general looked over at his daughter in the darkened room as she sat on the couch wrapped up in a blanket shivering from cold even as he was roasting in the overheated apartment.

"I've been itchy for days but now I've got a rash starting. That's the only thing that I can think of that would give me these."

The general walked over closer to Jo and studied the outcropping of bumps on his daughter's arm then leaned in to check her hair-line while trying to ignore the redness and puffiness of her eyes.

"Let's go. I insist that you see a doctor now," the general said standing.

"The office won't be opened until tomorrow morning."

"Then I'll take you to the hospital instead. Get moving."

~01~

Luke and Bo were on the porch playing their guitars while relaxing a bit. They never really had much planned for Sunday evenings. They played and sang as the daylight slipped down over the horizon and the family was having a good time.

For the most part.

Luke's eyes kept finding the silent phone in his field of vision. Ordinarily, Jo would have called hours ago. She hasn't missed a Sunday since she left Hazzard. He couldn't help but wonder why she hasn't called today yet. Maybe he'd waited too late to tell her how he feels about her. Maybe she was out with someone right now. Maybe she was tired of waiting on him. Luke tried to shake the images of Jo out with some other man out of his head but it had taken too firm of a hold on him.

This must be what Jebb had been talking about when he spoke about how he felt when Kira was off in Massachusetts at law school. And that was before he and Kira were exclusive. Damn. How did he make it through all of that time, especially without any of the rest of them knowing that something was wrong? Jebb had come to Hazzard and acted as normal as he could be while wondering what Kira was up to in Cambridge.

Here Luke was and had missed one phone call and he was going out of his mind. He couldn't help but be upset and worried at the same time as he'd sat around all evening waiting for her to call. He'd even thought about suggesting that he should go up to where she was at since she wasn't able to come down. He was planning on getting directions from her tonight. He'd already discussed it with the family and no one had a problem with it. In fact, Jesse seemed thrilled that his oldest was taking the initiative to move the relationship with Jo forward a bit more.

Now if she'd only call.

~01~

Jo was sitting in the waiting room of the local emergency room feeling very much like a child with the way her father was acting while trying to get her seen ahead of some of the others waiting in the large room with her. She'd grabbed the box of tissues and had practically gone through them all by the time she was called back into the triage room. That feeling like a child was only reinforced when the general went with her.

In the room, her vitals were taken and the nurse went over her symptoms with her while she wrote them down. Jo winced slightly as the nurse started going over the list of mandatory questions knowing that one very important one was coming up and she'd rather not answer it with her father in the room.

"Now, to avoid any complications, I have to ask if you're pregnant," the nurse asked without really looking up from her checklist.

"What kind of question is that? Shouldn't it be obvious? She's unmarried after all," Thomas said sounding more than a bit irritated that someone could suggest that his daughter could be pregnant.

"Sir, I'm only asking because I have to. Now, Miss Hart. Is there a possibility of pregnancy?" The nurse asked then waited for a reply.

So much for waiting to break the news at a better time. Not trusting her voice, Jo avoided looking at her father while she nodded to the nurse. Both the nurse and her father frowned for different reasons.

"Joanna! You can't be serious!" The general stared down at his daughter in total shock. How could she have gotten herself into this mess? It seemed that her life just kept rolling downhill this year. Pregnant? Pregnant!

"Alright, we'll need to get some tests done. I'll go ahead and set you up in an exam room. Then the doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes."

Jo stood and followed the nurse as she avoided looking at her father. Well, he'd already been disappointed in her. This just sort of sealed the deal on that disappointment.

Jo got settled into the room and was poked and prodded so much that she swore that she knew what a pin cushion felt like. She was able to get a nurse to call Stephanie for her. She'd rather have her friend with her than her father at this point. He was going on and on about what he was going to do just as soon as he found out who had taken advantage of his daughter.

By now, Jo was too sick to argue with her father about how she was a grown woman and that no one had taken advantage of her. Her father was determined to get a name of the scoundrel who had knocked his little girl up. Of course, Jo refused to tell him and wrapped herself up in her blanket and turned onto her side. She hoped that he'd tone it down a notch or three. She wasn't really feeling up to going a few rounds with her father right now.

When the doctor finally came to talk to Jo, her father had stepped out of the room so Jo was alone finally as the doctor gave her his diagnosis.

"I'm afraid that you've caught a case of the measles, Miss Hart. Now with the fact that you said that you are pregnant, I'm afraid that it is a bit of a concern. I'm going to go ahead and admit you so that we can monitor both you and the baby."

Jo's eyes went wide. The doctor sounded serious.

"Is something wrong?" She's only known that she was pregnant for a couple of weeks. Now the doctor was here telling her that he was admitting her into the hospital with the measles and she didn't like the look he was giving her.

"There is a possibility that the measles will affect the pregnancy. I'll go and see about the room for you upstairs. I'll be right back."

Jo leaned back onto the bed as she waited for the room to be found for her. Hearing the door open, Jo looked up to see Stephanie walking in leaving the door ajar.

"Jo! What's wrong? I got a call saying that you were here."

"Well, it turns out that I kept getting sicker so my father brought me in."

"Good, I tried to get you to see the doctor Friday before he came in," Stephanie said as she sat on the bed next to her best friend.

"No, not good. He knows I'm pregnant now."

"Oh no!"

"I haven't even gotten a chance to go down to Georgia so I can tell Lukas yet. But when the nurse asked me if I could be pregnant, I just froze," Jo said as she sank back against the bed.

"Well, you'd better call Duke now. Better you tell him over the phone than your father."

"I haven't even told you the worse part yet. That cold that I thought I had, turns out to be the measles! And the doctor is worried about the baby now."

"Why?"

"He didn't explain. Just went to check on a room for me upstairs. Looks like I have to stay."

Outside, Thomas was right outside the door about to go in when he realized that his daughter and her friend were deep in conversation. Lukas Duke, huh? Georgia? It's time to call in another favor.

Let's just see what kind of man this Lukas Duke is.

~01~

Kira strolled into the Boar's Nest just a bit more than curious about just why Hogg had asked her to come see him. The boys were back at the house with Jebb; both had just been put down for their naps after she made sure that they had fresh diapers. She figured that she'd be back before they woke up which meant that Jebb shouldn't have any problems with his arm still in a sling.

When Kira saw that Daisy was busy with some customers, she by-passed the bar and went straight into the back room that Boss Hogg used as an office. Without bothering to knock, Kira went on in surprising the fat man by her briskness.

"Alright, Hogg. I'm here; mainly out of curiosity. So you want to tell me why you called and said that you wanted to talk to me?"

Boss moved some papers around on his desk to find the one that he wanted and handed it to Kira. "You know how the old cotton mill has been abandoned for years?" Kira scanned through the papers and cocked her head waiting for Hogg to continue. "Well there is a big company from up north that is considering relocating one of their plants into the area. I was hoping to try to convince them that Hazzard was the ideal place for them to set up shop."

"Bringing more jobs to the area which then will leave more money up for grabs for you to swipe from the residents of Hazzard," Kira said as she flipped through the paperwork. "I'll admit, it would be good for the folks here in Hazzard if this company brought their business here. But what does it have to do with me?"

"Well…" Boss mopped his forehead nervously. He knew that the woman in front of him didn't particularly care for him. But this was about business. "My lawyer was sent up for fraud, which means I now don't have a lawyer to help negotiate the deal when I'm supposed to go up to meet with the corporate folks in a couple of weeks. Now seeing as how you care for the people here in Hazzard and you being a lawyer and all..." Boss looked to see if he could gauge the reaction of Kira as he spoke.

"Let me get this straight. You want me to take you on as a client and represent you for a business deal." Boss nodded as the redheaded Duke stared at him with an unreadable gaze. When Kira reached for the phone, J.D. asked what she was doing. "I'm goin' to call Rhuebottoms to see if the devil just walked in to buy a parka."

"I know, look, I never in a millions years thought that I'd be wanting to hire a Duke. But even you have to admit, this county needs those jobs. And with your degree, there ain't no one else around these parts that could measure up quite the same way. So, will you go and help out with the talks?"

Kira eyed the commissioner while she thought about it. "If I do, I'll need Daisy to help with the boys. Which means that she'll need time off with pay while I'm gone."

"What?"

"You heard me. Actually, I could ask for overtime pay too since she'll be pulling long hard hours helping with the boys but I won't. I'll be satisfied with just the paid time off."

"And if I refuse?"

"Well, you're right, this county does need these jobs. I tell you what. I have money of my own that I've just got sitting around collecting dust. I could go and discuss this deal with this company on my own behalf instead. That way the people of Hazzard still get the jobs but you won't get your cut of the deal in the process."

"You wouldn't."

"Try me," Kira dead-panned.

"Alright. We'll be going up in about two weeks. I'll make the arrangem-"

"I'll make my own arrangements, Hogg. Now if you'll excuse me. I think I need to go drink some Holy Water. I hate the feeling that I've just become partners with the devil himself."

With that, Kira headed back to her home. Certain Jebb was going to think that she'd lost her mind agreeing to be Hogg's lawyer.

~01~

"My very first show and I'm not even there for it. I can't believe it." Jo crossed her arms as she spoke in a scratchy voice.

"Well, you did agree that you didn't want to postpone the showing. You worked too hard on everything to not get your shot now. Don't worry; it'll come off just fine. I promise." Stephanie gave her friend a hug across the shoulders as she sat on the bed beside Jo. "Did you hear anything from that doctor today?"

"He came in for some tests earlier but I'm still waiting for the results."

"I'm sure that everything will be alright. I mean, how bad can it be to get a rash and a fever while you're pregnant?"

"Only a rash and a fever, huh? I guess I've been playing up this whole measles thing a bit much," Jo said while trying to laugh.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that. But you know what I meant. You'll be out of the hospital and trying to break the news to Duke in no time."

"I thought that you were supposed to be making me feel better, not worse."

"Sorry, I passed the general on my way up here. I'm sort of surprised that he's still here. Is he still mad?"

"I'm afraid so. Though at least he stopped hounding me about who got me pregnant. I still don't think he likes the idea of being a grandfather."

"It'll take some getting used to but thank God for small favors. At least he's not pushing anymore." Steph noticed Jo grimacing and arching her back as if she was in pain. "Are you alright?"

"My back is killing me. When you leave maybe you could send the nurse in with something to dull the ache."

"Alright. You sure you don't want me to stay?"

"No, tell me how the show goes and send a nurse in here, will you?" Jo said with a grimace.

"Okay. I'll go get her now." As Stephanie left, she ran into Thomas Hart. "General, I was hoping that I could convince you to come to the art show tonight. I think you'll be impressed."

"I don't think so. I don't have time for anything like that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I see the doctor heading towards Joanna's room."

Thomas left Stephanie to get onto the elevator as he headed back down the hall. When he got into the room, he saw the doctor listening to his daughter's abdomen with his stethoscope. He seemed to be searching for the baby's heartbeat.

"I'm going to have an ultrasound ran. I want to che-"

"What's wrong?" Jo asked worriedly.

"I'd like to check with the ultrasound before I say anything. I'll have someone take you down for it in just a minute. Alright?"

Jo nodded as she felt a bit sick to her stomach. She wasn't sure if it was part of the symptoms of the measles but she knew that there was something wrong and the doctor was dodging her questions. Looking up, she saw her father.

"Dad." She hadn't called her father anything but General for years. Right now, though, she didn't want the general. She wanted her father, her daddy.

He surprised Jo by going over and sat beside of her and held her to him. His little girl needed him right now, but just as soon as he found out who put his baby through all of this he'll make him pay for it.

~01~

Luke was busy cleaning out the stalls for the mules when Bo came out looking for him. Seeing Luke was trying to work off some steam, Bo just leaned back onto the door frame as he watched Luke putting just a bit too much gusto into shoveling out the stalls.

"You want to talk about it?" Bo asked as he saw Luke starting to slow in his work.

"Nope." Luke wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his arm as he answered his cousin.

"Just so I know, are you mad that Jo hasn't called or are you worried? That way I know what line I'm supposed to tell you so you don't end up working yourself into the ground."

Luke looked up at Bo and gave him a hard looked. "Just leave me alone, will ya."

"She might have a good reason for not calling. Not to mention, I can't believe that you never bothered to write her number down so that you could be the one doin' the calling."

"Bo, would you just go away?"

"Nope, you need to stop sitting around waiting for the phone to ring. Go get cleaned up. We're going into Capital City for a night on the town."

"I don't want to go to Capital City," Luke said through gritted teeth.

"Fine, at least get cleaned up enough so we can go to the Boar's Nest then. I'll call Jebb and Cooter. It's been a while since we all went out. Now that Jebb's arm ain't in that sling no more he'll be glad for an excuse to get out of the house. Come on. You ain't goin' to let him down now are you?"

"Go without me," Luke told Bo as he turned back to the chores that no longer needed to be done.

"No can do, Luke. So let's go."

Luke huffed out a breath and surrendered to his cousin. Because if he didn't, Luke knew Bo well enough to know that he'd hound him all evening. So, it's off to the Boar's Nest.