Hi everyone! Yes, I know – I've gotten behind again. I never mean to, but before I know it, weeks have went by.
Anyway, many of you have expressed 'concerns' as to the upcoming final chapters, so I'm putting a warning on here that the these final chapters may not be suitable for all readers (LOL). Read at your own risk, and please – no death threats. Other feedback always welcome and appreciated, though:)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes, and no infringements intended.
UNCLE, UNCLE
CHAPTER 48
HOT DAYS AND QUIET NIGHTS
Ashley Marie sighed, looking down at the unusually quiet girl in her arms. Daisy Mae could be a loving child one minute, and a hellion the next. BL had been always been a more quiet child. Duke, though fun-loving and carefree, was still an easy going youngster. Daisy Mae was going to be the offspring of Ashley Marie and Matthew that was going to require the most patience, understanding, and discipline, and both of her parents were already preparing themselves.
Looking away, Ashley's large, brown orbs slowly swept around the room, smiling at the scene before her.
BL and Bo were in the corner of the living room engrossed in their nightly checkers competition. BL, her studious and straight A child, was always finished with his homework early, leaving his evening free to beat his favorite uncle.
On the opposite end of the room, Luke was quietly explaining something to Duke, who was nodding in response though whether he was truly understanding or not was anyone's guess. More interested in having fun, Ashley's middle child was her procrastinator. Instead of finishing his homework first, he would put it off, then complain that his older brother always had more fun in the evenings. It was just his way, by nature, but he was not quite as book smart as his older brother, and his studies just came harder. Taking after his father, he preferred to work with his hands rather than his brain. So, when forced to face his assignments, he would turn to his favorite uncle, and Luke would patiently help the boy until he was finished. On the evenings they were lucky, there would still be some evening left, and on those nights, they'd join BL and Bo in doubles competition. The games and activities varied, each taking their turn in choosing. The younger boys had a preference for games that involved technology, while the older boys had a fondness for traditional entertainment. Whatever the nightly choice, the teams were remarkably even.
That would leave Matthew to tend to Daisy Mae, who on a normal evening, would be tearing up the room. Tonight, he was taking advantage of his wife's presence and his daughter's silence by engrossing himself in a baseball game on television, and Ashley smiled, knowing how much he deserved it. Not long after opening the clinic, the wife of the vet in Chickasaw county had taken ill. Understanding that he wanted to be with her, Ashley offered for him so that he could take a leave of absence. Between his duties and hers, and the added task of running the clinic, quiet nights at home for Ashley had become a mere memory. Leaving early in the morning and arriving home late at night, Ashley knew that what she missed most was what she was witnessing at that very moment. She loved her work, but she missed her family, and she was feeling guilty for saddling her husband and uncles with the full-time job of looking after her children and running the household. Thankfully, her colleague's wife was getting better, and he was expected to be back full-time within a week or two. Ashley was ecstatic, looking forward to the time when nights like these would be the norm again rather than the exception. The years she'd been away and the busy time since she'd been back only made her appreciate her home and family even more. Spending more time with her uncles had been one of the reasons they'd decided to move back to Hazzard; lately she felt she saw them little more than she had when she lived in New England.
A slight stirring from the child in her arms brought Ashley's attention back to her daughter. Expecting to discover that Daisy's quiet time was over, now having been energized by her rest, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw that Daisy's eyes were almost completely shut. With a little more rocking, Daisy Mae might just fall asleep. With that goal in mind, Ashley continued to gently glide the chair back and forth, back and forth, as her mind continued to think about all the things that had changed in such a short period of time, all the things she still wanted to do, and the scene before her reminded her that one in particular was demanding her attention more than all the others.
On another night, similar to the current one, Ashley had looked over the room in much the same way she was doing at that minute. In a split second, she saw the images of her own past scroll in front of her, and she began feeling a need to preserve it. Pictures and momentos of days, decades, even centuries gone by were all around her, but she knew that locked away in the far corners of memories were others that may someday be lost forever. Realizing that she'd returned to Hazzard to procure a future for her and her family, it was now the past that was calling her. Having had a plan for that future, which was going according to expectations, Ashley Marie Duke Ricketts now wanted something tangible that would provide a link to the past. She believed she knew exactly how to do it, but in recent months, she hadn't had the time. With more time becoming available, she could longer use that excuse. Truth be told, Ashley hadn't been overly eager to tell anyone what she was thinking; she didn't know what they would think, and she wondered if they would laugh.
"C'mon Luke, shake a leg, will ya?" Bo called out to his cousin.
"What's your hurry, cuz? You gotta date or something?" Luke shot back.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do," Bo replied, wiping the sweat from his brow as he watched his cousin approaching him.
"With Bobbie?" Luke asked, as he stopped to wipe his own sweat soaked face.
"Nah!" Bo corrected. "Remember, we promised the boys we'd take 'em swimming."
"Oh yeah," Luke responded. "Sure sounds good right about now, too. It ain't even noon, it's already gotta be close to a hundred."
"So, let's get going. The quicker we finish, the quicker we can go," Bo suggested.
"Sounds like a plan, cuz," Luke agreed, taking a quick swallow of his water before trotting off to the tractor he'd abandoned.
Though early in the season, it was an extremely hot day, and the thought of a dip in Hazzard pond was inviting. Normally, one of the uncles would be working outdoors with Matthew and BL while the other stayed at the house to watch after Daisy Mae and Duke. That day, a series of events had left Bo and Luke alone to complete the necessary chores. The promise of an afternoon in the cool water had them hurrying to finish, and nothing indicated that they wouldn't be ready on time until they were almost ready to pack up for the day. Having agreed to meet back at the house, Luke had just turned the tractor for home when he saw an abrupt movement from the corner of his eye. Turning his head in the direction it came from, he was just in time to witness Bo's body making contact with the ground.
"Bo!" he shouted over the humming of the engine. Turning it off, Luke jumped from the seat. Running as fast as he could toward his cousin, he continued to scream his name, praying the entire time that Bo would sit up with an embarrassed expression. Mowing down the partially grown stalks of corn that were in his way, he could see that the blonde was not trying to get up. The closer that he got, he could see that Bo wasn't moving at all.
"Bo!" he shouted, partially out of breath as he slid to his knees. As his shaking hand reached out to touch his best friend, he quickly surveyed the scene with his eyes. Bo was covered from head to toe in perspiration, but considering the temperature, that wasn't unusual, nor was the redness in his face. Luke assumed that it was a combination of the effects of the heat and a tad bit of sunburn. His initial diagnosis was that his cousin had suffered from some type of a stroke, either due to sun or heat. A check of the pulse in his neck revealed an erratic one, and when he looked closely, he could see that Bo was having trouble breathing. Knowing that Bo needed to get out of the heat and to medical attention, Luke didn't think that waiting for an ambulance was a good idea. Sliding one arm under Bo's long legs and the other under his back, Luke quickly carried him to the vehicle parked to the side of the field. "C'mon on Bo! Wake up," he urged to no avail.
Letting his cousin rest against him, Luke threw the suv into drive and slammed the gas pedal to the floor. For a moment, he considered stopping at another local body of water to dunk Bo, but decided against it, since he couldn't be sure that being overheated was a thorough or completely accurate diagnosis. Instead, Luke silently cursed, everything and nothing in particular, just the circumstances he was now facing.
Luke noticed his cousin getting hotter and redder as the morning wore on. Still believing that it was his duty to protect his cousin, he should have insisted that they stop working. In fact, if he'd been as smart as everyone gave him credit for being, he should have suggested that they not work at all that day. Nothing they did had been urgent, and Matthew had offered to catch everything up the next day. If Luke had accepted that offer, Bo wouldn't be slumped against his shoulder while he raced toward the closest hospital. Logically, Luke knew that his thoughts were illogical and foolish. Living on a farm in Georgia, they would have never raised a crop from start to finish if they'd catered to the elements, working only in nice weather; heat was common in the summer, and had never stopped them before. Plus it was Bo, not him, who had told Matthew not to be ridiculous, they'd been running the farm alone for almost thirty years. 'One day wasn't going to kill them' had been his cousin's exact words.
Losing that debate with himself, Luke's mind turned to cursing the law in Hazzard; or at that minute, the lack of it. Though the Dukes and the sheriff's department had long ago called a truce, that didn't mean that there was ever a cop around when you wanted one. Rosco had retired and moved away years ago, and the animosity that once existed between the boys and Sheriff Coltrane had never really existed with then deputy and now Sheriff Cletus Hogg. Elected after Rosco officially announced his plans, Cletus had turned into a decent lawman. Not having a corrupt local government had left him free of the pressures of his predecessor, but even so, a lot of locals didn't think that the clumsy deputy had the makings of a good sheriff. He'd proved them wrong, especially after he hired a local boy as his deputy who was proving himself to be a very proficient lawman. At the moment, Luke didn't need the world's best crime solving sleuths; any officer driving a cruiser with lights and a siren would have sufficed. Yet, despite breaking the speed limit by at least twice the posted amount, one was no where in sight.
"Mmmmmh." The low moan originating from around his shoulder gained the eldest Duke boy's attention.
"Bo? Bo, can you hear me?"
"Luke," came the raspy reply.
"I'm right here, Bo."
"Hurts, Luke."
"It's okay Bo, just hang on. We're here at Tri-County. They're gonna fix you right up," Luke told him as he pulled up to the emergency room doors and blasted the horn, but Bo heard none of it as he lapsed back into unconsciousness.
Luke's words had been spoken prematurely. Even if the staff at Tri-County hospital had been fixing Bo, they weren't doing it 'right up.' It had been hours since he had seen his cousin, and still, Luke knew nothing.
After arriving, the brunette had spent some time with the admitting desk. When he finished, he had called Ashley and Matthew to tell them what was going on. Then, he began waiting. At first alone, but it hadn't taken either his niece or nephew-in-law long to show up, wanting answers to questions that he couldn't provide. Even the boys wanted to know what was wrong with Uncle Bo and if he'd be okay. The only one who didn't seem to understand that something was very wrong was Daisy Mae, and Luke envied her blissful ignorance. All in search of the same answer, they began waiting, together.
If time goes slowly for adults in a waiting room, it goes even slower for children. Daisy Mae slept a little off and on, but reminded them that small children weren't known for their patience. Eventually, Matthew suggested that he take the children for something to eat, despite the boys not wanting to go. They'd stopped back after they were finished eating, bringing something for Ashley and Luke, which ended up being wasted. Staying for a little while longer, Ashley finally told her husband to take the children home. There was nothing they do could do there, and she promised to call as soon as they heard anything. She couldn't leave; both of her uncles needed her.
Though they were told a couple of time that Bo was still being worked on, hours had elapsed. Finally, two doctors walked out into the waiting room together. One doctor they recognized; he'd taken over Doc Appleby's practice when the country doctor had retired. A young man sent from Atlanta a few years back, he had decided to make Hazzard his home, and had been treating the Dukes ever since. In fact, Daisy Mae had seen him just that morning; just one of the appointments that had led to Bo and Luke having been left in the fields alone.
"Ashley, Luke," Dr. Erickson acknowledged.
"How's Bo?" they both asked, jumping up from their seats.
"This is Dr. Peters," the young man introduced. "He's a cardiologist from Atlanta. I called him earlier."
"Cardiologist?" Ashley questioned.
"I thought Bo probably had a sunstroke," Luke said, providing his original diagnosis, but knowing that the presence of a heart doctor probably meant that he had not assessed the situation correctly.
"Well, today's heat may not have helped, but Bo didn't have a sunstroke," Dr. Erickson corrected. "He had a heart attack."
Confusion crossed Luke's face as different thoughts bombarded him from several directions. "But…., but…….he just had his pacemaker changed," Luke deliberated aloud. "You said it would last him five, maybe ten years."
"Yes Luke, I did," Allan Erickson agreed. "And, it will. There's nothing wrong with the pacemaker we gave him, but a pacemaker only helps regulate the beat and rhythm. It can't actually prevent a heart attack caused by other factors."
"Oh," Luke muttered numbly not knowing what else to say.
Laying her hand on her uncle's shoulder, Ashley knew he was looking for something to blame. She also knew that what they'd just been told was correct.
"What took so long?" Ashley finally asked.
"We just couldn't get him stabilized, and he's still not completely stable yet," the heart doctor from Atlanta informed them.
"How bad is it?" Luke finally managed to ask the only question that really mattered.
"Until we can run some tests and determine the cause, and the extent of the damage, I can't answer that right now."
Running his hand through his hair, Luke was losing his patience at a fast rate, and his niece knew it. She also knew that an argument wasn't going to help anyone or change the facts. "Can we see him?" she asked.
"He's asleep. It might be best if you waited until morning," came the reply.
"I want to see him," Luke said, emphasizing each word and leaving no room for argument.
With an element of surprise, the big city doctor looked to the country doctor. Without a word between themselves, the country doctor was the one to speak, pointing down the far corridor as he did so. "He's in ICU."
"We know the way," Ashley called over her shoulder, hurrying her step. Despite being twice her age, her uncle was already halfway down the hall, and catching up with a determined Luke Duke wasn't an easy thing to do for anyone, at any age.
