Author's Note: Triple squeamish alert!
Chapter 11: Kittens in a Litter
Dawn had broken in the eastern sky when a nurse came and told Jesse that Luke was out of surgery. The Duke patriarch had stayed with Bo and filled out paperwork for the hospital staff until they came to transfer his nephew to a ward upstairs. They'd asked him to wait in the waiting room until the boy was settled into his room, and Jesse had dozed off waiting for permission to go back in with Bo. Now he sat waiting for a doctor to come and bring him to Luke's room.
"Mr. Duke?" a white-coated man stood at the waiting room door, holding a file and what Jesse now recognized as an x-ray film packet. "Mr. Jesse Duke?"
"That'd be me," Jesse looked around the empty waiting room.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Peters, I was your… ah, nephew, is it? I was your nephew's surgeon."
Jesse shook his hand, and couldn't help but notice the smell of blood and disinfectant on the man. "How's my boy, doctor?"
"Well, he's doing just fine, now, he's still sleeping from the anesthesia. That was a rather bad break, but the surgery went quite well. If you'll come down this way, I can show you the x-rays, and then take you in to see him."
They walked down the hall and stopped at an empty nurse's station. The surgeon flipped on the light box and pulled out the first pair of films. Jesse blanched and swallowed hard at what he saw.
"Quite a bad break, as I said before," Peters explained, "His tibia and fibula - the two bones in the lower leg - both broke and splintered. The tibia punctured the skin here," he pointed with a pen, "and the fibula here. Both missed the major arteries, but lacerated several smaller ones and did a fair amount of damage to the muscle and soft tissue. Now, let me show you how it is now," he said, pulling off the first two films and putting up the second pair.
The drastic difference relieved Jesse.
"I reset the bones and placed pins here, here, and here. Those will ensure that the bones heal straight. I was able to repair the major arterioles and much of the muscle damage. All in all, I'm rather pleased with how it turned out," the doctor declared. Though his bedside manner was a bit lacking, Jesse had to agree that the surgeon had done a fine job.
"Can I see him now?" he asked, trying not to sound impatient.
"Oh, of course! Right this way."
He led the way down the hallway and around the corner, stopping at a darkened room with an open door. Jesse looked in before stepping through the doorway. Luke's was the only bed in the small room. He looked all for the world like he was just sleeping, maybe after a hard day's work in the fields. The hospital gown was a dead giveaway, of course. His leg lay propped on a pair of stacked pillows, wrapped in gauze and immobilized by a wire frame. A couple of wires snaked out from under the blankets, connected to a silent machine with a green screen showing a set of numbers Jesse didn't know how to read. Jesse watched him, a million thoughts and memories running through his mind, until Doctor Peters spoke again.
"He'll need to stay here for several days, until he heals enough for a regular cast," Peters explained. Jesse nodded without looking at him, and the doctor took that as the cue to leave. "The nurse's station is just down this hallway, if you need anything."
When he had left, Jesse walked into the room and sat down in the high-backed armchair that sat next to the bed. It was then that he noticed that Luke's black eye from the previous night still hadn't healed, and that tonight's fighting had added a cut on his chin. Jesse sat back and wondered how many parents had sat in that chair, spending a lonely night's vigil with a son or daughter. As he thought about it, his eyelids drifted shut, and he fell asleep, exhausted.
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A few hours later, Jesse woke up to the sound of Luke's voice.
"Uncle Jesse?" the boy asked softly, peering up at him.
"I'm here, Luke," Jesse said, sitting up straight.
"Where's Bo?"
Jesse smiled, not surprised that was the first question he asked.
"He's in another room down the hall."
"Oh." Luke was quiet for a moment, looking around the room, at his leg, at his uncle. He hadn't moved or sat up. "How bad is it?" he finally asked.
Jesse's smile faltered. "Oh…" He couldn't manage even to fudge it. "It was pretty bad, but you had a good surgeon, and I think you'll be just fine."
"Oh…that's good, I guess." Luke closed his eyes again. "Uncle Jesse?"
"Yes, Luke?"
"Will you stay until I fall asleep?"
"Yes, Luke. I'll stay."
A bit later, when Jesse was sure his nephew was sleeping soundly, he stood up and stretched, and went looking for the nurse's station. He found it down the hall, staffed by a pretty-looking brunette a little older than Luke.
"Excuse me, miss. I've been waiting to hear where they moved my nephew Bo. I was told someone would come tell me, but no one did."
"Oh, I'm sorry, sir," she apologized, "That happens sometimes. What's his name again?"
"Beauregard Duke."
"Oh, yes, he's back down the hall, room 312. You know, a nurse from downstairs told me someone from the FBI was asking about him, but she just sent that man packing. You wouldn't believe the stories we get!"
Jesse thanked her and went to go find the room. To his annoyance, it turned out to be just three doors down and across the hall from Luke's room. There were two beds in this one. An elderly gentleman occupied the bed closest to the window, and Bo was closer to the door. He, too, was sleeping, but propped up instead of laying flat. Dr. Graham had told Jesse earlier that it would be easier for him to breathe that way. His nephew was muttering in his sleep, his foot twitching occasionally - it didn't sound like a good dream. Jesse walked over and placed a hand on his good shoulder.
"Bo! Bo, wake up, son. It's just a dream."
Bo's eyes flickered open, and he looked up. "Uncle Jesse?"
Jesse smiled, and repeated nearly the same conversation he'd had with Luke.
When Bo was sleeping soundly again, Jesse left his room and went in search of a restroom and a payphone. He found one, then the other, and called the number Enos gave him.
"Garnett residence, Lucy speaking," answered the other end.
"Why hello, Mrs. Garnett, this is Jesse Duke…Enos gave me your phone number?" he began cautiously, hoping he had the right house.
"Oh, yes, Mr. Duke!"
"Call me Jesse, please."
"Alright then, Jesse - oh, those poor dears, they were exhausted, I sent them right to bed. They're sleeping still. Is everything alright there?" she inquired.
"Yes, Mrs. Garnett…"
"Lucy, please."
"Lucy, then. Yes, the boys are both sleeping. I just wanted to let you all know they're doing just fine. There's no reason for Daisy and Enos and Cooter to rush down here when they wake up."
"Oh alright, I'll tell them, I'm sure they'll be very relieved. And what about you, dear? You can't have gotten much rest yourself."
"Oh, I've gotten a bit here and there. Don't you worry about me, I'm used to it, raising these two."
"Alright then. Thank you for calling, Jesse dear, I'll pass the message along. I'm sure we'll see you later on."
Jesse said his goodbyes and hung up, just as he heard his name called from the end of the hallway.
"Mr. Duke?" The nurse did not have a happy expression.
Oh no. "Yes, ma'am?" He walked to meet her at the end of the hall.
"Mr. Duke, I don't want to alarm you, but I'm afraid I was making rounds of the patients on the floor and…your nephew Beauregard appears to be missing."
Jesse's heart leaped into his throat for the fourth time in twenty-four hours. He walked on past the nurse, headed for the room on the other side of the floor. Counting down the numbers, he saw 318…316…314…312. Walking in, sure enough, Bo's bed was empty. The blankets were tossed aside, and one of the pillows had fallen on the floor. A quick search of the room proved his absence, as did a check of the adjoining bathroom. Not again…
Growing anxious, Jesse walked back into the hallway down to Luke's room, the check on his older nephew. 311…309…307…305. Jesse walked into the darkened room and felt tears of relief pricking his eyes.
Bo Duke sat in the high-backed chair next to his cousin, sound asleep.
Now ain't that a sight? I swear those Duke cousins are closer than kittens in a litter.
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Now, I'm sure you're wondering what all came of this hectic weekend. Well, Bo was released from the hospital that afternoon, but he refused to leave until Luke was released four days later, sportin' a cast on his leg signed with half a dozen nurses' phone numbers. The two of them spent the next month living the good life in the family room of the Duke home, Luke stretched out on the couch and Bo taking up Uncle Jesse's comfy old armchair. Of course, they got bored pretty quick with Daisy serving them meals and playing checkers with anyone they could corner, but they did alright.
The FBI and the federal government was real happy with the help they got from the Dukes in capturing Sonny and his gang. The government paid for all Bo and Luke's hospital bills, for Cooter's stolen tires, for reupholstering the General, and gave them a $50,000 reward, too. Now, most of that went to buying a new tractor, 'cause Jesse couldn't get anywhere with the old one, and for hiring some hands to work in the fields, since the boys were ordered to rest and recuperate. Jesse squirreled away the leftovers for a rainy day, but don't tell Luke and Bo that.
Bo got his peach cobbler from Ann Samuels, too, and a lot of kisses to wash it down. He shared with Luke, of course. As for the Samuels girls, they visited the boys all that month, but when Bo and Luke were well on the road to recovery, the girls said goodbye - it was just too dangerous to associate with a Duke, their daddy said. And of course, when Roscoe and Boss Hogg came back from their trip out of town and found out what had happened, they blamed it all on poor Enos.
THE END