Chapter 4: With a Side Order of Guilt, Please

Bo groaned and opened his eyes. His blinked, vision blurry at first, and found himself looking up at two concerned faces leaning over him – one was Luke, with worried blue eyes, and the other was an unfamiliar man with thinning hair and glasses. Past them, Bo saw red lights flashing on the ceiling, and he realized he was lying on the floor of the motel room.

"Luke…" he whispered, as the unfamiliar man said, "Welcome back, young man."

"Alright, let's go," another unfamiliar voice said gruffly, and Bo looked to see Luke being pulled to his feet by a uniformed police officer, his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Wait, where are you taking him?.!" Bo cried, sitting up - too fast. Spots burst in his vision, and his ears roared. The paramedic at his side held his arm to steady him. "That's my cousin!"

The officer stopped and looked down at him with pity. "Yes, Mr. Duke, and he just threw you into that wall. Now, I don't know how they do things in Georgia, but up here, that's called assault and battery, and we don't stand for it."

Bo slowly looked up at the wall above him – there was a body-sized smash in the drywall, with a bright red smear of blood on the white paint. He groaned again at his growing headache.

"We need to get him to the hospital," the medic informed the officer, and both started to move again.

"No, wait!" Bo protested.

It took several minutes before he managed to convince the dutiful officer that he absolutely wouldn't press charges and no, Luke wasn't a threat to him, it was just a misunderstanding. Luke listened miserably, too guilty to speak up – he would have gone to jail without protest. Finally, the officer gave in to Bo and uncuffed Luke, mostly because Bo refused to go to the hospital if he didn't, and the young man looked worse by the minute. However, once Bo had been loaded up into the ambulance, the officer informed Luke in no uncertain terms that another incident in his town would land him in prison faster than a hound catches a two-legged coon. The medic also refused to let him ride in the ambulance, so Luke was left standing in the parking lot with the name of the hospital scribbled on a piece of paper in his hand, watching the red lights disappear into the dark night.

It was the motel clerk who got his attention next as he took a step towards the General Lee. The man angrily demanded payment for the damage to the room, and insisted that Luke pack up their things and leave entirely. Luke had no heart to argue, lost in his wretched thoughts, so he paid the man and loaded their suitcases back into the General. After wrangling directions out of the irate clerk, Luke climbed in the car and took off, speeding as fast as he dared after the officer's threat.

Luke needn't have bothered speeding, though. When he asked after Bo in the emergency room, the nurse only gave him some paperwork to fill out and said she'd let him know when the doctor was done with his cousin. He quickly finished the paperwork and spent the next hour sitting anxiously in the near-empty waiting room, more torn up inside than ever. He had no idea what happened, but…no, scratch that. He knew exactly what had happened. He had seen it before, seen one of his fellow Marines nearly kill another without waking up from a nightmare. It had taken weeks for the bruises around the man's throat to heal. Every one of them had known it could happen to them too, could happen to anyone who had seen the things they'd seen and done the things they'd done. Luke had woken up the instant Bo hit the floor, breathing hard and in a cold sweat. He'd been so terrified, seen the blood, was afraid to even touch his baby cousin, ran for help. Then the police and paramedics got there, drew their own conclusions, and he was arrested, but he wouldn't leave without seeing Bo alright. He didn't care if he went to jail, but he'd never forgive himself if Bo was hurt bad.

These were the thoughts going through Luke's mind when the white-coated doctor came out through the doors from the emergency room. Luke was numbly surprised to see the police officer with him.

"Mr. Duke?" the doctor asked. The stricken young man in the waiting room fit his young cousin's description.

"Yes sir," Luke stood, hopeful and fearful at the same time.

"My name is Dr. Henderson. I've had a look at your cousin, and we took some x-rays. He's got a pretty good concussion, and he needed a few stitches, but we think he'll be just fine. We're going to keep him here for the rest of the night for observation, and once they move him to a room upstairs, you'll be able to go see him."

"Thank you, doctor." Luke closed his eyes with relief.

"I would like to speak with you, though, about how this happened. Bo couldn't tell me much, just that he was trying to wake you from a nightmare. Is that right?"

Luke bowed his head, looking at the floor. "Yes sir, it must be. He was…he was on the floor when I woke up. I must have…" he trailed off.

"Has this ever happened before, Mr. Duke?"

"No sir…not to me, at least. I had some friends…but not me."

The cop stepped forward brusquely. "Mr. Duke, were you under the influence of any drugs or alcohol this evening?"

"No!" Luke scowled at the very suggestion – especially after last night.

The doctor held out a cautioning hand to the officer before speaking again. "Mr. Duke, have you ever heard the term 'post-traumatic stress'?"

Growing more annoyed, Luke looked at the doctor with flashing blue eyes. "Yes. Now look, I just want to see Bo, and make sure he's alright. Are you gonna let me, or is he gonna arrest me?"

The doctor sighed. "No, you're free to go, Mr. Duke. I'll check and see if your cousin is settled in yet. But, if you'd like to talk with one of our counselors…"

"I don't."

"Very well, then. If you'll come this way…"

The police officer watched Luke with wary eyes as he walked past, but abided by the doctor's words and left to file his report.

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Luke paused in the doorway of the room the nurse had directed him to. Bo was awake and waiting for him in the bed closer to the door – a curtain hid the bed and patient on the other side.

"Luke!" Bo called to him, though he didn't sit up. His head was pounding, and the room had an annoying habit of swaying sideways when he moved. A patch of hair had been shaved off the back of his head, and a half-dozen fresh stitches made a ragged and tender line on his scalp, not to mention the swollen goose-egg lump back there.

Luke's response caught ragged in his throat. Look what I did to him.

"Luke, are you alright? That cop didn't give you more trouble, did he?"

"No, I'm…I'm okay," Luke finally found the words, stepping inside. He tried to sound casual, but Bo saw the worry and guilt on his face, plain as day. "How are you?"

Bo gave a slight grimace. "Well, I remember you warning us, way back, not to wake you up like that. Guess that's why, huh?"

Luke nodded, sitting down in the chair next to him. "Yeah, that's why. Bo, I'm so sorry!"

"Hey! C'mon Luke, you didn't do it on purpose, didja? Well, then don't beat yourself up about it! I mean, one of us's gotta be able to drive home…"

That got a smile out of Luke. "Look, why don't you get some sleep. I'm gonna go give Uncle Jesse a call - he'll be mad if we don't let him know what happened." That I just threw you into a wall and gave you a concussion.

Bo yawned. "Alright, cousin. Give him my best."

Luke agreed, pulling the covers up to Bo's chin. His younger cousin's best wasn't very good right now. With Bo's eyes already closed, Luke went out into the hallway to search for a payphone. This wasn't a conversation he was looking forward to. It was nearly 3am, and he didn't relish waking Uncle Jesse with this news.

The phone rang five, six, seven times before Jesse answered, gruff, sleepy, and worried all at once. "Duke farm, Jesse speaking."

"Uncle Jesse, it's Luke."

"Luke! Are you boys alright? What are you doing calling at this hour?"

"Well…we're at the hospital in, uh, D.C. I think. Now, I'm alright, and Bo's…Bo's got a concussion. We had a bit of a, ah, accident."

"In the General Lee? I thought you were at a motel for the night?"

"Ah, we were. I guess…I was sleeping. I had a bit of a nightmare, and Bo tried to wake me up, and I…threw him into the wall, in my sleep."

Silence. Then, softly, "Luke…" Jesse hardly had to guess at the details.

"I know, Uncle Jesse."

"Are you alright?"

"I…" Luke paused, about to lie and answer Yes. "Well, no! I threw Bo into a wall! Uncle Jesse, I could have killed him! What am I gonna do? I…" he sighed, running a hand through his hair. Jesse could hear his frustration.

"Luke…will you do something for me?"

Quietly, "Yeah, what is it, Uncle Jesse?"

"I want you to go back in there and sit with him, and go to sleep. You're exhausted and worried, and blaming yourself when there's no one to blame."

"But…"

"No but's. Go on. Get some rest, and give me a call in the morning."

"Yes, sir."

"I love you, Luke - and so does Bo. It'll be alright."

"I love you too, Uncle Jesse. Goodnight."

Luke hung up the phone with mixed feelings, and made his way back down the hall to Bo's room. At least he could follow half of Jesse's instructions. He didn't think he'd be getting any more sleep tonight.

Y'know, folks, I can hardly guess at half of what must be goin' through that poor boy's mind. First his old friend, and now this! Think Providence is gonna give him a break any time soon? Yeah, me neither.