Chapter Four
The hours passed slowly for Luke while he sat in the hospital, keeping track of the race from the television set.
'50 more laps to go.' Luke thought as a doctor came down the hall and stopped in front of him.
"Well, aside from a few cuts and bruises, you appear to be just fine, Mr. Duke." The doctor said.
Luke stood up and shook the doctor's hand before he turned and hot footed it back to the race.
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Bo was driving the General, as hard as he dared.
He was in third place, trying to fight for second.
The images of Luke's car crashing and burning kept going through his mind.
It worried him. What if the car had exploded before Bo had gotten Luke out? What if Luke hadn't survived the impact? What if Bo had not stopped out all...
All of those questions entered his mind.
Bo was so lost in thought that he jumped when he heard a voice come over his radio.
"How ya doin' cuz'?"
Smiling slightly, Bo replied, "Ok. Jus' wantin this race ta be over."
"I hear ya. Jus' 48 more laps ta go buddy." Luke said as he took a seat with Bo's pit crew.
"What'd the doc say?" Bo asked.
"Scrapes and bruises. Nothin' much." Luke replied seriously as he focused on the cars whizzing by his position.
As the General roared by the pits, Luke saw the #21 car inch closer and closer to the General's backside.
"Bo, if you don't step on it, the #21 car is gonna kiss yer backside!" Luke warned.
"Thanks fer the warnin'," Bo replied as he looked into his side mirror and saw the approaching car.
Luke watched with bated breath as the cars entered turn three.
At first everything looked ok, but that was before the #21 rammed the General's rear end, sending the car spinning into the wall.
The passanger side of the car smacked the wall, buckling the whole side a little and sending it towards the pack and the grass on the other side.
Luke was horrified as another car smashed into the General's driver side door, pushing it onto the grass.
He was even more horrified to see that Bo wasn't in the General as it rolled to a stop on the grass.
Scanning the grass proved futile, for when Luke saw Bo, the young man was lying on the track, currently being run over by the #21 car.
The yellow flag was waved and the race was immediatly stopped because Bo was lying on the track.
Luke leapt over the wall and dashed off towards his cousin, who lay unmoving on the raceway.
Skidding to a halt, Luke knelt down and gently removed Bo's helmet.
One look at the seat belt apparatus, still somewhat attached to Bo's chest, Luke deduced what had happened.
The seat belt had failed, sending Bo through the windshield when the General had been hit the second time.
"Oh...Bo." Luke grimaced as he took in his cousin's features.
Bo's skin was pasty white. A pool of blood covered the ground directly under him.
A small trickle of blood was also coming out of his mouth and his eyes were shut.
Bo's arm and leg were hanging at an unnatural angle and Luke knew that they were beyond broken.
Weakly Luke felt for a pulse, suprised and releaved to find one!
An ambulance pulled to a stop behind Luke, as well as a tow truck to take care of the General.
Luke didn't say anything, he only watched as his cousin, his best friend was loaded onto a stretcher and quickly carted to the hosptial.
Now with the racetrack cleared, the cars were given the go ahead to finish the rest, though it would at least ten laps before a green flag would be issued.
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Luke sat in the waiting room, tears running down his face as he watched the last few laps of the race.
"The white flag has been shown. It's Ricky Rudd in the #12 car, who was the lead." The announcer said.
"Yes, it's a shame though. The #01 car showed great promise in this race. Beating all the odds." The second announcer said as the last lap of the race began.
Luke shut his eyes, not wanting to see the last of the race. The race which Bo had worked so hard to win, finish, without him even being in it.
"Ricky Rudd takes the checkerd flag! Ricky Rudd is the winner of the Taladaga 500!" The announcer yelled into his microphone.
Twenty minutes of nothing but the crowd cheering, and Ricky talking about his pit crew and what a good job they and the car did, before they even got to Victory Lane.
After recieving the first place trophy and money, Ricky did something that suprised everyone.
"I'd like to believe that I deserve this win, but I don't. Bo Duke and The General are the rightful winners. They fought the hardest in this race, even when the odds were stacked against them.
Early on in the race, Bo stopped to help out his cousin who had crashed, instead of continuing on. That showed courage and bravery. And that is why I think that he deserves this trophy. He earned it. Even though he's in the hospital, and unable to be here, I hereby declare that Bo Duke is the winner of the Taladaga 500!" Ricky said as he hopped off the podium.
To say that Luke was shocked would be an understatement. In all his years, he had never expected that to happen!
When asked where he was going, Ricky replied, "I'm going over to the hospital, to present this to Bo Duke personally."
Luke was crying as a small smile graced his face.
Bo would be so happy about this, but Bo was in surgury at the moment.
The doctors were very unsure if they could stabilize him.
They had told Luke that they could go ahead with the surgury, even though Bo had a 50/50 chance of dieing on the operating table, or they could just let him pass on peacefully.
Luke didn't want Bo to die, so he opted for the surgury.
Now he still sat in the waiting room, waiting to hear Bo's fate.