Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.
Warnings: Violence, Angst, Slash, Incest, Established Couple
Rating: FRT
Italics indicate thoughts/memories
Choices
Chapter 7
Kneeling on the cold tiles, Luke was unaware of anything around him, his focus taken up by his prayers to God for Bo's life. He was so intent that he nearly jumped out of his skin when a hand was laid on his back.
"Mr. Duke, it's alright now. It was a false alarm," a gentle voice told him.
Looking up at the nurse, Luke shook his head, not sure he'd heard her right. "A...false alarm?"
"Yes sir, one of the leads for the heart monitor was pulled loose somehow. That's what caused the alarm," she reassured him.
"So Bo's okay? He's really okay?" Disbelief warring with hope in his voice.
"Why don't ya ask him yourself?" Bo answered from the bed.
Slowly rising to his feet, Luke stumbled to the bed, not even noticing when the nurse left. Collapsing heavily into the chair beside Bo's bed, he stared at his cousin, stunned by what had happened. Suddenly everything hit him at once. The fear when Bo was missing, not knowing what was happening to him or if he'd ever see him again. The anger he'd felt when they found Bo at the old still site, tied to a bed and having been beaten. The cold fury when he caught Jud, his own brother, trying to kill Bo. The absolute terror he'd felt when that alarm went off only a few minutes ago. "Bo? What's wrong with me?" Luke asked, just before he slid from the chair, falling to the floor with a thud.
"Luke!" Bo screamed, bringing the nurse running quickly back into the room.
Seeing Luke passed out on the floor, she picked up the intercom and paged Dr. Bennett. Kneeling down on the floor the nurse began assessing Luke's condition.
"What's wrong with him? Why'd he pass out?" Bo questioned nervously.
Before the nurse could answer the doctor had arrived, "What happened here?"
"I'm not sure doctor. I had left the room only a few moments ago when I heard Bo scream his cousin's name. When I came into the room I found Luke on the floor unconscious and paged you. His pulse is racing, his breathing is shallow, and his skin is cold and clammy to the touch." Clara informed the doctor.
"Clara go get a gurney and a couple of orderlies, take him to room 346. We need a complete blood work-up and begin an i.v. glucose soulution right away." Taking a blanket from the end of Bo's bed, Dr. Bennett covered Luke with it. As he administered care to Luke he questioned Bo as to what had happened.
"I'm not real sure doc., I somehow pulled one of my leads loose and that made an alarm go off. When I woke up, Luke was on the floor praying and the nurse was turning the alarm off and fixing the lead, least that's what she called it. She told Luke I was okay and left while he came over to that chair there. Then all of a sudden he started shaking and got real pale. Next thing I know he's on the floor, out cold. Doc, do ya know what's wrong with him?"
"I won't be certain until I run a few test, but I believe it's simple shock. Seems to me the worry over this situation caught up to him is all."
"You can take care of that right?" Bo asked, trying to keep the fear out of his voice.
"Oh yes,...excuse me," the doctor turned towards the door as the Clara returned with the orderlies. Between them they soon had Luke on the gurney and across the hall in room 346, leaving Bo alone with his thoughts and fears.
Three hours later Bo sighed in relief when Luke walked through the door. Even though Clara had been in several times in those hours to check on Bo, had assured him that Luke was fine, that the doctor's initial suspicions were correct. Bo hadn't really believed Luke would be fine with a little rest and a little medicine to get his electrolytes and blood sugars level. Couldn't let himself believe it, until Luke walked through that door and sat beside him on the bed. "Are you okay love?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Guess I hadn't really been taking care of myself the last couple of days is all."
"I'm sorry Luke, you shouldn't have been put through all that."
"Ain't your fault Bo. If it's anybody's fault it's Jud's and whoever kidnapped you in the first place. Still wish you'd tell me who did that," Luke half asked, picking up Bo's hand, absently caressing it.
"I can't Luke...if you knew who it was ya'd..."
"Ya'd kick our asses and ya'd be right to do so," Charlie Dodson said from the door, surprising them both.
"Charlie? You're the one who hurt Bo? Why?" Luke asked, too surprised to do anything yet.
"Cause I was a fool, that's why. I got to thinking about it Bo and well, decided it was time I acted like a man. I always wanted people to look up to me, respect me but most folks just saw a backwoods moonshiner. Not you Dukes though, no sir y'all always treated me like I was just as good as anybody else. Maybe that's why...when ya cousin said he saw you with that feller, all I could think was it couldn't be true. Didn't want to believe you might really want to be with him. So I told myself, he's brainwashing ya or tricking ya somehow. Don't matter none though, you were right Bo. It wasn't my job to decide if you were wrong or right. Not my job to save you if ya needed it, that's the Almighty's job. I'm here now to apologize for what I done and make it right. Well as right as I can. I'm gonna turn myself in for what I done, just wanted to come here first and say I'm sorry before I do." Charlie told them, forcing himself to look Bo in the eye while he spoke.
"Won't do any good Charlie, I ain't gonna press charges. I gave my word as a Duke, you gonna force me to break my word?" Bo asked, keeping a tight grip on Luke's hand. "No Luke, ya ain't gonna do anything to Charlie. I told him it'd be okay if he let me go, that he'd be okay and ya won't make a liar out of me. Neither one of ya. Charlie, we done took care of this. I appreciate ya coming by, but I don't want ya locked up. I just want to forget all of this ever happened and go on with my life. You want to make it right with me Charlie? Then just let it go, don't force me to go back on my word."
"I...never thought of it like that. Don't seem right though, I done wrong, we all did. Ought to have to do something to pay for that."
"Have ya learned your lesson Charlie? You ever gonna do anything like this again?" Bo softly questioned.
"No, but..."
"Okay, ya really want to do something. Then how about this. The county orphanage is always needing stuff fixed. You volunteer all your spare time for the next month at the orphanage, that ought to balance the scaaaaaales." Bo ended his statement with a huge yawn, making Charlie realize how late it was. Saying goodnight and once again apologizing, Charlie Dodson walked out the door, unaware of Luke following him.
"Charlie wait up." Luke called out stopping the other man in his tracks. "I just wanted to say, well I know it took guts to come up here and try to make things right. It's good ya done that, and I hope you do what Bo suggested. I need to tell you two things though. If you ever hurt my cousin or anybody in my family again I'll make sure you pay. I don't care if it's with your fists or your words that you hurt them, you won't get away with it again, you understand me?" Luke growled the question in his best Marine Sergeant voice. "Good, and Charlie, just so you'll know, the man Jud saw Bo with? It wasn't at the still site, it was at the farm. I know cause I'm the man he saw Bo with. You were used Charlie. My brother used you and whoever helped you to do his dirty work for him. Just thought you should know the whole truth." Luke told him before heading back to Bo's room, leaving a shocked man behind him.
When Luke came back into the room, Bo immediately glanced at his cousin's hands. Letting go the breath he didn't know he'd been holding when he saw no fresh bruises on the knuckles.
Seeing where Bo was looking, Luke explained what had happened in the hallway. He reassured his lover that he hadn't hurt Charlie in any way. "So, now that Charlie confessed, you gonna tell me who else was involved?"
"I don't think I should Luke. I know Charlie admitted his guilt, but that doesn't give either of us the right to say who else was involved. Besides, I kind of want to know if they'll come apologize on their own too." Bo told him, fighting back another yawn.
"Okay, that's enough for tonight. You need to rest, ya been through a lot Bo and tommorrow's gonna be a long day." Luke said, beginning to climb off the bed, planning to move to the chair.
"No Luke, don't leave me please...don't want to be alone." Bo begged, grabbing onto Luke's hand before he could complete his move.
"Shhh Bo, I'm not going anywhere. I was just moving to the chair so you could rest, that's all." Luke reassured, reaching out to run his hand through Bo's hair.
"Too far...need ya next to me..."
"Make ya a deal, I'll stay here 'til ya fall asleep. Then I move to the chair, so's you can rest properly. Okay then, you just relax and go to sleep darlin, I'll be here...I promise." As he sat on the bed beside his cousin, Luke continued to card his fingers through Bo's hair. It was funny really, ever since he'd been a little boy, that was the one thing guaranteed to relax him. Guess some things never change, do they? As he helped the younger man to relax, Luke began to softly sing one of their favorite songs. "I was standing. All alone against the world outside. You were searching. For a place to hide. Lost and lonely. Now you've given me the will to survive. When we're hungry...love will keep us alive..." It was a sure sign of how exhausted Bo was, when he was deeply asleep by the half-way point of the song.
Taking Bo's hand in his own, Luke began to pray. "Please Lord, protect him. Don't let Jud's actions have left any permament damage. He's a good man, he doesn't deserve any of this. I know a lot of people think it's wrong for two men to love each other the way Bo and I do. They think we're going to hell for it, maybe they're right, I don't know for sure. But I don't really believe that You'll condemn us for loving each other. Somehow I think You've got more important things to worry about than our love lives. If I'm wrong though Lord, then punish me, not Bo. In Jesus name, Amen."
Sheriff Little sat in his office, hours later still fuming about the events at the hospital. When he had arrived at the jail with Jud Kane in tow, he had immediately turned the arrest over to one of his deputies. He didn't dare continue with the booking, the man had already experienced a couple of accidents on the way to the jail. Hitting his head on the cruiser as he was helped into the back seat, then there had been that terrible spill he had taken down the front steps coming into the jail. No, it was much better if Harvey finished the processing, at least it was if they wanted a live defendant at the trial.
"Daddy don't! Please don't send David away." Fourteen-year old Ed Little had begged his father to let his older brother stay in their home. But it had done no good, Nathaniel Little had always been a hard man. He had always insisted that as head of the family they would do things his way or not at all. Growing up with him hadn't been easy, but Ed had never really felt his wrath. He'd always had his older brother David to look out for him, his own personal hero. Not that day though. That day, Nathaniel Little had come home early and caught his oldest son in the embrace of another boy. He had raged at David for hours about the sin he was committing, infuriated when his son refused to back down. David's refusal to admit he was wrong, to agree he would never again do that with another man, was the breaking point. Nathaniel ordered his oldest from the family home and decreed that he no longer existed. Forbidding them to ever speak his name again. He hadn't cared that he was breaking his wife's heart, hadn't cared about the pain he was causing both his sons. Too blinded by pride and bigotry, all he saw was David's defiance and sin. Three months after being thrown out of his home and cut off from his family, David had hung himself. Ed's mother had never recovered from the devastating loss and six months after her oldest died, she placed the barrel of her husband's shotgun against her chest. Using her big toe to pull the trigger, she blew a hole in her chest big enough to drive a truck through. Coming home from school, Ed had found her sitting in Nathaniel's favorite chair. He always wondered just why she chose that chair? David's death had begun it, his mother's finished it and on that day the carefree, loving boy died. Replaced by a cold, hard man who was determined that he would never again be hurt by that kind of loss.
The door to his office slamming open violently pulled Ed Little from his memories. "Sheriff! I'm sorry...I don't know how it happened. One minute I was handing him the food tray and the next...I was..."
"Slow down Harvey. What exactly happened?" Sheriff Little impatiently interrupted his deputy.
"Jud Kane escaped," Harvey reluctantly informed his boss.
TBC
Okay, first a short note. The song Luke sings to Bo is: Love Will Keep Us Alive, by the Eagles. Lyrics written by; Pete Vale/Jim Capaldi and Paul Carrack. Thanks for reading, now it's time for reviewing please.