"Lu-uke…" began Bo hoarsely.
"Shh Bo. Ya hush now. I'm here…"
"Lu-uke… I hurt…"
Luke sighed. "I know, buddy, I know." He lightly sponged Bo's face and frowned as the cold cloth became warm after touching Bo's hot forehead.
"Lu-uke..."
"Bo," began Luke gently in a tone few heard. "Ya stop talkin' now. Ya need t' rest… ya gonna be fine..."
"Unca Jesse…. Where…?"
"He an' Daisy went to town t' get some medicine for ya…they'll be back. Now hush, Bo…"
Tears filled Bo's eyes. "Lu-uke … hurts…. so much….can't… can't…"
Luke bit his bottom lip, cursing himself for letting this happen. He got up and gently laid another blanket over Bo and sat down beside him once more. His voice shook slightly as he took Bo's hand. "Where's it hurt, Bo?"
Weakly, Bo took Luke's hand and put it on his chest. Tears trace down his cheeks. "Hurts… can't…. breathe."
Luke gently pushed Bo's shaggy blond hair away from his eyes. "Ya gonna be fine, cousin." He rubbed Bo's chest in small circles, hoping to calm him.
"Lu-uke… scared… so…scared…" Bo closed his eyes tight ashamed of the tears that fell from them.
Luke sighed bending over Bo's shivering body. He gently lifted his cousin into his arms and hugged him.
Bo clung to him, weeping like a child.
"Bo… calm down now… yer ok… I'm here, Bo… ain't gonna let nothin' happen t' ya," soothed Luke as he held him close.
Bo's breath came in between heart-wrenching sobs.
"Bo! Listen t' me!" demanded Luke. "Ya gotta calm down, buddy. It's the pneumonia makin' it hard t' breathe… but ya gotta settle down…ain't gonna get better if ya rile yaself up like that."
Bo gasped for breath, his body still shivering. "Can't… get… warm…hurts."
Luke sat carefully against the headboard and drew Bo close to him, wrapped in blankets. He spoke softly, "Is that better?"
Bo nodded, snuggling close to him.
Luke continued to hold him closely, listening with an experienced ear to Bo's raspy breathing. It was all too familiar….
"Luke…" cried Bo, sitting up in bed in the middle of the night. "Luke… help…."
Luke was awake and sitting next to Bo in no time at all, gently rubbing his arched back as his shoulders shook in fear, thinking he must have had a nightmare, only to find that Bo was struggling to breathe. Recognizing his cousin was having an asthma attack once more, Luke raced to the dresser and pulled out the much-used inhaler.
Luke held it to Bo's mouth. "Breathe Bo..."
Bo did his best, but by now he was plumb scared and sobbing his heart out between harsh breaths. Trying to get him to breathe was pre- near impossible.
Luke held him tightly. "Shhh…. Bo quiet down now. If ya don't wanna end up back in the hospital, ya gotta breathe for me….just take a deep breath Bo…."
Bo nodded. He hated hospitals. He took a few raspy breaths with the inhaler and sighed, feeling his airway starting to open up a little.
"Good job, Bo… few more now…"
Bo obeyed taking in breath after shaky breath of the inhaler, until his breathing was mostly back to normal.
Luke rubbed Bo's shaking back. "I'm proud of ya Bo…."
Bo wrapped his arms around Luke and hugged him tightly, sobbing as he did so. "I …was so…scared…."
"Hush, Bo… don't talk now….ya know I won't let anythin' happen t' ya…"
Bo hugged Luke closer, wiping his tear-stained eyes with the back of his hand as he did so. "I know."
"Won't let anythin' happen t' ya…" thought Luke scowling. "An' look what happened… all 'cuz of me." He shook his head as Bo cried himself to sleep, still held in his cousin's arms.
Luke shifted his arms slightly causing Bo to moan in his sleep and hug his cousin tighter. Luke laid his suntanned hand on Bo's pale forehead. It was still warm- though not as warm as before. Gently, he laid Bo down on the pillow and covered him. One thing was for sure: Bo wouldn't be going to get the General any time soon and that meant Luke wouldn't be going either. There was no way Luke was going to leave Bo sick as he was. The General would have to wait…
Bo was still sleeping two hours later. Jesse was in the barn cleaning out Maudine's stall, Luke was reading a car magazine in the living room and Daisy had gone to work. It was turning out to be a quiet afternoon…until a scream pierced through the silence.
Luke was on his feet and in his and Bo's room in a second. "Bo?" he asked coming in quickly. "Bo, y'alright?"
Bo sat up in his bed, tears streaming down his cheeks. He said nothing to Luke, just held out his hands for a hug.
Luke sat next to him and pulled him into a soft embrace. "Ya have a bad dream cousin?"
Bo nodded, ashamed that he needed Luke's arms around him to feel safe again, but not wanting to let go.
Luke gently rubbed his back. "Wanna talk about it?"
"Bo tightened his hold on Luke and hid his face on his cousin's shoulder. "It… it was awful Luke…we… someone took the General….an' we was lost in some woods… an there was this fella an he kept hurtin' me an' I was drownin' Luke…it was awful," began Bo, bursting into tears.
Luke hugged Bo tighter, wondering how he could tell him this. Gently, he pushed the hair out of Bo's eyes feeling his forehead as he did so…still warm. "Easy Bo…it'll be alright… an' we'll get the General back somehow…"
Bo stopped hugging Luke and looked at him with tears in his eyes. "It wasn't a dream?"
Luke sighed, shaking his head. "I wish it was, Bo… I wish it was."
I don't reckon Bo is gonna be too happy 'bout that answer. Stick around.
