A/N - Another round of thanks to everyone that's been reviewing, and as always, my undying gratitude to H.G. Stewart, who has taken time away from her own writing to help me. This is still a terrifying experience, especially after receiving threats to my personal safety if I harmed Bo.

Somewhere between Chapters 1 and 2, I've managed to confuse myself (which ain't hard to do). I intended on replying to everyone who reviewed, but I found that I couldn't remember who I had sent a reply to and who I didn't. If I missed anyone, I apologize. It was simply an oversight. I'll try to do better.

Again, no ownership implied or infringements intended.

POT SHOTS

CHAPTER 3

Bo was kept in the hospital another few weeks to monitor his physical injuries, namely the wound from the gunshot. The swelling had gone down even further, and in answer to their prayers, Bo was able to swallow. They'd started him off on liquids, and everyone held their breath, praying that Bo wouldn't choke. It took a few tries, but he finally managed to get down what was being offered. He progressed from liquids to soft foods, and eventually to semi-solids. He didn't want to eat, but when he was told that they needed to make sure that he was capable of doing it, he proved that he could. Whenever it was some type of test, he passed, but when it was time to eat for self preservation, he refused. Only Luke could coax him into a few bites, and as he hand fed his cousin, he could see the look of embarassement, and what he thought was shame in his blue eyes. They'd always been open and upfront with each other about everything, but Luke had been sheltering him from a lot of things since his accident. This was one they needed to discuss so Luke decided to try the direct approach.

"Bo, you've gotta eat or you're gonna make yourself sick. You were skinny as a rail to begin with, it's not like you've got a lot to spare, and you've already lost weight."

Bo blinked twice.

"No? What do you mean no? You have to."

Again, Bo blinked twice and turned his face away so that Luke couldn't force feed him.

"You'd rather have a feeding tube?"

Two more blinks.

"Well then, open wide cousin, cause that's exactly what's gonna happen if you don't."

Bo faced his friend, but still wouldn't open his mouth. His eyes focussed on Luke's hand, and his caretaker knew what was really bothering his little cousin.

"You're feeling like a baby, right?"

One blink. Okay, at least that was a change.

"Bo, ya ain't a baby. You've been seriously hurt, and right now you need a little help, which I will gladly provide just as long as you stay with me. This is only temporary, Bo."

The blonde half of the duo gave him a sarcastic look.

Luke didn't need to hear the words to know what Bo was thinking. If their roles were reversed, he'd be thinking the same thing, wondering if he'd ever be able to do something as simple as feeding himself, again. Luke addressed Bo's doubt. "Of course you will! And you'll probably be better at it than you were before. Lord knows that you were a messy eater even before this happened."

Bo tried to maintain the firm stare, but found that he couldn't. Uncle Jesse and Daisy always said that he was sloppier than a two year old when it came to feeding his face, so it was ironic that he was going to have to re-learn that task all over again.

Luke saw Bo's eyes melting as he realized that the comment was funny. He decided to cash in on Bo's acceptance of the humor. "Yeah, Uncle Jesse and Daisy are already requesting that whoever teaches you to feed yourself this time does a better job than the last teacher, and that was you."

Bo couldn't help it, what Luke said was comical. His mouth curved upwards and he laughed. The boys were both surprised by what had happened, hearing Bo make a sound for the first time in over a month. Bo's eyes got wide, and his mouth opened to match. Luke stared for a minute, than his eyes began to water.

"Bo! You laughed. That's wonderful. See, you're gonna be getting better everyday just like I told you," he said, sliding his arms around his cousin to hug him. When he pulled up, he saw that Bo was blinking in increments of two furiously. "No? No what?" Bo made a face that Luke understood. "No, don't cry?" Bo blinked once. "Bo, these are good tears, trust me." To that, Bo again blinked once, confirming that he had always trusted his older cousin implicitly. Luke nodded, leaning over him and planting a kiss on Bo's forehead. There were no amount of blinks to convey Bo's surprise at Luke's outward show of affection. He could remember Luke doing that to him when he had been little, but that had been a long time ago. Bo was one of the few people who really knew how affectionate Luke could be, but this affectionate was more than even Bo had ever seen from his somewhat reserved cousin. .

One thing was certain, Bo's vocal chords worked. The trick was getting them to work in unison with his brain.

Hearing about Bo's fit of laughter, the doctor was also encouraged, telling the family that she thought it would be possible to teach Bo to speak again. In fact, it was time that they talked about Bo's future.

Sitting in another office with Dr. Fitzgerald, the family prepared to discuss just what was going to happen to Bo.

"Mr. Duke, I'm not going to be able to keep him here much longer," Dr Fitzgerald told them.

"But, he's still hurt," Daisy interrupted.

"Daisy, he still needs care, but not the kind that a hospital provides."

"Well what kind of care are we talking about?" Uncle Jesse asked.

"Bo needs rehabilitative services right now, not immediate medical care. I'm thinking that he'll be ready to be released in three or four days, and I need to know what arrangements you want me to make."

"What would you recommend?" Uncle Jesse asked.

"Unfortunately, there's no facility equipped to deal with Bo's needs near Hazzard. I've already checked, assuming that you would want him as close to home as possible. There are a few here in Atlanta. If you'd like I can give you the addresses so that you can tour them, and then let me know which one you think would work best."

"Bo's coming home. Right, Uncle Jesse?" Luke informed the good doctor then turned to his uncle for confirmation.

"Well, I don't know, Luke. We have to do what's best for Bo," the old man replied.

"Luke, I've seen how close you and Bo are, and I think it's amazing. I hope that you plan on being around for him because I know that he's going to need you, but I'd have to advise against taking Bo home," the lady doctor interjected.

"Why?" Luke asked defiantly.

"Because he does need care, and he needs rehabilitation."

"Well, I don't see why we can't care for him. I mean, I'm sure anything that he needs, you could show us how to do, and as far as rehabilitation, we could get someone to work with Bo at home."

"Luke, I don't think you fully appreciate the amount of routine care Bo is going to need. Right now, he can't do anything for himself. He can't dress himself, feed himself, bathe himself, get to the bathroom. All the things that we take for granted, Bo has to either have someone do for him or help him with. That's a 24/7 job."

"We can do it," Luke said, not giving an inch.

"Luke, be reasonable, please. In a staffed facility, they change shifts three times every twenty-four hours. Even if you guys did the same thing, each one of you would be responsible for Bo eight hours of every single day without a day off. It'd be overwhelming."

"I understand all of that, doctor, really I do, but besides the kind of care you're talking about, Bo needs to be around his family. He's facing some pretty big odds here, and he's gonna need all the love and support he can get, and no matter how good a trained staff is, they can't provide the kind of love for Bo that his family can."

"That's true," said the doctor, finally agreeing with something Luke Duke was saying. "That's why I tried to find someplace closer to your home, but Atlanta is only an hour away, and you'd still be able to visit him. Though, if you continue to keep the kind of hours you've been spending with us, you're gonna end up as a patient and not a guest," she informed him.

"I'm fine," he snorted.

"Luke, maybe Dr. Fitzgerald is right. Maybe it would be best for Bo if he were to have the proper care, and we provide the love by visiting," Uncle Jesse said, trying to difuse his eldest nephew's temper before he lost it with the person who may have very well saved Bo's life.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Luke was going to be mad at someone, and for saying what he just did, it was going to be their uncle. "Uncle Jesse, Bo is never going to recover if you send him to a place with strangers. You know that, and I know it! He knows he's been hurt and he's in a hospital, but he's already hinted that he wants to go home." The doctor looked at Luke, wondering how that was possible since Bo couldn't talk, and that couldn't be said with a simple yes or no. "You tell him he's going to a home..."

"Not a home, Luke, a rehabilitation center," the doctor corrected, knowing that the word 'home' conjured up bad images.

"Whatever," Luke snapped, dismissing her correction. "Home, center, call it Eden, I don't care, and neither will Bo. You tell him that instead of going home, he's being shipped off to a place that he might never get out of, he'll give up on himself, and he'll die."

"He's got a point there, doc," Uncle Jesse stated in agreement. "My youngest does hate hospitals, and out of the three kids, Bo's always needed his family the most. He's the only one of the young-ins who's always said he never had any inkling to leave home."

"Look," Luke said, hoping that his uncle was coming around, "I know that this is a big decision, and that taking Bo home will be a hard job. I understand if you or Daisy don't want to do it, but there is no way I'm gonna let you send Bo away. If you're worried that it might be too much work, don't be. I'll take care of him myself, and if you don't want him around, I'll find a place for us. I don't know how, but I will. Bo's coming with me, whether that be back to the farm or to a place of our own, but there is no way I'm letting you send him off to an institution," and with that remark, he glanced briefly at the doctor, before returning his gaze to his uncle. "There's no way I'm letting you send him away where he'll die!" Having made his intentions known, Luke stopped talking and folded his arms over his chest.

"Now, you wait a minute, boy!" Uncle Jesse yelled back at him. "Don't you dare make this sound like I don't want Bo at home cause I think he'll be too much work. Work ain't never scared me before, but it ain't never been this important before. I was only thinking of Bo's best interests. Just make sure that you're doing the same thing!" he finished. Out of the three kids, Bo was the most stubborn, but Luke had always been the most headstrong. When he made up his mind about something, there wasn't any changing it, and he could see from his eldest's stance and heard it in his tone of voice, he was taking charge here. When he thought about it, it only made sense. As the oldest, he'd been somewhat taking care of Bo his whole life. Now that Bo needed him more than ever, it was the only thing he could do, and he knew enough about his nephew to know that he'd carry out his threat, too. Jesse hadn't cared for the way Luke presented his argument, but he knew that he was probably right. Sending Bo away would only depress him, and he didn't need to be familiar with specific therapy to know that a severe case of the blues could prevent him from working too hard to get better.

Before he could respond, Daisy finally joined the conversation. "Uncle Jesse, I think Luke's right. You know that sending Bo away would only get him real down. I think he belongs with us, too, and I certainly don't mind helping to take care of our little boy."

Luke winked at her as if to say thanks, and she gave him a smile.

"Mr. Duke," the doctor butted in, trying to talk only to Jesse. The kids were making a decision that hadn't been well thought out, and she hoped to appeal to the older man's sense of wisdom thanks to age.

"Doc, the kids is right. Bo would not be happy, and he probably would make himself even worse. I've always taught my young-ins that family was the most important thing in the world, and that family sticks together. I can't turn my back on Bo when he needs me the most, so you just let us know what we have to do to make sure that Bo will get the best care and teachings that he can, at home."

"Thank you, Uncle Jesse," Daisy said, throwing her arms around him.

"Thank you sir," Luke said, doing the same.

"No, I should be thanking you for reminding me of what was important."

"Mr. Duke, you have the most loving family I have ever seen. As a doctor, we know that love can cure things that even modern medicine can't. That being the case, Bo can't help but recover with all of you loving him so much." She paused, and Uncle Jesse looked at her, a twinkle in his eye as he patted Daisy's arm than Luke's. "That being said, I can arrange for a therapist to visit your home and work with Bo there. As far as his actual care, I'll have one of the nurses meet with all of you a little later to go down the list, and to teach you a few things that you're going to have to learn. It's a long list, trust me," she said, getting up from behind the desk.

"Let's go tell Bo! He'll be so excited," Luke said, as they all thanked the lady doctor.

The three Dukes stumbled into Bo's room, acting like little kids at the playground rather than grown-ups in a hospital. Bo turned his head to look at them, and gave them a small smile. Though no one had said it, they all thought it was strange. Bo's injury had been to his head, yet that seemed to be the only thing working on him. He could eat, he could smile, he could laugh, he could see, he could blink, he could hear, he could cry, and he could obviously understand what was going on around him, and depending on the appropriate response, he could give it. Yet, the limbs that were the furthest away from his head didn't work at all. They would have though it would have been the other way around, but understood, it was best that things had worked out the way they had.

They all rushed over to Bo's bed, letting Luke have the honors. "We've got good news, buddy." Luke paused, waiting the right amount of time it would have taken Bo to ask what, if he could have. "They're springing you!" Luke yelled. Bo looked at him funny, so he decided to rephrase the remark. "You're getting out of here, cuz."

Everyone expected Bo to be happy about the news, but instead he seemed fearful. Luke, Daisy, and Uncle Jesse all looked at each other, not understanding Bo's unusual reaction. He hated hospitals. This should have been the best news he'd heard since he had woken up, but here he was, looking anything but happy.

"What's the matter sugar? Don't you want to come home?" Daisy asked him, and he turned his head to look at her. "We sure miss you honey, don't you miss us?"

Bo certainly didn't want to hurt Daisy, or any of his family. Besides blinking his yes and no responses, Bo could also nod and shake his head a little, and his head was nodding right then. Of course, he missed them. He didn't want them to think that he didn't. He was just surprised. In his current condition, he never expected to be going home. He expected them to ship him off somewhere. In fact, he'd heard a couple of the nurses talking about it themselves, saying that he was going to be a lot of work, needing round the clock care.

"You do want to come home, don't ya Bo?" Uncle Jesse asked.

Again Bo nodded, turning to look at his uncle.

"Then what's the matter, Bo?" Luke asked, knowing it was probably a silly question because it couldn't be answered negatively or affirmatively. Somehow, that didn't matter. Luke was finding out that he did indeed know his cousin very well, and he was able to surmise what the boy was thinking and feeling most of the time, prying it out of him without words.

Bo was trying to tell Luke by looking down at himself, than looking up at him, but Luke hadn't caught his train of thought.

"I'm sorry buddy, this one I'm not following," he said, taking Bo's hand in his. "Hey! We could try spelling it." Bo nodded, and Luke began going through the alphabet until the word 'work' had been formed. "Work? Is that the right word?" Bo nodded. "Don't tell me you're wanting to actually go back to work?" Luke laughed, "not the Bo Duke who's always trying to get out of chores?"

Bo rolled his eyes, but chuckled when he thought about it. It was funny when Luke pointed it out, and it was true. However, it wasn't what Bo was trying to tell them.

As the Dukes giggled over the idea that Bo actually wanted to do chores, Bo wanted to get Luke's attention. He knew that Luke was holding his hand, and he willed his finger to move. Guessing by Luke's reaction, he must have accomplished it.

"Bo! Hey! Were you purposely trying to move something?" Luke asked him, and Bo nodded. "What?" Luke wanted to know. Bo looked down at his hand, indicating to his cousin that his fingers wiggling wasn't an involuntary action, though right now, even that would have been welcomed. To date, no one had seen Bo's arms or legs even twitch, voluntarily or involuntarily.

Luke was becoming more emotional than either of his cousins, crying at the drop of a hat at every little thing. "Well, it worked, Bo. It worked," he told him, squeezing Bo's hand, as more tears welled up in his eyes. It still surprised the younger Duke, though he knew he should be getting used to it. Luke was getting real good at losing control of his carefully guarded emotions, and crying over him, a lot, which he didn't like. The blonde started shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, Bo, I know. You don't want me crying. Sorry buddy, I've got a newsflash for you, I can't help it. This has been a great day, you're coming home and you're getting better every day. If that ain't worth crying for, I don't know what is."

Okay! Just what will happen to Bo once he gets home? Will he get better or will he have a relapse?