Sorry guys - it didn't work. I even tried coding the breaks in html, and it still didn't work. The best I could do was to use the parenthesis!

POT SHOTS

CHAPTER 5

MEET MS. BILOXI

Luke worked with Bo the two days before they were expecting an actual therapist. They hadn't shown him too many exercises, knowing that Bo was getting a professional in a short period of time, but the ones they had shared with him, he took seriously. A lot of it involved more muscle massages than exercises, especially in the legs and the feet. For Bo's hands, he'd been given a soft ball to squeeze. At first Luke thought it was rather ridiculous since he couldn't even make a fist to hold the thing, but then they explained that until he could, the person working with him would have to put their hand over his and manipulate it. To Luke's surprise, it seemed to be working. Bo was able to move his toes, at times, which was more than he'd been doing, and he was gaining strength in his hands. Luke hadn't been told anything to do in conjunction with Bo's speech, and he wondered exactly how that would work. From brain to vocal chords, there wasn't anything tangible you could touch or massage, and what could you say to make a person learn how to talk again, when they could comprehend very well? Luke doubted that Bo's brain was telling him not to talk. He just couldn't obey the command. However, he had spoken one word since the ordeal started, and no one was surprised that it was 'Luke.' It must have come naturally to him, because he had not only said it, he had repeated it several times. Luke couldn't begin to even describe how it made him feel.

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Three days later, bright and early, there was a loud knock on the door. They hadn't been expecting anyone. The agency told them that they were sending a therapist for Bo the following day, and no one would have believed that someone working with handicapped patients could possibly strike wood as hard as the person standing outside. Luke had just finished feeding Bo his breakfast, the little of it that he ate, and was busy wiping off his face. Daisy had started on the dishes so Uncle Jesse went to see who was abusing their portal.

"Hold yer horses, I'm coming," he groaned, throwing open the door. "Can I help you?" he asked, staring at the stranger that was on their porch.

"I'm Bertha Biloxi," she announced, as if that name should mean something to them. When Jesse didn't respond, she added, "I'm here to work with a...Beauregard Duke. I'll be his therapist."

"Oh," Uncle Jesse replied meekly, still looking her up and down.

"Didn't the agency tell you I was coming?" she asked in a gruff voice.

"Yes, no, I mean, yes they said someone was coming, but they told us that they'd be starting tomorrow. We weren't expecting you today," Uncle Jesse explained.

"Well, no time like the present," she informed him.

"Ah yeah. Well, come on in," he invited her, opening the door and moving so that she could get past him. He looked at his kids, as they looked at him, and then to their guest.

Bertha Biloxi was an older woman, but not exactly what you would call the grandmotherly type. She was tall and stocky, and resembled Jesse's own body shape. Her hair was black with streaks of gray, pulled back in a bun so tight that it only emphasized her chiseled features. There was nothing soft about her, and Luke thought she resembled one of his old Marine Drill Sergeants. The Dukes were somewhat shocked at what the agency had sent, wondering if this woman were really capable of working with someone in Bo's condition. She didn't look like the nurturing type, but they figured that the people who sent her must know what they were doing. The only thing that mattered was that she help their youngest.

Bo, on the other hand, was not thinking quite so logically. His eyes were big as saucers as he looked at the woman who was going to be working very closely with him, trying to get him back to where he was before a pot shot changed his entire life. He wasn't thinking about how good she was at her job. He was thinking to himself that she looked mean, and he feared she was quite capable of hurting him.

As they were sizing her up, she was also sizing them up, and what she saw, she obviously didn't approve of. She scrutinized Bo, as if confirming his suspicions that she was there to cause him bodily harm.

Coming to his senses first, Uncle Jesse introduced himself. "I'm Jesse Duke, Bo's uncle, those are his cousins, Daisy and Luke, and that handsome young man over there is Bo."

"Beauregard?" she questioned, and Luke didn't have to look at his cousin to know that she'd already made an enemy.

"Ma'am, he goes by Bo," Luke told her.

"My patient file here says that his name is Beauregard," she hissed.

"That's his legal name, but he doesn't like it. He goes by Bo," Luke said sternly, and she raised her eyebrows at the tone the young man was using with her.

"Well fine," she said. "Shall we get started, Bo?" She stood there for a minute as if she expected him to answer. Bo looked at Luke, who put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"Sure, Bo's ready," Luke told her. "Do you want to work in the living room?"

She looked in the direction he was pointing, and informed him that it would be acceptable. Luke started to wheel Bo into the other room, but Bertha stopped him. "You're going to have to learn to not answer for him. It'll only make things harder," she said.

Luke was about to give her a good tongue lashing, reminding her that Bo was unable to speak, and that's one of the reasons she was there. As he opened his mouth, Uncle Jesse cleared his throat. It got Luke's attention, and he looked at his uncle, who was shaking his head, telling him not to say anything. Luke closed his mouth per his uncle's request, but knew that if she kept talking like that, it was only a matter of time before he would really let her have it.

When Bo was in the middle of the room, and his chair was locked in place, Bertha asked Luke to leave them. "I like to work alone with my patients. Family members often distract the patient and hinder our progress."

Luke didn't like the idea, but he didn't want to adversely affect their sessions, either. He saw Bo looking at him, begging with his eyes not to leave him alone with Nurse Battleaxe. He may not have been able to form the words he was thinking, but his eyes told Luke exactly what was going on in his mind. Bo was convinced that the reason she wanted to be alone with her patients was so that she could take her time when she murdered them. Luke grinned, being able to hear Bo saying it just as if he had. He knew him so well that he not only knew what he would say, but how he would say it. He laid a hand on his shoulder, then whispered in his ear, "I won't be far." He wished them a good session, then went to join the others in the kitchen, who had also been watching what had been taking place. Bo was whimpering as he left, and once again, he called for his cousin by name. "Luke." It broke his heart to have to leave him, but if it meant Bo would get better faster, it was just the way it had to be.

"See! I knew you could talk," she told him, and not in a pleasant way.

The three Dukes in the kitchen looked at each other, not knowing exactly what to make of Bo's new friend.

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Bertha Biloxi was not exactly well liked in the Duke household, and that didn't say anything about how Bo really felt. He genuinely seemed afraid of her, and no one else really trusted her. Not wanting to upset Jesse, Luke and Daisy agreed amongst themselves that one of them would be within ear shot any time she was with Bo. They couldn't believe that she'd actually hurt him or do something to him, but they were more worried that at some point, Bo might become agitated or upset.

Besides keeping an eye on Bo, Luke was carefully watching what she was doing with him so that he could repeat the same exercises after she had gone. She was working with him everyday from eight to noon. Then they'd give him lunch, settle him down for a nap, and when he woke, Luke would work with him a little before dinner. After they ate, they'd do a little more, and Bo was getting better in his motor skills, though she wasn't doing much with his verbal ones. Luke also believed that Bo's progression didn't have as much to do with her as with the exercises. They'd watched Bo, and when he was fearful, he was rather obstinate with her. Sometimes, he wouldn't cooperate at all, and she had a not so pleasant way of calling him lazy, which would only make him madder and more determined not to do what she said. However, when Luke was coaching him, he worked dilligently, and that's where the improvements were stemming from.

Unfortunately, he hadn't picked up anything on how to help Bo learn to talk again. Two weeks, and all he could say was Luke's name.

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The animosity between teacher and student grew a little everyday, and it was bound to erupt. Bo's temper was known to blow, just like that of a volcano, and he was becoming less afraid and more angry with Attila the Hun. She treated him poorly, as if he wanted to be like this. She belittled him and goaded him, saying that he could get better if he wanted to and if he tried, but she was doing very little to show him how and to earn her pay. Bo knew that everything he'd accomplished, he owed to Luke, and it was making him twice as mad that she was taking the families' money and Luke was doing all the work. Everyone noticed it, but she wasn't quite as bad when she knew that the older cousin was in ear shot. Uncle Jesse and Daisy didn't seem to bother her as much, and if Luke wasn't there, it was normally only Daisy in the house with them. She'd heard some of the things that the woman had told Bo, and she'd had a good mind to tell her what she thought of her. She felt like inviting her to pick on someone that could defend themself, and who could speak back. Like everyone else though, she didn't want her actions to affect her cousin, so she would only pretend to walk through, stopping to ask if Bo was doing ok. Of course, then she got a reprimand for interrupting them. She was trying to decide whether to tell Luke about it or not when the decision was taken out of her hands.

The morning had started out bad in the first place. Bo'd had an accident the night before in bed, the first one since his first night home. Luke was sleeping so soundly that he hadn't been able to wake him in time, and they'd forgot to set the alarm. Of course, when Luke got up and discovered it, Bo was already extremely upset. Luke told him again that it was his fault, that he should have woke up when Bo tried to rouse him, that he should have remembered to set the alarm, but Bo shook his head no. Trying a different approach, he told Bo to be proud of himself because this had only happened that one other night. That didn't seem to make Bo happy either. By the time he got him to the table, Bo refused to eat.

Bertha arrived like clockwork in her usual cheery mood. "Being stubborn and refusing to eat again, huh Bo? Well, I guess we might as well do something useful so let's get started," she told him, letting Luke push him into the other room. "Pouting this morning?" she asked, and Bo glared at her.

Daisy and Luke both had a feeling that this would be the day Bo would blow. Their uncle's call couldn't have come at a worse time. There was an emergency and he needed Luke's help, leaving Daisy all alone with a volatile Bo and Bad Ass Battleaxe. With Bo having such a bad morning already, Daisy hated to tell the woman that she wasn't going to be putting up with any mistreatment of her cousin that day. She'd had about all she could stand of the woman, too, and felt sorry for Bo.

As soon as Luke left, it started. She told Bo to do something that he was either unwilling or unable to do. "You know Beauregard," she said, purposely using the name that always got her a cold stare, "you are wasting your families' money and my time if you're not going to or aren't able to cooperate. If it were my decision to make, you would have been in an institution."

Daisy had just come out of the boys' room, having stripped the beds. "Yeah, well it wasn't your decision to make," Daisy replied. "Bo's at home because we all love him and wanted him here, so that's really none of your business," she said, stopping next to Bo's chair. Throwing the sheets on the floor, she bent down and kissed his cheek, then whispered, "don't you listen to her, honey. We're all glad you're home."

"You people just coddle him like he's some kind of baby. No wonder he ain't getting any better," she said.

"Well, with the way you treat him, someone's gotta remind Bo that he's loved," Daisy said, putting her arm around him in a protective gesture.

Bertha looked at the pile of bedsheets on the floor, knowing that they came from Bo's room. She'd been in the medical profession long enough to have assumed what had happened. "Yep, Beauregard, if it were up to me, you'd be in a home, and in a diaper."

"That's enough!" Daisy screamed.

What they didn't know was that Luke had gotten a bad feeling that something was going to take place. He called his uncle on the CB, and said he needed to go back and check on Bo. Knowing that Luke's instincts were very good when it came to his younger cousin, Uncle Jesse told him to go ahead. Luke had snuck back in while the ladies were busy arguing, and he had heard the whole thing. He bolted into the room. "It's more than enough!" he yelled.

"Mr. Duke, please stay out of this," she told him.

"Like hell I will while you talk to Bo like this. How dare you? You're here to help him, not make him feel bad!"

"Luke, she talks to him like this all the time," Daisy said. "She's just down right mean to Bo, and I don't blame him for acting like that around you. I wouldn't treat a dog the way you treat him, and if I were a dog, I'd bite you!"

"He's nothing but a big, spoiled baby, and no wonder, with you people treating him like one. You may as well face it. He's never going to improve! He hasn't got the guts or the willpower to help himself! Save yourselves a lot of time and grief, and put him where he belongs."

Luke began to growl, taking a step toward her. "My cousin is not a baby!" he said, emphasizing every word. "He's got more guts and willpower than you could ever hope to find, but you've got all the charm of a rattlesnake, and in case you've forgotten, it's your job to teach him how to get better, which so far, I've heard you criticize him a lot, but I haven't heard a lot of teaching."

"I can't teach someone like him," Bertha spat.

"Good! Cause we don't want you to!" Luke screamed. "Quite frankly, I don't think you could teach a dog to bury a bone, so just get your things and get out!" Luke ordered, escorting her to the exit.

"And don't let the door hit you in the ass!" Daisy yelled after her, thinking that it might get a chuckle out of Bo. She was still standing next to him with her arm around him. When she didn't get the expected response, she looked down. Bo was far from chuckling. "Luke! Luke! Get in here!" Daisy screamed, then turned her attention back to Bo, trying to calm him down.

Luke rushed in to find out what was going on. Daisy was kneeling beside Bo's chair. The dark haired boy could see that his blonde cousin's face was almost purple and his breathing was labored. He seemed to be havings some kind of seizure, and before Daisy or Luke could stop him, he upset himself. He landed to the floor with a thump, knocking the wind out of his lungs, and only adding to his already difficult task of taking in air. If that wasn't enough, Bo started crying so hard that it was scaring both of his cousins.

"Bo!" Luke said, gathering him up in his arms while Daisy turned the chair upright. "It's ok, Bo, she's gone. She ain't ever gonna upset you again, I promise. She sets foot on our property again, and I'll get out the bows and arrows, I promise. I don't think I'd have any trouble hitting her big backside," Luke said, trying to make a joke. Daisy smiled, but Bo wasn't having any of it. The tighter Luke held him, the more agitated he became. "C'mon Bo, stop it!" Luke told him, somehow knowing that Bo wasn't in the thralls of an uncontrollable convulsion. "You're scaring us, cuz. It's over."

Bo started shaking his head frantically.

"No? No what sugar?" Daisy asked him, laying her hand on his arm, but not understanding what he was thinking or trying to tell them.

Between his sobbing, Bo spoke. It wasn't exactly crystal clear, and it was choppy, but there was no mistaking what he said. "Bu...bu...burden...," he said.

Daisy and Luke looked at each other. Bo's new vocabulary should have been cause for a celebration, but the fact that he spoke wasn't the issue right then, it was what he said.

Luke tightened his grip on his despondent cousin. "Bo, you are NOT a burden to us, and you never will be."

"We're you're family, sugar. We love you," Daisy told him, but nothing was getting through.

"Bo, when I first saw you after you'd been shot, I thought you were dead. Then in the hours that followed, I thought you were going to die, and I've never been more scared in my entire life. I thank God each and every day that he didn't take you away, cause I couldn't have gone on without you. Now I know that this seems so hard, but it will get better. I promised you that, and I always keep my promises. I'm a Duke, just like you. I love you Bo, more than you'll ever know."

"We love you, Bo, more than you'll ever know," Daisy corrected her oldest cousin.

"Right, we love you more than you'll ever know. Uncle Jesse does, too. Bo, you're his baby, you know that."

Nothing seemed to be working. Bo was still crying as hard as when he'd started, and Luke really thought that he needed some rest. He carefully picked Bo up and carried him into their room. After laying him on the bed, he grabbed a spare blanket and laid down with him, holding him as tight as he could without disrupting his breathing. It took a long time before Bo's sobs finally started to die down, and he began to drift off. He moved his hand slightly before he went under so that it was resting on top of Luke's. The oldest Duke boy was trying hard not to start bawling himself.

Uncle Jesse, having not heard from or seen Luke yet, decided to forget about what it was he had thought was so important and come home to find out what was going on. Daisy filled him in while Luke was still in with Bo. Only after he was sure that Bo was sleeping, did Luke slip out of the bed. He didn't want Bo to be alone, but there was something that he had to do. When he walked into the kitchen and saw his uncle there, he assumed Daisy had told him of the morning's events. "Daisy fill you in?" he asked.

"Yeah," Uncle Jesse sighed. "You know, maybe we need to admit that Bo needs help that we just can't give him."

"Now don't you go saying stuff like that, too!" Luke said. "He's heard enough of it from that Battleaxe, and she's convinced him that he's being a burden to us. If she treated him that badly here, in his own home, under our noses, what do you think they'd treat him like in a rehabilitation center?" Luke asked.

That was not something that Jesse Duke had thought of. "So what do we do now?"

"Watch," Luke said, grabbing a business card and the phone. "Hello. My name is Luke Duke, my cousin's name is Bo, probably under Beauregard on your files. I want to speak to someone about the therapist that you people sent out here to work with him. Hold? Sure, I'll hold." Luke paused for a minute, then repeated what he had just said. Having found out that he was speaking to the person he needed to, he let them have it. "I don't know what qualifications she told you that she had, but her behavior toward my cousin was unacceptable. I wouldn't let her handle polecats. She should never be let loose around humans, especially considering that her patients have been through terrible ordeals and are already hurt and vulnerable." Luke stopped, and listened for a minute. "Sir, there is a big difference between being firm with a patient for their own good and being down right mean and nasty, and she makes Ghengis Khan look like a saint. My cousin was shot in the head just a few weeks ago. He's only been home for a little while. Would you like to know some of the things she said to him?" He paused, but only for a second. "We'll that's too bad because I'm going to tell you anyway." By the time Luke was finished repeating some of the insults that had been hurled at Bo, the person on the other end of the phone must have agreed that they were uncalled for and that he had a right to complain because Luke Duke became much calmer. "Now, we would appreciate it if you could send another therapist in Brunhilda's place. This time, preferably someone human, with a heart!. Thank you."

"What did they say?" both Daisy and Jesse asked.

"They said that they would send a replacement, but it might take them a few days to find one. He said that therapists that can deal with both speech impediments and muscle disorders are hard to find."

After taking a sip of his coffee, Luke went back to sit with Bo. He wasn't going to tell his cousin just yet that he was getting another therapist, and he hoped that the next one wouldn't be anything like the first.