Still unable to make any quick moves since his hospitalization, Luke wasn't the first to get to Bo. Pushing the piano bench carelessly aside, Daisy reached down for her younger cousin and gently turned him on his back.

"Bo? Bo?" She repeated, shaking him as the other men in the family joined her. "Oh Uncle Jesse what's wrong with him?"

Jesse got on his knees and grabbed Bo's hand. Leaning close to him, he suddenly snarled his nose as he caught a familiar whiff. "Nothin' that a strong cup of coffee and a poundin' headache to serve him right shouldn't cure."

"He's drunk?" Daisy asked in shock. Both of her cousins had the occasional beer, but she hadn't seen either of them drunk since their teenage years when Jesse tanned their hides for draining half of one of his famous moonshine batches.

"Well it's either that or he's took a bath in it. And considerin' his condition, I'd say he drunk."

Daisy continued to shake Bo and all three called his name, but there was no response.

"You think maybe he hit his head?" Daisy thought aloud.

Luke felt Bo's head. "I don't feel any bumps." He announced. "Apparently he just had too much. Thank God he made it home in one piece."

"Yes, Thank God. Might not happen next time, which tells me soon as he's got his wits about him, you two need to sit down and have a good long talk until you can agree on the direction yer goin' concernin' the transplant." Jesse announced.

"Yes sir." Luke replied.

As they were tending to Bo, there was a knock on the door.

"Now who in tarnation could that be at this hour?" Jesse inquired, looking at the door.

"I'll get it." Luke replied. "Maybe whoever it is can give us a hand in getting Bo to bed."

Luke opened the door, half expecting Cooter. At seeing his visitor, his non-chalant attitude quickly turned sour.

"Dr. Settles, do I even have to ask what brought you out at this hour?" Luke asked, prepared to give the doctor a tongue lashing for arguing his case at that time of night.

Dr. Settles held up his hands, holding something in one of them. "I'm not here to make you change your mind, Mr. Duke. Bo dropped his wallet as he was leaving the Boar's Nest. I'm just returning it."

Feeling cautious but a bit guilty, Luke took the wallet that Dr. Settles handed to him. "Thanks." He simply replied.

"You're quite welcome." Dr. Settles replied, looking over Luke's shoulder for the first time and spotting Bo on the floor. "What happened?" He asked, rushing past Luke. Checking Bo's pulse and catching a whiff of spirits, he settled down. "I was afraid he was getting a bit too generous with the bottle."

"Well you outta know." Jesse replied with some bitterness. "You's there knockin' 'em back with 'im, weren't ya? As a doctor, don't you have enough sense ta know when it's time to tell a youngin' when ta lay off?"

"You're right, Mr. Duke. It was irresponsible of me." Dr. Settles replied, not offering an argument. "I'd be glad to carry Bo to Dr. Appleby's office to have him checked out."

"What fer? Only time can cure his condition. You know that." Jesse replied.

Dr. Settles' jaw flinched. "Then the least I can do is assist you in getting him on the couch. Luke shouldn't be lifting anything heavy until he heals more fully from his surgery."

"That'd be right kind of you, but Bo belongs in his bed, not on the couch." Luke announced.

"With all due respect, Mr. Duke, Bo needs a lot of fresh circulating air right now. Unless his bedroom is equipped with a ceiling fan and two windows like the living room here, I think he'd be much better off on the couch. Besides, it's probably not a good idea for your uncle to help carry him a long way, either."

Neither could argue that point. "Go git 'em a pillow and blanket, Daisy." Jesse instructed.

When Daisy returned, Jesse and Dr. Settles had managed to lift Bo onto the couch. As Daisy adjusted the pillow behind Bo's head, Luke took his boots off before the blanket was thrown over him. Then Dr. Settles opened the windows before flipping on the fan.

"There, that outta do it." He smiled.

"Thank ya for your help, Dr. Settles, and for returning Bo's wallet." Jesse offered.

"You're welcome." Dr. Settles offered, looking at his watch. "Well, I better get going, don't wanna keep you folks up any longer."

And with that, he went out the front door.

XXXXXXXXXX

Jesse woke at 5 on the dot the next morning. Although the family had returned to bed just as soon as Settles made his exit, it had taken awhile for any of them to fall back asleep. All in all, he estimated that they had probably enjoyed only five of their normal eight hours of sleep. It would take some doing to get the kids up.

Because Jesse took his shower at bedtime, he needed only to make his bed and get dressed before he trudged to the boys room to wake Luke. It took longer than normal to make certain his nephew was awake, but once he was, Jesse tiptoed through the house on the way to the barn. Knowing that Bo was sure to have a headache as the morning came, he chose not to turn on any lights and keep the noise to a minimum. Normally he'd act just the opposite to teach his youngest a lesson, but this time, he could understand his actions.

By the time Jesse had fed the livestock and filled the water basins, the sun was up and the rooster was crowing. He was on his way back to the house when the kitchen light came on.

"Mornin' Uncle Jesse." Daisy greeted him once he was inside. "Bo out there with ya?"

"No." Jesse frowned, noticing the empty couch for the first time.

"What's that about Bo?" Luke asked, appearing while buttoning up his shirt and running a hand through his freshly washed, damp hair.

"Well we can't find him." Daisy announced. "He's not on the couch and Uncle Jesse said he wasn't outside."

"Maybe I oughtta go look for him." Luke replied, about to walk past Jesse.

"Now hold it." Jesse replied, placing a hand on his nephew's chest. "Bo's got a right to his feelin's and if he didn't tell us he's leavin', that's cause he didn't wanna be bothered. So lets give him some time to git himself together fer we go botherin' him."

"But Uncle Jesse……."

Jesse waved his hand to cut him off. "Sit down." He said, motioning toward a chair at the kitchen table before giving Daisy a look.

"I've got an early shift at the Boar's Nest, so I'm gonna take care of some of the chores before breakfast." Daisy announced, picking up on the hint by grabbing a broom and exiting quickly.

Once she was gone, Jesse looked back at his nephew. "I know what you's gonna say, and I understand your point. Bo's been through a lot, and until all the drugs are outta his system, chances are he could be facin' more. But so far, Luke, you've been there for him. Been there and took care of 'im. And he knows as well as I do that if it hadn't been fer your persistence against the Mantooths and again with them crazy doctors, then he'd most likely be…….." Jesse choked up a bit, unable to say the last word. Three months had passed since it all began, but time hadn't dulled the emotional aspect of the experience.

Luke looked down, uncomfortable with the exchange. A lot of emotions were running through him as well.

"Anyway…." Jesse continued. "Now here we are with a whole new situation, and this time yer the one in trouble. Luke, yer a military man. You of all people have to understand that when somebodysaves yer life, ya feel a debt to them. Bo sees an opportunity to do somethin' for you, to pay you back, to take care of ya jist like you've took care of him. And from his vantage point, it looks like yer takin' his help and throwin' it back in his face."

"Well what do you want us to do, Jesse?" Luke asked with more annoyance than he intended. "Do you want him to go into the hospital? Do you want him torisk his health just to make me better?"

"I don't know!" Jesse exclaimed, banging his fist on the table. "I don't know what to tell eitherof you to do. I just know I want both my nephews healthy. I usually know how to fix it when you boys git into trouble but I'm as lost as anyone on this one, and it's a feelin' I don't like." He spat out.

Luke frowned a little. "I'm sorry Uncle Jesse. This is more than anyone in the family, especially you, should have to deal with."

Jesse shook his head slightly. "No, Luke. I'm sorry. I just love both you boys and considerin' what Bo's been thru, I wish there was an ultimate solution that didn't involve him. Unfortunately, that seems to be the only permanent solution for you. If it were anybody else, anybody other than Bo that could cure ya, I'd be fer it one hundred percent."

Jesse heaved a sigh. "But all in all my main point in sittin' ya down is ta ask ya to talk it out with him. Idon't want to see him comin' home anymore like he did last night."

"Neither do I, Jesse. But you have to understand,this is one conflict we may very well never see the same side on."

Jesse looked at his nephew. "Luke, this is too big to simply agree to disagree on. If ya'll don't come to some sort of resolution, it could very well tear this family apart."

"Uncle Jesse? Come look at this!" Daisy exclaimed.

Jesse and Luke turned toward Daisy's voice and got up from their chairs. Opening the front door, they went out on the porch where Daisy had been sweeping.

"I found this caught on that jagged nail on the windowsill." She announced, holding up a ripped scrap of yellow fabric.

"That looks like a piece of Bo's shirt." Jesse verified, taking the scrap. "Probably crawled thru tha window so's he wouldn't wake us up. You know how creaky them doors are."

Daisy shook her head in frustration. "I still don't like the fact that he just left."

"He's probably jist took a walk to sort his thoughts, girl." Jesse replied, nodding toward the yard. "Didn't even take the General."

Remembering something he had seen in the living room, Luke went back inside. "Considerin' the rocks and briars..." He began, reaching down to pick something up "...that's liable to be one painful walk." He revealed, holding up Bo's only pair of boots that Luke removed the night before.

Now I ain't real sure about no painful walk, buta lot can be said about a painful journey.