Like Father, Like Son Chapter 9
After Kyle had left the room, Bo had slumped down in the chair, completly exhausted. His mind and his body were begging him to shut his eyes, but he kept trying to resist.
"Luke...remind me to...never...do that...again." Bo said softly, trying to ward off sleep, which was trying to overtake his mind.
Luke saw this and knew his cousin wouldn't be awake for to much longer. "You got it Bo. So, I trust you have a plan?"
Luke gazed at his cousin intently for a second, before he straightened up with a sigh, since Bo had fallen asleep before he could answer.
"He ok?" Tyler asked, looking at Bo for a second, forgetting his feelings towards Luke.
"Yeah he's alright. He's jus' sleepin'." Luke said kindly, not wishing to fight with Tyler since it might wake Bo up. Instead he just went to the door to keep a look out in case Mr. Gordon should return, but he never did return. Only a few nurses came and went after checking on Tyler and Bo.
Hours went by, hours in which Luke sat pondering his cousin and his newfound friend. Or was Tyler more than just a friend to Bo?
More than once Luke had heard Tyler and Bo use the word "brother", and Luke was beginning to believe that their relationship was growing stronger, and it was growing beyond the term of friend, and brother. Why, Luke wouldn't be supprised if, someday soon, that Bo and Tyler would be father and son, and that would happen if Luke knew Bo, which he did.
But the bad thing was, Tyler already had a father. A jerk and a snake of a father, but Kyle was still his father, and Luke doubted that Kyle would take going to court to fight over Tyler's custody, well. Luke had heard a few things about Kyle Gordon. He was a cheater at gambling, and would kill the other players whenever he lost conciderably. It was because of the rumers that Luke's worry over Tyler, grew. If Tyler survived his father's wrath, would he grow up just like Kyle. The old saying, 'Like Father, Like Son' flashed through Luke's mind just then, and then he knew that Tyler had to be taken away from Kyle, if not just for his physical safety, but for his mental safety as well.
Luke was jerked out of his reverie when a nurse came and placed Tyler in a wheelchair, after disconnecting him from his IV's.
"Where ya takin' him?" Luke asked the nurse.
"I'm taking him to complete his next round of tests." The nurse replied, which was a bald faced lie. Kyle had bribed the nurse, giving her $5000 to tell Luke this, when instead he was just taking his son out of the hospital, and away from the Dukes, who in Kyle's mind, were influencing Tyler, giving him the wrong ideas, and ideals, making him into a good ol' country boy when he needed to become a dirty, ruthless man, just like his father.
With a nod of his head, Luke watched as the nurse pushed Tyler's wheelchair out of the room. He listened to the door click shut, and never once did it occur to Luke that the nurse had lied to him.
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Six hours later, Bo Duke finally woke up. He had been placed in Tyler's vacated bed, much to Luke and Bo's suprise.
When Tyler hadn't come back, Luke had questioned the nurses, and had learned from a passing doctor that Tyler was no longer a patient at the hospital. Only then had Luke realized what Kyle had done. But, Luke also knew that he couldn't go after Tyler alone. He would need Bo, and he knew that Bo would be more than willing to go after Kyle, if it meant getting Tyler back.
Bo opened his eyes with a sigh and looked around the room, focusing on his cousin who seemed a little antsy about something.
"Luke? Where's...where's Tyler?" Bo asked, swallowing several times to get his throat wet.
"Kyle took em' out'a the hospital several hours ago, Bo." Luke said.
Bo sat bolt upright at hearing that. He ignored the twinge of pain in his leg as he tried to stand up, only to fall back down on to the bed.
"We gotta go after em'!" Bo said in desperation as he looked Luke right in the eyes.
Luke smiled and exited the room, returning minutes later with a wheelchair.
He helped get Bo situated, before he pushed Bo out of the room, picking up speed as he went through the halls and out of the building.
Luke never did stop till he was beside the General.
He stopped the wheelchair and quickly helped Bo in to the driver's seat, since it was Bo's left leg that was shot, and since Luke knew that Bo would want to drive.
Once Bo was in, Luke stashed the wheelchair in the trunk before he lept into the passenger seat and turned to look at Bo.
"Punch it, cuz'!" He said with a smile.
"With pleasure!" Bo replied as he turned the key and listened to the General's powerful engine as it roared to life.
With a smile on his face, Bo put it into gear and roared off, while all the while he prayed that he was going in the right direction to save Tyler.
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Tyler was sitting, handcuffed, to the passenger seat of his father's souped up sport's sedan. The car had been built for style, as well as speed. With it's all leather interior, and custom made steering wheel, and tires. The sedan really was a sight to behold, but at the moment, the car was at a local gas stop, filling up it's tank so that it would have enough to leave the state of Georgia.
When Tyler had been wheeled outside, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Kyle had been trying something. And seeing that victorious grin on Kyle's face was enough to send a shiver through his son.
When Tyler had been loaded up in to the car, he had never been so afraid, and it never went away, even as his father got into the car and pulled away from the hospital.
He never once spoke harshly to Tyler, or raised a hand to hurt him...heck, he rarely even talked to his son, but Tyler knew this 'lull in the storm' could only last so long.
Sighing, Tyler looked out the window, and a smile grew on his face when he saw the familar orange dodge charger come roaring up, closing in on them.
His smile widened when Kyle quickly filled up the tank and jumped into the car, quickly roaring out of the gas station split seconds before the General reached that point.
Tyler tried to wave at Bo and Luke, just to make sure that they had seen him, but Kyle cuffed him in the back of the head, making tears spring to his eyes.
But that cuff in the head also tore Tyler's wrist free of the handcuff, though it did leave his skin pink and slightly bloody.
Inside the General, when Bo had seen Kyle cuff Tyler in the back of the head, he grew furious.
With anger, Bo slammed into the side of Kyle's car, trying to force it off the road, or at least to slow down, but Kyle somehow managed to keep his car on the road.
"Bo, pull over on em'!" Luke suggested, seeing that the General was seconds away from getting in front of Kyle's car, but Kyle heard what Luke said, and replied, "Not on you're life, hayseed!"
He swirved, hitting the General and neatly scratching the General's paint job, before he reached in to his pocket and withdrew a small pistol.
He aimed it out the window and prepared to fire, but one thing he was not counting on, was his son. Because Tyler had seen the gun and the moment Kyle had the gun cocked, Tyler had jerked on his arm, causing the bullet that had been meant for Luke, to go flying through the General to hit a piece of the inner workings of the car.
Warning lights flashed on the General's display, causing Bo to slow down.
With dispair in his eyes, Tyler watched as the General got further and further behind them. He glanced at his father, who chuckled and said, "Well, they won't be bothering us again."
It was then that Tyler made his desision. He knew that he could never live with a man, or call this man his dad if he tried to take the life of one of his son's friends. With detirmination, Tyler wrenched open the door of the car and jumped out, right on to a pile of jagged rocks, that tore through his torso painfully.
Tyler didn't care about the pain, all he cared about was being with his new friends, and being away from his father. Half of his wish was done, now all he had to do was get up, go to the General, and it would be all over, but as Tyler tried to get up, his arms slipped, sending him back down on to the rocks. The pain of falling on them again, sent Tyler in to unconsciousness.
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With horror, Bo watched Tyler land on the rocks. He floored the General, ignoring the warning lights on the General, that were telling him to stop. Only when Bo had reached Tyler, did he jerk the General to a stop. Then, ignoring his casted leg, Bo somehow managed to get out of the car and limp over to Tyler, while Luke followed, ready to catch his cousin if he should lose his balance, but Bo never did.
Bo stopped infront of Tyler's still form, but because of the cast, he couldn't bend down to check on the boy, so Bo looked up at Luke, who read the unspoken request.
Slowly, Luke reached down and placed two fingers on Tyler's neck. He sighed with relief when he felt the boy's pulse.
It was weak, but it was there, and that was all that mattered.
"He's alive. Come on Bo, we gotta get em' to Doc Appleby's." Luke said, picking Tyler up off of the rocks.
He knew that Tyler wouldn't want to go back to the hospital, so Doc Appleby's was the next best thing to a hospital, in Hazzard County!
"But Luke, the General's out'a commission! How we' gonna get em' there?" Bo asked.
Luke was about to answer when he saw Kyle's car do a U-Turn and start heading back their way.
Knowing that they didn't have much time, Luke passed Tyler to Bo as he said, "I've got an idea. Contact Cooter on the CB while I distract Ty's dad."
Bo nodded as he slid Tyler in to the car and grabbed for the CB, while Luke started walking towards Tyler's car, which was fast approaching him.
Luke never took his eyes off the black car, and Kyle never took his eyes off of Luke.
They stared at each other, Luke on foot, Kyle behind the wheel of the car.
At the last second, Luke lept aside and rolled on to his knees, watching as Kyle lost control of his car and smashed in to a tree.
Smoke and fluids began to pour from the hood of Kyle's car seconds later.
Smiling, Luke walked back over to Bo, having no compulsion to go over and help Kyle out.
"Did ya get ahold of Cooter?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, he's on his way." Bo replied as he glanced at the now semi-conscious Tyler.
Tyler groaned, so Bo gently removed him from the General, and held him close.
"B..bo?" Tyler asked softly as he opened pain filled eyes to look at the blond haired Duke.
"I'm here, kiddo." Bo said, carefully balancing his weight on his good leg as he shifted Tyler in his arms.
Tyler managed a weak smile as he tried to snuggle up closer to Bo.
"You ok, Ty?" Bo asked, although he knew that Tyler wouldn't be ok until he saw the doctor.
"My back hurts...my head too." Tyler replied, having absolutly no idea that parts of his chest were wide open, thanks to the rocks that he had landed on.
Before Bo could reply to that, Tyler looked around and saw what was left of his father's car.
"Don't worry Ty, he won't hurt you anymore." Bo said, hugging Tyler the best he could.
Tyler nodded his head, glad of that.
Minutes went by before Cooter's towtruck pulled to a stop.
Luke and Bo clammored in and told Cooter where they needed to go, while all the while never knowing that Kyle was still alive, and watching them.