Hope and a Prayer

Chapter 7

It was late Christmas Eve and Bo still lay in bed unconscious with any hopes of a Christmas miracle for the youngest Duke boy waking up were fading fast. Doctor Morris and the other doctors that he had conferred with were baffled as to why the young man still hadn't come around yet and all of them were becoming quite concerned that the head injuries that Bo had suffered were worse off than first suspected. Test after test had been run in order to find out why he hadn't come around yet but no conclusive results were found; for some reason, Bo Duke just wouldn't wake up.

Luke sat beside Bo's bed holding the younger man's hand and wishing with all his might that his cousin would do just that. With nobody in the mood for celebrating, the others had gone home to take care of the animals and finish the evening chores before coming back to spend another night at the hospital. So there Luke sat alone with Bo hoping that he would get better.

"Come on, Cousin, ya just gotta wake up. It's Christmas tomorrow and ya know how much ya like Christmas. Heck, even though ya normally hate getting up in the mornin', you're usually the first one up, tearin' inta the presents, wantin' ta sing Christmas carols, and badgerin' Daisy ta make her famous eggnog flavored French toast that ya like so much. It just won't be the same without ya, so ya gotta wake up." Luke sighed as he got no response and with tears in his eyes, hung his head as Bo continued to sleep on.

Getting up he started pacing the small room, the need to be doing something overwhelming him again. He made his way over to the window and looked out at the starlit sky above and found them unusually bright for being in the city. One star in particular caught his attention as it glowed brighter than the rest. Thinking back to the conversations he had with his uncle and Cooter, he swallowed hard to clear the lump in his throat and squared his shoulders in determination. "God, why did this have ta happen?" he quietly asked. "Bo's never done anything ta hurt nobody, in fact, he was just tryin' ta protect Sue Ann from getting hurt by those bank robbers. It's not fair that ya let him end up like this while those other three come out without a scratch." Luke turned away from the window and looked at his still sleeping cousin and sighed once again. "Please, ya just got ta make him better." As Luke stood there watching his cousin, that bright star twinkled even brighter before fading from the sky.

Luke glanced up when he heard a soft knock on the door, his eyes widening in surprise when a small, round man, dressed up like Santa came in and smiled at him. "Can I help ya?"

The Santa took his hat off to reveal his snow-white hair, grinning as he made his way over to the boys. "I've just come to check on Bo here. How's he doing?"

Luke blinked back in confusion before stammering out an answer. "Uh, he's…he still hasn't woken up yet and the doc is worried about that."

"That's a shame," Santa answered, his white beard creasing as he frowned while staring down at the still boy. "I know that Doctor Morris is a good man and he is doing everything that he can for Bo."

Luke nodded wondering how this man knew Bo's name and who his doctor was, as his protective nature kicked in. "Who are you?" he asked as he moved over to the bed making sure he was between this man and his cousin, knowing he's never seen him around the hospital the past couple of days.

"I see that you're still trying to protect your cousin just like you did when you were younger, Luke," the red suited man said, startling Luke once again at knowing his name.

"How do ya know who I am?" Luke asked, quickly hiding the apprehension his was feeling.

"Why I've known both of you since you were babies," the man answered with a comforting smile on his face.

Luke saw that the man didn't appear to be any threat to him or Bo and deep down he felt he somehow knew the man that was standing in front of him but couldn't quite place him. "Who are you?" he questioned again.

"My names Chris Kringle or otherwise known as Santa Claus."

Luke couldn't help but laugh cynically at the smaller man. "Yeah right, Santa Claus."

"Don't you believe in me any more, Luke?"

"I stopped believin' in Santa or in anythin' else for that matter a long time ago."

"Why do you say that, Luke?"

"Oh I don't know? Maybe it's because I lost my parents and brother when I was little, or that fact that my cousins also lost their folks, or the fact that Bo here almost died after bein' shot and then almost drowned? Now why would I stop believin' in things?"

Santa looked sadly at Luke shaking his head in dismay. "You know Luke, somehow I don't quite accept that you've stopped believing altogether. You may say you have but I can tell that even you don't feel that way."

"Yeah right," Luke said as he looked away.

"No really. Look at how strong you feel about your family, especially Bo here. You're very worried about him not waking up and since the doctors can't find any reason for him not to, you're becoming downright scared."

"Of course I'm scared. Wouldn't you be if one your family members were hurt like this?"

"Yes I would be very scared but I would also have the faith that he would recover."

"Easy for you ta say since this isn't your cousin but mine lyin' here."

"If you don't believe, then why were you praying so hard for Bo's recovery?" Luke stared back at the Santa at a loss for words. "It's obvious to me that you must believe in Something otherwise you wouldn't have been praying as hard as you've been for Bo to wake up."

"H…how'd ya know that?

"That's what you were doing when I came in, wasn't it? Praying for Bo to wake up?" Luke just slowly nodded. "He heard you, Luke."

"Heard me? Who heard me?"

Santa tilted his head to the side, gave Luke a piercing gaze, and smiled brightly. "Do you believe in miracles, Luke?"

Before Luke could answer, he heard a small moan coming from the bed and turned to see Bo shifting under the blankets as he tried to wake up. "Bo?" Luke shouted out causing his cousin to jump slightly at the sound. Two dark blue, bleary eyes fluttered open and slowly focused onto Luke's face. "Hey cousin," Luke said as he smiled back in delight. He turned to say something to the man in the red suit but he was gone.

"Lu…ke?"

The older Duke gazed back down at his cousin as he squeezed his hand, still smiling. "Welcome back, Bo."

Bo blinked a few more times and took a deep breath, grimacing in pain when his chest protested the movement. "Wha…what happened?"

Luke couldn't help but laugh as he answered. "A miracle happened, Bo, a truly blessed miracle."

01 01 01 01

It was Christmas Day and there was a celebration going on in Bo Duke's room, even though half the time he didn't even know about it since he kept falling asleep. The previous night, Luke had phoned the farm while the doctors were in with Bo examining him, and he happily related the good news to his uncle and cousin. Jesse and Daisy were beside themselves and quickly cleaned up and grabbed a few things from under the Christmas tree before making their way back to the hospital.

The news about Bo had quickly spread throughout Hazzard and all day long, friends and family made their way in and out of the room, excited over the fact that Bo had regained consciousness and was on his way to getting better. Everyone knew that he still had a long way to go but now that he was awake, Doctor Morris was giving him a very good prognosis.

During the quieter times and when Bo was still awake, Daisy would help him open the gifts that their friends had given him, knowing that Bo always acted like a little kid when it came to presents. She was only slightly disappointed when Bo fell asleep while in the middle of unwrapping a particularly big one. The room, however, was quickly filling up with gifts from all the well-wishers and it was becoming more and more difficult to move around, but no one cared in the least, not even the hospital staff.

Finally the room cleared out of all the guests and Luke sat beside his cousin while Jesse and Daisy went down to the cafeteria for a bite to eat. Luke knew that this would be his only chance to talk to his cousin by himself, fully expecting Uncle Jesse to force him to go home and get a good night's sleep before returning the next day. Knowing that Bo was now going to be fine and that his uncle was spending the night with Bo, Luke was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed once again.

"Hey Bo?" Luke quietly asked, not wanting to scare the man.

"Yeah?" returned a sleepy Bo.

"The other day, ya know, just before ya headed ta the bank and everything happened?"

Bo opened his tired eyes and turned to look at his cousin, seeing that he seemed to fidgeting in his seat. "What about it?" he asked, not quite sure what Luke was getting at.

"Well, it's about the way I was treatin' ya," Luke confessed as blue eyes turned to stare into blue eyes. "I mean, I wasn't…it wasn't you that I was mad at that mornin', I was actually mad at myself and I guess I was sorta takin' it out on you."

Bo laid back into his pillow and smiled. "Ya mean ya were upset because Sue Ann dumped ya?"

Luke stared wide eyed at his cousin. "Ya mean ya knew?"

Bo just lay there with his eyes closed and grinning. "Not then, no, but she did tell me while I was at the bank…ya know before the bank robbers showed up."

"Oh," Luke said, deflating slightly. "I guess she told ya that it was my fault that we broke up."

"She did mention that ya were payin' more attention ta the other girls than her."

"Yeah, I guess I was," Luke admitted.

Bo pondered for a few moments just what to say to his cousin knowing that Sue Ann really didn't want to break up with Luke, only he wasn't about to tell him that. "Do ya like her?" he finally asked.

Luke sat there and nodded. "Of course I like her."

Bo opened his eyes and faced his cousin with a serious expression of his own. "Do ya love her?"

The older Duke boy sat back in his seat thinking carefully about his answer. "I don't think I've hit the love stage just quite yet, but I'm pretty close."

Bo saw the sappy grin that formed on his cousin's face but knew that Luke was being serious about what he just admitted. "Then call her up, ask her ta meet ya somewhere, and tell her how ya really feel. She just might listen and take ya back, although I don't know why seein' that you're as stubborn as Maudine."

Luke chuckled back at his cousin's barb grateful that they had the chance to joke around again. "Funny, that's the same advice Uncle Jesse gave me when I told him about what happened between Sue Ann and me."

"What can I say, great minds think alike," Bo smiled before a yawn overtook him.

Luke watched as his cousin settled back down into his pillows and helped pull the blankets up since Bo had a hard time doing that one handed. "Thanks Bo and really, I'm sorry for the way I treated ya the other day. I had no right takin' my frustrations out on you."

"It's okay Luke. I think everyone was havin' a bad day that day."

"You especially," Luke smiled. "I'm just glad that you're gonna be alright. Ya had me scared there for a while."

Both of them sat there quietly, thinking over what had happened. "It's funny. When I was bein' swept down that river, I was pretty sure that I wasn't gonna make it, but later on, I must have come around for a bit. I seem ta recall an older man with white hair and a white beard, placin' a red coat over me, talkin' ta this lady that was standin' behind him."

"Must have been that couple that found ya. Rosco said they were older. Never did find out who they were."

"All I can remember for sure was that his name was Chris and he knew me somehow. Kinda reminded me of Santa." Bo became concerned when Luke sat there staring at the wall. "Luke, ya okay?"

"I'm not sure?"

"Do ya need me ta call someone," Bo asked as he reached for the nurses button.

"No, no, I'm fine really," Luke said, cursing himself for scaring Bo like that. "It's just…last night when I was here with ya, I found myself prayin' that ya would wake up. As soon as I said that a man in a Santa Claus suit came in and started talkin' ta me. Told me he's known us since we were little and that his name was Chris Kringel."

"Luke?" Bo asked suspiciously. "Are ya tryin' ta tell me that you were talkin' ta Santa? Ya sure ya weren't asleep?"

"That's just it, I was awake, standin' there lookin' out the window."

"Come on, Luke. Ya don't expect me ta believe that do ya?"

"I know that it sounds crazy Bo, but we just got done talkin' about me prayin' for ya ta wake up, when he asked me if I believed in miracles. Suddenly ya were wakin' up and he just disappeared and I don't think that he left through the door either."

Coming from anyone else, Bo would have thought that that person was either pulling his leg or was crazy, but since this was Luke, well… "Ya know, I think I believe ya."

Both men turned to look out the window when a bright, shining star suddenly grew even brighter.