Luke and Jimmy had been waiting for almost two hours before anyone came out to get them. A tall doctor with grey hair, and wrinkles came out to the waiting room looking through some papers on a clipboard and looking up every once in awhile. A minute or two later, the elderly doctor spoke.
"Duke?" Luke heard his last name being called and stood up and walked over to the doctor.
"Hello, I'm Doctor James Peterson. Are you Mr. Luke Duke?"
"Yes that's me, how's my cousin?" Luke said as he shook the doctor's hand.
"Its good thing you got him here when you did. He's got a moderate case of bronchitis, that if it were to worsen, it might upgrade to pneumonia. He also tore a ligament in his right foot, so he'll have to stay off it for a while. He'll also have to wear a special brace on his foot until it's healed." Doctor Peterson explained.
"Thank you Doc. Do you know if he's awake yet?"
"No, not yet, but if you try talking to him, maybe he'll respond, but remember that his body is trying to fight off the bronchitis and that has left him weak, not considering the fact that we had a heck of a time getting his body temperature back up. It's still not normal, in fact, his body temperature is still very low. He's lucky to not have developed hypothermia."
"Alright, thank you doctor."
"Don't mention it, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to his room, but I only want one person in the room at a time. We'll be keeping him in the ICU until his body temperature returns to normal. After that, depending on how he's doing, we'll move him to a normal room. Also, I want to prepare you for what you're going to see. All the machines that are in the room are just to monitor his condition."
"Alright." Luke said quietly. Once they stopped in front of the door that led to Bo's room, Luke felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Luke saw Jimmy looking down at him.
"Go on, you can go first, after all he's yer kin." Jimmy said kindly. Luke nodded his head and took a deep breath that he slowly released before entering the room. Luke froze the instant he saw all the machines in the room. Taking a deep shaky breath, Luke slowly walked over to Bo's bed. Luke's heart seemed to drop to his feet at the sight of his youngest cousin lying deathly still on the hospital bed.
Luke sat down slowly in the chair that was in the room. Taking a hold of one of Bo's hands, Luke shivered at how cold his cousin's hand felt against his own. Luke wasn't sure how Bo could be so much colder then himself, considering that Luke went the whole night without his coat, then again Luke figured that it was also because Bo wasn't able to walk that day to warm up a little and because he was sick. Luke fought to hold back the tears that were threating to fall. Luke was never one to show his emotions, but when it came to his family, especially Bo, then he had to fight to keep them under control.
"Bo, I'm sorry 'bout what happened. If I knew this was gonna happen, I never would've suggested coming here in the first place and you wouldn't be here like this. This entire thing is my fault." The only sound that met Luke's ears was the steady beeps and hums of the machines. A tear silently slipped out of Luke's eye and slid down his face.
Jesse and Daisy had everything packed and were just about to leave when Cooter showed up. Not knowing Jesse and Daisy were leaving and that there was trouble, greeted the Dukes cheerfully.
"Howdy ya'll." Cooter greeted.
"Hey there Cooter. We're sorry to have to rush ya off, but we gotta get going." Jesse said none too happily. He hated having to tell Cooter to leave right away, but they had to be on their way as soon as possible.
"Oh, where ya'll goin'?"
"We gotta go to Ohio. The boys might be in trouble and when Luke called earlier, he sounded upset and said that Bo was in the hospital, but he wouldn't say what happened." Daisy explained.
"Oh I see, would it be alright if I went along with ya? I could help ya'll out if you need it." Cooter offered.
"Thank ya Coot, but what about the garage?" Jesse asked.
"Well I wouldn't have a garage without them boys, plus I couldn't let my best buddies down, if they need help, then I'm gonna help them anyway I can."
"Well, alright. I guess there's no arguing with you then. So hop in. you can leave the truck here." Jesse said.
"No, I think I outta take it, I got a feelin' that we're gonna need it."
"Alright, if you say so. Let's get a move on then." Jesse said as Cooter ran over to his truck and got in. once everyone was ready, they set out towards their destination.
There had been a little change in Bo's condition. His temperature had risen up a bit more, but he still hadn't woken up yet. Luke knew the reason why Bo probably hadn't woken up yet was because of the medications the doctors had him on. While Luke was thinking of somethin to say, he felt a slight movement in his hand. Looking over at Bo again, Luke realized that Bo was starting to wake up. Luke quickly began speaking to him again to help Bo wake up.
"Bo, c'mon buddy wake up." Luke said happily. A few seconds later Bo's eyes fluttered open.
"Hey there Luke." Bo said weakly.
"Hey there sleepyhead. If Uncle Jesse found out that you over slept, he'll tan yer hide." Luke replied with a smile. Bo started looking around the room trying to figure out where he was.
"Where are we?" Bo asked curiously.
"We're at the hospital. You've been asleep since last night."
"What time is it?"
"It's almost," Luke began as he looked at the clock above the door. "Four o'clock in the afternoon." Luke finished. Bo closed his eyes for a minute making Luke think he had gone back to sleep. Bo reopened his eyes and took a deep breath that he really wished he hadn't done after a couple of painful coughs escaped his mouth.
"You okay?" Luke asked concernedly after noticing that Bo winced a little while he was coughing.
"Yeah, man whatever I got must be a butt kicker or somethin'. I feel like I was hit by a truck." Bo said his voice scratchy.
"Well you defiantly wasn't hit by a truck. You've got bronchitis. That's why you feel so bad. Well I best go tell the doctor that you're awake."
"Alright."
"I'll be back soon." Luke walked out of Bo's room and saw Jimmy talking with a doctor. As Luke got closer, he could tell that he was Bo's doctor.
"Hey there Luke, how's that cousin of yers?" Jimmy asked with a smile.
"Got good news." Luke replied in the same manner.
"What's that?"
"Bo's awake. He woke up a few minutes ago. We were talking for a few minutes."
"Well I best go check up on him then." Doctor Peterson said as he started towards Bo's room.
Jesse, Cooter, and Daisy were already more then half way to Ohio by lunch time, mostly speeding and out running any law enforcement that tried to stop them. By the time one o'clock rolled around, they were coming up to the Kentucky Ohio border. About fifteen minutes later, they were finally in Cincinnati.
"How much further do we have to go?" Cooter asked over the CB.
"About another two or three hours to go." Daisy responded.
"Alright, but I think I'm gonna need to make another pit stop real soon." Cooter said.
"Yeah, us too. Looks like there is a gas station about five miles from here. We'll stop there and take a short break and grab a bite to eat." Daisy informed.
"Alright, thanks for the info Daisy."
"No problem Cooter." The next five miles were completely silent, not including the traffic and the sounds of the city.
Hope ya'll liked the chapter. Now, ya'll know what to do next. That's right, push the little purple button. I know you want to.