Doctor Peterson came out of Bo's room with a smile on his face.
"His body temperature has risen more, and I think we will be able to move him to a regular room tomorrow morning."
"That's great! Thank you doctor." Luke said happily as he shook the doctor's hand. Luke went back into the room and sat back down in the chair that was next to Bo's bed.
"Hey Bo, did the doc tell you?"
"Tell me what?"
"Well he said that you should be able to go to a regular room in the morning. Which means yer getting better, and fast too."
"That's great, but it'll be better when I can go home. I miss Uncle Jesse and Daisy."
"Yeah, me too. Uh oh." Luke said suddenly.
"What's wrong Luke?"
"We forgot about the General. He's probably still sittin' in them woods."
"I completely forgot about 'em. And I just remembered something else."
"What's that?"
"Them bad guys, they're still out there somewhere."
"Yeah, how could we forget about them two? I would love to get my hands on them and beat some sense into them." Luke said angrily. While Bo and Luke were talking, Bo's doctor came in frowning while looking at some papers.
"Mr. Duke?"
"Um, which one?" Luke asked.
"Oh, yes sorry about that. I need to speak with you for a moment." The doctor said pointing to Luke.
"Alright." Luke said as he stood up and followed the doctor. They walked a little ways down the hallway before stopping. Luke was the first to speak.
"What can I help you with?"
"Well, Mr. Duke."
"Please just call me Luke. Mr. Duke is my uncle." Luke corrected.
"Yes, well Luke, I have a couple of things to tell you."
"Okay, go on."
"Did your cousin have asthma as a child?"
"Yeah, but it cleared up a few years ago. Why is there something I should know?"
"Well, I'm afraid that after running a few more tests, it appears that your cousin's asthma has returned."
"What? That can't be true. The doctors said that it wouldn't come back."
"I'm afraid it is."
"Does he know?"
"No, not yet. We thought it would be best if you were the one to tell him."
"Alright, thanks for the news. You also said you had something else to tell me."
"Yes, it appears that there are three people here looking for you and your cousin. Are they family?"
"You must mean my uncle, Jesse Duke and my other cousin, Daisy. What did the third person look like?"
"Well, he was covered in what appeared to be grease and oil, had a dirty ball cap and-"
"That'd be a friend of the family, Cooter Davenport. He must've come with Uncle Jesse and Daisy." Luke cut in.
"Alright. They are in the waiting room, would you like me to send a nurse to get them?"
"No, I'll let Bo know, then go see them." Luke said glad that there was at least one more thing of good news today.
"Alright then, let your uncle know that if he has any questions or concerns to feel free to ask me."
"Will do. Thanks for the information."
"You're quite welcome Luke." The doctor said as he left Luke to check up on another patient. Luke sighed before he headed back to let Bo know the news, figuring on telling Bo about his asthma after he told Jesse and the others so that they'd all be there for Bo. Luke walked back into the room and saw Bo sitting up, the blankets wrapped around his body.
"Hey Bo, I take it yer cold?"
"A little. So what did the doc say to you?" Bo asked curiously.
"Well that's what I came to tell you. I have to go get something real fast and I'll be right back. Trust me, you'll like the first thing." Luke said as he patted Bo on the back. Bo just looked at Luke curiously before lying back down on the bed. Luke walked out of the room and started for the waiting room. On the way to the waiting room, Luke almost collided with Jimmy, who was coming around the corner, a half empty cup of coffee in his right hand.
"Oh, sorry Jimmy."
"That's alright Luke, but mind tellin' me where the fire is?"
"No fire, but we got us some visitors." Luke said with a smile.
"Oh, who would that be, if you don't mind my asking."
"Well if you come with me, you'll see." Luke said as he started walking again.
"Um, alright." Jimmy said as he started following Luke.
Jesse, Daisy, and Cooter were growing impatient. They didn't know for sure if Bo and Luke were alright or not, and the receptionist at the front desk wouldn't give them any information. Jesse was the first one to notice Luke and Jimmy walk into the waiting room. Standing up, Jesse ran over as fast as he could to Luke. Luke and Jesse hugged each other tightly, both of them glad to see the other.
"Uncle Jesse, boy am I glad to see you!" Luke greeted excitedly.
"Luke, what in tarnation happened? Is Bo alright?"
"Just calm down Jesse, let me explain." Luke said as he, Jesse and Jimmy all walked over so that Daisy and Cooter could hear as well. Once everyone was listening, Luke began telling them about what happened after they left the farm, and when they met who they thought were Bernie and Charles, but turned out to be Chuck and Charlie, then up to the point when they woke up in the shack, and everything up to the point of their arrival at the hospital. Luke even told them about what the doctors had found out about Bo. Daisy was so upset by everything that she was fighting to hold back tears that were threating to fall. After a long moments silence, Jesse was the first to speak.
"So, what yer sayin' is them two guys that you and Bo stopped last summer are back? And they tried to kill you two. And Bo's sick now with bronchitis and his asthma is back?" Jesse asked still trying to let everything he just heard sink in.
"Yes sir. They did something to the General, and because we had to run to get away from them, we didn't get the chance to see what they done to him. That's why Jimmy here gave me and Bo a ride all the way here." Luke said again. Jesse being too worried about his nephews, didn't recognize Jimmy at first, but the more Jesse saw him, the more he began looking familiar. Luke had forgotten that Jimmy told him that Jesse was an old friend of his, but Jimmy recognized Jesse. Having enough respect for the family, Jimmy didn't bring that subject up, but instead decided to wait for another time.
"Can we go see Bo now?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah, he doesn't know yet about his asthma returning. I thought it'd be best if he found out when we're all there."
"Yeah, I agree." Jesse said as the group headed down to Bo's room. Luke was the first to enter the room.
"Bo, you awake?" Luke asked Bo who had his eyes closed. Bo opened his eyes and looked up at Luke.
"Hey Luke, what took ya?" Bo asked sleepily.
"Sorry, but I guarantee that you'll love this surprise." Luke said as he opened the door a crack and motioned for everyone to come in. Bo's eyes went wide at the sight of his family and Cooter.
"Uncle Jesse, Daisy! Man am I glad to see you guys!" Bo said excitedly.
"Hey there kiddo, how ya feelin'?" Jesse asked as he gave Bo a hug.
"I feel a lot better now that you guys are here." Bo said excitedly.
"Hey there sugah. It's good to see ya again." Daisy said as she to gave Bo a hug.
"Hey there buddyroo." Cooter greeted as he patted Bo on the back.
"Hey Daisy, hey Cooter." Bo greeted. Bo knew that his family and Cooter were glad that he was okay, but he still couldn't get past the feeling that something else was wrong. Bo could tell from the looks on everyone faces that there was something they knew, but he didn't.
'Hey Bo. I got something to tell ya. I know yer not gonna like the news, but you've gotta know." Luke said hating to have to tell Bo what the doctor said.
"What's the matter?" Bo asked not knowing what Luke was talking about.
"Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but the doctor said that after running a few more tests, um, well they found that yer asthma came back." Luke said. It pained Luke to be the one to tell his youngest cousin the bad news, but he felt it was something he himself had to do. Bo's expression changed from that to a happy young man, to that of a scared, angry child in a matter of seconds. Luke sat down next to Bo and put a comforting arm around his shoulders. Bo leaned his head on Luke's shoulder and without even trying to stop it, a tear silently slid down the side of his face.
Alright folks, ya'll know what to do now. And incase ya'll don't know what to do, youpush that little purple button in the corner and leave a review for me:-) And thanks to everyone who reviewed so far.Ya'll keep me writing:-P And a special thanks to my good friend Elenhin for the beta work.