After breakfast the boys had left the farm to sign up for the upcoming annual Hatchapee County race. It was considered the biggest race in north Georgia, practically a requirement for any of the locals who even hoped to hear his name in a future Nascar starting lineup. Now at 3 o'clock in the afternoon the paperwork had been filled out, the entry fee had been paid and the General had outshone the competition when the boys ,along with several others who had registered at the last minute, had decided to take their cars on a few laps around the North Georgia Speedway. To an outsider it would seem to have been a very good day for them, but the thoughtful frown Bo wore on his face and the obvious silence in the General as they made their way back home indicated that things weren't perfect.
"Bo, are you gonna sulk the rest of the day?" Luke finally asked, unable to take the quiet any longer.
"Well Luke I reckon I got a right to my feelin's don't I?" Bo shot back from the driver's seat.
"Yeah, well the only problem with it is you're makin' me depressed too." Luke replied, adjusting in his seat as he sighed. "Just try to think about something else, like the General himself. He sure looked good out there on the track today didn't he?"
That brought a smile to Bo's face. "He sure did. I'll bet them Hatchapee boys wadn't expectin' that."
"No they probably weren't." Luke replied. "But now they are, which means they'll be gettin' ready for us."
"And that means we'll have to get ready for the gettin' ready for us." Bo nodded thoughtfully.
"Good thing Thomas come along when he did." Luke replied. With him helpin' out that'll give us extra time to be gettin' ready for the gettin' ready."
Bo gave Luke a slightly confused look but otherwise smiled and shook his head. "The General looked REAL good out there today."
"That he did." Luke nodded.
Bo's grin then went right back to a frown. "Aw shoot Luke, that got me right back to thinkin' about what I was tryin' to forget about. Now I'm depressed again."
"Just get over it, Bo." Luke replied. "Ain't nothin' else to do."
"This is Bo Peep callin' lost sheep, you boys got your ears on yet?"
Luke reached down and picked up the handle. "Lost sheep come back."
"Hey fellas." Daisy replied. "Listen, I don't want ya'll to panic or nothin', but Uncle Jesse's at the hospital."
"What happened to him?" Luke asked as he and Bo looked at each other with obvious concern.
"He and Thomas was clearin' that tree and he got into an accident with the saw. Cut his foot." She replied.
"He gonna be alright?" Luke asked.
"Well his biggest complaint is that he's gonna have to go out and buy a new pair of boots, if that tells you anything." Daisy laughed.
"He's gonna be alright." Luke and Bo both said at the same time as they looked at each other again. "Ten four Daisy." Luke continued with a chuckle. "We just crossed back over the county line so we'll be there in a few minutes."
"I'll let Uncle Jesse know." Daisy replied, closing the exchange.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A few minutes later the boys arrived in the emergency room at the Tri-County Hospital. After a few moments of inquiring and searching they were pointed in the direction of Jesse's temporary bed, and met Doc Appleby just as he was stepping out.
"Hey Doc." Luke greeted him. "I didn't know it was your day to be workin' at the hospital."
"That's because it isn't." The doctor replied. "I brought Emma over here. She had a wreck on that motorcycle of hers."
"Well that's terrible. She gonna be alright?" Bo asked, thinking of the elderly postmistress.
"Everything should heal 'cept for that stubborn streak." Doc Appleby laughed. "She come to my office wantin' me to look her over after the accident, and didn't take to kindly to the fact that I wanted to bring her here for some x-rays, just in case. I got a royal tongue lashing all the way over here, but after what we went through with you back in the winter during that blizzard, Luke, I just haven't feel comfortable taking chances with anyone else." He added. "'Course soon as she saw your Uncle Jesse, it seemed to calm her down a whole lot. I have to say it did wonders for Jesse as well. Soon as she started talkin' about them getting a hospital room together, he got real anxious to get back home."
The trio chuckled before Luke asked. "So Jesse's gonna be alright?"
"He had to have some stitches and he's going be getting real familiar with a pair of crutches over the next two weeks, but it isn't anything that should lay him up for long. He's ready to go now, just waiting on his discharge papers."
"Well we sure appreciate it doc." Bo announced.
"Anytime boys." Doc Appleby replied, patting Bo on the shoulder before he made his way down the hall.
The boys then made there way into the area where Jesse had been treated, finding Thomas and Daisy keeping him company.
"Hey Uncle Jesse." Luke smiled, giving his uncle a hug. "How are you feelin' now?"
After Bo had his turn with a hug, Jesse put his hand up beside his mouth, whispering, "I'll feel a whole lot better when I get out of here." He whispered, subtly moving his eyes and nodding his head toward the left.
The boys looked over in the direction he had indicated, to see a smiling Miz Tizdale looking back at them.
"Hey Miz Tizdale how you doin'?" Luke asked.
"Oh I'm always doing fine as long as I'm in the company of your sweet Uncle Jesse." Miz Tizdale replied with a slight giggle.
Giving her acknowledging grins, they turned back to their uncle with amused ones.
"Boys I'm real sorry about this. I got your uncle to talkin' and away from concentraitin' on his own safety." Thomas admitted.
"It wadn't your fault." Jesse replied. "You didn't put my foot under that saw."
"Course not." Daisy shook her head. "It was an accident. They happen on farms all the time. None of us take a vow of silence durin' chores."
"That's right." Luke replied. "So don't feel bad. Doc says Jesse 'ill mend up in no time."
Thomas seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "Thanks everybody. I felt real bad about it."
"Ain't nothin' to thank us for." Bo replied. "And even if there was, the best way you could thank us for anything is by spending as much time as you can with that freckle-faced kid we all love."
Thomas thought a minute before his eyes lit up. "Speaking of Tommy, I need to call the camp. I was supposed to have supper over there with him tonight and I need to let him know I'm not gonna make it."
"You'll do no such thing." Jesse replied. "We got all three of our vehicles here and supper don't start 'till 5. Now….." He paused, fishing his truck keys out of his pocket. "You take this key and you take my pickup truck and you go on over there and eat with 'im. You even got enough time to swing by the house and clean up, if ya wanna."
"Are you sure?" Thomas asked.
"Sure I'm sure." Jesse replied. "You go on now."
"Thanks Jesse. Thanks everybody." Thomas replied, looking at all the Dukes and receiving nods and 'you're welcomes' before he left the room.
Once he let the curtains fall together behind him, Thomas paused to peek. Satisfied that everyone was going to stay right where they were for the time being, he made his way back to the emergency room entrance, looking around. Finally spying a hospital directory, he studied the interior map for a few moments before pointing out a location and looking for the nearest elevator that would take him to the second floor.
A few minutes later after the elevator ride and a trip down several hospital corridors, Thomas found himself standing at the nursery window, smiling as he looked at 3 sleeping newborns who's eyebrows seemed furrowed in frustration as a fourth baby wailed, threatening to interrupt their naps.
"Are you one of the fathers?"
Thomas looked beside him and saw an elderly nurse standing there smiling at him. Playing off of that contagious smile, he offered one of his own. "No ma'am I'm not."
"Oh." She frowned in confusion. "Kinda unusual to see men pause at the window unless they're one of the new fathers. Not that there's anything wrong with it, mind you."
"I've stood here before as a father. Maybe again some day." Thomas smiled. "You work here in the nursery?"
"Yes I do." She nodded.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"I know it was a long time ago." Thomas continued. "But is there any chance that somebody would still be workin' here at the hospital that would have been employed back in the late forties?"
The nurse only thought for a moment. "Honey, there's only one person working here that's been around that long."
"Well who is it?" Thomas asked.
"That would be me." She replied with a smile.
If you live in Hazzard and your last name ain't already Duke, does tryin' to find out if it should be make you a glutton for punishment?