Warning: Not beta-ed and I'm very sure there will be grammatical and probably spelling errors in this one, so once again I apologise in advance.
Disclaimer: As much as I would love to own Bo and Luke Duke, I don't and neither do I own any of the other characters in the Dukes of Hazzard. The Song in chapter four is Brotherly Love which was written by Jimmy Stewart and Tim Nichols, and performed by Moe Bandy as well as Keith Whitley and Earl Thomas Conley. It was first recorded in 1989 and therefore not in the Dukes' timeline but I love the lyrics and I think it describes the Duke boys beautifully.
Bo came around the front of one of the cars just in time to see Luke fly backwards. "LUKE!" Jackson turned the gun on Bo, but wasn't quick enough for the enraged Bo, who launched himself at him. Jackson was shocked by the impact of Bo as well as his impact against the ground causing him to lose his grip on the gun. Bo pushed up and punched him across the face. Jackson returned the punch and rolled, getting Bo under him. He grabbed Bo by the hair and slammed him head hard against the concrete floor. Bo's vision blacked out for a second and Jackson pulled his head and slammed it again. Bo was on the verge of blacking out when he looked saw Jackson's gun. With all his strength, Bo punched Jackson in his side and pushed him off. Bo rolled over twice and grabbed the gun. Bo got up in a flash, pointing it at the head of the man who had just shot his cousin. Bo wasn't thinking about anything now. All he could see was Luke flying backwards because this murderer shot him in the chest. Luke was dead and the only thing Bo wanted to do was kill the man who did it. His vision blurred as the tears formed. He wiped them away and glared at the man with so much hatred that Jackson flinched. Jackson was never so sure, as he was at this moment, that he was going to die. Bo pulled back the hammer. "BO!" Someone was calling out to him, but he didn't care. He wanted this man dead. "BO!"
Jesse, Daisy and Cooter had heard the gun shot and ran over to where Bo and Luke was. Jesse stopped dead in his track when he saw his nephew lying on the hard concrete floor and his other nephew holding a gun to another man's head. Jesse knelt down beside Luke to check for a pulse. He let out a long breath when he felt one and it was strong. Feeling around Luke's body, he found a bullet hole in the pocket of his shirt. Jesse reached in and pulled out Luke's pocket watch. He smiled when he saw a bullet hole embedded in it. He held it up and showed it to his niece who had tears running down her face. She fell to her knees in relief at what her uncle was showing her. Sobbing uncontrollable, she put a hand to her mouth to stop herself from crying out loud.
Cooter, who had seen what Jesse was showing Daisy, was just as relieved but knew there was still one more person who needed to know the truth. He had heard Bo cock the gun and knew they didn't have much time. "BO!" Cooter called out to his friend but it was as if he was deaf. Bo didn't even react. "BO!"
Jesse looked up when he heard Cooter call out to his nephew, who looked as if he was a statue. He couldn't imagine what Bo was going through right now. "Bo, Luke's alive." Jesse called out. He didn't want to leave Luke's side. "Bo, can you hear me? Luke's not dead."
Bo heard the words, but he couldn't seem to process it. All he could think about right now was pulling the trigger. He knew Cooter was standing next to him. "Bo, did you hear what Uncle Jesse said?" He said softly in his ear, "Luke's not dead."
Jesse could see that the situation was getting desperate and the only person who could fix it was laying unconscious on the ground next to him. "Luke! Luke! You need to wake up. Bo needs you." Nothing. Jesse tapped Luke's cheeks. "Luke, if you don't wake up, Bo's going to kill a man and spend the rest of his life in jail!" Jesse smiled when his nephew finally started stirring.
Bo shook his head, denying what Cooter was telling him. This was a trick to get him to put down the gun. "I saw him pull the trigger. I saw him shoot Luke straight through the heart. He couldn't survive that. Luke can promise me all he likes that he would never leave me but this is one promise he's going to have to break. He can't survive a bullet in the heart. He's gone, Cooter. He's gone and I didn't have a chance to tell him that I forgive him."
Luke could hear someone talking, but he was having trouble opening his eyes. "He's gone and I didn't have the change to tell him that I forgive him." Bo? Bo forgives me? Luke tried again and finally was able to lift his eyelids. "Oh, my head. What happened?" Luke asked as he tried to sit up. Jesse helped him and the first thing Luke saw once his vision cleared was Bo holding a gun to Jackson's head. "Bo! What are you doing?"
"You forgive him?" Cooter's eyes widen when he worked out what that meant. He would've been cheering right now, if the situation wasn't so delicate. Cooter turned to Luke, smiling when he saw his friend sitting up. "Bo, you can still tell him that. Look for yourself."
Bo shook his head again. "You're lying. You just want me to put the gun down. You don't want me to put a bullet in this man's brain. Well, it won't work. He killed Luke. He's going to pay!"
Luke struggled to get to his feet, "Bo! I'm still here." Jesse kept a firm hold on his nephew until he stopped swaying. Luke grimaced at the pain in his chest.
Bo jumped at the voice. It couldn't be. He saw Jackson shoot Luke, so that voice couldn't be Luke's. He wanted to turn around but he was afraid his mind was playing tricks on him.
"Bo, listen to him. It's Luke." Cooter said as he gently.
Luke walked up to him, unsteadily and stopped on the other side of Bo, just behind him. "Bo, I'm not dead." Cooter could see that Bo's finger on the trigger was starting to relax. He gently put a hand on top of Bo's, but he didn't attempt to take the gun from him. Luke put a hand on Bo's shoulder. Luke felt him flinch, but he kept his hold. "Bo, I'm not leaving you. I promised." Luke moved so that he was now standing at Bo's side. Bo still didn't dare look, he kept his eyes on Jackson, who was shaking with fear. "Give Cooter the gun, Bo. He'll make sure this guy doesn't get away." After a long minute, Bo finally turned to his head. Luke smiled at him. He was a little pale, but he was very much alive. Cooter felt Bo's hand on the gun give. Grabbing the gun with one hand and lowering Bo's hand with the other, he sighed a breath of relief when he Bo finally let go. Jackson fell back onto the ground. He wasn't going to die.
Bo put a hand on Luke's shoulder and looked him up and down. Luke could feel his cousin's hand trembling against his shoulder. He wanted to hug him but he knew it was Bo's move. Bo's eyes continued running up and down before it finally came back to Luke's face. Bo had both hands on his shoulders now and Luke could feel his grip getting stronger. Finally, Bo pulled him in. Luke held him as tight as he could, trying to stop his cousins trembles. Bo felt as if he couldn't get a tight enough hold on his cousin. He couldn't believe that Luke was here and he was scared that if he didn't hold on tight enough, Luke would slip away somehow. "I ain't going anywhere, Bo." Luke reassured his cousin, but Bo kept his hold.
Jesse and Daisy looked on as Bo finally came to realise that Luke was still with them. Daisy hugged her uncle, sobbing in his arms with relief. She had never felt so scared in her life. They watched as Luke comforted his cousin. They knew he wouldn't let go until Bo was ready. It has been a week of turmoil for the Duke family and now, finally, they have the chance to leave it all behind him. None of them forgot what Bo had said about forgiving Luke. Bo's memory was back, they were sure of it.
"Bo?" Bo suddenly went limp in Luke's arms. "Bo!" Luke lowered Bo to the ground with Cooter's help.
"What's wrong with him, Luke?" Cooter worried over the unconscious Bo.
"I don't know." Luke answered as he checked Bo for any obvious injuries. "Did any of you see anything?"
"No." Jesse said as he knelt at Bo's feet. "I only found you on the floor and Bo pointing a gun at that man. He looked fine." Daisy nodded in agreement.
Luke felt around Bo's head and found the reason. "He's got a large lump on the back of his head. Guess only Bo would know how he hit it." Luke tapped Bo's face, "Bo, can you hear me? Bo?" Nothing. "I'm going to get him to the hospital. Can y'all stay here and CB Enos?" Cooter and Daisy nodded, but there was no way Jesse was leaving his nephews.
"I'm comin' with you. You're not feeling too good yourself, Luke. You're in no condition to drive." Luke nodded. Jesse was right. He was still feeling dizzy and chances are, they'll end up in the ditches instead of the hospital if he drove. "Cooter, go drive my pick-up to the front door." Jesse ordered. "Daisy, stay here and keep an eye on the car thieves. Take my shotgun." Daisy gave Luke a hug before she grabbed Jesse's gun and headed over to the men responsible for hurting her cousins.
Luke and Jesse carried Bo between them to the front door and waited for Cooter to bring the pick-up around. Cooter jumped out of the pick-up. He had already CB'ed Enos their twenty. Once he saw that Jesse and Luke got Bo into the pick-up, he headed inside to assist Daisy. Luke climbed into the pick-up after they got Bo in and put his arm around his cousin. Bo still hadn't stirred, which made Luke worry. Jesse pulled out and headed down the narrow dirt road. "How are you feeling, Luke?"
Luke looked at his uncle. "I'm fine. Just a headache. I'm more worried about Bo."
"He'll be fine. You know how hard his head is." Jesse tried to joke to reassure Luke, but he knew it wouldn't work.
Bo's head lolled around on Luke's shoulder as Jesse tried to navigate the small road. Luke hugged Bo closer. "We're on the way to the hospital, Bo. Don't worry, you're gonna be fine." Luke wanted to smack himself for getting caught causing his family to come to his aide. Bo shouldn't've even been here.
"You know, he remembers everything." Jesse said, pulling Luke from his guilt.
"Huh?" Luke looked up confused.
"His memory is back." Jesse said again.
"How do you know?" Luke asked, shocked.
"You were still unconscious. He thought you were dead and he was angry because he never got to tell you that he forgives you. He said that." Jesse explained.
Luke remembered now. That was the first thing he had heard when he was aware. He had heard Bo's heartbreaking words, He's gone and I didn't have the chance to tell him that I forgive him. Bo's memory really was back, he just prayed that they were back for good.
Half way to the hospital, Bo started waking up. Luke jumped when he heard his cousin groan. "Bo?" Luke pushed him up so that he could see his face. Bo opened his eyes. His head was pounding.
"Luke? What happened?" Bo's hand went up to the back of his head, but Luke stopped him.
"Don't do that. You've got a nasty lump back there. Do you remember how you got it?" Luke asked him.
Bo closed his eyes and thought about that. "That guy you were fightin' slammed my head against the ground," Bo answered when he remembered, "twice, I think. I was wrestling with him after he shot..." Bo sat up suddenly, making his world spin, but he didn't care. He grabbed onto Luke and turned in his seat to face Luke. "You got shot." Bo looked down and fingered the hole in Luke's shirt, "He shot you. How..."
Jesse, who had been quietly listening to his nephews exchange. "This is how." Jesse held out Luke's pocket watch. Bo took it, fingering the bullet embedded in it. Bo could feel his heart beat speeding up as he thought about how close he came to losing his cousin. Luke could see Bo's hand shaking and his face paling.
"Stop the car." Bo managed to choke out, "Stop the car!"
Jesse looked over worried, "Bo, we're almost at the hospital."
"I'm gonna be sick." Bo reached over Luke and pulled the handle without waiting for Jesse to stop the car.
"Bo!" Jesse braked hard. The car stopped just in time for Bo to scramble over Luke and out to the side of the road.
Luke got out and followed, wincing at the retching noise coming from Bo. He placed a hand on his back, running it up and down, hoping to ease the retching. Finally, Bo emptied his stomach, he sat back, wiping his mouth on his sleeve and trying to catch his breath. "Feeling better?" Bo looked at Luke and shook his head. "I didn't die. I might be a little worse for wear, but I'm fine."
"I know, but..."
"I know. Half an inch either way and we wouldn't be talking right now, but I got lucky, so there's no point in thinking about what could've happened when it didn't." This was something Bo would say, so it felt strange to Luke that the roles seems to have reversed.
"That's easy for you to say. I saw you get shot. I saw that bullet hit you. I saw you fall back and not get back up. I was so sure you were dead that I wouldn't listen to anyone. If you didn't wake up when you did, I would've killed that jerk. I would've emptied the gun into him." Bo didn't want to talk about it but the words didn't seem to want to stop stumbling out. "I wanted him dead."
Luke didn't know what to say to that. His cousin had always been the gentler one of them. He had a love for life that Luke had always loved. To hear him now, talking about taking a life was disconcerting. It pained him to see his cousin like this. "Bo, it's over now." Luke pulled him close, wrapping his arms around Bo's head, as if to shield him from the world. "It's all over. Everyone's safe."
Jesse was still in the pick-up, watching his two nephews the way they were was heartbreaking for him, but he also knew that Luke would take care of his younger cousin. Just like he's been doing for years. He couldn't imagine what Bo was going through when he saw Luke get shot. His boys had always been so close that he couldn't imagine life on the farm without either of them. He wanted to get them both to the hospital but he knew his youngest was not in the right frame of mind right now and rushing them would only make things worse. No, he would wait for them for as long as they needed.
"Uncle Jesse's waiting for us." Luke whispered. "We really should get you to the hospital." He smiled when he felt Bo shake his head. Bo would refuse to go to the hospital even if his head was split open, but he knew of one sure fire way of getting him to go. "You know, I ain't feeling too well." He wanted to laugh when Bo's head shot up, but he managed to keep a straight face. "I think I hit it when I fell back."
"We should go." Bo got up a little too fast, but his cousin was there to keep him from falling back over.
"Come on. Uncle Jesse's gonna hog tie us and drag us to the hospital if we don't get in the car." Luke led an unsteady Bo over to the car.
"You boys okay?" Jesse asked as he started up the pick-up again.
"Yeah, we're good." Luke answered. "For now. Let's just get to the hospital." Bo gave his uncle a small smile. A smile that told his uncle that there was still a lot more wounds that need healing, ones that doctors couldn't help with. Jesse nodded, he'll take what he could get at the moment.
At the hospital, both Bo and Luke were diagnosed with a mild concussion and was ordered to rest for a couple of days until the dizziness went away. Luke also had a chest x-ray just to make sure the impact of the bullet didn't cause any internal injuries. Everything was fine, except that he would be sporting a large, painful bruise for a week or so.
As for Boss Hogg and the car thieves, Jesse told Boss that he was to compensate the townspeople for their loss otherwise he would start spreading the word that he was in cahoots with the car thieves. At first Boss Hogg didn't believe they had any proof of it but Cooter had gotten a confession from Jackson, the leader, in writing, while he was waiting for the Sheriff's department to arrive. Jackson was quite cooperative when Cooter threatened to let Bo loose on him again. It was enough to make the man do anything Cooter wanted. Boss had no choice but to submit to all the demands Jesse had made. On top of compensating the townspeople, he also had to give a five hundred dollar reward to the Dukes and Cooter, each, for catching the thieves. Cooter handed over the piece of paper once they, each, received the five hundred dollars in cash.
When the Dukes arrived back home, Bo and Luke was ordered into their room to rest while Jesse and Daisy got supper ready. Bo sat down on his bed, rubbing the back of his head where the lump had formed. He groaned and fell onto his bed, on his side. "Man, I'm beat. Feel like I've gone ten rounds with Ali."
"You're not far off, that Jackson fella has boxing experience. I could tell by his moves." Luke rolled his shoulders, trying to loosen his muscles. Luke eyes\d his cousin. Bo's eyes were closed, but Luke knew he wasn't asleep. "How's your head?"
Bo smiled, but didn't open his eyes. "Probably the same as yours." He answered. Luke rubbed the lump at the back of his head. "How's your chest?"
Luke rubbed the area where the bullet hit him. "Sore." He answered simply. Bo opened one eye, trying to determine if Luke was in worse pain than he was willing to admit. Satisfied that Luke was telling the truth, he closed his eye again. They fell silent for a moment, long enough for Bo to know that Luke wanted to talk. He sighed, smacking the bed, he pushed himself up.
"What do you want to talk about?" Bo asked, leaning his elbows on his legs.
"It can wait."
"Right, you're gonna be able to sleep with something on your mind." Bo said sarcastically, "Let's just talk. I don't want your ticking brain to keep me awake."
Luke smirked, "Okay," He took a deep breath, "When did your memory come back?"
Bo shrugged, "I'm not sure. Sometime after you got shot. Maybe right when you got shot. I don't know." He swung his legs onto the bed and laid back on his bed, putting his hands behind his head. "Everything from when I ran away til the moment my memories came back feels like a dream. I remember it, but it's almost like..." Bo frowned, he didn't know what it felt like. "I don't know...I know it was real, but it's more like it was somebody else."
"It was real to us." Luke couldn't imagine how Bo would be feeling right now, it had to be very confusing. "I know this may sound strange to you, but in a way, it was more like a blessing in disguise. I got given a second chance."
"How so?" This conversation was starting to give Bo a headache.
"My birthday was turning out to be the worse day of my life. When I found you out at the fishing hot, you were burning up and you weren't responding. Doc said you were dehydrated and malnourished and it was my fault." Bo wasn't sure he wanted to hear this, but he knew there was no way he could stop Luke from talking, not when he needed to let it all out. "Then you woke up and you didn't even remember who you were and the doctor told us it was psychological. I hurt you so badly that you couldn't handle it. I didn't think I would be able to celebrate my birthday the way you wanted," Luke gave a short laugh, "I should've known, even without your memory, you would insist we celebrate. You should've seen your face when we were putting in the carburettor"
Bo smiled, "I remember it. I was so tired but seeing you put in the present I got you was almost exactly the way I pictured it when I first got the carburettor"
"Bo, I'm sorry I didn't believe you."
"Can we not talk about this, right now? I'm so confused, I don't know how I'm suppose to feel. I'm angry at you but how can I be angry after the past few days. I remember you and Uncle Jesse taking care of me. It's hard to stay angry at you when I know how much you care."
"What happened to you that day? How'd you get so sick?" Luke had always wondered about that day.
Bo shrugged, "I just wanted to run away. I ran straight to the fishing hole without stopping..."
Luke's eyes widened, "That's over 4 miles away!"
"Yeah, but I didn't stop there. I ran straight into the fishing hole. Stayed under until my lungs felt like it was going to burst. Then dragged myself back out. Guess that's how I got sick." Luke couldn't believe his cousin went through all that because of what he did. Bo looked over at his cousin when he went quiet, "Luke, I'm fine."
"Just like that."
"Just like that!" Bo pushed himself up to his elbows, "Luke, I got amnesia, I was sick for days, you almost died. It's not 'just like that'. Think our family has been through enough already. Now, can we just forget about it?" Bo turned his back on Luke. Not wanting to talk about it any more.
Luke knew it wasn't over. Bo may look like he was opening up about it but he was only giving Luke a report of it all. Luke could tell this wasn't his cousin talking, but there was nothing he could do about it. The ball was in Bo's court. Bo would talk when he's ready.
