Author's Note: A normal day in Hazzard is when the Duke boys get run into the pond. Not so much normal when one Duke boys get run into the pond, and can't get out of there.
Big thanks to JordynD for beta work and Gray Wolf for all the help.
Warning: The warning is placed here for Vinsmouse, who wanted a spew warning here, claiming it might be a bad idea to drink while reading the funnier parts. So please keep in mind that drinking any kind of beverage while reading this, might be hazzard'ous to the health of your screen.
Disclaimer: The Duke Boys are not mine, I don't own the Duke boys, nor the General Lee. I promise that once I'm through with them, there will be nothing broken that a trip to Cooter's garage can't fix….
The Days After The Night Before
Chapter 4: Feeling better to be home
Jesse was taken aback by the outburst at first. It was nothing like his youngest boy at all. Yet the tears slowly making their way down his face showed just how bad Bo was feeling and obviously mere words wasn't enough to comfort him.
Not saying anything he gathered Bo up in his arms as well as he possibly could. Maybe it hurt to have his body moved, but sitting there and doing nothing would be hurting him far more. Embracing him at least let Bo feel for real that they were there for him. The boy was terrified alright, trembling in his arms and it made Jesse's old heart break.
"It's still so very cold an' it hurts so bad," Bo whimpered quietly, soaking up the embrace.
Luke got up and leaned in past his uncle to drape an arm around Bo's shoulder. "Do ya want me to find a doc?" He asked slowly. Not that they had been very accommodating so far, but if Bo wanted it, Luke wouldn't give up until he was able to drag one over to him.
"No," Bo shook his head forcefully. He didn't want them to leave him. If a doctor came to prod and poke at him he would make his uncle and his cousin leave so he could do it. He didn't want that. That was the last thing he wanted. "I want to go home Uncle Jesse." If he was home, he could curl up on the couch with a blanket, and they could light a fire if he was still cold after that.
He could crawl down in his bed and steal the blanket from Luke's bed as well as his own. He wouldn't mind: not now he wouldn't mind. Luke would sit down and play checkers with him to keep him company, and given how cold he felt Jesse would surely make him some tea to warm him. That was what he wanted.
Jesse reached up one hand to smooth down the blond locks. "Ya's can't go home just yet me boy. We's need ta make sure ya's okay first." He said softly, in truth wanting nothing more than to carry him out to the truck and take him right home the very same instant.
Bo shook his head again. "I ain't gonna be okay here Uncle Jesse. I wanna go home."
Jesse nodded slowly. "Ya's gonna have ta be brave an' strong fer me Bo," he said ruefully. "I can't take ya home afore they take care of ya. I couldn't do that to ya. I could hurt ya so bad if I did. Ya's gonna have ta be brave an' wait till we can take ya home safely."
Bo ducked down his head. It wasn't what he wanted to hear. Being told that he had to stay in a cold hospital ER room, knowing how lonely it would be when they all left, that was not what he wanted, not at all.
Jesse tried to sooth him by stroking his hair, but it was doing little good and he knew it. He just couldn't take the boy home just yet. Not before they set his leg and made sure that there was nothing else wrong with him.
"Soon as they say it's safe ta do it, we's ain't gonna waste a minute getting ya home," he promised. "Ya's just gonna have ta wait till then."
When he finally had gotten Bo calm enough so that the boy fell asleep, the doctor showed up to take a look at him, promptly waking him up from the slumber. To make matters worse they were all made to leave while Bo was taken to treatment: perfectly understandable to the staff that the family couldn't go along, but not to a young man who was already scared out of his mind.
Bo was begging for them not to leave him as he was taken away, and Jesse felt how his heart was broken anew. He put an arm over Luke's shoulders and one around Cooter's back. They felt the same way as he did about it.
Then they had to wait again which was not really any surprise to them. It was several trips to the coffee machine before they were told that Bo was treated and just about ready to go home. The staff told Jesse he was in the orthopedics, and that they could go there to get him.
Regretfully they did not tell him how to find it, only to follow the signs that seemed to take of into every direction at the same time. They had to stop various staff members three times to ask for further directions, and still got lost a total of five times before they found Bo.
Thanks to the painkiller he was much calmer: some of it because he was no longer in as much pain and some of it because it was numbing. Still, as soon as he caught sight of them he pushed himself up to sitting in the bed, asking if he was finally going to be allowed to go home. Jesse assured him while he signed the paper work for the bill and all. Luke and Cooter then helped Bo into the wheelchair that they insisted they used to take him to the truck.
Cooter was pushing the wheelchair, allowing Bo to grab a hold of Luke's hand, forcing him to walk slightly bent forward which was something he didn't mind. He was also carrying the crutches that they had been given for Bo to use when he got home. Jesse was walking in front of them looking at the papers they had pushed into his hands, frowning over what would be important and what would not. The prescription for some pain killers sure was important. They would have to stop by the pharmacy on the way home.
Wanting to waste no time on the way home Jesse actually gave Cooter the prescription and asked him to get it filled, making it possible for him and Luke to head straight for home. By the time Cooter came back they already had Bo settled on the couch. Luke had gotten both his own and Bo's pillow for him. So that he was leaning against the wall at the end of the couch. Then he had searched out pretty much every single blanket they had in the house for him.
He had helped Bo to exchange his clothes for his pajama because it would make him more comfortable. The legs on it were actually wide enough to go over the cast without them having to call on Daisy's sewing skills. Luke had also dug out an old flannel undershirt to keep him warm as well. He then spread out the blankets over him, trying to make sure he was covered as much as possible.
He had settled down on the few spare inches beside Bo to keep one arm behind his back, and the other over him, letting him feel how Luke was close by to keep him safe.
Cooter put the small bottle of pills down on the coffee table before he moved to hunch down beside them. "How ya doing buddyro?" he asked softly.
"I's cold." Bo still felt hardly any warmer at all. He felt better being home, much better, but he was still cold. His whole left leg was numb, but his right let him know how his toes still felt like ice, his fingers just barely warmer.
"Uncle Jesse's making some tea." Luke said soothingly. He had told Luke he would find something else to help warm him as well. They didn't have a hot water bottle, but there were other ways. Jesse came in from the kitchen carrying a tea mug and a cloth bundle. He handed the mug to Luke then he smiled as he hefted the bundle.
"Hot brick," he smiled as he lifted up the blankets and placed it by Bo's feet. Luke smiled back at him and nodded while he helped Bo drink the tea. "That should help ya warm up soon," he smiled at Bo and patted his hair.
Bo tried to smile, but it was only the corners of his mouth moving, and his eyes were still big and filled with pain. He had sneaked out an arm to hold the mug, but his hand was shaking so bad Luke still held it with him.
"Feel any better?" Jesse asked softly.
"Little." Bo looked up at him, but Jesse wasn't so sure. It sounded more like if Bo said it because he knew it was what Jesse wanted to hear, and he tried to make himself feel better so he could say it. He hadn't really expected him to feel magically better as soon as he got home. He needed to get his warmth back, and he would need some care and attention for that. He wasn't sure if he would even start feeling a lot better before nightfall, even if that was a long time away.
"I got a pot of chicken soup for ya started out there." He told him softly. "I reckon ya need to get something in ya belly as well." He stroked his hair again. "Ya mightn't feel any better yet, but ya will. I promise."
Bo nodded even thought he wasn't really hungry. He suspected that his uncle was right though, he usually was. Before his foot had been all numb with the cold, but now he could feel how he was pressing it against the cloth wrapped brick. He hoped that it wouldn't start hurting like crazy when he started getting warm again, like it did at times. It had been hurting enough. The tea did help some, and he was really grateful for having Luke next to him. He leaned into him headless to the fact that Luke was forced to brace himself with one foot against the floor to keep from falling of the couch. Luke was warm too, so now that the tea mug was empty Bo tried to use him to warm his hand. Luke had his arm over his chest again, so Bo tucked his hand in between Luke's arm and chest. His hands no longer felt ice cold in the same way, but Luke felt really, really warm compared to him.
Luke pulled up the blanket more to cover him when he shifted. If he was warming up beneath them, he didn't want any of that warmth to escape. At the same, Bo kept shifting trying to soak up as much of Luke's warmth as possible.
Smiling at him Luke took his hand and brought it in under the blanket, still holding it, but under the blanket. It meant he wound up having his own arms under it, but it also made Bo look a slight bit better. Luke would guess it was because of the closeness as much as the warmth.
They would have to deal more with this later. If Bo had been run of the road like he said, then they needed to report it. Rosco never seemed to care much about what happened to Dukes, but not even he wanted a hit-and-run driver like that on the lose. Whoever was cold hearted enough to leave a car in a pond, and not make sure the driver was alright could do much worse.
Warming up a bit more Bo started feeling sleepy. He hadn't slept any during the night, since he only got a mouth full of water if he nodded off. Now he allowed his eyes to drift half closed. Yet the very first moment of sleep carried with it the impression of cold water and he jerked awake gasping for air.
"Bo? Ya okay Bo?"
Bo looked up and met his cousins worried look, no water, only Luke. Determining that fact he fell asleep again.
"He's out like a light." Cooter grinned.
"Yeah, and he needs it." Luke agreed as he shifted, trying to find a position where he could support Bo, without risking himself falling down from the couch. Now that he was asleep Bo didn't stir even the slightest. Not even when Luke lifted him up to slide in under him. He turned back towards the kitchen. "Uncle Jesse, what do ya think's gonna happen if we call Rosco and tell him we want to file a report?"
Jesse sighed. "Ya can never tell with Rosco, He was a good police man once, really good, but J.D got him turned to be more crooked than a crooked nail."
"If he ain't gonna do nothing, we're gonna do it," Cooter stated. "We can't let whoever did that get away with it." He shook his head as he recalled the first look into the General after he got there. "But I'm telling ya, that look on Rosco's face… I ain't never seen him look like that 'afore. He, he looked like if it was his friend he found there." He paused as he tried to find the right words, but then he gave up. The Dukes cared nothing if he couldn't get the best words. "I think that he was really upset about it. He was standing there an' holding his head up cause of the water, and he just seemed as if he, like if someone had gone and hurt Flash," he finished.
Luke nodded, "Maybe he'll listen to us for once."
Jesse came over to them and smoothed down his youngest's mop of blond hair with a fond smile and a gentle hand. "I'll go out ta the barn an' take care of Maudine. If he wakes up, the chicken soup's on the stove. Ya can just give him some."
"Will do Uncle Jesse," Cooter answered as he sank down in the armchair next to the couch. Keeping vigil Jesse thought as he left the room. There were times when he let Cooter calling him 'Uncle Jesse' pass without saying anything about it. There were times when he would be gruff about it and tell him that if there were one thing he was not, it was Cooter's 'Uncle Jesse.' There were other times when Cooter was as much a part of the family as any of the three kids he had raised. Those times, there was nothing Cooter could call him that would make him any more proud of knowing the scruffy mechanic. If anyone came after the two boys at this moment, they would have to get through Cooter first. Even if it would be gun against crankshaft, Jesse had no doubt of who would turn tail and flee.
He fed Maudine and brushed down her coat, taking comfort in the familiar task. He was debating whether he should call Daisy at work or not. J.D would more likely than not let her off early, so all the good it would do would make her worry through the whole day. She would be upset to find out they didn't call her when she got home, but it was still better than having her work herself up into a frenzy over something she couldn't do anything about anyway.
He was just heading back up to the house when he saw a police car pull up. Seeing Rosco's patrol car always had him wondering; just what mess his boys had gotten into this time, what scheme J.D was trying to pull, and what he would be able to do about it. Given the current situation he could eliminate the question about the boys, but he still was worried that J.D would be trying to gain something from it. If he had sent out Rosco to give Bo a ticket for illegal fishing methods, or for having ignored some 'no swimming' sign he was going to have some serious things to say to him. The thing that worried him the mist was that he kind of expected it from J.D.
He stood there and waited while Rosco slowly climbed out of the car, holding Flash in his arms and talking to her.
"Ya know, I wouldn't think that Rosco would do that to a poor lad just got hurt, give him a ticket for swimming where it wasn't allowed, it's just that with a Sheriff like Rosco it can be mighty hard ta tell from time to time…"