Well, lemme try the excuses. I gotta job, I've gone out of town, I'm also working on a new story...one that I'm really trying to do my very best job, so I actually did an outline instead of making it a work in progress. I have first copies of the first five or so chapters, on a seventeen chapter story. It'll be a while before it's posted, but I just thought I'd make some excuses as to why this story and Jude Emery have all been neglected.
Something interesting happened the today that ya'll might be interested in. Our family owns a pet store, and that's where I work. Earlier today a mom came in with two little blonde children, a boy and a girl, and a cute little yellow lab puppy. The boy was about five or six, and I asked him, naturally, what his puppy's name was, and he said it was Cooter. I looked up at his mom, and she said that the kid watched Dukes of Hazzard a lot. My brother and I just laughed, yes, we watch it too. I would have never thought of naming a dog Cooter, though! But I guess it is a good name for a dog.
Chapter 19: Oh, Brother
Bo spent five more days in the hospital. On his last day there, he was still trying to figure out how the heck he was going to get the girl. He didn't do much in the hospital other than sit there and ponder this issue. This was difficult. He had to woo her more than some pretty little philly he'd meet at the Boar's Nest. She was special. She was a nurse, so she was probably a little smarter than all the other ones. What was a man to do?
Of course, Mariah was no fool. She saw every little dreamy look Bo Duke put on the moment she stepped into the room. She knew darn well that Bo was crushing on her. And she had to admit...there were moments where she could feel herself succumbing to his charm. Then she realized he was just a patient and it was never, ever good for a nurse to have any kind of romantic interest in a patient. However, Bo was not going to be a patient come morning...
That afternoon, Bo had a visitor that wasn't a Duke. Or a Davenport, or any of the extended Dukes. It was a young man that he thought looked familiar but didn't fully recognize. As soon as he came in the door, Bo tried to place him, but he just couldn't.
The man slowly walked in, almost cautiously. He smiled awkwardly. "Hi," he said. "I'm uh, not sure if you remember me. My name's Neil Baker. I was driving the car that you swerved to avoid the other day."
"Oh!" Bo realized who it was now. "So that's who you are. I knew you looked familiar."
"Yeah," said Neil. "Hey, listen, I'm sorry about the whole thing. I think it was just kind of a wrong place at the wrong time kinda deal, ya know?"
"Hey, you got nothin' to apologize for," Bo assured. "It was all my fault. I wasn't really payin' attention. Thanks, though."
"Eh, thank you," he rebuked. "By the way, I think my sister Mariah is a nurse on this floor. Do you know her? Cause I was lookin' for her."
It was as if the light bulb suddenly clicked on in Bo's brain, lighting it up immensely and making everything clear. "Mariah's yer sister?" Neil nodded. "Oh. Well, yeah, uh, she was in here about half an hour ago, but I don't know where she is now. She's probably pretty close by."
"Thanks," Neil said. "Well, I just wanted to stop by an' make sure you was doin' okay. I asked my sister, but she wouldn't tell me. Patient confidentiality or something weird like that. I don't know. I'm lucky she told me your name."
Bo chuckled. "Yeah, I guess hospitals are pretty strict about that stuff. An' thanks, for stoppin' by. I'm glad I almost crashed into such a nice person," he joked.
Neil grinned. "I'm just glad it was only almost. That could have been a pretty hairy accident. For you, too."
Bo nodded. "Yes, it could have. Ya don't quite bounce off of other cars like ya can a tree."
"Tell me about it," said Neil. "I've had a couple hairy accidents myself involving trees. My mom always tells me I should grow up."
"Ah, growing up's overrated," Bo said in a mock-fatherly tone. "Now, me, I'm thirty-three years old. I have no plans to grow up. That is precisely why I wasn't paying attention when you came along. I was too busy just enjoyin' my car, and driving that reckless way I have my whole life."
"Yeah, I remember your car," Neil told him. "It was pretty cool. You know, all those summers during high school I used to paint cars. I do a lot of muscle cars. People like to have all kinds of crazy things on their car. But I don't think I ever painted a Confederate flag on a bright orange car before."
Bo laughed. "Yeah, General Lee's pretty special. He's one-of-a-kind. Ya know, me an' my cousin Luke built his engine from scratch. Wow, that was a long time ago. I was seventeen when we did that."
"That's cool, man," Neil sighed. "I've always wanted to do something like that."
The two men continued to talk about cars and other things for a long time. They went on well after sun-down. The only reason they even called it quits was because Dr. Davis came in while making his rounds. Mariah happened to be the nurse on duty who came in with him. She looked a little surprised to see her little brother there, chatting away with her favorite patient. Then she remembered it was Neil who was there during Bo's accident and Neil who brought Bo to the hospital.
"Hey boys," she greeted. "Whatcha been talkin' about?"
"We've been plotting your worldy demise," Neil joked. "You know, how we're gonna take over your life and everything."
"Ha, ha, you're such a card." Mariah glared at Neil. "Ain't he hilarious, Bo?"
"No comment," Bo said, grinning. The smile never fell from his face, and his gaze never moved off Mariah for several moments as she moved about the room.
Neil stifled a snicker. The older man clearly had some strong feelings about his sister. It didn't creep him out or anything, no, just the opposite - he thought it was kind of cute. He glanced over at Mariah, who was doing something with Bo's IV. Looking at her eyes, she seemed to be in intense concentration in what she was doing. Taking in her face as a whole, Mariah wore an obvious smirk. She was definately privy to the look on his face. Then Neil looked up towards Dr. Davis. He was writing something on his charts, totally oblivious to the events happening right next to him. Neil shook his head in amusement of the whole scene.
"So, Bo," Mariah said, snapping Bo out of his reverie. "Guess you'll be goin' home tomorrow, huh?"
Bo nodded. "Yeah, I am." Bo's easy-to-read mind quickly came up with a plan of action. "Uh, hey Neil, maybe you'd like to come over an' help us get the General Lee back on his feet."
Neil couldn't suppress a grin. But Bo chalked it up to being excited about seeing such a car that he'd now heard so much about. "Well, sure, why not?"
"Great," Bo said. "Well, knowing Luke, he's going to confine me to my bed tomorrow. He is becomin' just like our Uncle Jesse that way. So, why don't you come over Wednesday, an' we can work on that car?
"That sounds like fun," Neil agreed. "I will be there, sometime in mid-morning. Thanks, Bo, it should be fun." He looked around at his sister who was staring expectantly at him. "Well, I should go. It's gettin' kinda late. Mariah's probably gonna kick me out."
"That's right," Mariah confirmed.
"Besides," said Neil. "I gotta date. Some girl I met in the parking lot when I came in. See ya Wednesday, Bo."
01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
"Ouch," Bo grumbled. He stopped and sucked the area on his middle finger that was now scraped raw. Then he put his hand back on the handle of the crutch and was off again, careful not to scrape his finger again on the wooden edge of the doorway as he crossed through. He continued on clumsily, taking care of his every step. Eventually he was in the kitchen and sat down at the table with the rest of his family. Daisy and Enos had come over, too.
"Mornin', sleepy head," Luke greeted, a little too cheerfully in Bo's opinion.
"Mornin', sunshine," Bo shot back sarcastically. He smirked at his older cousin.
"Hi, Daddy!" came a voice. Bo looked over at his daughter and smiled.
"Good morning, princess." This time, Bo made himself sound geniunely mirthful. And he always was happy to see Lois. "How'd ya sleep?"
"Good," Lois replied.
"All right, let's say Grace," Luke decided. The honor of saying Grace was bestowed upon him through Jesse's passing. Luke was clearly the most qualified for the role of Duke patriarch. It was a responsibility he had slid into easily.
He quickly said Grace and each member of the now large Duke family quickly dove into the wonderful meal before them. Even Bo, whose appetite had suffered a severe downfall as a result of the drugs administered to him in the hospital. Luke was pleased to see that his younger cousin seemed to be getting hungrier with each meal. Bo was the biggest eater of the family . . . or maybe even the whole county.
Bo had once eaten an entire medium-sized pizza by himself in under ten minutes. If he wasn't eating, then there was definately something amiss. But he seemed to be getting better, so Luke would stop worrying.
"So, you gonna teach that Neil-kid a thing or two about how we do things with our cars here in Hazzard County?" Luke asked his cousin.
Bo grinned. "Sure am. Neil's a cool kid an' all, but he don't know as much about cars as he thinks he does - yet. By the time I'm done with him, his head'll be fit to burst."
Luke smiled in return. "I'm sure. Ya know, I think maybe I'll join you two."
Bo nodded. "Yer welcome too. General Lee's yer car too. I can't wait till we can git 'im back on the road again."
"Yeah, but I'll be doin' the drivin'," Luke pointed out. "Yer not drivin' till that knee o' yers is better, okay?"
"Yes, Mom," Bo said sarcasticallyand glumly.
Soon, breakfast was over, and by mid-morning, Bo, Luke, and Neil were out in the barn, tinkering away on the General Lee. Cooter had pounded out the dents, but left the engine work for the boys on Luke's request. Luke and Neil hit it off as fast as Bo and Neil had, and soon they were having a pretty good time. Bo had to take a break and sit down for awhile sometimes because his knee would get sore (as did his armpits from leaning on the crutches), but he'd stay nearby and the conversation would continue.
Everything was okay with their world. Bo and Luke hadn't worked together on a car in so long, and it felt good and refreshing. Now if only Bo could get his one last wish . . .
01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
Okay, thanks for reading. Uh, now please review and I'm sorry again for the wait!
