Okay…a bit shorter…but better than none…enjoy and if you like it, please review and tell me so…it helps me so much to hear your thoughts….

"Can I help you?" asked a pretty brunette at the information desk as Luke ran inside and looked around frantically.

Nodding breathlessly, Luke answered, "Bo….I mean…the John Doe y'all found…in the papers…where is he?"

The lady's eyes grew wide with fear. "Are you…are you a relative?"

"M-my brother…"

"Oh dear," she sighed biting her lip.

"What! What's happened?!"

"I'm sorry sir, but they're taking him off life support right now."

"What! Where is he?!"

"Down this hall…room114…but sir…"

Luke wouldn't hear another word. He took off down the hall and flung open the door to the room. "Stop!"

A doctor looked from around the drawn curtain which hid a bed. "Can I help you son?"

"That…I …I think that may be my brother in there…"

The doctor let out a long sigh. "Your brother? We were just about to remove him from life support."

Luke nodded. "Please… I gotta see…see if it's Bo…please," pleaded Luke, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Sir…if it is your brother…you need to be prepared…he's very badly swollen all over his body…severe burns in some spots…you might not recognize him…"

"I'll know him…if that's Bo…I'll know him…"

Nodding, the doctor silently pulled away the curtain….

"Uncle Jesse?" asked Daisy as she came up from behind her uncle and wrapped her arms around him resting her head on his shoulder. "What're we gonna do when Luke come's home?"

Jesse sighed. "Well girl, I think he's gonna wanna be alone… I wish he wouldna done this t' hisself…s'just gonna make it harder…"

Daisy sighed. "I know…I know…"

"He did what?!" asked a dumb-founded Cooter from the other end of the telephone.

"I know…I just wanted t' let ya know cause I'm bettin' he's gonna be needin' a lot of support when he comes home…"

Cooter sighed. "Ol' Lukas never was one t' give up on anything without a fight."

"No," Daisy agreed, "but there comes a time when enough is enough. He's hurtin' all of us now…"

"I know Darlin'…guess it's true what they say…"

"What's that?"

"Hurtin' people hurt people."

"Yeah," answered Daisy with an injured sniff. "Yeah they sure do."

Hazzard was a small town… a small town with a big mouth and that big mouth belonging to Miss Mabel. She operated the switchboard and passed on information readily to anyone who would listen, be it Boss Hogg requesting the whereabouts of the Dukes or just in idle gossip with other ladies in the Hazzard hair salon. Today the hot news was about Luke Duke.

"I'm tellin' ya the absolute truth on my mother's grave that's what she said," confirmed Mabel as she sat talking on the switchboard, fanning herself with one hand. "I couldn't believe it either…he always was such a smart young man. Course, an' ya didn't hear this from me, I'm bettin' he ends up on the fourth floor of Tri-County himself…if ya know what I mean…."

"Oh come now…the boy's upset…but he ain't crazy…" returned Fannie May Tucker from the other end of the line.

"All I know is I heard he locks himself up in his room all day, or is out in the barn talkin' t' the donkey… an ya know the General Lee? Well I heard tell that the reason we ain't seen it lately is that Luke beat on it with a 2x4…"

"Now Mabel…you don't really believe that do you? Luke would never in his right mind hurt that car…."

"Ya said it yerself Fannie…not in his right mind…. An' he still ain't…'cuz he know's his cousin's gone, God rest his soul, but he's convinced himself that this John Doe fella's him… I'm telling ya…the fourth floor of Tri County best have an extra bed, 'cuz Luke Duke is makin' his way there or my name ain't Mabel Hanson…"

Luke stopped in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat as he stared at the lifeless man before him. His hands were covered with gauze as was his right leg. His face was blotchy red, with a large cut across his forehead that had been neatly stitched. Had the man been awake, he would have been screaming in agony.

Luke Duke never had been one to show emotion. He had learned to hide it well in Nam, and there he had seen worse…much worse than the figure before him. Yet now he found himself practically falling into the chair beside the bed, swallowing hard, tears running down his cheeks. This time it was different…

This time it was Bo.