WHEELS' CREAKING

Daisy knocked at the apartment's door.

No answer.

She grabbed the doorknob in what she thought a vain attempt, but surprisingly she found out the door was open.

Curled up on his bed, Enos slept peacefully, his uniform still on, except of his hat, tie and shoes: his hat and tie were on the couch, whereas his shoes were on the floor near the bed, everything in a messy way instead of his usual tidy way, as he undressed himself in a rush before to collapse on the bed.

Daisy took a deep breath and she sat on a chair, her eyes carefully on Enos.

Sitting there, her breath and her heartbeat slowing down after her run to Enos' apartment, she recollected in her mind Rosco and Lulu's words, words responsible of her running to Enos' place.

A week already passed since the evening he got drunk at the Boar's Nest, a calm and boring week, spent working at the Boar's Nest, helping uncle Jesse at the farm and trying to meet Enos, few and brief meetings as he hid himself behind his work, but normal meetings, after all: he came from time to time at the Boar's Nest, drinking his usual buttermilk (no more beer for him), eating sandwiches Daisy prepared for him (with " mommy" Daisy's relief) and talking about everything but not his time in L.A. (with Daisy's disappointment).

She was nearly calming down, repeating to herself that she couldn't force him to talk about L.A. (he was his business, in effect, he was right about it), and, beside, he seemed better and better since his arrival: less lost in his thoughts, more cheerful, and with a growing appetite.

She was forgetting about L.A., avoiding that topic with him and focusing only on present time: whatever happened to him in L.A., if he had showed her to forget about it and to come back to his old self, she too would have forgot about it, respecting his silence, despite her disappointment because his not involving her in his life. She could stand that disappointment, for Enos' sake.

She was forgetting about L.A., until that day.

She remembered Rosco's words, words about "Enos' weakness and need of rest", so that day Rosco told him to go to the Boarding House and rest a bit; she remembered Rosco talking about how Enos seemed weak and out of breath, lately, to the point he barely managed to do the things he usually did; she remembered Rosco telling her Enos visited Doc Appleby three times since his arrival in Hazzard (he knew it from his sister Lulu, nothing could escape from Lulu Hogg).

So, in that quiet and normal afternoon, her worst fears and her willing to know what happened to Enos in L.A. woke up, after her casual meeting with Rosco and his strange verbosity (but probably the Sheriff was worrying for Enos as everybody did, so he was trying to know something more about his dipstick's condition); Enos having rest in the afternoon because of "weakness and shortness of breath" (as Rosco said) and his visiting Doc Appleby several times in three weeks (the last time he visited Doc Appleby was five years before, because of appendicitis) were things Daisy couldn't underestimate, and it was the reason why she ran to Enos' place soon after her talk with Rosco.

And Enos was there, "having rest" (as Rosco said).

Sitting on the chair, Daisy observed him, wondering if she had to wake him up or not, but his look was so pitiful (he seemed really tired, and he slept really deeply) she decided to let him sleep, spending her time there (no way she would have left him alone until his awakening) pondering on the reason of that weakness and visiting Doc Appleby (picturing various scenarios, dreadful scenarios, in her mind) and looking around in that small room to find some useful evidences.

In her looking for evidences, something caught immediately her eyes: on the night table near the bed there was a little orange bottle, and Daisy knew what it was.

She stood up and she took that bottle: no doubt about it, she was right, Vicodin, a painkiller she knew pretty well, since her aunt Lavinia needed it during her last months before she died. Daisy's mouth became dry and her hands gently trembled as a new, scaring and surprising scenario surfaced in her febrile mind.

Enos had a deep sigh and rolled on his back, keeping on sleeping. In that position, looking carefully at him, she could better realize his thinnest: her eyes lingered on his chest and belly, his chest showing too much his ribs under the shirt and his belly too much flat, more hollow than flat.

She put down the Vicodin's bottle and she sat down, again, worrisome and rage driving her crazy: she was worried, and angry, again, because of his rejecting her, leaving her out of his life.

Overwhelmed by her rage, impatience and worrisome, she grabbed his pillow and she pulled it, so his head, without the pillow's stay, fell on the mattress with a thud, and he suddenly sat up, awake, looking around in confusion.

His clear confusion and abrupt awake made Daisy blush, and she regretted her childish and unfair gesture.

"Possum on a gum bush, Dais," he finally realized her presence.

"I'm sorry, Enos. I knocked at the door but you didn't answer, so I entered. The door was open. You were sleeping and…" pitiful attempt to mask her childish behaviour, blabbing total nonsense.

"And did you decide to wake me up this way?", no rage in his voice but surprise as he massaged his neck, "Ouch."

Daisy lowered her head, looking down at the pillow on her lap, "You're right, I'm sorry. I should have woken you up in a kinder way… or I should have let you sleep a little more". Her rage and her hot temper were things she had to learn to deal with: men of her family knew it pretty well, especially Bo and Luke, whose faces met several times her hand, not gentle meetings, whereas she's never slapped Enos (he was too sweet to awake that burning and incontrollable rage). But she had to admit there was a time Enos sometimes got on her nerve because of his naivety and especially because of his integrity; Daisy knew Enos would have arrested her or her cousins or even uncle Jesse if he had REALLY thought they were guilty of a crime, no matter what, his duty above everything, even if doing his duty was painful to him: his putting his duty above all and everyone (her too) was the thing of him she hated the most, at that time (so she was sometimes nasty to him) and only along the years she started to appreciate that integrity and total honesty, finding in it a value and no more a fault, and, maybe, starting to love him also because of it.

Still massaging his neck Enos looked at the clock, 3 P.M., "No, it's time to get up, I slept enough," he got up and he walked to the kitchen corner, drinking a glass of water.

She decided to have a try. She had to know something more, and since he didn't want to talk spontaneously about his staying in L.A., she had to use a little trick in order to worn something out of him: pretend to know in order to let him believe she already knew something (his defenses down because he thought she already knew). A trick Dukes used sometimes with Enos, and it usually worked… if they managed to let him believe they already knew everything.

A hazard. She recollected her scenarios about the reason of his weakness and use of Vicodin and she had a try.

"Enos, how much did you stay in Hospital?"

Obviously his staying in Hospital was only a possibility, but if she was right… She held her breath, looking at him turning to her, his mouth open wide.

"How do you know I stayed in Hospital 'cause of…?"

She got it: he stayed in Hospital (as she supposed, she guessed right), and he was going to reveal the reason, his defenses down 'cause he thought she already knew a lot of things about it. It worked…. usually.

He stopped, looking carefully at her, "Daisy Duke," his hands on his hips, his shoulders stiff and his chin up, the self-confident cop's posture, the one he used when he had to mask his shy and sweet nature in front of criminals or suspected criminals; but Daisy wasn't a criminal he had to scare or he had to gain respect from, and his shy and sweet nature came back with a gentle blushing and lowering his head, "Daisy, you're really clever. Ok, now you know I stayed in Hospital, but don't ask me anything else, OK? I've already told you it's not your business"

"I stayed in Hospital 'cause…"

'Cause WHAT?

Daisy bit her lip, disappointed by his guessing her trick. She looked at him wearing his tie and sitting on the bed to pull on his shoes; she looked at the Vicodin's bottle on the night table and her heart raced in her chest, remembering aunt Lavinia. She had to know, or that doubt would have killed her.

"Enos, please, just tell me if you are ill… I mean… a serious illness. When you stayed in L.A. did you find out you're ill? And is it the reason of Vicodin and of your visiting Doc Appleby?". She told it, her cheeks burning and her eyes open wide to force her tears back.

"Sick? Oh my God, Daisy, NO! I'm not sick," he looked at the orange bottle and he shook his head, "I supposed someone told you about my visits to Doc Appleby," and he sighed, "it's because… I was injured, that's all, police business," he stood up, heading to the door, "so stop thinking of strange things."

Injured: beside a bad illness, a bad injury was the other scenario Daisy created in her mind, the most probable scenario, and Enos confessed it to her just 'cause he saw her so scared about a possible illness; after Enos' confession she relaxed a bit, 'cause an injury was something better than a bad illness (it was something about the past, something to recover from, whereas a severe illness would have affected his future… and her future… in an unforeseeable way), but her relaxing was quickly replaced by the desire to know what kind of injury, exactly, and how it happened.

"How? When?"

On the way to the door he stopped, turning to her, "Daisy, PLEASE, I don't want to talk about it. It's the PAST. Look at me, " he opened his arms, "I'm alive, I'm fine and I'm goin' to be finer and finer, I sleep, I work, I eat, I drink," a brief pause, his cheeks red", I drink… I mean…water and buttermilk. I'm OK! So, PLEASE, stop being obsessed by it. I've forgot it, I've forgot what happened and I want only to live the present time."

"It doesn't work. People say beer helps you to forget, but it doesn't work"

He obviously didn't remember his words when he was drunk, but she remembered it pretty well. Whatever happened to him, it was probably something really serious, affecting his body and his mind.

She remained sitting on the chair, looking at him leaving.

"When you leave, give the key to Miss Marple. And, if you have the notion to ransack this room, detective Daisy Duke, well, you'll find nothing else beside that bottle," he turned his head to her, gently smiling and with a pitch of teasing in his voice, his typical way to avoid any further pesky talk (hiding himself behind a innocent humor).

Daisy threw the pillow against the closing door, "Enos Strate, you are IMPOSSIBLE!"

Ransacking the room: he gave her a good idea.

Detective Daisy Duke stood up, ready for her investigation: not fair ransacking someone's else room, but she had no choice since Enos didn't want to talk to her about what happened to him; moreover, Enos gave her that idea.

Ransacking failed. Nothing interesting there, beside that Vicodin's bottle: Enos was right.

So, detective Daisy Duke turned into housekeeper/mommy Daisy Duke, tidy up Enos' place: when did he become so messy, for God's sake, even worse than Bo and Luke? For sure was because of that "weakness", too.

After her work, she collapsed on Enos' bed and she closed her eyes, falling asleep.

She didn't know how much she slept, and the mattress's gentle swinging woke her up as Enos sat on the bed.

"Hey Daisy," his eyes lingered on the shining floor, "did you… wash the floor?", incredulity in his voice.

She sat up, "I tidied up everything. When did you become so messy, Enos?"

"Did you REALLY wash the floor? Did you REALLY tidy up?", he stood up and he walked to the closet, opening its drawers, "my drawers too? Even my…. unmetionables?", again that teasing but innocent and sweet tone.

She blushed furiously, looking away, "Uh, well, but I didn't lust. Honestly."

He looked at her, remembering that same silly dialogue, many years before, now inverted, and he smiled, his smiling turning, with Daisy's surprise, into a genuine laugh.

He was laughing, and Daisy laughed with him, forgetting her worrisome and fears.

"It's time to go, now, or uncle Jesse and the boys will worry", she got up and she walked to the door.

Her hand already on the doorknob he stopped her, "Daisy, thanks. I appreciate what you've done."

She turned to him, "Oh sugar, I did nothing. Anyway, tidy up is not a problem, I'm used to do it, living with three men."

"I'm not talking about tidy up. I'm talking about your bein' so sweet and caring to me… and about your worrying for me," he blushed and he looked at the floor.

Daisy blushed, grateful for his thanking her.

"Anyway, if you like so much tidy up, well, you're welcome, here," he looked up at her, a teasing smile on his face.

"Oh Enos, you're really something else," she burst out laughing and she left, "Bye," refreshed by that relaxed and friendly talking.

He was Enos, her sweet and funny Enos, and maybe Bo was right, she was worrying too much about what happened to him in L.A.: maybe it wasn't so terrible.

LOS ANGELES – FLASHBACK

The stretcher's wheels creaked on the E.R.'s floor, that creaking piercing Enos' ears, as the lamps on the ceiling blinded him. In his nostrils still the pungent and nauseating smell of tires' burning.

He laid on the stretcher, and he didn't know how many bones were broken (for sure many bones), and he feared the problem was not only his broken bones, since his internal organs couldn't be better of his bones. He was dying: he couldn't move his arms and legs, he could barely breathe, his belly ached, a burning pain, and he was feeling sick. He was dying.

After a long corridor the stretcher entered a wide room, and he was shifted from the stretcher to a bed, that shift provoking pain in every part of his body, but he managed only to moan.

The last thing he remembered was the touch of several hands stripping him.

In his ear Daisy's pure laugh, "Oh Enos, you're really something else," his desperate attempt to grab his life slipping away.

Attention, please: flashbacks are "scattered" (no temporal sequence).