1979. I DONT OWN THE DUKES. LUKE is 23 DAISY 22, and BO 21. btw, i dreamed most of this chapter after I went to bed a 4am and wrote it down when I woke up at 6am: a two hour dream made into one chapter. also sorry it took so long to update i spent my last night up watching the dukes until like 3am so i didnt get any time to write.


i looked at my traffic graph and there are literally people in Italy who have read this story. it's not like its a huge amount of people, but the fact that someone it Italy read something that i wrote? wow it just... wow. Thanks to everyone who reads, no matter where u live! :)


It had been raining all day in Hazzard county, but it had finally stopped. The Dukes and Cooter were all going out of their minds in worry: Bo had been missing since early in the morning, and now it was almost 5pm. Everyone was looking for him.

Cooter was searching in Widow's Hollow, when his truck gave out. He opened the hood and accessed the situation: he'd need new parts. He was about to CB Luke, when he saw a muddy blob on the ground next to a large puddle. Cooter approached it and found that it was indeed what he'd thought it was, or who he'd thought it was. He knelt next to Bo and whispered his name.

Bo could hardly speak, but he managed to choke out Cooter's name between coughs, the coughs that were bringing up dirty water. He looked at Cooter with wild eyes, conveying the fear and pain he was feeling.

"Oh, Lordy, Bo..." Cooter lifted Bo's head out of the mud and laid it on his knees.

Bo turned to the side a little as more coughs attacked him. "ya found me..." he slurred once he was finally done coughing.

"You're dang right I found you, buddy. We weren't gonna give up until we did." Cooter put his hands on Bo's shoulders.

"gon be... s-sick..." Bo coughed and turned further onto his side, coughing and heaving harshly, pond water and throw up spilling all over the muddy ground.

"Easy, easy... you're alright." Cooter tried to calm Bo.

"he..lp..." Bo jolted fiercely into a fetal position and heaved his guts out even harder.

"You're gonna be alright, buddy." Cooter rubbed his back.

After coughing up a few gallons of water and throwing up the last of the bile in his guts, Bo rolled onto his back with Cooter's help and looked his friend in the eyes, conveying wordlessly how much pain he was in. Bo inhaled, making a high-pitched sound as not much air managed to get into his lungs.

"Imma get you some help." Cooter said as he picked Bo up and hauled him over to his truck, holding him close to himself as he picked up the CB.

"Luke, you read me, come back?"

"Yeah, Cooter, I read you." Luke replied glumly, they'd been looking for Bo for so long now that Luke didn't even bother to ask if Cooter'd found him: he probably hadn't.

"I found Bo."

"You found Bo? Where is he, is he alright?" Luke shouted into the CB.

"My trucks broken down and I can't get it goin' again without some parts. Bo's in a mighty bad way so I think you ought to come pick us up. I found him in Widow's Hollow." Cooter told Luke.

"Alright, I'll be there faster than you can say anything." Luke dropped the CB and started off for Widow's Hollow.

"Cooter, you say you found Bo?" Jesse asked over the CB.

"Yes sir, I did. Why don't you and Daisy meet us at docs place?" Cooter suggested.

"Alright, you hear that Daisy?" Jesse asked.

"Yeah, I'll see y'all there."

"You hear that, Bo? Lukes gonna come get you and we're gonna take you to Jesse and Daisy and the doc. You'll be alright." Cooter removed Bo's soaked shirt and jeans and wrapped him in blankets in the passenger seat.

Bo tried to speak, but no words came out.

"What's the matter?" Cooter asked him.

After a series of un-decipherable groans and airy sounds came from Bo, Cooter deduced that he needed his inhaler. Cooter pulled one out of his glove compartment and raised it to Bo's mouth and helped him use it.

"cold, freezing... c-cold..." Bo slurred after he was finished with the inhaler.

"Luke'll be here soon, you'll be alright." Cooter sat next to Bo and leaned him against himself, wrapping a protective arm around his younger friend's shoulders.

"thanks..." Bo coughed as he leaned into Cooter's warmth.

Soon, Luke swerved up in the General Lee and ran to Cooter's truck.

"Oh, God, Bo you scared 30 years offa me!" Luke proclaimed as he let Bo fall into his arms upon opening the truck door. Bo wrapped his arms tightly around his older cousin and buried his face in him. He hadn't been so happy to see him since he came home from Vietnam.

"Lets get you to docs." Cooter helped Luke get Bo into the General, and then all three of them headed to docs, Bo seated in between the Luke and Cooter, leaning on Luke's shoulder. Luke took one hand off the wheel and wrapped it around his baby cousin.

"He's freezing cold." Luke looked at Cooter. "I brought some blankets in case I was the one who found him, they're in the back." Luke pointed.

Cooter reached into the back and grabbed the blankets, wrapping them around Bo.

"thanks, y'all..." Bo managed.

"I'm just glad you ain't dead." Luke smiled. He would ask Bo what happened, but maybe he'd better wait until doc had taken care of him before he did that.

"better step on it or I will be..." Bo mumbled as he fell asleep.

Once they arrived at doc's place, Luke and Cooter carried Bo inside and went to sit in doc's living room while they waited.

"How did you find him?" Daisy asked.

"He was laying on the ground next to a puddle in Widow's Hollow." Cooter replied.

"I wonder what the heck he was doing?" Jesse asked.

"We'll have to ask him when doc's through with him." Luke reasoned.

"Yeah, we'll do that." Jesse picked up a magazine and started thumbing through it.

"Thanks for finding him, Cooter. I don't know what us Dukes would do without ya." Luke clapped Cooter on the back.

"Hey, it's no problem, you'd do the very same for me." Cooter smiled.

Within a half hour, doc Appleby came out to talk to them.

"Well?" Jesse asked.

"He's gonna be just fine." Doc said.

"Thank God." Jesse sighed.

"It seems he got some water in his lungs somehow. He's got hypothermia, two broken ribs, and some various bruises, one of them being on his head. I think he was in a large body of cold water for quite some time, I can't seem to get him warm. He will probably end up with pneumonia as well, sadly." Doc reported.

"Can we uh, see him now?" Luke asked.

"Of course. I know how he hates being sedated so, I let him stay awake. He's a little out of sorts, though, you know the usual for hypothermia. You've probably seen that in the Marines, huh?" Doc showed Luke to the room. The other three followed behind, they knew that Bo would want to see Luke first so, they waited in the door frame.

"Hey, Bo." Luke sat in the chair that was next to the bed. Bo tried to speak, but he couldn't.

"Hey, that's alright, ya don't gotta talk." Luke took his shaking hand. "Still real cold, huh?" Luke asked as he ran a hand through Bo's hair.

Bo opened his tired eyes a little wider and begged Luke to go home as best as he could without words. Luke knew he was trying to say something, he just didn't know what.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked him.

"h-h..h..." Bo struggled.

"You wanna go home, don't you, cuz?" Luke lifted Bo's head up and pulled him into a gentle hug. "We'll go home as soon as doc Appleby says you're alright to go home, I promise." Luke set him back down and Bo closed his eyes.

"You're real tired ain't you?" Luke stood up and offered the next person in line the chair.

"When can he come home?" Luke asked the doc.

"As soon as he no longer needs that oxygen, he can go home. I know y'all will take fine care of him." Doc patted Luke's shoulder. "Just out of curiosity, what happened to him?" Doc asked.

"We don't know. He'd been missing since like 7 this morning after chores. Cooter found him in Widow's Hollow." Luke replied.

"You'll have to let me know all that happened when he tells you, I'd really like to hear it." Doc chuckled lightly.

"Sure, I'll call ya when he's feeling better." Luke promised.

Luke ended up staying the night with Bo at doc's house. Doc had tried to remove the oxygen several times, but Bo still struggled to breathe. By morning, Bo was able to breathe on his own, and the Dukes took him home. Cooter came along for the ride, of course, to help out.

Luke and Cooter settled Bo into bed while Daisy went out to fill prescriptions and Jesse made some hot soup.

"He's still shaking." Cooter scratched his head after he and Luke had just tucked Bo in with just about every blanket in the house. "I got an idea." Cooter went from closet to closet finding pillows. He took the pillow's from Luke's bed as well. Then he brought them all over to the fire place and started heating them, along with some of the blankets.

"Good idea." Luke remarked as he watched.

Once the beddings were hot...

"Pick him up." Cooter directed.

"Where we goin'?" Bo slurred. Sometimes he was aware of all that had happened, and other times he thought he was still lost. Sometimes his brain even took him back to other times in life that had nothing to do with the situation.

"No where, just relax." Luke shushed him.

"Hang on to him for a minute..." Cooter said as he laid out all of the pillows on Bo's bed.

"Hand me the patient." Cooter stood back from his work: he'd put three pillows on each side on the bed coming down from where the two head pillows were stacked.

"Here you go." Luke handed his cousin over to Cooter.

"I think I best get on home now, Cooter, uncle Jesse'll be looking for me..." Bo slurred.

Cooter chuckled. "You are home, Bo."

"cooter, I'm colder than hell...wait, hell ain't cold..." Bo mumbled.

"Oh, Bo." Cooter chuckled and Luke helped him get Bo into the bed and tucked in.

"sorry I stayed out so late uncle Jesse...won't happen again...I'll go to bed early tomorrow..." Bo mumbled as he fell asleep.

Cooter and Luke laughed quietly and left the room so Bo could sleep.

"Why don't I go help you get your truck back into town." Luke offered.

"Yeah, let's stop by the garage and pick up some parts and then you can drive me out to Widow's Hollow." Cooter headed for the door.

"I'm gonna go tell uncle Jesse that he'd got Bo." Luke went into the kitchen.

"Me and Cooter's gonna go get his truck so, you've got Bo." Luke said as he passed through the kitchen to the back door.

"You get back right quick." Jesse replied.

"I will, uncle Jesse." Luke said as he shut the door.

Cooter and Luke headed into town and picked up the parts, then they headed out and fixed the truck. While they were out, Daisy got home.

"Uncle Jesse?" She called as she entered the house.

"In here, darlin'!" Jesse replied from the kitchen.

"I got all that stuff that the doc said to get." Daisy set down two bags.

"Thanks, honey." Jesse started pulling stuff out of the bags.

"Enos tried to give me a parking ticket, but I put a stop to that right quick." Daisy smiled.

"Was it one of them signs with the peeling tape?" Jesse asked.

"Yup. I puled up and it said 'parking from 8am-6pm', I came back and it said 'no parking'." Daisy giggled.

"That's Boss Hogg for ya."

"How's Bo doin'?" Daisy asked.

"He's been asleep for about an hour now. Cooter and Luke set him up real good 'fore they left to get Cooter's truck." Jesse replied.

"I'll go check in on him." Daisy walked to the boys' room and cracked the door. Bo was sleeping peacefully so, she headed back to the kitchen.

"He's just fine." Daisy reported as she came back into the kitchen.

"Good." Jesse smiled. "I think I'm gonna lay down a while, we was all up pretty late last night. Would you mind keepin' an eye on him?" Jesse asked.

"Sure thing, uncle Jesse. You just take a little nap." Daisy agreed.

"If he gets real cold again, take some of his blankets and heat 'em up by the fire.

Daisy sat on the couch and watched some TV for a while, then she read a book. Just when she was starting to get bored, she heard Bo calling for her.

"I'm comin', Bo!" She called as she went to the room.

"Where'd Luke and Cooter go..." Bo mumbled.

"They went to go get Cooter's truck." Daisy knelt next to the bed. "What's the matter, sugar?"

"I'm cold, Daisy... cold...an' I don't know... I don't know..." Bo slurred.

"Open your eyes, honey." Daisy took his hand.

Bo opened his eyes and looked around the room.

"You okay, Bo?" Daisy turned his face towards her.

"Still cold." Bo replied, closing his eyes again.

"Let me have one of your blankets and I'll warm it up for ya." Daisy pulled a blanket from Bo and hung it up by the fire place. Once it was warm, she brought it back and laid it directly on him, putting the non-heated blankets on top.

"Better?"

"Yeah, thanks." Bo smiled before falling asleep again. Daisy kissed his forehead and returned to her book.

Luke returned soon after.

"Hey, Luke. Get Cooter's truck?" Daisy asked.

"Yep. He went on home with it." Luke replied. "How's Bo?"

"I just put him back to sleep, he woke up cold, but he's alright now." Daisy replied.

"I hope he stays that way. I wonder whatever happened to him in the first place?" Luke wondered.

"We'll have to ask him once he's feeling better." Daisy suggested.

"I think I'll go look in on him." Luke got up and headed over to the boys room. When Luke opened the door, Bo was laying on the floor in front of it, crawling to open it himself.

"What're ya doin'?" Luke knelt on the floor next to him.

"Gotta get home they's all lookin' for me..." Bo mumbled and crawled further towards the door.

"Bo, you is home." Luke rolled him on to his back.

"Luke?" Bo opened his eyes and looked around the room, but most everything was blurry.

"I'm right here, Bo." Luke put his hands on Bo's shoulders.

"Thank God ya found me I was gettin' cold." Bo slurred as he rolled over into Luke's lap.

"Come on, cuz, let's get you back in bed." Luke reached out to pick Bo up.

"sounds good...warm..." Bo mumbled as Luke picked him up and laid him back down in the bed.

"Ow..." Bo mumbled quietly upon being laid down.

"I'm sorry, I reckon I hurt your ribs..." Luke gently ran his hand over the bruise on Bo's left side. "But, crawling around on the floor probably didn't help em none neither."

"Are we home yet?" Bo slurred.

"Yeah, you're home, cuz." Luke pulled the blankets around him.

...

The next morning, Bo woke up feeling a little better and Luke decided to finally figure out what had happened to Bo that day so, Bo explained everything to Luke and the other Dukes.