THIS CHAPTER IS SET IN 1968, LUKE IS 12, DAISY 11, AND BO IS 10

It was snowing in Hazzard, the kids had just gotten home from the last day of school before Christmas break and they were playing in the snow. Bo and Luke were having a snow ball fight, and Daisy was making snow angels. Just for fun, Luke threw a snow ball at Daisy.

"I said I didn't wanna snowball fight!" She hollered at Luke, throwing one back at him.

"Well ya are now!" Luke threw another snowball in Daisy's direction, but she dodged it.

"Knock it off!" She yelled.

"Come on, Bo, throw some at her!" Luke handed Bo a snowball and hurled another himself. Bo hit Daisy right in the face with his.

"That tears it!" Daisy ran off to the house. "Aunt Lavinia! The boys won't stop throwing snowballs at me!" She said as she stomped into the kitchen.

"Alright, I'm coming." Lavinia went outside with Daisy.

"Were you two throwing snow balls at her?" Lavinia asked.

"Yes ma'am." They smiled.

"I told you that I didn't wanna do that." Daisy snarled at them.

"Is this true, boys?" Lavinia asked.

"Yeah, we're sorry." Luke elbowed Bo.

"Yeah, sorry." Bo repeated.

"Don't do it again." Lavinia headed back to the house.

"You heard her, don't do it again!" Daisy marched off to the house.

"She ain't any fun." Bo kicked the ground.

"Lets get back to what we was doin'." Luke picked up a snowball and hurled it at Bo.

"No fair! That was point blank!" Bo threw one back.

They played for about an hour.

"I'm getting sick of this game." Bo dropped his last snowball down.

"Me, too." Luke ate his last snow ball.

"Lets go inside." Bo started off to the house.

"Nah, lets go build a snow fort." Luke suggested.

"Okay." Bo went to the barn and got two shovels.

Once they were finished they climbed inside.

"I think we did real good." Bo looked the place over.

"Why're ya breathin' like that?" Luke asked Bo, hearing him breathing hard.

"I'm jus' tired." Bo said.

"We wasn't workin' that hard." Luke looked Bo in the eyes. "You okay?" He asked.

"I don't wanna go inside, don't make me." Bo begged.

"You don't gotta to go inside, jus' take a break for a while." Luke suggested.

Bo raised his elbow to his mouth and coughed into it several times.

"Do ya got an inhaler?" Luke asked.

"Nah. I forgot it when I set my junk down after school." Bo panted.

Luke pulled an inhaler from his own pocket. "Here."

"Thanks." Bo pocketed it.

"I meant for you to use it right now." Luke said.

"I don't need it just now." Bo complained.

"Yeah ya do, I can tell." Luke pressed.

"Fine." Bo took it once and put it back.

"There, now ain't that better?" Luke asked, placing a hand on Bo's shoulder.

"Yeah." Bo sighed.

"Lets hang out in here for a while and then go see if we can't get Aunt Lavinia to make us some hot chocolate." Luke grinned.

Meanwhile in the kitchen Lavinia was getting ready to call everyone in for dinner.

"Jesse, Daisy? Dinner!" She called. Jesse and Daisy walked into the kitchen.

"Would you go get Bo an' Luke, Jesse?" Lavinia asked, pointing to their snow fort out the window. Jesse walked out side.

"Boys? Time to come in for dinner!" Jesse hollered.

"Coming!" Luke and Bo ran past Jesse and into the kitchen.

"Sit down, y'all." Lavinia served the plates.

"Sorry 'bout earlier, Daisy." Luke apologized.

"Aw, it's ok, Luke." Daisy smiled. Everyone sat and started eating.

"Where were you boys all day?" Jesse asked.

"Buildin' a snow fort." Bo replied.

"Yeah I saw it, looks nice." Daisy wished that she hadn't stomped off into the house earlier, it would have been fun to built a snow fort with her cousins, even if they were boy-ish, well, boys.

After dinner, Bo and Luke went out to do the last of their chores.

"I forgot to clean Maudine's stall today!" Bo ran to get the pitchfork.

"I'll put away the shovels we had earlier." Luke went out to the fort and collected the shovels.

"Hey, Luke?" Bo called.

"Yeah?" Luke brought the shovels back.

"Can you finish this fer me, please?" Bo asked.

"No way, lazy bones, its your turn to do it!" Luke laughed.

"I need to sit down." Bo stumbled. Luke ran over to Bo, took the pitchfork, and sat Bo down on a hay bale.

"Whats wrong?" Luke asked his cousin.

"My lungs hurt." Bo coughed. Luke pulled one of Bo's inhalers from his own pocket. He never left the house without one.

"Here." Luke handed it to him. He figured it must be pretty bad for Bo to complain about it.

"It ain't that bad yet. I just need to sit down." Bo said.

"Alright you sit down here and I'll finish with Maudine's stall." Luke took the pitchfork and finished cleaning the stall. Damn, Bo'd made him do it after all!

"Luke?" Bo coughed.

"Yeah?" Luke yelled back.

"I think I need that inhaler now." Bo rasped.

"I gave it to you!" Luke ran back over to Bo.

"I don't got it." Bo wheezed.

"Where is it?" Luke started frantically searching the barn floor.

"Can't breathe." Bo wheezed as he slowly got off the hay bale, getting closer and closer to a laying position on the barn floor.

"No, Bo, no. Ya can't lay down..." Luke grunted as he attempted to sit Bo back up, but his cousin was limp in his grip.

Bo curled on his side and gave into a coughing fit. Luke rolled him back onto his back, seeing that Bo's eyes were drifting shut.

"Stay awake, Bo! I'm gonna find your inhaler, jus' hang on!" Luke went back to Maudine's stall to search. He ran his hands through all of the hay and straw. Luke stopped in his tracks when he heard Bo calling him.

"Luke, it's gettin' worse." Bo wheezed.

Luke didn't know what else to do so, he dragged Bo to his feet and hung one of his arms over his shoulders, taking most of Bo's weight to help him back to the house.

"Uncle Jesse! Aunt Lavinia!" Luke called out, putting Bo gently on the kitchen floor. Jesse ran into the room.

"What happened?" Jesse knelt next to them on the floor.

"Find an inhaler, quick!" Luke started looking himself.

"Got one!" Jesse sat Bo up and leaned him against his other nephew, who protectively wrapped his arms around Bo's waist.

"Open your mouth, boy." Jesse instructed, and Bo did as he was told. After several minutes, seeing that the inhaler wasn't doing enough, Jesse handed it to Luke and went to the phone to call Doc Appleby.

"Keep breathing." Luke begged.

"Damn asthma to hell." Bo rasped weakly.

"I know, I'm sorry, cousin. But ya'd better hush yer dirty lil' mouth 'for uncle Jesse comes back in here." Luke attempted to lighten the mood.

"Doc's on his way." Jesse stated.

"Hope he gets here soon." Luke sighed.

"What's going on in here? I was helping Daisy wash her hair." Lavinia rushed in.

"Bo's having another one." Jesse replied.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Lavinia stoked Bo's cheek.

"Maybe." Bo wheezed.

Daisy came into the kitchen, wrapping her hair in a towel.

"Again?" Daisy said as she knelt down with her family. "I'm getting sick of seeing him like this." She sighed, wiping a tear from her eye.

"...me too" Bo managed.

"Don't try to talk, Bo, focus on breathing." Luke instructed.

After quite the eternity, they all heard a knock on the door. Jesse went to open the door for doc, who was carrying an oxygen tank and a hypodermic needle.

"Where's Bo?" He asked.

"In here." Jesse led him into the kitchen. Doc set up the oxygen and injected Bo with the needle.

"What/ you give him?" Jesse asked.

"Salbutamol." Doc replied, placing the oxygen mask on Bo's face.

"Luke?" Bo coughed.

"I'm still here." Luke took Bo's hand.

"How did it get to this point again?" Doc was displeased that the family wasn't more prepared to give him an inhaler when he needed it.

"We was out in the barn, he was cleaning a stall and then he told me that his lungs hurt so, I gave him an inhaler. I went to finish cleaning the stall and when I come back he was fightin' for air and the inhaler was no where in sight." Luke reported.

"Is he gon' be alright?" Lavinia asked.

"Yeah, he's a strong kid." Doc assured.

About 15 minutes later Doc removed the mask and ordered Bo to bed for the night.

...

Bo and Luke had settled down to sleep, when they heard a knock on their room door.

"Come in, Daisy." Luke knew it was Daisy on account of her sweet, soft knock. Daisy walked in, stepped over the boys' dirty clothes on the floor, and sat down between their beds.

"I just wanted to talk to y'all fer a minute." She said, wiping her eyes.

"What's wrong, Daisy?" Bo asked.

"I'm worried about you, honey." Daisy started to cry softly. Bo an' Luke were boy-ish and annoying sometimes, but Daisy'd just about die if anything happened to either of 'em.

"No need to be, I'm okay." Bo sat up to prove it.

Luke disapproved of this. "Lay down, Bo." He ordered, sitting up himself to enforce his order.

Bo did as he was told without a word. He was too tired to get in a fight with Luke over something so small. Wether he needed to lay down or not he wasn't even sure on, but it sure wasn't worth fighting with his stuborn, bossy cousin over.

"What if one day, you're all alone and you have an attack and you... die?" Daisy cried.

"That ain't never gonna happen 'cause Luke never lets me outta his sight." Bo laughed.

"Everything'll be okay, Daisy, you'll see." Luke smiled.

"I hope so." She smiled back. "G'night, boys." Daisy returned to her own room.

"Don't talk Bo. Not a word. You're to sleep." Luke ordered.

"I wasn't sayin nothin! Luke, I swear, you're the bossiest-"

"I ain't neither!"

"Luke, face it: you're over protective, bossy, an'-"

"I happen to love you... very much! I've lost enough people who I love, an' I ain't prepared to lose another!"

"I'm sorry about yer folks, Luke. But ya have to remember that I lost mine, too. In the same accident, matter of fact. I know that ya love me, but please try to calm down. I love you too, an' if ya want it to stay that way, ya'd best stop bein so bossy." Bo started off in a stern voice, but it softened by the time he was finished talking, and he even managed a small laugh.

"I'm sorry, Bo." Luke laughed as he rolled over to go to sleep.