by: Marty Chrisman
Jesse and Daisy both had tears streaming down their faces, but this time they were tears of happiness, not of grief. Dr Malone had told them there was no hope, that there wasn’t anything more the doctors could do. There was no hope left….they were going to lose Luke. And his heart had started to fail, along with his other systems, even with the machines that were supposed to be keeping him alive. When the heart monitor flat lined, Jesse’s heart had stopped too. The doctor and nurses had rushed into the room and the doctor had shook his head ready to give up and declare Luke dead. Then Jesse stood up and bellowed “No, my boy ain’t gonna die like this! You try bringing him back!”
“Mr Duke….” Doctor Malone said sadly “It’s no use….he’s just hurt too badly…”
“I don’t care!” Jesse bellowed “You try to bring him back! If you can’t, then I’ll let him go…but not until I know you tried!”
Reluctantly, the doctor did as Jesse ordered even though he knew that it was hopeless. He gave Luke’s body 5 shots with the paddles with no luck and no change. He was ready to give up when the heart monitor fluttered, just briefly, but it fluttered. With baited breath the doctor watched the monitor, unable to believe what he was seeing, as the monitor beeped and began to register a heartbeat. Erratic and unstable but a heartbeat just the same. Quickly, the doctor grabbed a needle from the crash cart and injected the medication it contained directly into Luke’s heart muscle. Miraculously, he watched as his heart beat began to stabilize.
“Thank God…” Daisy cried, tears streaming down her face. Jesse was shedding tears of his own as he put his arm around his niece and gave her a comforting squeeze.
“Mr. Duke….I have no idea how we managed to bring him back…but you may not have done him any favors.” Dr Malone said grimly.
“You doctors told us he was gonna die no matter what!” Cooter snapped his voice rising in anger and frustration “You wrote him off….and he fooled ya all! And he’ll do it again…..you just wait and see!”
The doctor ignored Cooter’s outburst and left the room. He still believed that the Duke boy was going to die. It was only a matter of time. There was no way he could picture him surviving with injuries as life threatening as his.
Jesse reached down and gently rubbed his oldest nephew’s hand. There was no noticeable response from Luke but his heart was still beating and that was all that mattered. Jesse hadn’t lost him yet and if the love of his family was enough to keep him alive then by god Luke was going to make it through this. God had his hand on Luke’s shoulder and Jesse knew that it was God that had let him come back to them.
“Uncle Jesse,” Daisy said quietly “I’m going to call Tri County and check on Bo.”
“I’ll go with ya, Daisy.” Cooter said “I could use some coffee. You want a cup, Uncle Jesse?”
“I ain’t your Uncle Jesse.” Jesse said automatically
“We’ll bring you back a cup, Uncle Jesse.” Daisy said with a faint smile as she left the room with Cooter.
After they had gone, Jesse leaned down so that he was talking directly into Luke’s ear. “Boy,” he said softly “If you ever scare the daylights out of me like that again….I’ll tan your hide.” He rubbed Luke’s hand again “I don’t know what I’d do without you or Bo. You gotta just keep hanging on, boy….and come back to us where ya belong…” Jesse choked back the lump that rose in his throat and brushed away the tears that sprang to his eyes. He knew that Luke wasn’t out of danger yet and that he was still seriously injured but Jesse had enough faith to move a mountain.
Luke could hear Jesse’s voice but he couldn’t respond no matter how desperately he tried. He wanted to beg Jesse to do something to make it stop hurting so bad but all he could do was suffer in silence. And he was suffering and suffering terribly. But he had no way to let anyone know that.
Jesse glanced up as Cooter and Daisy came back into the room. Daisy handed Jesse a cup of coffee and said, “I talked to Doctor Anderson. He said Bo’s still unconscious but he’s showing some signs of trying to wake up.”
“Good……that’s good….” Jesse said “Be one less thing to worry about if Bo wakes up.” He looked down at his nephew “We’ll just stay here awhile longer with Luke. I wanna make sure he’s holding his own again before we leave.”
“Now, Unc..uh..Jesse,” Cooter said trying to lighten things up “Ya know them boys have nine lives…..”
“More like twenty.” Daisy said with a soft laugh
“The only life I’m concerned about is the one right here and right now.” Jesse said somberly. They stayed by Luke’s side for the rest of the evening and on into the early morning. It was almost three AM before Jesse was finally satisfied that Luke wasn’t going to flat line again and agreed to leave the hospital.