by: Marty Chrisman
Luke was sitting on the top step on the back porch. Lynn was sitting one step below him, leaning back between his legs with her head resting against his chest. Luke had been released from the hospital earlier that day. He still had a slight headache and the doctor had ordered him to take it easy for a few days, so Bo was doing all the chores. He had six stitches in the gash above his eye. So far there had been no sign of Roger Malone.
“You’re staying right here until Rosco finds that guy.” Luke insisted. Lynn had been arguing with him for the past five minutes about going back to her house.
“I don’t think he’d be stupid enough to come back to the house.”
“You never can tell with somebody like that.”
“You could always stay at my place with me.” Lynn suggested, leaning back her head so she could look up at his face.
“That sounds tempting.” Luke agreed with a smile, bending his head to plant a kiss on her forehead “But you’re still staying here for a couple of more days.”
Lynn sighed. She knew she was fighting a losing battle at least for now. Luke had his mind made up and she wasn’t about to change it. Besides, she had to admit that she felt safe here and protected in the warm embrace of the family. They sat there in silence watching the sunset as it spread soft shades of gold and red over the horizon.
“Can we go for a walk?” Lynn asked
“Sure.” Luke said. He smiled as she stood up and turned to smile back at him. Shoving himself to his feet, he reached for her hand and they started walking across the barnyard. Suddenly a loud popping sound spit the air. A gunshot. For just a spit second Luke thought it was someone hunting illegally on Duke land until Lynn looked at him with a strange expression on her face, then fell forward, collapsing in his arms.
“No!” He yelled as he sank to the ground with her cradled in his arms. He saw the red that rapidly spread across the front of her shirt but his mind refused to believe what he was seeing. The sound of the gunfire brought Bo running from out of the barn and Jesse running from inside the house. Jesse took in the sight before him at a glance and ran back into the house to call for help.
Luke gently brushed a strand of Lynn’s hair from her face. Her eyes were open but filled with pain. “Hang on, baby…” he told her soothingly, trying to keep her calm while he was the one falling apart inside. “Just hang on….okay?” His heart was pounding frantically in his chest and he could barely breathe for the lump in his throat.
“I love you, Luke….” Lynn whispered in a ragged breathe, a faint smile tugging at her lips “I’ve always loved you….”
“I love you too…” Luke told her “Just hang on….just a little bit longer.” Their eyes locked, her so soft and filled with love, then slowly Luke saw the awareness fade from those eyes and he felt her breathe a soft quiet breath and then there was nothing. His heart knew she was gone but his mind refused to accept it. “No….” he yelled in a ragged, torn voice as he gathered her close to his chest, rocking back and forth, as if he could will her back to life with the sheer force of his love.
Jesse came back out of the house in time to see Luke pull Lynn close and start rocking back and forth, moaning softly. Jesse hurried to his side and put his hand on Luke’s shoulder trying to comfort him but Luke pulled away from his touch. Bo glanced at his Uncle and shook his head sadly letting Jesse know in that simple gesture that it was too late, Lynn was gone.
Luke was still cradling Lynn in his arms when Rosco, Enos and the ambulance arrived. “No! Get away from her!” Luke growled, his eyes blazing with rage when the ambulance attendants tried to reach for Lynn so they could examine her to make sure she was really gone.
“Luke,” Jesse said quietly, gently touching Luke’s arm and trying to get through to his grief stricken nephew “Let the paramedics do their job….”
“No!” Luke growled, glaring at Jesse with eyes that were filled with both pain and rage. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt her anymore….”
Jesse gently but firmly grasped Luke’s shoulder and said, “Nobody’s gonna hurt her. But you have to let her go now…there’s nothing more you can do….”
“I can find the bastard that did this” Luke said in a cold deadly voice “And I can kill him…..”
“That’s not gonna help Lynn now….” Jesse said quietly, trying to diffuse Luke’s temper before he did something rash and foolish, fueled by his grief and pain.
“Come on, Luke…” Enos said, trying to reach his friend “Me and Rosco will find the guy who did this…I swear we will….I won’t stop looking till I do….”
“Come on, cuz….” Bo said, trying to reach Luke too. “You have to let her go now….”
Slowly, Luke finally released his hold on Lynn and let Jesse help him to his feet. He swayed unsteadily and would have lost his balance if Jesse hadn’t quickly slipped his arm around his waist to support him. Bo quickly moved to the other side and slid his arm around Luke too. Luke stood there watching with dead eyes devoid of any emotion as the paramedics quickly put Lynn’s body on a stretcher and loaded it in the back of the ambulance. Jesse and Bo gently guided Luke into the house so he wouldn’t have to watch the ambulance leave with Lynn’s body.
Jesse helped Luke sit down at the table, then went to his hidden spot and got out a jug of his finest. He poured a tall glass full of the shine and sat it on the table in front of Luke. “Drink it.” He ordered his oldest nephew, who automatically obeyed. He drank most of the shine in one long deep swallow. Jesse knew that Luke was in shock. He glanced at Bo and said quietly “Why don’t you help Luke upstairs and try to get him to lay down for awhile?” He knew that once the shine kicked in, Luke would sleep and for now, that was the only thing Jesse could think of to do to help his nephew.