by: Marty Chrisman
An ambulance was waiting when the search party reached the edge of the swamp with Luke. Cooter had called Daisy on the walkie talkie as soon as they found Luke. The ambulance attendants quickly transferred Luke to their gurney and loaded him into the back of the ambulance. Doc Pedicord climbed in beside him, along with Bo who wasn’t about to leave his cousin out of his sight. Cooter and Jessie climbed into Dixie beside Daisy to follow the ambulance to the Tri County Medical Center in Cedar City. Roscoe had been notified and he was looking for the Carsons.
At the hospital, Luke was rushed into the emergency room. Doc Pedicord followed behind, promising to let the Dukes know as soon as he had any word on Luke’s condition. Jesse, Bo, Cooter and Daisy, along with several members of the search party sat down to wait for news about Luke.
It was almost three hours before Doc Pedicord finally rejoined them in the waiting room. He looked tired with dark circles under his eyes. “Luke should be fine.” He told the anxious friends and family members. “There was some internal bleeding but we managed to get that stopped and we’re treated the other injuries. He’s going to have to stay here for at least a few days so we can keep an eye on the stab wound and the injuries to his back, but I don’t anticipate any complications or problems.” He motioned for Jesse to join him in one corner of the room, out of earshot of the others. “Jesse, Luke would have bled to death from that stab wound before we even got there if someone hadn’t found him and made that poultice. As matter of fact, he’d probably be in a lot worse condition than he is right now if someone hadn’t taken care of him so well before we got there.”
“What are you trying to say, Doc?” Jesse asked, although he already knew the answer
“I’m saying that whoever took of Luke knew exactly what they were doing and they used the old Indian ways to do it, ways I’ve read about but never seen until now.” Doc shook his head “I can’t explain it….I was hoping maybe you could.”
“Maybe he was saved by the swamp witch.” Jesse said quietly
“Jesse, you know as well as I do that’s just an urban legend. There is no such thing as the swamp witch.”
“Believe what you want, Doc.” Jesse told him “My boy’s alive and that’s all I care about. Can I see him?”
“For a few minutes, so can Bo and Daisy. But only family tonight. The others will have to wait until tomorrow.” Doc said “He’s in room 210.”
Jesse walked back over to tell Daisy and Bo that they could see Luke for a few minutes. The three of them went down the hall to find Luke’s room. Doc stared after them, not quite satisfied with Jesse’s answer to his question. He had a feeling that Jesse Duke knew something he wasn’t telling anyone.
They found Luke’s room without any problem and went inside. Luke was lying on the bed, apparently sleeping. He didn’t look bad all things considered. The mild burns on the left side of his face were red with some blistering on his neck and his mouth was busted but other than that the only marks on his face was some bruising. A bandage covered the mark on his neck left by the nylon cord Tommy had tried to strangle him with. But the more serious injuries on his back and stomach were hidden from view by the hospital gown. Still, all of the Dukes knew what he had been put through and, although they were thankful that he was safe and alive, they were angry at the things that had been done to him.
“Luke?” Jesse said softly, reaching out to touch his nephew’s hand gently. “Luke, can you hear me?”
Luke slowly opened his eyes, his sapphire eyes were cloudy with pain but alert and oriented. “Uncle Jesse…” he said in a soft voice attempting a feeble attempt at a smile. He was heavily medicated but still in some pain from the knife wound and the injuries on his back.
“How are you feeling, sugar?” Daisy asked with a smile, bending down to kiss his forehead.
“Like I got the hell …knocked out of me.” He answered “Did they get Cyrus…. and the boys?”
“No, not yet.” Bo told him, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder “But they will…don’t you worry about that.”
“The girl….” Luke said, struggling to stay awake long enough to get the words out “Who was she?”
“What girl?” Bo asked with a grin “Cuz, there wasn’t no girl there…”
“Yeah, there was…I saw her….” Luke insisted
“Luke, there wasn’t anyone there when we found you.” Jesse told him firmly “You must have imagined it.”
“There was…” Luke said, his words trailing off as he fell back to sleep. The three other Dukes left his room so that he could rest. They would be back the next day to see him. Daisy and Bo both noticed that Jesse seemed preoccupied on the way home, lost in his own thoughts but they assumed it was just his relief that Luke was safe and going to be okay.