by: Marty Chrisman

Over the next few days even Bo started to believe that this place might be the best place for Luke. The staff was so caring and genuinely concerned about Luke’s welfare that the difference from the care at the hospital was noticeable. And no matter who was in the room, even if it was only the cleaning staff, they talked to Luke as if he could hear them instead of ignoring him because he was in a coma.

The family had just arrived one morning to visit Luke and was surprised to find his bed empty. When Jesse stopped a passing staff member to ask where Luke was, the aide smiled and told him that Luke’s therapist had taken him outside into the courtyard for awhile. The family found the courtyard and went outside where they found Luke sitting in a specially designed chair that leaned back like a recliner. His therapist, a pretty blonde named Cindy, was sitting beside him reading the Atlanta paper out loud to him.

“Hi, y’all” she said when the Dukes came into the courtyard. “I thought Luke might like some sun for awhile after being cooped up in the hospital for so long.” She grinned “Get that killer tan back that I bet he had before this all happened.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Three days later, Luke was transferred by ambulance from Lexington to a long term care facility just outside of Atlanta.  The rest of the Duke family had gone home the day before. Late the following afternoon, the facility called to let them know that Luke had arrived and was now in Atlanta. The woman Jesse spoke to asked the family to wait until the following day before they came to the facility to see Luke so that the staff would have time to get him settled in. She told Jesse that she would meet with them at ten o’clock the next morning to explain the facilities role in continuing with Luke’s care.

Shortly before ten the next morning, Bo pulled the General Lee into a large parking lot in front of a facility called “Indian Falls” It was a long one story building with spacious well cared for landscaping. Inside it was obvious that care had been taken to keep the facility from looking like what it really was. The colors were bright and cheerful and there was even a dog wandering through the halls. And most of the staff was dressed in casual clothes instead of uniforms, identified only by the name badges pinned to their shirts. But in spite of the efforts to camouflage the purpose of the building, the Dukes still knew why Luke was here.

A pretty brunette with blue eyes and a trim figure saw them come in and went up to them immediately. “You must be the Duke family.” She said with a welcoming smile. “I’m Linda Manning, Luke’s case worker. Why don’t we go back to my office so we can talk for a bit and then you can see Luke.”

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by: Marty Chrisman

The family and Cooter spent the night at the hospital, each family member taking their ten minutes once an hour to see Luke. In between times, they dozed fitfully in the chairs in the waiting room. Cooter slipped away for a few minutes and called a friend of his who lived in Lexington. After explaining the situation to him, Cooter’s friend happily volunteered to let the family stay at his house as long as they needed to. Cooter knew he would have to return to Hazzard in a couple of days, he couldn’t be gone from his business much longer than that. When he had learned about the accident, he had volunteered to come with the family to the hospital to help drive and to help pay for gas. He had also suspected that they might be in Lexington for awhile and he had planned on calling his friend to arrange a place for them to stay out of respect and friendship for the family. Friends like the Dukes were hard to come by and Cooter loved every one of them as if they were his own blood kin.

When he returned from calling his friend, he discovered that Bo had finally fallen asleep with his head resting on Jesse’s shoulder. Daisy was sleeping too, curled up on one of the couches. Only Jesse was still awake. Cooter sat down beside him and said softly so he wouldn’t disturb Bo or Daisy. “Uncle Jesse, I called a friend of mine who lives here in town and he said y’all can stay at his place as long as you need to. And I wanna let you know that me and those two cousins of mine will make sure the farm gets taken care of until y’all get back to Hazzard too.”

“Thanks, Cooter.” Jesse said sincerely. Jesse was a proud man and he refused to take anything that felt like it was charity but he knew that Cooter’s offer was made out of friendship and not pity so Jesse felt nothing but gratitude. He had been worried about being able to stay in the Lexington until they knew if Luke was going to be okay. The family didn’t have much money and they could barely afford a motel room for one night, staying any long period of time would have been out of the question.

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by: Marty Chrisman

Time passes slowly when you’re in a hospital waiting for news about a loved one.

Minutes seem like hours and hours seem like days. It had been over five hours and Bo still hadn’t heard anything about Luke. He was sitting in his chair with his face buried in his hands, when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw his Uncle Jesse, Daisy and their good friend, Cooter Davenport, standing beside him. Bo bounced to his feet and threw himself into his Uncle arms, finally giving way to the emotions that had been overwhelming him since the crash. Jesse took his youngest nephew in his arms and held him close, comforting him as best he could.

“Still no word on Luke?” Jesse asked gently, helping Bo sit back down in his chair.

“No, sir…nothing.” Bo said shaking his head as he struggled to regain control of himself.

“Coot, Daisy….you stay here with Bo.” Jesse said gruffly “I’m gonna see if I can find anything out about Luke.” Daisy and Cooter both nodded and sat down on either side of Bo. Jesse walked over to the nurse’s station and said, “I’m Jesse Duke. My nephew, Luke Duke, was brought in over five hours ago and there still hasn’t been any news. Can somebody tell me how he is?”

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by: Marty Chrisman

Once the paramedics had Luke out of the plane, they laid him on the portable stretcher they had brought with them and covered him with a specially made heating blanket that they carried with them to use in cases of severe hypothermia. They also started a saline solution to help deal with dehydration. Bo could tell that Luke’s breathing was extremely slow and shallow, not a good sign. One of the paramedics noticed it too and put an oxygen mask over Luke’s nose and mouth to help him breathe. Bo tried to hide the fear that clutched at his heart, the fear that kept whispering in his head and telling him that they may have found Luke too late to save him.

Finally they were ready to head back to the road and the ambulance. The two search and rescue workers carried the stretcher, while the paramedics walked along beside it, checking on Luke’s vital signs every few minutes. Bo walked beside the stretcher too holding tightly to Luke’s hand which was as cold as ice. It was close to midnight before they finally reached the road. As the paramedics loaded Luke into the ambulance, Bo climbed in beside his cousin and sat down on one of the built in benches.

The warmth inside the ambulance combined with his own weariness and lack of sleep since the accident, immediately made Bo drowsy. He struggled to stay awake as the driver turned on the sirens and sped towards the hospital. Bo could hear the other paramedic talking to the hospital on his headset. Although he was talking in a low voice, Bo still made out a word now and then. Words that chilled his heart. Concussion, severe hypothermia, possible internal injuries, comatose, unresponsive.

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