by: Marty Chrisman

The next day it was only Jesse and Daisy who went to Atlanta. Cooter had to go to the garage. He couldn’t neglect his business any longer. He hated to do it but he had no choice if he wanted to continue to make a living. Daisy had arranged with another waitress to cover her shifts at the Boar’s nest but she would have to return to work at the end of the week or Boss threatened to fire her. Boss Hogg had no love for the Dukes, it didn’t matter how seriously the boys were hurt.

Daisy and Jesse sat by Luke’s side, touching his hand and talking to him even though he was still unconscious. If there was even the slightest chance that he could hear them, Jesse wanted him to know that they were there and that he wasn’t alone. The doctor still wasn’t very optimistic about Luke’s chances of pulling through. But Jesse had faith and he believed that Luke would eventually get better.

The question was if there would be any permanent damage from his injuries. He had already had to have one kidney removed because it had been severely damaged in the accident. Luckily he could still lead a normal life with just one functioning kidney. The ruptured spleen had been removed and the tear in the aortic artery had been repaired. He had numerous broken bones including 4 ribs, a broken collar bone, a broken hip and his right arm was broken in three places. His hip and his arm had been set using surgical pins and a steel plate. But Jesse knew the broken bones would heal. All it would take was time.

But his body was severely weakened from shock, the trauma of the accident itself, and three major surgeries in just over a week. The most dangerous injury was the skull fracture. The doctors still believed there was a good chance of some kind of brain damage but they weren’t able to run any tests yet to find out for sure. Until Luke was conscious and alert there was no way of knowing what kind of brain damage he might have suffered. Even then there was no way of knowing for sure if it was permanent or just temporary. In meantime he was completely dependent on the machines to keep him alive. His heart rate had stabilized which was good but he still wasn’t able to breath on his own, although he did try to occasionally, setting off an alarm whenever he fought to breath against the machine. Unless he started breathing on his own, he would never be able to live without depending on the machines.

“Come on, Luke” Daisy said quietly, gently rubbing the back of Luke’s right hand “Please wake up…please open your eyes for me….”

I’m trying, honey……I’m trying. Luke thought. But he couldn’t open his eyes. And the pain, why couldn’t someone realize how much it hurt and give him something to make the pain go away? It hurt everywhere: his hip, his arm, his chest, his back, his stomach but most of all his head. It felt as if someone was driving a pick axe through his brain and that his head was going to explode at any minute. Please god…somebody… make the pain go away…just for a little while.  He could feel Daisy touching his hand but he couldn’t even twitch a muscle to let her know that he knew she was there. He knew there was something in his throat making him want to gag but he couldn’t even do that. Fear gripped at his mind as he found himself wondering if he would ever wake up or if this would be the way he’d remain for the rest of his life. Locked in the darkness and unable to respond in any way and in so much pain that the only relief from it would be his own death.

“Uncle Jesse, he has to wake up….he just has to.” Daisy said, trying to fight back her tears. She couldn’t stand to see her oldest cousin like this. He had always been there to comfort her when she was hurt and in pain, either physically or emotionally, and the only she wanted now was to be there for him. But she didn’t know what to do other than to keep talking to him and touching him and trying to reassure him that his family was there. And she didn’t even know if he could hear her or not.

She looked at his face, so still and so immobile. She wanted to see that slow sexy smile of his just once more and to look into those sapphire blue eyes that were so full of life. His eyes had always been so expressive. He could say more with his eyes than most people could say by talking to you. But now those eyes were closed and wouldn’t open no matter what she said to him.

Jesse knew that Daisy was exhausted. So was he. Neither of them had gotten much sleep since the accident. But they stayed with Luke until late afternoon before heading back to Hazzard. After a quick supper, they drove to Tri County Medical to see Bo. Dividing their time between two hospitals almost three hours apart was taking its toil on both of them.

They found Bo awake but groggy from the heavy doses of pain medication he was being given. But he seemed to be in good spirits and the doctor told them that he was getting stronger every day. Bo was excited about being moved out of the ICU the next day which meant he would be able to have other visitors besides his immediate family. Inevitably, Bo wanted to know about Luke.

“How’s Luke?”

“Still no change.” Jesse told him

“He’s in a lot of pain, Uncle Jesse. It’s really bad. You gotta make ‘em give him something for it. ‘Cause he’s suffering so much.”

“How do you know, Bo?” Daisy asked looking at her younger cousin with a surprised expression on her face

“I just know.” Bo told her offhandedly as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to know what he knew “I can feel it.” He looked back at his Uncle “And he knows when you’re there….he just can’t open his eyes.” Now it was Jesse’s turn to look surprised at Bo’s statements. But, at the same time he wasn’t really that surprised. Bo and Luke had been able to sense each other’s pain ever since they were children and always seemed to know what the other was feeling or thinking.

Jesse had been able to do the same thing with his brother, James, Luke’s father. It could be unnerving to someone who wasn’t used to being around them. If Bo said Luke was in pain and that he was suffering, Jesse believed him and he would make sure something was done about it. And if Luke could hear them and knew when they were with him but just couldn’t open his eyes, then that gave Jesse hope. Maybe Luke would wake up soon too.

“I’ll take care of it.” Jesse reassured him “I’ll make Luke isn’t hurting anymore.”

“If anything happens to Luke….it’s all my fault.” Bo said a husky tone creeping into his voice

“Bo, honey, that’s nonsense.” Daisy told him “It was an accident.”

“But I was still driving….I “was the one who going so danged fast.”

“Bo,” Jesse said, gently taking his youngest nephew’s hand “Daisy’s right. It was an accident. Ain’t nothing you could have done about it. Ain’t nobody blaming you.”

“I blame me. And if Luke dies…I’ll have to live the rest of my life knowing I killed him.” Bo said as the tears gathered in his eyes.

“Now you stop that kind of talk right now.” Jesse said in a firm yet tender voice “You did not cause the accident, it just happened. It would have still happened even if Luke had been driving. Luke would never blame you and you know it.”

“What am I gonna do if he dies, Uncle Jesse. I don’t know if I can make without him.” Bo said in a broken voice “He promised when we were kids that he’s never leave me….that he’d always be there for me.”

“He made me that same promise, Bo.” Daisy told him “And he’s trying to keep it. He’s holding on…”

“Bo, Luke loves you…..he loves all of us. And if that love is strong enough to keep him here with us in spite of everything, then nothing’s going to take him away from us.” Jesse said somberly. He smiled at Bo gently “You need to get some rest. Daisy and I will be back tomorrow after we see Luke.”

Bo nodded. He waited until after Jesse and Daisy had left the room, then he buried his face in his pillow and cried most of the night.