by: Marty Chrisman

When Jesse and Daisy walked into his room, Bo looked at them and grinned until he saw the expressions on their faces. “What’s wrong?” he asked, the smile fading from his face “Is it Luke?”

“Luke had a stroke early this morning. They did surgery and removed the blood clot that caused it” Jesse told him “But now his condition is worse than it was. His body just can’t take any more.”

“He’s not gonna die…..he can’t die!” Bo said his voice taking on a shrill edge as he fought to control his emotions.

“Bo, now don’t git all worked up.” Jesse said “The doctors put him back into a  coma to give his body a change to rest and get stronger.”

“For how long?”

The doctor said at least two weeks.”

“I wanna see him…” Bo said insistently “I have to see him…..make ‘em let me outta here so I can see Luke!”

“You’re not going anywhere until the doctors say you can.” Jesse said firmly “I’m not going to have you getting any worse again by trying to leave this hospital too soon!” He saw the stricken look in Bo’s eyes and knew that he had hurt his feelings by being so harsh with him. Jesse sighed wearily “I’m sorry, Bo. I didn’t mean to snap but I got enough to worry with Luke being so bad off….I don’t want to have to start worrying about you again too…”

“I know, Uncle Jesse.” Bo said “It’s just that I’m worried about Luke too and I wanna be there for him….not stuck in here where I can’t do nothing.”

“I know that, Bo. But if you keep getting better the way you have been, you should be out of here in two weeks. Then you can see Luke.”

“Not if he dies before then!”

“Beaureguard Robert Duke!” Daisy exclaimed, using Bo’s full name which she never did unless she was really upset with him “Don’t you even say that! Or I’ll whip ya myself!”

“Sorry, Daisy.” He apologized sheephishly. He could see how stressed out Daisy and Jesse both were and he felt guilty for upsetting either one of them. But tact and patience had never been two of his strong points. He was more impulsive and he was more apt to say what was on his mind without thinking about the consequences until it was too late.

“It’s alright, Bo.” Jesse said, patting his hand comfortingly “We know how you feel about Luke and I know that having you there would probably be the best medicine for him but your health has to come first. You were hurt pretty bad in that accident too.”

“The doctor said I might be able to get out of here sometime next week.” Bo said sharing the news that he had been so excited about until they told him about Luke.

“That’s great.” Daisy said “We could use some good news for a chance.”

“Cooter was here earlier.” Bo said “So was L.B. and B.B. and Enos came by too.”

“Sounds like you’ve had a busy day.” Said Daisy

“Yeah…it sure was good to see everybody. They all said to tell ya that they were praying for Luke.”

“That’s good ‘cause Luke can use all the prayers he can git right now.” Jesse said

“We best git home, Uncle Jesse. You need to get some rest too.” Daisy said concerned about Jesse’s health too.

“I’ll be alright.” Jesse said brushing off her concerns.

“It’s okay, Uncle Jesse. You go ahead. You and Daisy both look like you could use a good night’s sleep.” Bo said

“Well….maybe we better go…” Jesse agreed “We still got chores to do…”

After they had left, Bo laid his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. Come on, Lukas….hang in there. I know you can do it. I have to see ya again. I ain’t ready to let you go yet….please, Luke…..don’t die. He lay there concentrating so hard that he started to get a headache. But something was wrong. He couldn’t feel Luke’s spirit anymore. He couldn’t feel the connection between them the way he usually could. At first, he was afraid that it meant that Luke was dead but then he realized it must be because of the medication that was keeping him in a coma. Somehow it was cutting off the almost psychic connection between them.

Bo drifted into an uneasy sleep and in his sleep, he dreamed. He was running through the woods behind the farm. He was looking for Luke. They’d had a fight and Luke had walked out of the house. Bo had to find him before it was too late. Then he saw him up ahead, standing at the edge of widow’s peak. “Luke!” Bo yelled running towards his cousin. Luke slowly turned around and looked at Bo sadly. In a broken voice, he said, “I don’t know if I can keep my promise anymore about sticking around, Bo. It hurts too much and I’m so damn tired.”

            “Don’t you say that Lukas Kristopher Duke!” Bo cried “You can’t leave me! You promised!”

            “I know I did but…”

            “Don’t give me no buts! If you break your promise I’ll never forgive you!”

            “Okay, cousin…” Luke told him in a tired hopeless voice “I’ll try my best….but I can’t make any promises…not this time.”