by: Marty Chrisman

The next morning the Dukes left as soon as the sun came up. Although they wanted and needed to be with both boys, it was too difficult to make the trip to Atlanta and to Tri County Medical Center both in the same day. So reluctantly, they decided to alternate days, spending one day with Bo and one day with Luke. And this was the day they decided to spend with Luke. Cooter accompanied them determined to see this thing through to the end with them. He was almost like family anyway and now was the time that what was left of the family needed to be together.

At the hospital, they were told they could see Luke one at a time for 5 minutes at a time every two hours but no more than that. There had been no change in his condition.

The doctors were still waiting for the results of some of the tests they had been running and Dr. Malone had told them that he hoped to have some more news for them before the end of the day.

In between visiting Luke, Jesse mostly sat on the sofa and stared at the wall. Daisy paced nervously up and down the halls and Cooter drank enough coffee to keep the vending machine company in business for awhile. It was a long stressful day. Shortly after four PM that afternoon, Dr. Malone asked them all to join him in his office.

Daisy and Jesse sat down in the two chairs facing the doctor’s desk while Cooter remained standing behind them. They all waited anxious to hear what the Doctor had to say and tried to brace themselves for the worst.

“There hasn’t been a significant change in Luke’s condition. He still can’t breathe on his own and his vital signs are still erratic. The tests that we have done so far indicate that there is some brain damage but we’re not sure just how serious it is yet. What concerns me is that while the machines are keeping him alive at the moment, they don’t seem to be doing a very good job. His systems are starting to fail and I think it’s only a matter of time before he dies even with the machines.”

Daisy burst out crying. Even though the doctor had warned them from the beginning about the seriousness of Luke’s condition, she still wasn’t prepared to have the doctor actually say that Luke was dying. Cooter felt his own eyes burning with tears and Jesse stared at the doctor for several long minutes before finally saying,

“So what you’re tying to tell us is that there’s no hope…we’re gonna lose Luke.”

“I’m afraid so….there’s only so much we can do. He’s just hurt too badly for us to do anything more.” The doctor looked at the family sadly. He could feel their grief and their pain and he knew that there was nothing more he could to make it any easier for them.

“How long?” Jesse demanded gruffly struggling to hold back his tears. He was going to lose his oldest child. The first of the three cousins to come and live with him and Martha.

“There’s no way of knowing…it could be a few hours…or maybe a couple of days” The doctor sighed wearily “I’m sorry…I really am. I wish there was more we could do.”

“Can we stay with him?” Jesse asked in a grief stricken voice. “If he’s gonna die, I don’t want him to have to die alone. He should have his family there.”

“I’ll clear it with the nurses and make sure they know that it’s alright for the three of you to be there with him.”

“Can you take us to him now?”

The doctor nodded and stood up, ushering them into the hallway. The grief stricken family followed the doctor back into the ICU and to Luke’s room. They all pulled up chairs and sat at Luke’s side and began the long heartbreaking vigil of waiting for him to die.