by: Marty Chrisman
Shelby’s head snapped up as she heard a sound in the distance, the sound of a car engine approaching. A feeling of relief swept over her. Help had arrived. She just hoped it wasn’t too late. Luke’s condition had grown steadily worse in the past hour. He had lost consciousness completely and his breathing was shallow and weak. When she checked his pulse it was weak too.
The door opened and Cory came in, followed by Doc Applebee, and another young man with blonde hair and baby blue eyes. He was just as handsome as Luke. Shelby stepped aside so that Doc Applebee could examine Luke and do whatever was necessary to stabilize him for the trip to the hospital.
“Shelby,” Cory said, motioning to the other man with him “This is Bo Duke, Luke’s cousin.”
“Nice to meet you, Bo.” Shelby said cordially.
“Is Luke okay?” Bo asked in a worried voice, his concern for his cousin’s well being overriding his manners. For the moment, he was so focused on Luke that he even failed to notice just how pretty Shelby was.
“He was until this morning.” Shelby said “Then he started running a fever and having trouble breathing. He’s been getting worse ever since then.”
“You did a good job taking care of him.” Doc Applebee said with just a hint of concern in his voice. He straightened up and looked at Cory and Bo. “But we need to get him to the hospital right away or he’s not going to make it.”
Shelby watched as Bo walked over to the sofa and carefully picked his cousin up in his arms. Luke didn’t make a sound and showed no signs of waking up. Bo straightened up, easily supporting his cousin’s weight in his arms. Luke’s head rested against Bo’s shoulder and Shelby sensed the closeness that the two must share. “Thank you both for everything you did for Luke.” Bo said, finally remembering his manners.
As he walked towards the door, Cory opened it and followed Bo and Doc Appelebee back outside. Shelby steeped onto the porch and watched as Bo gently placed Luke on the back seat of a white jeep CJ7 parked in front of the cabin. Bo covered his cousin with a blanket and then climbed behind the wheel while Doc Applegate climbed into the back seat with Luke. The engine roared to life and dirt flew up from beneath the wheels as Bo stomped on the accelerator, desperate to get his cousin to the hospital in time to save his life.
“Think he’ll be okay?” Cory asked, as he watched the jeep rapidly disappearing into the distance.
“I don’t know.” Shelby said “I hope so” She glanced at her younger brother “You best get Lobo put away. You still got deliveries to make and I still have to run off that last batch.”
Meanwhile, Bo was maneuvering his way down the mountain. Since the main road was washed out, he was forced to take a back road and that meant it would take him almost twice as long to get down to the main road. “Hang on, Doc!” he yelled, as he twisted the wheel sharply to the left and took Dixie cross country. The shortest distance is a straight line as the crow flies and Bo was about to make Dixie fly.
“How’s he doing?” Bo asked. He was too busy concentrating on his driving to look in the back seat
“Just get us to the hospital, Bo!” Doc said sharply, the urgency in his voice telling Bo all he needed to know to answer his question.