by: Marty Chrisman

After only a couple of hours sleep, Daisy, Jesse and Cooter were up again. Jesse and Cooter did the morning chores that the boys would normally have done, while Daisy made breakfast. After they had eaten, they went to the Tri County Medical Center to check on Bo. When they went into his room, they were surprised to see that Bo was awake. He was groggy and drowsy but he was awake.

“There’s my, boy….” Jesse said, smiling happily as he grabbed his youngest nephew’s hand.

“Hey, cousin…” Daisy said smiling brightly. “How ya feeling?”

“Unc’ Jesse…….” Bo slurred, trying to focus his eyes on his family and Cooter.

“That’s right. It’s your Uncle Jesse.” Jesse told him gently with a smile. “Now, don’t try to talk too much….you been in a bad accident…but you’re gonna be okay.”

“Luke….” Bo whispered “Where’s…..Luke?”

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by: Kristy Duke

A thick air of silence quickly hangs above us as emotions slowly begin to settle upon their faces, allowing us to see the anger and resentment that crawls through their bodies. The same anger and resentment continues to thrive within me, anger towards Hogg for what he has done. This time he’s gone too far by arresting the boys falsely. It is one thing to arrest them for a fake crime, but to arrest them for such a violent beating?

“How much he’s asking for bail, this time?” Cooter rolls his dark brown eyes as he breaks through the thick silence while he nervously wipes his grease stained hands upon his old greasy yellow rag that he had pulled out of his back pocket only a moment ago, “I mean that is a pretty harsh accusation he’s placing in there. Beating Ethan and Garrett?”

I slowly nod in agreement as I anxiously glance down at my old pocket watch to watch the second hand slowly tick around the small circle. Five minutes until the sheriff and the commissioner will be accepting bail money for the boys, bail money I don’t have. I sigh heavily in frustration as I silently struggle on what I should do, of what the best choice would be. The only true decision I have is whether to give up the farm for the bail, but that’d leave us out of a home and upset Bo greatly. But I can’t leave them locked up, healthy or not.

“Eight hundred and fifty dollars to bail both the boys out,” Daisy slowly speaks up as I catch her looking at me before she slowly looks up at Cooter and over at LB who stands quietly in the dark corner, “eight hundred and fifty dollars we don’t have.” She pauses a moment as she steps back to sit down on an old blue milk crate that rests against the wooden wall. “Our only choice is to auction off the farm to Hogg to get them out…Hogg will love that.”

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by: Kristy Duke

Anger and fear roughly rushes through my trembling body as I sit silently on the edge of the old scratched dark blue bench chair seats that line against the beige walls of the small waiting room. My mind silently pictures Garrett lying bloody upon the rain soaked road as LB had described him lying while my thoughts rush from our argument we had in Garrett’s room yesterday. All seeming to happen a lifetime ago. “You want to talk about it, Kris?” LB’s voice drips with concern as he lies a protective hand upon my shoulder, making me jump slightly in surprise, “Sorry, didn’t mean to surprise you,” I slowly glance up at him over my shoulder to find his green eyes alarmingly filled with emotions, “I just want you to know that I’m here for you.”

“We’re all here for you,” Jesse slowly speaks up to draw my attention onto him who sits in the left corner and I slowly glance around everyone that sits besides me, lining the side wall of the waiting room.

“Thanks,” I slowly respond, the only thing I can think of to say. Once again, I return to glaring down at the bright white linoleum floor while my mind spins wildly within me to force my emotions to dig deeper in me.

“Garrett Duke,” an husky voice brings my attention towards the receptionist’s desk to find an older hefty man standing holding a clipboard with a thick salt and pepper beard and mustache that covers most of his tanned face.

I slowly glance around as Jesse and the boys are the first one to greet the doctor before LB slowly helps me up where we slowly join the rest of the family. “That’d be for us,” Jesse says as he sees that I have joined them, “How are is he doctor?”

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by: Kristy Duke

by: Marty Chrisman

Jesse and Daisy both had tears streaming down their faces, but this time they were tears of happiness, not of grief. Dr Malone had told them there was no hope, that there wasn’t anything more the doctors could do. There was no hope left….they were going to lose Luke. And his heart had started to fail, along with his other systems, even with the machines that were supposed to be keeping him alive. When the heart monitor flat lined, Jesse’s heart had stopped too. The doctor and nurses had rushed into the room and the doctor had shook his head ready to give up and declare Luke dead. Then Jesse stood up and bellowed “No, my boy ain’t gonna die like this! You try bringing him back!”

“Mr Duke….” Doctor Malone said sadly “It’s no use….he’s just hurt too badly…”

“I don’t care!” Jesse bellowed “You try to bring him back! If you can’t, then I’ll let him go…but not until I know you tried!”

Reluctantly, the doctor did as Jesse ordered even though he knew that it was hopeless. He gave Luke’s body 5 shots with the paddles with no luck and no change. He was ready to give up when the heart monitor fluttered, just briefly, but it fluttered. With baited breath the doctor watched the monitor, unable to believe what he was seeing, as the monitor beeped and began to register a heartbeat. Erratic and unstable but a heartbeat just the same. Quickly, the doctor grabbed a needle from the crash cart and injected the medication it contained directly into Luke’s heart muscle. Miraculously, he watched as his heart beat began to stabilize.

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