B.L. Davenport

Uncle Jesse takes Daisy by the hand leading her back to the waitingroom where they both find chairs and wait for sleep to claim them too. Jesse wonders what tomorrow will bring. "Get some sleep baby tomorrow's gonna be another long day." Once Luke hears Bo's gentle even breathing signaling deep sleep the singing fades away slowly whispering "Goodnight cousin" but his hand never leaving Bo's. Feeling himself start to get drowsy he sits up blinking rapidly to chase away all thoughts of sleep.

Luke had thought with the stories Bo would surely go to sleep but seeing Bo jerk himself back to awareness he knew that wasn't going to happen. So remembering Daisy's earlier ministrations to get him to sleep himself Luke began to gently trail his fingers around Bo's face the same way Uncle Jesse used to do when Bo was little and would fight sleep,singing some of the Duke's favorite hymns. After finishing singing 'Amazing Grace' and 'Prescious Memories' he gave Bo the same commanding look he used to when they were younger and Bo was being stubborn or not listening, "Go to sleep Bo you need all the rest you can get you've missed more than your share lately I can still tell it in the racoon look your sportin." Seeing Bo look just as determined as he is Luke sighs,then unexpectedly a yawn comes out of nowhere seeming as if it came straight from his toes, Luke puts his head on the edge of the pillow next to Bo intending to just rest a minute till Bo falls asleep still singing the hymns softly.

Luke sensing Bo's guilt at causing them all so much worry and his frustration with his condition wished for the 1000th time he could just take all the physical pain and the worry of the last few weeks that Bo's been under upon himself. He's still kicking himself for not noticing the changes in Bo but not wanting to make Bo feel any worse Luke relies on his marine skills to hide these feelings and sqeezes Bo's hand and sitting down beside him Luke starts to talk idly of old memories and making plans for when Bo's well again trying to take both their minds off the situation.

Luke hugs Daisy and Uncle Jesse after they have said there goodbyes to Bo whispering in Daisy's ear "I ain't sleepin, not taking my eyes off him for a minute longer than necessary." Once they are gone Luke's heart aches at the sad morose look Bo is wearing he wishes there was something more he could do but knows there's nothing anyone can do at the moment but just give Bo moral support. But as a nurse comes in and checks the progress of all the machines then leaves Luke turns to Bo with a twinkle in his eye trying to cheer him up "It won't be long till you'll be chasing all these pretty nurses to get their phone numbers." The doctor soon comes in for the last rounds of the evening looking Bo's chart over carefully studying the infromation. Then looking up at the boys he smiles slightly "Well looks like things are going good although the chest infection is still really severe but I think now that your awake Beaureguard and seem to be doing reasonably well we can put you in a private room tomorrow,although you will still be hooked to the breathing machine along with the IV drips of antibiotics for the chest infection everything else looks well enough to remove the other machines; and then you're family will be free to come and go a little more" Eyeing Luke's expression the doctor warns "but they will still have to observe hospital rules and regulations on visiting." The doctor leaves after an examination happier to see that the once very sick young man is on the road to recovery. Once the doctor is gone Luke looks at Bo with pure glee on his face "Didja hear that Bo you's can be moved to a regular room that's the best news I've heard all week."

Luke raises his hands in surrender eyes twinkling it seems like months since there had been this type of banter between any of the cousins but in reality hadn't been more than a day or so before Bo got sick. "Alright alright don't get hostile" Uncle Jesse puts on a mock stern look eyes still twinkling "Ok you two this a hospital behave yourselves" Luke points at himself pretending to be shocked that he's being scolded and then points at Daisy while saying in an mock accusitory tone and a smirk at Bo's eye rolling. "Me behave she started it by pushin me all I was doing was defending myself" Jesse points his finger at Luke "Don't sass me young man" Luke tries his best to look contrite but the smile still creeps over his features as he answers respectfully "Yes sir" Soon a nurse comes in to tell Jesse and Daisy that visiting hours are over for the night. After she leaves Jesse bends giving Bo a kiss on the forehead "We'll see ya tomorrow Bo,sleep tight"

Uncle Jesse noticed the distressed look on Bo's face and squeezed the fingers on Bo's free hand as there was an IV needle in the back of that hand,letting Bo know that they all knew how much he needed them and was glad they were there to comfort him. Luke seeing the desolute pained look on his cousin's face wanted just to rip out all the wires and tubing and stop all the pain but knew these things were for Bo's own good so instead with a mock frown at Daisy he nudged her back a little growling playfully "Hey there'll be no pushing young lady" Jesse chuckled at his oldest two's antics to cheer Bo up.

After recieving the blink of understanding from Bo the Dr. and the rest of the Dukes step outside and talk, Luke is listening to the Dr. closely yet still keeping tuned in to what's going on in the little room and can hear Bo's muffled sounds of protests at his leaving. Once the Dr. has finished they all reenter the room Luke going straight to Bo's side again stroking his hair from his face and making soothing noises which seems to calm Bo more than any medication ever could. "I'll come back and check on you in a couple of hours Beaureguard and we'll start making decisions then about the breathing tube until then don't try and fight it ok" recieving another blink from Bo the dr. continues "I know it's painful and very uncomfortable but you have a serious chest infection and the flu so it may be necessary to leave it in a while longer. " At Bo's blink again the dr. leaves and Bo turns crestfallen eyes up at Uncle Jesse on one side of his bed and Luke on the other. Jesse pats his hand reassuringly as Daisy at the foot of the bed puts a consoling hand on his leg. "It'll be alright Bo you's just do what the dr. says and you'll be right a rain and causing trouble before we know it." Bo looks over at Luke who nods agreement with Uncle Jesse "That's right Bo we'll be pestering Rosco before too much longer you's just behave yourself and it'll be that much sooner." Again Bo nods but there's a pleading in his eyes that Luke wants so much to say yes he'll stay right by Bo's side but is pretty sure the dr. won't allow that but decides to ask when he sees the dr. walk by the room once again. Letting go of Bo's hand he promises, "I'll be right back Bo" With that he steps out the door "Uh Doc can I speak to ya for a minute" The doctor stops and comes back to where Luke is standing in the hall but still within Bo's vision. "Sure is there something wrong" "Uh no nothin's changed since a few minutes ago but I was wondering if you could get it fixed so's I can stay in there with Bo he don't seem to be fighting the tube as much with me in there wi' him" The doctor thinks a moment then remembering how distressed the young man was when Luke left and how he immediately calmed down when Luke returned he nods. "Sure I'll give the nurses instructions to leave a note on Beaureguard's chart that says you can stay in there to keep him calm as long as the breathing tube's in." And with that the Dr. writes the note himself placing it in Bo's chart and tells the nurse the arrangement as she comes from Bo's room having finished taking his vital signs. Luke returns to the room and his position beside Bo. "Hey Bo I got great news the Doc says it's ok if I stay in here with ya least while ya got the breathing tube in." Bo's eyes shine with relief at not being left alone in the unfamiliar room with the painful tubing in his throat everything will be ok and he can cope as long as Luke's with him. Jesse smiles at Luke thankful once again to have such caring and loving kids that would do anything for each other.

Luke wraps his arms around Daisy hugging her furiously,then as Bo starts to choke on the breathing tube he quickly crosses to the bed seeing the terrified look on Bo's face. While Jesse is on the other side and pushes the nurse call button summoning a nurse. Stroking Bo's hair soothingly Luke talks calmly and soothingly to try and get him to relax so the tube in his throat isn't so choking. "Bo it's alright just stay calm ya got a breathing tube in ya throat to help ya breathe when you's unconscience. Just relax the nurse is on the way." Soon a nurse and the doctor appears crossing over to Bo he shines a tiny flashlight in Bo's eyes to check the dialation while talking soothingly to the still choking Bo. "Just calm down and let your throat relax Beaureguard, I know it's painful and we'll get it out as soon as we can. Your throat will be real sore though for at least a day or two afterwards so that would mean no talking understand. Blink once if you understand what I just told you." The doctor looks at the rest of the family motioning them out in the hall while a nurse gives Bo a mild seditive that will relax him but won't put him to sleep. "If I take out the tube he's still going to need and oxygen mask until the antibiotics has time to rid his body of the chest infection, I don't know yet whether or not I can remove the breathing tube just yet I'll have to observe him and do some checking to make sure his body can breath sufficiently on it's on due to the infection but as far as the flu that will just have to run it's course as it normally would although the medications will lessen the symptoms." Luke is listening intently to every word and will make sure Bo follows the orders to a T if the doctor can remove the breathing tube. "We understand doctor,Bo's still a very sick young man and we'll do anything that needs doing to help him get well.

Luke is totally shocked as Bo's eyes stare back at him,more tears stream down his cheeks but this time it's tears of joy and relief. "Bo....welcome back cuz,ya gonna be alright now" Suddenly Luke remembers Uncle Jesse and Daisy looking at Bo with a twinkle of sheer joy in his eyes as he heads for the door saying "Don't go nowhere,be right back; I gotta get Uncle Jesse and Daisy or Jesse'll tan my butt while Daisy's clobberin me with the frying pan for not tellin 'em as soon as ya opened your eyes." With that Luke tears himself from the room not really wanting to leave afraid to come back and find it's all been a dream. As he comes upto where Daisy and Uncle Jesse are Jesse's face becomes extremely worried at seeing the still flowing tears. "Luke what's wrong is Bo worse?" With a shake of his head Luke stutters through the tears" "B..Bo's awake he's gonna be ok ya'll" With that said the three of them head in to see Bo the nurses not bothering to stop them as one came by and noticed Bo awake. Once in the tiny room Jesse goes straight to Bo kissing his forehead. "There's my boy it's good ta have ya back son"

Luke sniffs hard when Bo squeezes his hand but shakes his head thinking he only imagined it then unable to stand not knowing he speaks to Bo again "Bo did ya just squeeze my hand cousin if ya did do it again gimme a sign your coming back to us squeeze my hand if ya can." Lukes is ready to give a rebel yell at the thought Bo may be coming back to them but doesn't want to get his hopes up only to be disappointed so waits patiently for to see if Bo will squeeze his hand.

Uncle Jesse wraps Daisy in his strong arms patting her back soothingly. "He's getting better honey just slower than normal Bo fashion" chuckles "but then Bo always has done things his way in his own time." Luke walks up behind Daisy stroking her hair gently pulling her away from Uncle Jesse "You go ahead next Uncle Jesse I'll take care 'o Daisy." Uncle Jesse gives each a kiss on the side of the head even though Luke isn't usually one for public displays of affection as such. "Ok I'll only stay a few minutes then you can stay the rest of the time son" Luke nods as he murmurs softly in Daisy's ear. Uncle Jesse steps into the room taking Bo's lifeless limp hand in his own also noticing as Daisy did before him that the skin is cooler "Hi Bo it's your Uncle Jesse, the Doc says your improvin' you just keep it up we's worried about ya. I'd give anything if you could sit up in that bed and tell me to stop fussin so that you's alright." Kissing Bo's forehead smoothing his hair Uncle Jesse goes back out to Daisy and Luke. As Luke steps into the room he freezes again astounded at the amount of machines it's taking just to keep Bo going at the moment.

Wrapping his free arm around Daisy's waist as he drinks the water Luke leans over a light edge inflected in his voice but there's a hint of questioning amusement there too "Was you in cahoots with that doctor just to get me to sleep?" Jesse overhears Luke's question but hides his grin behind his hand looking at the clock. "Well let's go see Bo and see for ourselves how well he's doing or not doing." Leading the way to Bo's room Jesse stops giving either Daisy or Luke the chance to go first. Luke looks at Daisy and removing his arm from her waist gives her a little nudge "You go first darlin' I still need a few minutes to get woke up."

The doctor enters the waitingroom seeing Daisy at the water cooler and recognizing her being one of Bo's family he crosses over to her rousing Jesse as he hears footsteps passing by he stands and stretches joining Daisy and the doctor. "How's my nephew doctor." The doctor tries to sound hopeful "He's still unconsciencous but his blood sugar is low,we've given him 30cc's of insulin to be repeated every 4 hours until it's back to normal. I'm not saying it will solve things but it's very hopeful that this will at least bring him back to just sleeping normally although the breathing tube will most likely still need to be in place I don't know yet,we'll have to wait and see." Jesse tries to temper his thoughts not to get his hopes up too high "thankyou doctor" "your very welcome Mr., Miss Duke I hope Beaureguard continues to improve." And with that the doctor is gone again. Luke slowly comes to wakefulness noticing both his Uncle Jesse and Daisy are gone believing they have went to see Bo without waking him he jumps from his chair angry then seeing them at the water cooler calms stretching a kink from his back then joining them those pills dried out his mouth. "Any word on Bo" Uncle Jesse smiles slightly and nods and quickly fills Luke in. "Yeah the doctor has been out a couple of times Bo's blood pressure was too high so they gave him something for that and his blood sugar level was too low from not eating properly I suspect and they've started him on insulin to get that back to normal. The doctor said the low blood sugar could be the main reason for the unconcsciencenous" Nodding Luke sighs inwardly relieved maybe Bo's going to pull through yet.

The doctor watches the monitor that is monitoring Bo's blood pressure well satisfied that it is steadily climbing to normal now. Looking over at the nurse he asks "Has his blood sugar level been checked?" At the nurses headshake he says "I want it checked right away" Again the nurse replies "yes doctor" Leaving the room to get a technician from the lab to draw some blood to run the test. Soon a technician comes in with a box containing syringes and blood sampling test tubes, inserting a needle in the the IV rather than making another puncture in the young man soon the tube is half filled with blood as the tech leaves to run the test. About ten minutes later the same nurse as before returns with a report handing it to the doctor. Reading it the doctor nods and looks back to the nurse. "Just as I thought his level is too low and that is probably the most likely reason for the unconsciencnous,give him 30cc's insulin every 4 hours to raise it and things should begin to improve dramatically. I've got to go talk to the family again I'll be back to check on him in a few minutes. Again the nurse leaves and soon returns with a syringe containing the insulin and again inserts it into the IV line administering fluids.

In the little ICU cubical where Bo Duke lay a nurse checked his vital signs and made notes on his char. Frowning she noted that his bloodpressure was still to high although not as high as it had been. As Dr. Turner came into the cubical he looked at the chart the nurse handed him brows wrinkled when he sees the bloodpressure reading. "Nurse I want him given 10cc's of Trandate to bring his bloodpressure down." The nurse nods "yes doctor" leaving the cubical she soon returns with a syringe containing the medication and puts it in the IV line that is only administering fluids.

Luke never knows the doctor has been and gone or that Daisy has spoken. Jesse nods and whispers "You know I will baby you just rest as much as you can." Wrapping his arm protectively around Daisy and stretching the other over the chairs again to rest his other hand on Luke's shoulder Jesse continues the vigil in the silent waitingroom as his kids sleep.

Alone again with his thoughts and worries Jesse watches the hands on the clock creep closer to the next visiting time. Soon another doctor can be seen aproaching. "Beaureguard Duke" Jesse stands extending his hand shaking hands with the doctor "I'm Jesse Duke,Bo's uncle how is he?' The doctor smiles but shakes his head "I'm sorry Mr. Duke there's no real change he's still unconscienceous but there is some good news his fever has almost come back down to normal. We'll let you know if there's anymore change." Jesse nods "Thankyou doctor we'd appreciate it." After shaking hands again the doctor leaves and Jesse returns to his seat praying to his maker to further Bo's improvement and to give thanks for what little there has been. Looking over at Daisy and the sleeping Luke Jesse gives thanks for all his blessings.

Luke's start to get heavy as the combination of it all starts to kick in,sinking further down in his chair to stretch his legs out in front of him. mumbling "dang doctor drugged me" gives one last yawn before he is sound asleep Uncle Jesse smiles lovingly and with satisfaction,the worry lines are gone from the young man's face as he sleeps in peace. Looking over to Daisy still smiling as she continues to hum Luke's neck now being against the chair and hard to reach. whispers "it's about time"

Luke grins Daisy has him and he knows it but isn't ready to give up yet. "Ok ok I get yur point I should listen to what I preach or in this case what I would preach." sighs "Bo'd tell me to get some sleep before I fell over,but that still don't mean I'd listen to 'im anymore than you." Seeing a doctor coming there way Luke stills himself for whatever news may be coming their way. Doctor McGee a grey haired doctor of about 50, having watched the young man pace and fidget reslessly for the past half and the young girl beside him try to convince him to rest decides to do something so walking toward them he stops in front of Luke holding out his hands one with a paper cup of water. "Here take these" Suspiciouly Luke asks "what is it?" The doctor smiles not about to say that it's sleeping pills but the kid looks as if he's going to fall over if he doesn't rest. "Only something to calm your nerves and relax you take them Doctor's orders" Nodding Luke accepts the two yellow sleeping pills and water downing them quickly tossing the paper cup in the nearby trash. Satisfied the young man will rest now the doctor turns to go see to another patient as his beeper sounds.

Luke looks at his hands slightly ashamed at snapping at Daisy she's only trying to get him to do what's best for his own health. Sighs..."I'd do exactly what you did if it was you" looks up with a slight smirk knowing Daisy really can't inforce her threat like he could due to their sizes "Only when you pulled what I just did I'd just throw you over my shoulder and take ya home"

Luke presses the heels of his hands to his eyes shaking his head he looks back at Daisy with a determined stubborn look. "Ain't neither one happening! I ain't sleeping til Bo wakes up and YOU ain't driving me back home. Last time I checked I was older'n both you and Bo and I was the one sposed to be tellin' ya'll what to do." Luke is still looking at Daisy jaw clenched eyes sparking with anger and frustration. How dare she give him an ultimatum but he can't blame her really it's not Daisy's fault none of this. Uncle Jesse leans up in his chair to look across Daisy at Luke "Luke just rest ya eyes a little " Luke sighs biting his tounge to keep from snapping at Uncle Jesse. "I just can't...."

Luke continues to recall memories they seem to be flying at him and spilling out one after another. The relaxing touch of Daisy's hand and the good memories blocking the bad present somewhat begins to make Luke feel secure and his eyes start to droop closed. Jerking up in his chair eyes opened wide Luke shakes his head to disspell the grips of sleep rubbing his tired eyes. Standing he makes a few rounds pacing the waitingroom to wakeup. "Luke come sit back down ya makin me dizzy with all that pacing" Uncle Jesse commands gently he can see the wearyness in Lukes face and knows he's fighting the urge to sleep but sleep is what he needs most of all right now. Luke returns to his chair nervously trotting his leg.

Luke thinks for a moment then looks at Daisy smiling faintly"Oh all sorts of things alot of memories from when we was kids. Like the time we cut school ta the carnival just to see that exhibit that Uncle Jesse wouldn't let us see the day before cos it ""weren't somethin for kids ta see "" quoting Uncle Jesse from long ago;and that made us want to go more. And the time we went swimming in the middle of January as a dare from Cooter it's a thousand wonders we didn't catch pneumonia." Without realizing it Luke begins to think less of the present bad situation although it's still in the back of his mind but the good memories are in the forefront.

Some of the tension leaves as Daisy strokes the hair on the nape of his neck but at Daisy's request Luke shakes his head he's not telling anyone anything until B.L. tells him whether or not Bo went to see Doc Appleby this week. "It won't help...I jus'......I'll tell ya later ok" he turns to look at her again his eyes pleading for understanding that she just has to wait. Jesse reaches over from his chair laying his arm around both his kids and resting his hand on Luke's shoulder as he watches the clock tick by slowly creeping toward the next visiting time.

Luke tenderly runs a hand down Daisy's cheek she still looks tired and worn despite the little rest she'd gotten earlier waiting for word. "I know Dais I just can't rest,my mind ain't settled enough to rest it just keeps replayin old memories of us together as a family and of me n' Bo doing things together or me takin care o' him when he was sick growin up." Rubbing his tired eyes Luke is determined he won't rest until Bo wakes up and they know for sure he's going to be ok.