BoJamesDuke

Luke watched as Daisy slid down to the floor and Uncle Jesse ran over to catch her. He was, despite his smile and nod of relief that Daisy and now Jesse finally understood, still shocked that his family really did believe that Bo had intentionally hurt him so bad. He watched as Jesse tried to sooth Daisy and it was then that Luke realised that something was horribly horribly wrong. Daisy wouldn't be so broken about just feeling guilty for believeing that Bo had tried to hurt him...what was going on? But, frustraitingly he could still only get out one word, the name of his younger cousin. How in the world was he meant to know what was happening if he couldn't talk properly. Jesse knelt on the floor with Daisy, wrapping her in his own arms and rocking her gently whispering. "Daisy....what's going on? What's happened to Bo and I know you's been down and phoned the jail so what's going on...." Luke looked over more scared than ever now as Jesse asked what was going on with Bo...something was wrong he could somehow feel it....he looked over at them both and said questioningly "Bo?"

Jesse nodded and held Luke that little bit closer before pulling him away and slinging one of Luke's arms around his shoulders, Cooter quickly doing the same on the other side so they could walk Luke carefully back to the house. They gently sat him on the couch in the living room, knowing they couldn't put him to bed because Bo was still in the bedroom and Jesse wasn't sure if Luke would even want to go in that room anymore.

Daisy heard a small sigh on the other end of the phone and her stomach instantly tied in knots....she prayed and prayed in the short silence that fell that she wasn't too late. "Miss Duke....I'll be frank....he's looking better but....its still touch and go. He's got Cholera as I'm sure the good deputy here told you and the...symptoms arn't the best for Bo to deal with in the condition he's in." Daisy frowned and tried to stop her heart leaping into her throat. She swallowed gently. "What d'ya mean the condition he's in?" "Well....he's severly malnutritioned....which means he is incrediably weak and just doesn't seem to have either the strength or the will to fight this thing off....he's suffering at the moment mild but painful cramps all over his body which could turn severe if the anibacterial medicines we have him on don't start to work....I can't say he's stable right now Miss Duke because we won't know for certain for a while yet...." Daisy sighed softly, tears coming to her eyes despite her telling herself they shouldn't be there for Bo. "Well what are ya gonna do to get his strength up?" "Well...we'll try getting some food into him soon....but the best thing would be to have the love of his family with him....and I know that you told the deputy that you don't care what happens to him but...personally from what I've heard in his bouts of delerium....I don't think he has done what he has been sentenced for....he needs you all now more than ever and...." The line went silent except for a murmuring in the background before the Doc returned to the line. "I'm sorry I have to go, patient requirements." "Yes I understand.." "Goodbye Miss Duke..." The line went dead and Daisy slowly put the phone back on its hook and leant against the wall, her hand going to her mouth. "What have we done..."

Jesse and Cooter sat at the kitchen table, waiting anxiously for Luke to get back. They were both worried about Daisy and Luke, but Daisy had rang and said she was spending the night at B.L's house which was understandable. Jesse looked out the window as he spotted something moving and practically ran outside followed by Cooter as he saw it to be Luke. He ran to his oldest and wrapped him in his arms, seeing he had been crying and looked so weary. "Luke...are ya alright? Are ya hurt?"

Bo smiled and nodded before walking off into the trees, figuring it would be eaisier on Luke if he were just to disappear in front of his eyes.

Bo nodded and sighed. "I gotta go then cousin....i'm around if ya need me....all ya gotta do is yell...."

Bo looked to Luke and walked over, kneeling beside him. "Ya sure yer gonna be able ta walk back?! I mean ya very nearly collapsed just takin' a few steps over here...."

Bo sighed and decided to wait a few minutes before following Luke over. This had better not be one of god's tests ta let me inta heaven....this is real hard... He didn't know how the heck he was going to get Luke home to his family. He couldn't CB no one, Jesse couldn't see him nor Daisy or Cooter....and Luke could barly stand as it was.....

Bo looked over nervously at Luke as he swayed and gulped. "Luke can....can we uh move somewhere else....I can't exactly catch ya if ya fall backwards....and we're kinda close to the edge..."

Bo laughed, that was the Luke Duke he knew. "Nope...s'definatly not yer head Luke.....ain't nothin in it fer it to play tricks on ya anyhow..."

Bo shrugged, a little surprised that Luke wasn't freaking out about the fact Bo was actually holding the handkercheif....he knew he would be if he were in Luke's position...then again Luke wasn't all that easy to spook out either. "Yeah I know...but then again perhaps that's why I's still here...in a way...to help ya with that....help ya move on....I dunno if other people can see me or not...."

Bo swallowed gently and looked hurridly around. He hated it when Luke cried, it was one of the hardest things he ever had to watch knowing he couldn't do a damn thing about it. He looked over Luke quickly and spotted what he was looking for. Reaching over he put his hand in Luke's pocket and pulled out his handkerchief, gently wiping his eyes, the only form of comfort he could give....he was so glad that he still had the ability to lift and touch things. "I know....he said that it didn't matter. He's actually glad yer gettin' out of yer system instead o'bottlin' it all up....says it'll help ya deal with it better...s'why he was talkin' ta me....to get it out of his system....You's entitled to bein' wrapped up in yerself Luke....ain't no shame in that at the moment...."

Bo shrugged gently, wishing he could once more wrap his arms around Luke but he didn't know what would happen if he did. He could touch things but he didn't know if people could touch or feel him without their hands going through him....which was a little disturbing even to him. "Luke....it would have been harder fer me to let go with y'all there....but it don't matter now....its done and....ya know my reasoning...." He looked over and smiled gently. "Uncle Jesse was talkin' ta me....well my body....but I kinda hid outside and listened in....he asked me to watch over ya....keep ya safe fer him.....he's worried 'bout ya Luke...."

Jesse was shocked as Luke shrugged away from his touch and watched as the gentle tears rolled down his cheeks before looking worridly up at Daisy as Luke whispered Bo's name once more. He didn't know for sure why Luke was so upset, but it had seemed like he had gotten more distressed and upset when he had been told Bo had been sent to prison.... He reached over the railings of the hospital bed and gently wiped away the tears on his cheeks then guided Luke's chin up so he could look his oldest charge in his blue eyes, ones that he had not seen for four years. "Luke....I wish ya could tell us what was the matter son....it's obviously Bo....ain't it...." Luke nodded, but before Jesse could continue Daisy had jumped in. "Luke we know what he did to you hurts emotionally but he's gone to prison for 15 years! You won't have to see him for a long time...." Luke's jaw clenched again and he furiously shook his head, this time trying a demanding voice to see if maybe they understood that better, pointing to the bed with his finger. "Bo!"

Luke couldn't believe the joyful looks on his Uncle and Daisy's faces....this was nothing to be happy about! Bo was in jail for something he didn't even do and they were happy about it, hadn't it appeared even tried to help the youngest Duke out of the situation. His jaw clenched and he angrily shrugged his shoudlers away from Jesse, frustrated that he couldn't tell them anything but Bo's name and also at the way they kept misinterpreting what he wanted when he said it. He wanted Bo beside him, he didn't want Bo to be kept away from him, but how could he get them to understand that with just one word. It was only really Bo who could tell what Luke wanted just by looking at his body posture and the emotions in his eyes because Bo was the one that Luke spent the most time with, created a brotherly bond with that lasted through so many things....but now if his suspicions were correct and Bo had been sent down for attempted murder or assult...then it looked like he wouldn't be seeing his cousin for a long long time....hwo on earth could Bo survive in prison by himself? How could he be sure that Bo wasn't already dead? The main reason he had suddenly been jerked from reality was because of a painful throbbing in his wrists and his head feeling like someone was pounding through it with a jackhammer....and he heard someone calling his name softly although when he had prised his eyes open there was no one there and the pain had gone as quikly as it had come.... With tears in his eyes, he sniffed and tried to blink them away so Jesse and Daisy wouldn't see...but it was pointless as they trickled softly down his cheeks. He whispered quietly, despairingly. "Bo...."

Bo swallowed gently, he may have been a ghost now but...it didn't stop him from having the same old emotions he used to have either. "Luke....in a way....yeah i did wait 'till ya had all gone....because knowin' I died has done this to y'all....what would have happened if ya were there when it actually came around? I wouldn't have been able to let go no matter what anyone said because I love y'all too much....i couldn't lie there and just...pass on in front of ya....it would have been creul....I'm better of like this Luke....it don't hurt no more, I don't have no tubes of needles or health problems...s'just me like I always was except a bit more transparent...." He waited a moment before continuing. "I don't know when it's gonna quit hurtin' Luke....I'm still hurtin' a little that I's had to put all ya through this....but I guess my unfinished buisness if thats what its called is ta see ya all get through this and take care o'ya until I know you's all gonna be ok...."

Daisy and Jesse were to the Atlanta Hospital quicker than they had ever gotten there before and practically burst into the room, Daisy in tears as she gently flung her arms round her older cousin's neck at seeing his blue eyes wide open, Jesse repeating the action when she pulled away. "Luke! Oh god Luke we's thought ya were never gonna wake up!" Jesse pulled away and noticed the confusion in Luke's eyes and softly said. "Luke....ya been out fer 4 years....ya took a hard blow to the head son...." Luke frowned, he didn't care about that right now....he continued looking to the door for a moment before looking to Daisy and Jesse, saying firmly and worridly. "Bo?" Jesse instantly mistook the fear in the young man's voice for fear that Bo would be back to get him and was quick to reassure. "Luke s'alright. Bo's been put away fer a long time, he ain't gonna get ya now where he is, the state pen..." Luke's expression soon turned to one of questioning to horror...in his mind he was yelling at his Uncle, asking him why the hell Bo was there and why his Uncle had let Bo be locked up....he said now pleadingly and heartbrokenly, feeling like he was gonna cry as he could only say out one word "Bo....."

Bo watched Luke snap his eyes back open and shook his head. "Luke i'll tel ya 'afore I disappear I promise....and I know ya don't know what ya thinkin' no more....can tell from the glazed over look in yer eyes....just let it spill out cousin..."

Bo waited a moment then shook his head. "yeah you would've. You only think you woldn't now because that head o'yers is clearin' a bit....you know its the truth an' so do I...."

bo laughed and shook his head. "Luke I ain't no angel. Never have been and probably never will be.... I dunno if its even possible fer me to get up to them pearly gates now anyhow...." He did however soon turn serious again. "And don't worry 'bout Daisy, she's safe with B.L. and Jesse's with Cooter....s'only you who had no one....so yer the one I came after....so don't you go givin' me this whole I'm fine m'larky....yer not fine or ya wouldn't be considerin' hurtlin' yerself off a cliff...."

Luckily Luke hadn't woken too far from the hourly checks that the nurses made on him, and Luke couldn't help but smile with a slight laugh as the nurse came in and reeled slightly at the sight of Luke's blue eyes looking straight back at her as she walked in. she quickly recovered though and very nearly skipped over. "Well! Welcome back to the land of the living young man! I must say there are some people who are gonna be mighty pleased to see you awake...." One word alone came to Luke's still quite addled brain, but it was enough to get what he wanted to say across. his throat was sore from many years of un use and he had to swallow several times to get it wet enough he could croak out a word. "Bo...." The nurse looked down startled from reading the monitors around Luke. everyone of the doctors that had examined Luke had expected some sort of brain damage....but he was moving his hand just fine as he reached up to touch her arm with one hand and rolled his head to look at her asking again softly. "Bo...." She bit her lip, not knowing what he was referring to but seeing the look in his eyes she knew it was important. "I'll just get someone for you...." In a rush she snagged several doctors and directed them to his room before hurridly calling the Duke family

He looked to Luke with a calm look on his face. "Ya mean why ain't I up there with all the little naked babies with harps and wings? Ta tell ya the truth I didn't rightly know....until now....s'cause when I...you know...I kinda...seperated from my body and...I dunno I just....couldn't make myself follow where I was supposed ta go....I just couldn't...'specially not when I heard y'all talkin' ta Doc Appleby....guess its the whole unfinished buisness....I couldn't leave knowin' when ya blanked from everyone what state of mind ya were in and it looks like it was a good job i didn't neither....."

Jesse sighed and looked up at Daisy. "Then there's only one thing we can do...." ^^^^^ In Atlanta, something else was occuring for the Duke Family, something they had endlessly been waiting for for four years....in that small hospital room, the man named Luke Duke gently groaned and fluttered open his eyes, staring confused around him at the white room he didn't recall seeing before. The last thing he knew, he was in a dark space, charging in to get his younger cousin....when he got hit over the head....when he had briefly come to he had found his younger cousin sobbing over him, telling him he was sorry....it was a mistake....an accident....and he had known then what had happened....but couldn't form any words as someone slipped an oxygen mask over his face and the blackness he had been living unknowingly in for 4 years overwhelmed him as his cousin was dragged away from his side in handcuffs.... He looked around wildly for someone, anyone to tell him what in the hell was going on....

Bo sighed with relief and sat indian style on the ground beside Luke, tangling his fingers in his blonde hair and shaking the curls a little before replying. "Well....way I see it....I'm dead....but livin'....so....I guess I'm the livin' dead y'all always read about in horror stories....'ceptin' I definatly ain't seekin' revenge on nobody and definatly ain't lookin' to cause TOO much mischief." he couldn't help but grin a little at the last past, not knowing how Luke would take it. He stil looked incrediably pale...

Bo could only watch as his cousin fell to the ground unconcious. He was dead and he personally thought it was funny him being a ghost. he'd always read all the horror books about ghosts being evil spirits come to reek their revenge on everyone and everything. He certainly wasn't intending to do so....but Luke obviously had other ideas... He crossed over to Luke with a sigh, not knowing how the heck he was going to wake Luke up. he couldn't touch him because his hands would just go straight through him....wouldn't they? Hadn't he also read about things called poultergeists who could pick up things and touch things.... He looked around and hurridly reached out for a small rock, almost afraid to touch it....but touch it he did and, alright he couldn't feel it, he couldn't feel much of anything anymore, but he could pick it up. This made things so much eaisier...if Luke co-operated... Kneeling next to his older cousin, he gently reached over and tapped his cheek, hoping Luke could feel it but also spoke just in case he couldn't. "Luke....Lukas Duke ya with me cousin....c'mon Luke how d'ya expect me to explain this if ya don't wake up..." He knew he couldn't just leave Luke because his older cousin would just assume he was crazy and dive off the cliff without questioning it.