BoJamesDuke

Bo sighed softly No Luke....the whole world aint upside down....its just yers. Bo waited a moment before moving his hand to Luke's back, rubbing it softly. Luke....there aint nothin' that can change this now....I'll always be here, maybe not like this, but here *points to his chest* and here *his heart*...I'll always be there Luke. Yer never alone, I'll always be watchin' over ya....fer the whole of yer life ya looked after me, protected me.....now its my turn.....let me watch over ya Luke....

Bo sighed and shook his head Well its kinda hard Luke...seein' ya the way ya are....I know ya said its up ta ya how ya deal with it, but what ya's doin' ain't helpin' ya none! Yer drivin' yerself crazy Luke....an' that ain't gonna be helpin' Daisy and Jesse....B.L. and Cooter can only do so much....

Bo nodded, swalloing gently S'hard fer me too ya know....not bein' able ta take part no more....havin' ta watch on the outside lookin' in when y'all hug or....or have dinner or do normal things....I didn't want ta give up Luke but in the end I didn't have a choice.....and I still feel bad that ya's hurtin' so much.....

Bo smiled a little at seeing Luke smile, but was slightly surprised at the fact that Luke had looked to his hand. Could Luke really feel it? Luke....I'm sorry but....I just...I couldn't hold on anymore....it was hurting Luke....hurting so bad....even with all the painkillers...it wasn't until the very end when Doc gave me more that it stopped....but that made me so weak that liftin' my hand drained me.... Bo paused, wondering if he should be telling Luke this in the frame of mind he was in,

All the Dukes remained waiting in Bo's room as the nurse's cleared up the blood spilt on the floor. Luke felt sick just watching them clearing away his baby cousin's blood, knowing that it belonged to him and had come flowing so freely from his mouth... This whole thing scared him witless and he got the feeling that no one was going to tell him what was happening in the condition he was in. He didnt care though, if they didnt tell him they would have to tell Uncle Jesse and Jesse would then tell Luke. That was how it worked, Jesse would tell him come hell or high water because Jesse knew that despite him not being able to do much, he could still cause enough of a rukus.

Bo sighed and rested his hand on Luke's shoulder, squeezing gently, not even sure that Luke could feel it. Luke....please stop doing this to yerself...I know its hard...it's....it's hard fer me too.....it aint a barell o'laughs bein' dead ya know....

Bo looked worridly over his cousin. He hadn't improved at all since the last time he had seen him and it was starting to worry him a lot. Luke was just staring at him....and although Bo could understand why, knowing if it were the other way around Bo would be doing the very same thing, it still unnerved him a little bit. He closed his eyes gently and sighed before opening them again and saying softly. "Ya ain't goin' mad Luke....we's spoke about this 'afore....remember?"

Daisy nodded, looking out the window but never looking back. Bo sighed and waved his hand in front of Luke's face. Luke! Luke snap out o'it would ya!

Daisy was grateful for the hug and smiled slightly at B.L. nodding. Yeah...yeah lets go.... Bo watched from the sidelines a little, wincing. He thought he had talked to Luke about this, thought he had managed to get it through to him about what had haopened... He walked over and gently put his hand on Luke's shoulder Luke....

Daisy sniffed and shook her head I'll get through it eventually....its just so hard with Luke being like he is....I'm scared o'losin' him too B.L....I can't lose both my cousin....I wont be able to cope and neither will Uncle Jesse....I'm just praying that wherever Bo is now he can do something to get Luke back....anything.... Bo watched sadly from outside the wrecker, listening in and shaking his head sighing. He thought he had gotten through to Luke. He had watched the whole day's proceeding and found it unnerving that his body was now in a casket in a hole in the ground....but then again technically he was still living so it didnt hit him that hard. Running his cold hand over the top of the gravestone, Bo proceeded to go to the old indian caves where he knew Luke was.

Luke remained in the cave, hugging his knees...the last words ringing in his ears. Could he live without Bo? he had promised to Bo's ghost or whatever it was that he would....but then again he hadn't seen that again since that night. He was overtired back then....and he had wanted to say goodbye to his youngest cousin so badly....could it possibly be that it had been after all a trick of his mind....

Luke remained in the General's front seat, checking everything over, not really hearing B.L. talking to him. He quickly revved up the engine and threw the General into reverse, spinning him 180 degrees and taking off down the road.

Luke choked as he heard the dixie horn and the following thuds of dirt hitting the wood below as the gravediggers filled in the dark dank grave that now belonged to his cousin. He looked up, the tears still falling, over at General Lee and B.L. slunk down beside it. Without thinking he pushed himseld to his feet and walked over to the gleaming car, trailing his hand over the hood and stopping at the driver's side door to put his hand on the roof and gently rub the confederate flag. The next thing anyone knew, he was in the drivers seat and had powered up the engine...

Luke waited, holding in as much as he could while there were so many people around. He picked up his handful of dirt as Jesse and Daisy threw theirs in and slowly sank to his knees beside the open grave, squeezing the dirt clenched in his fist. He slowly whispered down to the coffin below. "I'm sorry....I'm sorry I couldn't save ya.....realise what was goin' on 'afore all this happened.....guess this is it....the final goodbye.....I always thought I'd go with ya Bo....that we'd die tagether....grow old an' have kids like ya dreamed....take over the farm....." Luke's voice cracked and he sobbed painfully "It ain't fair Bo....ain't right....ain't fair at all....they's aint gonna live Bo....they're gonna pay fer what they did....the sentencin' is next week....Bo....heck Bo I miss ya so bad.....wait fer me cousin.....please wait fer me....." With that he kissed the dirt in his hand and threw it down into the grave, the tears falling with the specks of dirt as they did....Luke remained on his knees, hugging is middle and crying desperatly.

Bo breathed softly underneath the mask that was keeping sedation flowing through his bloddstream, not aware of anything that was happening. ^^^^^ Luke continued to watch the doors and was determined to as long as Bo was in there. He would not be moved, when anyone tried he determindly slammed the brakes on his wheelchair and any threats to carry him to his room earned the person making the threat a cold glare....anyone seeing it would know there would be hell to pay as soon as he was better. He didn't need sleep, he'd had 4 years of it, 4 years of having to give his baby cousin over to uncaring hands and the cold life he had tried so hard to protect his baby cousin from. he didnt care if Bo didnt know he was there, he wasnt about to move, he wanted to be here when Bo came back out.

Luke led the procession, following the hurse through the streets solmnly, wiping his eyes a little at the sight of the coffin he knew contained his younger cousin. He still couldn't believe this was true, that his cousin had gone. He followed the hurse as far as it could go before taking his place at Bo's graveside, looking down into the cold black dirt hole that would now forever hold his cousin's body. The tombstone Jesse had let Luke inscribe and on it had been written. Here lies Bo Duke, a loved and always missed cousin, nephew, son and brother. Rest in peace.

Luke chocked a little as he finished the song but determindly moved to sing the next one, strumming the chords before talking briefly. "This last one is called life after you....and....it sure is appropriate cousin..." Life after you Is harder than I thought it would be Cause I never knew How much you were a part of me I can make it through the days ok But I can’t go to sleep Wondering how’s your life after me Do you still like to sleep on a rainy day? Do you still cry when doggie walks away? And do you still stay up until There’s nothing on TV Tell me how’s your life after me? Well I still got some dreams to fill And I could lose someway Cause I’m a little bit older And a little less bolder Than I used to be If the truth were told I’d sell my soul For the way things used to be Oh girl How we used to be Well I still got some dreams to fill And I could lose some weight I’m a little bit older And a little less bolder Than I used to be And if the truth were told I’d sell my soul For the way things used to be Oh girl How we used to be Life after you Is harder than I thought it would be Cause I never knew Just how much you were a part of me I can make it through the days ok But I can’t go to sleep And when you’re lying all alone at night Do you ever think of me? Tell me How’s your life Baby how’s your life? I wanna know How’s your life after me? This is much harder than I thought it would be.

Luke watched as Bo was wheeled away, praying in his head for his younger cousin, focused only on him and his welfare, not at all realising what he had done, what he had achieved. When everyone had looked at him and silence had fallen, he had remained looking at Bo, squeezing the limp, cuffed up hand like Bo's life depended on it. If he could he would have kept that hold all the way through the operation but as it was he wasn't allowed to follow It wasn't until things really quietened down that he finally saw Jesse and Daisy looking at him funny. With a questioning frown he took up his pen and paper and scribbled down What?

Luke watched helplessly as Bo writhed, clutching Bo's hand tightly still battling with himself. This was getting harder and more frustrating to hear Bo's cries of unbearable pain and tortured mind. The Doc's were all rushing around yelling at each other, trying to give Bo more pain medication and anesthiesia to stpo the croes and get moving with what needed to happen. Before Bo could slip under though, Luke burst out, mainly because of panic and also because he was determined to say it. "Bo....be...'kay...Bo...m'...here...Bo..."

Meanwhile all Luke could do in his wheelchair was reach up and stroke Bo's hair as soothingly as he could. Inside he was panicking so very much for his baby cousin, but outside he kept a clam composure, squeezing the hand and calling Bo's name loudly "Bo!" Bo looked over startled to Luke, still shaking madly and sobbing but still amazed that luke could say his name. Luke didnt know what he was going to do now. In his head he had this whole speech planned about how Bo couldn't leave now, couldn't give up after four years of fighting to bring them back to each other. But once more his lips his brain and his throat just wouldn't co operate. But he had to tell Bo something, had to. Jesse could see the frustration in Luke and reached over, pressing a hand to hsi shoulder. "Take it easy luke..." Luke however shook his head and battled with himself to say something, anything that would support Bo. Bo needed this now more than ever and he was not prepared to let his youngest cousin down.

Cooter had to turn round and grab Daisy by the waist as she screamed hysterically and sobbed, hurrying her out the door, followed quickly by enos who also looked about ready to throw up himself. Jesse remained by Bo's side, worried so deeply to the pit of his stomach and wanting nothing more than to switch the roles so he could be going through this instead of Bo. He wrapped his arm around Bo's shoulders and held him gently as Bo let out a wail of horror at the sight of the crimson liquid and the pain in his stomach.

at any other time Jesse would have reprimanded Luke a dozen times over for all the sassing but for once he actually agreed with Luke. Keeping Bo chained up like he was an animal much less a criminal was creul and also a harsh reminder to his family of the mistakes that had been made. Bo of course couldn't see the exhcanged conversation between Luke and the others but from their spoken repsonses he got a pretty good idea what it was about. He hated the fact that Luke would instantly start to worry and possibly make himself worse because of something that was happening to him. Just as he was about to speak up, he cried out in an uncontrolable wail doubling up as much as he could, unable to clutch his stomach.

Luke looked once more over his baby cousin. His appearence upon entering the room had been a big shock to Luke. The life and energy seemed to have just disappeared from his cousin's usually positive demeanour, his blue eyes were dull and lifeless and he too had lost the healthy tan. HIs muscles, althought they had been obviously worked on still looked like they couldn't support the young man anymore than Luke's could support him. What had hit him hardest though was the fact that Bo was locked to the bed, like a common criminal....which of course lots of people thought was true. Luke just couldn't understand how anyone could possibly think that of Bo Duke though, especially not those who knew him best. He ran his fingers over the cuffs, frowning slightly as he finally spotted the bandages and instantly fearing the worst. He picked up the notepad again and scribbled out. "What happened here? To yer wrists?" Bo looked the note over then looked down at his wrists and shrugged. "I don't actually know....s'when I was delerious I think...." Enos quickly stepped forward and told Luke what had happened...which of course instantly brought forth many other questions about what had been happening with Bo from his concerned older cousin. To Luke, nothing else mattered but giving Bo back all that he had lost. His life, his confidence, his energy, his humor, everything that was missing from Bo that Luke so dearly missed already. If his own injuries never got better Luke didn't care, so long as Bo could be back beside him as normal...

Bo looked confused down at the pad of paper, the realization only just hitting him....it couldn't be....he hadn't...had he... "Luke....Luke ya....can't....ya can't talk can ya?" Bo's heart that had been so warmed by his older cousin's presence suddenly felt like ice, and plummeted to the pits of his stomach as Luke hesitated but then shook his head. Bo dropped the hand that he had been clinging to like he had been scolded.....he had wrecked Luke's life...wrecked everybody's life....heck Luke was in a wheelchair which probably meant he couldn't walk either, Luke wouldn't be able to live his life like they all had done before....he had divided and split their family....

Usually everyone would have given a snort of laughter or some witty comment to this, but now everyone's eyes were fixed on the two forms of Bo and Luke. Neither had spoken a word since Luke had been wheeled in, and everyone could see that at that moment, both the boys concentration was purley fixated on each other. Bo looked over his older cousin, who was a complete contast to what Bo thought he would have been like. His head showed no signs of the injury he had sustained at the hands of Bo's terrible mistake. His skin had lost the bronzed look Bo could remember Luke always having and his muscles had lost their tone after four years of lack of use. But the kind sparkle that Luke always seemed to have in his eyes remained the same, the aura of love and protection of his family never left his composure. But, more amazingly, the look of trust and faith in his younger cousin was shining just as brightly as the kind sparkle in Luke's eyes. After four years, after what Bo had done to him, Luke still trusted and loved his younger cousin with an unwavering certainty that Bo was innocent. Luke needed no words for Bo to know that, and Bo was finally able, as Doc Micheals removed the camera from his throat to choke out. "Luke...."