BoJamesDuke

Nodding his thanks to Daisy, Bo sat down at the table next to his cousin and softly got his attention - or what little of it he could. Gently he pressed the two pills into his cousins hand. "Take those for me Luke..."

Bo shook his head softly, signalling that he would explain later silently before asking gently with a gently squeeze to Luke's shoulder. "Could you get a couple of sleeping pills and a glass of water please.."

It wasn't long before the two reached the farm and Bo lead Luke inside, sitting him down at the kitchen table and calling out for Daisy as he kept a hand on Luke's shoulder to keep him there.

Eventually, Bo's grip loosened and changed to a loving, gentle hold around Luke's shoulders. He didn't know what else to say, know what else to do. All he did know was that once he got Luke back to the farm and got some sleeping pills in him, he could call the doctor and see what he would reccommend. He couldn't stand to lose another family member and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure it didn't happen.

Bo smiled a little at Luke's words, pleased that it was starting to sound like the Luke he had missed for years again. Just like Jesse and Daisy had though, he couldn't help - no matter how much he disliked Cassie now - but feel just a little bit guilty that he had split them apart because of his own fears and his own want to have his cousin back. He knew it was selfish and also that Luke was happy with Cassie and visa versa... "M...M'sorry Luke..."

"You have to! You can't run away from your home, the one Uncle Jesse brought ya up in, the one he needs us to carry on! You are never gonna move on if you don't accept what's happening and so you are coming home and you are gonna sleep there for the first night in days." Bo said firmly, marching him down the road.

Bo shook his head and kept a firm grip on his cousin, leading him down the path away from the cliff. "I didn't say you had a choice Luke, yer gonna."

After a while, Bo sighed softly and decided that there was no way Luke was going to voulentarily suggest doing something...or nothing sane or clever anyway. Standing them both up, he said firmly in a tone that left no room for discussion. "We're going home, and your gonna get some sleep..."

"How...is keepin...quiet gonna...resolve things bet...between us?" Bo reasoned softly, knowing now that Luke was probably just as worried about what they would talk about as he was. He didn't know what was going on, but he knew if he and Luke were to be the same, it needed to happen before either had a chance to back out and make excuses.

Bo continued to just murmur soft comforting words to the man in his arms, rocking him gently as he soothed him through the grief for their Uncle that Luke was already suffering. He hoped this meant that by Luke accepting this now, it would be eaiser for him when the time actually came that their Uncle would leave them. Perhaps, by working through this now while their Uncle was still around to talk to him, Luke would be able to see a way through what was to come and keep on...well keeping on.

"Its ok now Luke...its ok...just calm down some.." Bo soothed gently, hoping what he was doing was helping his older cousin some.

Bo held him close with a sigh as his older cousins body threw itself into the dry heaving that really wasn't doing much good for him. More than anything Luke needed to calm down so, in an effort to help him do that, Bo softly rubbed his back some more.

Bo nodded a little, resting back in his pillows some more with a soft weary sigh. "You...not excited yer...over worried..."

Bo nodded and quickly helped him over to some bushes, supporing him gently as he threw up any contents in his stomach...though he wasn't actually sure there was any...

Bo nodded softly, swallowing gently as he held his cousin just a little bit tighter. "I know it does...you cant rightly prepair yerself fer something like this but...like I said we...we knew one day it would get to the stage where Uncle Jesse can't be around anymore...he's set up this life fer us...encouraged us t'follow our dreams and stuff...so we can carry on in his place...so we can live to do the things he'd be proud of us for doing...so he can watch us with Auntie grow t'be the people they always said we would be..."

Bo held his older cousin close again with a small sigh of relief, hoping that now he had finally got through to Luke. "Its okay to be frightened Luke, its a human emotion and we all experience it...but dont ever mistake it for failin someone cousin...youa int ever failed any of us...if anything you showed me how hard it is t'keep yer cool when something like that happens...so we swapped shoes for a time...I sure learned somethin' from it...and Uncle Jesse still made it to the hospital...."

Bo reached out weakly as his cousin sat down and took his older cousin's hand, squeezing it softly. "Don't gotta....ask me so...many questions...i'll tell..ya if I want somethin now...quit yer...frettin' fore...they section...ya..."

"Then believe it, any Doc will tell you the same thing. You can't tell me, in all the situations you've been in, that you've never seen someone freeze up like you did...its born out of pure fear of what is happening and you can't tell me you weren't plumb terrified about what was happening to Jesse because you went paler than a ghost...I swear I could almost see through your skin...you aint failed no one cousin...and if you'd let him...Uncle Jesse would tell you that himself..." Bo said softly, now close enough again that he could rub his cousins back.

Bo sighed, remembering too looking at Luke as he had seen it and seeing his cousin literally drain of colour. It was the first time he had ever seen Luke Duke completly terrified...and if anything that kicked him into action. He couldn't rely on Luke that time, he had to kick himself into gear and do something, and without second thought he had run faster than ever before up to the house to call the ambulance out. But that wasn't Luke's fault.. "Luke you can't always have a plan...especially not for somethin' like this...its a shock to see someone you love and respect so much, and who always seems so strong to end up like this...I dont blame ya fer freezin an' neither does Uncle Jesse or Daisy...cousin fear gets to the best of us...Lord knows I've frozen a number of times when someone's needed me...the only one that's ever been able t'shake me out of it is you...you can't beat yerself up over a natural reaction t;something like this...if you had've moved I wouldn't have done....it was only because you froze that I actually did anything..."

"You would never have got Jesse to let you do something he wanted t'do...we get our stubborness from someplace Luke and you know as well as I do its from him...And besides you heard the doc's...if it didn't happen then it would have happened sometime else soon. It's just that Uncle Jesse ain't a young man no more cousin...he can't be here all out lives..." Bo swallowed softly, hoping that the words he was saying were getting through to Luke because although they were reassuring they hurt Bo to say. Just thinking about that day was painful...they had been out all three of them ploughing the back fourties as usual...cept that day was anything but usual...that day Uncle Jesse had fallen...and hadn't gotten back up again. He had suffered a heart attack and now was in hospital as weak as could be...

Bo frowned a little as Luke kept babbling on about things, swallowing down the small sips of water that Jesse fed him before turning his head away softly. He wasn't able to drink more than half a cup because his throat was too sore but it felt better than the dryness that had accompanied it before. Looking to his older cousin as he asked yet another question, he sighed softly and motioned Luke to sit down.

"How is it your fault?! What in the world could you have done to make this not happen?" Bo tried to reason softly though he couldn't help but exclaim just a little bit at the absurdity Luke was speaking.

"I'm trying to Luke but I cant when you dont help me to help you! I cant help if I dont know the problem!" He pleaded gently.

Bo could feel his frustration and anger at his cousin growing for being like this now, there was only so much patience Bo Duke had, only so many times he could repeat the same damn thing over and over again. He didn't know why Luke was being like this but if hog tying him and dragging his butt all the way home was the only way to get him there he would do it. "Lukas please...your scaring Daisy..."

Bo sighed as he did, scrubbing a hand down his face before moving closer to Luke. "Luke please...dont do this..."