BoJamesDuke

Bo shook his head determindly. "No, either you tell me what's going on properly or your coming home with me and i'll get the doc t'come out and see you too. You are NOT leaving the family like this, you are not going to do this to Uncle Jesse. I am not letting you turn yourself into a coward by taking the easy way out!"

Bo swallowed hard as things started to become a little clearer to him. All the cousins had been taking the news about their Uncle hard, but of all of them it was becoming clearer and clearer that Luke was taking it the hardest. How on earth that could be, Bo didn't yet understand but he now was making it his mission to find out. He would sit with Luke for days up here if it meant getting this information out of him and putting him back in a more positve frame of mind. "Luke...Uncle Jesse...there's nothing you can or could have done to prevent this..."

"Failed?" Bo interrupted quickly with a shake of his head. "Failed, Luke how have you failed?" He could understand his cousins desire and instinct to protect the family unit and everything...but sometimes he thought Luke took that feeling just a little too far and this was going to be, he could see eaisly now, one of those times.

"You what cousin...just take a few deep breaths an' calm down some Luke...its gonna be okay now...i'll help ya...just please calm down some and explain..." Bo said as soothingly as he could though inside he was quaking at how clingy and desperate his cousin seemed.

Bo sighed softly as finally he started to feel Luke coming round, hoping that he could sort this out with Luke so finally he could stop worrying so much and focus on what needed to be focused on. Not that he didn't mind helping Luke, it wasn't very often that he got to. Usually, it was the other way around. Luke would help the cousins and keep everything that was bothering him to himself until he could find a solution to it that wouldn't interrupt the lives or problems of those around him. This time though, that plan had proved to come to a potential disasterous consequence. "You ain't got nothin' to be sorry for Luke...we're all takin' this hard cousin...but like I keep saying, we need to pull through this together...please talk to me, just tell me what's goin through that head of yers..."

Bo looked to him, taking the cup in a weak trembling hand that honestly he really didn't think he had the strength to lift right now. His chest twinged with pain every so often - memories he supposed from the first bullet wound he had gotten many years ago - but could also be from the fact he couldn't breathe properly on his own yet. His asthma coupled with the fact the gun shot had done some damage had taken away that ability for a little while. He would get better though, the doctors said so and by the looks of Luke, it seemed like - no matter how fake of a smile Luke wanted to plaster on his face - his older cousin looked like he needed Bo to get better to prove to the world that things were getting back to normal. Jesse quickly took note at how Bo didn't lift the much needed water to his lips and gently put his hand over Bo's around the cup, helping him to lift the cup to his lips and take small, slow sips.

"Please cousin talk t'me...calm down enough t'talk to me...I know yer scared...we all are...about the future and everything but...please talk to me Luke...we need to help each other..." Bo pleaded softly, rocking Luke gently in his arms.

"I can't stop! You have to face this Luke, you cant just end it...you cant...your supposed t'make him proud, yer supposed t'stay with us and help us...Luke we're a family, we're supposed to help each other...he wants us to help each other..."

"Why dont you help us to?! Instead of keeping all this locked inside like you usually do...you cant keep doing this Luke, can't you see what your doing?! Your talking about committing suicide for pete's sake...how would that make Uncle Jesse feel huh?" Bo said desperatly, trying to say anything that would knock Luke out of the suicidal mind frame and back into a more reasonable one.

"Luke...as much as this hurts...and as much as its going to hurt when...when the time comes its...its a natural part of life...it was gonna happen sometime, we all knew it...you cant be like this just because your losing someone close to you...it happens in life...I know we've both experience it more than we should - especially you - but it happens..." Bo tried to reason, even though he didn't think it would do much good.

"Because we love ya Luke! Because yer like our brother! Luke if it were the other way around you would never ever let me get away with this, why on earth are you trying to do this?! Your not like this, we've all got to stick together..." Bo begged him again, trying to talk some sense into his older cousin's head. It was scaring him beyond belief that Luke was actually talking like this...he'd seen Luke upset before...he'd seen Luke angry...but never had he seen Luke so depressed.

Bo held onto him tightly until they were far enough away from the edge of the cliff that Luke was outta danger, turning him round and hugging Luke tightly to him, shaking his head softly. "I can't let you do it Luke...I can't...you can't do this cousin...that's the only thing you cannot do to us..."

Seeing it, Bo did the only thing he could. Whether Luke wanted to or not, he was coming back away from the edge. There was no way his cousin, who had fought through a War, fought through being a POW, fought through heartbreak and the loss of his parents...there was no way Bo was going to let him go like this. Shaking his head, he quickly apologised before grabbing Luke under his arms and running backwards with him, dragging him with strength powered by pure emotion and the drive to save his older brother.

Bo swallowed hard, shaking his head. "Cause ya love me...yer brother...you love Daisy...yer sister...you care about the farm...you wouldn't...wouldn't wanna upset Uncle Jesse like that..."

Jesse and Daisy smiled as Luke walked past, the bounce now seemed to be back in his step - one that hadn't actually been seen for many years since Cassie had first left him. He seemed genuinly happy, unlike the fake kind of happiness he had been putting on to appease everyone else. Heading into the room, they greeted Bo with smiles and hugs and gentle questions of concern about his health. Finally the family felt like the pieces it had been shattered into were falling back into place.

Bo quaked inside as he heard more rocks fall, needing to get Luke away from the edge and fast...both away from the physical edge of the cliff...and away from the edge of danger that Luke seemed to be at in his mind. Luke was always such a strong person, so to see him crumble like the face of the cliff piece by piece was horrifying and hurtful for Bo and the rest of his family to watch. The family would need Luke during the time to come, Luke would need them...he had to be a part of that circle or everthing would fall apart...he just knew it would, how could it not. For many years Jesse had been their guiding light in times of trouble, but as Luke grew, gradually Luke had taken over that role and taken much of the pressure of their uncle to the point where if they couldn't go to their Uncle, Luke was the next in line. Just as he was next in line to be the patriarch. "Please come away from there Luke...please dont do this...I know you dont wanna do this really...come away so we can talk more..."

Bo shook his head some and gently put his hand on Luke's shoulder, squeezing softly. "You don't wanna be alone brother...you want someone to be there and tell ya its gonna be all okay...that aint nothing gonna change again, that...your not gonna lose one more person in yer life...but no one can tell ya that...which is why yer up here aint it..."

Bo nodded a little. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk to Luke...though in some ways he was dreading the kind of news Luke was gonna tell him, not knowing which way it was gonna go...for all he knew Luke could be off eloping with Cassie to halfway across the country so they could be together. But he really did need some water, having a tube shoved down your throat for a few weeks certainly didn't do it any good. "Please..."

It hurt Bo's heart more to hear Luke pleading with him to basically let him fall off the cliff to his death... "Because yer my big brother Luke...yer Daisy's big brother...how...how can you want t'leave us when we should all be sticking together..."

Bo swallowed, knowing he was getting through...whether he had enough time to get through before the ledge decided to give way though was another matter. "Don't ask me t'just leave ya Luke...please don't...you can't leave us now...you can't..."

Bo shook his head a little more as he stepped closer towards Luke, knowing that the rate the rocks were falling it wouldn't be long before Luke was sent tumbling down with them. At that moment he had never been more scared or more hurt at the fact that Luke had told him to just leave him to die. "I can't cousin....I can't...You can't really want t'do this Luke...please don't do this..." He knew he was begging, and he knew that if a few people in Hazzard were to hear him now then he would get teased about it for weeks...but he didn't care. The only thing that had ever really got Luke to talk properly was to beg him to stop doing whatever he was doing, to put on his well practised puppy dog eyes and appeal to the only part of Luke that he could...the one that cared about his little brother, the one that would do anything to get Bo out of the upset frame of mind he was in and make him happy again...the one that wanted to protect Bo.

Bo bit his lip as he heard the rocks crumble, shaking his head as his body now too started to tremble in fear. Swallowing gently he stepped out the darkness of the trees and headed quietly towards Luke, calling out softly so as not to startle him. "Luke...Luke c'mon cousin...please come away from there..."

Little did Luke know, that as soon as Luke had stepped out the bedroom Bo was hot on his heels. He knew his older cousin wouldn't want him to know that he had gone missing, but as soon as Luke had started this kinda downward spiral in his life, Bo had been more alert and atune to his older cousin than ever. This time in life was hard on all of the Duke cousins, and most of Hazzard too...but to Bo, it seemed like Luke was starting to think that life just wasn't worth living anymore. Out of all the emotions Bo had ever imagined Luke going through because of this....depression and thoughts of suicide were never one of them. And he knew too that that was what his cousin was thinking of...just by things he let slip sometimes or by the way he looked. Bo had never needed his tightly closed cousins words to understand how he was feeling, same as Luke never needed his. They knew each other like twins, and sometimes Bo couldn't help but think that they had that sort of connection too. No...Luke Duke - as far as Bo knew - had never considered suicide...though if he had in the War and the POW camps Bo couldn't really say that he would blame him. But Luke had always said the thought of his family back home - especially Bo - always got him through because he knew how much he, Daisy and Jesse needed him. Luke Duke had never given up...though right now he wasn't sure if Luke was even there. Usually Luke would have noticed Bo was following him in an instant, with all the Marine training and all, but this time he hadn't even appeared to notice. Bo had been sitting behind Luke hidden in the trees just as long as Luke had been there...his heart beating loudly at Luke's procarious position on the edge of the cliff. This situation was affecting Bo badly too...but he could put aside all thought of his own hurt if it meant keeping his cousin with him...

Bo coughed lightly as Luke spoke, swallowing against his dry throat so talking wasn't so painful...he knew that they needed to do a fair bit, even if they didn't talk about everything they needed to today. "I know....ya been here....heard ya..."

Bo looked over to them as the doctor left the room with a small smile to the family, writing some notes down on his clipboard. The head of his bed had been raised so he could sit up properly without discomfort, his head resting against the soft pillows laid under it. Smiling a little, he whispered back - his energy still quite low and his throat dry and scratchy from having the tube down there so long. "Hey..." Daisy and Jesse decided that for a little while, it'd be better for Luke just to spend some time with his brother and hopefully start the process of getting everything back to how it should be again.