BoJamesDuke

Jesse sighed too as the General roared to life, not even going to attempt to get down the stairs before his nephew could get out the parking lot. There was no point...Luke would be long gone before he even reached the end of the hallway. Closing his eyes, he not only prayed to his lord...but also prayed to the General to keep his eldest boy safe from harm and to help him work out his own head. Sometimes that car had more of a calming, miricle working effect than any human being could on both his boys whilst ensuring that they got to the place they needed to safely. He was a part of the family himself and boy had he earnt his right to be. Jesse just hoped that once again the General could work whatever magic it seemed to have woven inside its nuts and bolts and help bring his family back together.

Jesse sighed as he watched Luke leave the room and Daisy deal with Bo, who now had more tears running down his face from emotion that Jesse thought maybe he was just to weary to hold back anymore. He couldn't blame the boy for being scared...upset....angry even if he wanted to be. There had been a lot of things going on recently and everything was still so up in the air....but nothing was odder than Luke's strange behaviour. Wanting to find Luke, seeing that Daisy had Bo almost settled down as she spoke reassuringly to him, Jesse slipped out the room quietly and headed out the doorway. Little did Luke know though, that Jesse understood Luke better than anyone most of the time and the first thing he knew Luke would not do was go to Cassie with the situation like this. Instead, he walked to the window and looked into the parking lot to see if he could spot the General.

Bo sighed heavily as Luke did little more than stare at his hand, eventually just pulling them away and slipping them into his mouth, rubbing his older cousins throat to encourage him to swallow much like one might do to some tired animal or injured being who was having trouble swallowing anything.

Bo bit his lip gently as Luke cut him off and went on another ramble, an obvious thoughtful but defeated look in his eyes. It wasn't hard for Bo to see a front when Luke was putting one on, and this one was so blindingly obvious that it actually hurt just a little to see it...by trying to protect Luke and make him see what Cassie had done and was endangering all of them in...had he actually hurt Luke so bad that now he was lying about how he felt. He may realize that family was more important...but there was a stark difference between what your head would tell you and what your heart always would. Swallowing gently he turned his head away softly as a lone tear dribbled its was down his cheek...he was sick of this...sick of everything to do with Cassie Morgan and the life she had brought along with her. Everyone so desperatly wanted things to be back the way they were but...how could they be...when all these thoughts would always be swirling in Bo's head and to be sure that Luke wouldn't be forgetting about her anytime soon either. Even though he would try and deny it. Daisy sighed softly, stepping in as she saw the tear make its way down Bo's cheek and crossed over to him. Gently she wiped the tear away and ran a hand through his blonde curls gently. "Honey, your going through a rough time right now...you look like your tired some...why dont you get some proper rest now okay...there'll be pleanty of time for talking..."

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.