DaisyMaeDuke

"Well, ma'am t' tell ya the truth, I don't remember too much what her mama looked like..." He knew the nurse was looking at him strangely. "See I adopted Jaime...and I ain't got no wife myself. Just my uncle an' my cousins."

Hank looked admiringly at him. "He's a beauty, alright..." he said patting the horses muzzle. "As are you m'lady," he added charming her with his smile.

Louie laughed. "Gentlemen?! Ha! Hank ain't no gentleman.... he's nothing but a low down vermin...that needs to be squashed." Hank towered over him. "Tell you what...why don't you make like a tree an' leave...cuz if ya don't...I'm gonna shoot first and ask questions later." "You...you'll pay for that..." flustered Louie, tipping his hat. "Ma'am" He then quickly made his way to the bank.

Luke soon was rattling away about his pride and joy. "She's the prettiest thing I ever saw... so smart...she's got a mouth on her too." He chuckled a little. "And she takes after me in stubborness I reckon."

"Little Lorraine...is that really you?" cried Thaddeus's nephew Louie Hogg. He shoved himself in front of Hank and took Lorraine's hand kissing up her arm. Hank saw the look of disgust on Lorraine's face and pulled him off of her punching him. "You best go back t' that dandy school o' yers an' lean how t' treat a lady. "You alright, darlin?" he asked Lorraine, watching Louie out of the corner of his eye.

Luke smiled. "Jaime..."

Luke swallowed. "Oh you know...I uh...I got a daughter...she takes a lot of my time...and feeding nd mucking the stall of my dance partner....among other things on the farm...I stay busy."

Luke swallowed turning his head away and focusing on the wall, distracting himself with looking at the pictures that adorned it.

Luke frowned never having cared for needles himself, but the pain outweighed his thoughts on needles. "Please."

Luke swallowed but the nurse was pretty and the last thing he wanted was to look weak in front of her. "Well..I'm a busy man...b-but I think...I can manage it," he said with a half-smile.

"wh-when?" he asked quietly. He had to admit he got scared everytime he was no in control of a situation...and this was one of those times.

Luke blinked incredulously. "O-operate?!" he quaked.

"No ma'am...more like did a dance on it...." says quietly in an attempt to be witty despite his pain.

The doctor sprawled on the floor holdng his jaw and shaking his head. Luke meanwhile was still waiting his face pale as the pain in his leg flared up again.

"Well...it seems my work here is done..." said the doctor simply. "But let me just add...denial is a natural first step in abusive relationships...I strongly suggest you see someone," he added. This was the hardest part of his job..trying to get someone help who denied they needed helping.

The doctor frowned. "Whatever you say...but I'm telling you...should that shoulder get inflamed more...you'll have to have shots inside the muscle to make it essen so you can use it again...and trust me ... those are no fun," he said putting away the syringe. "I suggest your cousin receive a psychological evaluation. Accident or not, this is a serious matter."

"If I don't you could end up hurting yourself more...and you would e hurting more because of the pain especially at night." Luke swallowed, fear sweeping over him, but not fear of close spaces...rather the fear that he was about to meet a needl, which didn't make sense as the doc had not even been in yet. Immediately he thought of Bo, hoping he was alright.

"I have to ask son...it's my job." he said simply as he put Bo's shoulder in an imobilizer and went to the cabinet for a syringe.

"That doesn't explain why he's so strong but it does explain this" points to the x ray. If you look, the muscle is severly inflamed and the shoulder bone itself has a hair line fracture. Not many could do that with a simple squeeze...unless they had been trained to."

"You got a strong cousin, "frowned the doctor. "You sure this was an accident?" He had to ask...with an injury such as this.

"Bo...I'm Dr. Peterson," said the doctor who entered holding out his hand and hanging the xrays up so that Bo could clearly see the pictures o his shoulder. "What exactly happened? If I didn't know better I'd say you tuck your shoulder in a vice grip."

The voice stopped and next thing Luke knew, he too as being wheeled to an exam room. He must have looked pretty pale because the attendant brought him a glass of water, telling him to drink it slowly and that a doctor would be with him shortly. Luke was still so scared. "Bo...you always thought I was brave...if you could see me now you'd think different," he said softly sipping his water with a shaky hand.

There it was again. A still small whisper but clearly comprehendable and clearly Bo. Luke didn't understand. He didn't know where Bo was, but in the room with him he certainly was not. He forgot to think about it however as the machine contnued taking pictures of his leg. He shivered wishing Bo was with him, clapig his hands together and closing his eyes as they finished up trying to imagine that the hand he was holding was Bo's.

Just as Luke was feeling the machine encicle him, he seemed to hear Bo's voice out of nowhere, telling him it was ok...to be calm. Luke closed his eyes, not realizing that Bo was talking to him. "I'm so scared Bo," he whimpered trembling as he did so. "Sir you have to keep still," ordered the technician as he pressed a few buttons making the machine take picture after picture.

Luke was panicking. It began the moment he heard the door close behind him and noticed the lack of windows in the small room. "Look you know what's wrong...just fix it." But the technicians would hear none of it. Carefully they laid Luke on the xray table and ordered him to lie still as the machine turned on, carrying him like an auto part on a conveyor belt to his fate. Luke's heart was pounding as he felt the familiar closeness come over him. Slowly he started thinking of the General, Jaime, Bo...anything to distract him from the fear he felt inside of him.