When Friends Ain't Friends...

[BoJamesDuke]

Daisy swallowed gently as she looked over to Bo again, noticing he had gotten even paler. Swiftly she put two and two together and guessed that what they had just done was a part of Bo's treatment... no wonder the poor kid hadn't slept with all the noises going off at random times...he was probably too frightened to sleep.

Just then, one of the nurse's walked in with a syringe in hand, shuffling past the Dukes and sitting next to Bo.

"C'mon Bo....gimme yer arm...let's see if we can do this the easy way this time huh?"

Bo swallowed and looked to her, shaking his head slightly.

"Please don't....please..I'm a good boy...I....I haven't done anything wrong...please...please..."

The nurse shook her head and gripped his arm tight as he tried to pull away, swiftly sliding the needle in and slowly depressing the plunger, watching as Bo started getting limper under her hands.

"That's it....just relax....have to keep your heart rate down dont we..."

[B.L. Davenport]

Jesse and Luke both watched the nurse stepping up to her at the same time leaving no room for her to get past them. Both towered over the woman who looked up at them with a steely glare.

"yes? What is it?"

Jesse his voice even but leaving no doubt that he had not liked what he'd just witnessed.

"What's that stuff ya just gave my boy and why'd ya give it to him?"

[BoJamesDuke]

The Nurse sighed as she turned and carefully laid Bo down, slipping him under the covers as she talked.

"It's a prescribed relaxant. The noises that are neccessary to make to help him learn to control his fear make his heart rate speed up. Until he can control it, we have to give him the relaxant to make sure he isn't in danger of having a heart attack...."

She turned to them again once Bo was settled staring blankly at the ceiling, eyes half closed, and put her hands on her hips with the steely glare remaining on her face as she regarded the men.

"Unless of course you want him to have a heart attack?"

[B.L. Davenport]

Jesse matched her steely glare his arms folded.

"Of course we don't want him to have a heart attack!"

"We don't want him doped up to his eyeballs either!"

Luke cut in not at all happy with Bo being sedated into oblivion, when a milder sedation would probably work just as well and have the desired effect but still leaving Bo able to function. Although if Luke were honest he wasn't funtioning much with or without the medication.

[BoJamesDuke]

The nurse regarded Luke coldly, none to happy about being argued with when she was just doing the job she had been assigned.

"Well I'm sorry....but your the ones who sent him here for treatment and this is what it includes. If you don't like it, you shouldn't have put him here in the first place now excuse me."

She said as she pushed past the two and left the room.

[B.L. Davenport]

Jesse watched the nurse go then looked back at Bo's sleeping form. He was beginning to think stronger than ever that Luke had been right all along and they should have kept Bo home at least a little longer and tried a little harder to get him over his fears. Putting and arm around Daisy and a hand on Luke's shoulder he turned them both toward the door.

"c'mon let's go home he'll probably sleep fer a while."

Luke allowed himself to be steered out the door and back toward the entrance of the hospital but he was still seething over what the so called treatment entailed.

[BoJamesDuke]

When Bo woke again in the middle of the night, he found himself alone once more in the place his family had put him. Swallowing gently, he sat up in the bed and looked around, wishing his family was in a dark corner sleeping somewhere but still watching over him...only they weren't.

He did however notice that his door had been left open, they probably thought he would be under the influence of those drugs for the rest of the night and so had left it as such for easy access and suddenly Bo saw the ray of hope he had been longing to grasp. Now he could escape and get back home where he wanted to be....all he had to do, was stop the fierce pounding his heart had started at the thought of going outside in the dark alone...where anything could happen.

But get up he did, and walked slowly to the door, looking around before slinking out of his room and staying in the shadows of the corridors to keep himself covered until he got to the entrance way to the hospital. Unfortunatly, the receptionist was still there and Bo didn't see a way past her....until the phone rang and she answered, engaging in a conversation whereby she turned her back to the doors. Smiling a little and thanking the heavens, Bo slunk past and swiftly disappeared into the night.

[B.L. Davenport]

Everything on the Duke farm was quiet they had all gone to bed hours ago. Luke however was not sleeping the images of Bo in that hospital room haunted him everytime he closed his eyes. So awake he was and awake he'd stay he could go several days without sleep he had done so in 'Nam.

On another farm not far away another young blonde was wide awake this one a Davenport not a Duke but to the Duke family like her cousin Cooter she was an honorary Duke. Daisy had called very upset after the visit with Bo, telling B.L. how he'd looked and acted and about how they were scaring him to death then doping him up afterwards to calm him down. It was all very disturbing to both young women but neither could think of anything to do in order to change it unless they went against Uncle Jesse and that wasn't likely to happen.

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo walked down the roads away from the hospital, making sure to stay out of sight. All through the trip there near two weeks ago, he had been able to do nothing but stare at the outside world through the windows of the truck and so he knew exactly where he needed to go....he just had to keep his racing heart rate as low as possible and not get distracted and scared stiff of all the noises around him which was eaisier said than done.

At the Duke Farm, the sound of the telephone ringing in the middle of the night could be heard piercing the silence.

[B.L. Davenport]

Jesse Duke was awakened in the middle of the night as the telephone ringing pierced the peace. Climbing out of bed he made his way to the phone in the livingroom turning on the desk lamp so he wouldn't disturb Daisy and Luke that is if the phone ringing hadn't already.

"Hello Duke farm, Jesse Duke speaking."

Luke had heard the phone but Jesse had gotten there first so he just sat in his and Bo's darkened room with the door cracked open ever so slightly so he could catch what the late night call was about.

[BoJamesDuke]

"Hello Mr Duke, this is the Atlanta Mental Institute....we're afraid that your nephew Beauregard Duke...has gone missing..."

[B.L. Davenport]

"MISSING?!"

Jesse shouted angrily into the phone

"Just what do you mean missing? He was sedated when we left him so just how did he escape?"

Luke came rushing out into the livingroom at Jesse's shout dressed in his jeans and throwing on his shirt as he came into the room.

"Bo's missing? How long? Are they looking for him?"

Luke fired the questions anxiously as Jesse tried to divide his attention between Luke and the person on the phone.

[BoJamesDuke]

"We don't know how long he's been missing for, but we're doing everything we can to find him. We don't know where he could have gone or where he's headed but we thought you best be informed. Were very sorry Mr Duke..."

she said before hanging up the phone.

[B.L. Davenport]

Jesse hung up the phone slowly and looked at Luke who now stood beside him waiting to be informed of what was going on and what to do.

"Bo's missin' they don't know where he's gone or where he's goin' or even how long he's been gone."

Luke listened to what Jesse said...

"Uncle Jesse he'll be headed home you know that. We just gotta find what route he's on and hope ta get to him before he can get scared and lose his way."

Jesse nodded of course it made perfect sense Bo would come home where he knew he was safe and wouldn't be harmed in anyway.

"Ya right Luke, we best start lookin' for him"

[BoJamesDuke]

Bo meanwhile was busy wandering the roads in the shadows, trying to control himself as he focused on trying to find his way back to the farm. There were so many noises around him and Bo very nearly screamed whenever something brushed his shoulder or leg or something moved in front of him...but he knew he had to get home...he had to get home before those doctors found him again...if he could get home Luke would portect him...at least he hoped so....

[B.L. Davenport]

Turning back to the phone in his hand Luke dialed the number to the Davenport farm. Jesse in the meantime went into the kitchen to make some coffee they would need it in order to stay awake and alert in their search for Bo.

[BoJamesDuke]

Cooter groaned as he heard ringing and very nearly turned over and went back to sleep again, until he realized the source of the noise was coming from the telephone. Looking to the clock and noting the time, Cooter could guess who was calling and why and swiftly ran out the bedroom into the hall and picked up the telephone, seeing B.L. come worriedly out of her room too.

"You got Cooter Davenport on this end, what's happened Luke?"

[B.L. Davenport]

B.L. leaned against the wall by the telephone waiting for Cooter to finish and tell her what was going on. She already had a suspicion what it could be and just hoped Bo was ok.

Luke swallowed and stilled his shaking hand as he answered one of his best friend's question.

"Cooter, the mental hospital just called Bo's gone missing, they don't know how long he's been gone,where he's headed or nothin'. I need yer help lookin' for him."

[BoJamesDuke]

As soon as the words 'Bo's gone missing' slipped past Luke's lips, Cooter had swallowed and signalled B.L. to go get changed and start the car, waiting until Luke had finished, allowing him time to clam his voice so it sounded perfectly normal and confident even though inside he was just as worried as Luke was by the sounds of Luke's slightly frantic and shaky one.

"You bet ya buddyroo, B.L's started up the cars now, we'll be there in two shakes of a lambs tail. Don't worry, he can't have gone far. He'll be just fine, you'll see."

[B.L. Davenport]

As soon as Cooter signaled B.L. was gone like a flash slipping her jeans on with her pajama tanktop and rushing out to the car starting it up waiting for Cooter to get changed and come out to the car. As soon as he came out she wasted no time asking.

"What's wrong with Bo?"

Luke hung up the phone and went into the kitchen where Jesse was to report that the two Davenport's were on their way.

"Cooter and B.L. are on the way...ya want me ta go tell Daisy what's goin' on?"

In truth he wasn't looking forward to being the one to tell Daisy any of this.

[BoJamesDuke]

Jesse sighed and thought about it for a moment, before slowly shaking his head.

"No...No...if she's sleepin' so deep she didn't hear the phone or me yellin' then we can wait until B.L. gets here....she'll probably be able to handle our Daisy better than us..."

Cooter got quickly into the driver's seat of the wrecker and pulled away hurriedly, paying no attention to the speed limits as he roared down the back roads to the Duke Farm.

"Bo's gone missin'...the hospital don't know when he went or where he's headed but by the sounds of it Bo's been long gone. No one's seen hide nor hair o'him since the Dukes went ta visit him..."

[B.L. Davenport]

Luke nodded grinding the heel of his hands into his eyes as he sat at the table. He wished he knew which route the mental hospital had taken Bo by then he'd know for sure where to look, as it was they we're going to have to check all the routes back to Hazzard in hopes that Bo hadn't wandered off the wrong way and was still headed home.

"Yeah and it'll be easier ta concentrate on findin' Bo if we know B.L.'s takin' care of Daisy."

B.L. held on for dear life as Cooter broke every speed limit in the county in his hurry to get to the Duke farm. Explaining along the way what was going on.

"He'll be headed home."

B.L. said matter of factly knowing that Bo would try his best to get home.

[BoJamesDuke]

Cooter nodded, swinging into the Duke Farm drive.

"That's what they're worried about I recon....in the stae Bo's in...who knows where he will end up."

[B.L. Davenport]

B.L. sighs nodding miserably in the dark as they pull into the Duke driveway.

"the trick is ta find him before he gets lost so bad we don't find him or heaven forbid hurt."

She climbs out of the wrecker and heads inside where Luke and Jesse are in the kitchen waiting. Jesse gives her a brief hug as she enters the house looking worried and a little scared.

"Where's Daisy?"

Luke points toward Daisy's room saying

"We dunno if she's awake and just stayin' in there or if she's asleep but with all the commotion goin' on I don't see how she could still be sleepin"

B.L. gives Luke a hug on her way to Daisy's room whispering

"we'll find him"

[BoJamesDuke]

Cooter sighed and watched, waiting until B.L. had gone to see Daisy before stepping forward and putting a supportive hand on Luke's shoulder, knowing right now Luke would be too worried to be able to think up a decent plan to find Bo.

He however had been thinking about it for a while and, suprisingly, had come up with this. He had always said he may have been crazy but he wasn't dumb and this was one of the times that he could prove it.

"Right y'all..I been thinkin' and the way I see it, there's three o'us and three routes to the hospital to check and Bo would be rememberin' how he got there and using that to find his way back. Unless we can eliminate a couple we could all take a route and split up. You got the one going through Chickasaw, the one going through Hatchappe going directly to Atlanta and the one going through Chockataw which goes through that county and round to join up with the Chickasaw route..."