In God's Hands
by
Chapter 1
The boys are in a terrible accident and both of them linger near death. Has the Duke luck finally ran out? Will they live or will they die? It's in God's hands now
It was a bright summer day in Hazzard County . The birds were singing, the sun was shining and the Duke boys were tooling around in their modified stock car, The General Lee. The General was as well known in Hazzard County as the boys were. You definitely couldn't miss it. With its bright orange paint job, the big black 01 trimmed in white on both doors and the colorful rebel flag painted on the roof with the name The General Lee painted above each door. It was the fastest car in three counties and some folks even claimed that it was half human. And the Duke boys were the best drivers around. Put either one of them behind the wheel and you didn't have a prayer of catching them or the General Lee.
Bo had just hit Old Mountain Trail when a Hazzard County Police Cruiser pulled out from behind some trees with the siren blaring and the lights flashing.
“Dang it. There's Roscoe.” Bo Duke said in an annoyed voice, glancing in his rear view mirror “Where the heck did he come from?” Bo was the youngest of three cousins who lived on a farm in Hazzard County with their Uncle Jessie. With his blonde hair and baby blue eyes, he had more girlfriends than he could shake a stick at. And he was having the time of his life being young and single in Hazzard County .
“Probably from that speed trap back there.” His cousin Luke told him with a thin smile. The oldest of the Duke boys, Luke had sapphire blue eyes and brown hair and the same lean muscular build as his cousin. And he was just as popular with the ladies too. The two Duke boys were considered two of the best catches in Hazzard county. But there hadn't been a girl yet who could tie either one of them down.
“Oh, great.” Bo said “There's Enos.” He watched as a second police car fell in behind the first one. He looked at his cousin “What are they chasing us for? We ain't done nothing.”
“Since when does that make a difference?” Luke said glumly “Just lose ‘em, will ya?”
“You got it, Cuz.” Bo said with a grin. He didn't need to be told a second time. He punched the accelerator and the General leaped forward with a burst of speed. Luke glanced over his shoulder, grinning as he watched the two sheriff's cars falling behind. Suddenly, there was the unmistakable sound of a tire blowing out and the front end of the General began to shimmy and shake.
“Keep it on the road, Bo!” Luke yelled throwing out his hand to brace himself against the dashboard.
“I'm trying!” Bo yelled back, as he twisted the steering wheel frantically trying to bring the powerful car back under control. Sparks flew as the passenger's side of the car slammed into the guard rail, then bounced back off, sending the car into a spin.
“Bo, look out!” Luke yelled as he saw the mountain looming up on his side of the car, dangerously close. Luke felt himself being thrown forward towards the dashboard. There was a brief moment of terrible pain, then nothing but darkness as the General slammed into the side of the mountain.
Roscoe P. Coltrane, the sheriff of Hazzard County , was in the lead pursuing the Duke boys. Helplessly, he watched the accident occur right in front of him. Slamming on his brakes, he jumped from his car. He knew it was bad, real bad. He may have acted like he didn't care for the Duke boys most of the time but he didn't want to see either one of them get hurt. And from the looks of The General Lee he just knew that they had to be hurt and hurt bad.
The General had slammed into the side of the mountain on the passenger's side. That entire side was completely caved in. The windshield was shattered and there was also a lot of front end damage. As Roscoe ran towards the car, he could see that Bo, who had been driving as usual, was slumped over the steering wheel. It wasn't until he got close enough to peer inside the car that he saw Luke, who was lying sideways across the front seat with his head almost in Bo's lap. And there was blood, a lot of blood and it seemed to be everywhere. Roscoe had to grab hold of the roof of the car to steady himself as a wave of nausea swept over him. He'd seen his share of bad accidents in his twenty years as a police officer, but nothing quite as bad as this.
His deputy, Enos Strate, had climbed out of his car and was running towards the accident site. Roscoe held up his hand to try and keep him from coming any closer. He knew that Enos was a close friend of the Duke boys. He shouldn't ought to have to see them like this. Enos ignored Roscoe's warning and ran up to the side of the car. His face turned pale when he saw the condition that his two friends were in.
“Enos, you go and call for the ambulance and a wreaker.” Roscoe ordered “And tell ‘em we're gonna need something to cut them out of there.” It took all Roscoe had to push his emotions aside and let his professional side take over.
“Are they alive, Sheriff?” Enos asked in a broken voice
“I don't know.” Roscoe admitted “I'm afraid to find out…” His own ragged voice betrayed his real feelings. Suddenly, Roscoe bent over double and lost his lunch. Enos ran back to the sheriff's cruiser and grabbed the CB calling for emergency assistance. He was careful not to give any names over the air, he didn't want Uncle Jesse or Daisy hearing about the accident over the CB and coming to the scene. Neither one of them needed to see the boys in the condition they were in right now. Enos whispered a prayer under his breath. God, please let Bo and Luke be alright. I don't wanna have to tell Daisy and Uncle Jesse that they're dead. He hurried back to the wreak of the General Lee
to wait for help to arrive.
Cooter Davenport , the local mechanic in town, wasn't far away from the scene of the accident when he heard the call for help over his CB. It sounded like a bad one. He hit the gas pedal and headed for the scene with his wreaker. He had no way of knowing since Enos hadn't given a lot of details over the CB that the wreak involved his two closest friends. When he got within sight of the accident scene, he saw the distinctive orange paint job of the General Lee. “Oh, my god…no…” he muttered under his breath when he realized who had been in the accident. As he got closer, he saw the terrible damage that had been done to the General and he wondered if Bo and Luke were even alive. Slamming on the brakes, he ran over to Roscoe and Enos and saw the two boys still trapped inside the car. And he saw the blood, way too much blood.
Within in minutes, more emergency personnel arrived at the scene including two ambulances with trained paramedics on board and a fire engine from Capital City . Roscoe, Cooter and Enos stepped to the side to let the emergency crew take over. Two of the firemen started cutting off the driver's side door to get to the boys. It took them almost an hour to finally get to the inside of the car. Cooter and the two police officers both watched anxiously, as the firemen and the paramedics carefully freed Bo from behind the wheel. It took almost half an hour before they finally pulled his body out of the car, placing him on backboard, before putting him on gurney. Bo was as white as the sheet on the gurney. And when one of the paramedics ripped open his shirt to check his vital signs, Cooter saw that Bo's chest was mottled and heavily bruised. There was a huge gash on one shoulder that seemed to account for most of the blood on Bo.
Two paramedics loaded Bo into one of the ambulances and sped away with their lights and sirens blaring. At least that meant he had to still be alive. If he weren't, there wouldn't be any need to hurry to get him to the hospital. Cooter turned his attention back to the other emergency personal who were still working on trying to get Luke out of the car. Since Luke had been riding shotgun like he usually did and the worst of the damage was to that side of the car, Cooter knew that Luke's condition could be a lot more serious than Bo. In his heart, Cooter was scared to death that Luke was already dead.
Chapter 2
Jesse Duke was in the barn feeding the animals when he saw the sheriff's car pull into the driveway behind the house. Sitting down his bucket of feed, he walked out of the barn and into the barnyard to see what Roscoe wanted this time. Jesse was in his early sixties but still had a spring in his step and a twinkle in his eye. He had shaggy white hair, a full white beard and a deeply lined weather-beaten face.
His niece, Daisy, was hanging up laundry on the line. She stopped when she saw Roscoe's car and joined Jesse to find out what the sheriff wanted. He better not be looking for the boys to try and pin one of his trumped up charges on ‘em again she thought to herself as she watched Roscoe climbing out of his car.
“What do you want this time, Roscoe?” Jesse growled, not in much of mood to be sociable.
“Jesse…I…” Roscoe stammered, taking off his hat and holding it in his hands.
Jesse frowned. Roscoe sure seemed tore up about something. Suddenly, Jesse had a bad feeling, a real bad feeling. “What is it, Roscoe?” he asked quietly, eyeing the sheriff somberly.
“Jesse…I don't quite know how to tell ya this…” Roscoe stammered at a loss for words.
“Maybe you best just tell us, Roscoe.” Daisy said getting a bad feeling of her own
“There's been an accident….” Roscoe said “The boys ran into the side of the mountain…”
“My boys?” Jesse said in a stunned voice “Are they alright?”
“It's bad, Jesse….real bad. They had to cut ‘em out of the General Lee.” Roscoe said “They took ‘em to Tri County Medical Center …” Before Roscoe had even finished speaking, Daisy and Jesse were both running towards Jesse's pickup truck and climbing into the cab. He didn't get a chance to tell them the worst news of all that Luke wasn't breathing when they pulled him out of the car.
Jesse pushed the old truck as hard as he could and made it to the Tri County Medical Center in less than fifteen minutes (a drive that normally took at least forty minutes from the Duke farm) They hurried into the emergency room and Jesse stopped the first nurse he saw.
“Excuse me, Ma'am. My name's Jesse Duke. My two nephews were in a bad car accident and I was told that they were brought here. Bo and Luke Duke.”
“If you'll have a seat, Mr. Duke, I'll see what I can find out for you.”
Jesse and Daisy sat down on one of the hard plastic chairs in the waiting room. You'd think they'd have more comfortable chairs in a place like this Jesse found himself thinking. He was worried sick about the boys. If somebody didn't tell them something pretty soon, he just might have to go back there and find out for himself what was going on.
Twenty minutes passed before Jesse saw a doctor come out of the emergency room and walk towards them. He stood up impatiently. The doctor looked at Jesse and Daisy and said “Are you Mr. Duke?”
“Yes,” Jesse told him “And this is my niece, Daisy. How are my boys?”
“I'm Dr. Anderson. our nephew, Bo, is in surgery right now…I'm afraid I can't tell you much than that until after the surgery except that he's in critical condition. He was thrown into the steering wheel and suffered blunt force trauma to the chest.”
“What about Luke?” Daisy asked anxiously
The doctor hesitated before answering instantly alerting Daisy and Jesse to the fact that the news about Luke may not be good. “Your nephew, Luke, was not breathing when they pulled him out of the car…the paramedics did CPR and they got him here as quickly as they could and we tried to stabilize his condition but…”
“Is he dead?” Jesse asked in a tightly controlled voice cutting off the doctor before he could continue. Jesse felt a sudden surge of fear at the thought of losing either one of the boys.
“No…we were able to get him breathing again and his heart rate stabilized but his condition was much too serious for us to treat here. He's been care flighted to the Atlanta Medical Center .”
Daisy cried out softly and buried her face against Jesse's shoulder. Jesse put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly. Jesse looked the doctor in the eye and said, “What are his chances?”
“In my professional opinion, I would say not good. He should have been killed on impact. He has extensive life threatening injuries. Any number of which could be fatal.”
“What about Bo? What are his chances?'
“It's really too soon to tell but his chances are probably better than Luke's are.”
“Is there any way you can find out anything about Luke for us?” Jesse asked
“I'll be glad to call Atlanta for you and see if I can get an update on his condition. If you want to have a seat, I'll let you know as soon as I have any more information on either one of the boys for you.”
Jesse nodded silently and slumped back down in his chair. Daisy leaned her head against his shoulder, still crying softly. Jesse suddenly felt every year of his age. If either one of the boys died, he didn't know what he would do. He loved those kids more than anything else in the world. And he knew he couldn't stand it at all if he lost them both. Jesse glanced up and saw Cooter walking in the front entrance to the ER. He spotted Jesse and Daisy and immediately came over to them.
“Any news yet, Uncle Jesse?” he asked, taking a seat beside Daisy. He reached out and rubbed her shoulder offering comfort and support.
“Bo's in surgery…they won't know much about his condition until after that.” He took a deep breathe and exhaled slowly “They care flighted Luke to the Atlanta Medical Center. He's not doing very good.”
“I know.” Cooter said in a strained voice “I was there just after it happened. I watched ‘em get the boys out of the General. Uncle Jesse…I thought for sure you were gonna tell me that Luke was dead…”
“Well, he ain't…not yet.” Jesse said a little sharper than he meant to. “I'm sorry, Cooter.” He apologized. “I didn't mean to snap at ya like that. I'm just worried about my boys.”
“I know. I am too. That's why I'm here.”
“What happened?”
“Oh, Roscoe and Enos were chasing ‘em just like usual….a tire blew out and Bo must've lost control.” Cooter shook his head “If they'd been on any other road but that one…they'd been okay.”
“All we can do now is pray, Cooter. Cause it's god's hands now, not ours.”
Chapter 3
The Dukes and Cooter sat there waiting for news on Bo and on Luke. They sat there for hours with people rushing in and out around and medical personal rushing by as they went about their daily routines. But for them there was nothing to do but to wait and to worry. Finally Doctor Anderson came back into the waiting room and walked over to where they were sitting. He looked tired and there were dark circles under his eyes.
“How's Bo?” Jesse asked before the doctor had time to speak
“He's out surgery but his condition is not very good. He has what we Flail Chest. Basically that means that he hit the steering when he wreaked and that impact caved in his chest, breaking several ribs. He also had a collapsed lung, a severe laceration on his left shoulder, and he was bleeding internally. His condition is still listed as critical and his prognosis is poor.”
“Did you find out anything about Luke?” Jesse asked nervously.
“About all I can tell you about Luke is that he's still alive but he's on complete life support. He can't breathe on his own and his heart keeps fluctuating. As I said before his injuries are all life threatening. He has a depressed skull fracture with probable brain damage, several broken bones; he had a ruptured spleen that caused massive internal hemorrhaging, there was some damage to his kidneys, and there was a tear in the aortic artery which is the main artery to the heart.” The doctor paused to let his words sink in and give them an idea of just serious Luke's injuries were. “He should have died on impact or been DOA at the hospital. His condition is critical and his prognosis is very poor.”
“Uncle Jesse,” Daisy cried, burying her face against Jesse's shoulder once more at the thought of her oldest cousin being so critically injured.
“Is he gonna die?” Cooter demanded his voice rising sharply “Are they both gonna die?”
“I really can't say. As long as they're alive, there's always hope.” The doctor told them evasively.
“Can we see Bo?” Jesse asked “I wanna see my boy.”
“Not yet I'm afraid. He's still in recovery and then they'll be moving him to Intensive care. Why don't you all go home and get some rest? If his condition stays stable, then you can see him sometime tomorrow.”
Jesse nodded somberly. He and Cooter both stood up helping Daisy to her feet. Cooter returned to the Duke farm with them. They were his friends and they needed him now. He would stay with them until they knew if Bo and Luke was going to live or die.
Daisy was far to upset to cook, so Cooter scrambled up some eggs but nobody had much of an appetite. Jesse got a jug of his finest from his hiding place in the barn and he and Cooter started drinking. No one got much sleep that night.
Torn between their need to be with both boys at a time like this, the next morning they decided they would go to Tri County first to check on Bo and then they would go to Atlanta to try and talk to the doctors there about Luke. Cooter made a strong pot of coffee and they all drank several cups before leaving for the hospital. They were already exhausted and their vigil had just begun.
At Tri County , the nurse informed them that they still could not see Bo. She told them that if they wanted to come back that evening, they might be able to see him then. She would find out from the doctor and let them know when they returned. Feeling helpless and discouraged, they headed for Atlanta to see what they could find out about Luke.
It was almost two and half hours later before they arrived at the Atlanta Medical Center . It was massive impressive building that occupied 4 city blocks. It took them several minutes to find out which floor Luke was on. Finally one of the nurses located him in the intensive care Unit on the 8 th floor. They took an elevator to the ICU and stepped out into a large open area with comfortable couches and chairs scattered around the room. A nurse's station was located in the center of the room. Jesse walked over to the nurse on duty and introduced himself. “We'd like to talk to the doctor about my nephew.” He told her “Luke Duke.”
“Yes, Mr. Duke. Please have a seat and I'll page the doctor for you.”
The two Dukes and Cooter sat down on a sofa nearest the nurse's station. Daisy grabbed Cooter's hand tightly and tried to control her anxiety and fear. After several long minutes a young man in a white coat made his way over to where they were sitting and said quietly “Mr. Duke, I'm Doctor Malone. I'm in charge of Luke's case.”
“How is he?” Jesse asked in a tightly controlled voice that made a poor effort at controlling his distress.
“I have to be very honest with you…I don't think he's going to make it.” The doctor told them as gently as he could. This was the part of his job he hated the most. You never knew how a patient's family was going to react to that kind of news. “I'm surprised he's held on this long.”
“You gotta be wrong.” Cooter said in a strained voice, glaring at the doctor. “As long as he's alive…there's always a chance.”
“Right now, he's being kept alive by machines. He couldn't survive on his own if we turned them off.” The doctor said “We will be running some tests this afternoon to try and determine the extent of brain damage and hopefully I will be able to tell you more at that time.”
“I wanna see my boy.” Jesse said in a fiercely determined voice, standing up and facing the doctor. “If he's gonna die, I wanna see Luke.”
The doctor looked at the elderly Duke patriarch for a few moments, then nodded his head “You can go in one at a time but for five minutes only.” He glanced at Cooter “And only the immediate family.”
“Cooter is family.” Daisy said firmly
“That's right.” Jesse said just as firmly
The doctor hesitated and then nodded slowly “All right. You can go in to.” He told Cooter, backing down graciously.
It was decided that Jesse would go in first, then Daisy, and then Cooter. Jesse braced himself and followed the doctor though the doors that opened into the ICU unit.
The doctor led Jesse to a room directly behind the nurse's station in the ICU. Slowly, with heavy steps, Jesse followed the doctor into the room.
Luke was lying on the bed surrounded by machines. Every part of his body seemed to be covered with either bandages or casts. And everywhere Jesse looked there were tubes, lines, and IV's hooked up to his body. There was a respirator tube in his mouth that was forcing air in and out of his lungs. He was so pale and frail looking lying there that Jesse felt the tears gathering in his eyes. Crossing to the bed, he gently reached down and picked Luke's hand. It was as cold as ice and there was no response to his touch. Instinctively, Jessie started rubbing Luke's hand to try and warm it up. “I love you, Luke…” Jesse said quietly “And me and Daisy are both right here with ya…You ain't alone…”
The five minutes passed much too quickly. The doctor escorted Jesse back out to the waiting room, then it was Daisy's turn. She gave Jesse an anxious look as she stood up to follow the doctor back to see Luke. She knew she had to be strong, not only for Luke but for Jesse too. Still, she couldn't help crying when she saw Luke. Unable to speak, she simply leaned down and kissed him on the forehead. Still crying, she followed the doctor back out to the waiting room. Seeing how upset she was, Jesse immediately stood up and took her in his arms, comforting her.
Cooter was last. He did his best to hide his emotions when he saw Luke but it was hard. Luke and Bo were his best friends and had been since they were kids. Right or wrong, Cooter found himself wondering if it wouldn't have been better for everyone if Luke had died on impact. Sometimes medical intervention just prolonged the suffering for the family and the outcome was still the same. Cooter looked down at his closest friend and felt the tears stinging his eyes. In a whisper, he said “Dang it, Luke…it looks like that ole mountain got ya this time.”
Chapter 4
Although they hated to leave, they knew there was nothing more they could do right now for Luke. So they returned to Capital City to see if they could see Bo or not.
When they reached the hospital, the nurse on duty told them that the doctor had agreed to let them see Bo but only for five minutes at a time and again only one of them at a time could go into his room.
Jesse went first again. Bo was surrounded by machines too but he didn't look quite as bad as Luke. Still, he looked bad enough. His chest and right shoulder were both heavily bandaged and one side of his face was bruised. And like Luke, he was pale and unresponsive. Jesse gently touched his hand and found it cold just like Luke's had been. “You hold on, Bo.” He said quietly “Don't you die on me.” He felt the tears in his eyes as he looked down at his youngest nephew. Gently he reached down and brushed a strand of blonde hair off of Bo's forehead. Then he slowly turned and left the room.
Daisy went in to see Bo next. She smiled through her tears as she looked down at her baby cousin. She knew if Luke died and Bo survived, Bo would blame himself for the rest of his life for killing Luke even though it had been an accident. Bending down, she kissed Bo just as she had done Luke. Then she left the room before she broke down completely.
Cooter went in to see Bo last. He could remember Bo hanging out with him and Luke when they were teenagers and working on cars. The four years difference in Bo and Luke's ages made Cooter look at Bo more like a pesky little brother too. It seemed like the fondest memories of his life included the Duke boys. He knew how inseparable Luke and Bo were and how hard it would for either one of them if one lived and one died.
“I got the General back at my place.” Cooter said quietly “And when you and Luke are all better, we'll rebuild him…good as new.” Cooter had to leave before his emotions got the best of him.
The Dukes and Cooter went back to the farm. Cooter talked Jesse and Daisy into lying down for awhile so they both could get some rest. While they were sleeping, he did the chores that had been neglected since the accident. It helped to keep his mind occupied and his hands busy. Cooter wasn't dumb and he wasn't fooling himself about Bo and Luke's chances of making it through this. It would take a miracle for both of them to live.
Cooter had just come out of the barn from gathering the eggs when he saw Enos pulling into the driveway. He waited for the deputy to climb out of the car. Enos smiled his goofy smile when he saw Cooter and took of his hat, holding it in his hands. “Hey, Cooter.” He said
“Hey, Enos.”
“I just stopped by to see how Bo and Luke are doing.”
“It don't look good, Enos.” Cooter told him somberly “It don't look at all.”
“I'm really sorry to hear that….how's Uncle Jesse and Daisy holding up?”
“About as well as can be expected. They're resting right now.”
“Possum on a gum bush” Enos said using one of his favorite expressions. “I never expected nothing like this to happen to Bo and Luke….not the way them boys can drive.”
“Anybody can have an accident, Enos.” Cooter told him “Sometimes things just happen and there ain't nothing you can do about it.”
“Just ain't gonna be the same around here if anything happens to Bo and Luke.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“You tell Daisy and Uncle Jesse to let me know if they need anything now, ya hear?” Enos said struggling to control his emotions “And you tell ‘em that I'm praying for them boys…everybody is.”
“I'll make sure and tell ‘em.” Cooter assured him. He watched as Enos climbed into his car and drove away.
Cooter took the eggs into the house and put them in the refrigerator. He wasn't much of a cook but he knew they should all eat something. He looked in the refrigerator and found some leftover beef stew that still looked good so he heated that up on the stove and make a fresh pot of coffee. He decided not to disturb Daisy and Jesse. They needed their rest. Several people called. All of them were anxious for news on the boys and their condition and concerned about Jesse and Daisy. Cooter kept his answers brief. It wasn't his place to tell nobody nothing. The calls from neighbors and friends just showed how much the Duke family was liked and respected in Hazzard County .
Around eight o'clock that evening, Jesse and then Daisy came out of their rooms and into the kitchen. Neither of them ate, they just picked at their food. Cooter told them about Enos and the other friends who had called to offer their help and to express their concern for the boys.
“Them boys have more friends than they realize.” Jesse said somberly. He sighed heavily. He had rested but he had not slept and his body ached with fatigue. But if he closed his eyes and slept, he knew that he would see the accident in his mind and the faces of his two boys when they realized they were going crash into the mountain. And he couldn't stand that, not now.
Daisy was quiet and withdrawn. She had slept but it had not been a restful sleep. In her dreams she kept hearing the boys screaming and the sound of The General Lee crashing. In spite of her own fears and fatigue, she was worried about Uncle Jesse. He was in good health for a man his age but he did have high blood pressure. And she couldn't help but be afraid what would happen to him if the boys didn't make it. The boys and Jesse were the only family she had and she was terrified of losing any of them.
Chapter 5
The next morning the Dukes left as soon as the sun came up. Although they wanted and needed to be with both boys, it was too difficult to make the trip to Atlanta and to Tri County Medical Center both in the same day. So reluctantly, they decided to alternate days, spending one day with Bo and one day with Luke. And this was the day they decided to spend with Luke. Cooter accompanied them determined to see this thing through to the end with them. He was almost like family anyway and now was the time that what was left of the family needed to be together.
At the hospital, they were told they could see Luke one at a time for 5 minutes at a time every two hours but no more than that. There had been no change in his condition.
The doctors were still waiting for the results of some of the tests they had been running and Dr. Malone had told them that he hoped to have some more news for them before the end of the day.
In between visiting Luke, Jesse mostly sat on the sofa and stared at the wall. Daisy paced nervously up and down the halls and Cooter drank enough coffee to keep the vending machine company in business for awhile. It was a long stressful day. Shortly after four PM that afternoon, Dr. Malone asked them all to join him in his office.
Daisy and Jesse sat down in the two chairs facing the doctor's desk while Cooter remained standing behind them. They all waited anxious to hear what the Doctor had to say and tried to brace themselves for the worst.
“There hasn't been a significant change in Luke's condition. He still can't breathe on his own and his vital signs are still erratic. The tests that we have done so far indicate that there is some brain damage but we're not sure just how serious it is yet. What concerns me is that while the machines are keeping him alive at the moment, they don't seem to be doing a very good job. His systems are starting to fail and I think it's only a matter of time before he dies even with the machines.”
Daisy burst out crying. Even though the doctor had warned them from the beginning about the seriousness of Luke's condition, she still wasn't prepared to have the doctor actually say that Luke was dying. Cooter felt his own eyes burning with tears and Jesse stared at the doctor for several long minutes before finally saying,
“So what you're tying to tell us is that there's no hope…we're gonna lose Luke.”
“I'm afraid so….there's only so much we can do. He's just hurt too badly for us to do anything more.” The doctor looked at the family sadly. He could feel their grief and their pain and he knew that there was nothing more he could to make it any easier for them.
“How long?” Jesse demanded gruffly struggling to hold back his tears. He was going to lose his oldest child. The first of the three cousins to come and live with him and Martha.
“There's no way of knowing…it could be a few hours…or maybe a couple of days” The doctor sighed wearily “I'm sorry…I really am. I wish there was more we could do.”
“Can we stay with him?” Jesse asked in a grief stricken voice. “If he's gonna die, I don't want him to have to die alone. He should have his family there.”
“I'll clear it with the nurses and make sure they know that it's alright for the three of you to be there with him.”
“Can you take us to him now?”
The doctor nodded and stood up, ushering them into the hallway. The grief stricken family followed the doctor back into the ICU and to Luke's room. They all pulled up chairs and sat at Luke's side and began the long heartbreaking vigil of waiting for him to die.
Chapter 6
.
Jesse's tired old eyes watched the machines that monitored Luke's vital signs. He didn't know how to read all the dials and fancy gadgets. But he knew that the one machine showed Luke's heartbeat and that as long it was making them lines on the screen, Luke was still alive. A nurse came in every few minutes and wrote something down on her chart, then left. Jesse knew she was reading the information on the different machines but he was afraid to ask her what they said. It was bad enough knowing that Luke was dying he didn't really want to know just how soon.
The doctor had told Jesse that when Luke passed on they would not try to bring him back. They would simply let him go in peace. As he sat there waiting, Jesse let his thoughts drift back to when Luke was a child. He had always been independent and self reliant even at a young age. When Bo and Daisy came to live on the farm too, Luke had become the protective older brother who looked for them and took care of them.
Jesse knew that there were times when Luke resented being the one who had to help watch his younger cousins and keep them out of trouble but he had never complained, at least not to Jesse. And Jesse knew that it was especially hard when Luke was a teenager and wanted to spend time with friends his own age and date girls and Bo wanted to tag along all the time.
Luke never had been the type to open up much about his feelings or his thoughts. It was more his style to think a problem out and try to solve it by himself before asking for help. As they got older, Bo was the only one he'd really open up to.
Luke had been well behaved and usually listened but that didn't mean he didn't get in trouble sometimes. But Jesse never had to take the strap to Luke as much as he did Bo. Jesse used a firm hand raising the boys, he had to them boys of his were both stubborn and strong willed, although Luke always was more level headed where Bo was far more impulsive. Jesse was a strict disciplinarian but the boys knew that he loved them and he knew that they loved him and respected him. They had both grown into fine young men that any father would have been proud of. And now Jesse was losing one of them and the pain was tearing him apart inside.
He glanced over at Daisy and sighed softly. It hadn't been easy for her being the only girl in houseful of men especially after Martha died. But she had learned early on how to run with the boys and be one the gang. She could shoot, she could fish, she could drive and she could hunt just as well as they did. But she could also cook, sew and be totally feminine. He knew how much she would miss Luke. He had been like her older brother, the one she had admired and looked up to. Even as children Luke had shown infinite patience with both Daisy and Bo.
It wasn't supposed to end this way. Luke was supposed to get married and have a family and children of his own. Sons to carry on the Duke name into the next generation.
Even though neither of boys showed any signs of settling down, Jesse knew that they were still young. They would someday but now that day would never come for Luke.
Cooter was lost in thoughts of his own. He and Luke were the same age so they had spent a lot of time together. They'd gone to school together, learned to work on cars together, had their first taste of moonshine together, even dated the same girls now and then. Luke had a sharp mind and a keen sense of humor. He was the most loyal friend a man could ever ask for. Cooter knew he was going to miss him a lot. Losing Luke was going to leave a big hole in Cooter's life.
Shortly after midnight , the monitor that showed Luke's heart rate began to falter. Pausing between beats, then speeding up again. Jesse felt his heart tighten painfully in his chest and a lump climb into his throat. Somehow he knew that it wouldn't be long now. Luke was spending his last hours on earth and with his family. Jesse glanced at Cooter and Daisy without speaking and knew that they sensed that the end was near too.
For the next two hours, they sat there watching as Luke's body slowly gave up the fight. Around three in the morning, the heart monitor went off with a loud alarm as it flat lined. Luke's heart had stopped beating. The nurses and a doctor came rushing into the room even though they knew that Luke was not to be resuscitated. Jesse held his breathe even he knew the outcome as the doctor checked Luke's vital signs. Looking at the family, he shook his sadly. It was over. Luke was gone. Daisy, Jesse and Cooter all started crying without any shame grieving the loss of a man they had all loved.
The room suddenly went quiet as the doctor flipped a couple of switches and shut down the machines. The doctor looked at them solemnly and quietly told them that they could stay with Luke for as long as they wished. They stayed for several minutes before forcing themselves to leave. As he turned to leave, Jesse looked back at Luke and whispered “Rest in peace, son…your aunt Martha will take care of you now.”
Jesse stopped at the nurse's station just long enough to tell the nurse on duty that someone would be contacting the hospital about picking Luke up to bring him back to Hazzard.
Cooter drove slowly back to Hazzard, the soft sound Daisy's sobs filling the air. Jesse had his arm around her trying to comfort her but he looked like he could use some comforting himself. It was almost six in the morning before Cooter pulled into the Duke barnyard. He was startled to see Enos' patrol car parked beside Jesse's pickup. He wondered what Enos was doing there so early in the morning.
As Cooter stopped the jeep and climbed out to help Uncle Jesse and Daisy out of the vehicle, Enos stepped out of his car and slowly walked over to them with his hat in his hands. “Uncle Jesse,” Enos said in a broken voice “The hospital in Tri County has been trying to get hold of you.”
“Bo?' Jesse said, forcing his youngest nephews name out of his throat with some effort. He wasn't up to hearing more bad news right now.
“I'm sorry, Uncle Jesse…” Enos said with tears running down his face “Bo passed on about twenty minutes ago…”
“No!” Daisy screamed, collapsing in Cooter's arms in a dead faint. Jesse staggered back a couple of steps and looked like was ready to collapse himself. Cooter felt as he'd been hit in the gut with sledgehammer. He gathered Daisy into his arms and started to carry her towards the house.
“Wait, “ Enos called after him, heartsick over having to be the one to tell them the news about Bo. “How's Luke?”
Cooter looked back at Enos grimly and said softly “Luke passed away around three o'clock this morning.”
“Oh, my god….no…” Enos said, his tears falling freely as he watched Cooter and Jesse disappear into the house. Enos turned back to his cruiser and slumped in the front seat. He just sat there and cried.
Chapter 7
Jesse went into his bedroom and slowly sank down onto the bed. He was exhausted but sleep was out of the question. He had not one but two funerals to plan and a lot of calls to make. He felt hollow and empty inside, his mind had gone numb. He recognized the signs. His body was operating on automatic pilot so he could do what he needed to do without letting the pain and grief interfere. He'd had the same reaction when his wife, Martha died. He would rest for awhile first and then get started with the necessary arrangements.
Daisy had gone to her room too and threw herself down across the bed crying hysterically. She couldn't believe that Bo and Luke were both gone. She prayed that they hadn't suffered that death had claimed them the minute they hit the mountain. She couldn't stand the thought that either one had felt any pain or realized what was about to happen. And in her heart she knew that the boys had always shared almost a psychic connection sometimes seeming like they could read each others minds and even finishing each other's thoughts. And because of that she believed that Bo had somehow sensed Luke's death and had simply willed himself to die too instead of living without Luke by his side. Now they would always be together though all eternity.
Cooter wandered around the old farmhouse, the rooms so empty and quiet now. It was almost as if the old house sensed that Bo and Luke would never be coming home again. Cooter was beside himself with grief but he knew that it was ten times worse for Jesse and Daisy. He knew that it wouldn't be long before Enos spread the word around town that both of the boys had died. People would start calling soon and stopping by to show their support for the grief stricken family. Cooter picked up the phone and called his cousin, L.B. another close friend of the Duke family.
“Hey, Cooter.” LB said cheerfully when he answered the phone “How's it going?”
“I'm out here at the Duke farm.” Cooter said, his broken voice betraying his emotions. “Tell Aunt Katie and Uncle Charlie that Bo and Luke both passed away this morning.”
“Oh, my god…..How's Uncle Jesse and Daisy doing?” LB asked, his first concern for the remaining members of the Duke family
“They're holding up for now.”
“I'm coming out there. I'll be there in a little bit.” LB said, hanging up the phone so he could tell his own family the tragic news.
By late afternoon, LB was at the farm along with Enos and a several other friends of the family. The womenfolk were cooking and putting away food that was being brought in by the neighbors as the word of the tragedy spread through the community. By late evening, other members of the Duke clan had started to arrive. Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, nieces and nephews. Three of the Duke cousins, Coy, Jeb and Vance Duke, were in the barn setting up makeshift cots for the family members and friends who would be staying at the farm until after the funerals.
Jesse had come out of his bedroom and was surrounded by their friends and family members who were trying to console him as best they could. The problem was most them needed consoling themselves. The tragedy of Bo and Luke's deaths had affected the whole community. A tragedy that could never be made right again.
Unnoticed, Jesse's youngest sister, Pauline, went upstairs and knocked lightly on Daisy's door. She heard a muffled “Come in” and opened the door. Her niece was lying across the bed, her eyes red and swollen from crying. Instinctively, Pauline sat down on the edge of the bed and gathered her favorite niece into her arms. At her Aunt's comforting touch, Daisy began crying again, burying her face against Pauline's shoulder.
“Shhhhh. Hush now, child.” Pauline said softly “We'll get through this the same way us Dukes get through everything else…as a family”
“But part of my family is gone now…” Daisy sobbed
“I know….and sometimes it's real hard to understand why God does some of the things he does…but it's not our place to question why.” All of the Dukes had deep religious beliefs grounded in the southern Baptist faith. Even though at times like this that faith was put to the test.
Pauline glanced up as the bedroom door opened and Jesse looked into the room. He seemed relieved to see Pauline there. She was not only his baby sister, she was also his favorite sister. “How's Daisy doing?” he asked quietly
“She'll be fine. I'll stay here with her.” Pauline told him “How are you, Jess?”
“I'll be alright.” Jesse said a bit too gruffly. He wasn't fooling Pauline any. She knew how much he was grieving right now. Jesse had suffered so many major losses in his life. Both of their parents when he was only 20, leaving him as the oldest to help raise 8 younger brothers and 3 sisters, the youngest child only eight years old. His three oldest brothers, (Daisy's father, Luke's father and Bo's father) one sister, and his own wife Martha and now both Bo and Luke. It was more than any one man should have to endure in his lifetime. Those boys and Daisy were Jesse's pride and joy. But Jesse was still a Duke. Somehow he would endure this loss too.Jesse nodded and shut the door, going back downstairs to the gathering of friends and family who had come together to share their grief and their memoires.
As the evening wore on, Cooter stood by the kitchen counter sipping on Jesse's finest. He watched the folks come and go and listened the sound of voices and an occasional laugh from the other room. And Cooter just got drunker. Finally Coy noticed how much Cooter was drinking and helped him out to the barn where he could lie down and sleep it off.
I'm sorry that I killed the boys but that's just the way this story came out and believe me I cried the whole time I was writing it! But at least I can bring ‘em back to life in my next story.