blind1

Blind Man's Bluff

It was a typical early spring day in Hazzard County, GA. The sun was shining brightly, flowers were blooming, and young men's fancy turned to thoughts of love. Oh, yeah, and Sheriff Rosco was chasin' the Duke boys. Wait, that could be any season �

Anyhow, one thing that comes with spring is rain showers. And rain showers leave puddles where you least expect them. Now, here comes the General Lee tearin' up the road, with Rosco in hot pursuit. And up ahead on the curve, Bo is plannin' on takin' a sharp left turn. Can you see where this is goin'?

Just as Bo pulls hard to the left to out-maneuver old Rosco, the tires skid in the mud. Bo tries to counter the skid, but it don't work, and the General whips around and slams the driver's side right into that big old hickory tree.

Rosco pulled the police car to a stop and got out, giggling. "He he he � I got them Duke boys now!" He made his way toward the General Lee, eager to claim his prize.

Luke shook his head, stunned by the sudden impact. "Bo? You ok?"

There was no answer. Worriecd, Luke turned to see Bo slumped against the dented-in door, eyes closed, blood running down the left side of his face. Luke's heart nearly stopped seeing his lover like that. He reached out a trembling hand, wiping some of the blood away.

"Bo? Oh, God, Bo! No, no �!" Fear wrapped itself around his heart as he felt Bo's cold, clammy skin. He knew he had to get Bo to a hospital. But how?

Just then Rosco appeared at the window, still laughing. "Well, now, let's see what we got here. Speedin', reckless driving, destruction of private property �"

As Rosco ticked off his list of real and imaginary infractions, the fear and anger surged up in Luke. He turned to Rosco and grabbed him by the necktie. "Shut up, Rosco. Bo's hurt. We gotta get him to the hospital, now!"

Rosco was surprised by the intensity in Luke's eyes and the strength of the grasp that held him.

"Wha? Whoa there, Luke! You just let go of me or we'll add assaulting an officer of the law!"

Luke's blue eyes looked as cold as ice. "Get the hell out of the way, Rosco. NOW!"

Rosco got. Luke crawled out of the passenger door and ran around the car to cradle Bo's head. He looked up at the startled Sheriff and growled, "You just gonna stand there or are you gonna help me get him out?"

After a few beats, Rosco realized that Bo was really hurt bad. Now Rosco may be a crooked cop, and playing the occasional nasty trick on the Dukes in an attempt to get them behind bars was one thing. But this was serious. And so somehow, between the two of them, they got Bo out of the General and into the back seat of Rosco's cruiser. Luke sat behind Rosco so he couldn't be seen, gently cradling Bo's head in his lap, and fighting back tears.

// Don't you go and die on me, Bo! Not now, not after we finally found each other! // He didn't dare say the words aloud, but it was all but killing him to keep them in. There was so much blood � some part of him was vaguely aware that scalp wounds bled a lot even when there wasn't much damage, but the fact that Bo wouldn't wake up scared him like nothing ever had before. And so he sat there in the back of the police cruiser, sirens blaring, praying that Bo would be all right.

After what felt like an eternity, Rosco pulled the car up in front of the Emergency Room at the hospital. Rosco went in to get a gurney as Luke got out, lifting Bo in his arms and carrying him in. Just as he was putting Bo down on the gurney, his cousin's eyes fluttered open.

"Luke?" Bo's voice was weak and confused.

That beloved voice was a gift from God as far as Luke was concerned. Tears spilled down his cheeks as he gently caressed Bo's face. "I'm right here, love."

Bo's hands flailed, trying to find him. "Wh � why's it so dark?"

Before Luke could respond, an orderly pushed him away. "You have to let the doctor see him."

Luke was left standing outside as Bo was taken into an examining room. Angry, he turned around and ran right into Rosco.

"Dang it, Rosco! This is all your fault! If you hadn't've been chasing us �"

Now truthfully, Rosco was feelin' kind of bad about the whole thing. But there was no way he was going to let Luke know that.

"Now see here, Luke! I'm gonna forgive that outburst in light of how Bo's hurt and all. But you'd better back off right now!"

Something in Rosco's tone got through to Luke, and he realized he'd better let up. He let go of the Sheriff and took a deep, shuddering breath. Not wanting to fall apart in front of Rosco, Luke just nodded. "I gotta call Uncle Jesse �"

Rosco just nodded and moved aside, watching as Luke strode down the hall toward the pay phone in the waiting area.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bo felt absolutely miserable. He had woken up in Luke's arms, hurt and confused but at least feeling safe. But then Luke had been sent away, and he was rolled into this place, whatever it was, alone. His left shoulder ached, he felt all cold and clammy and his stomach was tryin' it's best to offload lunch. But worst of all was the darkness. He kept blinking, hard, trying to clear whatever was blocking his vision, but nothing worked. He was starting to get really scared when finally he heard somebody come into the room.

"OK, let's see what we've got." The voice was cold, detached, clinical. Bo felt hands wiping the blood from his face. Blood, that must be it; he must have blood in his eyes.

"Doc? I think some of that blood got in my eyes � can you wash it out so's I can see?"

There was a pause that went on just a little too long. "What's your name?"

"Bo. Bo Duke."

"Ah. OK, Bo. I'm going to rinse your eyes out now."

Bo felt the doctor's hands continuing to work around his eyes. He tried real hard to keep them open as the doctor poured some liquid into them, then wiped it away. He blinked, but still couldn't see.

"Is that any better?"

"N � no sir �" Fear was beginning to creep into his voice. He felt the doctor's hand take hold of his chin, lifting his face while the other hand held open one eye. A disembodied grunt came from somewhere, he assumed the doctor.

"Bo, can you sit up for me?"

Bo tried to comply, but his stomach had other ideas. The movement sent it lurching, and before he knew it he was losing his lunch.

"Nurse! Bedpan!"

Bo groaned as he heaved. Then a pair of cool, gentle hands was wiping his face clean and easing him back down to the gurney.

The doctor returned and once again held his eyes open. "Bo, you've got a concussion, that's why you're feeling so sick. I want you to just lie there and relax while I check the rest of you out, ok?"

"Yes sir �" Bo was feeling absolutely miserable, sick, scared, cold. Could the concussion be what was keeping him from seeing, or was there something else? What he wanted more than anything in that moment was to feel Luke's arms around him. That would make it all ok.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luke sat in the waiting room, head bowed, tension evident in every inch of his body. Jesse and Daisy rushed across the empty room to him. Daisy flung her arms around him, holding him close. Jesse's hand rested on his back.

"Luke, what happened?" Daisy's voice was almost squeaky with fear.

"Rosco was chasin' us, as usual. But comin' around that bend up by Sheppard's creek, Bo tried to take that sharp left to lose him, and I think we hit a puddle or somethin', cause the car just spun around, slamming Bo right into a big old hickory tree.�

Jesse kept his voice soft. "How bad is it?"

Luke shook his head. "I don't know, Uncle Jesse. He was unconscious till just after we got here. And when he woke up, he asked why it was so dark �"

Jesse frowned. "Dark? It ain't dark in here."

Luke tried to swallow the fear that clutched at his throat. "He was flailing around, trying to find me. Uncle Jesse, I think he couldn't see!"

The fear and pain in Luke's eyes doubled the feelings those words gave Jesse. He knew this was torture to Luke. But before he could come up with something reassuring to say, a nurse came down the hall.

"Are you Luke Duke?"

Luke pulled away from them, nodding. "Yes, ma'am."

"Come with me."

Jesse and Daisy followed, but let Luke enter first. Bo lay on the gurney, his favorite yellow shirt covered in blood. His head was bandaged. At the sound of the door he called out, "Luke? Is that you?"

It was obvious from the way he kept looking around that he really couldn't see. Luke rushed to his side, taking his hand. "I'm right here, Bo." It was all he could do to keep from bending down and gently kissing Bo's forehead. But the doctor was still there, writing something on his clipboard.

"We're all here, Bo." Jesse's voice came from behind him. Daisy reached down and squeezed his arm.

Before things could get too emotional, the doctor looked up from his clipboard. Taking in the situation, he turned to Jesse, the obvious patriarch. "Bo here took a nasty hit to the head. We put in a couple of stitches on that cut. He's got a concussion, and there's some swelling of the optic nerve. I think once that swelling goes down, his vision should return. Otherwise, he's fine. Mighty lucky with that hit nothing got broken, just some bruises. Take him home and make sure he gets lots of rest. "

Luke looked up, stunned at the doctor's quick dismissal. "Wait a minute! We ain't been here an hour yet! Don't you have to do some tests or something?"

The doctor raised an eyebrow; he'd been expecting that outburst from the father. "With that optic nerve swollen like that, tests wouldn't show anything if there was anything to show. Which there probably isn�t. But if there is, it'll have to wait for the swelling to go down for us to see it. So, if his vision doesn't return in a week or so, bring him back in. Until then, I can't do anything else."

And at that, he left.

"That boy needs to learn a bit about bedside manner �" Jesse grumbled.

Now that they were alone, Luke reached out to gently touch Bo's face. "Bo? How're you doin?"

Luke's touch and voice did more for Bo than all the doctor's ministrations. "Not so good, Luke."

"That's the concussion, son," Jesse said. "You feel up to getting up on your feet?"

Bo could think of a number of things that sounded more pleasant, such as hitting his head against the wall. But if it was a case of getting up or not going home, well, getting up would have to be it. The nurse had given him something that had quieted his stomach at least a bit. "I'm not sure, Uncle Jesse �"

Hesitantly, he sat up. Luke slipped in right beside him, one arm wrapped around his waist, supporting him. Again, Luke's touch alone was enough to give him the courage to continue, so he turned and swung his legs off the bed. With Luke's help, soon he was on his feet, swaying unsteadily.

"Easy, Bo, I've got you." Luke held on tight, realizing just how shaky Bo really was. "You ok?"

Bo just stood there for a moment soaking in the feeling of Luke's body pressed so close to him. It was disorienting, standing there with his eyes wide open but not seeing anything. He knew he would've been scared out of his mind if it weren't for Luke. Finally, he nodded.

"Yeah, I'll make it. Let's go home, please?"

Bo could feel somebody standing close on his other side, Jesse from the bulk of it, hovering close but not quite touching, just in case. He let Luke lead him away.

"Luke? What happened to the General?"

"I left it back where we crashed; was a bit too worried about you. Don't worry, I'll call Cooter and have him come pick 'er up."

As they approached the battered white pickup, Jesse frowned. "Bo? I think you'd better ride up front with me; Luke and Daisy can ride in back."

Bo clutched at Luke. "No, Uncle Jesse, please. I'd rather stay with Luke �"

Jesse shook his head, but a penetrating look from Luke convinced him it was useless to argue. So instead he just let down the tailgate. Luke reluctantly let go of Bo long enough scramble up into the bed of the truck, moving things out of the way to clear a space for them.

"OK, Bo, why don't you just sit down there on the tailgate and I'll help you in, ok?"

Bo nodded and reached out to find the gate. Jesse and Daisy helped him perch on the edge, and then Luke's arms were there again, guiding him. The two of them got situated, with Luke's arms wrapped protectively around Bo, as Jesse and Daisy got in up front.

They didn't say much on the ride home; Bo was just happy to feel Luke's arms around him. The truck came to a stop, and Luke helped him get out.

"Come on, Bo, let's get you back to bed. You need to rest."

Much to everybody's surprise, Bo didn't argue. That pill the nurse had given him must have had something in it to make him sleepy. Luke led him back to their bedroom, closing the door behind him. Bo reached for him, needing to be held. "Luke?"

Luke pulled him close, feeling his cousin's body trembling. "Easy, Bo, easy. I've gotcha. Don't worry, I'm right here."

Bo didn't say anything, just held on tight. After a while he loosened his hold and sighed. "I'm so tired ..."

Luke leaned in and kissed him gently. "Come on, then. Let's get you out of them bloody clothes and you can lie down for a while, OK?"

Bo nodded meekly and let Luke undress him, doing the minimum necessary to help. Then Luke was guiding him down to the bed, pulling the covers up over him. A gentle kiss landed on his cheek as Luke caressed his hair. "You rest, now, ok?"

Bo couldn't imagine doing anything else. There was just one thing ...

"Luke? Stay with me?"

Bo's voice was weak with fear and sleepiness. Luke's shirt and jeans had already joined Bo's on the floor. He walked around the bed, slipping in under the covers, wrapping his warmth around Bo, gently kissing his neck. "Like anybody could keep me away?"

With Luke beside him, Bo stopped fighting the drug and in moments he was sound asleep. But Luke stayed with him, unwilling just yet to let go himself. He had been so afraid out there, afraid that Bo wasn't going to wake up at all. Now that he had him back, he wasn't about to let go. His hands caressed Bo's hair, the left side matted with blood. Luke wished he could somehow get it off Bo without waking him. He wanted to clean away the reminders of what had happened. But for now, sleep was the best thing for Bo, so he let him sleep.

He tried to imagine what it would be like to wake up and not be able to see. He knew Bo was scared, but he also knew his cousin would do his best to not let anyone know it. Luke made a silent promise to himself to do all he could to ease Bo's fears.

He just lay there watching Bo sleep until there was a soft knock at the door, followed by Daisy's voice. "Luke, honey? Supper's ready, if y'all want some."

Luke really wasn't all that hungry, but he knew he'd need to keep his strength up to help Bo through the next couple of days. So he reluctantly slipped away from Bo's sleeping form and crept quietly out of the room.

Continue on to Chapter 2

Send me some feedback

Back to the Other Fandoms Index

Back to Jade Palace Home

Disclaimer: I don't own them, just borrowing them for fun, not profit.