| A Matter of Life or Death Part I |
| It was a lazy summer afternoon. Bo and Luke had spent the better part of the afternoon at the swimming hole, lazing in the cool water, basking in the warm sun, and making love in the shade. It had been about as idyllic a day as either of them could remember. Bo had just crawled out of the water and was stretched out in the grass letting the sun dry him off. He knew Luke was watching him from the pond, and that knowledge was turning him on. He could feel his dick getting hard, knew that soon it would be pointing straight up to the sky, begging Luke to come out of the water and join him. He kept his eyes closed, enjoying the warmth, and the pleasant feeling of being aroused, and the anticipation of waiting for Luke. At last, he heard the soft sounds of the water as Luke climbed out, no longer able to resist the temptation. Any moment now he�d feel Luke�s hand on him, stroking him teasingly. Any moment now � �Ouch!� Luke�s exclamation of pain wasn�t what he was expecting, and his eyes flew open and quickly focused on his cousin. Luke was limping painfully toward their blanket in the shade. Bo sat up, worried. �Luke � you ok?� Luke practically fell onto the blanket. Bo ran to him, fear rising in his chest. �Luke?� �Bo � bee �� Luke gasped out. His face was flushed red, and looked to be swelling up. Bo picked up Luke�s foot, the arch already swelling outward. A bee stinger was still embedded there, still pumping it�s venom into Luke. With trembling fingers, Bo pulled it out and angrily tossed it aside as the memories flooded him� It had been a summer day like this when they were kids. Luke had been about 11 or 12 years old. They had been playing just outside the farmhouse when Luke had fallen and landed right on a bee. Naturally, he�d gotten stung. Now no kid likes being stung, but Luke had reacted really badly. His face had gotten all swollen, and he had trouble breathing. Luckily they�d been close by the house, and Uncle Jesse had called Doc Appleby who had come out and brought some medicine. Luke had been real sick for a couple of days after that. And ever since then they�d been really careful about bee stings. Luke was allergic, so what would be merely painful for Bo or Daisy might kill him. Since then, they�d always kept some of that medicine in the back of the refrigerator; Doc Appleby gave them a new bottle every spring to make sure it was still fresh. They�d never had to use it since. Bo realized he had to get Luke back to the house, and fast, and give him a shot of that medicine. He�d been shown how every summer while they were growing up when the Doc brought the new bottle out, But it had been several years since he�d seen it done, and he was terrified of needles himself. He�d always prayed that if it happened, Uncle Jesse or Daisy would be around to give Luke the shot. But he�d kind of always known that the way they were always together, it would end up being him. He shook himself into action, kneeling beside Luke. He was still breathing, but Bo could tell it was labored. His face was definitely swelling up, and he was starting to shake. Bo reached out and gently rubbed Luke�s arm. �Luke? Love, can you get up?� Luke moaned softly and looked up at Bo with fear in his soft blue eyes. He couldn�t talk, his tongue was swelling up too, so he just gave a feeble shake of his head. Bo had never been so afraid in his life. He�d thought he�d been afraid when he was blind. But that was nothing compared to the fear of losing Luke. The only hope was to get him back home, fast. So Bo bent down and picked Luke up, throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman�s carry. He carried Luke up the hill to where the General Lee was parked. Luke was still just barely conscious, and able to help him a little in getting Luke in through the window. Bo ran around to the driver�s side and leaped in, scalding his naked butt on the hot vinyl seat, but at the moment not noticing the pain. He drove full tilt the couple of miles back to the house, coming to a screeching stop right in front of the door. �Uncle Jesse! Daisy!� he called anxiously as he ran around the car. When nobody answered, he spared a few seconds for a glance around. Daisy�s jeep was gone; probably she and Jesse had gone into town for something. �Damn!� The swear word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. // You�ve got to do it, Bo. Do it for Luke! // His hands were shaking as he reached in through the window to grab Luke�s unconscious body, slinging it again over his shoulder. Once inside, he set Luke down on the couch and ran into the kitchen. Throwing open the fridge, he began rooting around, trying to find the small bottle of life-saving drug. He lost frightening minutes searching until his fingers finally found the small carton. A syringe in a sterile pack was taped to the box with the drug inside. He tore open the box, dumping the small glass bottle into his hands. The top of it was sealed with a piece of rubber. He stared at the syringe, his stomach twisting in fear. He had to do this, had to draw the drug into the syringe and stick it into Luke. God, how he hated needles! // I can�t do this! // he thought beginning to panic. //It�s for LUKE! // he reminded himself. //You�ve GOT to. // Somehow he found the courage to tear open the sterile pack and take out the syringe. His hands shook as he followed the instructions that had been drilled into him as a child. Push in the plunger to get all the air out. Stick the needle in through that rubber top on the bottle. Draw the plunger back until the liquid half filled the syringe. Take it out of the bottle. He stood there, holding the loaded syringe, and almost fainted at the sight of the needle. He�d done that before, but today he just couldn�t afford to. If he failed, Luke would die. So somehow he held himself together and stumbled over to the couch. Luke�s face was terribly swollen now, all red and blotchy. Bo wasn�t sure he was breathing. He forced his hands to be steady as he brought the needle close to Luke�s arm. Just like the sting itself, the drug just had to be injected under the skin; he didn�t need to find a vein, which was a good thing. He got it into Luke�s arm and pushed the plunger. As he pulled it out, a drop of blood formed over the hole, but that was all. More than anything, he wanted to collapse, to break down and cry, but he still wasn�t sure Luke was breathing. So he threw the syringe across the room and bent over Luke, checking for breath. There was none. He pried Luke�s mouth open and saw that his swollen tongue was in the way. He bent down, wrapping his own mouth over Luke�s, using his tongue to keep Luke�s out of the way as he breathed into Luke�s lungs. He kept it up for a couple of minutes as the drug took effect. As the swelling went down, Luke began breathing on his own again. Finally, Bo was free to sink down onto the floor, his head resting against Luke�s chest, sobbing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ �Looks like the boys are back!� Daisy observed cheerfully as she and Jesse got out of the jeep, arms laden with grocery bags. Jesse chuckled. �I hope they had a good time. They�ve been workin� real hard lately, they deserved a break.� When Jesse opened the door, the first thing he heard was Bo�s sobs. Worried, he ran into the living room and found them there, both of them buck naked. Luke appeared to be unconscious on the couch, and Bo was leaning on him, crying as if he�d lost his lover � �Bo? What�s wrong, son? Is Luke �?� Bo looked up, realizing that Uncle Jesse must be assuming the worst. �He got stung, Uncle Jesse. I � I gave him the shot � � Jesse came over to Luke�s side, reaching down to feel for a pulse, and seeing that Luke was actually breathing. He turned to Daisy, who was standing in the doorway, shock on her face, whether at Luke�s condition or the boys� nakedness, he wasn�t sure. �Daisy, child. Call Doc Appleby. Get him out here right away.� That shook Daisy out of her frozen state. �Yes, sir,� she said meekly, making a beeline for the phone in the kitchen. Jesse, now that he was sure all had been done for Luke that could be, turned to Bo, pulling the boy close. �It�s ok, Bo. He�s gonna be all right. You did good, getting him back here so fast. And I know how much ya hate needles �� Bo nodded into Jesse�s shoulder, grateful for the strong arms supporting him right now. He knew he couldn�t really relax, couldn�t believe Luke would be alright, until he heard it from the Doc. But there was something reassuring about Jesse�s embrace, something he hadn�t really felt for many years. He felt like a little boy again, safe in his daddy�s arms. Finally his tears quieted. Daisy reappeared in the doorway. �Doc Appleby is on his way out here. He said to make sure to keep Luke warm, so I brought a blanket �� Since Jesse was occupied with Bo, she came in and gently draped it over Luke, trying hard not to stare where she shouldn�t be looking, then hastily making her exit. Once Bo had calmed, Jesse helped him up from the floor. �Left your clothes out at the swimmin� hole, I�d guess?� Bo suddenly realized he was standing in the middle of the living room buck naked. His face soon rivaled Luke�s rash-induced redness. �Yes, sir,� Bo muttered meekly. Jesse chuckled, knowing Bo was expecting a reprimand. �You did good, son. You needed to get him here as quickly as possible. But now I think it�s time you got some clothes on?� Bo nodded and went back to the bedroom to dig out another pair of jeans. But as he pulled on his underwear, he got an unpleasant surprise. �Yeouch!� he yelped, spinning around, trying to see his backside and looking like a dog chasing it�s tail. He stripped off the underwear and ran down to Daisy�s bedroom which had a full length mirror. His backside was quite red, and he suddenly recognized the shock of pain he�d felt when he�d sat down in the General. Jesse came running when he�d heard Bo�s yelp of pain. �Bo? What�s wrong?� Shamefaced, Bo stuck his head out of Daisy�s room, hiding the rest of him behind the door. �Let�s just say I don�t recommend driving naked, Uncle Jesse � I kind of burned my backside on the vinyl seat � I�d bet Luke�s in the same condition, although he�s not noticing it at the moment �� Now, Jesse felt for Bo�s pain, he really did. But there was just something inherently funny about the situation that he just couldn�t help laughing. He tried, but he just couldn�t keep it inside. When he could finally contain his laughter, he looked up to see Bo glaring at him, but a grin was teasing at his lips too. �All, right, all right, you�ve had your fun at my expense. Now can you get me some burn cream or somethin�?� Jesse went into the bathroom and came out with a jar of burn salve. Then he went into the boys� room and retrieved Bo�s pajama pants, figuring that was likely to be the softest thing around. Returning to Daisy�s room where Bo was hiding, he handed Bo the pajamas and just said �Bend over, son.� Bo leaned over the dresser as Jesse applied the cool cream to his reddened skin. Not only his behind, but a couple of spots on his back as well. He�d have been able to lean forward while driving, instinctively protecting himself from the hot seat, but Luke hadn�t been able to do that. He�d have to have the Doc check that out too. Satisfied that he�d gotten all the burns, Jesse lightly patted Bo�s shoulder. �All done. Why don�t you go lie down for a bit and let that cool off?� Bo shook his head. �Not until the Doc says Luke is gonna be ok �� Jesse sighed and nodded. He should have known. Even before they�d become lovers, Bo and Luke had always been devoted to each other. They heard a car driving up. �That should be the Doc now. Come on, then, get dressed.� Jesse left, giving Bo a bit of much-needed privacy. Pulling the soft flannel over his tender skin, Bo hissed in pain a couple of times. But it didn�t seem too bad. It was indeed Doc Appleby. By the time Bo joined them in the living room, the Doc was checking Luke�s pulse and breathing. There was still visible swelling, but to Bo�s eyes it was half of what it had been. The Doc nodded and turned to the anxiously waiting Dukes. �He�s going to be fine. Bo, you did a very good job getting him here, giving him that shot. It saved his life.� Hearing the words was more than Bo�s strained nerves could take. �Thank god �� he gasped out as tears once again streamed down his face. This time Daisy came to him, putting one arm around him, holding him. �He�s not actually unconscious now, just sleeping. I�ve given him a shot to keep him asleep for a while to let his body heal. Keep him warm, and when he wakes up, he�ll have to take it easy for a couple of days. This has put a tremendous strain on his body.� The Doc looked at Bo. �I know you�ll take good care of him �� �Yes, sir, I most certainly will �� Bo managed between the tears. �We all will, Doc,� Jesse and Daisy chimed in. Appleby smiled, knowing how much the Dukes meant to each other. More than some parents with their born children. And especially the two boys. Truthfully, he hadn�t been all that surprised when their secret had come out. He�d watched them since they had been little, and knew there was a bond between Bo and Luke that was unlike anything else he�d ever seen. As he gathered his medical bag together, Jesse cleared his throat, as if hinting that there was something else. Bo was suddenly blushing furiously. Appleby turned to Jesse. �Jesse? Is there something else?� Frowning at Bo�s stubbornness, Jesse told him about the burns. Daisy left the room so Bo could drop his pants and let the Doc examine him, and then he and Bo gently lifted Luke up so he could check Luke�s back. �Well, they certainly look painful, but it�s nothing dangerous. Just first degree burns, shouldn�t even blister.� He fished around in his bag and drew out a vial of pills. �If you need something for the pain, take one of these every 6 hours or so. Luke will probably need one when he wakes up. Bo, I�d spend the rest of the afternoon with cool compresses if you can.� Jesse thanked the Doc and walked him out to his car, leaving Bo finally alone with Luke. He knelt down beside the couch and gently stroked Luke�s puffy face. �I love you, Lukas. Don�t you ever do that to me again! Don�t you dare leave me!� He bent down and tenderly kissed the swollen lips, running his hand through Luke�s thick dark hair. He was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder; he must have zoned out for a bit, because Uncle Jesse was back, the Doctor�s car had left and he hadn�t even heard it. �You�ve had a rough day, Bo. Why don�t we get Luke into your bed, and you can lay down with him for a while?� Jesse said gently. Together they gathered Luke up and carried him back to the bedroom they�d shared almost all their lives. They got Luke settled, and Bo crawled in beside him. Daisy brought them a couple of towels soaked in cold water, and one of the pills Doc had left, which Bo swallowed gratefully before letting Jesse cover his aching backside with one of the deliciously cool towels. With Luke sleeping peacefully beside him, and his own pain diminishing, he soon fell into a peaceful sleep. Continue on to Part II Send me some feedback Back to the Dukes Home Back to Jade Palace Home Disclaimer: I don't own them, just borrowing them for fun, not profit. |
| And then KKDuke posted a challenge to reverse the roles, and have Luke be the hurt one. How would Bo react? |