A/N Final chapter!! Wow, I never thought this was where this story was gonna end... But, here ya have it. It was a great experience ta write about something so close to me, so this story was kinda personal too. Anywas, I hope y'all liked it, I'm already working on my next story. It's called Bulletproof Dukes, and like always the Dukes get into trouble again. However the trouble is a little more serious then they are used to...

Thanks for all the people who kept reviewing my story, you keep me writing! Well, enjoy!

13

The voices kept getting louder and louder, but they didn't make any sense. The words where jumbled and he couldn't make a sentence from them if his life had depended on it.

"Bo… Luke… Wake… Awright… Thug… Enos… Bloodloss… Drain…Uncle Jesse…"

But even if the words didn't make any sense, the voices did. And one of the voices was a voice he had thought never to hear again…

"Bo…"

The croaked voice resounded through the hospital room, making the occupants glance towards the source.

The voices stopped as Luke tried to open his eyes. God his body felt heavy…

Cracking open one eye, the only things he saw was a blurry whiteness and a figure standing next to him. Was he still in that whiteness? Was his mom still there?

"Mom?" he mumbled, trying to get the figure into focus as his other eye opened too.

"Son, it's yur uncle Jesse. Jus' take it easy…" the person spoke, and the voice made it clear to Luke that it wasn't his mom.

Blinking twice the colors stopped swirling and the room started to take shape. A hospital room?

"Uncle Jesse?" he asked, seeing the white-haired man standing next to him holding his hand.

Jesse noticed the confusion on his nephew's face, calming him down with a firm hold on his hand.

"Easy Luke, yur in the hospital now."

Realization dawned on Luke the moment his mind started clearing up again.

"Macky?"

"He's been put under arrest. It's over son…" Jesse mumbled, stroking the hand he was holding.

Sighing deeply Luke closed his eyes for a minute, wishing the nauseating feeling would disappear.

"I feel sick…" he croaked as Jesse made him take a small sip of water.

Setting the cup down, Jesse nodded, "Well, that's ta be expected with a concussion like that. Ya really hit yur head hard Luke."

"Good thing ya have a hard head cousin…"

The words were spoken with a soft voice, the light tone not reflecting in the scratchiness of the voice. But Luke would recognize that voice everywhere, even though he had expected never to hear it again…

"Bo?" he whispered, sitting up, but regretting that motion when his world started to spin again. Uncle Jesse's hand helped him up a bit, causing the stitches in his shoulder to protest, but none of that mattered to him. The only one that mattered was his cousin.

As his vision cleared up once again, he saw where that voice had come from.

There was another bed in the room, not far away from him. Wires were attached to the bed, and to the person lying in it, but the person was awake.

"But how…" Luke stuttered, "Ya were… coma…"

The relief which flooded him was overwhelming. Bo was there, and he was alright. But still…

"How?"

Bo chuckled slightly, wincing as his entire abdomen flared up in pain.

"Never thought ta see you at loss for words cuz…" he said before turning his head again, his brow furrowed at the pain still coursing through his head.

Jesse walked over to the other bed, patting his other nephew's hand.

"You take it easy now Bo, ya just woke up, and if it wasn't for our good friend Harley, ya wouldn't even be able to share a room. So rest now."

Turning over to Luke, he started explaining.

"Ya were knocked out for a day. Thankfully the drain they put in Bo's head," this earned him a slight snort from the person in question, "it worked," Jesse continued.

"He woke up jus' minutes before you…" he let the sentence linger as he pondered his own words.

"Hmmm, that's the first time I ever used that sentence," he said seriously, earning himself a chuckle from Luke and another snort from Bo.

Turning serious again, he slowly walked over the door, "I'll git the nurse, an' then I'm gonna go inform Daisy bout you two. She's about ready ta take on every nurse in this hospital if she ain't git ta see ya," Jesse chuckled as he left the room, leaving the two boys alone, in silence.

That silence only lasted for a minute, cause even though he had a headache from hell, Bo was curious as ever, and needed to know what had happened when he had been out of it.

"So… Ya really back now?"

"Well," Luke said, a twinkle in his tired eyes, "I look like I'm goin' somewhere soon?"

This didn't faze Bo in the slightest, he had to know…

When Bo kept silent, Luke turned serious, and even though his throbbing shoulder wasn't cooperating, he sat up as far as he could.

"Yeah, I'm back now… Sorry 'bout that whole mess…" he looked down, suddenly ashamed of his behavior the last two weeks.

Bo saw this, and he knew the last thing his cousin needed right now was another bout of guilt.

"No need ta be sorry cuz, ya needed ta git through that, an' ya did. I'm jus' glad ya remembered where ya belonged."

"Yeah, right next ta you an' Daisy in a hospital right? How can ya say that Bo?" Luke asked, not understanding how Bo could forgive so easily, "I left y'all, an' look what happened! If I'd a been there that night…"

"Then what?" Bo asked, getting an angry gleam in his eyes as he slowly turned his aching body towards Luke, "There was nothin' ya could 've done Luke. If ya'd a been there ya would 've been hurt yourself. That what ya wanted, huh? Ya wanted ta lie there, underneath the rubble, not bein' able ta breath or see, only feelin pain in yur entire body?" he rasped, chest heaving as the emotions tried to free themselves.

"Bo…" Luke's calm voice found its way through the panic coming back to him.

"Bo, I'm sorry-,"

"Stop sayin' that!"

The sentence echoed through the small room, and Luke was worried a nurse would hear them and separate them. Silence followed though.

A tear found its way down Bo's cheek as he tried to calm himself down.

"Ya know what?" Bo asked suddenly, his voice soft, "When I was fallin', an' when I felt the rubble come down on me, the only thing I could think was that I was glad you wasn't there…"

"Bo…"

"No, lemme finish. I was glad ya wasn't there, cause I knew ya would be okay, an' somehow, I knew ya was gonna make sure me an' Daisy was gonna be okay. I never lost faith in ya cuz…" Bo ended, suddenly feeling very tired.

Luke blinked misty eyes, trying to swallow the large lump which had settled itself in his throat. Clearing it with a soft cough Luke held out one uninjured hand towards the bed next to him.

And even though his eyes were almost closed, Bo took it, not caring about the pain it caused his beaten body. Two hands, coming together in the middle, clinging to each other, like they had always done.

Luke couldn't help but think, nothing had changed. He still felt the same power surge through him as the two drew strength from each other.

Sensing Bo was about to fall asleep again, he knew there was something he had to say.

"I'm really glad I came back cuz, cause this is where I belong…"

The final words were whispered, as sleep claimed his tired body too.

And that was how uncle Jesse and a wheelchair-bound Daisy found the boys. Both asleep, with their hands entwined in between their beds. They looked peaceful.

Sitting down next to Daisy, Jesse took her hand, tears glistening in his eyes.

"Things 'll be alright now… Things 'll be alright…"

Now ain't that a sight for sore eyes? I'll tell ya, I'm glad I decided ta look again, cause otherwise I'd a missed this joyful reunion… An' don't y'all want ta watch this forever? Let's sit back and relax, cause things like this don't always last that long with the Dukes…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Two weeks later

The Dukefarm was quiet in the early morning light. The smell of coffee filled the little farmhouse, as the Duke men came in from their morning chores, talking softly in animated voices.

"Ya should take it easy Bo, that arm isn't healed by a long shot, ya know?"

Swinging his plastered arm around Luke's shoulder, Bo smiled a bit as his cousin cringed ever so slightly.

"An' yur sayin' that with a sore shoulder, which isn't completely healed, huh?" he said, as the two made their way inside.

Sitting down for breakfast, they welcomed their uncle, coming back from the barn, while Daisy put the things on the table.

Bowing their heads, Jesse gently slapped Bo's good hand as it was about to reach for a piece of toast.

"Dear Lord, this morning I want ta say a special thanks… I want ta thank ya for keepin' this family tagether, an' for giving us the strength ta git past old wrongs…"

Lifting his head, he made eye contact with each and every family-member sitting at the table, "An' I also want ta say a prayer for the people who aren't here, may you forgive them their mistakes, like we did. Amen."

A soft Amen could be heard from every Duke sitting at the table, and surprisingly it was Luke who started speaking again after a minute of silence.

"Alright, let's eat!"

Smiling brightly, Bo didn't need someone to tell him that twice, as he filled his plate, while the others laughed at his hunger.

Looking up with an innocent look on his face, Bo found all the Dukes laughing, and he had a feeling the joke was on him.

"What? I'm still growin…"

"If yur still growin, we need a bigger house…" Luke bantered.

"Well, I can't help it you stopped growin years ago…" Bo continued.

Jesse could only smile as he watched his nephews banter, while his niece played referee by keeping them from going at each other.

Everything was right on the Dukefarm again. He only wondered how long this peace was gonna last.

The siren outside answered his question. Trouble had already found them again. Probably in the form of Boss Hogg and his crooked schemes.

Sighing softly he started eating, still smiling broadly.

It was gonna be just another day on the Dukefarm

Ahh, don't y'all jus' love the sound of sirens in the mornin'?
So there ya have it. Things are back ta normal in our favorite little town. The sheriff is as crooked as always, the boys are bantering, an' Jesse an' Daisy are tryin ta keep things from escalating.

I'll see y'all next time, cause we all know, the Dukes an' trouble are tighter then a fox and his chickens… Y'all come back now, ya hear?