Author's Note: This is my very first public writing ever, fan fiction or anything else, so feedback is welcome and appreciated. I'm open to suggestions and honesty, as long as it's not nasty. Special thanks to H.G. Stewart for all her help in getting me to this point.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dukes, and no infringements of any kind are intended. This is for entertainment purposes only.

POT SHOTS

CHAPTER 1

Howdy folks! Welcome to a bright, sunny, normal day here in Hazzard County. Those two fellas in that gaudy orange car are the Duke boys. They're cousins and best friends. Their car is the General Lee, and it's the fastest thing around. Normally Bo, the cute one with the blonde hair does the driving, but Luke, the handsome one with the dark hair can handle the General as well as anyone. Guess he thought it was his turn today. Now remember when I said it was a normal day here in Hazzard? Well, I hadn't gone swimmy headed. See, if the General wasn't chasin someone or being chased, it wouldn't be a normal day. Looks like today the boys are the ones doing the chasin. That car up ahead of them just got done robbing the Boar's Nest. Their other cousin, Daisy Duke, works there, and even though she tried to give the bad guys the money without a fight, they got a little too rough with her. She's ok, so don't worry, just a bit shaken up. She told the boys not to go after them, but they don't take kindly to strangers messing with family, especially when it's Daisy or their Uncle Jesse. So, here they are hot on the trail of the Boar's Nest Robbers.

"Bo, I think we're gaining on them," Luke said to his cousin sitting in the passenger seat beside him.

When they saw the man in the front right seat of the car in front of them lean out the window with a gun pointed in their direction, Bo agreed. "Yeah, seems they think we're gaining on em', too."

"I see it," Luke said, trying to swerve as the first bullet went through the General's windshield between the two occupants creating a hole.

"Yeah, I saw it, too. That was a little too close," Bo informed his cousin.

Having hit an uneven stretch of road, the next four shots fired flew aimlessly, missing the boys and their car by a mile.

"He's only got one shot left, and he's taking pot shots right now," Luke announced, having been counting.

"One's all it takes," Bo answered.

The pavement on the road evened out as the man leaning out the window squeezed the trigger. Luke heard glass breaking again as the last bullet hit the same target as the first, this time spiderwebing the glass. It wasn't as if this was the first time that they'd had a fleeing suspect shooting at them, and it certainly wouldn't be the first windshield they'd have to replace. If they caught the guys, Luke was sure that Boss Hogg, owner of the Boar's Nest, would foot the bill for the new glass, since it was his money they'd be retrieving. His thoughts now turned to what exactly he had to do to stop them. They'd been shot at so many times before, always eluding harm, that Luke never even considered the possibility that their luck might someday run out.

"That's it, Bo. That was their last shot. I'm gonna floor it, cuz," he said. He expected Bo to tell him to go for it, suggest jumping over them, anything, but he expected him to say something. "Bo?" he called with a sense of apprehension. When he didn't receive an answer, he turned to look at him, forgetting all about the bad guys in front of them.

Bo looked like he was sleeping, but Luke knew that it was hardly the time or place for a nap. He was still sitting upright, but his head was leaning toward the side of the car. He looked at the windshield, seeing the entry point of the second bullet. No matter how he tried, he couldn't deny that Bo had been directly in the trajectory path of that shot, yet he didn't see any visible wounds. "Bo!" he screamed, reaching over to give his cousin a shake. The motion caused Bo to lose his balance, and he slumped over towards Luke. The dark haired man's eyes widened in horror as he saw his baby cousin, now leaning against him. The right side of Bo's head was covered in blood. The wet, sticky stuff was matting his hair, and between the hair and the blood, Luke couldn't see the extent of the injury. All he knew was that Bo was laying against him with a possible bullet in his brain. He didn't even know whether his baby cousin was still alive. Turning the steering wheel hard left, Luke spun the General around in the direction of Tri-County General, Boss' stolen money and even Daisy's mistreatment no longer important. Heading in the right direction, Luke guided the wheel with one hand, finding it difficult to maintain control at speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour, but somehow he managed to do it. He had to. With his other shaking hand, he reached down and put his fingers against Bo's neck, looking for a pulse that he prayed was still there. Instead of finding a strong thumping, he located a faint fluttering. For the moment, Bo was still with him.

Luke wanted to be able to leave his hand on Bo, as much to support his cousin as to comfort himself, but he couldn't. He couldn't maintain control of the car for long using one hand without slowing down, and speed was the top priority at the moment. Luke had never wished he had four hands more than he did at that minute, two to drive with, one to CB for help, and the other to be able to keep on Bo. Using the CB was the least important, driving was the most, and from time to time, Luke would double check to make sure that the faint fluttering was still there. It was, but it was growing weaker by the minute.

"Oh God Bo, hang on. We're gonna get you help, buddy. Don't you dare die on me, Bo. Please don't leave me cousin," Luke pleaded, having to use his voice since his hands were occupied, hoping that some part of Bo could hear and would comply.

Luke sat in the waiting room of Tri-County General staring down at his hands. It was as if he were fascinated with them, looking at them for the first time. His hands had been covered with blood before, many times while he'd been in the Marines, but this time was different. This time the blood belonged to more than just a fellow solider or friend, it belonged to someone he loved, someone he doubted he could live without. This blood was Bo's.

The rest of the Dukes and Cooter arrived to find Luke still studying his hands. The amount of blood that still remained told them that the situation was not good. After the ER attendants ripped Bo away from him and he gave them all the information he could, he cb'd his family, but was so dazed that he really didn't tell them much. All they knew was that something had happened to Bo, and they needed to get to Tri-County's ER, fast. Seeing all that blood made them realize that this wasn't a little bump or bruise that Bo had sustained. If the red didn't tell them that, the despair on Luke's face did.

Uncle Jesse went to Luke and asked him how Bo was. Luke was almost non-responsive, saying they hadn't told him anything yet. The Duke patriarch didn't know whether Luke really didn't know anything or was too disoriented to relay the information so he went to the desk. When they told him that there hadn't been any word on Bo's condition, yet, he went back to Luke. Bo was being tended to, whatever was wrong with him. His other nephew was suffering from shock, hypnotized by the stains Bo left him with. He knew he couldn't let Luke sit there and stare at it any longer, so he and Cooter tugged him to his feet and started dragging him to the bathroom.

"No! I can't leave! What if they come to tell us something about Bo!" Luke started screaming.

"Luke, calm down," Uncle Jesse told him, wondering if he was going to have to resort to slapping him. "We'll only be gone a few minutes, you need to wash up. Daisy will be right here, and she will come get us if anyone comes out, right?" he asked, looking in his niece's direction.

"Yes sir," she answered.

"See, now c'mon," he said, as he and Cooter resumed their guidance.

Under the running water, Luke watched the sink turn bright red, then fade to pink as the blood and water mingled together until the water ran clear and his hands were clean. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything that they could do about the stains on Luke's clothes short of having him change. The right side of Luke's body from his waist to his knee was one solid color of red, and Uncle Jesse fought not to let his own imagination take over the way Luke's had. He knew that it was bad, but so far, he didn't know what had happened.

Getting Luke back to his seat, Jesse asked Cooter to get the boy a cup of coffee. After he'd taken a few sips, his uncle started questioning Luke about what had taken place.

"Luke, what happened?"

"They shot Bo," Luke said.

"Shot him?" the other three repeated.

Luke nodded. "Last bullet in the gun," Luke replied, thinking how ironic it was that they had made their final shot count.

After digesting what they had been told, Uncle Jesse had to ask. "Okay Luke, how bad was it?"

Luke looked at his uncle with tear filled eyes. "It was bad," he said, unable to hold back the tears anymore as he thought of how Bo had looked with all that blood on the side of his head. "He was hit in the head."

"Dear God!" Uncle Jesse gasped.

"Oh Bo!" Daisy cried.

Cooter didn't even have a response, he just squeezed his eyes shut.

When they'd received Luke's call, they didn't know what they'd find, but nothing could have prepared them for this. They thought that Bo had broken his arm or leg, or maybe a couple of ribs, something along those lines. They lived in Hazzard, Georgia, and they were ex-moonshiners turned farmers. They just didn't get shot.

Luke couldn't stop thinking about it. For as many times as they'd been shot at, some of the bullets whizzing by close enough to feel them, they still never thought something like this could happen. Escaping unscathed so many times must have made them think they were invincible, at least Luke. It was probably because of all the other bullets he had dodged in the jungles of southern Asia, in addition to the times they'd been shot at here at home. Bo still had a more healthy respect for guns, and he wondered if it hadn't been for himself, if Bo would have turned around at times rather than running right into the fire at Luke's urging. He wondered if this would have been one of those days, remembering some of the things Bo had said once they were being used for target practice. He also remembered Daisy telling them not to go after the guys. She hadn't been hurt, and she told them it wasn't worth the risk. Luke had been the one to assure her that they would be just fine, a promise he never imagined he wouldn't be able to keep. The more he thought about the events of that day, the more convinced he was that this was his fault.

Luke wanted to scream. He felt sure that his family blamed him, he blamed himself, too. The guilt was bad enough, but the thought of losing Bo was just something that he couldn't handle. Since the day Bo had come to live at the farm when he was just a baby, he and Luke had been joined at the hip. They were closer than brothers, and he couldn't imagine going through life without his fun-loving, blonde cousin at his side. He sat there, bargaining with God to either spare Bo or take him too, but not to split them up.

Much to their surprise, they didn't have long to wait before a doctor came out asking for them.

"How's my boy?" Jesse asked, looking for any information since Luke hadn't been able to tell him anything.

"Sir, your son is going to be transferred to Atlanta," the doctor told them.

"What?" Uncle Jesse asked.

"Why?" Luke wanted to know.

"Because he has a very serious head injury, and quite frankly, we don't have the resources here to even begin to diagnose or to treat it."

"Well, what ya'll been doing then for the past two hours?" Cooter asked in a somewhat rude tone. Being nasty was just not his style, but this doctor's attitude and voice were flippant, and that was the last thing that a family needed to deal with when they were wondering if one of their own was going to live or die.

Glaring at the younger man, the doctor replied. "Trying to stabilize him enough so that they don't lose him in the ambulance."

"Oh! Sorry," Cooter apologized.

"When are they taking him?" Uncle Jesse asked.

"They're loading him in right now."

Luke took off running in the direction of the loading zone. "I'm going with him," he yelled.

"They won't let him," the doctor told the three remaining family members.

"Well then, they'll have to try and stop him," Uncle Jesse informed him.

True to the doctor's word, the paramedics told Luke that he couldn't ride with them. It didn't dissuade him, and he climbed in anyway, saying they'd have to drag him out. Looking at each other, they shrugged, not having time to argue. Luke was told to stay out of the way as the doors closed and they started moving.

Once Luke was inside, he was told where to sit. From his perch, he could reach Bo's hand, and lifted it gently, cringing at how cold it felt. He looked up at his cousin's face, his eyes still shut and his hair still red from the blood. They hadn't taken the time to really wash it away. They only wiped it enough so that they could see what they were working on. Except for his hair, there wasn't that much that was still visible. The right side of his head had been bandaged up, hiding the evidence. Bo was a fair haired blonde with a naturally light complexion, but Luke had never seen him so white before. There was a fair complexion, and then there was a ghostly pallor, and that's what Bo had right then. His eyes were closed, and at least he didn't look like he was in pain. 'No,' Luke thought to himself, 'he doesn't look like he's in pain. He looks like he's dead.' Luke scolded himself for the thought, telling himself and Bo that he was going to be all right.

The hour long ride to Atlanta's Grady Memorial was filled with a few scary minutes. A couple of times, Bo had flatlined, but had always made it back before they had to use the shock paddles on him. It was as if he was determined to fight, despite the uphill battle he was surely facing.

"That's it, Bo. You keeping fighting, cuz," Luke told him, reaching for his hand when he was allowed to go back to his perch. He prayed that Bo's determination wouldn't begin to waiver. He was going to need every ounce of it to overcome the irregular and unsteady chirping machines.

Daisy and Jesse were following the ambulance, Daisy keeping up with them as well as if Luke or Bo had been driving. Cooter, however, had been asked to stop at the farm to get Luke a change of clothes. He couldn't very well go walking around with the ones he had on. It wasn't good for him, it wasn't good for them, and it wasn't good for anyone else with a loved one in the hospital. Uncle Jesse had already decided that once Luke was out of the garments, they were going directly in the trash. He doubted that any of them were going to want any reminders of that day, and he doubted that all of the stains could be removed, anyway.

A little less than an hour later, they began another vigil in another waiting room. Unlike Tri-County's Emergency rooms and waiting areas, this one was full and had a revolving door as people came and went. It was a good hospital, but many of the victims of crimes in the city of Atlanta were brought there for medical treatment, and it made for an interesting variety of people. Though the Dukes lived only an hour away from Atlanta, they couldn't have looked more out of place. People around them gave them a second look, but the family was oblivious to anything except their thoughts and the clock on the wall whose minutes kept ticking by without any word.

The late afternoon sun had still been in the sky when the Duke family reached the Atlanta hospital. They were still waiting when it made another appearance the next day. Sixteen hours was a long time to sit in a chair, interrupted only by an occasional bathroom break, coffee run, or pacing. Everyone had dozed for a few minutes, except for Luke. He didn't have to be told that if they'd been working on Bo for that long, it was bad. Finally, a middle aged woman in a white coat came out asking for the family of Beauregard Duke.

"I'm sorry that it took so long," she apologized. "I'm Dr. Fitzgerald. Are you all here for Beauregard?" When they all nodded, she suggested that they go down the hall to a larger office. The consultation rooms off to the side were only designed for one or two family members.

"How's Bo?" Luke blurted out as soon as she opened the door and invited them in.

"Have a seat and I'll explain what I can," she replied, and they looked at each other, not encouraged by her statement. "I know that you're very anxious to hear about Bo. I wish I could give you better news, and I wish I could give you more, but right now there's only so much that I can tell you."

"What's that supposed to mean? You've been working on him since yesterday afternoon," Luke said, reaching his boiling point. Uncle Jesse patted his arm, and told him to calm down.

"I know that," she confirmed. "Unfortunately, head traumas and brain injuries aren't always able to be diagnosed in a day. Let me tell you what we do know. The bullet did not enter the skull." She waited as everyone let out a sigh of relief in hearing that. "So, that's good news. The bad news is that it's a little more serious than a graze, though that is what it almost resembles. Just a fraction of an inch, and it would have been little more than a scratch. It hit along the side of Bo's head without actually entering, but it left a wound that was deep enough to cause problems, and what's really bad is that it runs almost the entire length of the side of his head which is long enough to cause a lot of problems."

"What kind of problems?" Uncle Jesse asked.

"That's hard to tell right now. The location of the wound could very well have affected the temporal lobe, the right parietal lobe, and both the anterior and posterior of the right frontal lobe. Each of these areas of the brain control a different function. The two areas of the frontal lobe process reasoning capabilities as well as motor skills like the ability to walk, grab, swallow, blink, and just movements in general. The other lobes can affect memory, both short and long term, and other senses like smell, touch, taste, and hearing, and the ability to learn and to process what we learn. This controls simple things like speech, driving, getting dressed in the morning, anything that the brain processes even though we may not realize that it's doing it."

"Oh my God!" Daisy cried, leaning on her uncle for support.

"Doc are you saying that Bo is going to be a...," Uncle Jesse couldn't bring himself to say the word vegetable.

The doctor knew what he meant. Family members often had a difficult time in referring to their loved ones in such a derogatory fashion, even though there were more politically correct terms that could be used. "Handicapped?" she asked, and Uncle Jesse gave her a nod. "I don't know," she replied. "As I said, any of these areas could have sustained permanent damage. It's also possible that he'll have none, although, with as many areas that are affected in Bo's case, that is highly unlikely. Which ones will be affected, and whether they'll be permanent or not, we won't know for a while. Besides running some initial tests which do indicate possible and permanent damage, we've had our hands full with just trying to keep him stable. He's not out of the woods just quite yet. One thing that we know was not affected was his ability to breathe because that he's doing on his own, though his heartbeat is irregular."

"So what happens now?" Luke asked, wondering if it could get any worse.

"Right this minute, we continue to try to stabilize him and to minimize any complications. Just like if I hit you with enough force, it will leave a bruise or cause the area to swell, Bo's brain is swelling. Unlike a swollen ankle, the brain is completely housed within a bone structure which means it doesn't have much room to work with. Too much swelling can cause additional damage to all areas of the brain, and we've got enough problems as it is that we don't need that to happen. There's fluid collecting on Bo's brain, too, so we've inserted a catheter to reduce that. If that doesn't work or the swelling continues, we may have to perform surgery. Right now, those are things that could happen, we don't know that they will so we're keeping our fingers crossed that they don't. Even slight swelling can interfere with normal functioning, that's why we can't say what would be permanent and what's temporary. Assuming that we don't have to fight any complications, it will probably be one to two weeks before the swelling starts to go down and we can begin figuring out what we're dealing with. During that time, the last thing that we can have is Bo moving around. If he were to wake and find out that he can't talk or swallow or move, he'd probably be very scared, and we don't want that so we've put him on a drug that's going to keep him in a coma until that swelling starts to subside."

Daisy was openly crying, and the men had tears in their eyes, fighting them back.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said. "I wish I had better news. Do you have any questions?"

"Can we see him?" Luke asked.

"Well, he's going to be in the ICU," she said, starting to explain their ten minutes per hour visitation rules. Looking at the devastation on their faces, she was filled with compassion. "I'll tell you what. I'll let the nurses know that one of you can be with him at all times, as long as you stay out of their way. If you make any trouble, they'll kick you right out."

"Thank you," Uncle Jesse said, speaking for everyone.

Besides being a top neurologist, Dr. Fitzgerald was a fairly good judge of people. She had an ability to be able to look at them and size them up quickly and accurately. She had seen Bo's chart, and knew that they were from a little town outside of Atlanta. Judging by their apparel, she guessed they were hard working farmers. She didn't have to analyze too hard to see that they loved Bo, and like a lot of families did, were determined to be with him at all times. "If I may offer a friendly piece of advice," she said, hoping that she wasn't overstepping her bounds. "I know that folks believe that when someone is in a coma, they are aware of things around them and can hear people talking to them. I personally believe that they can, too, but as a doctor, there is no evidence that supports that theory. Right now, this is a shock to all of you, and I know that you really want to be here for Bo. I'm not suggesting that you don't visit him, far from it, but this first week or two isn't going to be the hardest. When Bo wakes up, that's when he's going to need you. I've seen this happen to families before, and sometimes they end up burning themselves out before their loved one really does need them. Be with Bo during this time, but make sure you take care of yourselves, too, or you won't be any good to him when it's most important."

"That makes sense," Uncle Jesse said. "Thank you for the advice. Now, can we see Bo?"

"Sure. I'll take you up to the 3rd floor. There's a waiting room for the unit up there, but remember, one at a time."

Uncle Jesse went first. He may have been on this earth longer than the rest of his family, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when he walked into that room. Knowing that he had to be strong for his baby, he pushed his own fears aside and concentrated on his nephew. By the time he got back to the others, he couldn't hide the signs that he'd had a complete breakdown.

Cooter went next, saying he'd only be a few minutes because he had to get back to Hazzard. He was almost as upset as Uncle Jesse when he came back out.

The men tried to persuade Daisy not to go, but she said she had to, for Bo. She wasn't able to stay long, and she made no effort to conceal her tears as she ran back to her uncle's arms.

That left Luke. Trying to heed the doctor's warnings, his family tried to convince him that he should go to see Bo and then go home with them, but that was like talking to a wall. Luke announced that he had no intention of leaving Bo alone, and that it wasn't up for discussion. He assured them that he would rest. There wouldn't be much else to do while he sat with his cousin. Though his reasoning held some amount of truth, they tried to explain to him that keeping a vigil wasn't a proper rest. Still, Luke didn't care. Reluctantly, Jesse and Daisy decided to go home, but said they'd be back later. They were going to have to remain strong to care for both Bo, and Luke, after he collapsed, too.

After bidding them goodbye, Luke went to Bo's room. He'd thought that he would be better prepared, considering that he had seen Bo when his face had been drenched in blood, and then in the ambulance when he looked like death warmed over. He wasn't. The blood had been wiped away, but even that didn't help. Luke hadn't thought it possible, but Bo was even whiter than he had been in the rescue squad. Bo's head was wrapped, and the right side was completely covered, but Luke could see that the golden locks his cousin was so proud of had been shaved away on half of his head. He wondered, for a minute, if it wouldn't have looked better if they had totally shaved it. It looked kind of strange, having hair on half and being bald on the other half. He knew that when Bo woke up and found that out, regardless of what else he had to deal with, the loss of his hair was going to upset him tremendously. "It'll grow back, buddy," Luke whispered to him, gently laying his hand on Bo's left cheek. He was being careful not to hurt him, but wanted him to know that he wasn't alone.

If his hair wasn't bad enough, his face didn't even resemble the Bo that Luke had known all his life. The right side was black and blue, looking as if Bo had been in the losing end of a bar-room brawl, but that wasn't the worst part. Bo's entire face was swollen, making his features almost unrecognizable. When Luke looked a little closer, he saw the tube that had been inserted into his cousin's head to remove the excess drainage. That was all that he could take. Luke plopped into the chair, and started sobbing. He didn't know how Bo was going to make it back to them from this condition, and for the first time, he realized that even if Bo's body survived, the Bo Duke that he loved might be lost forever.