"C'mon Bo ya got it! C'mon ya's almost there now cousin!"
Bo smiled as he heard Luke's enthusiastic hollers, chuckling as he wondered if Luke had thought that being able to do this again had somehow sacrificed his hearing and made him deaf. Luke was only standing a few paces away from him and yet he was yelling like he was at the other end of a football pitch.
He looked up as his hands found the kind nurse's in front of him and he grinned as Luke, Daisy and Jesse let out cheers of celebration, shaking his head. He hadn't passed the test yet, and yet they were all acting like he had swum the largest ocean or something. The nurse too was laughing as she stepped out the way and let the family now come and join her youngest patient, letting them have a few minutes of celebratory praises before calling for silence with a smile.
"Well…I am pleased to say Bo….that I don't think there is any reason for you to come here for these sessions with me anymore. Walking across the room without the support of the bars is the last step, if you'll excuse the pun, in your recovery. Now you aren't completely healed, you still stumble a little and your muscles are still slightly weak….but if you keep doing that everyday and walk just that little bit further every week, you should be back to normal in no time."
Bo let out a joyous rebel yell and soon found himself wrapped in a huge family group hug, his arms around Jesse's neck as he buried his head into his shoulder, sobbing with relief and joy as he finally felt that he was almost normal again. The doctor's had said that the only evidence he would have of the accident were the faint scars and also a limp, but it would only really be noticeable when he was running and shouldn't hinder him at all.
And so, Bo passed the hospital's exam with flying colours, an exam Bo said was the only one he had ever really worked to excel in, in his entire life which gave the Duke family a laugh as they left the hospital for what they hoped would be a long time to come…although with the boys being their usual selves practically now, both Daisy and Jesse doubted that would be so. They only hoped that the severity behind the reason of their next trip would be less.
They all drove back to the farm in the pick up, chattering excitedly all the way back about Bo's progress, Luke and Bo both highlighting the small things that still needed to be worked on such as the stairs still and also starting to get Bo moving a little quicker. But at least now Bo didn't have to launch himself off something to get moving. He could walk straight from standing and also get to his feet, albeit slowly, but steadily once more, something that only a few months ago seemed impossible.
As soon as they reached the farm, Daisy and Jesse hurried inside to get preparing the customary celebratory Crawdad Bisque that followed any occasion that called for a special treat, leaving the boys outside. Bo grinned to Luke and walked the short distance from where the pick up was parked to the picnic table, just because it felt so good to be able to do that again on his own. He looked over as he heard Luke laugh and smiled, sitting down carefully as Luke came and joined him and sighed softly as they did nothing but sit in happy silence, both of them having such a great weight lifted from their shoulders.
Eventually, Luke broke the peaceful silence.
"Bo….I…I wanted ta ask ya somethin'…an' if ya don't wanna answer then it's okay…"
Bo looked to him and nodded, frowning quizzically as he waited for Luke to continue.
"How….how did you stop being so scared of the General….I mean….I couldn't think of a dang thing to get you back in him….an' when I finally became aware of everything again…yer drivin' him like nothing was ever wrong….I asked ya around the time ya did it but….you said you weren't all too sure why…"
Bo smiled a little and nodded, looking down at his lap briefly before leaning back against the picnic table and stretching his long legs out in front of him, crossing his ankles as he looked to Luke.
"To be honest cousin…I still don't really understand all o'what happened….what I do know is…as soon as I knew ya needed help….well that was the only thing runnin' through my head….the fact that I had ta get ya help because…because I…heck Luke yer one of the most important people in my life…I don't know where I'd be without ya….I was so scared that I'd loose you that nothing else mattered except you and your well being…"
Luke swallowed and nodded, amazed once more at his youngest cousins easy show of emotion.
"And…what about how ya felt when ya were driving him….how come ya didn't just stop and run…"
"I wanted to…oh god how I wanted to…especially driving back to the farm after the Doc's….but I didn't because…I felt….peaceful….I…" Bo had to stop and think about what to say, not knowing how to put it into appropriate words to describe how he felt. "The General….he's always been like…the protector of the family….the amount of times he's saved us from being shot, sacrificing his tyre or the windshield or something….and I guess when I really got down to thinking about what had happened that night…I kinda realised that the General had saved me again….I know I was dying in there Luke but…the point is I didn't…any other car and I bet I would have died instantly…"
Oh boy was that true….Luke could distinctly remember thinking when he had seen the wreckage and the state of Bo on that night just how lucky it was the doors were welded shut and the roll bars firmly in place.
"He protected me Luke….and I know that sounds stupid to say because I mean we put those things into him….but if it weren't fer him….I wouldn't be here….I owe him a lot…why should I be so scared of something that has saved my life and sacrificed himself to do that so many times just because of one mistake…if it were you protecting me like that….I wouldn't be scared of you for it….why should the General be any different. He's family…and family stick together…"
Neither one of them spoke after that, Luke's gentle nodding being the only movement either one of them made. That made perfect sense…of course it made sense…Bo had always seemed to have a special connection with the car he and Luke had built together…heck it was Bo's first and only car he actually owned….he was just so glad Bo had realised that.
"Bo…I…I'm so proud of you little brother…you've overcome so much and…you just don't cease to keep on fighting…"
"I don't know how Luke…there were so many times when I wanted to give up…"
"Yeah…but the way I see it…life is like…I don't know…an obstacle course, with only one finishing line but lots of obstacles, lots of other little false finishing lines in the way that keep ya from getting to it….its a race…you keep telling yourself just one more…one more obstacle, one more line and then I'm there….and then some jackass comes along and puts another one in yer way….and when yer feeling like ya just can't make it, the home crowd stands together and cheers ya on…supports ya and ya have that little bit of spirit ya need to over come that final hurdle and cross the last winning line…I knew you'd win it Bo…there ain't a race ya ain't won yet and I certainly weren't about to let you start now."
Bo choked a little and nodded, smiling as they once more wrapped each other in their arms, sitting there in silence again as they thanked each other in the best way they knew how. After a while however, Bo swallowed gently and bit his lip before asking softly.
"Hey Luke….can we go for a drive…"
Luke sat upright sharply, blinking a little. He hadn't heard Bo say that sentence in such a long time that it was almost like Bo had said it in another language that he couldn't decipher to him. Swallowing and nodding enthusiastically, he stood up and helped Bo to his feet.
"Yeah course we can! You wanna go in the General?"
Bo looked over to the bright orange car gleaming in the sun, the rebel flag almost seeming like it was whipping gently in the breeze that ran across General Lee's roof and the 01's on the door reminding Bo of the victory that he had won. There was no other car he could drive when the General represented so much of what he felt. He hadn't been able to drive it again since the incident with Luke, not because he was so much really frightened anymore, but mainly because he was busy building himself back up so he could drive him with the confidence and skill he had before.
"Yeah Luke….yeah let's take the General…I'm….I'm driving."
Jesse and Daisy could hear everything from the open window and both were almost ready to cry aloud with joy as they heard the words they had been longing to for so long. Luke however showed no such restraint, which was so very unusual for the elder Duke Boy who usually kept his emotions in check whenever outside the safety of the farmhouse and most of the time inside it too. He threw his arms around Bo and hugged his youngest cousin close, rocking him as the two boys laughed with each other before Luke darted inside to catch the keys, not needing to tell Jesse what was happening as he snatched them from the hook and ran out to help Bo into the driver's seat.
The flurry of dust that had been missing from the driveway, the terrified squawk of the chickens, the sound of stones hitting the milk bucket and barn doors all returned to the farmyard as the fastest car in Hazzard County happily spun its wheels in the dirt and sped out of the driveway, its one true driver finally back behind its wheel and to Luke, he was sure the General had never sounded as good as it did now after the accident.
Bo didn't have a clue where he was driving too, all he could feel was the adrenaline of driving the General at speed round the corners, fish tailing round them with a practised and not forgotten skill and quickly switching the gears of the racing gear box with the talent of a professional driver. All he could see was the challenge the dirt roads finally presented to him after such a long time, his cousin beside him in shotgun…and wouldn't you know it, Rosco hot on their tail along with Enos.
Grinning, Bo looked back slightly before quickly turning his attention back to the road ahead. He knew just how to get rid of the two lawmen….but whether he had the guts to do it remained to be seen. Luke swallowed as he saw where Bo was headed, daring to believe that Bo had the confidence to jump that particular jump again….he hadn't attempted any at all since the accident….it couldn't be possible…could it…
His thought out questions was quickly answered as Bo's breathing sped up a little and his knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel, swallowing hard. Luke saw the jump fast approaching and knew for Bo to make it, he had to calm down.
"Bo! You can do it, there's nothing on the other side and you ain't alone this time. Nothin's gonna happen, nothin' but if ya can't calm down and do the jump rationally don't do it at all!"
Bo heard Luke's words and shook himself from the flashes of horrifying images that had been trailing through his head, snapping and locking them behind vaults of steel in his head to clear his mind and get the General to the speed and angle needed to hit the jump properly.
Both boys jerked as the General hit the bottom of the makeshift ramp and flew through the air, both of them holding their breaths, neither of them moving a muscle as they experienced something that neither of them thought they could ever do again….Luke smiling gently to himself as Bo and the General jumped the final hurdle in their recovery together, just as they had done every getaway, won every race together.
Jerked back to reality, Bo slammed on the brakes as they hit the other side and quickly turned back to watch Rosco and Enos skid to a halt on the side they had just jumped. He pushed himself out the driver seat and sat on the window ledge, folding his arms on the top of the roof and waving with a grin back at the two lawmen who, Rosco included, laughed and whooped happily to him.
"Good ta have ya back Bo!"
"I promise you two Dukes, one o'these days I'm gonna get ya an' throw ya in the slammer….I'm gonna let you go with a warnin' this time Bo…but next time I'm gonna put you under the jail! Khew Khew I love it, I love it…"
Luke and Bo laughed and waved to them again, and Enos and Rosco were left waving madly back as the Dixie horn blared loudly and proudly through the trees of the forest once more, and the roar of the engine shouted a message to all. The General Lee was back tearing up the roads, but more importantly, the Duke Boys were back and there were no amount of lines they couldn't cross so long as they had each other and the strength of their family unit.