"Uncle Jesse..." said Bo in a half-whisper as he motioned to the hand holding on to his.

The patriarch swallowed, stroking Luke's arm. "Luke...Luke..."

Daisy bit her lip. She knew better than to get her hopes up. And yet she felt the urge to encourage him. Maybe...just maybe...if he knew how much they wanted him to...he'd wake up. "Luke...sugar...wake up, darlin'."

Bo continued holding his hand, stroking his knuckles with his thumb. The bruises were mostly healed now, but the stitches on his head, and his scraped hands made him look like a tattered rag doll. "Luke, brother... c'mon Luke, you can do it..."

There was no response. Bo looked at his uncle trying to hold back the tears. Daisy hid her face against her uncle's overalls.

"Now, now..." began Jesse rubbing Daisy's back as he spoke. "You know Luke...he never was one for doin' things when everyone expected... he..." Jesse stopped. "Did you hear that?"

Bo sniffed. "Hear what?"

"I thought I heard...listen!"

All was quiet in the room except a small whimper sounding from the bed.

"Luke! Luke that's it! Wake up! Wake up!" Bo rubbed Luke's hand vigorously.

Now do you all suppose?

Luke's eyes slowly opened. The clear blue thought to be lost forever was staring at each one of them in turn.

Jesse spoke first. "My boy...My Luke..."

The man in the bed stared at him, a confused expression on his face.

"Luke...you're ok..." Daisy leaned over to touch the side of his face affectionately.

Luke jerked away.

Uh oh. Now somethin' aint right...no one in their right mind would turn away from the touch of a pretty girl...especially when it's Daisy.

Jesse stood up patting Daisy's arm seeing the hurt on her face. "I think we best get the doc...why don't you come with me Daisy?"

Daisy nodded, standing up, glad for an excuse to get out of the room and hide her tears.

Bo swallowed. Luke was still clinging to his hand. "Luke...Luke...it's okay...whatever's wrong...we'll fix it..."

He looked down at the hand holding his own. It was trembling.

A few hours later, the family stood quietly looking at Luke through the windows of the room, the doctor's words hitting each of them hard. Brain-damage. To what extent was hard to say, he said, but the evidence was clear.

Jesse shook his head sadly. All of his kids had gifts...Bo was born with a steering wheel in his hands and a smile on his face...sweet Daisy, aside from being the most beautiful girl in Hazzard, had a heart of gold to match..and Luke...Luke was smart. The boy had played hookey more than he actually attended classes, but his grades had consistently been at the top of his class. Jesse had always told him he had a mind like a steel trap. The boy remembered everything... and there wasn't much he didn't understand. Book-smart...yes he was that, but he also had instinct...and it usually served him well.

A tear dripped down the old man's face, an arm around Daisy and Bo. To have Luke go from understanding everything to not even comprehending the simplest phrases. To have him recede from memorizing license plates at a glance to not even recognizing the faces he'd known all his life. It was devastating.

Bo didn't know what to think either. Except that it was his fault that Luke was in this state...and somehow or other Bo had to bring him back.