A/N A story? Writing? Me?
I can tell y'all I had a severe case of amnesia, but that would be lying... I think you all know, that while writing the end of my stories, I usually have a severe case of writers block... This story proved to be no different... So, again: Sorry!
This final chapter is dedicated to the memory of Heath Ledger, an actor I respected and admired for the daring roles he took and the way he performed them. May you rest in peace...

Before we go to the final chapter, I want to thank you all for reading and reviewing this story. It went from a one shot, to a full 13 chapter story, something I wasn't planning on. After this one, I will try to complete Bulletproof Dukes, before I leave for Curacao in two weeks. So let's cross our fingers and feed me lots of cookies so that darn writers block won't catch me this time! ;-)
Enjoy!

13

"Lukas?"

"I told ya, he ain't respondin'," Bo muttered as the doctor was shining with a little pen light in Luke's eyes.

Jesse silently reprimanded his nephew by giving him a dismissive stare, but in the meantime, he was just as worried about this next development as Bo and Daisy were.

Looking at his eldest nephew, still staring at the ceiling with the most glassy and unseeing eyes Jesse had ever seen, Jesse didn't think things could start to look upward anytime soon…

Dr. Ramirez turned to them with an amazed look on his face, and even though his usual smile was missing, it didn't look like he had terrible news.

"Well?" Bo asked, getting poked in the side by Daisy, who was urging the doctor to go on with her begging blue eyes.

"Well," dr. Ramirez started, looking back at the bed where his patient was still laying motionlessly, staring upwards.

"It seems as though Luke has proved to us he's stronger than we thought. He woke up, and looking at the basic tests I've just performed, there is minimal sign of brain damage…"

"But why ain't he respondin' to us doc?" Jesse asked, beating Bo to the punch.

"I have no idea Jesse…" Dr. Ramirez answered earnestly, "His vitals are climbing, the fever is dropping and his leg is stable now. There is no reason for him not to respond to us…" he ended, looking a little frustrated by that little fact.

"So what do we do now?" Bo asked, sitting next to his cousin again.

"Well, seein' as the problem don't seem to be medical, all I can say is, let him know you are here. Let him know that it's okay to come back to you…" Dr. Ramirez ended before turning around and walking out the door. Before closing it, he turned around once more.

"I'll schedule some scans to make sure there really is no brain damage, I'll let ya know when I know more."

Giving the doc a little wave, Daisy Duke settled down once more, tiredness of the last couple of days filled her like a ton of bricks. Grasping Luke's hand, the only female Duke in the room started talking real soft. So soft that only she and the person she was talking to could have heard.

"You really somethin', ya know that sugar? First ya scare us all by not comin' home yesterday. And then ya prove ta be so brave… Lyin' there in the scorchin' sun all day, waitin' for someone… I would 've been so scared Luke… Heck, I am scared right now. I think even more then when ya was brought in. Cause yur gettin' better cuz. Doc says yur leg's healin' up and yur head should be fine… So after all of this, you almost leavin us, he says ya will get back, but now, you don't wanna?" A tear made its way down her blushing cheeks as Daisy held on more firmly.

"Well, I tell ya what, if you don't come back now, I'll have ta get my fryin pan sugar. And I know how ya hate my fryin pan…" A soft smile covered her features as she remembered all the times she had chased both Bo and Luke with that old thing.

When she felt a firm hand on her shoulder, she looked up from the little trance she was in, and looked up at her uncle with bright eyes.

"Why won't he look at us uncle Jesse?" she asked with a fierceness she didn't quite feel.

Looking at the blonde sitting across the room, also staring straight ahead, as if he mirrored his cousin's state, Jesse shook his head.

"I think it's somethin' he has to work through himself Daisygirl…"

Sitting down in the other vacant chair in the room, Jesse settled down too, preparing for his own little chat with Luke. Putting his hand on the young man's forehead, he scraped his throat before starting, just as soft as Daisy had, minutes before.

"That tractor needs fixin'… Needed it a long time ago… But there just wasn't any time for us to do that, huh?"

"Now Lukas… Ya know I never call ya that unless it's serious. But ya know what? It is… We need ya back here son. I need, Daisy needs, an' Bo needs ya. Maybe even more than me… Ya really scared the boy Luke… So why don't ya just git back here an' reassure us now," Jesse ended, rubbing Luke' free hand roughly.

Luke's eyes didn't even blink.

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

White fog and shadows…

Bo Duke was sitting in the windowstill, staring outside as the fog swirled outside. The General Lee was a slight orange blurry fleck in the distance and the people that were out seemed to be ghosts moving slowly through the world.

After the heat from the past few days, a cooler bout of air had caused the strange weather to settle over Hazzard this morning.

A single crow flew by the window as Bo sighed deeply. He didn't know what to do.

In a lot of ways, Luke seemed to be alright. His leg was healing, the fever had broken and his skin started to look somewhat normal again. But his eyes…

It was like nobody was home. And seeing his vibrant cousin, who had more often spoken with his brilliant blue eyes instead of using his mouth, was just plain unnerving.

Turning his head towards his uncle, who was mumbling quietly to a still unresponsive Luke, Bo immediately turned his head the other way again to look out of the window.

It wasn't fair!

After all they had been through the past few years… Heck even the past few months had been hectic, with Boss scheming like always, a few times almost succeeding in putting the boys behind bars. But Luke had gotten them out of those situations again and again by using his head and figuring out a plan.

The black shape flying up to the window caused Bo to jump suddenly, and he stared wide eyed at the shape standing only inches away from him. The beady eyes seemed to be piercing through him, as the beasts beak pecked at the window repeatedly.

Looking over his shoulder to where the other people in the room should be, Bo was shocked to see nobody was there except for Luke.

Turning back towards the window, Bo found the crow still there, creepily staring at him with the mist swirling behind it.

"Bo…" it's opened beak seemed to say, if the sound hadn't come from somewhere behind Bo. If the sound wasn't so darn familiar.

"Luke?" Bo almost cried out as he swirled around to find his cousin sitting straight up in bed, with the same unseeing eyes now pointed straight in front of him staring at the crow who had miraculously transported itself inside and was now sitting on one of the vacant chairs in the room.

Bo's head went back and forth between the two, until Luke's eyes started blinking.

"Luke?" he asked again.

Luke's eyes darted through the room, a haziness filling them as they rested on Bo.

"Bo?" grief manifested itself in the bright blue eyes, "No… You's dead," the scratchy voice uttered, before sweeping back to the crow and getting that blank stare again.

The three words spoken were the most beautiful thing Bo had ever heard, hadn't it been for the meaning behind them.

Forgetting the crow for a moment, Bo rushed towards the bed, and grabbed Luke's hand tightly in his.

"I ain't dead Luke, I'm right here," he spoke firmly, swallowing the sob that caught in his throat, "I'm right here cuz!"

This seemed to help a little as Luke's hand curled itself around Bo's tightly as if he was trying desperately to hold on to something solid.

"Ya know he's not," a voice from the other end of the room screeched.

Bo didn't want to see where it came from, but curiousness to this bold person, made him turn his head towards the sound.

Looking over the crow, he couldn't see who could have spoken, but when the next words were uttered, Bo Duke knew where the voice had been coming from… And it was not from whom he expected.

"Ya saw his body Luke…" the crow scratched, it's beak moving with the words it created.

Bo blinked a few times, but the animal still remained seated, it's eyes boring into Luke's intensely.

Turning to the confused form of his cousin, Bo noticed Luke's struggle. The deep blue eyes were moving through the room, as if searching for the truth, and all Bo could think of was to hold his attention, so that darn crow wouldn't claim it again, whatever it was doing.

"Luke, he's lyin', and ya know it. I'm right here, just look at me cuz," Bo spoke firmly as he kept searching out Luke's eyes.

As Luke seemed to find Bo's voice, and his eyes almost found him, a flutter of wings dove onto them.

"Dead!" the crow shrieked as it pecked at Bo and Luke's intertwined hands repeatedly.

The sharp pain in his hand caused Bo to involuntarily pull it back, but the moment he noticed the blank look returning in Luke's eyes, he grabbed hold of Luke's hand even firmer than before, no matter how hard that strange animal pecked.

With his other hand, he struck hard, sending the crow flying against the opposite wall, where it landed with a thud.

"Bo?" Luke's soft voice called him, as Bo looked at their bloody hands, still strongly holding on to each other.

Looking up at the most beautiful sight he had seen in a long time, Bo sighed in relief as his cousin's confused but familiar blue eyes looked back at him.

"You with me cuz?" Bo asked suspiciously, looking back at where the form of the crow had been lying. It was gone now…

"You ain't dead?" Luke's scratchy voice asked, sounding like he was afraid of the answer he was about to get.

Bringing up their clasped hands between them, Bo swallowed hard as he softly took his cousin in a tight hug.

"I ain't dead cuz, I'm still here, I'll always be here…" he murmured through a constricted throat.

From next to him, he heard the whisper of his cousin.

"But I saw you die…"

"It wasn't real Luke, it wasn't real…" Bo ended, feeling Luke finally relax in his hug as all his strength seemed to be leaving him. Luke's soft whisper reassured him, he got his cousin back.

"It wasn't real…"

Closing his eyes tightly, Bo was rudely awakened by a loud noise, followed by a loud thud, which he discovered to be himself, falling from the windowstill he had probably fallen asleep in.

Looking up with wide eyes, he noticed Jesse and Daisy standing over him, checking to see if he was alright.

"Huh, what happened?" he asked as he let himself be helped up by his family members.

"You fell asleep son, an' ya just proved that sleepin' on a windowstill isn't the safest thing to do…" Jesse said with a small smile on his face.

When Bo shook his head, obviously upset, Jesse's smile disappeared.

"What's wrong Bo?" he asked as Bo rushed over to Luke's bed, where his eldest was still lying motionless.

"He was awake… I'm tellin ya uncle Jesse, he was awake…" Bo murmured while grasping Luke's hand in his.

"You was dreamin' sugar," Daisy said as she put one hand on Luke's other hand.

"But it was so real…" he spoke as he tried to rub some warmth in Luke's unresponsive hand.

Wait a minute… Was that?

Looking down at his hand, small scratched caught his eye, both on his own hand as on Luke's hand. But the most important thing was, that Luke's thumb was moving!

"Luke?" Bo spoke, causing both Jesse and Daisy to silently watch what was going on, "It's okay cuz, I'm still here. I told ya, I ain't goin nowhere…"

Ever so slowly, Luke blinked, moisture leaving his eyes as it dripped onto his pillow.

When he opened them again, Bo immediately noticed something different. It was like life had returned to the blue orbs…

"Luke?" Bo asked softly, not daring to believe what he was seeing now.

"Bo?" came the soft answer, causing Daisy to run out of the room to get the doctor, and Jesse to slowly wipe his eyes.

Two pairs of blue eyes met each other, and the understanding in them was all they needed in that moment.

"It wasn't real…" two voices murmured as one…

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

One week later

"You ready to leave this joint cuz?" Bo asked with amusement when he entered the hospital room where his cousin was already sitting in the hospital acquired wheelchair with his bad leg elevated so that it was pointed straight forward.

The slight twinkle in Luke's eyes told Bo that his cousin was having a good day.

The past week Luke had been having good days and bad days. On a bad day, he would wake up in a sweat, images of failure and pain still in his mind.

He would close himself off from everyone on those days, except for Bo… Bo just sat with him, but his presence always seemed comforting, and Luke would often fall asleep, to wake up a little better.

They hadn't talked a lot about what had happened after Luke got to the hospital, only how Luke had hallucinated while he had been lying underneath the tractor. For both boys, it was enough. In the deep recesses of their minds, they knew what had happened, and they were happy to let it stay there…

"Let's git outta here cuz," Luke spoke, bringing Bo back to the present, "Let's go home…"

Pushing his cousin out the door, Jesse and Daisy met them, and together, the Duke family walked towards the exit.

"Hey Luke, wait until ya see our new tractor," Bo joked as they walked out of the place where Luke had been a resident for almost two weeks.

The thud that came next, and the muttered 'Ow' that came from Bo, showed Jesse that his family was alright again.

That is, until the next crisis would hit them.

But Jesse wasn't a man to worry about what was to come. So he put a hand on Luke's shoulder as they wheeled him towards the truck, leading them all home.

No one but Luke noticed the single crow sitting on the hospital sign, staring at them through beady eyes.

When a car roared past, it shook its head once, and flew off, clapping wings the only reminder that he had ever been there.

Bo's hand on his shoulder brought Luke back to the present, and the knowing look in his cousin's eyes told him that it was definitely over…

Folks, that was one strange tale… I sure hope to never see that darn crow again, an' I bet ya them Dukes feel the same way! But, like always, things turned out awright, an' things in Hazzard are back the way they should be….