Author's Notes: The end of another one!

There were several good guesses on the Robert Frost reference - and Ashti, you caught that obscure Road Not Taken reference that I didn't even think of - but the intentional reference was the description of the rotting wood stack. Frost wrote a lesser-known poem "The Wood-Pile", about a guy walking through a frozen swamp and finding a rotted pile of cut & stacked wood - it's a commentary about wasted effort and abandoned work.

Amusingly enough, after I wrote this whole story, I was working late one night going through the med school's academic building on campus, and among the X-rays and CT scans hanging on light boxes for the students to study was a set of abdominal CT scans from a skier who hit a tree. Why is this relevant, you might ask:-D

Jordyn - sorry I couldn't post before your flight. :(

Celtic Angel - boy do I wish I could just write solid action scenes with no filler! It's hard, though, 'cause then there'd be no plot. I have to force myself to write the other parts before I write the good stuff, cause if I write just the exciting scenes, I stall out and never complete the story. Needless to say, that chapter was fun to write.

Elenhin - I swear I scoured this whole thing looking for a spot where it would be convenient to mention poor Bo finally getting fed, but alas, it looks like he's starving until summer.

Enjoy!

No one was more surprised than Bo Duke, nearly two hours later, when he was woken up before dawn from a sound sleep to see one of the more ornery nurses of the ward pushing a bed into the room containing his rather bruised older cousin Luke.

"Luke!"

"Bo!" Luke wasn't surprised about his destination, but it was still a bit of a shock to see his cousin hale and healthy – or at least, healthier.

The nurse ignored Bo while she settled Luke's bed into place alongside his own, standing between them while she hooked Luke up to the equipment to monitor his vitals. Looking at the numbers, she made some notes on his chart, and left. Bo sat up carefully, stomach still sore from that surgery, and he raised the head of the bed so he could lean back, looking over at Luke.

"You alright, cuz?"

Luke began to twist around to look at Bo, but was sharply reminded that was a bad idea, and laid back again. He was clean of blood and sweat, with his stitched arm and knuckles freshly wrapped and his left eye patched and covered with white gauze. Five neat sutures dotted his split lip, and a band of tape supported the bridge of his broken nose. His left wrist was handcuffed to the bedrail, as though he might try to run away at this point, and an IV dripped fluids, antibiotics, and other medications into the veins of that arm.

Luke settled for turning his head to look Bo over instead, and he held back a laugh. Here was the little cousin he'd been worrying like crazy about all week, who hadn't been far from his thoughts and prayers for even a moment, looking worriedly down at him.

"I could ask you the same," Luke said, careful of his stitched lip. Bo didn't look so bad, though – his scrapes and bruises were healing, Luke could see, and he was alert and talking, obviously. His broken bones would heal in time, and wouldn't give him too much pain.

Bo was still concerned, though. "Well, what the heck happened to you?"

Since Luke knew Bo had heard the rest of the story, he quickly explained about finding the warehouse and the fight with the three criminals, ending with the arrival of the police and Daisy and Jesse's unexpected appearance.

"Dang, Luke, how bad are you hurt?.!" Bo asked, hearing his cousin deftly skim over those details.

"Eh, nothing that'll kill me, an' better off than you were, for sure! Doc said every part of me from the belt up is bruised, inside and out, an' Chet did a number on my eye, but it's not permanent. My danged kidneys are the worst of it – bruised like hell, an' hurtin' to match. It's worth it to put them behind bars, anyhow," he added.

"But you're still handcuffed," Bo observed, "and I'm guessin' since they put you in here with me, it's not out of the kindness of their hearts, an' there's still a guard on the door outside."

Luke waved a tired, dismissing hand. "I dunno. I think they believe us, but it'll take them a few hours at least to sort out the evidence. The law doesn't hunt down a wanted man for a week and then let him go just like that."

Bo yawned just then, and it occurred to Luke just how early it was and that his cousin needed to rest. He might be looking a far cry better, but he was sure to still be aching and sore. "Look, go on back to sleep, Bo. It's early still. We can worry about all this later." At least, Bo could worry about all this later. The way he was hurtin', Luke wasn't about to get any sleep any time soon, and he was busy worrying about this now.

Bo frowned. He wouldn't mind a few more hours of sleep, but… "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Bo…!" Luke began in a flare of temper, but stopped himself, sighing. "I'll be fine," he answered more gently. He looked over at his cousin earnestly. "I've just…I've been so worried about you, and about the police, and the Flanagans…I'm just glad you're okay."

For a moment, Luke looked as frayed and worn as he felt, and Bo reached his good hand across the space between the beds, holding it out for Luke's. Luke felt unexpected tears prick his eyes as he grasped his cousin's hand, warm and comforting, thinking of that first afternoon and how scared he'd been for Bo. He sniffed slightly, but Bo pretended not to notice, and Luke smiled as Bo waggled his hand lightheartedly.

"I'm alright, Luke. Everything's gonna be fine," Bo reassured him confidently. "Now, you better get some rest, too. The nurse here is a real tyrant."

Luke smiled again, letting Bo have his hand back, and closed his eyes with a sigh. Satisfied, Bo lowered his bed back down again and settled against his pillow, letting himself drift. Within a few minutes Luke could tell he was asleep, and the elder cousin opened his eyes again. No, there would be no sleep for him, but his cousin's words were enough to strip a week's worth of worry and fear from his heart.

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When Doctor Meadows arrived in the ward for his 8am shift, he glanced over the floor's patient list, bringing himself up to date on their conditions and the new arrivals. In particular, he checked the listing for room 611, and mentally groaned when he saw the name 'Duke, Lucas K.' listed just below 'Duke, Beauregard L.'. As he stepped out onto the floor to make his rounds, Meadows prepared himself for the argument of the century with that Jesse Duke. No, I'm sorry, Mr. Duke, the state police are limiting access to your nephew - both your nephews - until such time as…

Surprisingly, there was no argument, because Jesse and Daisy Duke weren't there, anywhere, on the floor or in the hospital. Early that morning, they had visited Luke in the emergency room before he was sent upstairs. Reassured that he would be alright, especially in the same room as Bo, his family left in the company of a state trooper, to convince the police and the D.A. to drop the charges against the boys. Room 611 was quiet when Meadows entered, clipboard in hand. Bo was still asleep, but Luke looked at him with curiosity as the doctor approached his bedside, a bit more alert than the doctor expected.

"Good morning, Luke," he greeted with a quiet voice. "I'm Doctor Meadows. How are you feeling?"

Luke gave a pained expression. "Like I've been kicked by the mule," he groaned. It had only gotten worse in the last few hours.

Meadows frowned, glancing down at Luke's chart. Then he set the clipboard by his patient's feet. "Can you sit up for me?"

"Do I have to?" Luke's tone was not unlike that of a wayward boy who'd just been told to drop his britches – he knew the answer to the question, and knew what was coming was going to hurt.

Meadows held out a helpful hand and gripped Luke's shoulder with the other, helping him sit up as gently as he could. Luke stifled a cry of pain, and the doctor frowned deeper. With his patient holding onto his shoulder for support, Meadows pulled back the edges of Luke's hospital gown to have a look at the twin black bruises spreading across his lower back. The contusions boldly stood out among the other bruises of varying color extending along his ribs and stomach. That was to be expected, and his CT scans looked textbook normal for the injury. However, Luke was in far more pain than he should have been, and his heart was racing.

"Good Lord, Luke!" Bo was awake, and had a good look at his cousin's back himself.

Luke didn't reply, grimacing as Meadows helped lower him back down flat. A thought occurred to the frowning doctor.

"Luke, do you know when the nurse was in here last?" he asked very, very quietly.

The elder Duke cousin shook his head. "No one's been in here since they brought me in."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure."

"Alright. Relax, and I'll be back shortly."

"Easy for you to say," Bo barely heard Luke mutter as the doctor walked out of the room. Bo didn't say anything - if his cousin had been short-tempered before, he definitely didn't look like he wanted to answer any questions now, and Bo wouldn't make things worse for him.

Hardly five minutes later, Meadows returned with a deep frown and sad eyes, and a metal tray holding a syringe and a small brown glass vial.

"What's that?" Luke asked as the doctor began to fill the syringe, trading a look with Bo.

"This is the four milligrams of morphine you were supposed to get three hours ago, and every time you're hurting so bad you can't move after that. I'm sorry for the error."

"Error?" was all Luke managed to stammer.

Meadows nodded, administering the painkiller to Luke's IV port. "Now, this might make you a little sleepy, and that's alright. But, when you're starting to hurt again, let one of the nurses know. Pain does nothing to help the healing process, and there's no need for you to have it so bad when you're in my hospital."

"Thanks, Doc." Luke's relief was evident. That constant gnawing ache was just…going away. He breathed easier, his heart stopped thumping, and pretty soon he was no longer tempted to perform his own double nephrectomy with the first set of plastic silverware he came across.

After the doctor left, Bo peered anxiously over at his cousin. Luke's good eye was closed, but Bo didn't think he was asleep. "Luke?" he asked carefully.

"Yeah, Bo?" Luke looked up, reasonably alert. He wouldn't drive anywhere like this, but speech and thought were not beyond him at the moment.

"Are you really alright?" Bo waited for the annoyed response, but Luke just smiled a little.

"Better now than I was, but yeah, I'll be alright."

Bo fell silent, not wanting to disturb his cousin, but Luke spoke up again.

"Hey Bo?"

"Yeah, Luke?"

"Say somethin'. It's too quiet in here."

Bo smiled. "Like what?"

"I dunno. Anything. Tell me where you ran off to Sunday afternoon. You said you'd tell me Monday morning, an' then I got sick."

Bo grinned, levering his bed upright again. "Oh, that! I'd clean forgotten…"

Luke smiled, listening as his cousin launched into his tale. The latest girl he'd been chasing after had finally agreed to a serene Sunday picnic, which led to a serene Sunday drive, which led to a serene Sunday chase.

"Rosco was so mad, he came up out of that ditch sputterin' and shoutin' like all get out…" Bo laughed, holding a hand to his ribs, but he quieted when he looked over at his cousin. Luke had fallen sound asleep listening to the sound of his voice.

Later on, Luke was still asleep when an aging man with neatly combed gray hair and an austere suit entered the room. He was, he explained to Bo, the director of the hospital, and he was there to formally apologize to Luke, and to inform them both that both their bills would be entirely taken care of by the hospital. He seemed nervous when Bo pressed him for the reason, but - as the law required - he reluctantly explained that according to Dr. Meadows, the nurse's earlier oversight on Luke's care was no oversight, but appeared to be intentional neglect. Her husband was the state trooper censured for his sympathy for the Dukes – for allowing Bo to have visitors - and it was her petty revenge. She had falsified Luke's records by recording that she'd administered the correct medications, when she purposely hadn't. Bo got the idea the director thought they might sue the hospital.

"Well, when Luke wakes up, I'll talk it over with him," was Bo's equivocal answer to the suited man. The director gave him nervous thanks, and beat feet to leave.

Whew! Y'know, if that's the last bit of trouble in store for ol' Luke...well, I'm gonna count him lucky, 'cause I was thinkin' of somethin' a whole lot worse.

Later still, Luke woke to the sound of a conversation between Bo and another man in a suit. This one was middle-aged, with a neat, hawk-like visage, and a yellow notepad in his hands. When they noticed Luke was awake, Bo introduced the man as the assistant district attorney. He was there to interview both Bo and Luke, though he already had most of the details from Daisy and Jesse. It was the last step in the process of sorting through the evidence Luke had enabled the police to secure.

He was already well convinced of the Dukes' innocence, but had to complete the formalities, as well as building his case against the Flanagans and their accomplice. The brothers were new in his books, but Chet Goldthwaite had long been on the watch list for any number of criminal activities. The warehouse had been the center of his operations, and plenty more evidence turned up in their search. Add assault and battery to armed robbery, and all three were going away for a long, long time. Later on the state police would decide Luke and Daisy in fact deserved the reward money for the capture of the three criminals. That money paid for more than a few expenses, including hiring a bit of help for the spring planting. The remainder went to the county orphanage, as always, because all three of the Duke cousins were acutely aware of their own childhoods and their luck in having Uncle Jesse there to raise them.

Even Bo was growing tired by the time the a-D.A. left, but in just a few minutes, the best visitors of all entered the room: Uncle Jesse, Daisy, and Cooter. The five of them talked and traded notes for another hour and more, until Bo was completely bushed and Luke was hurting again and Doctor Meadows chased everyone else out.

It wasn't until the next day that the charges against Bo and Luke were officially dropped. By now the media was busting at the doors again, painting the Duke boys as heroes tragically wronged in the pursuit of truth, justice, and the American way. The hospital director jumped on that bandwagon, flaunting the fact that the hospital was paying their bills while thoroughly suppressing the actual reason why.

Two days later Luke was released to his family's care, which mostly involved bed rest and all the mother-henning he could stand. Bo was released another week later, because of his badly broken leg. Even after he was home, he was consigned to a wheelchair for a month, which made things interesting in the Duke home, to say the least. Luke was back on his feet a few days after his cousin came home, and within another week Bo was challenging him to races to the mailbox and back - with Daisy pushing him. The first time, Luke let them win, but after that…

Anna May Goldthwaite visited the Duke boys in the hospital and at home, ever thankful for Luke's help and for really showing her Chet's true nature. When she was going through Chet's papers at her home, looking for evidence to help the a-D.A., she came across copies of her father's and mother's wills, which left everything to their responsible, industrious daughter. Chet had been keeping the truth from her for years, and binding her to him with it. Now she was working hard to clean up the country inn, to reopen it for honeymooners and vacationers. She still worked at the diner, some nights, because she loved the work, the customers, and her friends there. Enos shyly visited Bo and Luke in the hospital as well, apologizing for thinking the worst of them. They forgave him, of course – what else could he think, with everything in the papers?

On the first day of summer, the Sweetwater Inn held its official grand opening, and the Dukes stood at Anna's side as she cut the ribbon - including Bo, who was walking with a cane and hoping to discard that as soon as his physical therapist would allow. They stayed for a celebration dinner, and wished Anna all the luck in the world. Luke kept in touch with her. Last he heard, by the end of the summer, B.B. Davenport was sweet on her, making weekly trips to Sweetwater County and thinking of moving his garage down that way.

All in all, things turned out all right. Especially when you consider it all started when Bo had to go make the mortgage payment on his own, one Monday in February.

And that, friends, is the end. Next time you make your way to Hazzard, I'm sure you'll think twice before walking into the bank - but if you see a pair of Duke boys in the General Lee, be sure to give them a wave for me, would ya?

THE END