Like Father, Like Son Chapter 10

Cooter took his friends, Bo and Luke to the hospital so they could get some help to Tyler, who was just barely hanging on. But, what they didn't know was that minutes after they had left the accident site, Kyle Gordon had managed to crawl out of his wrecked car, and flag down Sheriff Coltrane, who then in turn took Kyle to the hospital, but it was the same hospital that Cooter had taken the Dukes to!

When Kyle was rushed in to the hospital, he immediately saw Bo and Luke who were sitting in uncomfortable looking, plastic chairs, while they were waiting for news on Tyler. Because of the number of doctors who had surrounded Kyle when he had first entered the hospital, had prevented Bo and Luke from identifying Kyle, because if they had, Bo and Luke would have been on him like ugly on a moose!

While Kyle was being tended to, Bo and Luke kept staring at their hands, while they waited for a doctor. For Luke, the waiting around was making him anxious. Anxious to know the extent of Ty's injuries, and just how Bo would react once a doctor did come out to speak with them. For Bo, the waiting around was making him worry about the boy.

He cared greatfully for the boy...perhaps to much, but he couldn't help it.

Was it because Tyler reminded Bo of himself at that age? Maybe so. Was it because Tyler's life was so hard and would get worse if he had stayed with his dad? Who knows. All Bo knew was that he deeply cared for Tyler, just like any parent would.

But, Bo wasn't Tyler's parent, and since Kyle was out of the question, Tyler would become a ward of the state!

Bo was broken out of his reverie when a doctor stopped right in front of them with a grim look on his face.

"How's Tyler?" Bo asked as he stood up, with the help of his cousin.

"While his injuries were fairly severe, I believe that he will survive. All he needs to do is take it easy for awhile." The doctor replied as he stuck his hands in to his pockets.

"Can I see em'?" Bo asked, hoping that he would be allowed to.

He smiled when the doctor nodded his head and jestured down the hall.

Carefully, Bo and Luke managed to follow the doctor as he led them down several halls, and through several doors.

Finally, when Bo began to think that the doctor didn't know where he was taking them, they stopped, right outside of a room.

Without so much as a look back, the doctor pushed open the door and held it open while Bo and Luke shuffled in to the room.

The first thing they saw was Tyler, lying on the bed with an O2 mask on his face, and bandages all over his chest. The second thing they saw was a man standing right in front of Tyler's bed, with an angry look on his face. The man had cuts on his face and arms, and drops of dried blood were on his scalp as well.

Slowly, the man turned around to face the Dukes, who gasped slightly when they saw who the man was.

It was Kyle, torn coat and all!

In Kyle's hands was a revolver that he had grabbed back from a doctor, split seconds before he had knocked that doctor out. Now, that gun was pointed at Bo and Luke, who were so mad that they didn't even bother to raise their hands.

"I hate interference," Kyle said as he glared at Bo and Luke, "and I hate country hicks like you who think they have the right to brainwash my son!"

"If we're talkin' about brainwashin', what do you think yer doin' to him?!" Bo said, raising his voice slightly as he took a step towards Kyle.

"He's my son, an I can teach em' anything I want!" Kyle spat out as he cocked his gun and aimed it at Bo, who was getting closer.

Bo shook his head before he took off running and slammed in to Kyle before he had a chance to fire the gun.

The momentum of Bo knocking in to Kyle, slammed the both of them into the defibrillator, sending the machine tumbling to the floor.

Hitting the defibrillator didn't deter Bo as he punched Kyle over and over. Rage was boiling up inside of Bo, and had been ever since he had met Tyler, and now he was just releasing it on the one person who had wasted away much of Tyler's life.

With a grunt, Kyle threw Bo off of him and scrambled up, looking for the gun, but Bo quickly recovered and tackled Kyle to the ground, punching Kyle in the ribs.

Kyle grunted, but quickly came back with a punch to Bo's jaw, that sent the younger man flying back a little ways, to land against Tyler's bed.

Bo, being slightly dazed, didn't get up, which gave Kyle time to look for his gun, or...so he thought. However, when Luke had seen his cousin go down, he immediately rushed and threw Kyle to the ground, away from his gun, before delivering a swift kick to Kyle's ribs.

Kyle closed his eyes and warded off the pain of the blow, before he looked up and blocked Luke's next kick, before tumbling the Duke boy to the ground, and kicking him in the upper torso.

"How do you like it? Huh?! Huh?!!" Kyle roared angerily before he left Luke and began to search for his gun. Not finding it, Kyle reached in to his pocket and withdrew the pocketknife that his father had given to him when he had been a boy. Flicking open the largest blade, Kyle whirled around to meet the full force of Bo's fist.

Bo had gotten up off the floor the minute Kyle had reached in to his pocket. When he had seen the knife blade, Bo knew that he had to act, so the only thing he could do was punch Kyle.

He smiled as he watched Kyle stumble back, but that smile quickly wore off when Kyle lunged at Bo!

Kyle locked himself against Bo as he punched at the youngest Duke Boy with all his might.

Luke who had seen the lunge couldn't do anything to help his baby cousin, because he had also seen the knife that Kyle held. After watching Bo and Kyle tussle for several minutes, Luke averted his gaze as the door opened and two police officer's from the state of Georgia stood there.

The police officer's took in the fight and within the blink of an eye, they deduced that it was Kyle that was trying to do bodily harm to Bo, and not the other way around, but before they could break up the combatants, both Kyle and Bo fell to the ground and lay still.

Finally after several seconds, Bo picked himself up and moved away from the now dead form of Kyle Gordon. Bo backed up against the wall, now in shock at having killed a man, even if it was in self defense. The police men, however, were not in shock, because they preformed their job effortlessly.

Getting statements from Luke and little tidbits of info from Bo, and getting doctors to clean up the mess and dispose of the body.

After three hours, the room was now back to it's former glory. All of the blood had been cleaned up and the defibrillator was now back on it's wheels and in it's proper place.

Luke was sitting next to Bo, who was sitting by the side of Tyler's bed, staring off in to space.

Luke knew that sometime soon, a social worker would come to collect Tyler since he now had no family, but, Luke also knew that Tyler's leaving would be the worst thing for Bo, since they had bonded so closely.

Sighing, Luke guessed there was really only one thing they could do.

Leaning in, Luke whispered, "Bo."

When Bo didn't respond, Luke shook Bo's shoulder, snapping Bo out of his state.

Bo turned puffy, red, tearful eyes towards Luke, who looked back at him calmly.

Luke licked his lips, before he cleared his throat and said, "Bo, I hate ta bring this up so soon after...well...after what happened, but, ya do realize that after Ty gets better that he's gonna be goin to an orphanage, or into foster care."

Bo nodded his head, but didn't say anything.

"Well...do you want Tyler to go?" Luke asked, point blank as he fixed Bo with a compassionate stare.

Slowly, Bo shook his head and whispered, "No."

"Why don't you adopt him, Bo? He already likes and trusts you, an I can tell how much the two of you have bonded..." Luke prompted.

Bo shook his head fearfully as he said, "I can't Luke. I can't adopt Tyler! What if...what if I turn into Tyler's real father?"

"I won't say that there wouldn't be many hard roads ahead of the both of you, but I know fer a fact that you would never treat Tyler like his real father did. Yer kind an compassionate an you've already gained Ty's approval." Luke said.

Bo looked down at the ground for a second, thinking, while down in the lobby, Mr. Neal Young, from the Baptist Children's Home, was filling out the paperwork nessessary to release Tyler in to his custody.

Mr. Young had been working on another case when he had heard about the incident in room #513, so he had taken it upon himself to take care of Tyler as well.

After completing the paperwork, Neal walked down the hall, quickly finding to room.

Neal pushed the door open with ease and stepped in to the room. He smiled when he saw two young men in the room, who turned to look at him.

"My name is Neal Young. I work for the Baptist Children's Home." Neal said as he walked over and looked at the still unconscious boy.

Luke cleared his throat, getting Neal's attention, as he said, "I'm Luke Duke, that's ma cousin, Bo."

"Pleased to meet you both. Are you friends of Tyler's?" Neal asked.

"Yes sir, we are." Bo said evenly as he looked down at Tyler's limp form.

"It's such a shame. So young and having no place to call home. I remember I was just about his age when my parents dropped me of at the children's home. I could never understand why they did it, and after several years I stopped wondering." Neal said, looking up at Bo and Luke.

"Who adopted you, if ya don't mind my askin'?" Luke asked.

Sadly, Neal shook his head and said, "No one ever did. I stayed at the Children's Home until I turned 20, then I got a job working there. I vowed to myself that no other child would have to go through what I went through. No pain of rejection, no endless days of sitting on your bed, wondering what's become of your world."

As Neal told his story, tears had begun to roll down Bo's face as he wondered how Tyler's life would be if he didn't adopt him, and decided he wouldn't want to find out.

Wiping his tears away, Bo looked at Neal and said, "Mr. Young, I want to adopt Tyler."

A smile spread across both Neal and Luke's faces, when they heard Bo's proclimation.

Neal bent down and took out a piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to Bo, along with a pen.

"You do understand what yer getting yourself into? If you are accepted, you will be fully responsible for the boy's well being." Neal said as he watched Bo look over the form, and then sign it.

"I understand, sir. Ty means alot to me, and I ain't about to let em' be sent to an orphanage!" Bo replied as be handed to form back to Neal, who stuffed it in to his briefcase, before he took the pen back and also put it in the briefcase.

After that, Neal stood and shook hands with Bo and Luke. He then explained to Bo that there were going to be some tests and interviews, not to mention, several people who would have to come out to the farm to inspect the place, before Bo's application would be accepted.

Bo nodded his head and told Mr. Young that he understood what had to happen, before he watched Mr. Young leave the room.

Once he was gone, Bo looked over at his cousin, who had a big smile on his face.

Quickly, Luke drew Bo in to a big hug as he said, "I'm proud of you, Bo."

Bo smiled at that before he released Luke and sat down beside Tyler's bed, wishing that the boy would wake up.

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Slowly two weeks passed, and still Tyler showed no signs of waking up. The doctor's were stumped, not to mention bombarded with questions from both Bo and Luke.

Finally they admitted that they didn't know why Tyler wasn't awake, which rewarded them with angry glares from the Duke's.

Light shone through the window in Tyler's room, illuminating the place. Luke was sacked out in the other bed on the other side of the room, Bo was sleeping in the chair, his blond, curly head resting on the edge of Tyler's bed. Jesse and Daisy were sleeping, side- by -side in two other chairs.

As the sun shone in the room, one of the people in the room finally opened his eyes.

Slowly, Tyler blinked as his eyes adjusted to the light. As he looked around the room, he saw all of the Dukes, who were sleeping in chairs, or in Luke's case, the other bed.

Tyler then looked down and saw that his hand was in Bo's hand, and that Bo's head was lying on his bed. A smile broke out on Tyler's face as he looked at Bo's sleeping form.

Carefully, Tyler removed his hand from Bo's hand, but that little movement woke up the young Duke Boy.

Bo yawned and lifted his head before he looked over at Tyler, and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw Tyler's blue eyes looking back at him.

"Yer awake.." Bo whispered softly before a huge smile broke out on his face and he said loudly, "Yer awake!"

That declaration woke everyone in the room up from a sound sleep.

"Bo, keep yer voice down." Jesse said as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

"Sorry Uncle Jesse but, Tyler's awake!" Bo replied joyfully as he glanced at his uncle.

At hearing that, everyone came over and crowded around Tyler's bed.

Bo wisely stayed quiet as he watched his family talk with Tyler...his son. During the past two weeks, many people had come to the farm to look it over, not to mention asking him questions, and practically picking his background clean, but since that got Bo's application accepted, it was well worth it.

Now all Bo had to do was break the news to Tyler, but he wasn't sure quite how to do it.

He was broken out of his reverie when a doctor shook his shoulder and asked him to move, in a quite annoyed manner.

Quickly Bo left the chair and watched as the doctor checked Tyler over, before giving him a clean bill of health.

"He will have to stay here for a few more days, but I'm happy to say that his wounds are healing well." The doctor said, much to the delight of the Duke's, and to Tyler.

Once the doctor left, Bo cleared his throat, wanting to get his confession over with.

"Ty, I...need ta tell you somethin'." Bo said.

Tyler, sensing the seriousness in Bo's voice, turned his full attention to Bo.

"While you were...out of it...me an Luke had another run in with yer father." Bo said.

"He didn't hurt ya, did he?" Tyler asked, getting a little worried.

If Kyle had hurt his new friends, Tyler would never forgive himself. But, as Tyler saw the look in Bo's eyes, he knew that wasn't the case.

"No but..." Bo began, but thankfully he was saved from going any farther.

"Ma dad's dead..isn't he?" Tyler asked, matter-of-factly.

Slowly, Bo nodded his head and looked down, not being able to look Tyler in the eyes.

"Who did it?" Tyler asked calmly.

Before Bo could say anything else, Luke told Tyler what had happened, from beginning to end. How Kyle had been trying to shoot Bo, and then the scuffle with the knife. When Luke was done, Tyler looked down for a second, before he looked over at Bo.

"I don't blame you, Bo. It was self defense." Tyler said.

That made Bo look up at his son with awe, as he said, "I thought you'd hate me."

"No, I could never hate you Bo. Yer my best friend." Tyler replied.

Bo chuckled a little before he said, "Ty, I've got somethin' else ta tell ya. Two weeks ago a social worker stopped by an.."

"When do I leave?" Tyler asked, inturrupting Bo, because he thought Bo was telling him that he would be leaving with the social worker.

"Leavin'? To go where?" Bo asked.

"The orphanage." Tyler replied softly.

Bo put an arm around Tyler as he said, "Ty, you ain't goin' to no orphanage, well...not unless ya really want to."

"What do you mean?"

"Ty, you already have a home...with me, my cousin's an my uncle." Bo said calmly.

"You...you mean.." Tyler said, not believing Bo, until the young Duke boy smiled and nodded his head.

"I jus couldn't let you go Ty, so I did the only thing a good friend would do...I adopted you." Bo said.

A huge smile spread across Tyler's face, as several tears ran down his cheeks. Quickly he wrapped his arms around Bo's neck and hugged him, never wanting to let go. While Tyler was hugging him, Bo wrapped both of his arms around his son, while he looked at his family, who were all standing there smiling at him.

Knowing that Tyler had accepted him made Bo warm and happy, and Bo decided to make it his mission in life to make sure that Tyler had the proper childhood that he deserved with what time he had left.

With that promise sealed, Bo closed his eyes and hugged his son tighter.

THE END

A/N: This is the end of part 1, please stay tuned for part 2 'Past Regret's', coming soon.