Chapter 1
DISCLAIMER: I own no part of Third Watch, its cast or characters.
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It was a miserable night. It was rainy and cold and, as usual, the heater/defroster wasn't working right in the RMP.
"Dammit! This is ridiculous!" Bosco grumbled to himself as he rubbed his hands together while he waited for the traffic light to change. He was by himself tonight. Faith had taken the shift off because Emily was coming home from the hospital - she'd had to have an emergency appendectomy and Fred had to work the night shift. She would've taken the day off anyway, Bosco was sure; it was a "Mom thing."
Things had been pretty quiet in his sector given the crappy weather. It was the beginning of fall, but it felt like the rain would turn to snow at any time. He couldn't figure the weather out anymore... it had been freezing right up to the end of May and then all of a sudden it went from 55 degrees one afternoon, and soared to 90+ for the next three days! Maybe there really was something to all that global warming crap he'd ignored in the past.
The light changed and he eased the cruiser through the intersection. Glancing at his watch, he decided now would be as good a time as any to stop for his meal break. He pulled to the curb in front of one of the standard places he and Faith take their breaks. After advising the dispatcher that he was out of service, he took the keys, pushed the door lock button, and slammed the car door behind him as he darted through the wind and rain toward the café just off the lobby of the hotel-turned privately-owned apartments. He glanced around the lobby, brushed the rain off his shoulders and grabbed a quiet booth in the corner.
"All alone tonight?" asked Michelle, the owner of the café as she approached and placed a cup of steaming coffee and a menu in front of him.
"Yeah, Faith's home with her family tonight," Bosco replied, putting one sugar and some cream into his coffee. Stirring his coffee, he absently looked over the menu as he asked her how business was tonight.
"Pretty quiet. No one wants to come out in this weather. I hate winter," she mumbled as she walked away to give him a chance to decide what he wanted.
"Well, lets take off for warmer climates," Bosco joked with her shutting his menu.
"You'd never leave the City, and you know it!" she retorted.
"You got me there, Michelle," he said as she took his order. After asking her how the roast beef was, he ordered a roast beef sandwich and a cup of onion soup. As she went to get his order ready, he grabbed the paper that someone had left behind and began to read through it.
After only a few minutes, Michelle was walking toward him with his order. He was folding up the paper just as she reached the table when a loud rumbling began, shaking the light fixtures and glass and making them both freeze in their tracks. A loud crash that seemed to shake the entire building was felt at the end of the rumbling, and then nothing as the rattling of any glass had subsided as quickly as it started.
"What the hell?!" Bosco exclaimed jumping up from his seat as Michelle moved out of the way, almost spilling the tray of food she'd forgotten she had in her hand. It was eerily quiet as he glanced out the front window of the café heading out toward the lobby, noticing a fine mist of dust in the air.
He looked across the lobby and saw a panicked security guard running toward the elevators, where a thicker amount of dust was emanating.
"What happened?!," he yelled to the guard as he ran toward him.
"I think the elevator crashed!" the guard retorted as he began banging to see if anyone would respond.
"55-David, emergency message," Bosco called into his radio.
"All units stand by. 55-David, go with your emergency message," came the dispatcher's reply.
"Central, we have an elevator collapse at 3715 East 75th Street. Start FDNY and EMS, and additional PD units. I'll advise when I know more," he reported. He waited for acknowledgment of his message and then went to help the guard get a response from the elevator.
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TBC