Chapter 2

It was two o'clock in the morning and Bosco had just gotten home from what had been a fairly disappointing date. Sure, the girl had been attractive enough, but she didn't stop talking. Ever. He had thought that if he could just make it through dinner, maybe they could go back to his place, or hers, but after the twenty-third time she had cut him off mid-sentence, he decided he was no longer interested. He wasn't usually that picky about whom he took home, but he really wasn't that hard-up for sex. There's always tomorrow. He thought. Tonight, though, he decided to get a good night's sleep. He had a feeling that this happy, friendly version of New York City wouldn't hold out forever.

As it turned out, Bosco had been right about the mood in the city. It was much colder today than it had been yesterday. At just forty-four degrees, his fingers felt chilled on the steering wheel of the RMP.

He and Faith had begun their shift with a domestic, which was never a good sign. They had been to Mercy three separate times with three separate victims. Now, here they were, again, pulling into the emergency department of Angel of Mercy Hospital. This time, it was because the small-time drug dealer in the back seat claimed he had asthma and needed his inhaler. It was the oldest trick in the book and he and Yokas had seen it a million times before. In the end, the perpetrator got a few extra hours out of lock-up and the arresting officers wasted those hours that could have been spent in a more productive way. It was all a big pain in the ass if you asked Bosco, but they were legally required to take anyone that requested it to the ER.

"You better behave in here, Freddy, or I'm gonna give you a reason to be here." Bosco said as he turned around in his seat.

"You got no worries from me Officer Boscorelli." Freddy replied. Bosco knew that he'd be no trouble. He and Faith had arrested Freddy at least half a dozen times in the past. These nickel and dime dealers were rarely more than a nuisance.

As it turned out, the ER was surprisingly uncrowded. An hour ago, it had been standing room only.

"Hey, Mary, we've got one under who claims to be asthmatic." Faith reported to Nurse Proctor. "We'll love you forever if you get us out of here before dark."

Mary chuckled and told them to sit down. "I'll do my best." She said before turning back to her paperwork.

Whether Mary pulled some strings or they had simply gotten lucky, they had gotten in and out in an hour and a half, something for which Faith was very grateful. She hated the hospital. The smells, the sounds, everything spoke of misery and suffering as far as she was concerned. Bosco felt the same as Faith did.

They had dropped Freddy off to the station house and were on their way to their meal break.

"I'm starving." Bosco said. "There was a point there where I was actually considering getting one of those sandwiches out of the hospital vending machine." He added with a shudder.

Faith laughed. "Well, at least we would have already been in the emergency room." She joked.

Bosco laughed too. He wasn't a picky eater, but they both knew he wouldn't eat anything that came out of a vending machine unless he was really desperate.

Suddenly, their radios chimed in "Five-five David, take a holdup alarm at One-Oh-Eight and the park."

"God damn it!" Bosco griped. "I guess we don't get to eat today." He thumbed his mic. "David. One-Oh-Eight and the park."

As they sped off to their call, Faith remarked, "I'm not going to let this get me down."

As they approached the window of the bank, they stopped momentarily to sneak a peek inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. People were going in and coming out. Nobody seemed frightened or upset.

"False alarm, you think?" Faith said as she approached the guard. "We got a call for a hold-up in here." She told him. "You see anything?"

"Nah. All quiet here. Want to check with the manager just in case?" the guard responded.

"Yeah." Bosco answered. He decided to err on the side of caution. "Can you call him out here?"

The guard dialed a number on his cell and did as Bosco requested. "He's on his way out." He said.

After having spoken to the bank manager and checking for themselves, they called in the false alarm and declared themselves back in service.

"I hate false alarms." Bosco declared as he dropped himself unceremoniously into the driver's seat of their RMP. "You got all this adrenaline pumping through you and no outlet. Makes me wanna crawl out of my skin,"

"Wanna go for a jog?" Faith teased. "I could pick you up in a few blocks."

"Nah." Bosco replied, either ignoring her or simply oblivious to her mocking. "Let's go eat."

It was the end of their shift and Bosco and Yokas had just arrived back at the house. It had been a long, exhausting day but Bosco wasn't in the mood to go home.

"Hey, Faith," He called as they entered the locker room. "You wanna get a coffee or something?"

She looked at him. "What? No hot date tonight?" She loved to tease him about the girls he dated.

"Nope, not tonight." He answered.

"Sure, why not?" Faith replied. "Fred's got the kids this week, anyway."

They changed out of their uniforms and headed out to Bosco's Mustang.

"You know, Bosco, we were so busy today, you never told me how your date went." Faith stated as they drove towards their usual coffee spot.

Bosco didn't look at her. "I guess not." He said simply.

Faith waited a few moments, but he didn't elaborate. "Oh come on, Bos. You've been bragging to me about your sexual exploits for how many years? I know who you've been with and in what positions and now you clam up?" It couldn't have gone well, she thought, if he didn't bring it up before now.

"It just wasn't interesting enough to mention, I guess." He answered. "She wouldn't stop talking. She was loud, obnoxious, and she kept cutting me off mid-sentence."

Faith laughed. "I figured that wouldn't matter as long as she'd let you into her pants."

"Usually it wouldn't. I dunno, maybe…"

"Maybe you're ready to settle down, Bos."

"Maybe." He said. "Don't tell anybody, though." He joked.

Faith and Bosco chatted over coffee in their usual way, each poking fun at the other. Bosco had always lobbied in favor of Faith and Fred's marriage, but he had to admit; she seemed happier since he had left her. Not at first, of course. The night that Fred had left, she had come to his apartment and sobbed herself to sleep in his arms. Bosco, who had never been comfortable with sad situations like that, didn't know what to say, so he just sat there and let her cry. Now, however, just a few months later, she was herself again, only more so.

After an hour or so, the coffee was gone and they were both yawning, so they decided to call it a night.

On the way home, Faith remarked that the waitress seemed to be eyeing him the whole time.

Bosco chuckled. "Oh yeah? Maybe I should go back there."

"You know," Faith said. "She had a lot of nerve, flirting with you with me sitting right there. For all she knew, we could have been a couple."

"Nah," Bosco teased. "You're not my type."

Faith feigned insult. "Why am I not your type?"

Bosco bit his lip, suppressing a smile. "You're too stubborn." He said, knowing he had her riled up.

"Stubborn? I'm not stubborn, Bos. If either of us is stubborn, it's you. Not me."

"See? You're too stubborn to admit you're stubborn!" he jibed.

"Bosco! I'm not stubborn!"

Bosco pulled up to the curb in front of Faith's apartment. "Night, Faith." He said with a smile.

"I'm not stubborn." She responded, still pretending his remarks bothered her. "Go have fun with your waitress." She teased and waved goodnight. Bosco watched to make sure she got into the building safely, then put the car in gear and headed home.

As he was unlocking the door to his apartment, he heard a ding, indicating he had received a text message. Once inside, he checked his phone to see a message from Faith. "Not stubborn." was all it said. He laughed quietly to himself, then locked up for the night.