Disclaimer: I do not own the original characters or places, but oh how I wish I did.

For those who are worried about me abandoning this fic, worry not. I'm already working on chapter 78. I just haven't had time to combine these and edit them. I know…I know…I'll try to do better.

Collision Course, Chapter 24

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Sully looked up, surprised to see Rose Boscorelli charging out of the ICU and through the waiting area into the hall with Mikey close behind her. Assuming that something had gone terribly wrong with Bosco, he hurriedly followed them out. What he saw in the hallway was an even greater shock. Rose Boscorelli paced back and forth, ranting about some Nurse Crabtree. Her face was beet red. And she wasn't being very selective with her language, causing Sully's face to redden as well. Now he knew where Bosco got his temper and a few of the choice words that he sometimes used. Michael Boscorelli followed behind her trying to calm her down.

"Ma, take it easy. Whatever she said, it couldn't have been that bad." Mikey urged her.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE SAID, MICHAEL! HOW DARE SHE SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT?" Rose shouted as she turned and shook her finger in Mikey's face. The young man took a step back and threw his hands up.

"Just calm down, Ma. You're making a scene. And your blood pressure will be up. Do you want to have a stroke?" Mikey questioned.

Rose rubbed her forehead as she began to pace once again. She had been too shocked at the nurse's response initially to know how to react. But then the more she thought about it, the madder she became.

"How could she say that? How?" She muttered over and over again. "How could she say that about my baby?" She turned back once again into Mikey. "How?" She questioned, as her lips began to tremble.

"I don't know, Ma. Please, just calm down." Mikey whispered, as he put one hand on each of her arms. At his touch, Rose crumbled. Soon the two were sitting in the hallway floor with Rose clinging to Mikey's shirt as she sobbed. Mikey hugged her close with one arm while he patted her back with the other, tears running down his own cheeks.

Sully watched from a distance, still unsure of what exactly had happened. After several minutes, Rose's shaking form began to calm. And Mikey looked up at him as if silently asking for help.

Sully approached them slowly and squatted down beside the two. "Mrs. Boscorelli?" Sully questioned softly. "Why don't you let me help you up? There's a chair right over here." Sully continued.

Rose gave Sully a bewildered look, then looked away as she realized that Officer Sullivan had witnessed her entire tirade and then her breakdown. "Call me Rose." She mumbled.

"What?" Sully asked.

"Call me Rose. My name is Rose." She uttered softly as she reached up to give Sully her hand.

"Ok then, Rose it is." Sully replied. "And you can call me John." He added as he lifted her up and, with Mikey's help, led her over to a chair beside the wall.

"I'm sorry." Rose almost whispered, looking somewhat ashamed.

"That's alright." Sully answered. "It's quite understandable." He paused. "Look, Mrs.Bosc…. I mean Rose. You've been here all night and you're exhausted. Why don't you go home for a few hours and rest? Officer Davis and I will be here all day, and then Faith and Sergeant Cruz will be here." When Rose looked up as if to protest, Sully added, "And we'll call you if there is any change at all. I promise."

Mikey joined in, "He's right, Ma. You do look exhausted. And you aren't going to help Moe any by making yourself sick."

Rose looked back up at Mikey and then at John Sullivan. Finally she sighed. "I guess you're right. I could use a little sleep." Looking back at Sully she continued. "Will you go back and check on him during the visiting hour? And do call me if there is any change, please."

"Of course we will. Don't you worry about a thing, Rose." Sully assured her.

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Anthony Boscorelli was startled by the ringing from his doorbell. He had been watching the news update on his son's condition once again. He placed the remote on the coffee table and went to the door. He opened it to find his youngest son standing with downcast eyes. Opening the door further, he moved back to let Michael in. Mikey plopped down on the couch and Anthony sat down in the recliner to the side.

After a minute or two of silence, Mikey finally spoke. "How did you do it, Dad?" Mikey questioned.

"Do what?" his father replied.

"How did you stop drinking after all those years? You've been clean, what ? Almost 3 years now?" Mikey implored.

"Three and a half." Anthony corrected him. "And I don't know how. I just finally decided I had hurt enough people, including myself. Or maybe the Man up stairs just decided to bless me. I don't know."

"Does Moe know, Dad?" When Anthony gave him a questioning look, he continued. "Does Moe know that you quit drinking?"

"I don't know. I haven't really talked to him since then, unless you count one cab ride. And then, I didn't really talk. I didn't think he would care that I'd stopped. Figured it was too late to make a difference." Anthony said quietly.

"It's bad, Dad. Real bad."

"That's what the news said." Anthony replied. "How is your mother handling it?"

"She's a wreck. I took her home to rest. She took a couple of shots of Vodka and was out like a light." Mikey reported grimly.

Anthony looked down at the floor. 'Yet another life I managed to ruin.' He looked back up at Mikey. "Who's at the hospital now?" He questioned.

"Officer Sullivan and an Officer Davis, two of his coworkers," Mikey answered, then added, "Ma's not going back until later this evening. The next visiting hour is at 2:00 PM."

Anthony glanced up at the clock on his wall, which read 1:15.

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Collision Course, Chapter 25

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"You going back there?" Ty asked Sully just after the 2:00 PM visiting hour was announced.

"I guess so. I promised Rose I'd check on him." Sully answered.

Ty gave Sully a quizzical look, wondering when he'd come to be on a first name basis with Bosco's mother.

"You coming?" Sully questioned as he stood.

"Uh, no. No, I don't think so, Sul." Ty replied hesitantly.

"That's ok. I'm not going to stay long." Sully announced as he walked toward the ICU.

When he approached Bosco's room, Sully's pace slowed. He wasn't sure that he was ready to see Bosco so helpless. Bosco was one of the toughest little guys Sully had ever known. He sighed and trudged ahead.

As he walked into the room, he noticed a gruff looking nurse exiting. "How is he?" Sully questioned.

"No change." The nurse spat and kept walking.

'Must be the infamous Nurse Crabtree.' Sully took another few steps and stopped just beside Bosco's hospital bed. He stood with his arms crossed, rocking back and forth slightly on his heels, studying Bosco. Except for the bruises on his face, the casted arm propped up on a pillow, and of course the breathing tube, Bosco looked almost as if he were just asleep.

Feeling a bit silly just standing and staring at Bosco, Sully finally cleared his throat. "Hey little man. That was some stunt you pulled out there yesterday. You've got the whole city in an uproar." Sully paused, then started again "Your mom will be back in a little while. She just went home to rest for a bit. Davis and I will be right outside. So you just relax and try to get better, ok."

Sully's ramblings were interrupted by Nurse Crabtree squabbling with another potential visitor. "You can't go in there. You're not on the list." She insisted.

"What list? I'm his father." Anthony Boscorelli argued.

"Any bum off the street could come in and say something like that. We have a specific list of visitors who are allowed to see Officer Boscorelli and you are not on it." Crabtree rebuked as she pointed to a paper on her clipboard.

"Well there must be some mistake. Can you check again?" Anthony asked. Surely Rose didn't hate him enough to do such a thing intentionally.

"He's ok, Nurse Crabtree." Sully interrupted.

"But he's not on the list." Crabby insisted again.

"Well, that was an accident. I can vouch for him. He is Officer Boscorelli's father. His mother sent me to notify him yesterday." Sully continued.

Crabby gave Anthony a scornful look. "You've got 10 minutes." she huffed as she walked away.

Sully took a step toward Anthony Boscorelli and towered over him. "Don't make me regret this," he warned, before he turned toward the waiting area.

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Anthony Boscorelli stood beside the hospital bed and stared down at his oldest son, a sense of unease growing. Seeing the bruises on his face reminded Anthony of all the beatings he had given him in the past. For years, he thought that Maurice was just a defiant brat. And he had attempted to beat that defiance out of him on several occasions. Now Anthony realized that the defiant brat was just a scared child trying to protect his mother, the same way he had protected those children playing in the park yesterday. .

Looking at the cast on Maurice's left arm, Anthony tried to remember if that was the arm he had broken when Maurice was twelve. That particular incident was one of the worst. Maurice had had a concussion, the broken arm, and three broken ribs. Anthony was afraid he was going to have to do jail time for that one. Sometimes he wished he had. Maybe he would have gotten his life together in time to save his family.

Anthony hesitantly placed his hand over his son's hand as his mind wandered. He remembered when Maurice was a toddler. He'd hold on to Anthony's index finger with his tiny hand and walk along beside his father on his tiptoes. Those were good days. Maurice had adored him. When he'd come home from work, Maurice would be waiting at the door with a toy or a book. 'What was that little book he loved? The Animal Bus?' He smiled, remembering how Maurice would always quote that one line with him. Now he struggled to remember it. 'It comes when it comes and it goes when it goes, and when it will be nobody knows?' What Anthony would give to go back to those days, to have another chance. But he'd thought more of the booze, gambling, and women, than he had of his family.

Anthony swallowed hard, trying to control his emotions. He squeezed his son's hand as he spoke with a shaky voice, "I'm sorry, Maurice."

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Collision Course, Chapter 26

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Faith and Cruz sat across from each other in the waiting area, both looking everywhere except at the other person. Rose had called a few minutes ago to say that there was a problem at the bar that she had to straighten out before she could return, so she'd probably miss the 6:00PM visiting hour. She was pretty upset about it, but Faith had assured her that they would go back and visit him. When the announcement of the visiting hour was made overhead, Faith and Cruz sat and stared at each other.

"Why don't you go ahead?" Faith suggested after some hesitation.

Cruz looked a bit surprised at the offer, but a part of her was relieved. She couldn't imagine visiting Bosco alongside Yokas. "Sure." She replied and headed into the ICU.

Maritza noted the gray haired nurse sitting outside Bosco's room as she approached, assuming that she must be Nurse Crabtree that Sully had warned them about. Cruz passed her without a second look.

She walked over to the side of the bed, took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She hesitantly traced her fingertips down Bosco's right forearm. When she reached his hand, she interlocked her pinky with his. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Bosco?" She almost whispered. "It's Ritza." She ran the back of the fingers of her left hand along his jaw line, then rested her hand on his shoulder. She frowned as she realized how warm he was.

As if summoned, Nurse Crabtree entered the room, circling around the bed to check and record the output on the drains and from the foley.

"Does he have fever?" Cruz asked with concern.

"Yes, but that's not unexpected. It's quite common after surgery." Crabtree informed her and hurriedly went about her work.

Cruz turned back to Bosco. Leaning over him, she spoke. "Bosco, I know you can hear me. You have to fight, Bosco. We're all here for you, but you have to fight."

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Faith looked up to see Cruz exiting the ICU with a look of concern on her face.

"What's wrong?" Faith questioned.

"He has a fever." Cruz answered. "But the nurse says that's to be expected."

Faith frowned as well. Cruz continued, "You going back?"

Faith hesitated. "No, I don't think so." When Cruz gave her a questioning look, she continued with an accusing tone. "We haven't exactly been on the greatest terms over the last few months, in case you haven't noticed."

Cruz opened her mouth to speak, but held her tongue. After giving herself a moment to calm down, she began again. "Look, Yokas. I don't care if you hate me or not. I'm not exactly fond of you either. But Bosco is going to need all the support we can give him to get through this. So don't take this out on him. I made some really stupid decisions that put Bosco in a tough position. But he never meant to hurt you. For reasons that I'll never understand, he cares about you and he's gonna need you."

Faith gave Cruz a bewildered look, then replied. "We all made stupid decisions, but that doesn't matter. Bosco tried to fix things and I turned him away. Why would he want me in there now?"

"Oh, get over it, Yokas! Bosco has always said that he learned a lot from you. Maybe it's time to take a few lessons from him, like how to forgive and forget. Do you know what the last thing he said in that bus was? Just before he lost consciousness he asked me where you were. He needed you and he didn't care what had happened in the last year." Cruz retorted, then turned and walked away.

An astonished Faith stared at Cruz's retreating figure, then looked back toward the ICU.

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Taking Bosco's hand in hers, Faith leaned over the bed towards him. "Bosco? Bos, it's Faith. I don't know if you can hear me." Faith swallowed back tears. "I'm sorry, Bos. I'm sorry for so many things. I wanted to accept your apology and to apologize myself, but I was so stubborn. Please, Bos, you have to hang in there and get better. Don't give up on us, Bos."

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Disclaimer # 2: The book I'm referring to is The Animals' Bus Ride by Helen Wing. The quote is not exact, just paraphrased from memory. I do not own The Animals' Bus Ride. But I do own a copy of it, somewhere.