I still do not own anything or anyone. thank you fro reading. please continue i really appricate it. and i also appreciat the feeback. keeep it coming! :)
He laid his hand on top of hers and couldn't help but smile. "Faith, what's wrong?" A part of him wished she would just start talking about everything between them in the past, and then another part of him wished she wouldn't.
"Nothing Bos, why?"
"Oh c'mon Faith, we've been partners for years. I know when something is wrong." He looked up at her and fixed her in on his gaze. She couldn't look away even know she wanted to and needed to look away desperately.
"I-I-I just don't know. It's weird. Ya know?"
"Being here? You don't have to stay Faith, I'd understand." He looked down trying not to show his sadness.
"No. Not that, I want to stay Bos. I want to be here with you."
"Then what is it Faith?"
"It's weird to talk about stuff we used to do when we rode together. It's like we are partners again or something. It's stupid, I know."
"Faith it's not stupid. I know exactly how you feel. We will always be partners no matter what." She just sighed and looked down and started to twiddle her thumbs. "Faith, look at me. Please?" she paused and slowly lifted her head and looked at him. He reached over and wiped the tear away from her cheek. "No matter what happens, I will always be there for you Faith. I want you to know that."
"Thanks Bos, I appreciate it. I just wish you would've been here for the past five years."
"I wish I was there too. I just didn't think you needed me anymore. There is so much that I want to talk to you about and I know there is a lot you want to tell me. But I'd really like to talk to you about all of that once I'm out of here. I'll understand if you don't want to. But I just want to try."
"Bosco, I would love to be able to talk about everything. Whenever you are ready to talk about it, I'll be there. As long as you want me there, I will be. I promise."
"Really, you don't mind waiting? I'd tell you now, I just don't think this is the right place and I'd just feel more comfortable at home."
"Yes I'm positive. There is a lot I want to talk about as well Bos. You're right; this isn't the right place to talk about everything." Faith laughed trying to hold back the tears that were pressing to come pouring out.
"Faith, I-I-I missed you, a lot."
"I know. I missed you a lot as well Bos."
"Will you promise me something?" She nodded her head in response. "Will you promise to be there when I get out of here? You don't have to stay at my place all day if you don't want to, but just stay for a little bit."
"Yeah, I'll be there. You can count on it. I will stay there if you want me to Bos."
"Okay. Thank you. I just know I'm going to make Charlie crazy so maybe he can stay at your place the first night and you can sleep in the guest room at my house."
"That sounds like a plan to me." They both smiled and watched TV for a moment before Bosco remembered his Ma never came to see him.
"Faith, did you ever end up calling my Ma?"
"I called her Bos; she never called me back though. Do you want me to call her again?"
"No. Don't even bother. I bet she's with my dad."
"Are they together again?" Faith knew how much Bosco hated his father and how touchy this subject was with him.
"Ugh I guess you can say that. I haven't talked to my Ma in a few months. She calls me every once and awhile from a private number and tells me that she is okay. But that's all." Bosco could feel his temperature rising, he needed to calm down or he would go off. "I just don't know what kind of mother lets her son sit in a hospital for two days without so much as a phone call. Whatever."
"Bos, Its okay Emily and Charlie are here. I'll try and find out how to reach her. Don't worry I'll handle it just calm down."
"You're here too."
"What?"
"You said that Emily and Charlie are here, but didn't say that you were here too. That's what matters the most." He looked up and smiled at Faith He could barely fight back the urge to just tell her everything that was holding him down but he knew that now wasn't the time. "I need to get out of this damn place."
"Yeah Bos, I'm here and I'm not leaving." She smiled and nudged him "You'll be out of here soon enough. You just need to worry about getting better so that you can leave."
"Thanks Faith. I really appreciate you being here, you didn't have to take time off though."
"Ha I took that cause I need a break from that place!" she said sarcastically
"Yeah, right" he said blandly then laughed at her trying to be serious, when he caught a glimpse at the clock "Whoa it's already 6:50. Visiting hours are going to be over soon." Faith noted the sad look overcome Bosco's face
"Bos, I can stay here with you again tonight the kids will be fine."
"I know the kids will be fine, but you slept here last night, I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
"I wouldn't offer to stay if I didn't want to. You should know that by now."
"Alright that sounds good to me then. I'm warning you though, the cable here sucks."
"I'm fine with whatever you want to watch." There was a knock on the door and then Doctor Roberts came in.
"Hello Maurice. I was wondering if you feel up to getting up and walking around, maybe even taking a shower."
"Yeah Doc, that's fine. What are the chances of me being out of here tomorrow instead of Monday?"
"Depending on how well you are walking, and if you can shower on your own, you can leave tomorrow."
"Perfect. Then let's get this over with, what are we waiting for?"
"Not so fast. How's the brace feel?"
"It's fine." Bosco sat up out of bed and grabbed faiths hand to help him stand up and he walked around the room a few times then sat back down on the bed to rest for a moment. "I feel great. How bout you let me outta here now?"
"Nice try. Let's get you in the shower. You have to stay until tomorrow. The more you walk, the sooner you will leave."
"I'll walk my ass home if that's what you want Doc."
"Yeah yeah yeah, let's go officer. Shower."
"Geez. I'm goin." He got up and made it into the bathroom by himself "Faith, did Charlie bring my clothes here?"
"Yeah he did. What do you want?"
"A pair of sweat pants, my cut off, and a pair of boxers." Faith got up and grabbed his bag and rummaged through it until she found what he asked for. She walked over to the bathroom and opened the door, not realizing he had already started to undress. She stared at his naked frame for a moment and then caught herself when she felt her face become hot.
"Oh I'm sorry Bos, here" she handed him his clothes and rushed back to her seat and thought about what just happened. 'I've seen him shirtless a million times before, what is the difference now? Oh god this is terrible. I just stood there and stared at him as he watched me like an idiot. He probably thinks I'm a weirdo now, great.' Bosco seen Faith look at him and blush, he took his clothes from her in silence and just stood there after she left and then he smiled.
"Are you going to be okay in there Maurice?"
"Yeah Doc, I'm good."
"Alright if you need anything, I'll be right out here." He sat down on the bed and waited for Bosco to finish showering. "So Faith, how is he doing?" he asked quietly.
"He's good. He'd be a lot happier if he could leave now, but tomorrow will be here soon enough… I hope." She laughed
"Well, how about we keep something between us alright?" Faith nodded in response and he leaned over to her "I filled out all of his paper work, I have to evaluate him and do a round of vitals and if everything looks good, I might kick him loose tonight. From what I've seen, he will be in good hands when he leaves here, and he will be a lot happier at home. If you are able to stay with him tonight, he's all yours." The doctor watched Faiths eyes widen and a smile work its way across her face with each word he spoke.
"Y-yes that would be amazing if he could come home tonight Doc. Thank you so much."
"Let's not say anything to him until it's definite, but when it is, I will be sure to let you do the honors."Just as the doctor finished speaking, Emily Charlie and Matt came walking in the room.
"Thanks Doc. I really appreciate it." She shook the doctor's hand and he exited the room. Faith stood up and walked towards her kids. "Hey, I'm going to stay with Bosco tonight, they might discharge him in the morning, but Charlie, why don't you stay at my house tonight so when Bosco does get home, he can just relax for a little. Him and I wanna talk alone for awhile if that's okay?"
"Yeah Ma, that's perfectly fine with me. Just let me know if you two need anything, okay?"
"Thanks Charlie, you and Em have been such a big help these past two days, I don't know what either of us would've done without you." She leaned in and hugged both of her children
"Hey mom, where is Dad anyways?" Emily asked as she noticed the empty bed.
"He's in the shower right now. But visiting hours are almost over, so when he gets out I want you and Charlie to say goodbye to him and head home, and Matt you too. We will call you tomorrow, you have also been a huge help to me and Bosco. And you have really helped out with the kids; we all appreciate you being around for us."
"Faith, it's not a problem. Bosco is like family to me, and you and the kids are family to him. I'll do anything for family. Just make sure you take good care of him try not to kill him tonight, alright?"
"Real funny price, I wouldn't kill him. At least not tonight, too many people are around." They all laughed knowing that faith was the only one that could actually stand being with Bosco for two days straight without causing him serious physical pain. "But thanks again. You're right you are like family to us as too even though I just met you, I know the kids consider you family." All of a sudden there was a lot of noise coming from the bathroom, things being knocked over and maybe even glass breaking. "Hey Bos, you okay in there?" Faith asked in concern
"Ughhhh yeah, Faith can you help me real quick, I'm having some trouble in here."
"Yeah Bos, I'll be in." Faith walked over to the bathroom door and took in a deep breath as she anticipated what he could possibly need help with. She opened the door slowly and took a step in, instantly blushing at the sight of him in his boxer briefs and his naked half dried torso. "Ahhh" is all she managed to get out.
"Faith, I can't balance myself long enough to get my pants on over this fucking brace. I thought I could do it cause my boxers were easy to put on, I just stepped into them and they pulled right up, but my pants keep getting caught on the bottom here." He pointed to his ankle where the bottom clasp on the brace stuck out a little further than the others did. "Can you please help me out here?" As he noticed how red Faiths face was, it caused him to blush twice as much as she did.
"Ahhh yeah, I'll help you." She grabbed his pants and a towel. She dried off his brace and began putting his pants on. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she was going to have a heart attack and she knew for sure that he could hear how loud it was; the whole hospital probably could hear it. She finally got his pants up over the brace; it was harder than she thought it would've been. "There, you're all set."
"Do you think I should put my shirt on now, or wait for the doctor to put new bandages on my wound?"
"You should wait until you get the bandage on, you wouldn't want it to get infected." She knew that he should wait for the doctor, but she also had ulterior motives, she didn't mind getting to look at him without a shirt on for a little while longer.
"Yeah that's true. Thanks Faith."
"Not a problem Bos, But you should dry off a little bit more." She smiled at him and threw him the towel. They both walked out of the bathroom and noticed all of the looks everyone gave them.
"Hey guys, didn't know you all where back." He said shyly
"Yeah dad, we've been here for like fifteen minutes. Glad to see you showered."
"Thanks Em, what are ya tryin to say? Did I stink or somethin?" he retorted
"Ugh you were getting there." Charlie chimed in
"Well thanks. Maybe I'll just start showering once a week and see how you like me then." He laughed.
"That's fine, just let us know the day, and we will come see you then." Emily and Charlie burst out laughing and then everyone else joined in.
"Glad to see everyone is having fun at my expense." He grimaced
"Well Bosco, I'm gunna head outta here. I'll call you tomorrow man." Price walked over and shook Bosco's hand then went and hugged Faith "I'll see ya later Faith, don't forget what I said before, be nice to him."
"See ya later Matt, I'll be as nice as I can be, he starts getting grumpy at night. Thank you again"
"Not a problem, you're family remember." He winked at her and headed over to the door where Emily and Charlie were standing. He leaned down and hugged Emily and whispered in her ear "Why don't you take Charlie home and he can leave his car for your Mom and Bosco?" he stood back up and grabbed Charlie and roughed him up a little bit and told him the same thing in his ear. They both nodded in response to matt.
"See ya tomorrow Matt, thanks for coming by." Bosco yelled from his bed.
"No problem man, take care."
"Bye Matt" Emily said with a smile.
"See ya Matt; be careful on your way home." Charlie said as he shook his hand goodbye
"I always am Chuck. Thanks." Matt left the room and Doctor Roberts came back in.
"Alright Maurice, let me get a round of vitals from you really fast."
"Alright Doc, do you think you can bandage me back up too so I can put my shirt back on? I'm starting to get cold."
"Yes I can. I'd like you to let it get some air for a little while though. So let me do your vitals and evaluate you then we will do that." The doctor did the round of vitals and sat back down next to Bosco's bed. "Alright Maurice, I'm going to ask you to do a few things. Tell me if anything hurts." Bosco nodded "Lay down flat and bend both of your knees up as high as you can towards your chest." Bosco slowly bent his knees up and had a little bit of pain but not much. "Did that hurt you anywhere?"
"Yeah, just a little in my left leg by the bullet wound but that's all." The Doctor nodded
"Okay, now straighten your left leg and I am going to put my hand on your knee, I want you to push your leg up as hard as you can against my hand. If it starts to hurt you, just stop." Bosco did that exercise with easy. "How about that one, any pain there?"
"Not really. It's in same place as before but only half of the pain."
"Okay, now I want you to get out of bed by yourself, and walk to the door and back to the bed five times then we are done." The doctor looked over at Faith and smiled as Bosco got out of bed on his own and started to walk. When he finished he sat down on the side of the bed. "Well Maurice, You are doing really well. I have to go and check on some other patients and I will be back in to see you, then I'll bandage you back up. Alright?"
"Okay thanks Doc."
"Hey Dad, me and Charlie are goin to head home, he's gunna stay at mom's tonight and watch some movies with me. He's gunna leave the car for her in case she needs it in the morning." Emily and Charlie walked towards Bosco and they both gave him a hug.
"Alright Em, be careful driving home. Text me when you get there. I love you."
"I love you too Dad and I'll be careful I promise. I'll text you in a little."
"See ya Dad, get some sleep. I love you."
"I love you too bud. Don't drive your sister crazy tonight. I'll see you tomorrow." They walked over to Faith and both hugged her and gave her a kiss
"Take care of him tonight mom, I'll call you in the morning I love you."
"I love you too Emily, Thank you for everything. You helped me so much. Be careful driving, you know it's crazy out there. If you need anything you can call me. Matt even said that you can call him if you need anything and he would come over and check up on you if you wanted him to."
"See ya mom I love you." Charlie handed his keys to the mustang over to Faith and she looked over his shoulder at Bosco and smiled. "Be careful with my baby, okay mom?"
"Thank you Charlie I will be careful with your baby. I love you too." Charlie smiled at Faith as he and Emily left the room. "That reminds me Maurice you have never let me drive your mustang and you just gave it to Charlie. What's that about huh?" They both laughed about it for a moment
"He needed a car, and it was paid off and I was looking into gettin a new one anyway so I figured he could just have it as long as he took care of it, and so far he is so I think I made a good decision." Faith stood up from her seat and sat down on the bed next to Bosco.
"I see where I stand. It's alright, I understand. But I'm goin to drive that car tonight whether you like it or not!" she laughed in a mischievous tone.
"Why? Are you plannin on leaving me here or something?" Bosco started to feel sad again immediately and hung his head down to his chest. Faith noticed the sad expression take over his once cheery face and then tilted his chin back up until his eyes met hers.
"Bos." She looked into his eyes for a moment and then found herself submerged in his gaze.
"Huh?" his voice managed to break their stare and she snapped back into reality, she hadn't realized she was holding her breath until then, she took a deep breath and recollected herself.
"What?" she asked him unaware of the conversation that she had just abandoned. Bosco laughed at the rosiness in her cheeks and the confusion in her voice.
"Are you going to leave me here?"
"Do you really think I would do that?"
"No, but you said you were going to drive the car."
"You're right; I am going to drive the car. I'm going to drive the car right over to your house." She smiled at him and he still had a sad expression "With you in it Bos." His eyes lit up like it was Christmas
"What? How are you going to do that Faith? I can't leave until tomorrow." His happiness slowly became sadness when he finished his sentence. Before Faith could explain, Doctor Roberts came back into the room.
"Well Maurice, are you ready to get bandaged back up?" The doctor smiled and looked over at Faith.
"Yeah I guess." Bosco said in a grumpy voice. He was pissed off because Faith had just gotten his hopes up. 'Why would she even mess with me like that? She knows how bad I want to leave. That's just cruel and she thinks it's funny, she just sitting over there with a huge smile on her face. This isn't a game' He looked over at Faith who was still smiling and gave her a foul look.
"What's wrong officer? I thought that by the time I got back in here you would be jumping for joy."
"Nothing. I'm fine." He said shortly as the doctor started to put the gauze bandages over his wound on his chest.
"Do you want me to do the one on your leg or do you want to do it?"
"You can just do it. It will be easier."
"Okay, I want you to watch what I do so you can do it at home. And Faith if you will, can you watch me just in case you have to do it for him."
"Yep." Faith stood up next to Doctor Roberts as Bosco pulled down his pants and started to remove the brace. Doctor Roberts put the bandage on and helped Bosco tighten the brace back up then turned around and walked out the door without saying another word. Faith began to get Bosco's belongings together and put them in his bag then she gathered her own things and put them in her bag.
"Faith what are you doing?" Bosco asked as he watched faith scramble around the room gathering their things.
"I'm getting ready to leave. What are you doing?" She stopped and looked up at Bosco's sour expression.
"Ya know, this isn't funny anymore Faith. You know how much I want to go home. Why are you messing with me like this!" he nearly shouted as Doctor Roberts emerged back into the room
"Okay Officer, I'm going to need you to fill out these papers real quick and then I'll be out of your way."
"What are they for? You're not trying to take a lung from me are you?" Faith and Doctor Roberts laughed for a second then smiled at each other. "What's so funny?" Faith stopped packing and sat next to Bosco on the bed.
"Bos, calm down. They are your discharge papers. You don't have to fill them out if you don't want, they can just keep you here." She smiled at Doctor Roberts who nodded his head when Bosco looked at him for clarification.
"S-So you were serious? Wow I'm sorry faith, I thought you were messing with me and I got pissed off." He looked down in shame and began to fill out the papers in front of him.
"It's alright Bos. I wouldn't mess with you like that though, you should know that much."
"Yeah I guess I should've." He was almost finished with his paper work and Faith had packed everything up and put it next to the door.
"C'mon let's get out of here before they decide they wanna keep you." She laughed as Bosco handed the clip board to the doctor and shook his hand.
"Thanks Doc, you really helped me out here."
"Not a problem Officer, you did most of the work. I gave faith the prescriptions for you to get filled, you will need those tonight, so make sure you get them or else you will be in a lot of pain. I also gave her enough gauze bandages and tape to last you three weeks until you come back and see me. You can keep the Ace bandage to wrap your ribs. Do not lift anything over 30 pounds for at least a week and don't do anything rough for awhile, if anything starts to hurt more than usual, give me a call and head in to see me. All of the instructions are in the bag I gave to Faith, but I figured I should cover the important ones that I know you would do." He gave a little smirk to both Faith and Bosco, shook both of their hands and left the room.
"How about I wrap your ribs up and we get out of here?"
"Sounds like a great idea to me. Make sure you wrap them tight though."
"Okay just tell me if it needs to be tighter." She began wrapping his ribs and started to blush again. She had known him for almost 18 years and hasn't felt the way she was feeling now ever before. She hurried up and finished wrapping the ace bandage around him then tried to collect herself before he could see her blushing yet again. She was too busy trying to cover her face that she didn't notice him let out a sigh of relief when she stopped touching him. He was just as red as she was.
"Faith."
"Yeah Bos?"
"Thanks." He smiled at her and began to put his shirt on.
"Anything for my partner." He stopped and stared at her with a huge smile on his face. "What?" she asked shyly
"Nothin, let's get outta here." He grabbed her hand and started to walk out of the room. They both stopped and grabbed a bag and were on their way out of the hospital…Finally. "Man it feels great to be leaving this place. You have no idea. I never wanted to be in a hospital as long as I lived after last time."
"Well I hope you never have to come back here again Bos." They headed out the door toward the bright blue mustang. "Maybe today is a good day after all; I am finally going to drive your car."
"Easy now, this is Charlie's car. My car is at home in the garage. No one will EVER drive her."
"Oh c'mon I need a new car, and since you seem to be giving them out, I'll take that one."
"Keep dreaming Faith." They both laughed as they approached the car. They threw their bags in the back seat and faith started the car.
"So Bos, where do you live at now?"
"It's on East 37th Street in Brooklyn. Are you going to stay over tonight or are you going home?"
"I'll stay over if that's okay with you. I know we have a lot to catch up on now that you are out of the hospital and all."
"That's true and I would love for you to stay over. But, can we take it slow on the talking I don't want to rush everything out and it not come out the way it's supposed to ya know?"
"Yep, we can talk at whatever pace you'd like to Bosco. I'm just grateful you are okay and out of the hospital."
"Yeah, I'm just grateful that you are here putting up with my shit right now. I wouldn't care where I was at."
"Thanks Bos, so am I." They finally pulled up to his house "Wow, the 79th must be paying big money for you to afford this place."
"No not really. I got a settlement check from the shooting and it was pretty decent." They both laughed about it for a minute as they got out and grabbed the bags.