Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or places, but I'm sure having fun with them.
Collision Course, Chapter 58
Faith shook her head as she grumbled to herself about what exactly she would do to Bosco when they finally found him. The police officers and security guards had split up almost thirty minutes ago to search the hospital and the surrounding area. Faith herself had searched the ambulance bay outside of the ER and the adjacent parking lot. "How hard can it be to find a man with a broken arm and leg riding around in a motorized wheelchair in a hospital gown and robe? How far could he have gotten going like 2 miles per hour?" she mumbled.
She emerged at the edge of the harbor. It was a beautiful afternoon with a beautiful view of Lady Liberty in the distance. Glancing along the seawall, Faith spotted the object of her search. As she approached, she saw the faraway look in Bosco's eyes and found her anger dissipating. Wanting to give him space, she leaned her elbows on the seawall and watched the seagulls.
After a long silence, Bosco finally spoke. "Did Ma call you?"
"Yeah, me and about half of the precinct. Along with every security guard in the hospital." Faith replied.
"I didn't mean to scare her. I just needed some time to think." Bosco said quietly.
Faith met Bosco's gaze, then glanced down at the picture in his lap.
"She tell you about him?" Bosco questioned.
"Yeah, I know about him."
"I barely even knew her, Faith. Met her at a bar that night. She wasn't really my type, but the way she looked at me I thought I might get lucky. Funny thing is, by the time I got her to take me home with her I was so drunk that I don't even really remember it. I woke up the next morning trying to figure out where I was and how I got there." Bosco paused as if trying to gather his thoughts. "This is the last thing that I wanted Faith. I wanted a normal family. A wife that I could adore and kids who knew they were loved. Although, I guess I never really believed that would happen. It was too good to be true. Maybe that's why I settled for whoever came along that was willing. Being with someone for one night was better than being alone. But I never believed that I would knock some girl up. I was pretty careful about that, most of the time at least."
Bosco sighed and rubbed his temple with his right hand. "What kind of life is this kid going to have Faith? His parents barely know each other. And I'm a complete screw up."
"Don't say that, Bosco." Faith interjected.
Bosco looked up at her sadly. "It's true, Faith. I take medicine at night to knock me out and medicine during the day to keep me calm. I don't even know for sure if I'm going to be able to work again, not that I ever did a very good job anyway. But it was a job that I loved. It made me feel useful at least. Now what do I have? Nothing, except a kid that I have no idea how to take care of."
"You were a good cop, Bos. And you will be again, even if you don't get to work the streets. Physically you're getting stronger. And you will mentally as well. And as for knowing something about taking care of children, you've always given me good advice about the kids and Fred."
"Giving advice is a whole lot easier than using it, Faith."
"You'll be a good dad, Bos."
"How do you know that, Faith? How do you know that I won't be just like my old man and ruin this kid's life?"
"Because I know you, Bosco. Despite that tough man act you put on, you are kind and gentle person. And you stand by those you love. You may not know Jacob now, but you will and you'll love him. And you'll find a way to make things work."
"I wish I could believe that, Faith."
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7:15 PM
Bosco hesitantly dialed the number that his mother had given him earlier in the evening. After a couple of rings, a vaguely familiar voice answered.
"Hello" the voice said.
Bosco cleared his throat, "Um….hello. May I speak to Natalie?"
"This is Natalie." Bosco could hear another small voice in the background. "Wait, Jay. Uh… can you hold on a minute?"
"Sure." Bosco listened intently to the conversation in the background.
"Mommy, Jay want more juice."
"Ok, ok. Just hold on. Mommy's on the phone."
"More juice."
Bosco heard what sounded like a refrigerator door opening then closing and some fumbling around in the background.
"There, now go play in the living room and when Mommy gets off the phone it will be bath time."
Bosco thought he heard something like 'No, no baff' fading out in the background.
"Hello. Hello, is anyone there?"
"Oh, uh. Yeah, I'm here. Sorry." Bosco mumbled.
"Who is this?" Natalie questioned.
"Maurice Boscorelli." Bosco answered. After a long awkward pause, Bosco continued. "Um… my Ma told me about… your son."
"Oh… Look, I'm sorry to spring this on you at a time like this." Natalie said, sounding sincere.
After another pause, Bosco replied. "My doctor said that he can arrange some blood tests… to um…to see if he's mine. If that's ok?"
"Oh, yeah… Sure… That's ok. What do I need to do?" Natalie answered uncertainly.
After explaining where Natalie should take Jacob to get the test, Bosco quickly said goodbye. Dropping the phone down into his lap, he sighed.
"You did the right thing." Maritza Cruz said from a chair beside him. "There's no way to know who the father is. He could be anyone's."
Bosco looked up, the strain of the day obvious on his face. "Shouldn't your meal period be about over?"
Cruz looked at her watch. "Yeah, actually I guess I should get back to work. Yokas will be hunting me down." Standing, she reached out and squeezed Bosco's shoulder. "I'll check on you tomorrow."
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Collision Course, Chapter 59
Day 27
"Maurice, what do you mean you're not going to any press conference? It's the mayor. And he's going to give you a medal. You can't just refuse to go." Rose insisted.
"I don't care if it's the President of the United States. I'm not going and have my picture all over the news in this wheelchair. What am I supposed to wear? How am I supposed to get pants on over this cast? And look at this hair. I can't get it to do anything, especially with this no-water-needed shampoo. Who came up with that crap anyway?" Bosco grumbled.
"Well, your hair is getting a little long, but I'm sure that I can get Gloria to come over and cut it before tomorrow." Rose replied.
"Maaa" Bosco began to protest.
"Don't Maaa me, Maurice. You are going to meet the mayor and that's that. Now I need to get to the house before the others get there. I'll call Gloria on the way and see if she can stop by after lunch. She's been wanting to see you anyway."
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Ty shook his head as he looked over at Mikey Boscorelli. Mikey just shrugged his shoulders. Sully and Anthony Boscorelli were trying to build a ramp off of Rose's porch so Bosco could get into the house more easily. And it was a sight to behold. The two men bickered back and forth incessantly, unless Rose came out onto the porch. Then they nearly tripped over each other trying to cater to her. Ty didn't know whether to laugh or to be afraid that the two would kill each other before the day was over.
As Rose came onto the porch again, Anthony rose to his feet allowing the plank that he was holding to drop, pinching Sully's hand. His "What is it Rosie? Do you need help with something?" almost drowned out Sully's "Crap! Will you watch what you're doing?"
Rose, who was quite disgusted with the two by this point, rolled her eyes. "No, Anthony. I don't need anything. Lunch is ready. Why don't you and John come in and have something to eat?"
"What a coincidence. Officer Sullivan was just saying how much he'd like a donut about now." Anthony smirked.
Sully glared at his partner who had laughed out loud at the comment.
As Rose ushered the two men into the house, she glared over at Mikey and then back at the pile of lumber that was supposed to be a ramp. Mikey nodded his head in understanding, then caught Ty by the shoulder as he started to follow the trio inside.
"What?" Ty questioned.
"Let's finish this while they are inside." Mikey answered, pointing down at the heap.
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While the men, or boys, were busy at Rose's house, Faith and Maritza Cruz went to Bosco's apartment to retrieve a list of things that he thought he'd need while at Rose's place.
Faith was surprised at first at how neat the apartment was. She realized that in 12 years, she'd only been in Bosco's apartment a handful of times. And when she had, it had usually been a quick stop during a shift or some equally brief visit. She'd never really taken the time to look around. Wandering around the living room, she approached the bookcase. She was surprised by the odd collection of books and magazines. There were some on American history including a book about the Presidents, some on military history, and a few classics.
In the middle of the bookcase was a framed picture of a very young appearing Bosco in desert fatigues. He was standing next to another soldier who was almost a good six inches taller. The guy had his arm around Bosco's shoulder and they stood in front of a helicopter in what appeared to be a desert. Both were grinning from ear to ear.
On the other end of the bookcase, there were several auto repair books and automobile magazines. There were, also, several books related to police work and a whole stack of law enforcement magazines. Then… Wow, Bos, I never figured you were the mystery novel type.
Reaching up on the top shelf, she pulled down a small stack of dusty, tattered books. She chuckled as she looked through them. Arthur's Pen Pal, Marvin K. Mooney, Put Me in the Zoo, The Spooky Old Tree. "The Velveteen Rabbit" she said in shock as her mouth dropped open. You never cease to amaze me, Bos.
Faith was brought back to reality by Maritza Cruz shouting from the other room. "Hey, Yokas. Where are you? I could use some help in here."
Entering Bosco's bedroom, she saw Maritza digging through the clothes in the closet. "What did ya need, Sarg?"
"Here, take this half of the list." Cruz instructed, tearing the list in half.
Faith glanced down at her half of the list. "Great" she mumbled. Walking over to the dresser, she pulled open the top drawer. After retrieving several pairs of socks, she moved on to the next drawer. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found that it only held t-shirts. She gathered up a few and placed them in a small suite case that Rose had given them. She stood staring into the third drawer for a few minutes. 'Boxers or briefs?' she asked herself.
Maritza Cruz suddenly peered over her shoulder. "Boxers, and he prefers the black ones."
Faith cringed inwardly, trying to shake the visuals that Cruz's comments had brought. When she finally recovered, curiosity got the best of her. "Um… what's with all the white briefs then?"
"Says his mom gets them for him every Christmas. He doesn't have the heart to tell her that he doesn't wear them." Reaching past Faith, Cruz took several pairs of the boxers from the drawer and threw them into the suitcase. "They won't bite you." She said and grinned as Faith's face turned a bright shade of red.
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"Maurice, how are you my little angel?" Gloria shrieked as she hurriedly approached. Bosco braced himself, knowing what to expect. Gloria pinched one cheek heartily as she leaned down and kissed the other. Bosco could only imagine what he looked like with one cheek red from lipstick and the other red from being pinched so vigorously. Gloria, was a good friend of Rose's, who had cut Bosco's hair since he was a child. And she never changed. For thirty years, she'd used the same red hair coloring and the same bright red lipstick.
"I'm fine, Aunt Gloria. How are you? You're looking good." Just a little white lie won't hurt.
"I'm just super, Maurice. Just super. Would you look at those locks?" Gloria bellowed, as she ran her fingers through Bosco's hair.
Bosco pulled his head away. "You know I don't like that, Auntie."
"You never change, do you? My same little Maurice. Are you ready for Auntie Gloria to work her magic?" Gloria asked in a more subdued voice.
"Ready as ever." Bosco replied. "Just watch out for the ears." He muttered under his breath, remembering the time that Gloria attempted to cut his hair after having a few drinks with Rose.
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Disclaimer #2: I do not own any of the above named children's books, just copies of them. My favorite? Marvin K Mooney…of course.
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Collision Course, Chapter 60
Friday, Day 28, 7:30 AM
"Well, Officer Boscorelli, it looks like everything is in order. Your blood pressure is improved. Your kidney function, although not normal, is stable. And all of the arrangements for home health have been made. I don't see any problem with discharging you today. In fact, the paper work should be ready by the time you get back from meeting the mayor." Tim Poole assured his patient.
"That's great, Doc." Bosco replied. "Thanks for all your help."
"Just doing my job, Officer. And it was a pleasure. Now don't forget you have an appointment with me next Thursday. Did you get your follow-up with Dr. Scanlan arranged?"
"Yeah, that's next Wednesday. Don't worry; he's not letting me off easy." Bosco answered.
"Dave never does. He's a good doctor, Officer Boscorelli. I'm sure he'll be able to help you adjust to things if you'll give him a chance. I know you don't like it, but I agree with him that accepting temporary disability for a few months is the way to go. It will give you time to focus on recovering and when you're able we'll see about getting you back into some sort of work."
Bosco just nodded quietly, knowing that arguing wouldn't change their minds.
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9:00 AM
"Come in." Bosco replied to the knock on the hospital room door.
Maritza Cruz entered carrying a plastic bag. Bosco was sitting in a reclining chair, his casted leg emerging from under a blanket. "Hey, Bosco. Are you ready to get sprung from this joint?"
"Can't wait." Bosco answered.
"You could have fooled me." At the confused look on Bosco's face she continued, "You don't look very excited about leaving considering you've been here almost a month."
"It's not that. I'm ready to go home. I'm just not sure about this press conference with the mayor thing." Bosco confided.
"Why not? I mean, it's not everyday that the mayor gives out the city's highest honor. I'd think you'd be excited about it." Maritza replied.
"I don't know. I just don't have a good feeling about it. I don't know why they have to make such a big deal out of it anyway. I was just doing my job. They're not making Monroe meet the mayor. Why can't they just let me go home in peace?" Bosco muttered.
"Well, Monroe didn't almost die. Besides, the Chief already gave her a medal. But nobody says you have to do it if you feel that way about it."
"Yeah? Tell that to my Ma. She'll go ballistic if I don't do it." Bosco answered.
"I'm sure she'd get over it." Maritza replied.
"Not in this lifetime." Bosco sighed. "I don't know where she is this morning. She was supposed to bring me some clothes. Somehow I don't think the mayor would want me to show up in this beautiful blue hospital gown."
Maritza laughed as Bosco rolled his eyes. "No, I don't think that will do, although it is kind of cute on you." She was relieved to see Bosco smile for the first time since she'd arrived. "Actually, your mom is grocery shopping. I think she's planning a big homecoming dinner for you. But she did ask me to bring these over and said she'd be here before 'the party' started."
Bosco took the bag and pulled out a pair of navy jogging pants with zippers on the legs and a navy NYPD t-shirt. In the bottom of the bag was a sock and one right tennis shoe. "At least she didn't forget my shoe." He grumbled. He was not looking forward to this event at all, but did want to look as normal as possible.
Sighing again, he looked up at Maritza. "I guess I better see if these are going to work." With that, he leaned forward dropping the foot of the chair down and tossing the blanket onto the floor. Reaching down towards his foot on the casted leg, he struggled with the pants.
As Maritza chuckled at the site, Bosco looked up exasperated. "You gonna help me or stand there and laugh?"
"I'm sorry." Cruz replied, moving forward to help. As she started the left pants leg over his cast, she noticed several signatures, most of them women, and one in particular with a phone number beside it. "I take it Brandi must have forgiven your past indiscretions."
"Yeah" Bosco smirked. "We worked it out. She's actually a nice girl."
"Uh huh." Cruz replied as she tugged the jogging pants up to above his knees. "What now?"
"Um…I guess I'll have to stand up and you pull them up." Bosco replied, slightly embarrassed by having a woman help dress him. That was a first, at least since he was a child.
"Okay." Maritza agreed. She braced herself as Bosco leaned forward draping his good arm over her shoulder. With one hand on the pants waist and one around Bosco's back, they managed to hoist him into a standing position. Maritza quickly pulled the pants up as Bosco held on for dear life. Noting the slack in the waist band, Maritza commented "Dang, Chico. How much weight have you lost?"
"Don't know." Bosco replied as he eased back down into the chair. "But if I had to eat this hospital food much longer, I don't think I would survive. I hope Ma's cooking lasagna tonight."
With his pants on, Bosco went to work on his shirt. Pulling the hospital gown off, he reflexively tossed it to Maritza. He pulled the shirt over his casted left forearm, then raising it up over his head fumbled with trying to get his other arm in. Maritza, in the meantime, was captivated by the scars from his recent surgery. He had one large incision from his back around to the front of his chest and another down the middle of his abdomen disappearing below his waistline. Several smaller round scars reflected the various drain tubes that had been in place. Although they were healed, they were still slightly red and stood out against his pale skin.
Maritza's attention was diverted from the sight, by a muffled voice saying what sounded vaguely like "Hey, Ritza. Help me out here." Looking up she saw Bosco's right arm half-way through the arm of his shirt, trying to find the collar to guide his head through. She chuckled at the site as he reminded her of a little boy. Grabbing the bottom of the t-shirt, she gave it a tug and Bosco's head popped through. "Thanks" he said sheepishly.
"Not a problem." She replied.
Winded from the exertion, Bosco picked up his sock and looked back and forth from it to his foot. "Here, let me." Maritza commented as she pulled the sock from his hand.
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11:25 AM
"Are you ready for this, Bosco?" Faith questioned.
"Ready as I'm gonna be." Bosco mumbled, as he wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. Unlike his palms, his mouth felt as dry as a desert.
Rose noticed him tense as she squeezed his shoulders. Leaning down to his ear, she whispered, "Don't be nervous, Maurice. This will be a piece of cake." Rose was quickly distracted by the hospital's public relations chief, Jack Coleman, approaching.
"Mrs. Boscorelli, Officers, the mayor should be here any minute. I'll show the three of you to your seats." He commented, as he extended his arm to Rose.
Faith quickly wished Bosco good luck and turned to follow. Maritza Cruz was about to do the same, when Bosco grabbed her arm. "Get me out of here." He muttered.
"What?" Maritza asked as she looked down into Bosco's fearful eyes. He had beads of sweat on his forehead and his breathing was faster than normal.
"Get me out of here, Ritza. I can't do this." He pleaded as he tried to slow his increasingly ragged breaths.
"What's wrong, Bosco? Are you ok?" Maritza asked, obviously concerned.
"I don't want to do this. I can't." The desperation is his voice was growing.
"Ok, calm down. We'll go; just calm down." Maritza assured him.
"Is something wrong?" Mr. Coleman asked, as he returned.
"Yeah, he's not feeling very well. I think maybe we need to get him back upstairs." Maritza answered, as Bosco focused on trying to control his heart rate and breathing.
"But the mayor will be here any minute." Coleman replied.
"I'm sorry, but he's not going to be able to do it." Maritza retorted more forcefully.
Faith and Rose, having noticed the interaction, rejoined them.
"What's going on?" Rose asked.
"Bos, are you ok?" Faith questioned, noticing how pale and clammy Bosco appeared.
Bosco could only shake his head 'no.'
"No, he's not alright. We're going back upstairs." Maritza answered for him.
"But the mayor is coming. We've been working on this all week." Coleman argued.
"Well, I'm sorry, but the mayor will just have to be disappointed." Maritza seethed. Turning, her eyes met Faith's.
"Let's go." Faith agreed.
With that, Maritza turned Bosco's wheelchair around and headed back to the elevator with Rose in tow muttering, "Maurice, baby, what's wrong?"
Behind them, the PR chief continued to argue.
"Back off." Faith ordered, pushing him back with a hand to his chest.