Dark Places Part 6
A Quick Word: I do not work in the medical field, and I know absolutely nothing about guns or gunshot wounds. For this reason, the medical references in this and further chapters may be faulty. Please do not flame me for these probable mistakes. I'm writing this story just for fun, and flaming is not fun for me. I don't mind constructive criticism, but I have a problem with being attacked for my honest mistakes. I was flamed before in another group, and I quickly lost interest in my story and in the group. So please...please...be nice to me! :) Thank-you! ~Emrys~
Disclaimer: See previous installments.
Faith stood over the body of the only person who knew where her partner was located and felt panic seep through her. Bosco was injured, perhaps critically and there was no way for her to find him. She looked down at the face of the killed man and was shocked to see that he was human after all. She viciously scolded herself for turning the man into an evil creature in her mind during the chaos of the last few hours. Rarely was she surprised anymore by the abilities of humans to do great harm, but this one had fooled her. His seemingly superhuman strength and his hold over Bosco had frightened her badly. She suddenly worried that the supernatural illusion that she had assigned the man had distracted her from acting in a way that could have saved her partner.
Bosco. Where was he? Was he still alive? He had gotten himself into trouble so many times before, but she had always been there to help him. She felt powerless as she came to the sudden conclusion that there was no way she could help him now.
"Faith!"
A strong voice commanded her attention and she looked up to see Sully standing in front of her. He gently touched her arm and studied her panicked face.
"Faith, where was the last place you saw him?" he asked gently.
She forced herself to calm down and think carefully. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes in concentration.
"Okay, okay. Let's go. I think I remember," she said as she took control of her emotions. She started walking quickly down the dark alley and without looking behind her, trusted that the others were following.
***
Despite the intense need he felt to remain conscious, Bosco was slowly losing the fight. Already he had sunk into a world where hallucinations and memories took over, and he struggled fiercely against them. In his dreams he fled from abuse, and he asked his mother all the questions he had been too scared to ask as a child.
"Ma, why do you let him beat you like that?
Mom, I don't want to go in there. It's dark in there. Why are you making me go in there? What did I do that was so wrong?
Ma, he broke my arm. Why did you let him do that to me?
Mom, how could you forget that I was in the closet all night long?
Ma, can't we just go somewhere else where he won't be able to hurt us anymore?"
Over and over he continued to mutter the many, many questions to which he had never found answers. And this was the state in which his co-workers eventually and finally found him.
***
Ty was the first to locate Bosco. Sully, Yokas, and he had been searching the area when they had stumbled over his blood trail. It took them only moments to find the building that housed Bosco, but locating the injured man in the shadow-filled, spacious structure appeared as if it might turn into a time-consuming activity. Faith had made a desperate sound when she realized just how difficult their search had become even though they were closer to Bosco than they had been previously. Sully had patted her gently on her back in an effort to comfort her, and Faith had taken a deep calming breath. With a nod, the three of them had split up in hopes of finding the lost man quickly.
When Ty found the wounded man, Bosco's incoherent muttering had quieted to a dull whisper. Ty lunged toward him and started yelling frantically for Sully and Faith when he realized the extent of Bosco's wounds. In moments, Faith and Sully rushed into the cramped space, and Faith crouched down next to her partner. Ty backed off, and Sully yelled their position into his radio in order to notify an emergency medical team of Bosco's conditions and possible needs.
Unsure of exactly what to do to help Bosco, Faith desperately studied him under the harsh rays of her flashlight. She saw the binding on his hip and bit her lip in anguish as she thought of him all alone and trying to stem the flow of blood that was still oozing from his wound. His chest was extensively bruised, and she saw more blood leaking from what must have been a horrible blow to his head. His ragged breathing became increasingly erratic as the seconds passed, and Faith could barely contain herself.
"How long are they going to be?!" she cried out to Sully as she leaned over to put pressure on her partner's hip wound. Sully just gave her a grim look and then looked back down at Bosco. Faith felt tears well up into her eyes, and that was when she looked back down at Bosco and saw his mouth moving as it formed barely audible words. She bent down closer to him so that she could hear what he was saying, and when she heard his questions her tears began to flow freely.
"Shhh, shhh," she soothed as she slowly began stroking Bosco's head with a free hand in an attempt to calm him. "It's gonna be alright, Bozz. You'll see. Just stay quiet and still, and everything will be okay."
"All night! All...n..night i..in...there! How c..could you for...forget that I...I was there?" Bosco stuttered between his chattering teeth. His delirium worried Faith, and she desperately tried to think of what to do next.
"What is he saying?" Ty asked curiously.
"Nothing Davis," Faith hastily replied. The last thing Bozz would want was for all of his co-workers to know exactly what he had been through as a child. "He's cold and in shock. Can you find a blanket somewhere?"
Eager to be of some use, Ty just nodded and dashed out of the room. Sully looked back to Faith in a way that communicated how useless he felt.
"The ambulance should be here any minute. I'll go out front to meet it and bring the paramedics to him."
Faith just nodded and wiped at the tears on her face with one hand while keeping the pressure on Bosco's hip with the other. When she saw that Sully had left, she turned back to Bosco and allowed a litany of comforting words pour over him.
"All night," Bosco weakly mumbled again, and Faith again began to stroke the damp hair on his head.
"I know, I know. It must have been horrible, Bozz," she said gently. She was relieved to see that he quieted down during her ministrations, and she concentrated on maintaining the pressure to his wound.
Although in reality it must have taken the ambulance only a quarter of an hour to reach the scene, it felt like a lifetime to Faith. The feel of Bosco's blood leaking through her fingers was a distressing sensation that she never had wanted to experience, and she felt as if he was drifting further and further away from her with each drop that gathered on her hands. Despite the fact that she still felt anger towards Kim and Carlos for the nasty trick they earlier had played on Bosco, she had never been so happy to see them as when they emerged from the building's dark halls and entered the confined space that held Bosco's steadily weakening body.
Carlos was the first to enter the room, and he was able to get a good look at Bosco in the illumination of the flashlight. The sight of Bosco so damaged stunned him and caused him to freeze and stare with shock.
"Jesus," he said loudly.
"Stop staring and do your job!" Faith yelled and suddenly realized that she was nearing a hysterical state. She was grateful when Kim pushed Carlos aside and crouched down to begin working on Bosco.
Suddenly Carlos overcame his surprise and nudged away the hand that Faith had on her partner's injured hip. Upset, she was ready to make an angry retort, but he shook his head seriously.
"I have to see what the damage is before we can help him. Get out of our way!"
And so she was pushed none to gently aside and could only watch helplessly as the others attempted to save the life of her rowdy but suddenly lovable partner.
***
As soon as Faith was pushed to the side, Bosco became distressed. Beyond any capability to feel the pain of his wounds, he began to thrash his legs in an effort to get away from the hands he feverishly perceived as abusive.
"Get off...of...me you....b...bastard!" he began to wheeze. "Lemme...lemme go."
His continued struggling was weak at best, but it was enough to alarm Carlos.
"Calm down!" he yelled impatiently. "Christ, Kim the ilium is completely shattered, and he's going to start losing a lot more blood if we can't get him calmed down," he reported to his partner. "It looks like he's got damage to the iliac artery, and if that becomes any more severe he'll bleed out what little is left in him. Yokas! Come here and hold him down!"
Grateful to do anything useful, Faith crouched down beside her partner and clutched at his hand and unharmed leg. She continued her quiet stream of verbal reassurances and felt a slight surge of hope when Bosco was pacified enough that Kim and Carlos could assess and treat him. Deftly, Kim placed an oxygen mask on the officer's face, and then started to search for an IV site. She found one within seconds and began placing the line in.
"I've got a line in him," Kim suddenly announced and reached out her arm to Carlos without looking up from her patient. "Hand me over the fluids."
"God, how much blood do you think he's lost?" Carlos asked as he did what was asked of him.
Kim lifted her head long enough to look fleetingly at the floor around them and shrug.
"Too much," she stated in a business-like manner. She handed her stethoscope over to Carlos. "Watch his pulse while I set up the monitor."
When Kim glanced at the floor, Faith suddenly became aware of the sticky puddle that she was kneeling in and wondered why it had escaped her attention before. In horror she realized that Bosco's blood darkened a large area of the floor. Occurring simultaneously with her realization, Bosco's body suddenly slackened. Kim hurriedly set up the heart monitor and paddles, and a low and even tone filled the musty air around them.
"I just lost his pulse!" Carlos warned.
Faith felt a panicked scream creep up from her belly and into her throat, but somehow she managed to keep it clamped firmly between her teeth.
"Don't you dare, Bosco!" she harshly whispered instead.
A Quick Word: I do not work in the medical field, and I know absolutely nothing about guns or gunshot wounds. For this reason, the medical references in this and further chapters may be faulty. Please do not flame me for these probable mistakes. I'm writing this story just for fun, and flaming is not fun for me. I don't mind constructive criticism, but I have a problem with being attacked for my honest mistakes. I was flamed before in another group, and I quickly lost interest in my story and in the group. So please...please...be nice to me! :) Thank-you! ~Emrys~
Disclaimer: See previous installments.
Faith stood over the body of the only person who knew where her partner was located and felt panic seep through her. Bosco was injured, perhaps critically and there was no way for her to find him. She looked down at the face of the killed man and was shocked to see that he was human after all. She viciously scolded herself for turning the man into an evil creature in her mind during the chaos of the last few hours. Rarely was she surprised anymore by the abilities of humans to do great harm, but this one had fooled her. His seemingly superhuman strength and his hold over Bosco had frightened her badly. She suddenly worried that the supernatural illusion that she had assigned the man had distracted her from acting in a way that could have saved her partner.
Bosco. Where was he? Was he still alive? He had gotten himself into trouble so many times before, but she had always been there to help him. She felt powerless as she came to the sudden conclusion that there was no way she could help him now.
"Faith!"
A strong voice commanded her attention and she looked up to see Sully standing in front of her. He gently touched her arm and studied her panicked face.
"Faith, where was the last place you saw him?" he asked gently.
She forced herself to calm down and think carefully. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes in concentration.
"Okay, okay. Let's go. I think I remember," she said as she took control of her emotions. She started walking quickly down the dark alley and without looking behind her, trusted that the others were following.
***
Despite the intense need he felt to remain conscious, Bosco was slowly losing the fight. Already he had sunk into a world where hallucinations and memories took over, and he struggled fiercely against them. In his dreams he fled from abuse, and he asked his mother all the questions he had been too scared to ask as a child.
"Ma, why do you let him beat you like that?
Mom, I don't want to go in there. It's dark in there. Why are you making me go in there? What did I do that was so wrong?
Ma, he broke my arm. Why did you let him do that to me?
Mom, how could you forget that I was in the closet all night long?
Ma, can't we just go somewhere else where he won't be able to hurt us anymore?"
Over and over he continued to mutter the many, many questions to which he had never found answers. And this was the state in which his co-workers eventually and finally found him.
***
Ty was the first to locate Bosco. Sully, Yokas, and he had been searching the area when they had stumbled over his blood trail. It took them only moments to find the building that housed Bosco, but locating the injured man in the shadow-filled, spacious structure appeared as if it might turn into a time-consuming activity. Faith had made a desperate sound when she realized just how difficult their search had become even though they were closer to Bosco than they had been previously. Sully had patted her gently on her back in an effort to comfort her, and Faith had taken a deep calming breath. With a nod, the three of them had split up in hopes of finding the lost man quickly.
When Ty found the wounded man, Bosco's incoherent muttering had quieted to a dull whisper. Ty lunged toward him and started yelling frantically for Sully and Faith when he realized the extent of Bosco's wounds. In moments, Faith and Sully rushed into the cramped space, and Faith crouched down next to her partner. Ty backed off, and Sully yelled their position into his radio in order to notify an emergency medical team of Bosco's conditions and possible needs.
Unsure of exactly what to do to help Bosco, Faith desperately studied him under the harsh rays of her flashlight. She saw the binding on his hip and bit her lip in anguish as she thought of him all alone and trying to stem the flow of blood that was still oozing from his wound. His chest was extensively bruised, and she saw more blood leaking from what must have been a horrible blow to his head. His ragged breathing became increasingly erratic as the seconds passed, and Faith could barely contain herself.
"How long are they going to be?!" she cried out to Sully as she leaned over to put pressure on her partner's hip wound. Sully just gave her a grim look and then looked back down at Bosco. Faith felt tears well up into her eyes, and that was when she looked back down at Bosco and saw his mouth moving as it formed barely audible words. She bent down closer to him so that she could hear what he was saying, and when she heard his questions her tears began to flow freely.
"Shhh, shhh," she soothed as she slowly began stroking Bosco's head with a free hand in an attempt to calm him. "It's gonna be alright, Bozz. You'll see. Just stay quiet and still, and everything will be okay."
"All night! All...n..night i..in...there! How c..could you for...forget that I...I was there?" Bosco stuttered between his chattering teeth. His delirium worried Faith, and she desperately tried to think of what to do next.
"What is he saying?" Ty asked curiously.
"Nothing Davis," Faith hastily replied. The last thing Bozz would want was for all of his co-workers to know exactly what he had been through as a child. "He's cold and in shock. Can you find a blanket somewhere?"
Eager to be of some use, Ty just nodded and dashed out of the room. Sully looked back to Faith in a way that communicated how useless he felt.
"The ambulance should be here any minute. I'll go out front to meet it and bring the paramedics to him."
Faith just nodded and wiped at the tears on her face with one hand while keeping the pressure on Bosco's hip with the other. When she saw that Sully had left, she turned back to Bosco and allowed a litany of comforting words pour over him.
"All night," Bosco weakly mumbled again, and Faith again began to stroke the damp hair on his head.
"I know, I know. It must have been horrible, Bozz," she said gently. She was relieved to see that he quieted down during her ministrations, and she concentrated on maintaining the pressure to his wound.
Although in reality it must have taken the ambulance only a quarter of an hour to reach the scene, it felt like a lifetime to Faith. The feel of Bosco's blood leaking through her fingers was a distressing sensation that she never had wanted to experience, and she felt as if he was drifting further and further away from her with each drop that gathered on her hands. Despite the fact that she still felt anger towards Kim and Carlos for the nasty trick they earlier had played on Bosco, she had never been so happy to see them as when they emerged from the building's dark halls and entered the confined space that held Bosco's steadily weakening body.
Carlos was the first to enter the room, and he was able to get a good look at Bosco in the illumination of the flashlight. The sight of Bosco so damaged stunned him and caused him to freeze and stare with shock.
"Jesus," he said loudly.
"Stop staring and do your job!" Faith yelled and suddenly realized that she was nearing a hysterical state. She was grateful when Kim pushed Carlos aside and crouched down to begin working on Bosco.
Suddenly Carlos overcame his surprise and nudged away the hand that Faith had on her partner's injured hip. Upset, she was ready to make an angry retort, but he shook his head seriously.
"I have to see what the damage is before we can help him. Get out of our way!"
And so she was pushed none to gently aside and could only watch helplessly as the others attempted to save the life of her rowdy but suddenly lovable partner.
***
As soon as Faith was pushed to the side, Bosco became distressed. Beyond any capability to feel the pain of his wounds, he began to thrash his legs in an effort to get away from the hands he feverishly perceived as abusive.
"Get off...of...me you....b...bastard!" he began to wheeze. "Lemme...lemme go."
His continued struggling was weak at best, but it was enough to alarm Carlos.
"Calm down!" he yelled impatiently. "Christ, Kim the ilium is completely shattered, and he's going to start losing a lot more blood if we can't get him calmed down," he reported to his partner. "It looks like he's got damage to the iliac artery, and if that becomes any more severe he'll bleed out what little is left in him. Yokas! Come here and hold him down!"
Grateful to do anything useful, Faith crouched down beside her partner and clutched at his hand and unharmed leg. She continued her quiet stream of verbal reassurances and felt a slight surge of hope when Bosco was pacified enough that Kim and Carlos could assess and treat him. Deftly, Kim placed an oxygen mask on the officer's face, and then started to search for an IV site. She found one within seconds and began placing the line in.
"I've got a line in him," Kim suddenly announced and reached out her arm to Carlos without looking up from her patient. "Hand me over the fluids."
"God, how much blood do you think he's lost?" Carlos asked as he did what was asked of him.
Kim lifted her head long enough to look fleetingly at the floor around them and shrug.
"Too much," she stated in a business-like manner. She handed her stethoscope over to Carlos. "Watch his pulse while I set up the monitor."
When Kim glanced at the floor, Faith suddenly became aware of the sticky puddle that she was kneeling in and wondered why it had escaped her attention before. In horror she realized that Bosco's blood darkened a large area of the floor. Occurring simultaneously with her realization, Bosco's body suddenly slackened. Kim hurriedly set up the heart monitor and paddles, and a low and even tone filled the musty air around them.
"I just lost his pulse!" Carlos warned.
Faith felt a panicked scream creep up from her belly and into her throat, but somehow she managed to keep it clamped firmly between her teeth.
"Don't you dare, Bosco!" she harshly whispered instead.