Paybacks
Chapter 10
*****
When Faith arrived at Mercy she found Ty, Alex and Jimmy. "I got here as fast as I could. How is he?"
"He's got a couple of cracked ribs and a lot of bruising. Due to the pain they have him on oxygen," Alex explained.
"Can I see him?"
"Yeah. He's in exam three. Oh, and he was pretty doped up when we saw him last, so his mouth might be a little more foul than usual," Alex warned.
"Is that even possible?" Faith asked.
She headed toward the exam room. "Yokas. Wait," Ty called as he came up behind her. "I thought you might want to know I found a note at the scene."
Her eyes got wide. "What did it say?"
"Time's almost up."
"Does Bosco know?"
"No. I didn't tell him. Didn't think it was the right time. Plus I figured it would be better if he heard it from you."
"Thanks Davis."
Bosco heard someone entering the exam room. Before opening his eyes he said a silent prayer asking that this "intruder" be one of the good guys. In other words someone who wasn't going to be doing any poking or prodding. He was relieved to see it was Faith.
He removed the oxygen mask. "What took you so long?"
"Gee Bos. It's good to see you too. Now put that thing back on." Bosco did what he was told and placed the mask back over his mouth and nose.
"Doherty called me. I don't like getting those phone calls. You doin' OK?"
Bosco removed the mask again. "I'll survive." He didn't bother putting the mask back on figuring Faith would ask another question.
She put her hands on her hips. "Put the mask back on Bosco. It was a yes or no question. All you had to do was nod."
"Sorry." He was a little too slow at replacing the mask for Faith's liking.
"Don't make me tell you again."
He rolled his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me."
The look he gave her said, "Who do you think you're talking to?"
"Hey, if you act like one of my kids I'll treat you like one."
Bosco knew he wasn't going to win this battle with Faith, so he tried to relax. Faith saw him wince. "You OK?"
Knowing better than to take off the oxygen mask he nodded his head "yes". A smile crept across Faith's lips; Bosco gave her a questioning look. "I have you so whipped," she chuckled.
He pulled off the mask. "Kiss my ass."
"In your dreams Bosco. Hey, I'm going to go find out when we can spring you from this place. I'll be back."
"I'm not going anywhere."
*****
Bosco had fallen asleep before Faith returned. It was now 9 a.m. and he had been sleeping for close to four hours while Faith sat by the bed and watched him.
"Hey," came a voice from behind her. She was so deep in thought she jumped at the sound. "Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."
"Hey Sully. That's OK. I was a thousand miles away."
"How's he doing?"
"Not bad. He's been asleep almost since I got here. As soon as he wakes up they're going to release him."
Bosco heard voices, but didn't bother to open his eyes. He knew it was Faith and Sully, so he figured he'd just rest while they talked.
"So, what brings you here Sully?"
"Oh…uh Davis called me earlier and told me what happened," Sully looked a little nervous to Faith. "And well, I just stopped by to see if you two needed anything."
Bosco almost started laughing, but then remembered he was pretending to be asleep. He could hear the concern in Sully's voice, and he wanted to jump up and point out the fact that deep down Sullivan cared about him. Bosco didn't though because the truth was deep down he cared about Sully too, but no one needed to know that.
"No. We're fine. I'm going to take him over to my place. I figure it is safer than his place."
"Yeah. Any idea who this creep is?"
"Nope. This note was typed just like the others, and once again there were no prints on the bat."
"Damn."
Faith nodded. "He still doesn't know about the note," she was looking in Sully's direction, but she appeared to be looking right through him. "I don't know what I'm going to tell him…I don't know if I can protect him."
"Tell him the truth Faith. He deserves that, and don't doubt yourself. You two will figure this out."
*****
As soon as he was sure Sullivan had left the room Bosco opened his eyes, and looked at Faith. He took the oxygen mask completely off. "I trust you Faith."
"Excuse me?"
"I trust you to protect me."
"You heard that?! I thought you were asleep."
Bosco shook his head. "Nope, heard the whole thing."
Yokas was too worried to be mad at him right now. "So, what do we do?"
"First hand me my clothes. I wanna get the hell outta here." She handed him his clothes, and helped him sit up. He was pretty sore. He sat at the edge of the bed, and pulled on his jeans.
"Man I hate these things."
She turned to see he was talking about the hospital gown that he was wearing. "How the hell did I even end up with it?" he looked at Faith. "I hate the thought of those nurses undressing me. Gives me the willies."
He winced as he removed the gown; the pain medication was wearing off. Faith's jaw almost hit the floor when he got the gown off. "Holy shit," was all she could manage to say.
Bosco looked at her, "What?"
Faith just pointed at him. He looked down to see his torso was one solid bruise. "Huh, no wonder it hurts like a mother."
*****
"Can we just stop by my place for a second? I need some different clothes," he sniffed his shirt, and wrinkled his nose. "These still smell like the bar."
"I don't know if that's a good idea."
"C'mon Faith! Just for a second."
"You can borrow some of Fred's clothes."
"Oh, right! Lil' Charlie's stuff would fit me better."
"Bosco!"
"Geez Faith, relax. Why are you so uptight?" She didn't answer him. "What? What is it?"
"Davis found another note."
"I know I heard you tell Sully."
"It said 'Times almost up'."
"Shit," he whispered as he looked out the car window. Neither of them spoke for a while. He looked at Faith. "How 'bout I just wear what I have on?"
"Yeah. Fine with me."