Paybacks
Chapter 34
*****
Remember I own nothing, and I have NO medical background…I just kinda make the stuff up as I go along :o)
Your reviews are greatly appreciated!
*****
"Bosco? What the HELL are you doing here?!"
"Uh…s-shopping?" he stammered.
"This is no joke Bosco! I'm serious. What are you doing here?! How'd you get here? Oh wait, let me guess you drove yourself. How stupid can you be?"
"Not now Faith."
"The doctor said no driving! You're lucky you didn't—Bosco? Bos are you OK?"
He was swaying a little, and looked like he was going to fall over any second. Faith also thought he looked a little green.
"Bos are you sick or something?" She was concerned about him, and kicking herself for just having ripped into him like that.
"No."
"You look like hell. What happened?"
"Long story," he said softly. "I just need to get this." He held up the prescription, and started to walk past her. Faith noticed that he was staggering slightly as he walked. Something was definitely wrong with him, and it was starting to scare her.
"Bos maybe you should sit down for a minute." She walked up beside him, and put her arm around his waist to help support him. He turned to look at his partner, and she could see the pain written on his face. She led him over to a chair by the pharmacy. "Here, you sit and take it easy. I'll go get your medication." She started to walk away, and then turned back to him. "You better be here when I get back."
"Trust me. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be good." He grinned weakly.
She sighed. "This morning I trusted you to be good, and look where that got us."
A few minutes later she was back with his pills. She noticed how uncomfortable he looked sitting there. "You doing any better?"
He looked up at her, then slowly stood up. Wincing at the pain that was still coursing through his body. "No. Not really."
Once again she put her arm around his waist. "You gonna tell me what happened to you?"
"Not right now. I just wanna go home."
"OK."
Faith walked alongside Bosco and held onto him as he slowly shuffled his feet. He was in a great deal of pain.
"My car is over there." He said looking to his right.
"Yeah, well mine is over there," Faith said pointing to the left.
"Then I guess I'll see ya." He headed toward his Mustang.
"And where exactly do you think you are going?"
"Home."
"Well you aren't driving yourself! Come on. I'll take you home, and then Fred and I will swing back later tonight and get your car."
Bosco thought about it for a second. "Alright." He knew he was in no shape to drive. He wasn't that stupid. "Faith."
"Yeah."
"Just promise me you won't let Fred drive my car."
She smiled. "I promise. Now lets go gimpy."
When they reached the truck Faith went to the driver's side and unlocked the doors. She assumed Bosco would go around to the other side. Faith went to get in when she noticed Bosco still standing by the tailgate. His eyes were wide, and he was rubbing his chest. He was just staring at the truck.
As he stood there the shooting replayed in his mind. The memories still troubled him. Faith screaming at him to get out of there. The look of joy on Skaget's face as he pulled the trigger. The pain. Then nothing.
Faith looked from Bosco to the truck, and then it dawned on her. "Bos. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." She stood in front of him so he was looking at her not the truck. "I can't believe I-"
"Not your fault."
"We can take your car."
"No. I'm fine." He walked around to the passenger's door, and hauled himself up into the cab. He slouched in the seat; his arms wrapped around him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
"Bosco put your seatbelt on."
"Huh?" he rolled his head to the left and opened his eyes.
"Put your seatbelt on."
"I don't wanna move."
"Bosco I'm not starting the truck until you put it on."
"Faith I'm comfortable. I really don't want to move." His words were soft. He didn't want to argue with her. But he knew that if he moved at all the pain that was now starting to decrease a little would return full force.
Faith was beyond worried. She was now out and out afraid for him. "I can't believe he is in this much pain. What the hell happened to him?" she wondered.
"OK Bos." She carefully reached across him, and pulled his seatbelt on.
"Can I have a couple of those pills?"
"Not right now."
"Why not? It really hurts." He actually admitted how bad he was feeling. Normally he would be trying to act tough, but today he knew he was defeated.
"As soon as we get to your place you can have a couple. If you took them now you'd probably be out by the time we got there, and I don't think me carrying you up the stairs is a good idea." She lied to him. Faith had no intention of taking him home. He was going straight to the hospital, but she wasn't about to tell him that.
He closed his eyes again. "'K. You're probably right."
"Not probably right Bosco. I *am* right."
"Whatever."
With every pothole and bump the truck went over there was a sharp intake of breath and a painful moan from the passenger's seat. It was killing Faith to see Bosco like this. Hadn't he been through enough?
Bosco kept his eyes closed for the entire ride. He lost track of the turns they were taking, but he was pretty sure they were no longer headed toward his apartment. "Where we goin'?" He asked though he really didn't care.
"Your place," she lied again.
"You're a bad liar."
She sighed. "To the hospital. If you're in this much pain you should really be checked out."
He shifted his position, and let out a low groan. "OK."
"Did you just say OK?" She was more than a little shocked.
"Mmm hmm."
A couple minutes later they arrived at Mercy. "Bos I'm going to go get someone to help you inside."
"No, just hang on to me. It'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Faith helped her partner out of the vehicle and into the emergency room. As soon as they got in the door Faith had Bosco sit in the waiting area.
"Faith what are you doing here?"
"Hey Mary. I just brought Bosco in. He really needs to be checked out."
"Bosco? Didn't he just get outta here this morning? What happened?"
"I have no idea, but he's in a lot of pain."
"I'll get Dr. Thomas. Why don't you two head into exam room one."
"Thanks." Faith walked back over to Bosco. "Come on," she helped him stand up.
When they got into the exam room Faith stood by as Bosco sat down on the exam table. The pain wasn't quite as bad now, but he still felt sick to his stomach. "Can you help me lay down?"
"Of course. What do you want me to do?"
"Just kinda hold on to me. I don't think I'll be able to lay down without a thud, so you might have to ease me down."
"We should probably get your shirt off first. Otherwise the first thing Thomas is going to do is sit you back up to take it off."
"Good point."
Shortly after Faith got Bosco settled Dr. Thomas walked in. "Boscorelli we are really getting tired of seeing you here."
"I'm tired of being here."
"OK. Why don't you tell me what's going on."
"My chest and left shoulder hurt pretty bad."
"How bad?" Thomas asked as he stepped closer to Bosco.
"So bad I wanna puke."
"Did it just happen out of the blue? Or did you fall or something?"
Bosco glanced nervously at Faith. "Oh well," he thought, "she's gonna find out sooner or later."
"I, uh, I got rear ended pretty hard. And, uh, slammed into the steering wheel."
"Bosco—" Faith exclaimed, but was interrupted by the doctor before she could get another word out.
"You shouldn't have been driving Boscorelli."
"I know, and trust me, I regret it."
Dr. Thomas began palpating Bosco's chest. He watched his patient's eyes for his reaction. "Where exactly did the steering wheel hit you?" Bosco indicated by pointing. "And where is the pain the worst?" Bosco once again pointed. "OK, let's sit you up so I can listen to your lungs."
He tried to sit up on his own, but was only rewarded with more pain. "Damn!"
Faith and Dr. Thomas helped ease Bosco up. Thomas had Bosco take a few deep breaths. "Your lungs sound good, but I want to get some x-rays and make sure you didn't crack or break any bones."
Bosco nodded. "Let's lay you back down. We'll bring the equipment to you. I'll be right back."
Yokas stood over her partner. He was pretty pale. "How you holding up?"
"Don't move me again."
She ran her fingers through his hair, and let her hand rest on the top of his head. "Pretty bad huh?"
"Yeah."
"You never should have been driving."
"I had to get out."
"You should have called me."
"Save the lecture."
"Bosco—"
"I mean it Faith."
Dr. Thomas came back into the exam room followed by an x-ray technician who was pushing the portable x-ray unit. It didn't take long for the x-rays to be taken.
"All right then. We'll get these processed, and then I'll be back to let you know what's going on."
Faith took her position at Bosco's side. He had been through so much recently that Faith felt like she had played out this scene before. She looked down at her partner's face. He still looked like he was in a lot of pain, and she figured it had been over an hour since his fender bender. Bosco shivered.
"Cold?"
"Yeah."
Faith looked at his bare chest, and noticed the new bruises that were starting to form around the ones she remembered him having. For some reason her hand was drawn to his chest. With her finger she gently traced the new bruises, and the scars from his surgery. She wasn't sure why she did it. Then she let her hand rest on his stomach. "Damn Bos." She whispered. "Even your bruises have bruises." She took off her jacket, and covered him with it.
"Thanks."
Fifteen minutes later Dr. Thomas came back in with the x-rays. He hung them on the board, and flipped the light on so Faith and Bosco could see.
"Well Bosco, doesn't look like there is any bone damage and your lungs look good. However, when the muscles in your shoulder and chest were repaired they used these to reattach the muscle," Thomas held up something that looked like a small rubber stopper. "A type of wire was run through this, they drilled a small hole in your bone, and then this was securely placed in that hole."
Bosco cringed at the thought.
"Somehow when you impacted with the steering wheel a couple of these popped out, and I'm guessing some of your stitches did as well. So, long story short you've got a couple of these dangling around inside your chest and when these pulled out it tore some muscle with it. Which is what is causing you so much pain."
"So what happens now?" asked Faith.
"Well," Thomas looked at Bosco, "you're going to need another surgery to fix the damage."
"When?" Asked an exhausted Bosco.
Thomas looked at his watch. "There's a chance we could get one of the ER surgeons to do it tonight if you want. I could go check."
"How long after the surgery will I have to wait before I can go home?"
"Couple hours."
"Then tonight sounds good."
************
Hope you liked this chapter. Looking forward to your reviews.
Remember I have no medical background. After I had shoulder surgery a couple years ago I was told that if you popped one of those little "stopper" things out (I couldn't remember what they were actually called!) Anyway the nurse said that if you popped one of those out it was excruciating, and the pain was enough to bring grown men to tears. Don't know if she was just trying to scare me or what, but I figured if anyone would do something like that it would be Bosco :o) So that is where that idea came from.
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to wonder if this story is ever going to end :o)
Do you guys even remember everything that has happened? Maybe next time I'll have to provide a quick recap!
Chapter 34
*****
Remember I own nothing, and I have NO medical background…I just kinda make the stuff up as I go along :o)
Your reviews are greatly appreciated!
*****
"Bosco? What the HELL are you doing here?!"
"Uh…s-shopping?" he stammered.
"This is no joke Bosco! I'm serious. What are you doing here?! How'd you get here? Oh wait, let me guess you drove yourself. How stupid can you be?"
"Not now Faith."
"The doctor said no driving! You're lucky you didn't—Bosco? Bos are you OK?"
He was swaying a little, and looked like he was going to fall over any second. Faith also thought he looked a little green.
"Bos are you sick or something?" She was concerned about him, and kicking herself for just having ripped into him like that.
"No."
"You look like hell. What happened?"
"Long story," he said softly. "I just need to get this." He held up the prescription, and started to walk past her. Faith noticed that he was staggering slightly as he walked. Something was definitely wrong with him, and it was starting to scare her.
"Bos maybe you should sit down for a minute." She walked up beside him, and put her arm around his waist to help support him. He turned to look at his partner, and she could see the pain written on his face. She led him over to a chair by the pharmacy. "Here, you sit and take it easy. I'll go get your medication." She started to walk away, and then turned back to him. "You better be here when I get back."
"Trust me. I'm not going anywhere. I'll be good." He grinned weakly.
She sighed. "This morning I trusted you to be good, and look where that got us."
A few minutes later she was back with his pills. She noticed how uncomfortable he looked sitting there. "You doing any better?"
He looked up at her, then slowly stood up. Wincing at the pain that was still coursing through his body. "No. Not really."
Once again she put her arm around his waist. "You gonna tell me what happened to you?"
"Not right now. I just wanna go home."
"OK."
Faith walked alongside Bosco and held onto him as he slowly shuffled his feet. He was in a great deal of pain.
"My car is over there." He said looking to his right.
"Yeah, well mine is over there," Faith said pointing to the left.
"Then I guess I'll see ya." He headed toward his Mustang.
"And where exactly do you think you are going?"
"Home."
"Well you aren't driving yourself! Come on. I'll take you home, and then Fred and I will swing back later tonight and get your car."
Bosco thought about it for a second. "Alright." He knew he was in no shape to drive. He wasn't that stupid. "Faith."
"Yeah."
"Just promise me you won't let Fred drive my car."
She smiled. "I promise. Now lets go gimpy."
When they reached the truck Faith went to the driver's side and unlocked the doors. She assumed Bosco would go around to the other side. Faith went to get in when she noticed Bosco still standing by the tailgate. His eyes were wide, and he was rubbing his chest. He was just staring at the truck.
As he stood there the shooting replayed in his mind. The memories still troubled him. Faith screaming at him to get out of there. The look of joy on Skaget's face as he pulled the trigger. The pain. Then nothing.
Faith looked from Bosco to the truck, and then it dawned on her. "Bos. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." She stood in front of him so he was looking at her not the truck. "I can't believe I-"
"Not your fault."
"We can take your car."
"No. I'm fine." He walked around to the passenger's door, and hauled himself up into the cab. He slouched in the seat; his arms wrapped around him. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes.
"Bosco put your seatbelt on."
"Huh?" he rolled his head to the left and opened his eyes.
"Put your seatbelt on."
"I don't wanna move."
"Bosco I'm not starting the truck until you put it on."
"Faith I'm comfortable. I really don't want to move." His words were soft. He didn't want to argue with her. But he knew that if he moved at all the pain that was now starting to decrease a little would return full force.
Faith was beyond worried. She was now out and out afraid for him. "I can't believe he is in this much pain. What the hell happened to him?" she wondered.
"OK Bos." She carefully reached across him, and pulled his seatbelt on.
"Can I have a couple of those pills?"
"Not right now."
"Why not? It really hurts." He actually admitted how bad he was feeling. Normally he would be trying to act tough, but today he knew he was defeated.
"As soon as we get to your place you can have a couple. If you took them now you'd probably be out by the time we got there, and I don't think me carrying you up the stairs is a good idea." She lied to him. Faith had no intention of taking him home. He was going straight to the hospital, but she wasn't about to tell him that.
He closed his eyes again. "'K. You're probably right."
"Not probably right Bosco. I *am* right."
"Whatever."
With every pothole and bump the truck went over there was a sharp intake of breath and a painful moan from the passenger's seat. It was killing Faith to see Bosco like this. Hadn't he been through enough?
Bosco kept his eyes closed for the entire ride. He lost track of the turns they were taking, but he was pretty sure they were no longer headed toward his apartment. "Where we goin'?" He asked though he really didn't care.
"Your place," she lied again.
"You're a bad liar."
She sighed. "To the hospital. If you're in this much pain you should really be checked out."
He shifted his position, and let out a low groan. "OK."
"Did you just say OK?" She was more than a little shocked.
"Mmm hmm."
A couple minutes later they arrived at Mercy. "Bos I'm going to go get someone to help you inside."
"No, just hang on to me. It'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Faith helped her partner out of the vehicle and into the emergency room. As soon as they got in the door Faith had Bosco sit in the waiting area.
"Faith what are you doing here?"
"Hey Mary. I just brought Bosco in. He really needs to be checked out."
"Bosco? Didn't he just get outta here this morning? What happened?"
"I have no idea, but he's in a lot of pain."
"I'll get Dr. Thomas. Why don't you two head into exam room one."
"Thanks." Faith walked back over to Bosco. "Come on," she helped him stand up.
When they got into the exam room Faith stood by as Bosco sat down on the exam table. The pain wasn't quite as bad now, but he still felt sick to his stomach. "Can you help me lay down?"
"Of course. What do you want me to do?"
"Just kinda hold on to me. I don't think I'll be able to lay down without a thud, so you might have to ease me down."
"We should probably get your shirt off first. Otherwise the first thing Thomas is going to do is sit you back up to take it off."
"Good point."
Shortly after Faith got Bosco settled Dr. Thomas walked in. "Boscorelli we are really getting tired of seeing you here."
"I'm tired of being here."
"OK. Why don't you tell me what's going on."
"My chest and left shoulder hurt pretty bad."
"How bad?" Thomas asked as he stepped closer to Bosco.
"So bad I wanna puke."
"Did it just happen out of the blue? Or did you fall or something?"
Bosco glanced nervously at Faith. "Oh well," he thought, "she's gonna find out sooner or later."
"I, uh, I got rear ended pretty hard. And, uh, slammed into the steering wheel."
"Bosco—" Faith exclaimed, but was interrupted by the doctor before she could get another word out.
"You shouldn't have been driving Boscorelli."
"I know, and trust me, I regret it."
Dr. Thomas began palpating Bosco's chest. He watched his patient's eyes for his reaction. "Where exactly did the steering wheel hit you?" Bosco indicated by pointing. "And where is the pain the worst?" Bosco once again pointed. "OK, let's sit you up so I can listen to your lungs."
He tried to sit up on his own, but was only rewarded with more pain. "Damn!"
Faith and Dr. Thomas helped ease Bosco up. Thomas had Bosco take a few deep breaths. "Your lungs sound good, but I want to get some x-rays and make sure you didn't crack or break any bones."
Bosco nodded. "Let's lay you back down. We'll bring the equipment to you. I'll be right back."
Yokas stood over her partner. He was pretty pale. "How you holding up?"
"Don't move me again."
She ran her fingers through his hair, and let her hand rest on the top of his head. "Pretty bad huh?"
"Yeah."
"You never should have been driving."
"I had to get out."
"You should have called me."
"Save the lecture."
"Bosco—"
"I mean it Faith."
Dr. Thomas came back into the exam room followed by an x-ray technician who was pushing the portable x-ray unit. It didn't take long for the x-rays to be taken.
"All right then. We'll get these processed, and then I'll be back to let you know what's going on."
Faith took her position at Bosco's side. He had been through so much recently that Faith felt like she had played out this scene before. She looked down at her partner's face. He still looked like he was in a lot of pain, and she figured it had been over an hour since his fender bender. Bosco shivered.
"Cold?"
"Yeah."
Faith looked at his bare chest, and noticed the new bruises that were starting to form around the ones she remembered him having. For some reason her hand was drawn to his chest. With her finger she gently traced the new bruises, and the scars from his surgery. She wasn't sure why she did it. Then she let her hand rest on his stomach. "Damn Bos." She whispered. "Even your bruises have bruises." She took off her jacket, and covered him with it.
"Thanks."
Fifteen minutes later Dr. Thomas came back in with the x-rays. He hung them on the board, and flipped the light on so Faith and Bosco could see.
"Well Bosco, doesn't look like there is any bone damage and your lungs look good. However, when the muscles in your shoulder and chest were repaired they used these to reattach the muscle," Thomas held up something that looked like a small rubber stopper. "A type of wire was run through this, they drilled a small hole in your bone, and then this was securely placed in that hole."
Bosco cringed at the thought.
"Somehow when you impacted with the steering wheel a couple of these popped out, and I'm guessing some of your stitches did as well. So, long story short you've got a couple of these dangling around inside your chest and when these pulled out it tore some muscle with it. Which is what is causing you so much pain."
"So what happens now?" asked Faith.
"Well," Thomas looked at Bosco, "you're going to need another surgery to fix the damage."
"When?" Asked an exhausted Bosco.
Thomas looked at his watch. "There's a chance we could get one of the ER surgeons to do it tonight if you want. I could go check."
"How long after the surgery will I have to wait before I can go home?"
"Couple hours."
"Then tonight sounds good."
************
Hope you liked this chapter. Looking forward to your reviews.
Remember I have no medical background. After I had shoulder surgery a couple years ago I was told that if you popped one of those little "stopper" things out (I couldn't remember what they were actually called!) Anyway the nurse said that if you popped one of those out it was excruciating, and the pain was enough to bring grown men to tears. Don't know if she was just trying to scare me or what, but I figured if anyone would do something like that it would be Bosco :o) So that is where that idea came from.
I don't know about you, but I'm starting to wonder if this story is ever going to end :o)
Do you guys even remember everything that has happened? Maybe next time I'll have to provide a quick recap!