Part Three
Faith had just enough time to push Mary around to the other side of the car before the force of the blast
sent her tumbling backwards. She hit the ground hard. On the way down she had pulled Mary with her. The young girl landed on her chest and Faith groaned as her air rushed from her lungs. She lay there and
listened to the comforting sounds of sirens for a few seconds before she realized that what she was hearing was the hysterical screams of Mary.
Faith struggled to sit up, but Mary clamped her arms around her neck and refused to let go. Faith patted
the girl and muttered softly to her. She slowly looked around, searching for Bosco. She expected to see him standing over her with a concerned look on his face asking if she was okay. Then what had just happened rushed back to her and she felt the first waves of panic flood through her body.
Where was he?
She turned to look at the burning car a few feet away. The earth dropped out from beneath her when she saw his crumbled body lying beside the burning squad car.
Faith pushed Mary away for the moment, not caring about the terrified teenager. The only thing that was
important to her at that second was Bosco. She struggled to her feet and stumbled on shaking legs the
few feet to her partner. Her knees buckled and she fell to his side. Somewhere in her mind, she heard
reason screaming at her to not move him. But she could feel the heat coming from the burning car and she knew that she had to get him away from it before the whole thing blew.
She grabbed his shoulder, but quickly jerked her hand back from his hot jacket. She gritted her teeth then
forced herself to roll her partner over so she would be able to grab him under his arms and pull him from
the car. His arm was pulled up in front of his face so when she rolled him over it fell to the sidewalk
beside him. Faith saw an ugly red blotch running up the left side of Bosco's cheek towards his hairline.
She forced herself to look away from him and tried to focus on her efforts to pull him away from the car.
She grabbed his arms and tried to pull him. She was able to move him a few feet but her legs felt like
they were going to collapse under her. Then someone was beside her, taking Bosco's right arm. Faith
glanced up and saw Ty. Between the two of them, they were able to pull Bosco to a safe distance near the
front of the hotel. Faith collapsed on the ground beside Bosco.
"Please be okay," she silently pleaded.
She reached for his neck, feeling for a pulse, and was immediately comforted by the steady beat she felt
under her fingers. Ty leaned down over his face and then smiled up at her. He was breathing.
"Bosco, Bosco!" He didn't answer her.
She looked down at his uniform jacket and could still see smoke rising from the fabric. She unbuttoned it
and flung it open and away from him. Ty placed his hands on hers and gently pulled her until she was
facing him.
"Faith, wait until the bus comes," he said softly.
Faith nodded at him and then turned back to her partner. She could hear the wail of sirens. Faith
reached down, grasped Bosco's right hand, and squeezed. He was alive that was all that mattered. She
hadn't lost him.
The ambulance arrived first with the fire truck pulling up next to it a second later. Faith saw
several firemen race to the car, then she saw Doc getting out of the bus. Suddenly there was shouting
and she heard the fireman yelling that the car was going to blow. Faith had no time to think; she
automatically threw herself over Bosco and buried her face in his chest. The second explosion was larger and louder than the first. Faith could feel the heat radiate around her and she squeezed her eyes shut and
clung to Bosco.
Then she felt hands on her shoulder gently pulling her up. She looked up into Doc's concerned eyes.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded.
"What happened?"
"Some kids made a home-made bomb and threw it in the squad. I was inside with a girl…" Faith trailed off as she looked up and briefly wondered where Mary was.
"Faith?"
Faith forced her attention back to Doc.
"He pulled me out, then the girl, I don't know, she got scared and pulled away from him. He went in after
her and pushed her out the passenger door. But he didn't have enough time to get all the way out before
it blew."
Faith looked down at her partner as Doc checked his vitals.
"Doc, where's Carlos?"
Faith looked up and saw Ty leading Sully toward them. Sully was holding something to the side of his head. Doc didn't look up at either of them because he was carefully examining the side of Bosco's face.
"Carlos!" Doc shouted suddenly.
Carlos came stumbling over a few seconds later.
"Man, do you see this? What the hell happened?" he asked as he set his box down and went to look at
Sully's head.
"That's what I would like to know. How can I protect a important official when things like this are happening right in front of the hotel?" Faith jerked her head toward the unfamiliar voice and recognized Agent Wilkerson staring at the burning car.
How dare he? Faith felt a hand on her shoulder, but that didn't stop the anger that welled up in her as
she stared at the agent who was searching through the crowd of firemen and newly arrived police officers.
Faith pushed herself to her feet so she was standing a few inches from the agent who seemed to finally
realize who she was. He tried to give her a fake apologetic smile, but she stood her ground. Where was
he five minutes ago before everything went wrong? Bosco had risked his life to save them, to save her.
"Where were you?" she demanded.
"What?"
"Where were you when those hoodlums were throwing crap at us? Where were you when they starting breaking the windows on our squads with bats?"
Agent Wilkerson didn't say anything. He looked over her shoulder at Ty and Sully, who were behind her.
Anger rushed through her. She knew it wasn't rational to be so angry with him, but the kids who had done
this weren't here so she decided that the agent standing before her would do. He hadn't even tried to
help them. Before anyone could stop her, she flung herself at him. She grabbed his jacket and forced him
back into the wall of the hotel. He looked at her with surprise and opened his mouth to say something to her. She just shoved him into the wall again.
"Where the hell were you? My partner just risked his life. Why didn't you help?" she yelled at him.
"Faith, calm down," Sully said quietly.
He was by her side. He pulled her from the agent and steered her away from the stunned man. Sully wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tried to calm her down. She looked up at him and tried to smile.
She tried to tell him she was going to be okay. But, how could she tell him that when she felt like the
world had just turned upside down and dumped her on her ass?
When she looked up, she saw Mary standing in front of them. The girl looked stunned and tear marks were running down her smoke-covered face. Faith's anger drained from her and she stepped toward Mary and pulled the girl into her arms. Mary began to cry in Faith's arms.
Faith turned the girl slightly until she could see Doc opening bandages and applying them to Bosco's face. Faith patted Mary on the back as she looked up at their smoking squad car and squeezed her eyes shut tightly trying to shut out the activity around her.
"Faith?"
Doc was calling her. Faith opened her eyes and jumped slightly because Doc was standing in front of her,
looking at her intently. He motioned toward Carlos who was heading their way with a stretcher.
"Why don't you ride with us? We need to get you checked out, too."
Faith nodded as she watched Carlos stop the stretcher next to Bosco. She watched as Doc and Carlos carefully lifted him up onto the stretcher. Carlos pushed him toward the waiting bus. The fireman and cops jumped aside for them to pass.
Doc grabbed the last of his gear, then took Faith by the arm, and gently pulled her with him. As she passed each of the emergency workers, she felt their eyes on her. Faith felt a gentle tug on the back of her
uniform and then heard Mary's small voice.
"Officer Yokas, can I please come with you?" she asked between sniffs.
Faith nodded yes and then pulled Mary along with her. The three of them made it to the bus and Doc looked at the girl, then at Faith and then jumped into the bus beside Bosco and waited for Faith and Mary to climb in after him. She sat them both down on the small ledge near the door. She wanted to get closer, but she knew that the best thing for Bosco right now was for her and Mary to stay out of Doc's way. Faith listened to him shout things to Carlos as he carefully cut Bosco's uniform jacket off and got an IV going.
***********************
The first thing Bosco became aware of was the smell of smoke. The smell pulled him from his safe, comfortable world toward consciousness. The second sensation was pain. He didn't understand what was going on but his whole body ached and his face felt hot and throbbed painfully. He groaned.
He heard sirens and strange voices somewhere in the distance. Bosco felt pressure on his face and arms and he struggled to get away from it. He had to find someone; he had to make sure that someone was okay. He couldn't remember who he had to find, he just knew he needed to find someone.
Then he felt the soft pressure of someone holding his hand. He heard soft words in his ear and knew that he was safe. Everything was going to be okay. He gave himself up to the pain and then drifted back into the darkness, trying to hold onto the calm voice and the reassuring pressure.
**************************
Faith was still next to Mary when she saw Bosco move. Doc called to her.
"Faith, come here."
She stumbled from her place on the low seat toward Doc.
"Listen to me. He's in pain and he's only half conscious, talk to him." He smiled reassuringly at her.
She took Bosco's hand and squeezed it. She bent down over him and began to talk to him. She tried to keep her voice soft and reassuring but she could hear her voice catching and she prayed that she didn't lose it.
"Bosco? Can you hear me? Listen to me, you have to hang in there okay? I expect you to be back bugging
the crap out of me in no time. You can't get rid of me this easily. You know, I think Emily would love to go to the zoo with you. I think you will have a great time. "
As she was talking, she watched his face. He had a strained painful appearance. His body was tense and he looked like he was trying to fight Doc's attempts to wrap his left arm and hand in the same bandages that were laying across one side of his face. His face slowly relaxed. Faith continued to mumble soft words to Bosco. She didn't know what she was saying and she really didn't care--she just continued to speak softly to him as she squeezed his hand, hoping that she was bringing some comfort to him.
Carlos brought the bus to a sudden stop in front of Mercy's ER doors. Faith reluctantly let go of Bosco's
hand and made it to the back doors just as Carlos was opening them from the outside. Faith jumped down and helped Mary down beside her. They watched Doc and Carlos unload the stretcher and jog toward the open doors of the ER. Faith put an arm around Mary and they both walked inside.
By the time the doctor had finished examining Faith, and let her escape the treatment room, the waiting
room was full of uniforms; some of them spilled over into the hallway and were leaning on the front desk.
Faith saw not only cops but fireman and paramedics from the 55, as well. Faith walked slowly down the
hall, trying to pick out someone that would tell her where Bosco was. As she passed, each of her fellow
officers and the firemen nodded her way or smiled at her.
Faith spotted Ty talking to Lieutenant Stick and Sergeant Christopher near one of the exam rooms. She
stepped up behind the three men and ran her hands across the back of her head and the newly formed bump. She had been surprised when the doctor had asked her if her head hurt. He told her that she had an ugly knot forming on the back of her head and he had given her something in case it began to bother her.
Ty was the first to notice her presence.
"Faith, how you feel?"
She shrugged her shoulders and then glanced down the hall of exam rooms.
"Where's Bosco?"
Ty gestured to one of the rooms farther down the hall. Faith was just about to step away from them and look for Bosco when she felt a hand on her arm. Faith turned to see the Lieutenant looking intently at her.
"Faith, I need to hear from you what happened."
Faith glanced up at Ty who shrugged his shoulders. Ty had probably told them the whole story, but she knew that in the case of an officer getting injured they needed all the information they could get.
"It's okay, Faith, the docs are still working on him. Come sit down over here and tell me what you saw."
Faith sighed, knowing that she had no choice. She followed him over to some chairs and sank into one
next to him.
"You want anything? Something to drink?"
Faith shook her head; she just wanted this to be over. Stick nodded at her and Christopher opened his book and prepared to write down what she said. Faith started her story off slow but when she began, she
couldn't stop the words that spilled from her mouth.
"We met Agent Wilkerson in front of the hotel, Sully, Ty, Bosco and me. He told us that he wanted us to
stand outside and discourage protestors from blocking the front of the hotel. His only concern was some
official that they were assigned to protect. Soon after that, a van full of teenage protestors showed up. Bosco and I went over to talk with them. While I talked to two of them, Mary and Steve, Bosco went to
check out the parking garage."
Faith paused when she saw Sully walk up to them. He had a bandage wrapped around the top of his head and he looked like he was wincing slightly.
"Sully, are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, my head's hard."
Ty snickered and muttered something under his breath. Faith could probably guess what it was.
"Didn't they want you to stay?"
"Yes."
She knew that he had refused. Faith shook her head at his stubbornness then tried to remember where she had left off with her story.
"While I was trying to get their paperwork figured out, I heard the first motorcycle. The first couple
times they just rode by us and threw a couple of rocks. I think that's what hit you didn't it, Sully?"
Sully nodded his head carefully, then sat down in the chair next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and
she took a breath and continued. Her voice seemed strange to her but she forced herself to continue,
hoping to finish this and find Bosco.
"Then they came back by again, swinging bats at us. I radioed for Bosco. Steve--one of the protestors—ran, but Mary, the girl, she just panicked. I couldn't leave her, so I found the only place I thought would
be safe. I opened the door to the squad and we climbed in. That's when I heard Bosco yell at me to get out of the car. But I couldn't move. Mary had me pinned in the seat. He yelled at me to unlock the door and when I did, he pulled me out and tried to pull her out but she pushed away from him."
Faith stopped as the images rushed back to her. She remembered the look on his face when he yelled at her to open the door. He was worried about her—no, he was scared for her. He had risked his life to save her. She could feel tears threaten to fall, but she forced them away. She would not sit here in the middle of all these men and cry like a little girl.
Sully squeezed her shoulder then cleared his throat. "After Bosco went into the squad after the girl, Faith
ran around to the passenger side and Bosco pushed the girl out of the other side. Faith turned and pushed
the girl toward the sidewalk. He tried to back out the way he came in but he didn't make it. The bottle blew; I saw Faith and the girl fly backwards. Ty and I ducked behind our squad and when I looked up again, Faith was trying to pull Bosco from beside the car."
"I think that's enough for now, Faith, why don't you go find Bosco?" Stick suggested.
Faith nodded, then got up and walked down the hall toward the room Ty had pointed to. She stopped at the curtain of the room and looked in at the still form of her partner in the bed. She stepped forward and was almost to the side of his bed before she realized that she wasn't the only one in the room.
A graying doctor was leaning against a counter on one side of the room, writing furiously in a notepad.
Faith cleared her throat and watched the older man jump and then turn to look at her. He smiled at her
kindly and took a step toward her holding his hand out for her to take.
"I'm Doctor Zimmerman."
Faith shook his hand and was immediately at ease with him. She smiled back and glanced sideways at Bosco. "I'm Faith Yokas. Bosco's …uh Maurice is my partner."
He smiled at her again, and then nodded toward Bosco. They stepped over to Bosco's bed and looked down at him. Bosco's left arm was bandaged from just above his elbow to his fingers. Each of his fingers was bandaged separately and the whole arm was resting on a pillow.
"Bosco, you say?" he asked her. Faith nodded. "Well, Bosco is one lucky man. He could have been severely burned but it seems that he escaped his ordeal with first and second-degree burns on his left hand and lower arm. What worries me are the burns on his face."
Faith looked down at Bosco's face. The entire left side of it was wrapped with bandages. There were also
bandages wrapped securely around his head, covering both of his eyes. She turned away from him toward
Zimmerman.
"Is he going to be okay? Please you have to tell me," she pleaded.
"Officer Yokas, your partner …"
"Faith," she whispered to him quietly.
"Faith, your partner received some second degree burns to the side of his face, but what concerns me is that somehow his corneas were burned also. It's very rare; usually a person will automatically close their eyes to protect them from this type of burn. A chemical burn is different, sometimes the eyes don't realize
that something is about to splash in a person's eyes but a burn from a fire, I just don't know what to say."
Faith turned back to Bosco. He was worried about his sight. She felt her legs begin to tremble. Not Bosco.
Oh please not Bosco. She looked down; he looked lost and pale in the white bandages. She tried to breathe deeply, tried to calm the rising fear in her chest.
"His face is starting to swell at the locations of the worst burns, which, luckily are small. We are going to
keep pressure bandages on his eyes. We have treated them with drops and given him something for the pain. All we can do now is wait and see if they improve on their own."
Faith reached toward Bosco's right hand and took it. She held it tightly, trying to gather her courage to
ask the question she knew she didn't want to hear the answer to.
"What happens if it doesn't improve? Will he lose his sight?"
The doctor reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. She looked up at his face. He was no longer
smiling, but frowning slightly.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen. So, why don't we just take this one-day at a time?"
"He saved my life," she mumbled. Zimmerman sighed deeply and looked up at the ceiling. Faith turned back to Bosco. They were both silent for a few minutes. Then he patted her hand.
"The pain medication I gave him will pretty much get him through the night, but why don't you stay with him until we get him a room? I think it would help him to feel you near."
Faith smiled and nodded at the doctor, who patted her hand one last time before he turned and walked from the room. Faith drew in a quivering breath. She was able to pull a stool up to the side of the bed without having to let go of Bosco's hand. She lowered herself onto the chair, glanced at the numerous wires, and tubes leading to different places in Bosco's body. Then she returned her gaze to his heavily bandaged face.
"Oh Bosco…"
She felt the tears begin to flow down her face. She didn't try to stop them. They slid silently as she
gazed at her best friend and prayed that he would not have to face the rest of his life in darkness.
Faith had just enough time to push Mary around to the other side of the car before the force of the blast
sent her tumbling backwards. She hit the ground hard. On the way down she had pulled Mary with her. The young girl landed on her chest and Faith groaned as her air rushed from her lungs. She lay there and
listened to the comforting sounds of sirens for a few seconds before she realized that what she was hearing was the hysterical screams of Mary.
Faith struggled to sit up, but Mary clamped her arms around her neck and refused to let go. Faith patted
the girl and muttered softly to her. She slowly looked around, searching for Bosco. She expected to see him standing over her with a concerned look on his face asking if she was okay. Then what had just happened rushed back to her and she felt the first waves of panic flood through her body.
Where was he?
She turned to look at the burning car a few feet away. The earth dropped out from beneath her when she saw his crumbled body lying beside the burning squad car.
Faith pushed Mary away for the moment, not caring about the terrified teenager. The only thing that was
important to her at that second was Bosco. She struggled to her feet and stumbled on shaking legs the
few feet to her partner. Her knees buckled and she fell to his side. Somewhere in her mind, she heard
reason screaming at her to not move him. But she could feel the heat coming from the burning car and she knew that she had to get him away from it before the whole thing blew.
She grabbed his shoulder, but quickly jerked her hand back from his hot jacket. She gritted her teeth then
forced herself to roll her partner over so she would be able to grab him under his arms and pull him from
the car. His arm was pulled up in front of his face so when she rolled him over it fell to the sidewalk
beside him. Faith saw an ugly red blotch running up the left side of Bosco's cheek towards his hairline.
She forced herself to look away from him and tried to focus on her efforts to pull him away from the car.
She grabbed his arms and tried to pull him. She was able to move him a few feet but her legs felt like
they were going to collapse under her. Then someone was beside her, taking Bosco's right arm. Faith
glanced up and saw Ty. Between the two of them, they were able to pull Bosco to a safe distance near the
front of the hotel. Faith collapsed on the ground beside Bosco.
"Please be okay," she silently pleaded.
She reached for his neck, feeling for a pulse, and was immediately comforted by the steady beat she felt
under her fingers. Ty leaned down over his face and then smiled up at her. He was breathing.
"Bosco, Bosco!" He didn't answer her.
She looked down at his uniform jacket and could still see smoke rising from the fabric. She unbuttoned it
and flung it open and away from him. Ty placed his hands on hers and gently pulled her until she was
facing him.
"Faith, wait until the bus comes," he said softly.
Faith nodded at him and then turned back to her partner. She could hear the wail of sirens. Faith
reached down, grasped Bosco's right hand, and squeezed. He was alive that was all that mattered. She
hadn't lost him.
The ambulance arrived first with the fire truck pulling up next to it a second later. Faith saw
several firemen race to the car, then she saw Doc getting out of the bus. Suddenly there was shouting
and she heard the fireman yelling that the car was going to blow. Faith had no time to think; she
automatically threw herself over Bosco and buried her face in his chest. The second explosion was larger and louder than the first. Faith could feel the heat radiate around her and she squeezed her eyes shut and
clung to Bosco.
Then she felt hands on her shoulder gently pulling her up. She looked up into Doc's concerned eyes.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded.
"What happened?"
"Some kids made a home-made bomb and threw it in the squad. I was inside with a girl…" Faith trailed off as she looked up and briefly wondered where Mary was.
"Faith?"
Faith forced her attention back to Doc.
"He pulled me out, then the girl, I don't know, she got scared and pulled away from him. He went in after
her and pushed her out the passenger door. But he didn't have enough time to get all the way out before
it blew."
Faith looked down at her partner as Doc checked his vitals.
"Doc, where's Carlos?"
Faith looked up and saw Ty leading Sully toward them. Sully was holding something to the side of his head. Doc didn't look up at either of them because he was carefully examining the side of Bosco's face.
"Carlos!" Doc shouted suddenly.
Carlos came stumbling over a few seconds later.
"Man, do you see this? What the hell happened?" he asked as he set his box down and went to look at
Sully's head.
"That's what I would like to know. How can I protect a important official when things like this are happening right in front of the hotel?" Faith jerked her head toward the unfamiliar voice and recognized Agent Wilkerson staring at the burning car.
How dare he? Faith felt a hand on her shoulder, but that didn't stop the anger that welled up in her as
she stared at the agent who was searching through the crowd of firemen and newly arrived police officers.
Faith pushed herself to her feet so she was standing a few inches from the agent who seemed to finally
realize who she was. He tried to give her a fake apologetic smile, but she stood her ground. Where was
he five minutes ago before everything went wrong? Bosco had risked his life to save them, to save her.
"Where were you?" she demanded.
"What?"
"Where were you when those hoodlums were throwing crap at us? Where were you when they starting breaking the windows on our squads with bats?"
Agent Wilkerson didn't say anything. He looked over her shoulder at Ty and Sully, who were behind her.
Anger rushed through her. She knew it wasn't rational to be so angry with him, but the kids who had done
this weren't here so she decided that the agent standing before her would do. He hadn't even tried to
help them. Before anyone could stop her, she flung herself at him. She grabbed his jacket and forced him
back into the wall of the hotel. He looked at her with surprise and opened his mouth to say something to her. She just shoved him into the wall again.
"Where the hell were you? My partner just risked his life. Why didn't you help?" she yelled at him.
"Faith, calm down," Sully said quietly.
He was by her side. He pulled her from the agent and steered her away from the stunned man. Sully wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tried to calm her down. She looked up at him and tried to smile.
She tried to tell him she was going to be okay. But, how could she tell him that when she felt like the
world had just turned upside down and dumped her on her ass?
When she looked up, she saw Mary standing in front of them. The girl looked stunned and tear marks were running down her smoke-covered face. Faith's anger drained from her and she stepped toward Mary and pulled the girl into her arms. Mary began to cry in Faith's arms.
Faith turned the girl slightly until she could see Doc opening bandages and applying them to Bosco's face. Faith patted Mary on the back as she looked up at their smoking squad car and squeezed her eyes shut tightly trying to shut out the activity around her.
"Faith?"
Doc was calling her. Faith opened her eyes and jumped slightly because Doc was standing in front of her,
looking at her intently. He motioned toward Carlos who was heading their way with a stretcher.
"Why don't you ride with us? We need to get you checked out, too."
Faith nodded as she watched Carlos stop the stretcher next to Bosco. She watched as Doc and Carlos carefully lifted him up onto the stretcher. Carlos pushed him toward the waiting bus. The fireman and cops jumped aside for them to pass.
Doc grabbed the last of his gear, then took Faith by the arm, and gently pulled her with him. As she passed each of the emergency workers, she felt their eyes on her. Faith felt a gentle tug on the back of her
uniform and then heard Mary's small voice.
"Officer Yokas, can I please come with you?" she asked between sniffs.
Faith nodded yes and then pulled Mary along with her. The three of them made it to the bus and Doc looked at the girl, then at Faith and then jumped into the bus beside Bosco and waited for Faith and Mary to climb in after him. She sat them both down on the small ledge near the door. She wanted to get closer, but she knew that the best thing for Bosco right now was for her and Mary to stay out of Doc's way. Faith listened to him shout things to Carlos as he carefully cut Bosco's uniform jacket off and got an IV going.
***********************
The first thing Bosco became aware of was the smell of smoke. The smell pulled him from his safe, comfortable world toward consciousness. The second sensation was pain. He didn't understand what was going on but his whole body ached and his face felt hot and throbbed painfully. He groaned.
He heard sirens and strange voices somewhere in the distance. Bosco felt pressure on his face and arms and he struggled to get away from it. He had to find someone; he had to make sure that someone was okay. He couldn't remember who he had to find, he just knew he needed to find someone.
Then he felt the soft pressure of someone holding his hand. He heard soft words in his ear and knew that he was safe. Everything was going to be okay. He gave himself up to the pain and then drifted back into the darkness, trying to hold onto the calm voice and the reassuring pressure.
**************************
Faith was still next to Mary when she saw Bosco move. Doc called to her.
"Faith, come here."
She stumbled from her place on the low seat toward Doc.
"Listen to me. He's in pain and he's only half conscious, talk to him." He smiled reassuringly at her.
She took Bosco's hand and squeezed it. She bent down over him and began to talk to him. She tried to keep her voice soft and reassuring but she could hear her voice catching and she prayed that she didn't lose it.
"Bosco? Can you hear me? Listen to me, you have to hang in there okay? I expect you to be back bugging
the crap out of me in no time. You can't get rid of me this easily. You know, I think Emily would love to go to the zoo with you. I think you will have a great time. "
As she was talking, she watched his face. He had a strained painful appearance. His body was tense and he looked like he was trying to fight Doc's attempts to wrap his left arm and hand in the same bandages that were laying across one side of his face. His face slowly relaxed. Faith continued to mumble soft words to Bosco. She didn't know what she was saying and she really didn't care--she just continued to speak softly to him as she squeezed his hand, hoping that she was bringing some comfort to him.
Carlos brought the bus to a sudden stop in front of Mercy's ER doors. Faith reluctantly let go of Bosco's
hand and made it to the back doors just as Carlos was opening them from the outside. Faith jumped down and helped Mary down beside her. They watched Doc and Carlos unload the stretcher and jog toward the open doors of the ER. Faith put an arm around Mary and they both walked inside.
By the time the doctor had finished examining Faith, and let her escape the treatment room, the waiting
room was full of uniforms; some of them spilled over into the hallway and were leaning on the front desk.
Faith saw not only cops but fireman and paramedics from the 55, as well. Faith walked slowly down the
hall, trying to pick out someone that would tell her where Bosco was. As she passed, each of her fellow
officers and the firemen nodded her way or smiled at her.
Faith spotted Ty talking to Lieutenant Stick and Sergeant Christopher near one of the exam rooms. She
stepped up behind the three men and ran her hands across the back of her head and the newly formed bump. She had been surprised when the doctor had asked her if her head hurt. He told her that she had an ugly knot forming on the back of her head and he had given her something in case it began to bother her.
Ty was the first to notice her presence.
"Faith, how you feel?"
She shrugged her shoulders and then glanced down the hall of exam rooms.
"Where's Bosco?"
Ty gestured to one of the rooms farther down the hall. Faith was just about to step away from them and look for Bosco when she felt a hand on her arm. Faith turned to see the Lieutenant looking intently at her.
"Faith, I need to hear from you what happened."
Faith glanced up at Ty who shrugged his shoulders. Ty had probably told them the whole story, but she knew that in the case of an officer getting injured they needed all the information they could get.
"It's okay, Faith, the docs are still working on him. Come sit down over here and tell me what you saw."
Faith sighed, knowing that she had no choice. She followed him over to some chairs and sank into one
next to him.
"You want anything? Something to drink?"
Faith shook her head; she just wanted this to be over. Stick nodded at her and Christopher opened his book and prepared to write down what she said. Faith started her story off slow but when she began, she
couldn't stop the words that spilled from her mouth.
"We met Agent Wilkerson in front of the hotel, Sully, Ty, Bosco and me. He told us that he wanted us to
stand outside and discourage protestors from blocking the front of the hotel. His only concern was some
official that they were assigned to protect. Soon after that, a van full of teenage protestors showed up. Bosco and I went over to talk with them. While I talked to two of them, Mary and Steve, Bosco went to
check out the parking garage."
Faith paused when she saw Sully walk up to them. He had a bandage wrapped around the top of his head and he looked like he was wincing slightly.
"Sully, are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, my head's hard."
Ty snickered and muttered something under his breath. Faith could probably guess what it was.
"Didn't they want you to stay?"
"Yes."
She knew that he had refused. Faith shook her head at his stubbornness then tried to remember where she had left off with her story.
"While I was trying to get their paperwork figured out, I heard the first motorcycle. The first couple
times they just rode by us and threw a couple of rocks. I think that's what hit you didn't it, Sully?"
Sully nodded his head carefully, then sat down in the chair next to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and
she took a breath and continued. Her voice seemed strange to her but she forced herself to continue,
hoping to finish this and find Bosco.
"Then they came back by again, swinging bats at us. I radioed for Bosco. Steve--one of the protestors—ran, but Mary, the girl, she just panicked. I couldn't leave her, so I found the only place I thought would
be safe. I opened the door to the squad and we climbed in. That's when I heard Bosco yell at me to get out of the car. But I couldn't move. Mary had me pinned in the seat. He yelled at me to unlock the door and when I did, he pulled me out and tried to pull her out but she pushed away from him."
Faith stopped as the images rushed back to her. She remembered the look on his face when he yelled at her to open the door. He was worried about her—no, he was scared for her. He had risked his life to save her. She could feel tears threaten to fall, but she forced them away. She would not sit here in the middle of all these men and cry like a little girl.
Sully squeezed her shoulder then cleared his throat. "After Bosco went into the squad after the girl, Faith
ran around to the passenger side and Bosco pushed the girl out of the other side. Faith turned and pushed
the girl toward the sidewalk. He tried to back out the way he came in but he didn't make it. The bottle blew; I saw Faith and the girl fly backwards. Ty and I ducked behind our squad and when I looked up again, Faith was trying to pull Bosco from beside the car."
"I think that's enough for now, Faith, why don't you go find Bosco?" Stick suggested.
Faith nodded, then got up and walked down the hall toward the room Ty had pointed to. She stopped at the curtain of the room and looked in at the still form of her partner in the bed. She stepped forward and was almost to the side of his bed before she realized that she wasn't the only one in the room.
A graying doctor was leaning against a counter on one side of the room, writing furiously in a notepad.
Faith cleared her throat and watched the older man jump and then turn to look at her. He smiled at her
kindly and took a step toward her holding his hand out for her to take.
"I'm Doctor Zimmerman."
Faith shook his hand and was immediately at ease with him. She smiled back and glanced sideways at Bosco. "I'm Faith Yokas. Bosco's …uh Maurice is my partner."
He smiled at her again, and then nodded toward Bosco. They stepped over to Bosco's bed and looked down at him. Bosco's left arm was bandaged from just above his elbow to his fingers. Each of his fingers was bandaged separately and the whole arm was resting on a pillow.
"Bosco, you say?" he asked her. Faith nodded. "Well, Bosco is one lucky man. He could have been severely burned but it seems that he escaped his ordeal with first and second-degree burns on his left hand and lower arm. What worries me are the burns on his face."
Faith looked down at Bosco's face. The entire left side of it was wrapped with bandages. There were also
bandages wrapped securely around his head, covering both of his eyes. She turned away from him toward
Zimmerman.
"Is he going to be okay? Please you have to tell me," she pleaded.
"Officer Yokas, your partner …"
"Faith," she whispered to him quietly.
"Faith, your partner received some second degree burns to the side of his face, but what concerns me is that somehow his corneas were burned also. It's very rare; usually a person will automatically close their eyes to protect them from this type of burn. A chemical burn is different, sometimes the eyes don't realize
that something is about to splash in a person's eyes but a burn from a fire, I just don't know what to say."
Faith turned back to Bosco. He was worried about his sight. She felt her legs begin to tremble. Not Bosco.
Oh please not Bosco. She looked down; he looked lost and pale in the white bandages. She tried to breathe deeply, tried to calm the rising fear in her chest.
"His face is starting to swell at the locations of the worst burns, which, luckily are small. We are going to
keep pressure bandages on his eyes. We have treated them with drops and given him something for the pain. All we can do now is wait and see if they improve on their own."
Faith reached toward Bosco's right hand and took it. She held it tightly, trying to gather her courage to
ask the question she knew she didn't want to hear the answer to.
"What happens if it doesn't improve? Will he lose his sight?"
The doctor reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. She looked up at his face. He was no longer
smiling, but frowning slightly.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen. So, why don't we just take this one-day at a time?"
"He saved my life," she mumbled. Zimmerman sighed deeply and looked up at the ceiling. Faith turned back to Bosco. They were both silent for a few minutes. Then he patted her hand.
"The pain medication I gave him will pretty much get him through the night, but why don't you stay with him until we get him a room? I think it would help him to feel you near."
Faith smiled and nodded at the doctor, who patted her hand one last time before he turned and walked from the room. Faith drew in a quivering breath. She was able to pull a stool up to the side of the bed without having to let go of Bosco's hand. She lowered herself onto the chair, glanced at the numerous wires, and tubes leading to different places in Bosco's body. Then she returned her gaze to his heavily bandaged face.
"Oh Bosco…"
She felt the tears begin to flow down her face. She didn't try to stop them. They slid silently as she
gazed at her best friend and prayed that he would not have to face the rest of his life in darkness.