Part Eleven--The Final Chapter
Note: Thanks to Angie and Codes
Faith groaned as she lifted her hand to her face to rub her itching nose. She yawned and tried to remember where she was. Oh yeah, sleeping in Emily's room.
After her visit this morning with Bosco, she had stayed with him until a nurse had come in and giving him a shot of pain medication that had knocked him out in no time. When she got back to the room Fred told her that Christopher had come looking for her.
She found Stick, Christopher, Wilkerson and a dozen or so other officials in the NYPD and FBI that she didn't recognize waiting for her in a private waiting room near the entrance to the ER.
She gave everyone in the room the details of Emily's story. She refused the FBI's request to interview her daughter. She told them they could talk to Emily tomorrow with Fred and her in the room. They didn't look very happy about it but Stick and Christopher both stood behind her on it. Then Stick announced that he had already spoken to the Chief of Police and he would give them the same answer.
After repeating the story a few more times, slower with details she wrote her report with Sully and then she returned to Emily's room. Emily was asleep and Fred told her that Davis had suggested that he go with him and Sully to go get clothes and stuff from the apartment. She told him that sounded like a good idea because they wouldn't be able to stay there tonight anyway. When he left he told her that he wouldn't be back for a couple of hours because he also wanted to go to his mom's house and fill her in and drop Charlie off with her to stay.
After Fred and Charlie had left she sat by Emily's side, held her hand, and watched her sleep. The last thing that she remembered thinking about before she lowered her head to the bed beside Emily was the blood on her living room floor and wondered if she could get someone else to clean it up so she wouldn't have to see it again.
She pushed all those thoughts out of her head, buried her head back down in the sheets, and lay there enjoying the quiet for a few more seconds. When the door opened she opened her eyes and sat up to see Fred standing in the door with a greasy bag in one hand and a paper cup in the other.
"How it go?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"Good, how'd it go here?"
"Fine," she said.
"Then where's Em?"
"What?" Faith turned from him and looked down to the empty bed beside her. "She was here."
She said as she pushed by him glancing in the empty bathroom and then to the door. She looked up and down the hall and was about to run to the nurse's station when the nurse from earlier looked up from the desk and held up her finger.
The nurse stepped away from the desk and meet Faith halfway down the hall.
"My daughter?" Faith said anxiously as soon as the woman came close enough to hear her.
"It's okay, I know where she is, follow me"
The woman turned and started down the hallway before Faith had a chance to say anything. Faith turned back to look at Fred who shrugged and made a 'follow her' gesture with his hands. They both followed the nurse down the hall and through a door that had a sign posted in the middle of the door that read "Authorized Hospital Staff Only.'
When they were halfway down the hall, Faith figured out where they were heading. She could see a hospital security guard standing outside a door at the end of the hall and recognized him from this morning's visit to Bosco's room. The nurse stopped next to the guard, turned to them with a smile on her face and then pointed into the room.
Faith turned to look through the glass window next to the door of Bosco's room. He was in his bed still asleep amid his beeping machines and tubes. Curled up on the bed beside him sound asleep was Emily. Faith looked back at the nurse and she motioned her back from the window.
Faith and Fred followed her a couple of steps from the door where she explained their daughter's change of location.
"She woke up about a hour ago and came out into the hallway. You were asleep and she said she didn't want to wake you up because you looked tired. I asked her if she was hungry or wanted anything and she said she wanted to see Bosco. I told her that he had been in surgery and was asleep now so he could get better. She seemed upset by that so I told her if she promised not to wake him up she could see him for a few minutes."
"Well, right after we got down here there was a emergency in another room and I went to help out. By the time I got back she had crawled up in the bed and was asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake her she's been through so much. His doctor said it would be okay for a little while so I just left her here and came back to the desk hoping I would see you before you panicked too much. I hope you don't mind."
Faith closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "No, It's fine."
The nurse turned and headed back down the hallway.
Fred frowned and then jerked his thumb toward the room. "You want to leave her in there?"
Faith turned back toward the window and placed her hand on the glass. She watched her daughter and her partner sleep and knew that besides being with her or Fred, Emily was the next safest place. She turned her head and looked at Fred.
"If she feels safe here, I don't think we should force her away. She just needed to know that he was okay, let her stay for a little while, we'll come back in a little while and take her back."
Fred glanced behind her through the window and frowned. Faith was afraid that he was going to insist they get Emily out of there and take her back to her room. But he didn't, instead he just nodded his head and put out his hand for her to take. They turned and headed back down the hallway back toward Emily's room.
When they got to the room, Agent Wilkerson was leaning against the wall next to the door. Fred looked at him then back at Faith. She inclined her head toward the room and murmured to him that it was okay. Fred nodded, squeezed her hand and opened the door. Faith couldn't help bite down a chuckle when she saw Fred giving Wilkerson a dirty look as he stepped into the room.
Wilkerson tipped his head in the direction of the small lounge across the hall, turned, and walked
toward it. Faith followed behind him, closed it, and then leaned on it. She watched the other man stand with his back to her for a few seconds then turn to look at her with a pained expression on his face.
"I'm glad your daughter and partner made it out of there."
Faith looked at him for a minute before she spoke and when she did she watched his face crumble at her words.
"What the hell were you doing up there?"
Wilkerson raised his hands, rubbed them over his face a couple of times, and sunk into a chair. He looked at his feet and began to speak in a husky whisper.
"That kid killed the other day wasn't the first agent I lost to him. He killed my partner fourteen months ago in Prague. We were working in a multi-agency task force with the CIA and the British NCIS. Covic killed her for no reason, I've been looking for him ever since."
He looked up at her when he said that as she saw the sadness and the anger on his face. She pushed herself away from the door, walked toward him, and sat down in the chair beside him.
"I almost had him a couple of times, caught up with him in Venice and was able to put a few holes in him before he got away. I'm the only agent that had ever got a good look at him. Six months ago he succeeded with a hit against an Swiss banker and took out a couple of NCIS agents, I went after him but he got away again." He shook his head angrily and then continued. "After that incident the task force convinced my boss that it was time for me to come home, they said I wasn't able to be objective any longer. When I found out Covic was coming to New York
I twisted arms and called in favors to be assigned to the protection force."
Wilkerson leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. Faith watched several emotions play across his face before he shut his eyes and finished his story.
"I don't think I really cared about that Serbian I was there to protect. I was trying to get Covic. When that car exploded out front I really wasn't thinking about whether anyone was inside or not the only thing in my mind was that the cops and the fire trucks where going to scare him away and I was going to miss my chance to get him."
Wilkerson opened his eyes and let his head fall to the right so he was looking at her. He tried to smile but failed. "Sullivan was right, you should have hit me harder."
Faith bit her lip to stop the laugh. He smiled then let out a long breath and nodded to her slightly.
"When I found out Andrews had been killed it really shook me. The kid was just a year on the job; he had a brand new girlfriend that he couldn't shut up about. We shut everything down and I had every cop Federal or local looking for him by name and a vague description and an order to contact me for a physical ID."
"If you knew what he looked like why didn't you just..." Faith stopped the question when the answer jumped out at her. "You wanted to get him personally," she said softly.
He nodded and then tipped his head forward so she couldn't see his face as he answered her. "Yes, I did. And it only cost the death of one little old man who loved the Yankees and the near death of a thirteen year old girl and a brave cop."
Faith didn't know what to say so she just leaned back in her chair and rested her head against the wall as they both sat there in silence. She realized she couldn't blame him for anything that had happened. She probably would have tried to do the same thing if something like that had happened to Bosco and she had the chance to get the guy who did it. She also knew that Wilkerson would probably always blame himself for what happened to his young Agent and Mr. Pearson.
"What happens to you now?" she asked as she studied the water stain on the ceiling. She heard him move in his seat then stand up. She pulled her head from the wall and looked up at him. He was looking down at her and fingering his crooked tie.
"I'm going to get out of the killing business. Think I'll go back to my home town and see what I can do to help people there, maybe coach a little league team, who knows."
She smiled. "Sounds good."
He gave her a genuine smile then held out his hand to her. "It's been a pleasure to meet you, Officer Yokas."
Faith shook his hand and he turned and walked out of the room. Faith watched him leave and let out a sigh as she tried to force the mixed emotions out of her head. She forced the anger from her mind, telling herself that she didn't want to think about what almost happened. Her family had survived today, all of it, and that's the only thing that really mattered.
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An ache in his stomach and the heaviness of his chest brought him back from his blissful sleep. He groaned and tried to remember exactly where he had been shot and how bad, he didn't remember it being so hard to breathe when he was awake earlier. Then suddenly the heaviness in his chest disappeared and he heard a soft whisper.
"Sorry."
"Emily, is that you?" He opened his eyes and searched the blackness for her. He could feel her lying in the bed beside him.
"Uh huh."
"What are you doing here?" he asked a little confused. Was Faith here? He couldn't hear anyone else in the room and if she were there she would have said something by now.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay," she answered softly.
"I'm going to be fine. You know me a little bullet couldn't stop me," he said to her lightly.
When she didn't answer him, he brought his hand up to her face and touched her cheek, he could tell she was crying. Please don't. I don't know what to say to her he thought.
"Hey, hey what's the matter?"
"It's all my fault," she whispered.
What? Her fault? What was she talking about?
"Nothing was your Fault, Emily," he told her.
"It was," she started to cry as she sputtered out the rest of her words. "I told the man on the phone he had a gun...he told me not to say anything but I did...I told him and he shot you...It's all my fault."
Emily buried her head in his shoulder and cried. Bosco brought his hand up to her head ran his fingers through her hair, and waited until she was finished and laid there sniffling.
"Let me tell you something, will you listen to what I tell you?"
Emily nodded her head.
"That wasn't your fault." Emily started to shake her head. "Hey, you said you were going to listen to me, now listen. You were very brave in there; you did exactly what you should have done. You were scared, weren't you?"
Bosco smiled when he felt Emily's head bob up and down next to him.
"I want to tell you a secret, you can't tell anyone else not even your mom, okay?"
"I promise," Emily whispered.
"I was scared, too."
"You were?"
"Yes, I also know that nothing that happened was my fault or yours. Do you believe me?"
Bosco held his breath while Emily was silent then he broke into a grin when he heard her say.
"Yes, but I'm sorry."
"It's okay Em, everything is going to be fine now." Bosco brought his hand up, pulled her back down into his side, and held her there for a few more minutes. While he took a deep breath and thanked god he had come up with the right words.
A few minutes past before Emily moved beside him. She moved from the bed and he heard her say 'mom' as she ran across the room
"Faith."
"Yeah, come to see were my munchkin went to," Faith said after a grunt.
"I didn't want to wake you up earlier."
"That's okay, why don't you go back to your room. Daddy brought you McDonalds."
"All right" she squealed, then turned and waved at Bosco. "Bye, Bosco."
"Bye, Em."
"She waved."
"I guess she forgot about my eyes," he said with a shrug. Bosco wished he could forget so easily. Then another question occurred to him. "So how does the face look."
Faith stepped closer to the bed and studied the red skin slashing down the side of his face. "Well, it's red and there are some blisters but the Doctor did say they would go away. But overall you're looking pretty good."
"I guess I'm back to my handsome self without those bandages huh?"
"Handsome? I really wouldn't say handsome, I would say somewhat..."
Bosco could sense the smile on her face. "Okay, do I have to remind you that I'm still in pain here and there's a rule that you are suppose to humor your partner when he in is pain?"
Faith laughed. "What rule is that? I've never heard of such a stupid rule, and besides if there is such a rule you seem to break it every month when I get my period."
"Faith..." He whined she knew how much he hated to hear her even mention the P word.
Bosco listened to her laugh and couldn't stop himself from joining in although each laugh caused a jolt of pain to stab through his body.
"Stop laughing...oh God stop...that hurts," he was barely able to choke out.
He felt Faith's hands on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and settled back into his pillow forcing himself to relax the muscles in his stomach. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths then just laid there enjoying the soft strokes of Faith's hand on his forehead.
"Ah hum. Am I interrupting anything?" Came a voice from the door.
The sudden voice made both Bosco and Faith jump. Faith removed her hand and took a step back from the bed. Bosco recognized the voice of Doctor Zimmerman.
"Of course not, Doctor. Bosco just found out that laughing and an injured stomach don't mix well."
"I could have told you that son, no need trying to experiment on your own. And another thing, I really don't enjoy admitting the same patient twice in one week."
"You mean I don't get a frequent patient discount?" Bosco said and grinned when he heard Faith snort.
"I'll see what I can do," Zimmerman said. But he said it so evenly Bosco couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "But in the mean time I'm going to give your injuries a once over."
Faith patted his head and said. "I'll just wait outside, okay, Bosco?"
Bosco reached up and grabbed her wrist. "No!" He realized he said it a little too loud and lowered his voice a little and continued. "Stay, okay?"
There were a few seconds of silence and Bosco figured she had turned and looked at Zimmerman.
"That would by fine with me, Officer Yokas," Zimmerman said.
Bosco released Faith's hand and dropped his own hand to his side.
"I'm going to raise the head up a little bit, tell me if it puts any pressure on your stomach wound."
Bosco nodded, the head raised up from the floor a little bit then he felt his head tilt up slightly. The minute Bosco grimaced Zimmerman stopped the bed.
"Too far?"
"No, it's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, Doc, just get on with it," he said a little impatiently.
Zimmerman took a breath then Bosco he could feel the older man's finger's running over the edges of his healing burns. "These look excellent, you may not have to worry about long-term scaring. There are a few over here near the temple they may need some grafts but it looks pretty good."
Zimmerman moved his hands to his eyes and Bosco felt his right eyelid pulled back gingerly. Then his left lid was gently pealed back.
"Hmmm, yes they look fine."
Fine? That's it, fine. Is fine good? Bosco wondered.
"Is that good or bad?" Faith asked.
"I would say good, at least I don't see any further damage. Let me try something." Bosco heard Zimmerman searching through pockets then a grunt followed by the click of the overhead light.
"Now, just relax, Officer Boscorelli."
Zimmerman pulled his right upper lid back then let it go. He then felt the lower lid pulled down. "Okay, let's have a look at the other eye."
Zimmerman did the same with his left eye but just before Zimmerman let go of his upper lid a sharp pain jolted through Bosco's eye. He pulled slightly away from the doctor's touch.
"Bosco? You okay?" Faith asked with concern in her voice.
Bosco took a breath and then nodded.
Zimmerman chuckled. "I think the young man is just sick of people poking at him, I'm almost done just let me see..."
Zimmerman gently pulled down the bottom lid and the pain shot through the eye again.
Bosco couldn't stop the involuntary jump as "What the hell was that?" escaped his lips.
Faith's hand settled on his shoulder. "It was just a light, Bosco"
Zimmerman pulled his lid down again and the same pain shot through his eye and he brought his hand to his eye to protect it from Zimmerman.
"Stop doing that."
"This is wonderful."
"How can pain shooting through my skull me good?" Bosco grumbled as he pushed Zimmerman's hand from his face fearing the man was about to do it again.
"Don't you see, Officer Boscorelli, your eye is reacting. It may be reacting painfully for you but
it's reacting that's what is important."
"Oh, Bosco," Faith whispered and tightened her hand on his shoulder.
"Wait a minute, Doc. Are you..." Can this be true? "I'm not blind anymore?"
Zimmerman chuckled. "Just slow down there, I said there was a reaction. As I doctor all I can say is that this is a very good sign. Personally I say you'll be back looking at the young ladies in no time."
"Yes!" Faith shouted and then grabbed him in a tight hug. He squeezed her back ignoring the protest his stomach muscles were making. Faith let him go and ruffled his hair.
"Oh boy, that's great" was all he could say. It sounded pretty pathetic even to his ears but he just
couldn't put the joy of knowing that he wasn't going to have to leave the rest of his life alone in the dark into words.
"I'm going to go right now and track down Dr. Foster and have him take another look, so don't go anywhere."
Bosco laughed. "Don't worry I don't think I could if I wanted to."
"I'll be back shortly."
As soon as Zimmerman left Faith hugged him again. "I knew everything was going to be okay, I just knew it."
Bosco twisted his face and said softly. "I think you were the only one."
"No, not the only one, there's someone here to see you."
Bosco pulled away from Faith and cocked his head toward the door. "Who?"
"You seem to be in a better mood today. I didn't realize getting shot was such a good thing."
Bosco sighed then smiled. "Hey, Kristen."
"Hey, yourself." She paused then, "Hello, Faith. I hope your daughter is okay?"
"Fine, she's a little frightened but she wasn't hurt bad. Ugh, if you don't mind me asking, how did you find out about all this?"
"Well, I was over my mom's house and she ran to the store so I decided to see what was on the tube. I don't know if I like the fact that for the second time in a week I turned the news on and saw your handsome mug on it."
Bosco puffed out his chest and grinned. "See, she thinks I'm handsome"
Faith hit him lightly on the head. "Yeah, yeah maybe we should get her eyes checked too."
"So what's everyone so happy about?" she asked as she walked across the room toward him.
"The light, it hurt my eyes," Bosco said with a grin.
"And this is good?" Kristen said sounding a little confused.
"Doc says my eyesight is coming back. Didn't he, Faith?"
"Well, he did say not to get your hopes up."
Bosco grunted and waved a hand in her direction. "I'm sure."
"That's great," Kristen said from beside him. He felt her hand touch his shoulder and suddenly felt guilty about how he had treated her the last time she came to visit.
"Hey, Kristen about the other day..."
He didn't get to finish because his words were cut off when he felt her soft lips pressing against his. He lifted his arm and caught her hair in his hand. Then he tightened the grip on the back of her head and pulled her into him slightly.
From somewhere in the distance he heard Faith clear her throat and Kristen pulled away from him
"No, no don't stop," Faith giggled as she walked toward the door. "I'll go check on Em, you two be good."
Bosco heard the door shut. He reached up and grabbed Kristen's hand and pulled it down to is chest. He cleared his throat and felt Kristen squeeze his hand.
"I shouldn't have treated you the way I did last time you were here. I wanted you to stay but I don't know I was confused and upset and was a jerk. I'm not all that smart sometimes...uh what I meant was..."
Kristen pressed a hand to his cheek. "It's okay, Bosco, you don't have to say it."
"Yes, I do." He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand again. He knew he had to say the actual words to her. It wasn't fair to her to leave it half said, and after everything he had been through he needed to tell her. "Kristen, I'm sorry, I don't have an excuse. I wasn't really thinking that clearly but I know I upset you and I'm really sorry about that."
"I'm fine, Bosco, you had every right to be upset. I think you should give yourself a break. I'm not angry at you and I told you I wasn't going to let you scare me off."
He gave her a huge grin then said. "Why in the world would I want to scare you off?"
She let go of his hand and slid her hand up his chest until she reached his chin, which she rubbed with her thumb as she bent forward over him.
"You're not that smart all the time remember? But don't worry, I'll help you if you want me to."
Kristen lip's pressed firmly against his. He smiled as she deepened the kiss. He briefly thought about someone interrupting them but thought if Kristen didn't seem to care why should he? So he did the only thing left for him to do, he relaxed back in the pillow and let her do what ever she pleased.
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Faith leaned against the wall in the hallway and tried to wipe the smile off her face. She was having a difficult time doing that in her current position as guard dog. When she left Bosco's room a few minutes before she had really intended to head straight to Emily's room and check for left over chicken Mcnuggets.
Then she noticed the smiles and the faces of the nurses as they walked by and Faith turned to see
Kristen and Bosco making out like eighteen-year-olds through the glass window in the wall of Bosco's room.
She groaned and turned from the scene at the same time, trying to block as much of the window as she could from the people walking by.
What was he thinking? Apparently not much she told herself. She was still grumbling to herself and trying to fend off anyone in hospital scrubs when Sully appeared next to her. She sighed as she looked at the smile on his face and then buried her face in her hands when he started to laugh.
"Guess he's feeling better, huh?"
She shook her head and refused to look at him, mentally calling Bosco every name she could think of.
"Do you think if I went out and got myself shot I could get a woman to do that to me too?"
Faith dropped her hands, looked at Sully's beaming face, and couldn't help herself as she started to laugh. All the tension, anger and sadness of the last few days began to melt away as she turned and stood with Sully and watched Kristen and Bosco.
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By the time the orderly had come to get Bosco to take him to see Doctor Foster, Faith had filled Sully in on the good news. As Bosco was wheeled around the corner Kristen had noticed the window and looked horrified. Faith couldn't help but feel sorry for her and assured her that no one even noticed.
Kristen had smiled at her and told her thank-you for not noticing anything. Faith grinned back. Then Kristen told Faith to tell Bosco that she would come back tomorrow. Sully asked what time tomorrow and Faith elbowed him as Kristen turned and hurried down the hall.
Sully and Faith had both gone back to Emily's room to find Emily and Fred sound asleep and all the Mcnuggets gone so they headed for the cafeteria and ate dinner. Sully filled her in on all the House gossip and then they wandered back up to Bosco's room.
Bosco wasn't in his room but the nurse said that he was on his way back. So Faith took a seat on the bed and Sully pulled up a chair. Faith turned to look at him and he jerked his shoulders up.
"What?"
Faith chewed for a second on her lip then said. "I was just wondering why you're not home with Tatiana."
Sully shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I thought you might need a friend."
She smiled at him. He had been worried about her and about Bosco so he had come to see for himself how they were doing.
"You're a good man, John Sullivan."
Sully blushed and looked away from her. "Just don't let that get around okay?"
"Your secret's safe with me."
"What secret?" Bosco said as he was rolled in the door by a skinny orderly.
Faith and Sully turned to look at Bosco reclining in what was basically a lounge chair with wheels. On his face were square-framed dark glasses and a huge grin.
Faith ignored the question, hopped of the bed, and stepped closer to him.
"What did Doctor Foster say?"
"Well, he said a lot of things, Faith, you really can't expect me to remember them all."
"Bosco."
Bosco laughed and Faith resisted the urge to throttle him.
"He said that my corneas were..." He started to speak then shook his head. "Bottom line he said that my eyes look like they are starting the healing process and that is why they are so sensitive to the light. He thinks it might take a little while but eventually I'm going to be good as new."
Faith couldn't stop the tears that began to flow down her face as she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. She held him tightly until she felt him shift and heard a little grunt. She backed away from him and saw his face was tight then she remembered his gunshot wound.
"I'm sorry, Bosco, I didn't mean to hurt you."
He waved her away. "It's okay, it's not that bad."
Faith stepped aside so the orderly could push Bosco up to his bed and waited for him to help him in the bed. When he stepped away Faith pulled the covers up and untangled the IV from the side of the bed.
Sully came up, grabbed Bosco's hand, and gave it several shakes.
"I'm happy for you, Bosco."
Bosco looked surprised and it took him a minute to say, "Thanks."
Sully waved to Faith and then turned and headed toward the door. When he made it to the door he turned back and said. "Oh, I'll bring Davis by tomorrow if that's okay."
"Sure."
"Bye then. Oh, I'll go find a nurse and tell her you're in pain"
"That's not..." But Sully was gone before he could get it out.
"How you feeling really?" Faith asked.
Bosco turned his head on the pillow and smiled. "My stomach is killing me."
"Let me go get the nurse then."
"No, wait. Sully said he would do it." He was quiet for a minute. Then he said, "I don't want you to go."
Faith reached up, brushed the hair from his forehead, and smiled.
"Okay."
"I can't help thinking about all that's happened the past couple of days."
"Seems like longer, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it does."
Bosco was quiet for so long Faith thought he had fallen a sleep then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"If I hadn't had you through all this I would have probably ended up a basket case in a rubber room somewhere."
Faith chuckled. "You weren't that bad Bosco."
"I love you, Faith, you're the best friend I have ever had."
Faith blinked the tears away from her eyes and then bent down and kissed his forehead.
"I love you too, Bosco."
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The End
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone that hung in there until the end. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I ended it here because I thought it was the perfect ending sentiment and if I wrote anything after it would have just weakened their exchange. I didn't actually give him his sight back by the end of the story but it is on it's way, I didn't want to wave a magic wand and *poof * he is able to see again. But this way you know it's coming back and everyone should be happy without asking for a sequel of any kind. Sorry no sequel because I'm already writing something else.
Thanks again for everyone's kind words and the wonderful comments.
Note: Thanks to Angie and Codes
Faith groaned as she lifted her hand to her face to rub her itching nose. She yawned and tried to remember where she was. Oh yeah, sleeping in Emily's room.
After her visit this morning with Bosco, she had stayed with him until a nurse had come in and giving him a shot of pain medication that had knocked him out in no time. When she got back to the room Fred told her that Christopher had come looking for her.
She found Stick, Christopher, Wilkerson and a dozen or so other officials in the NYPD and FBI that she didn't recognize waiting for her in a private waiting room near the entrance to the ER.
She gave everyone in the room the details of Emily's story. She refused the FBI's request to interview her daughter. She told them they could talk to Emily tomorrow with Fred and her in the room. They didn't look very happy about it but Stick and Christopher both stood behind her on it. Then Stick announced that he had already spoken to the Chief of Police and he would give them the same answer.
After repeating the story a few more times, slower with details she wrote her report with Sully and then she returned to Emily's room. Emily was asleep and Fred told her that Davis had suggested that he go with him and Sully to go get clothes and stuff from the apartment. She told him that sounded like a good idea because they wouldn't be able to stay there tonight anyway. When he left he told her that he wouldn't be back for a couple of hours because he also wanted to go to his mom's house and fill her in and drop Charlie off with her to stay.
After Fred and Charlie had left she sat by Emily's side, held her hand, and watched her sleep. The last thing that she remembered thinking about before she lowered her head to the bed beside Emily was the blood on her living room floor and wondered if she could get someone else to clean it up so she wouldn't have to see it again.
She pushed all those thoughts out of her head, buried her head back down in the sheets, and lay there enjoying the quiet for a few more seconds. When the door opened she opened her eyes and sat up to see Fred standing in the door with a greasy bag in one hand and a paper cup in the other.
"How it go?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"Good, how'd it go here?"
"Fine," she said.
"Then where's Em?"
"What?" Faith turned from him and looked down to the empty bed beside her. "She was here."
She said as she pushed by him glancing in the empty bathroom and then to the door. She looked up and down the hall and was about to run to the nurse's station when the nurse from earlier looked up from the desk and held up her finger.
The nurse stepped away from the desk and meet Faith halfway down the hall.
"My daughter?" Faith said anxiously as soon as the woman came close enough to hear her.
"It's okay, I know where she is, follow me"
The woman turned and started down the hallway before Faith had a chance to say anything. Faith turned back to look at Fred who shrugged and made a 'follow her' gesture with his hands. They both followed the nurse down the hall and through a door that had a sign posted in the middle of the door that read "Authorized Hospital Staff Only.'
When they were halfway down the hall, Faith figured out where they were heading. She could see a hospital security guard standing outside a door at the end of the hall and recognized him from this morning's visit to Bosco's room. The nurse stopped next to the guard, turned to them with a smile on her face and then pointed into the room.
Faith turned to look through the glass window next to the door of Bosco's room. He was in his bed still asleep amid his beeping machines and tubes. Curled up on the bed beside him sound asleep was Emily. Faith looked back at the nurse and she motioned her back from the window.
Faith and Fred followed her a couple of steps from the door where she explained their daughter's change of location.
"She woke up about a hour ago and came out into the hallway. You were asleep and she said she didn't want to wake you up because you looked tired. I asked her if she was hungry or wanted anything and she said she wanted to see Bosco. I told her that he had been in surgery and was asleep now so he could get better. She seemed upset by that so I told her if she promised not to wake him up she could see him for a few minutes."
"Well, right after we got down here there was a emergency in another room and I went to help out. By the time I got back she had crawled up in the bed and was asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake her she's been through so much. His doctor said it would be okay for a little while so I just left her here and came back to the desk hoping I would see you before you panicked too much. I hope you don't mind."
Faith closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh. "No, It's fine."
The nurse turned and headed back down the hallway.
Fred frowned and then jerked his thumb toward the room. "You want to leave her in there?"
Faith turned back toward the window and placed her hand on the glass. She watched her daughter and her partner sleep and knew that besides being with her or Fred, Emily was the next safest place. She turned her head and looked at Fred.
"If she feels safe here, I don't think we should force her away. She just needed to know that he was okay, let her stay for a little while, we'll come back in a little while and take her back."
Fred glanced behind her through the window and frowned. Faith was afraid that he was going to insist they get Emily out of there and take her back to her room. But he didn't, instead he just nodded his head and put out his hand for her to take. They turned and headed back down the hallway back toward Emily's room.
When they got to the room, Agent Wilkerson was leaning against the wall next to the door. Fred looked at him then back at Faith. She inclined her head toward the room and murmured to him that it was okay. Fred nodded, squeezed her hand and opened the door. Faith couldn't help bite down a chuckle when she saw Fred giving Wilkerson a dirty look as he stepped into the room.
Wilkerson tipped his head in the direction of the small lounge across the hall, turned, and walked
toward it. Faith followed behind him, closed it, and then leaned on it. She watched the other man stand with his back to her for a few seconds then turn to look at her with a pained expression on his face.
"I'm glad your daughter and partner made it out of there."
Faith looked at him for a minute before she spoke and when she did she watched his face crumble at her words.
"What the hell were you doing up there?"
Wilkerson raised his hands, rubbed them over his face a couple of times, and sunk into a chair. He looked at his feet and began to speak in a husky whisper.
"That kid killed the other day wasn't the first agent I lost to him. He killed my partner fourteen months ago in Prague. We were working in a multi-agency task force with the CIA and the British NCIS. Covic killed her for no reason, I've been looking for him ever since."
He looked up at her when he said that as she saw the sadness and the anger on his face. She pushed herself away from the door, walked toward him, and sat down in the chair beside him.
"I almost had him a couple of times, caught up with him in Venice and was able to put a few holes in him before he got away. I'm the only agent that had ever got a good look at him. Six months ago he succeeded with a hit against an Swiss banker and took out a couple of NCIS agents, I went after him but he got away again." He shook his head angrily and then continued. "After that incident the task force convinced my boss that it was time for me to come home, they said I wasn't able to be objective any longer. When I found out Covic was coming to New York
I twisted arms and called in favors to be assigned to the protection force."
Wilkerson leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. Faith watched several emotions play across his face before he shut his eyes and finished his story.
"I don't think I really cared about that Serbian I was there to protect. I was trying to get Covic. When that car exploded out front I really wasn't thinking about whether anyone was inside or not the only thing in my mind was that the cops and the fire trucks where going to scare him away and I was going to miss my chance to get him."
Wilkerson opened his eyes and let his head fall to the right so he was looking at her. He tried to smile but failed. "Sullivan was right, you should have hit me harder."
Faith bit her lip to stop the laugh. He smiled then let out a long breath and nodded to her slightly.
"When I found out Andrews had been killed it really shook me. The kid was just a year on the job; he had a brand new girlfriend that he couldn't shut up about. We shut everything down and I had every cop Federal or local looking for him by name and a vague description and an order to contact me for a physical ID."
"If you knew what he looked like why didn't you just..." Faith stopped the question when the answer jumped out at her. "You wanted to get him personally," she said softly.
He nodded and then tipped his head forward so she couldn't see his face as he answered her. "Yes, I did. And it only cost the death of one little old man who loved the Yankees and the near death of a thirteen year old girl and a brave cop."
Faith didn't know what to say so she just leaned back in her chair and rested her head against the wall as they both sat there in silence. She realized she couldn't blame him for anything that had happened. She probably would have tried to do the same thing if something like that had happened to Bosco and she had the chance to get the guy who did it. She also knew that Wilkerson would probably always blame himself for what happened to his young Agent and Mr. Pearson.
"What happens to you now?" she asked as she studied the water stain on the ceiling. She heard him move in his seat then stand up. She pulled her head from the wall and looked up at him. He was looking down at her and fingering his crooked tie.
"I'm going to get out of the killing business. Think I'll go back to my home town and see what I can do to help people there, maybe coach a little league team, who knows."
She smiled. "Sounds good."
He gave her a genuine smile then held out his hand to her. "It's been a pleasure to meet you, Officer Yokas."
Faith shook his hand and he turned and walked out of the room. Faith watched him leave and let out a sigh as she tried to force the mixed emotions out of her head. She forced the anger from her mind, telling herself that she didn't want to think about what almost happened. Her family had survived today, all of it, and that's the only thing that really mattered.
************************************************************
An ache in his stomach and the heaviness of his chest brought him back from his blissful sleep. He groaned and tried to remember exactly where he had been shot and how bad, he didn't remember it being so hard to breathe when he was awake earlier. Then suddenly the heaviness in his chest disappeared and he heard a soft whisper.
"Sorry."
"Emily, is that you?" He opened his eyes and searched the blackness for her. He could feel her lying in the bed beside him.
"Uh huh."
"What are you doing here?" he asked a little confused. Was Faith here? He couldn't hear anyone else in the room and if she were there she would have said something by now.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay," she answered softly.
"I'm going to be fine. You know me a little bullet couldn't stop me," he said to her lightly.
When she didn't answer him, he brought his hand up to her face and touched her cheek, he could tell she was crying. Please don't. I don't know what to say to her he thought.
"Hey, hey what's the matter?"
"It's all my fault," she whispered.
What? Her fault? What was she talking about?
"Nothing was your Fault, Emily," he told her.
"It was," she started to cry as she sputtered out the rest of her words. "I told the man on the phone he had a gun...he told me not to say anything but I did...I told him and he shot you...It's all my fault."
Emily buried her head in his shoulder and cried. Bosco brought his hand up to her head ran his fingers through her hair, and waited until she was finished and laid there sniffling.
"Let me tell you something, will you listen to what I tell you?"
Emily nodded her head.
"That wasn't your fault." Emily started to shake her head. "Hey, you said you were going to listen to me, now listen. You were very brave in there; you did exactly what you should have done. You were scared, weren't you?"
Bosco smiled when he felt Emily's head bob up and down next to him.
"I want to tell you a secret, you can't tell anyone else not even your mom, okay?"
"I promise," Emily whispered.
"I was scared, too."
"You were?"
"Yes, I also know that nothing that happened was my fault or yours. Do you believe me?"
Bosco held his breath while Emily was silent then he broke into a grin when he heard her say.
"Yes, but I'm sorry."
"It's okay Em, everything is going to be fine now." Bosco brought his hand up, pulled her back down into his side, and held her there for a few more minutes. While he took a deep breath and thanked god he had come up with the right words.
A few minutes past before Emily moved beside him. She moved from the bed and he heard her say 'mom' as she ran across the room
"Faith."
"Yeah, come to see were my munchkin went to," Faith said after a grunt.
"I didn't want to wake you up earlier."
"That's okay, why don't you go back to your room. Daddy brought you McDonalds."
"All right" she squealed, then turned and waved at Bosco. "Bye, Bosco."
"Bye, Em."
"She waved."
"I guess she forgot about my eyes," he said with a shrug. Bosco wished he could forget so easily. Then another question occurred to him. "So how does the face look."
Faith stepped closer to the bed and studied the red skin slashing down the side of his face. "Well, it's red and there are some blisters but the Doctor did say they would go away. But overall you're looking pretty good."
"I guess I'm back to my handsome self without those bandages huh?"
"Handsome? I really wouldn't say handsome, I would say somewhat..."
Bosco could sense the smile on her face. "Okay, do I have to remind you that I'm still in pain here and there's a rule that you are suppose to humor your partner when he in is pain?"
Faith laughed. "What rule is that? I've never heard of such a stupid rule, and besides if there is such a rule you seem to break it every month when I get my period."
"Faith..." He whined she knew how much he hated to hear her even mention the P word.
Bosco listened to her laugh and couldn't stop himself from joining in although each laugh caused a jolt of pain to stab through his body.
"Stop laughing...oh God stop...that hurts," he was barely able to choke out.
He felt Faith's hands on his forehead as he gritted his teeth and settled back into his pillow forcing himself to relax the muscles in his stomach. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths then just laid there enjoying the soft strokes of Faith's hand on his forehead.
"Ah hum. Am I interrupting anything?" Came a voice from the door.
The sudden voice made both Bosco and Faith jump. Faith removed her hand and took a step back from the bed. Bosco recognized the voice of Doctor Zimmerman.
"Of course not, Doctor. Bosco just found out that laughing and an injured stomach don't mix well."
"I could have told you that son, no need trying to experiment on your own. And another thing, I really don't enjoy admitting the same patient twice in one week."
"You mean I don't get a frequent patient discount?" Bosco said and grinned when he heard Faith snort.
"I'll see what I can do," Zimmerman said. But he said it so evenly Bosco couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "But in the mean time I'm going to give your injuries a once over."
Faith patted his head and said. "I'll just wait outside, okay, Bosco?"
Bosco reached up and grabbed her wrist. "No!" He realized he said it a little too loud and lowered his voice a little and continued. "Stay, okay?"
There were a few seconds of silence and Bosco figured she had turned and looked at Zimmerman.
"That would by fine with me, Officer Yokas," Zimmerman said.
Bosco released Faith's hand and dropped his own hand to his side.
"I'm going to raise the head up a little bit, tell me if it puts any pressure on your stomach wound."
Bosco nodded, the head raised up from the floor a little bit then he felt his head tilt up slightly. The minute Bosco grimaced Zimmerman stopped the bed.
"Too far?"
"No, it's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, Doc, just get on with it," he said a little impatiently.
Zimmerman took a breath then Bosco he could feel the older man's finger's running over the edges of his healing burns. "These look excellent, you may not have to worry about long-term scaring. There are a few over here near the temple they may need some grafts but it looks pretty good."
Zimmerman moved his hands to his eyes and Bosco felt his right eyelid pulled back gingerly. Then his left lid was gently pealed back.
"Hmmm, yes they look fine."
Fine? That's it, fine. Is fine good? Bosco wondered.
"Is that good or bad?" Faith asked.
"I would say good, at least I don't see any further damage. Let me try something." Bosco heard Zimmerman searching through pockets then a grunt followed by the click of the overhead light.
"Now, just relax, Officer Boscorelli."
Zimmerman pulled his right upper lid back then let it go. He then felt the lower lid pulled down. "Okay, let's have a look at the other eye."
Zimmerman did the same with his left eye but just before Zimmerman let go of his upper lid a sharp pain jolted through Bosco's eye. He pulled slightly away from the doctor's touch.
"Bosco? You okay?" Faith asked with concern in her voice.
Bosco took a breath and then nodded.
Zimmerman chuckled. "I think the young man is just sick of people poking at him, I'm almost done just let me see..."
Zimmerman gently pulled down the bottom lid and the pain shot through the eye again.
Bosco couldn't stop the involuntary jump as "What the hell was that?" escaped his lips.
Faith's hand settled on his shoulder. "It was just a light, Bosco"
Zimmerman pulled his lid down again and the same pain shot through his eye and he brought his hand to his eye to protect it from Zimmerman.
"Stop doing that."
"This is wonderful."
"How can pain shooting through my skull me good?" Bosco grumbled as he pushed Zimmerman's hand from his face fearing the man was about to do it again.
"Don't you see, Officer Boscorelli, your eye is reacting. It may be reacting painfully for you but
it's reacting that's what is important."
"Oh, Bosco," Faith whispered and tightened her hand on his shoulder.
"Wait a minute, Doc. Are you..." Can this be true? "I'm not blind anymore?"
Zimmerman chuckled. "Just slow down there, I said there was a reaction. As I doctor all I can say is that this is a very good sign. Personally I say you'll be back looking at the young ladies in no time."
"Yes!" Faith shouted and then grabbed him in a tight hug. He squeezed her back ignoring the protest his stomach muscles were making. Faith let him go and ruffled his hair.
"Oh boy, that's great" was all he could say. It sounded pretty pathetic even to his ears but he just
couldn't put the joy of knowing that he wasn't going to have to leave the rest of his life alone in the dark into words.
"I'm going to go right now and track down Dr. Foster and have him take another look, so don't go anywhere."
Bosco laughed. "Don't worry I don't think I could if I wanted to."
"I'll be back shortly."
As soon as Zimmerman left Faith hugged him again. "I knew everything was going to be okay, I just knew it."
Bosco twisted his face and said softly. "I think you were the only one."
"No, not the only one, there's someone here to see you."
Bosco pulled away from Faith and cocked his head toward the door. "Who?"
"You seem to be in a better mood today. I didn't realize getting shot was such a good thing."
Bosco sighed then smiled. "Hey, Kristen."
"Hey, yourself." She paused then, "Hello, Faith. I hope your daughter is okay?"
"Fine, she's a little frightened but she wasn't hurt bad. Ugh, if you don't mind me asking, how did you find out about all this?"
"Well, I was over my mom's house and she ran to the store so I decided to see what was on the tube. I don't know if I like the fact that for the second time in a week I turned the news on and saw your handsome mug on it."
Bosco puffed out his chest and grinned. "See, she thinks I'm handsome"
Faith hit him lightly on the head. "Yeah, yeah maybe we should get her eyes checked too."
"So what's everyone so happy about?" she asked as she walked across the room toward him.
"The light, it hurt my eyes," Bosco said with a grin.
"And this is good?" Kristen said sounding a little confused.
"Doc says my eyesight is coming back. Didn't he, Faith?"
"Well, he did say not to get your hopes up."
Bosco grunted and waved a hand in her direction. "I'm sure."
"That's great," Kristen said from beside him. He felt her hand touch his shoulder and suddenly felt guilty about how he had treated her the last time she came to visit.
"Hey, Kristen about the other day..."
He didn't get to finish because his words were cut off when he felt her soft lips pressing against his. He lifted his arm and caught her hair in his hand. Then he tightened the grip on the back of her head and pulled her into him slightly.
From somewhere in the distance he heard Faith clear her throat and Kristen pulled away from him
"No, no don't stop," Faith giggled as she walked toward the door. "I'll go check on Em, you two be good."
Bosco heard the door shut. He reached up and grabbed Kristen's hand and pulled it down to is chest. He cleared his throat and felt Kristen squeeze his hand.
"I shouldn't have treated you the way I did last time you were here. I wanted you to stay but I don't know I was confused and upset and was a jerk. I'm not all that smart sometimes...uh what I meant was..."
Kristen pressed a hand to his cheek. "It's okay, Bosco, you don't have to say it."
"Yes, I do." He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand again. He knew he had to say the actual words to her. It wasn't fair to her to leave it half said, and after everything he had been through he needed to tell her. "Kristen, I'm sorry, I don't have an excuse. I wasn't really thinking that clearly but I know I upset you and I'm really sorry about that."
"I'm fine, Bosco, you had every right to be upset. I think you should give yourself a break. I'm not angry at you and I told you I wasn't going to let you scare me off."
He gave her a huge grin then said. "Why in the world would I want to scare you off?"
She let go of his hand and slid her hand up his chest until she reached his chin, which she rubbed with her thumb as she bent forward over him.
"You're not that smart all the time remember? But don't worry, I'll help you if you want me to."
Kristen lip's pressed firmly against his. He smiled as she deepened the kiss. He briefly thought about someone interrupting them but thought if Kristen didn't seem to care why should he? So he did the only thing left for him to do, he relaxed back in the pillow and let her do what ever she pleased.
**************************************************
Faith leaned against the wall in the hallway and tried to wipe the smile off her face. She was having a difficult time doing that in her current position as guard dog. When she left Bosco's room a few minutes before she had really intended to head straight to Emily's room and check for left over chicken Mcnuggets.
Then she noticed the smiles and the faces of the nurses as they walked by and Faith turned to see
Kristen and Bosco making out like eighteen-year-olds through the glass window in the wall of Bosco's room.
She groaned and turned from the scene at the same time, trying to block as much of the window as she could from the people walking by.
What was he thinking? Apparently not much she told herself. She was still grumbling to herself and trying to fend off anyone in hospital scrubs when Sully appeared next to her. She sighed as she looked at the smile on his face and then buried her face in her hands when he started to laugh.
"Guess he's feeling better, huh?"
She shook her head and refused to look at him, mentally calling Bosco every name she could think of.
"Do you think if I went out and got myself shot I could get a woman to do that to me too?"
Faith dropped her hands, looked at Sully's beaming face, and couldn't help herself as she started to laugh. All the tension, anger and sadness of the last few days began to melt away as she turned and stood with Sully and watched Kristen and Bosco.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time the orderly had come to get Bosco to take him to see Doctor Foster, Faith had filled Sully in on the good news. As Bosco was wheeled around the corner Kristen had noticed the window and looked horrified. Faith couldn't help but feel sorry for her and assured her that no one even noticed.
Kristen had smiled at her and told her thank-you for not noticing anything. Faith grinned back. Then Kristen told Faith to tell Bosco that she would come back tomorrow. Sully asked what time tomorrow and Faith elbowed him as Kristen turned and hurried down the hall.
Sully and Faith had both gone back to Emily's room to find Emily and Fred sound asleep and all the Mcnuggets gone so they headed for the cafeteria and ate dinner. Sully filled her in on all the House gossip and then they wandered back up to Bosco's room.
Bosco wasn't in his room but the nurse said that he was on his way back. So Faith took a seat on the bed and Sully pulled up a chair. Faith turned to look at him and he jerked his shoulders up.
"What?"
Faith chewed for a second on her lip then said. "I was just wondering why you're not home with Tatiana."
Sully shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I thought you might need a friend."
She smiled at him. He had been worried about her and about Bosco so he had come to see for himself how they were doing.
"You're a good man, John Sullivan."
Sully blushed and looked away from her. "Just don't let that get around okay?"
"Your secret's safe with me."
"What secret?" Bosco said as he was rolled in the door by a skinny orderly.
Faith and Sully turned to look at Bosco reclining in what was basically a lounge chair with wheels. On his face were square-framed dark glasses and a huge grin.
Faith ignored the question, hopped of the bed, and stepped closer to him.
"What did Doctor Foster say?"
"Well, he said a lot of things, Faith, you really can't expect me to remember them all."
"Bosco."
Bosco laughed and Faith resisted the urge to throttle him.
"He said that my corneas were..." He started to speak then shook his head. "Bottom line he said that my eyes look like they are starting the healing process and that is why they are so sensitive to the light. He thinks it might take a little while but eventually I'm going to be good as new."
Faith couldn't stop the tears that began to flow down her face as she threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. She held him tightly until she felt him shift and heard a little grunt. She backed away from him and saw his face was tight then she remembered his gunshot wound.
"I'm sorry, Bosco, I didn't mean to hurt you."
He waved her away. "It's okay, it's not that bad."
Faith stepped aside so the orderly could push Bosco up to his bed and waited for him to help him in the bed. When he stepped away Faith pulled the covers up and untangled the IV from the side of the bed.
Sully came up, grabbed Bosco's hand, and gave it several shakes.
"I'm happy for you, Bosco."
Bosco looked surprised and it took him a minute to say, "Thanks."
Sully waved to Faith and then turned and headed toward the door. When he made it to the door he turned back and said. "Oh, I'll bring Davis by tomorrow if that's okay."
"Sure."
"Bye then. Oh, I'll go find a nurse and tell her you're in pain"
"That's not..." But Sully was gone before he could get it out.
"How you feeling really?" Faith asked.
Bosco turned his head on the pillow and smiled. "My stomach is killing me."
"Let me go get the nurse then."
"No, wait. Sully said he would do it." He was quiet for a minute. Then he said, "I don't want you to go."
Faith reached up, brushed the hair from his forehead, and smiled.
"Okay."
"I can't help thinking about all that's happened the past couple of days."
"Seems like longer, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it does."
Bosco was quiet for so long Faith thought he had fallen a sleep then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
"If I hadn't had you through all this I would have probably ended up a basket case in a rubber room somewhere."
Faith chuckled. "You weren't that bad Bosco."
"I love you, Faith, you're the best friend I have ever had."
Faith blinked the tears away from her eyes and then bent down and kissed his forehead.
"I love you too, Bosco."
************************
The End
Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone that hung in there until the end. I hope everyone enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. I ended it here because I thought it was the perfect ending sentiment and if I wrote anything after it would have just weakened their exchange. I didn't actually give him his sight back by the end of the story but it is on it's way, I didn't want to wave a magic wand and *poof * he is able to see again. But this way you know it's coming back and everyone should be happy without asking for a sequel of any kind. Sorry no sequel because I'm already writing something else.
Thanks again for everyone's kind words and the wonderful comments.