Author: Kate Anderson
Email: sam_loves_jack@yahoo.ca
Disclaimer: The characters are not mine! They belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells and um, some other people! No money is being made from this work. Don't sue!
Rating: PG-13, just be on the safe side
Pairing: Bosco/Faith, UST - eventual romance
Spoilers: None, I think (??)
Summary: After a criminal attempts to attack Faith's kids, Faith finds that her life is changing.
"Have you gotten up at all?" Faith asked when she got through the door.
"Once, cuz I had to take a leak." Bosco replied.
Faith dumped her bag by the door and sighed. "Bos, would you just let me take you back to the hospital?"
"No way. I am not going back there. I told you, I'm fine."
"Fine? You call being in so much pain that you can't move fine?" Faith said, a little louder than she'd intended to. "Those bastards at the hospital never should have let you go. I have half a mind to go there myself and kick their collective asses!"
Bosco shifted a bit so he could look at Faith. "I asked to leave." he said quietly.
Faith stared at him. "You did what?"
"I overheard some of the nurses talkin' about them not having enough beds, so I asked to be discharged."
"That doesn't change the point that they let you go." Faith said.
"What's this all about Faith? Is this really about those damn doctors letting me go or is it something else."
Faith sat down on a kitchen chair and rubbed her temples. She could feel a headache coming on and it wasn't pleasant. "They're talkin' about us Bos." she said finally.
"Who's talkin'?"
"The guys at the precinct. Hell, even guys at other precincts."
"Yeah? What are they sayin'?" Bosco asked with interest.
"I probably shouldn't tell you." Faith said. "I don't want you to strain yourself."
"You gotta tell me Faith. What are they sayin'?"
Faith licked her lips. "Stuff, about the two of us. Davis said he heard from a guy in the 32nd that we were getting hot and heavy in the park."
"That it?"
Faith shook her head. "Lieu called me to his office after roll call, wanted to have a little chat with me. Apparently we had been seen in the backseat of a car."
"Whose car?"
"Does it matter?" Faith asked incredulously.
"Just wonderin'." Bosco replied.
"This doesn't bother you?" Faith asked.
"It's just some guys talkin' Faith. They're all asses anyway, asses who don't have anything better to do than make up stupid stories."
Faith stood up and went over to the couch. She placed her hand on Bosco's forehead. "Hey, what are you doing?" Bosco asked.
"Makin' sure you don't have a fever." Faith replied.
"I just don't see why you're getting all riled up over this." Bosco said.
"Is this part of some testosterone ego trip you're on?"
Bosco raised his eyebrows. "What?"
"These rumours. They making you out to be some irresistible stud?. 'Oh, look at Boscorelli. He can have any chick he wants, even that bitch partner of his.' Is that why you don't care?"
"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Bosco asked, trying to sit up. "I just don't care because it's not worth getting upset over!"
"Oh come off of it Bosco." Faith said. "When's the last time you just let something slide? Huh?"
"Geez Faith, I know you're pissed over Fred taking the kids away from you, but you've really gotta calm down."
Faith shot Bosco a look that could have melted cold steel. "I can't believe you Bos." she said. "Maybe it's all those drugs you've got in your system, but you're not the same guy you were two days ago."
"What do you want me to do Faith? Go kick their sorry asses? Haven't we got more important things to think about than some stupid rumours? Besides, why would I ever be in a backseat with you anyway?"
Bosco looked at Faith and instantly regretting ever making his last comment. All traces anger had left her face and she looked close to tears. "Oh God, that came out wrong Faith. That wasn't what I meant to say." he said, trying to make amends.
"That's fine Bos." Faith said. "You know what? I think I'm gonna go to bed. You need anything?"
Bosco shook his head. "No, thanks."
Faith nodded and left, hoping to hold back the tears until she made it into the bathroom. Bosco watched her leave the room, her shoulders shaking. The bathroom door slammed and he heard the water start to run. In his mind he pictured Faith, bent over the sink, sobbing. It made his chest hurt even more.
____________
Bosco woke up the next morning and grimaced at the pain came back to him with full force. He reached out to the coffee table for his pills and then found that he had no water. He groaned thinking about how far away the tap was. He briefly wondered if Faith was up yet and then remembered the argument they'd had.
He swung his feet off the couch and sat up, trying to take shallow breaths. The room seemed to be spinning a bit so Bosco waited a few minutes before trying to stand up. Once up, he grabbed ahold of the back of the couch to steady himself and then reached for his glass.
The walk into the kitchen was slow and arduous. He couldn't take deep breaths and the room seemed to be turning into a bad version of the tilt-a-whirl. He sagged against the kitchen counter and reached out to turn on the tap. The edges of his field of vision began to blur and turn to black. When his glass fell from his hand and shattered on the ground, Bosco barely registered the shards of glass hitting his feet. He looked down and realized that the floor seemed to be getting closer. Then nothing.
Faith woke up when she heard the glass fall to the floor. Her head was still throbbing, the headache had never gone away. The breaking glass was soon followed by a louder thump and then silence. Faith was instantly alert and jumped out of bed.
She ran into the kitchen and saw Bosco in a heap on the floor, his face in a pile of broken glass. "Oh God!" she said. "Bosco!"
Faith knelt down beside him, not even noticing when a shard of glass cut into her knee. "Bosco!" She gently shook his shoulders, getting no response. She checked his breathing and pulse and was relieved to find that both were present. His breathing sounded a little shallow to her but his pulse was good and strong.
Standing up, Faith reached for the phone and dialled 911. She told the dispatcher was had happened and was assured that the paramedics would be there within a few minutes. Faith sat down on the floor beside Bosco to wait.
____________
"I should report you, you know that?" Faith said angrily. The doctor simply looked at her and nodded calmly. "You let him go. You should have realized that he wasn't well enough to leave, but no, you just happily put him a taxi and sent him home!"
"He asked to be sent home." Doctor Peters said. "I had determined that he was within the acceptable standards to be sent home, so we let him go. It's not our business to keep patients here against their wishes."
"Even if it's not in their best interest?" Faith asked, her anger still very evident.
"He had told us that there would be someone there to look after him. I assume that he meant you."
"That's bullshit!" Faith exclaimed. "He knew I'd be at work all afternoon."
"That's all I can tell you ma'am." Peters said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
Peters pushed past Faith and walked down the hall. Faith rubbed her temples again and wanted to slam her fist through a wall. She tried to calm herself down by taking several deep breaths and closing her eyes and when she had finally gotten herself into a calmer state, she steadied herself and entered Bosco's room.
He had an oxygen mask on and his bare chest was wrapped in thick bandages. An IV line was in, Faith assumed it was the morphine drip again for the pain. She walked up to him and put her hand over his. Bosco opened his eyes and looked up her.
"Hey." she said.
Bosco reached up and moved the mask away from his mouth. "Heard you yelling at the doctor out there." he said.
Faith nodded. "The bastard deserved it." she said. "Why did you tell him that I'd be looking after you?"
"I just wanted to go home Faith." he said. "I hate being trapped in a hospital."
"I know Bos, but you weren't ready to leave. You're staying here this time until I tell you that you can leave."
"What, you my mom now?"
"Sometimes it feels that way." Faith said.
Bosco put the mask back over his mouth and took a few breaths before removing it again. "I'm sorry about last night. I didn't mean what I said about the backseat thing. It came out wrong."
Faith almost laughed. "So now you're sayin' that you want me in a backseat?"
Bosco closed his eyes, realizing the hole he'd just dug himself into. "I wouldn't say no." he said quietly.
"You're right Bos, I over reacted." Faith said, ignoring Bosco's last statement. "I shouldn't have let them get to me."
"And they shouldn't have been sayin' that stuff." Bosco said.
Faith squeezed Bosco's hand. "I think I'd better go." she said. "You look exhausted and besides, you made quite a mess with your little trick this morning. I better get that cleaned up."
"I'm gonna be stuck in here for Thanksgiving." Bosco said. "Can you believe that? They're probably gonna feed me pureed turkey and canned peas."
Faith smiled. "I'll tell you what, you behave and I promise I'll bring you some real food on Thanksgiving, okay?"
"Thanks." Bosco said and then put the oxygen mask back over his mouth once more. Faith grabbed her coat and put it on. Before she left, she gently kissed Bosco on the forehead.
____________
It was Thanksgiving and as Bosco had said, he was still in the hospital. He was finally getting better though. Faith had requested another doctor look after him, so a Doctor Beckett had been assigned to Bosco and according to Beckett, Bosco was making excellent progress.
Faith took the turkey out of the oven and poked at it. She'd been cooking all day and was preparing to pack up the food and take to the hospital with her. She had spoken with the doctor and he had told her that it more than alright for her to bring him Thanksgiving dinner.
True to his promise, Bosco had been behaving himself and had even made a casual friend out of his roommate, something that Faith found to be nothing short of a miracle. She carved off thick slices of turkey and put them on a plate. Everything was wrapped in foil and Faith carted it out to Bosco's car, which he'd told she could use, only if she promised to obey every single traffic law.
When Faith arrived at Bosco's room, her arms laden down with food, she found him sitting up in bed, staring the tv which was airing a repeat of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
"Hey Faith." Bosco said.
Faith dropped her packages on a table and then dragged it across the room to Bosco's bedside. "Hey Bos. How you feeling?"
"Barely hurts now." he said. "What's in the foil?"
"That's good." Faith said nodding, ignoring Bosco's question. "Watching the parade?"
"Yup." Bosco said. "Hey, Sully came by to see me today, with Davis in tow."
"That was nice of him." Faith said.
"You gonna tell me what's in the foil?"
Faith reached over and grabbed one of the foil packages. She unwrapped it and handed it to him. Bosco's face lit up and he grinned at her. "I shoulda known." he said.
Faith smiled back at him and reached for the other package. "I told you that I'd bring you some real food if you behaved."
Bosco picked up the fork and dug right in. "This turkey is great." he said with his mouth full. "Sure beats anything they'd try to stuff down my throat here!"
Faith nodded and settled back in her chair and the two ate their dinner in comfortable silence while watching the parade.
Bosco put the empty plate down on his lap and sighed contently. "I don't think I've had such a good Thanksgiving meal in years."
"Your welcome." Faith said.
"I don't suppose you brought desert?"
"Oh, I might have." Faith said and reached into her bag. She pulled out a pumpkin pie and a can of whipped cream. "I didn't bake it." she said. "But I figure store bought is still pretty good."
"What have I done to deserve this?" Bosco asked. "Maybe I should get shot at more often."
"Don't even think about it." Faith said seriously as she sliced off a large piece for Bosco. "I can't have my partner in the hospital all the time."
She handed Bosco his pie and the can of cream. "You can spray your own." she said. "I don't know how much you want."
Bosco took the items and eagerly shook the can of cream and sprayed what Faith figured had to be half the bottle onto his pie. "Hey Bos." she said. "How about some pie with that cream?"
"Oh come on Faith." he said. "Can't a guy have any fun around here?"
Faith took the bottle from him and put a small dollop on her own piece. Bosco looked at her disgustedly. "That's all you're having?" he asked.
"That's all I want." Faith replied.
"Give me that."
"Give you what?"
"The bottle, give it to me."
"No way!" Faith said, holding the bottle to her chest.
Bosco reached out and snatched it away from her. He shook it up and aimed it at Faith's pie. As he pushed the top of the can, Faith moved her pie away and she watched as a pile of foamy white cream ended up down the front of her shirt and in her lap.
Faith looked down and then up at Bosco. He was still holding the can in his hand, his eyes wide. Faith looked down again and started to laugh. Bosco looked relieved and began to laugh as well.
"I need a towel." Faith said, still laughing. "Or maybe I should just use your pillow!"
Bosco made a face and Faith chuckled. She put the pie she still held in her hand down on the table and went into the bathroom to clean herself up. When she returned she found that Bosco had transferred some of the cream from the top of his pie onto hers.
"You gotta live it up Faith." he said. "Pile on the cream."
"I'll try to remember that Bos." Faith replied with a smile and sat down.
Bosco and Faith finished their dessert and by that time the parade was over and it was getting late. "I should probably get going." Faith said.
"Thanks for dinner." Bosco said. "Greg'll be jealous when he gets back and finds out that you brought me dinner."
"Speaking of Greg, where he is?"
"Had to do physical therapy today." Bosco said.
Faith nodded and threw the foil and the whipped cream bottle in the trash. The plates and cutlery and the rest of the pie were shoved into her bag.
"Faith?"
Faith threw her bag over her shoulder and looked at Bosco. "Yeah?"
"Thanks for being there for me." he said.
Faith nodded and brushed some hair out of her eyes. She bent over him and kissed him on the cheek. "Night Bos." she said softly and walked out of the room.