Bosco, restless, bored and feeling much more like his old self got out of bed and made his way to Kim's room.
'If I can just talk to her, maybe I can convince her that I am way more worthy of her than Jimmy is' he thought. He hit the button inside the elevator and leaned back as the car descended towards Kim's floor. As he walked towards her room, he saw Jimmy walk out and turn towards him.
"What do you want now Boscorelli?" Jimmy asked, feeling jealousy start to creep up on him.
"I'm here to see Kim, so if you wouldn't mind…" Bosco replied, equally as rude.
"Actually I would Bosco. Kim's had a long day and she doesn't want to see you." Jimmy antagonized.
"Why don't we let her be the judge of that?" Bosco snapped as he tried to push by Jimmy into Kim's room.
"I said get out of here Bosco" Jimmy said and shoved Bosco backwards. Ignoring the pain in his ribs, Bosco swung his fist at Jimmy's face. Blood dripped from Jimmy's nose as he stared at Bosco in disbelief.
"Christ Bosco! What the hell are you doing?" He exclaimed.
"Common tough guy." Bosco taunted. "You think your womanizing self is good enough for Kim, lets see you prove it." Jimmy struggled to keep from lunging at Bosco's throat.
"I don't want to beat up an injured cop Bosco, let it go." Jimmy tried to reason with an irrational Bosco.
"That's what I thought Doherty" Bosco started in on Jimmy again, "You're not even man enough to fight for her!"
"That's it Boscorelli, you're a dead man" Jimmy yelled as he finally lost control and started swinging at Bosco. He managed to dodge the first punch, but fell with a sickening thud when the second made contact. In the blink of an eye he was back on his feet and running at Jimmy. They both toppled over and started rolling around on the floor, throwing punches left and right. Just as they were beginning to attract the attention of the nurses, doctors and Kim, Doc, Carlos and Alex stepped off the elevator. All three ran toward the entangled men and tried to pull Bosco off of Jimmy. It took both Carlos and Doc to finally pull Bosco away as Alex grabbed Jimmy's arm and made him back off.
"Just let him be, Jimmy. He's hurt and frustrated." Alex tried to calm Jimmy down. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine!" Jimmy snapped. When he saw the hurt look on Alex's face he added, "Sorry Taylor, I didn't mean to get angry with you. He came after me, and when it comes to Kim, I tend to lose my head." They both heard Bosco yelling from across the hallway
"Get the hell off of me! I'm not gonna beat on Doherty anymore; I'm just going to talk to Kim!"
"Like hell you are!" Jimmy yelled back, when they both heard a small female voice,
"Come in Bosco, its ok." With a triumphant glance in Jimmy's direction, Bosco marched into Kim's room.
"Sit down Bos" Kim softly ordered. Bosco sat down in the chair beside her bed. "Are you ok?" she asked.
"Yeah, Jimmy's a lot worse off than me." He tried to joke
"This isn't funny Bos; you were acting like five year olds!" she admonished. Bosco looked at his feet, ashamed of his behavior.
"I'm sorry Kim" he mumbled. "I just wanted to come see you, and he wouldn't let me" Bosco said, immediately realizing that he did sound like a child. "Look, Kim," he tried to start again. "I think you deserve someone better than Doherty. You're too good for him."
"And you could be that someone better?" Kim gently prodded, realizing where Bosco was trying to steer the conversation.
"Well, yeah, I could Kim. I would never cheat on you. I would love you and protect you." Bosco poured his heart out.
"Bos…" Kim tried to find the right words. "I'm sure everything you say is true, and if it weren't for Jimmy I would be jumping at the chance, I really would. But…"
"There's Jimmy" Bosco finished, sucking in giant amounts of air through his nose, trying to fight the tear that threatened to slip down his cheek.
"Yeah Bos. I love Jimmy, I always have, and he's really been proving himself lately. I already have a child, Jimmy's his father, and you deserve your own kids. You're going to be a great husband and father one day; you'll find the right person for you. I promise." Kim tried to comfort Bosco, who was still trying to hide the fact that he was upset. The pair sat in silence for a while until Bosco finally swallowed the lump in his throat and sighed,
"It's ok Kim. I think in the back of my mind I knew this was coming. I had to try."
"Friends then?" Kim timidly asked.
"Definitely. You didn't think I'd let you get away that easy did you?" Bosco smiled, albeit sadly.
"Good, now I think you and Jimmy should sort out your issues. I don't want you guys fighting, especially over me." Kim said with fake sternness.
"Yes mom." Bosco joked and got up to leave. Before he turned to leave, he looked fondly at Kim, leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"I'm serious about being friends Bosco." Kim said as he walked to the door.
"So am I Kim." He replied and left to find Jimmy.
"Hey Doherty!" he shouted in his typical obnoxious, although endearing style. Jimmy approached him with some caution.
"You ready to go again Bosco?" he asked, only half joking. Bosco sighed.
"No Doherty. I think she must have hit her head in that explosion 'cause she says she loves you." Bosco reluctantly admitted. Jimmy tried to fight the smile that crept onto his lips.
"You're really taking this like a man Bosco." Jimmy remarked.
"You expected different?" Bosco asked, feigning disbelief.
"Of course not!" Jimmy joked. "Hey, did you hear, they think the other shooter is here in the hospital."
"What? And I'm wasting my time with you people? I've got to start looking!"
"Are you nuts?" Alex joined the conversation and after pausing added, "wait, I already know the answer."
"Who's already looking?" he asked "Is Faith here? I've got to find her." Bosco started to look a bit hysterical.
"Yeah, Faith's here, but she has a partner with her. You really should go get some rest and try to heal your new injuries." Alex counseled the agitated cop.
"You mean the rookie? I'd be more help to her in a hospital gown than him" he said and headed for his room to change into his own clothes.
'I don't exactly command respect in this piece of paper' he thought to himself, and grinned as his own wit.
"Better to just let him go" Jimmy told the group. "He's gonna find a way to be there whether it's good for him or not."
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"Sir, please, you have to get back into bed and lie down" the nurse said.
"Look, I'm bored stiff here, and I have to pee" the boy told her.
"That's what the bedpan…" the nurse started.
"Don't even finish that thought. I am not using one of those things!" the boy said and marched toward the washroom. On his way, he spotted a wanted poster on the staff bulletin board. Trying to look natural he broke into a cold sweat as he continued down the hallway. He saw Sully and Davis talking to nurses and searching rooms. He felt panic overcome him and bile rise in his throat.
'They've found me' he thought.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Faith leaning against the wall. His mind working in overdrive, he leapt at her, grabbing her gun out of its holster and held it on her neck.
"Make a sound and you're dead" he whispered to her. "And don't even think about going for that radio." He finished as he shoved her into an empty room. He pulled the blinds closed and locked the door.
"Sit down on the bed" he said quietly, still pointing Faith's gun at her. She complied as images of Emily and Charlie flashed before her eyes.
"Look, I'm sure we can work this out so no one gets hurt" She shakily tried to reason with her captor.
"No, no one cared before, why should now be any different? You're my ticket out of here. If you just do as I say, no one else will get hurt," said the obviously unstable youth.
"Ok, just calm down" Faith continued to reason with the boy.
"Just shut-up and let me think!" he hissed at her and stuffed the gun down the back of her neck. Faith tried to fight off the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
'Someone will realize what's happened soon, they have to. Someone will find us. Sully and Davis will get here in time, please let them get here in time' she silently prayed.
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