The two bodies landed with a sickening thud and both lay motionless on the floor as a pool of blood spread underneath them.
"Bosco!" screamed Faith as she rushed to his side without concern for her own safety. Bosco slowly rolled off of Colin and the other cops could see that the blood wasn't coming from him. All of the officers stared at the obviously dead boy in silence.
"Bosco, you saved my life" Faith said softly, still nearly in tears.
"It's my job" said Bosco mechanically. Faith looked into Bosco's eyes and saw that they were glazed over and he was somewhere else entirely. Sully and Davis backed out of the room and went to get a doctor to pronounce Colin. Faith took Bosco by the arm and led him to an empty room.
"Bos?" she gently tried to bring him back to reality. When she got no response, she guessed what was wrong.
"Bos, there wasn't anything you could have done to stop that kid." She soothed. Bosco finally looked at her with the clear blue eyes she remembered.
"That kid nearly killed Kim. He got what he deserved." Bosco paused and took a deep breath when Faith looked at him inquisitively.
"If I'd been there you never would have had to go through that Faith." He started to pour his heart out, and Faith tried to cover up her look of surprise. Bosco didn't notice or didn't care and continued,
"I should have been there Faith, we're partners. If one gets into trouble, the other is there. That's how it's supposed to work, but I messed up."
"Bos, incase you forgot, you were in the hospital because you got hurt saving someone's life. Today, your job was to get better, not to save me. But you did anyway. I'd say that went above and beyond." Faith tried to comfort her longtime partner.
"Yeah, I know. But if I hadn't spent so much time chasing a woman who was obviously in love with another guy, then I could have been here sooner." He confessed.
Faith started to get irritated, "Bosco, I am only going to say this once, so listen up!" Bosco looked slightly taken aback at her tone, as a child would when being scolded by a parent.
"You are a great cop and I wouldn't choose anyone else as a partner and you can't imagine how relieved I was to see you standing in the doorway. You didn't fail anyone today, got it?" Faith finished.
"Yeah, ok." Bosco replied. They stood up and patted each other on the back in a half hug.
"Hey what happened to the newbie anyway?" Bosco asked, attempting to lighten the mood.
"I don't know. He's probably wandered off somewhere again." Faith answered.
"You should get a leash." Bosco joked.
"Not a bad idea!" Faith agreed and they both cracked up as they walked down the hallway.
**************************************
Alex, who'd brought in a patient, was filled in on the situation from an ER nurse. When she spotted Ty, she ran up behind him and circled his waist with her arms. A smile spread across his mouth as he turned to face her.
"Hey, I heard what happened. Are you ok?" she asked, her concerned look slowly melted as she looked him over, still impressed with how he looked in his uniform.
"I'm fine, it was Bosco who jumped on the killer." He reassured her.
"Bosco? But his…" Alex started.
"Ribs are broken…" Ty continued.
"But you know Bosco!" they finished in unison. Alex looked at him with a strange expression on her face.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" Ty asked, confused.
"No, its just…its stupid, never-mind." Alex chickened out.
"Alex, you can tell me. I'm sure it's not stupid and even if it was, I wouldn't care." He reassured her.
"Ok, it's just that no one has ever finished my sentence like that before. See, totally stupid huh?" she laughed, embarrassed.
"No, it's not stupid." Ty comforted Alex. "I thought it was cool too."
"Ok, well, I have to get back and clean up the bus. I'll see you later?" Alex seemed to shrug off her embarrassment.
"Definitely." Ty confirmed and watched her walk off down the hallway toward the door.
'Look at her, she's beautiful' he thought. 'And there she goes. I don't ever want to see her walk out the door, I don't want to spend my life without her' a look of realization, then anxiety crossed his face.
"I have to ask her now, I can't wait. Screw the setting" he mumbled to himself and he ran to catch up to her. He called out her name and a look of mild surprise crossed her face as she stopped and turned around.
"I have to ask you something." He said, out of breath.
"Well geez, spit it out already, before you collapse!" she laughed.
"Alex, I love you" he started, then paused.
"I love you too, but that isn't a question" she teased.
"I can't picture my life without you. I want to marry you Alex. Will you be my wife?" Ty had never been so scared in his life. Alex looked shocked and for the first time since her father died, tears sprang to her eyes.