"She's gonna be fine Boz, she just went in to shock, I don't personally blame her, you get shot in the chest and you'll live, you get shot in the head and you're dead" Carlos said, looking over to where Doc was working on Michael.
"I'm gonna leave her with you, okay, she'll be fine, just make sure she stays warm this afternoon" Carlos finished, heading to give Doc a hand.
Bosco turned to Faith, who was slowly beginning to focus. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
Her eyes changed focus and looked at him, she nodded her head.
"Pretty close call" Bosco said.
"I noticed" Faith whispered.
"I'm sorry"
"For what? You didn't shoot"
"No, but I made us stop so I could go shopping. If we hadn't we wouldn't have been here-"
"And a lot of people could've died" Faith pointed out. There were two cruisers parked out front now, plus theirs. They'd have to file a report, which meant they had to go to the station. They needed new radios anyways, since their others were in bits. He checked the time, just before eight.
"You alright to walk?" Bosco asked, Faith nodded and rose to her feet, grabbing Bosco's hand.
Something inside of him deflated then. It was like the feeling of losing hope. He hated seeing Faith like this. She wasn't a ragdoll, like the past month had treated her. She was a strong person, his person rock. She'd always been there to handle his shit and her own. And seeing her like this was a punch in the stomach, it took his breath away. He'd make it up to her. They'd have a damn good Christmas. And the rest of the shift they would dodge a few calls, have an easy night.
"Don't even bother turning that thing on" Faith remarked, getting in to the passenger seat. Bosco looked at his radio.
"What exactly does she have against me?"
Faith grinned.
"I'm serious, every time, it's a faulty radio. How many times have we reported it?"
"Too many" she sighed, pressing her head back in to the seat.
"You tired?"
"Exhausted" she admitted.
"Well, we've only got two hours and a bit to go"
"Yeah, aren't we supposed to hit the bar with Sully and Davis tonight?"
"Yep, if you still wanna go."
"Yeah, I could use some mellowing"
"You gonna call it in, or do I hafta turn on my radio"
Faith looked at him, "55-David to Central, we are clearing the station and clear for calls"
"10-4 David, please respond to a possible dead person, EMT's are en-route"
"Ready for the numbers when you are"
"David, address is 105 Everton Road"
Faith checked her notebook, "The disgruntled man again, great"
"Maybe that guy killed him"
"Not funny Boz, we technically let it happen then"
"It's not like we could stop it!" he protested, "We were kinda in the middle of jewellery heist"
"If you wanna call it that" she half smiled.
When they go to the scene, a Bus was already there, Kim and Bobby.
"Hey" Kim greeted Faith as she walked up.
"How are you doin', I heard about your run in earlier"
"I'm fine" Faith nodded, "What's all this about?"
"Ah, dead homeless person, we figure it was just too cold"
Faith swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. "Big old overcoat, grey beard and hair?" she asked. Kim nodded.
"You know him or something?" Bobby asked, shutting the ambulance doors.
"Nah.. we just.. well we responded to a call earlier"
Bobby climbed down from the back of the ambulance, "Ready to go?" he asked Kim.
Kim nodded. "You hittin' the bar tonight?" she asked Faith.
"Yeah, probably" she replied.
"Right, well I'll see you there, but be warned, Carlos is comin' and he's on a kick about bragging that he's supposed to meet some girl there"
Faith grinned, "Thanks for the warning" she stated.
"It's kind of sad, don't you think?" Faith asked, watching as the ambulance drove away, no lights or sirens.
"What is?"
"That the chances are no one will realize this guy's gone... that he had to live out on the streets, there's numerous reasons Boz"
"I find it sad that some rich asshole is responsible for the guy's death, he was doin' just fine until that jagoff made him move from the vent"
Faith bit her lip, "Wonder if he feels responsible"
"Probably not, he's a jagoff, that's what jagoff's are good for, putting the blame on someone else"
"We're kind of responsible too, aren't we Boz?"
He looked at her, "No, we're not, we were doing our job"
"Since when does our job involve aiding in the death of people"
"It happens, Faith. You know that, we can't do everything, keep everyone happy"
"I just think that it could have been prevented. Y'know, if we like, drove him to some place, maybe down by the river or something where there's always someone's fire goin'"
"He woulda been down there if he wanted to be" Bosco shrugged, "We offered, Faith"
"It's just sad.. just before Christmas too"
Bosco embraced her, kissing her on top of her head, "Lets get you back in the RMP, you're shivering"
"I'm fine"
"Carlos told me to keep you warm" Bosco grinned crazily.
His grin broke. "What the hell" he muttered, letting go of Faith for a moment.
Faith turned around, 'Oh my god".
The man from earlier came running out of his brownstone holding a bag, choking for air. When he saw them he came over to them. "Don't just.. stand there, do something!" he demanded.
"Like what?" Bosco snapped back, "We're not firefighters" he stated, as the entire brownstone became engulfed with flames.
"55-David to Central"
"Central"
"Send Fire and EMS to one-zero-five Everton Road, we have a house fire out of control"
"10-4 David"
Faith let go of her radio clip. "Boz" she asked.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Boz, where'd the fire go?" she asked dumbly, staring at the brownstone. The ignorant man took a step towards the house.
Am I seeing things? Bosco wondered, staring at the house.
"I have Gas heating!" the man exclaimed as there was a whoosh and the breaking of glass.
Faith was thrown to the ground, the heat almost unbearable. She covered her head until the fire receeded, then glanced over at Bosco and the man, who were both laying on the ground.
The man was screaming, but Faith didn''t blame him, his clothes were on fire. Bosco moved before she could, and had the guy rolling on the ground with his coat, extinguishing the flames. The man continued to scream as Faith looked around, she didn't hear sirens yet.
That was when she noticed the flames licking at the windows in the house next door. "Boz!" she yelled, "Get the brownstone to the left, they're all catching!" she yelled, Bosco looked up, letting the man lay where he was he ran for the place next door.
A woman's scream interrupted Faith's thoughts, causing her to pause for a moment, she ran inside the brownstone, burning her hand on the outside door.
"Shit" she cursed, looking around. An orange glow came from the way of the living room, and smoke filled her lungs, taking one breath of fresh air, she headed further in to the hall, lead by the cries of a woman.
"Someone help me!" the woman screamed, "My babies, I need my babies!" she was crying now.
"Where are you?" Faith yelled.
"Upstairs!"
Faith found the stairs, eyeing the far wall, which was already in flames. She took them two at a time, not touching the metal railing. Faith's lungs began to choke her, taking in the blackened smoke that was everywhere.
"Where?" she called out, holding her nose. She pulled up her turtle neck NYPD shirt over her mouth and nose.
"Here" the woman called, stepping from the room and waving her hands. Faith could hear her choking.
Faith approached the room, the heat in the air singing her arm hairs. Did fires always burn this hot? she wondered briefly.
"Help me!" the woman cried, and she was crying. Tear streaks were across her blackened cheeks.
Faith looked in to the room and saw two children, also sitting on the floor, towels over their faces. "I can't carry them both" the woman sobbed, grabbing on, who looked about six months, and handing it off to Faith. She grabbed the other child, who looked about two or so.
Faith followed the woman back down the stairs, and blinked when she saw the woman coming back in, "Emily!" she cried, "My Emily's still in there, I have to get her"
Her lungs meeting fresh air was a welcome thing, but Faith took one look at the woman's face, at the embedden pain and worry for a child she called Emily, and handed the woman her baby, "Stay here, tell the Fire Department where I am" she managed to choke out before turning around.
"Please, get my baby, get my Emily!" The woman was hysteric.
Faith entered the living room, eyeing the curtains and furniture which were now on fire.
"Emily!" she screamed, hoping to hear a cry, a yell, anything. There was nothing. Faith headed up the first flight of stairs, her eyes tearing and half closed she studied the room.
"EMILY!" she screamed again. No reply.
Faith began coughing until she was on her knees holding her stomach. Pulling herself up, and holding herself up with the wall, she made her way in to what looked like an old computer room, desks were set up on three walls, she noticed the window, which was about ground level, was open. She practically threw herself at it, taking in a breath of fresh air and coughing at the same time.
There was a loud explosion then, and Faith looked behind her, the stairway was cluttered with debris, the walls now on fire.
Faith stared at the flame and panicked for a brief moment. "EMILY!" she screamed again, nothing. She had to leave. There was no way. Faith climbed on to the computer desk, shirt still over her nose, and pulled herself out of the window on to cold, snow covered cement. The feeling was so welcome that she lay there for a moment.
"Where is Faith?" Bosco was demanding out front. "Where is she?"
"She.. she saved my babies" one woman murmured past her tears.
"Where is she?" Bosco grabbed the woman by her shoulders.
"She went to get my Emily"
"Did she go back inside?" Bosco asked, looking at the second brownstone that was no almsot engulfed with flames.
The woman nodded. Bosco made a run at the door.
He got in to the hallway before someone pulled him from behind. Bosco struggled against the person, trying to get them to let go, but they grabbed him in an arm hold and dragged him back out of the building.
"What are you, nuts?" Jimmy Doherty was yelling at him.
"Faith's in there" he replied.
Jimmy's eyes widened for a moment, "You stay here, you're not even dressed for this" he told him, pushing Bosco towards the EMT's which were now pulled up outside.
Bosco stared at the building, not moving, but just staring. "No Faith, you went through all of this, you aren't supposed to die now" he whispered, sitting down on to the snow covered pavement.
A body blocked his view suddenly, but he didn't have the energy to look around it, and suddenly Kim's face was in his.
"Bosco?" she asked.
He looked past her. "Faith" he said, numbly.
Kim looked over her shoulder at the inferno. No, Faith wasn't in there, that was crazy. It was madness. She'd been through so much lately, there was no way.
There was yelling, off to the side suddenly, as two people came walking down the street, slowly.
Kim studied them and realized that it was Joe and...
"Faith?" Bosco asked, looking at the two people coming down the street.
Faith's face was blackened with soot, her hair dishevelled and a few places red. It looked like she'd been sitting in the sun for a few hours too many.
Bosco stood up from the pavement, "What happened?" he demanded.
"We found her out back when we started hosing it from there, she was just layin' in the snow enjoying it"
"Is she okay?"
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here" Faith murmured, sitting on a gurney.
"She'll be fine, from what I can tell she'll be treated for First Degree burns and smoke inhallation"
"What were you doing, going inside like that"
"Emily" faith replied, taking the oxygen off for a moment, Doc put it back on.
"Emily, what happened to Emily?" Bosco asked, immediately thinking it was their Emily.
"The woman.. her daughter.. Emily is still in there" Faith finished before coughing.
Bosco's eyes travelled back to the burning buildings.
"We're gonna transport her in, make sure everything's okay and we're not missing anything" Doc told Bosco, "You riding with her?"
"Yeah" Bosco replied shortly, tearing his gaze away from the buildings. In the middle of it all was the woman, still screaming about 'Her Emily'
A tear fell down his face for them as he climbed in to the back.
"I'm gonna leave her with you, okay, she'll be fine, just make sure she stays warm this afternoon" Carlos finished, heading to give Doc a hand.
Bosco turned to Faith, who was slowly beginning to focus. "You okay?" he asked quietly.
Her eyes changed focus and looked at him, she nodded her head.
"Pretty close call" Bosco said.
"I noticed" Faith whispered.
"I'm sorry"
"For what? You didn't shoot"
"No, but I made us stop so I could go shopping. If we hadn't we wouldn't have been here-"
"And a lot of people could've died" Faith pointed out. There were two cruisers parked out front now, plus theirs. They'd have to file a report, which meant they had to go to the station. They needed new radios anyways, since their others were in bits. He checked the time, just before eight.
"You alright to walk?" Bosco asked, Faith nodded and rose to her feet, grabbing Bosco's hand.
Something inside of him deflated then. It was like the feeling of losing hope. He hated seeing Faith like this. She wasn't a ragdoll, like the past month had treated her. She was a strong person, his person rock. She'd always been there to handle his shit and her own. And seeing her like this was a punch in the stomach, it took his breath away. He'd make it up to her. They'd have a damn good Christmas. And the rest of the shift they would dodge a few calls, have an easy night.
"Don't even bother turning that thing on" Faith remarked, getting in to the passenger seat. Bosco looked at his radio.
"What exactly does she have against me?"
Faith grinned.
"I'm serious, every time, it's a faulty radio. How many times have we reported it?"
"Too many" she sighed, pressing her head back in to the seat.
"You tired?"
"Exhausted" she admitted.
"Well, we've only got two hours and a bit to go"
"Yeah, aren't we supposed to hit the bar with Sully and Davis tonight?"
"Yep, if you still wanna go."
"Yeah, I could use some mellowing"
"You gonna call it in, or do I hafta turn on my radio"
Faith looked at him, "55-David to Central, we are clearing the station and clear for calls"
"10-4 David, please respond to a possible dead person, EMT's are en-route"
"Ready for the numbers when you are"
"David, address is 105 Everton Road"
Faith checked her notebook, "The disgruntled man again, great"
"Maybe that guy killed him"
"Not funny Boz, we technically let it happen then"
"It's not like we could stop it!" he protested, "We were kinda in the middle of jewellery heist"
"If you wanna call it that" she half smiled.
When they go to the scene, a Bus was already there, Kim and Bobby.
"Hey" Kim greeted Faith as she walked up.
"How are you doin', I heard about your run in earlier"
"I'm fine" Faith nodded, "What's all this about?"
"Ah, dead homeless person, we figure it was just too cold"
Faith swallowed, a lump forming in her throat. "Big old overcoat, grey beard and hair?" she asked. Kim nodded.
"You know him or something?" Bobby asked, shutting the ambulance doors.
"Nah.. we just.. well we responded to a call earlier"
Bobby climbed down from the back of the ambulance, "Ready to go?" he asked Kim.
Kim nodded. "You hittin' the bar tonight?" she asked Faith.
"Yeah, probably" she replied.
"Right, well I'll see you there, but be warned, Carlos is comin' and he's on a kick about bragging that he's supposed to meet some girl there"
Faith grinned, "Thanks for the warning" she stated.
"It's kind of sad, don't you think?" Faith asked, watching as the ambulance drove away, no lights or sirens.
"What is?"
"That the chances are no one will realize this guy's gone... that he had to live out on the streets, there's numerous reasons Boz"
"I find it sad that some rich asshole is responsible for the guy's death, he was doin' just fine until that jagoff made him move from the vent"
Faith bit her lip, "Wonder if he feels responsible"
"Probably not, he's a jagoff, that's what jagoff's are good for, putting the blame on someone else"
"We're kind of responsible too, aren't we Boz?"
He looked at her, "No, we're not, we were doing our job"
"Since when does our job involve aiding in the death of people"
"It happens, Faith. You know that, we can't do everything, keep everyone happy"
"I just think that it could have been prevented. Y'know, if we like, drove him to some place, maybe down by the river or something where there's always someone's fire goin'"
"He woulda been down there if he wanted to be" Bosco shrugged, "We offered, Faith"
"It's just sad.. just before Christmas too"
Bosco embraced her, kissing her on top of her head, "Lets get you back in the RMP, you're shivering"
"I'm fine"
"Carlos told me to keep you warm" Bosco grinned crazily.
His grin broke. "What the hell" he muttered, letting go of Faith for a moment.
Faith turned around, 'Oh my god".
The man from earlier came running out of his brownstone holding a bag, choking for air. When he saw them he came over to them. "Don't just.. stand there, do something!" he demanded.
"Like what?" Bosco snapped back, "We're not firefighters" he stated, as the entire brownstone became engulfed with flames.
"55-David to Central"
"Central"
"Send Fire and EMS to one-zero-five Everton Road, we have a house fire out of control"
"10-4 David"
Faith let go of her radio clip. "Boz" she asked.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Boz, where'd the fire go?" she asked dumbly, staring at the brownstone. The ignorant man took a step towards the house.
Am I seeing things? Bosco wondered, staring at the house.
"I have Gas heating!" the man exclaimed as there was a whoosh and the breaking of glass.
Faith was thrown to the ground, the heat almost unbearable. She covered her head until the fire receeded, then glanced over at Bosco and the man, who were both laying on the ground.
The man was screaming, but Faith didn''t blame him, his clothes were on fire. Bosco moved before she could, and had the guy rolling on the ground with his coat, extinguishing the flames. The man continued to scream as Faith looked around, she didn't hear sirens yet.
That was when she noticed the flames licking at the windows in the house next door. "Boz!" she yelled, "Get the brownstone to the left, they're all catching!" she yelled, Bosco looked up, letting the man lay where he was he ran for the place next door.
A woman's scream interrupted Faith's thoughts, causing her to pause for a moment, she ran inside the brownstone, burning her hand on the outside door.
"Shit" she cursed, looking around. An orange glow came from the way of the living room, and smoke filled her lungs, taking one breath of fresh air, she headed further in to the hall, lead by the cries of a woman.
"Someone help me!" the woman screamed, "My babies, I need my babies!" she was crying now.
"Where are you?" Faith yelled.
"Upstairs!"
Faith found the stairs, eyeing the far wall, which was already in flames. She took them two at a time, not touching the metal railing. Faith's lungs began to choke her, taking in the blackened smoke that was everywhere.
"Where?" she called out, holding her nose. She pulled up her turtle neck NYPD shirt over her mouth and nose.
"Here" the woman called, stepping from the room and waving her hands. Faith could hear her choking.
Faith approached the room, the heat in the air singing her arm hairs. Did fires always burn this hot? she wondered briefly.
"Help me!" the woman cried, and she was crying. Tear streaks were across her blackened cheeks.
Faith looked in to the room and saw two children, also sitting on the floor, towels over their faces. "I can't carry them both" the woman sobbed, grabbing on, who looked about six months, and handing it off to Faith. She grabbed the other child, who looked about two or so.
Faith followed the woman back down the stairs, and blinked when she saw the woman coming back in, "Emily!" she cried, "My Emily's still in there, I have to get her"
Her lungs meeting fresh air was a welcome thing, but Faith took one look at the woman's face, at the embedden pain and worry for a child she called Emily, and handed the woman her baby, "Stay here, tell the Fire Department where I am" she managed to choke out before turning around.
"Please, get my baby, get my Emily!" The woman was hysteric.
Faith entered the living room, eyeing the curtains and furniture which were now on fire.
"Emily!" she screamed, hoping to hear a cry, a yell, anything. There was nothing. Faith headed up the first flight of stairs, her eyes tearing and half closed she studied the room.
"EMILY!" she screamed again. No reply.
Faith began coughing until she was on her knees holding her stomach. Pulling herself up, and holding herself up with the wall, she made her way in to what looked like an old computer room, desks were set up on three walls, she noticed the window, which was about ground level, was open. She practically threw herself at it, taking in a breath of fresh air and coughing at the same time.
There was a loud explosion then, and Faith looked behind her, the stairway was cluttered with debris, the walls now on fire.
Faith stared at the flame and panicked for a brief moment. "EMILY!" she screamed again, nothing. She had to leave. There was no way. Faith climbed on to the computer desk, shirt still over her nose, and pulled herself out of the window on to cold, snow covered cement. The feeling was so welcome that she lay there for a moment.
"Where is Faith?" Bosco was demanding out front. "Where is she?"
"She.. she saved my babies" one woman murmured past her tears.
"Where is she?" Bosco grabbed the woman by her shoulders.
"She went to get my Emily"
"Did she go back inside?" Bosco asked, looking at the second brownstone that was no almsot engulfed with flames.
The woman nodded. Bosco made a run at the door.
He got in to the hallway before someone pulled him from behind. Bosco struggled against the person, trying to get them to let go, but they grabbed him in an arm hold and dragged him back out of the building.
"What are you, nuts?" Jimmy Doherty was yelling at him.
"Faith's in there" he replied.
Jimmy's eyes widened for a moment, "You stay here, you're not even dressed for this" he told him, pushing Bosco towards the EMT's which were now pulled up outside.
Bosco stared at the building, not moving, but just staring. "No Faith, you went through all of this, you aren't supposed to die now" he whispered, sitting down on to the snow covered pavement.
A body blocked his view suddenly, but he didn't have the energy to look around it, and suddenly Kim's face was in his.
"Bosco?" she asked.
He looked past her. "Faith" he said, numbly.
Kim looked over her shoulder at the inferno. No, Faith wasn't in there, that was crazy. It was madness. She'd been through so much lately, there was no way.
There was yelling, off to the side suddenly, as two people came walking down the street, slowly.
Kim studied them and realized that it was Joe and...
"Faith?" Bosco asked, looking at the two people coming down the street.
Faith's face was blackened with soot, her hair dishevelled and a few places red. It looked like she'd been sitting in the sun for a few hours too many.
Bosco stood up from the pavement, "What happened?" he demanded.
"We found her out back when we started hosing it from there, she was just layin' in the snow enjoying it"
"Is she okay?"
"Stop talking about me like I'm not here" Faith murmured, sitting on a gurney.
"She'll be fine, from what I can tell she'll be treated for First Degree burns and smoke inhallation"
"What were you doing, going inside like that"
"Emily" faith replied, taking the oxygen off for a moment, Doc put it back on.
"Emily, what happened to Emily?" Bosco asked, immediately thinking it was their Emily.
"The woman.. her daughter.. Emily is still in there" Faith finished before coughing.
Bosco's eyes travelled back to the burning buildings.
"We're gonna transport her in, make sure everything's okay and we're not missing anything" Doc told Bosco, "You riding with her?"
"Yeah" Bosco replied shortly, tearing his gaze away from the buildings. In the middle of it all was the woman, still screaming about 'Her Emily'
A tear fell down his face for them as he climbed in to the back.