WOW!!!  Thanks for the reviews guys, I appreciate it!!!  You are all so sweet.  Hope you like this chapter.

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Faith, who had been struggling to get her perp to stand, had not seen that Bosco's perp had managed to break free.  She did, however, hear Bosco's scream of pain and immediately reached for her gun as she turned in Bosco's direction.  She had barely even gotten her gun out of her holster when a gunshot rang out and the perp fell to the floor with a huge hole in his chest. 

"That'll teach you to mess with me."

Faith turned to see Dale standing behind the counter, shotgun in hand. 

"Figured you might need some extra fire power since none of your friends have managed to get here yet.  I got this one covered, you check your partner."

Faith let go of her perp and radioed for a bus as she raced to Bosco's side.  His eyes were closed and he was having difficulty breathing.

"Bosco?  Bos, can you hear me?"

"Faith?"

"Yeah Bos, it's me.  I got a bus on the way, you're going to be ok."

She glanced over at the perp and knew that he was dead.  She was about to look away when something caught her attention.  "Bos, hold on, I'll be right back."

"Don't leave…"

Bosco didn't even get his sentenced finished before Faith was back at his side and placing something over his nose and mouth.  He tried to push it off but Faith pushed his hand away and held the device in place.

"Leave it alone Bos, it's an oxygen mask.  It'll help you breathe."

Bosco didn't know where Faith had managed to get an oxygen mask, but he was too tired to think about it.  He just breathed in the refreshing oxygen and listened to Faith's reassuring words as he slowly drifted off into the darkness.

As Bosco's eye's drifted shut, police cars and ambulances came screeching to a halt outside the jewelry store.  The third perp, who had gone back to the van after throwing in the smoke bomb, was quickly apprehended.  Doc, Carlos, Alex and Kim quickly made their way inside.  As Doc and Carlos went to check the perp, Alex and Kim got started on Bosco.

"What the hell took you so long?" Faith asked angrily.

"There was a car accident, had the whole street blocked.  We had to get it cleared up before we could get through" Kim replied while starting an IV on Bosco.  Alex was checking Bosco's side.

"Where did the oxygen mask come from?" Alex asked.

"Perp had it.  They used a smoke bomb, must have planned on using it all along."

"Guess he didn't need it anymore.  He's dead." Carlos announced.  "Need some help?"

"Yeah, how about getting our backboard for us so we get Bosco out of here."

Carlos went and retrieved the backboard, and Bosco was swiftly loaded into the ambulance and taken to Mercy Hospital.

The waiting room was full of police officers, EMT's, and firefighters, all of whom quickly stood as the doctor approached them.

"How is he doctor?" Faith asked.

"He's going to be fine" the doctor replied with a smile.  "The knife slightly nicked his liver, but we were able to repair it quite easily.  He will be sore for a while, and he'll need to take it easy so his body can heal, but he was really quite lucky.  He did inhale quite a bit of smoke, so we're going to keep him on oxygen for at least 24 hours, but no permanent damage was done.  I would suggest he avoid going into any more smoke filled rooms in the near future though."

"Bosco take it easy?  And not go into any burning buildings?  You have any restraining device we could put him in for a few weeks?"  Jimmy asked.

Everyone laughed, knowing Jimmy was totally right.  They were all relieved that Bosco was going to be ok and were more than willing to let out their stress by making quips about him.  Faith just shook her head as everyone took potshots at her partner and turned back to the doctor.

"Can I see him?"

"Sure.  He's still pretty out of it, so don't be surprised if he doesn't even realize you're there."  The doctor led Faith to Bosco's room and then left her alone with her partner.

"Hey Bosco.  Can you hear me?"

Bosco's eyes slowly slid open and he turned to look at Faith. 

"Hey partner.  The doctor says you're gonna be ok."

"Like I'd let an overgrown bunny bring me down" Bosco replied with a smile. 

"Yeah, what was I thinking?"  Faith watched as her partner struggled to keep his eyes open, but eventually letting them slip back shut.  "Go back to sleep Bosco, I'll come back tomorrow ok."

"OK."

Faith left her partner and joined everyone back out in the waiting room.

"How is he?" Sully asked her.

"He's fine.  Still has his sense of humor.  He's out like a light again so we might as well go home, come back tomorrow after he wakes up."

Everyone agreed and headed home with the assurance that they would be contacted if Bosco's condition changed.  Faith left her number at the nurses desk and Proctor assured her she would call if there were any changes in Bosco's condition.