Chapter 5
Have Mercy
*****
Alex placed the paddles to Bosco's chest, and pressed the button, his body jumped as the electricity shocked his heart. :::beep-beep-beep::: The heart monitor slowly regained a steady beat.
"Thank God" Kim sighed, checking his breathing and working to stabilize him before they could once again head toward the hospital. It was almost too much for her, pictures flashed in her mind, the night her own partner was shot, his death, how she felt and how she knew Faith must be feeling, "Bosco, I swear you better not give up!"
The Ambulance pulled in front of Mercy. Alex ran around to the back on the bus and helped Kim roll him into the hospital. Dr. Morales and a handful of nurses and orderlies met them at the entrance. "Trauma Room 3" She gripped the side of the gurney, helping to push it with urgency. "Gun shot to the lower abdomen, artery injury, possible liver damage, skin is pale and clammy, blood loss three liters" Kim listened off. "Nearly lost him on the bus, he coded." She said.
"Where's Sully?" Alex asked suddenly, as they got him to the third Trauma room. "One, Two, Three, LIFT!" She helped the doctor, Kim and the two nurses lift him and the back board onto the trauma gurney-bed.
"He'll be fine. He's with Doctor Travis, being prepped for surgery." Dr. Morales stated, not taking any of her attention off Bosco.
"What about Faith?"
"I only saw Faith briefly, a few minutes ago, she came in with Officer Davis, he didn't seem to want to leave her alone, I sent her up to X-rays. She's a wreck, apparently Davis hasn't been able to calm her down." She checked Bosco's eye movement, and had the nurse hook up a fresh IV unit.
"Look at her partner, I couldn't calm down either." Kim said bitterly, cutting Dr. Morales off.
"Bag him" Morales told the second nurse.
"Come on Kim" Alex said pulling her arm gently, dragging the empty, bloody gurney behind.
*****
The ambulance carrying Faith and the unharmed Officer Davis arrived seven minutes before Sully's. Faith had cried the whole way to Mercy, he had ridden in the bus with her, he knew he couldn't help Bosco and Sully, so he felt, his responsibility was to be there for her. She had been given morphine and had gotten half a dozen X-rays on her arm from different angles. The nurse changed the rubber band to tighten it and had also re-bandaged it. Davis sat next to her, in her small sterile room, awaiting the results of the X-rays and confirm how much surgery she would need.
"I sent Gusler to call Fred at work." He stated trying to reassure her but also to break the deadly silence, that had now filled the small room.
Faith gave him a confused, disoriented look, as if she hadn't heard him, then her eyes widened a bit. "Davis! Why! I don't want Fred here!" She nearly shouted.
"Hey man, How was I suppose to know you wouldn't want your husband here. Why don't you want him here?" Davis questioned.
"I just don't!" Faith spat angrily.
Suddenly as if on cue, the young rookie poked his head in the door, "Hi Yokas are you feeling any better?" he smiled shyly but tried to sound comforting.
"My partner may die because of me, a bullet went through my arm, breaking the bone and maybe doing terrible internal damage to nerves or arteries and you have the balls to ask me if I'm feeling better!" Faith snapped at him, her anger and frustration and fear for her partner mounting.
Gusler's smile faded and his face went white, "I'm sorry ma'am, I... I called your husband at work, he's on his way here. I ... uh ... I gotta go check on something" Gusler said darting out of the room.
Davis stared at her, a half grin on his face. "I've seen Gusler run before especially from Bosco, but never that fast!" he chuckled.
"I'm sorry" She mumbled. Tears starting streaming down Faith's cheeks. She was shivering slightly in pain and sadness.
"Don't worry Faith, Bosco's a fighter, he won't give up." Davis put his arm around her back gently, giving her support without words. Davis was very surprised how Faith was acting, he knew, she had seen her partner had been shot before, but he had NEVER seen her so shaken up. "Faith?" he said, trying to get some response out of her.
"I don't want Fred here." Faith said quietly, coming out of the blank state she was in, for only a second.
"You need him here, plus he's probably worried sick."
She didn't say anything, tears continued rolling off her cheek, as she stared at the small window. "Its my fault." she suddenly whispered.
"What was you fault?" he tried to understand what she had meant.
"If Bosco dies, Its because of me." She started weeping softly.
"Faith, Its not your fault." he insisted.
"Yes it is, Bosco wouldn't wait, he told me to put on his vest, but I said, No we have to wait for backup..." she wept, her head now on his shoulder. She was coved in blood, her blood and Bosco's blood. "... He told me, Fine to wait there..." she wept. "... I couldn't let him go in there alone..." she paused, trying to control emotions, "... So i put the vest on..."
"Hey, How is it your fault? You did everything right? You told him to wait for backup, he wouldn't listen of course, We're talking about Bosco, but you had his back, Its NOT your fault!" He said firmly, trying to force Faith to believe the words he just said.
There was a black and white poster on the wall. The poster was a advertisement for Mercy… A old couple, sitting on a bench in central park, gently holding each others hand, with a glint in their eyes, and relishing in the love the had obviously shared for the last 50 years. The bottom of the poster, was one simple but powerful line - *Live for the dream, but Love the moment*. Underneath the quote, was the name Mercy Hospital and the address. Her shaking increased and she starting weeping.
"Faith… Shhh…" Davis cooed at her.
Suddenly her shaking stopped for a moment, as if she just realized something, she looked up at Davis, her face was scrunched up, she bit her lip, as if she wanted to tell him something but couldn't. "I love him" she said clearly, biting her lip again to keep from falling apart.
Davis's jaw fell open in surprise and shock. "You... um... You..." he stammered unsure of what context she was talking about, she was married, he told himself.
"I think I'm falling in love with him, Davis!" she blurted out, angered at his shocked expression, but still not sure why she was sharing this information with the young cop.
"...um..." Davis stammered, he didn't know what to say. "...um... what about your husband?" Davis asked, not wanting to intrude but thinking she needed someone to confide in.
"we're getting divorced, we separated a few days ago" she said softly.
"Because of Bosco?" he asked carefully.
"No, not because of Bosco, Because he's a verbally abusive drunk. And always will be." she said curtly, anger over powering her tears, temporarily.
"So... you and Bosco? ... Does Bosco know you love him?" he said, he still couldn't really believe what he had just heard. How could she be in love with bigoted, senseless, immature, hothead Boscorelli, he mused, smiling inwardly.
Her eyes which were swollen from crying, widened and looked at him again. "No, He doesn't even know I have feeling for him, much less that i'm falling in love with him... And now he may never know." speaking those last words, they hit her hard, and she sobbed again. "Please this has to stay between you and me,"
"No problem..." he was cut off by Doctor Morales entering the room with nurse Practor. "Well... I'm going to go get cleaned up and get some coffee, I'll check and see if i can find anything about our partners, then I'll come back to check on you." he said standing up and giving Faith a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Ty." Faith managed to say.
Davis nodded, "I'll be back soon."
*****
Davis was heading quickly to the bathroom, and ran straight into Alex. He didn't noticed it was her for a minute, she too was covered in blood.
"Ty, Whoa, Stop, Where are you going? You need to get cleaned up! You weren't hurt right?" Alex said in one long breathe.
"Taylor!" he said as he snapped back in to reality and out of his thoughts. "No, I wasn't hurt, this is Sully's, Bosco's and Faith's blood." Davis said with a disgusted look on his face looking down at his uniform. "Did you hear anything about Bosco?" Davis blurted out, anxiously, needing to know for Faith's sake, but worried what she would say.
"Umm... Bosco... Bosco coded in the bus on the way here. We got him back, but it doesn't look good, he's lost so much blood."
Davis nodded, "How is Sully have you seen him?" he asked.
"He's in Surgery with Dr. Travis. But don't worry, Doc says it doesn't look bad, he's going to be fine."
He sighed a breathe of relief. "Well, I was heading to the bathroom to get cleaned up." Davis blushed slightly, he still had feelings for the blond paramedic firefighter that he had dated briefly.
Alex smiled at his obviously blushing. "Follow me, I was heading to the Triage washroom, Doc and Carlos are probably still in there."
"Thanks."
*****
"Hi Faith, Morphine helping any?" Dr. Morales asked, walking towards her.
"Is Bosco okay?" Faith said, her eyes to the ground not trusting herself not to cry."
"I need to look at your arm," Morales said firmly, avoiding the question.
"Bosco is he... Did he make it." She asked again, scared at the fact Morales wasn't answering the question she asked.
"Faith, your arm-----" She stopped cut off by Faith.
"Sarah tell me!" Faith hissed, pulling her arm away from Morales which cause pain to slice through her body, she was about to lose it, in every respect of the word.
"Faith... Bosco coded in the ambulance." Morales started, she knew Faith was close to shock, but felt that her not knowing was worst then her knowing the truth.
"NO!" Faith started shaking again.
"Faith! Calm down, let me finish, They got him back, but he's lost a lot of blood." She said softly, nodding for Nurse Practor to give them a few minutes.
She sat there, facing doctor Morales, with a lost look on her face. "Do you think he'll make it?" she whispered gently, not knowing if she could truly handle the answer.
"Yes, I think he will, but he's still in very critical shape, he was turned over to Dr. Domason about thirty minutes ago, they should be doing a blood transfusion on him now." Morales softly told her.
Faith closed her eyes tightly, but tears still managed to find their way through, she leaned back onto the bed.
Dr. Morales held up the X-rays to the lighted board. "Faith, we're going to need to take you in to surgery right away. The bullet hit the bone, breaking it, but then it went left hitting one of the smaller arteries and tearing into your muscle mass."
"I need to see Bosco," Faith said trying to sit up.
"If we don't do surgery soon, you might lose your arm. I promise as soon as you wake up, I will update you about Bosco."
Faith closed her eyes tightly again and nodded. Not trusting herself to speak.
"Alright, I'll go get the forms you need to sign, Nurse Practor will start prepping you..."
:::Knock-Knock-Knock:::
Fred pushed the door open, and walked in. "Faith" he said tears swelling his eyes up.
"I'll give you two a few minutes," Dr. Morales smile warmly as she excused herself.
"Fred what are you doing here?" Faith questioned, distressed enough without him actually showing up.
"What do you mean? I'm still your husband!" Fred started getting angry. "Here!" he pulled his arm from around his back and tossed a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers towards her. He suddenly realized anger wasn't what he needed to show if he was going to convince her to give him a second chance. But he was so pissed off at her for being hurt, he wanted nothing more to scream at her 'see if you had quit you wouldn't be in here'. "I'm sorry Babe. I'm sorry you're hurt, give me another chance… I'll take care of you." he said gently.
Faith looked up at him, he had a single tear running down his cheek. She sighed deeply. "Fred, nothing has changed, we are getting a divorce. I already have a attorney and an apartment for me and the kids. Fred, thank you for the flowers but please go. I can't deal with you too today." She said, eyes burning from crying for the last hour.
"You already have a attorney!" He hissed, shocked. He had thought it was a bluff, she had kicked him out for the drinking and arguing before.
"Did you think, I wasn't serious the other day?"
"Fuck you Faith, Don't come crawling back to me when Bosco dies!" He angrily spat, turning towards the door, and then slamming it on his way out.
"Great, just great." She started feeling incredibly dizzy, and fell back into the hospital bed.
*****
Bosco lay on the cold surgical table, his clothing all removed except a thin hospital gown tied around his lower half six inches below the wound on his abdomen. He was hooked to half a dozen machines, had one IV in each wrist, and was being given a blood transfusion, a needle much like a IV unit was hooked into his inner arm, attached to what was fresh clean blood. His heart beat was stronger, but he was still in grave danger. Doctor Domason with the help of a resident surgeon and two RN's, was working on the abdomen wound, removing the bullet was the easy part. The hard part came with the search to find out what damage the bullet had done.
"It looks like its a clean hit to the liver," Domason told the resident surgeon, while he burnt the liver to seal up the blood vessels.
"No intestine damage?" the resident asked a bit surprised.
"I was sure we where going to get this guy on the table, and find him in two hundred pieces, shredded inside. But as long at this cautery seals this liver, and the blood transfusion takes, he may just make it." he said confidently.
"That will be a relief to his partner." he sighed, he hated seeing cops come in here. His father was a retired cop, and he watched years earlier, when his Father's partner died from a gunshot while on duty, a bit of his Dad died too. The cold surgical room, was suddenly very quiet.
*****
"Officer Yokas!" Nurse Practor said firmly, coming back into the room only to find Faith passed out. Her breathing was shallow, but her pulse was strong. "Doctor Morales, you're needed in room two" Nurse Practor called urgently into the small intercom next to Faith's bed.
*****
Davis sat in the cafeteria, sipping his coffee. He was thinking about what Faith had told him. He was pretty good friends with Bosco, he often went with him to Hagrities to grab a beer after work, sometimes the two went bar hopping to pick up chicks. Bosco was always talking about Faith. "Bosco has been acting strange lately..." the other night at the bar... That brunette Kyri was throwing herself at him, and he just took off, Davis knew something was bothering him. But what... he wondered if it had anything to do with Faith.
"Can I sit here?" Alex interrupted his thought.
He smiled at her. "Of course Taylor."
She sat in the chair next to him. She sighed deeply, and rested her head in her hands, rubbing the temples of her head. "What a day, huh?"
"Yep"
"Bosco... Sully... AND Faith..." She groaned still rubbing her temples.
"Alex are you okay?" he asked, his smile fading.
"Yes I'm fine, I just have a headache, don't worry it will pass, I just took some Aspirin."
Davis nodded his head. "I gotta go check on Faith in a few minutes," he warned.
"She's in surgery. I passed Morales in the hallway... Her husband came by... they got in a argument or something, he left and when Practor went in to start prepping her for surgery, she was passed out. Morales said it was a combination of stress and shock. She's in surgery now."
"Damn, I shouldn't of left her... She told me she didn't want her husband here." he sighed loudly, damn this day was wearing on him. His hand trembled lightly.
"Ty..." Alex started softly, reaching over and taking his large, trembling hand in hers"...Its not your fault, she's fine, she's just getting her arm fixed."
"I know Taylor... Its just, I couldn't help Sully or Bosco, but i thought could help Faith." he confess instantly embarrassed.
Alex pulled his hand to her cheek. "Listen to me, you are helping her. You're being a friend. Sully and Bosco will be fine, Trust me." She kissed his hand softly. :::Beep - Adam 55-3, we have a MVA on 4th and Yines Ave::: Alex reached pushed the button to the radio on her shoulder, "10-4". "I gotta go," She reached over and kissed his cheek, "can we talk later? I get off at 11?" She had a worried expression on her face while she anticipated his response.
"I remember..." he grinned. "... I'll be here" he gave her hand a squeeze as he watched her walk away.
*****
"Lets sew him up and get him in recovery." Domason said after what seemed like a eternity of silence.
"Boscorelli, you are one lucky man." The resident told the unconscious officer. 'Someone up there is defiantly looking out for you.' He thought to himself, looking up at the ceiling.
*****
Davis walked towards the waiting room of the Trauma unit. He wasn't surprised to see so many Officers, he headed towards Officer Williams and Lieutenant Swersky.
"Davis! We've been looking for you. We need to get some statements for the reports" Swersky said.
"Hey... Do we need to do this now?" Davis asked, he was emotionally and physically exhausted.
"We really need to wrap this up." Swersky stated.
"I have three friends in surgery, one critical... The guy is dead, can't we wait until tomorrow? I'll come in early."
"Alright Davis," Swersky sighed, "...You better have your ass at the station EARLY tomorrow." he firmly commanded, emphasizing the word *early*.
"Yes Sir." He said rather relieved. Then Davis turned to face Officer Williams. "How is that girl you brought in?"
"Alive, But we can't get statements from her, cause that S.O.B broke her jaw. It had to be wired shut. She was in shock when she came in, after they fixed her jaw, they sedated her to stop the pain."
"Alright, well I'm going to go find my Partner."
Swersky and Williams nodded, as he walked away.
*****
"John Sullivan?" the nurse asked the stirring Officer?
Sully let out a groan and slowly lifted his hand to his head. "Damn" he moaned with annoyance and pain.
"John? Do you know where you are?" the nurse said once again, hitting the button on the intercom for Dr. Travis to come to room one.
Another groan escaped his list. "Mercy."
"Good" the nurse said, marking on the chart, that she held close to her body.
The older balding Doctor Travis, suddenly popped into the room. "Officer Sullivan! Welcome back" the doctor said with a grin. "Surgery went well. We repaired the hip and the artery, you're going to have to stay on desk duty until probably... Christmas"
"Three months?" Sully groaned again, this time not from pain but from the dread of being on desk duty for three months.
"Yes, Unless you want to permanently injure it, but then you're have to be on desk duty forever." he said with a smile.
"Three months is fine." Sully sighed. "When can I get out of here?" not liking to be the center of attention.
"You're going to be kept here for a week, for observation and to make sure that wound doesn't get infected.
"A week!"
"Do I have to keep repeating myself?" Dr. Travis questioned him with annoyance obvious in his tone.
"No"
"Good. I'll be back to check on you later?"
"Wait! Did Bosco make it? What about Faith?" Sully questioned with worry.
"Your partner has been running around worrying about you, I'm sure he can fill you in on the other Officers." The doctor said as he left.
"What a jerk." He said under his breathe.
*****
Faith's surgery was simple, the break was pretty clean, the arteries were tied off, and the muscle stitched together to induce re-growth. She was starting to stir, waking up from the anesthesia, she felt dizzy and nausea. Her arm was so medicated she didn't really feel anything, but it was swollen double the size. "Bosco?" she cried tossing and turning as she started waking up. "Bosco?"
*****
"SULLY, Hey man! How ya feeling?!" Davis said, happy to see his partner, awake from surgery.
"Ty! Heard you were worried about me." Sully joked with the young cop.
"Whatever man," Davis chuckled.
"So... Did Bosco make it?" Sully his tone now serious. Bosco was a pain in his ass, but was still worried about him.
"Yes, he coded, ended up having to get a blood transfusion. But he's in ICU recovery now, its looking pretty good though."
"What about Faith?" Sully asked him. He had always admired Faith, she was tough, she had to be to keep Bosco in check.
"She's got a broken arm. When I left her earlier she was still really a mess about Bosco." He wished he could discuss what Faith had told him with his Partner but he had made a promise and he intended to keep it.
"I was a mess when your Father died." He said fidgeting with his IV tubing.
"When can I spring you from this place?" He asked, successfully changing the subject.
"They want to watch me for a damn week, for infections and stuff." He grumbled.
Davis couldn't help but smile at his partner. "Well, I better go check on Faith, I promised her."
"No prob." Sully waved as Davis left the room.
*****
"Bosco..." Faith groaned, stirring out of the anesthesia.
Davis entered the room, generally, only family was allowed in, but there were always exceptions to the rule. No one had known how to contact Faith's mother. She had never put her parents down as contacts because they weren't in her life, of course she had reconciled with her mother since then but never bothered to update. "Faith" Davis said gently, turning and leaving again to get a doctor.
A few minutes late a anxious Davis, was followed by Dr. Morales. Faith was pretty much awake by then.
She still felt dizzy and somewhat nauseas. "Bosco? Is he alright?" She asked slowly, still pretty out of it.
"Dr. Domason informed me that it was a clean wound inside, he's not out of the woods yet, but it looks good Faith." She smiled.
Faith closed her eyes as relief overflowed her emotions, and said a silent 'thank you' to the God above. She wasn't comfortable with religion but she had prayed for Bosco to be okay. "Can I see him?"
"He's still in the ICU recovery, which is only for family..." Morales started telling her but was cut off.
"I AM FAMILY! I'VE BEEN PARTNERS WITH HIM FOR EIGHT YEARS!" Faith growled at her, trying to pull herself up.
"If you would of let me finish..." Morales said. "he should be out of the recovery shortly, I'll see that a exception is made."
"Thank you Sarah." Faith said quietly, ashamed of her outburst.
"Faith, I understand you're really worried about Bosco, but you have to stay calm and rest, your body needs to start to heal." She said soothingly.
"I'll rest after I've seen him." She said firmly but with a apologetic tone.
I'll be back to check on you shortly." Morales gave her a reassuring smile and hurried to go check on her other patients, leaving Davis and Faith alone.
"Sully awake." Davis broke the silence.
A smile finally broke on Faith's face, "That's wonderful."
"He's worried about you and Bosco." He added.
Faith laughed for the first time since the incident hours earlier. "Sully? Your partner Sully is worried about Bosco?" She joked.
Davis chuckled, "Yep, I think being shot mad him forget what a jerk Bosco is too him."
"Bosco respects him, even if he doesn't show it, and I know deep down he likes the guy." Faith added.
"Sully too.."
"What time is it?" She suddenly felt worried, she had told her Mother she was going to stop by around seven pm to visit the kids, since she and Bosco were off today and tomorrow.
"Its a quarter to eight." He said looking down at his watch.
"Did anyone call my Mother?" Faith asked impatiently?
"No, Angela Boscorelli was called, she's in the trauma waiting room. There was no contact numbers for anyone except Fred in your file."
"Please call her, let her know I'm okay and to not scare the kids." Faith asked, scribbling down the number and handing it too him. "Umm… I'm sorry about earlier. About what I said about Bosco… um… I wasn't really thinking clearly…" She stammered.
"Hey, no need to apologize. And don't worry like I promised what you said stays between us." He reassured her.
"Thanks Ty." Davis started heading towards the door, when a women poked her head in.
"Excuse me" the voice interrupted. "Faith?"
"Ms. Boscorelli?"
*****
Have Mercy
*****
Alex placed the paddles to Bosco's chest, and pressed the button, his body jumped as the electricity shocked his heart. :::beep-beep-beep::: The heart monitor slowly regained a steady beat.
"Thank God" Kim sighed, checking his breathing and working to stabilize him before they could once again head toward the hospital. It was almost too much for her, pictures flashed in her mind, the night her own partner was shot, his death, how she felt and how she knew Faith must be feeling, "Bosco, I swear you better not give up!"
The Ambulance pulled in front of Mercy. Alex ran around to the back on the bus and helped Kim roll him into the hospital. Dr. Morales and a handful of nurses and orderlies met them at the entrance. "Trauma Room 3" She gripped the side of the gurney, helping to push it with urgency. "Gun shot to the lower abdomen, artery injury, possible liver damage, skin is pale and clammy, blood loss three liters" Kim listened off. "Nearly lost him on the bus, he coded." She said.
"Where's Sully?" Alex asked suddenly, as they got him to the third Trauma room. "One, Two, Three, LIFT!" She helped the doctor, Kim and the two nurses lift him and the back board onto the trauma gurney-bed.
"He'll be fine. He's with Doctor Travis, being prepped for surgery." Dr. Morales stated, not taking any of her attention off Bosco.
"What about Faith?"
"I only saw Faith briefly, a few minutes ago, she came in with Officer Davis, he didn't seem to want to leave her alone, I sent her up to X-rays. She's a wreck, apparently Davis hasn't been able to calm her down." She checked Bosco's eye movement, and had the nurse hook up a fresh IV unit.
"Look at her partner, I couldn't calm down either." Kim said bitterly, cutting Dr. Morales off.
"Bag him" Morales told the second nurse.
"Come on Kim" Alex said pulling her arm gently, dragging the empty, bloody gurney behind.
*****
The ambulance carrying Faith and the unharmed Officer Davis arrived seven minutes before Sully's. Faith had cried the whole way to Mercy, he had ridden in the bus with her, he knew he couldn't help Bosco and Sully, so he felt, his responsibility was to be there for her. She had been given morphine and had gotten half a dozen X-rays on her arm from different angles. The nurse changed the rubber band to tighten it and had also re-bandaged it. Davis sat next to her, in her small sterile room, awaiting the results of the X-rays and confirm how much surgery she would need.
"I sent Gusler to call Fred at work." He stated trying to reassure her but also to break the deadly silence, that had now filled the small room.
Faith gave him a confused, disoriented look, as if she hadn't heard him, then her eyes widened a bit. "Davis! Why! I don't want Fred here!" She nearly shouted.
"Hey man, How was I suppose to know you wouldn't want your husband here. Why don't you want him here?" Davis questioned.
"I just don't!" Faith spat angrily.
Suddenly as if on cue, the young rookie poked his head in the door, "Hi Yokas are you feeling any better?" he smiled shyly but tried to sound comforting.
"My partner may die because of me, a bullet went through my arm, breaking the bone and maybe doing terrible internal damage to nerves or arteries and you have the balls to ask me if I'm feeling better!" Faith snapped at him, her anger and frustration and fear for her partner mounting.
Gusler's smile faded and his face went white, "I'm sorry ma'am, I... I called your husband at work, he's on his way here. I ... uh ... I gotta go check on something" Gusler said darting out of the room.
Davis stared at her, a half grin on his face. "I've seen Gusler run before especially from Bosco, but never that fast!" he chuckled.
"I'm sorry" She mumbled. Tears starting streaming down Faith's cheeks. She was shivering slightly in pain and sadness.
"Don't worry Faith, Bosco's a fighter, he won't give up." Davis put his arm around her back gently, giving her support without words. Davis was very surprised how Faith was acting, he knew, she had seen her partner had been shot before, but he had NEVER seen her so shaken up. "Faith?" he said, trying to get some response out of her.
"I don't want Fred here." Faith said quietly, coming out of the blank state she was in, for only a second.
"You need him here, plus he's probably worried sick."
She didn't say anything, tears continued rolling off her cheek, as she stared at the small window. "Its my fault." she suddenly whispered.
"What was you fault?" he tried to understand what she had meant.
"If Bosco dies, Its because of me." She started weeping softly.
"Faith, Its not your fault." he insisted.
"Yes it is, Bosco wouldn't wait, he told me to put on his vest, but I said, No we have to wait for backup..." she wept, her head now on his shoulder. She was coved in blood, her blood and Bosco's blood. "... He told me, Fine to wait there..." she wept. "... I couldn't let him go in there alone..." she paused, trying to control emotions, "... So i put the vest on..."
"Hey, How is it your fault? You did everything right? You told him to wait for backup, he wouldn't listen of course, We're talking about Bosco, but you had his back, Its NOT your fault!" He said firmly, trying to force Faith to believe the words he just said.
There was a black and white poster on the wall. The poster was a advertisement for Mercy… A old couple, sitting on a bench in central park, gently holding each others hand, with a glint in their eyes, and relishing in the love the had obviously shared for the last 50 years. The bottom of the poster, was one simple but powerful line - *Live for the dream, but Love the moment*. Underneath the quote, was the name Mercy Hospital and the address. Her shaking increased and she starting weeping.
"Faith… Shhh…" Davis cooed at her.
Suddenly her shaking stopped for a moment, as if she just realized something, she looked up at Davis, her face was scrunched up, she bit her lip, as if she wanted to tell him something but couldn't. "I love him" she said clearly, biting her lip again to keep from falling apart.
Davis's jaw fell open in surprise and shock. "You... um... You..." he stammered unsure of what context she was talking about, she was married, he told himself.
"I think I'm falling in love with him, Davis!" she blurted out, angered at his shocked expression, but still not sure why she was sharing this information with the young cop.
"...um..." Davis stammered, he didn't know what to say. "...um... what about your husband?" Davis asked, not wanting to intrude but thinking she needed someone to confide in.
"we're getting divorced, we separated a few days ago" she said softly.
"Because of Bosco?" he asked carefully.
"No, not because of Bosco, Because he's a verbally abusive drunk. And always will be." she said curtly, anger over powering her tears, temporarily.
"So... you and Bosco? ... Does Bosco know you love him?" he said, he still couldn't really believe what he had just heard. How could she be in love with bigoted, senseless, immature, hothead Boscorelli, he mused, smiling inwardly.
Her eyes which were swollen from crying, widened and looked at him again. "No, He doesn't even know I have feeling for him, much less that i'm falling in love with him... And now he may never know." speaking those last words, they hit her hard, and she sobbed again. "Please this has to stay between you and me,"
"No problem..." he was cut off by Doctor Morales entering the room with nurse Practor. "Well... I'm going to go get cleaned up and get some coffee, I'll check and see if i can find anything about our partners, then I'll come back to check on you." he said standing up and giving Faith a reassuring smile.
"Thanks Ty." Faith managed to say.
Davis nodded, "I'll be back soon."
*****
Davis was heading quickly to the bathroom, and ran straight into Alex. He didn't noticed it was her for a minute, she too was covered in blood.
"Ty, Whoa, Stop, Where are you going? You need to get cleaned up! You weren't hurt right?" Alex said in one long breathe.
"Taylor!" he said as he snapped back in to reality and out of his thoughts. "No, I wasn't hurt, this is Sully's, Bosco's and Faith's blood." Davis said with a disgusted look on his face looking down at his uniform. "Did you hear anything about Bosco?" Davis blurted out, anxiously, needing to know for Faith's sake, but worried what she would say.
"Umm... Bosco... Bosco coded in the bus on the way here. We got him back, but it doesn't look good, he's lost so much blood."
Davis nodded, "How is Sully have you seen him?" he asked.
"He's in Surgery with Dr. Travis. But don't worry, Doc says it doesn't look bad, he's going to be fine."
He sighed a breathe of relief. "Well, I was heading to the bathroom to get cleaned up." Davis blushed slightly, he still had feelings for the blond paramedic firefighter that he had dated briefly.
Alex smiled at his obviously blushing. "Follow me, I was heading to the Triage washroom, Doc and Carlos are probably still in there."
"Thanks."
*****
"Hi Faith, Morphine helping any?" Dr. Morales asked, walking towards her.
"Is Bosco okay?" Faith said, her eyes to the ground not trusting herself not to cry."
"I need to look at your arm," Morales said firmly, avoiding the question.
"Bosco is he... Did he make it." She asked again, scared at the fact Morales wasn't answering the question she asked.
"Faith, your arm-----" She stopped cut off by Faith.
"Sarah tell me!" Faith hissed, pulling her arm away from Morales which cause pain to slice through her body, she was about to lose it, in every respect of the word.
"Faith... Bosco coded in the ambulance." Morales started, she knew Faith was close to shock, but felt that her not knowing was worst then her knowing the truth.
"NO!" Faith started shaking again.
"Faith! Calm down, let me finish, They got him back, but he's lost a lot of blood." She said softly, nodding for Nurse Practor to give them a few minutes.
She sat there, facing doctor Morales, with a lost look on her face. "Do you think he'll make it?" she whispered gently, not knowing if she could truly handle the answer.
"Yes, I think he will, but he's still in very critical shape, he was turned over to Dr. Domason about thirty minutes ago, they should be doing a blood transfusion on him now." Morales softly told her.
Faith closed her eyes tightly, but tears still managed to find their way through, she leaned back onto the bed.
Dr. Morales held up the X-rays to the lighted board. "Faith, we're going to need to take you in to surgery right away. The bullet hit the bone, breaking it, but then it went left hitting one of the smaller arteries and tearing into your muscle mass."
"I need to see Bosco," Faith said trying to sit up.
"If we don't do surgery soon, you might lose your arm. I promise as soon as you wake up, I will update you about Bosco."
Faith closed her eyes tightly again and nodded. Not trusting herself to speak.
"Alright, I'll go get the forms you need to sign, Nurse Practor will start prepping you..."
:::Knock-Knock-Knock:::
Fred pushed the door open, and walked in. "Faith" he said tears swelling his eyes up.
"I'll give you two a few minutes," Dr. Morales smile warmly as she excused herself.
"Fred what are you doing here?" Faith questioned, distressed enough without him actually showing up.
"What do you mean? I'm still your husband!" Fred started getting angry. "Here!" he pulled his arm from around his back and tossed a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers towards her. He suddenly realized anger wasn't what he needed to show if he was going to convince her to give him a second chance. But he was so pissed off at her for being hurt, he wanted nothing more to scream at her 'see if you had quit you wouldn't be in here'. "I'm sorry Babe. I'm sorry you're hurt, give me another chance… I'll take care of you." he said gently.
Faith looked up at him, he had a single tear running down his cheek. She sighed deeply. "Fred, nothing has changed, we are getting a divorce. I already have a attorney and an apartment for me and the kids. Fred, thank you for the flowers but please go. I can't deal with you too today." She said, eyes burning from crying for the last hour.
"You already have a attorney!" He hissed, shocked. He had thought it was a bluff, she had kicked him out for the drinking and arguing before.
"Did you think, I wasn't serious the other day?"
"Fuck you Faith, Don't come crawling back to me when Bosco dies!" He angrily spat, turning towards the door, and then slamming it on his way out.
"Great, just great." She started feeling incredibly dizzy, and fell back into the hospital bed.
*****
Bosco lay on the cold surgical table, his clothing all removed except a thin hospital gown tied around his lower half six inches below the wound on his abdomen. He was hooked to half a dozen machines, had one IV in each wrist, and was being given a blood transfusion, a needle much like a IV unit was hooked into his inner arm, attached to what was fresh clean blood. His heart beat was stronger, but he was still in grave danger. Doctor Domason with the help of a resident surgeon and two RN's, was working on the abdomen wound, removing the bullet was the easy part. The hard part came with the search to find out what damage the bullet had done.
"It looks like its a clean hit to the liver," Domason told the resident surgeon, while he burnt the liver to seal up the blood vessels.
"No intestine damage?" the resident asked a bit surprised.
"I was sure we where going to get this guy on the table, and find him in two hundred pieces, shredded inside. But as long at this cautery seals this liver, and the blood transfusion takes, he may just make it." he said confidently.
"That will be a relief to his partner." he sighed, he hated seeing cops come in here. His father was a retired cop, and he watched years earlier, when his Father's partner died from a gunshot while on duty, a bit of his Dad died too. The cold surgical room, was suddenly very quiet.
*****
"Officer Yokas!" Nurse Practor said firmly, coming back into the room only to find Faith passed out. Her breathing was shallow, but her pulse was strong. "Doctor Morales, you're needed in room two" Nurse Practor called urgently into the small intercom next to Faith's bed.
*****
Davis sat in the cafeteria, sipping his coffee. He was thinking about what Faith had told him. He was pretty good friends with Bosco, he often went with him to Hagrities to grab a beer after work, sometimes the two went bar hopping to pick up chicks. Bosco was always talking about Faith. "Bosco has been acting strange lately..." the other night at the bar... That brunette Kyri was throwing herself at him, and he just took off, Davis knew something was bothering him. But what... he wondered if it had anything to do with Faith.
"Can I sit here?" Alex interrupted his thought.
He smiled at her. "Of course Taylor."
She sat in the chair next to him. She sighed deeply, and rested her head in her hands, rubbing the temples of her head. "What a day, huh?"
"Yep"
"Bosco... Sully... AND Faith..." She groaned still rubbing her temples.
"Alex are you okay?" he asked, his smile fading.
"Yes I'm fine, I just have a headache, don't worry it will pass, I just took some Aspirin."
Davis nodded his head. "I gotta go check on Faith in a few minutes," he warned.
"She's in surgery. I passed Morales in the hallway... Her husband came by... they got in a argument or something, he left and when Practor went in to start prepping her for surgery, she was passed out. Morales said it was a combination of stress and shock. She's in surgery now."
"Damn, I shouldn't of left her... She told me she didn't want her husband here." he sighed loudly, damn this day was wearing on him. His hand trembled lightly.
"Ty..." Alex started softly, reaching over and taking his large, trembling hand in hers"...Its not your fault, she's fine, she's just getting her arm fixed."
"I know Taylor... Its just, I couldn't help Sully or Bosco, but i thought could help Faith." he confess instantly embarrassed.
Alex pulled his hand to her cheek. "Listen to me, you are helping her. You're being a friend. Sully and Bosco will be fine, Trust me." She kissed his hand softly. :::Beep - Adam 55-3, we have a MVA on 4th and Yines Ave::: Alex reached pushed the button to the radio on her shoulder, "10-4". "I gotta go," She reached over and kissed his cheek, "can we talk later? I get off at 11?" She had a worried expression on her face while she anticipated his response.
"I remember..." he grinned. "... I'll be here" he gave her hand a squeeze as he watched her walk away.
*****
"Lets sew him up and get him in recovery." Domason said after what seemed like a eternity of silence.
"Boscorelli, you are one lucky man." The resident told the unconscious officer. 'Someone up there is defiantly looking out for you.' He thought to himself, looking up at the ceiling.
*****
Davis walked towards the waiting room of the Trauma unit. He wasn't surprised to see so many Officers, he headed towards Officer Williams and Lieutenant Swersky.
"Davis! We've been looking for you. We need to get some statements for the reports" Swersky said.
"Hey... Do we need to do this now?" Davis asked, he was emotionally and physically exhausted.
"We really need to wrap this up." Swersky stated.
"I have three friends in surgery, one critical... The guy is dead, can't we wait until tomorrow? I'll come in early."
"Alright Davis," Swersky sighed, "...You better have your ass at the station EARLY tomorrow." he firmly commanded, emphasizing the word *early*.
"Yes Sir." He said rather relieved. Then Davis turned to face Officer Williams. "How is that girl you brought in?"
"Alive, But we can't get statements from her, cause that S.O.B broke her jaw. It had to be wired shut. She was in shock when she came in, after they fixed her jaw, they sedated her to stop the pain."
"Alright, well I'm going to go find my Partner."
Swersky and Williams nodded, as he walked away.
*****
"John Sullivan?" the nurse asked the stirring Officer?
Sully let out a groan and slowly lifted his hand to his head. "Damn" he moaned with annoyance and pain.
"John? Do you know where you are?" the nurse said once again, hitting the button on the intercom for Dr. Travis to come to room one.
Another groan escaped his list. "Mercy."
"Good" the nurse said, marking on the chart, that she held close to her body.
The older balding Doctor Travis, suddenly popped into the room. "Officer Sullivan! Welcome back" the doctor said with a grin. "Surgery went well. We repaired the hip and the artery, you're going to have to stay on desk duty until probably... Christmas"
"Three months?" Sully groaned again, this time not from pain but from the dread of being on desk duty for three months.
"Yes, Unless you want to permanently injure it, but then you're have to be on desk duty forever." he said with a smile.
"Three months is fine." Sully sighed. "When can I get out of here?" not liking to be the center of attention.
"You're going to be kept here for a week, for observation and to make sure that wound doesn't get infected.
"A week!"
"Do I have to keep repeating myself?" Dr. Travis questioned him with annoyance obvious in his tone.
"No"
"Good. I'll be back to check on you later?"
"Wait! Did Bosco make it? What about Faith?" Sully questioned with worry.
"Your partner has been running around worrying about you, I'm sure he can fill you in on the other Officers." The doctor said as he left.
"What a jerk." He said under his breathe.
*****
Faith's surgery was simple, the break was pretty clean, the arteries were tied off, and the muscle stitched together to induce re-growth. She was starting to stir, waking up from the anesthesia, she felt dizzy and nausea. Her arm was so medicated she didn't really feel anything, but it was swollen double the size. "Bosco?" she cried tossing and turning as she started waking up. "Bosco?"
*****
"SULLY, Hey man! How ya feeling?!" Davis said, happy to see his partner, awake from surgery.
"Ty! Heard you were worried about me." Sully joked with the young cop.
"Whatever man," Davis chuckled.
"So... Did Bosco make it?" Sully his tone now serious. Bosco was a pain in his ass, but was still worried about him.
"Yes, he coded, ended up having to get a blood transfusion. But he's in ICU recovery now, its looking pretty good though."
"What about Faith?" Sully asked him. He had always admired Faith, she was tough, she had to be to keep Bosco in check.
"She's got a broken arm. When I left her earlier she was still really a mess about Bosco." He wished he could discuss what Faith had told him with his Partner but he had made a promise and he intended to keep it.
"I was a mess when your Father died." He said fidgeting with his IV tubing.
"When can I spring you from this place?" He asked, successfully changing the subject.
"They want to watch me for a damn week, for infections and stuff." He grumbled.
Davis couldn't help but smile at his partner. "Well, I better go check on Faith, I promised her."
"No prob." Sully waved as Davis left the room.
*****
"Bosco..." Faith groaned, stirring out of the anesthesia.
Davis entered the room, generally, only family was allowed in, but there were always exceptions to the rule. No one had known how to contact Faith's mother. She had never put her parents down as contacts because they weren't in her life, of course she had reconciled with her mother since then but never bothered to update. "Faith" Davis said gently, turning and leaving again to get a doctor.
A few minutes late a anxious Davis, was followed by Dr. Morales. Faith was pretty much awake by then.
She still felt dizzy and somewhat nauseas. "Bosco? Is he alright?" She asked slowly, still pretty out of it.
"Dr. Domason informed me that it was a clean wound inside, he's not out of the woods yet, but it looks good Faith." She smiled.
Faith closed her eyes as relief overflowed her emotions, and said a silent 'thank you' to the God above. She wasn't comfortable with religion but she had prayed for Bosco to be okay. "Can I see him?"
"He's still in the ICU recovery, which is only for family..." Morales started telling her but was cut off.
"I AM FAMILY! I'VE BEEN PARTNERS WITH HIM FOR EIGHT YEARS!" Faith growled at her, trying to pull herself up.
"If you would of let me finish..." Morales said. "he should be out of the recovery shortly, I'll see that a exception is made."
"Thank you Sarah." Faith said quietly, ashamed of her outburst.
"Faith, I understand you're really worried about Bosco, but you have to stay calm and rest, your body needs to start to heal." She said soothingly.
"I'll rest after I've seen him." She said firmly but with a apologetic tone.
I'll be back to check on you shortly." Morales gave her a reassuring smile and hurried to go check on her other patients, leaving Davis and Faith alone.
"Sully awake." Davis broke the silence.
A smile finally broke on Faith's face, "That's wonderful."
"He's worried about you and Bosco." He added.
Faith laughed for the first time since the incident hours earlier. "Sully? Your partner Sully is worried about Bosco?" She joked.
Davis chuckled, "Yep, I think being shot mad him forget what a jerk Bosco is too him."
"Bosco respects him, even if he doesn't show it, and I know deep down he likes the guy." Faith added.
"Sully too.."
"What time is it?" She suddenly felt worried, she had told her Mother she was going to stop by around seven pm to visit the kids, since she and Bosco were off today and tomorrow.
"Its a quarter to eight." He said looking down at his watch.
"Did anyone call my Mother?" Faith asked impatiently?
"No, Angela Boscorelli was called, she's in the trauma waiting room. There was no contact numbers for anyone except Fred in your file."
"Please call her, let her know I'm okay and to not scare the kids." Faith asked, scribbling down the number and handing it too him. "Umm… I'm sorry about earlier. About what I said about Bosco… um… I wasn't really thinking clearly…" She stammered.
"Hey, no need to apologize. And don't worry like I promised what you said stays between us." He reassured her.
"Thanks Ty." Davis started heading towards the door, when a women poked her head in.
"Excuse me" the voice interrupted. "Faith?"
"Ms. Boscorelli?"
*****