Chapter five

Author's note: For anybody who's wondering where Bosco is and who's going to find him, here's part five. Hope you guys like it and yes, I NEED to read what you think about it so feel free to review! :)

***

Mikey got out of the squad before it even stopped and started to run, his eyes scanning the streets nearby, looking for any sign of his brother. He reached the alley where he'd met him about half an hour before, Sully and Davis trailing along behind him.

"He's not here." he stated. And I screwed up. Big time.

"Aww, this place smells awful!" Sully exclaimed. "What the hell was he doing in here?"

"He was just trying to help." Mikey sadly replied, looking down at his feet.

"You sure this is the place?" Davis asked him.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

"Pretty much?" Sully angrily repeated. "What's that supposed to mean? What is this, some kind of sick joke?"

"I'm sorry, man. I told you I..."

"Cut the crap, Michael, you're pissing me off!" he yelled. "Now you're going to tell us exactly where you left him before I lose my patience with you!"

"I'm sure, man, I am. This is the right place." Mikey finally admitted. "Maybe he..."

"Hey, Sul, look at this!"

They both turned around to look at Davis, who'd walked back towards the entrance of the alley and was now standing a few feet behind, his gaze fixed on something on the ground.

"What is it?" Sully asked as he caught up with him. He followed his partner's gaze and spotted a few bloodstains.

"Should I call for backup?"

"Not yet. Faith's gonna be here any minute, and it looks like whoever was here is already in the wind."

"Is that blood?" Mikey asked, his eyes wide with fear. No one answered. "Oh my God..." He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Come on, do something! We've got to find him!" he screamed.

"Calm down, man. We don't know anything for sure. This could be someone else's blood, alright?" Davis reasoned. Yeah, and hell has just frozen over.

"No, I... I have to find him!" he shouted again. "Maybe he's just hiding somewhere, or... maybe he called for help..." Or he's dead somewhere and can't ask for help anymore. "... Maybe he's still around here." he suddenly realized.

He glanced at the two cops that were still talking a couple of feet away and ran out of the alley, his heart pounding in his chest as he searched every spot, every dumpster, every place.

"Hey!" Davis called out.

"Where the hell does he think he's going?" Sully echoed.

"Come on, Sully, let's go." the younger officer said as he ran after him.

"Great." he muttered. "This just keeps getting better and better."

They rounded the corner and looked around, but there was no sign of Michael. They stood there for a few seconds, wondering about what to do, when they heard a voice not too far from their location.

They couldn't make out the words, but decided to follow it, drawing their weapons from its holster. With each step, it became closer, louder, so clear that each of them realized their worst fear had become true. That's when they saw him.

Mikey was bent over a still form laying on the ground, urging him to wake up. They moved closer and saw Bosco, eyes closed, head bent to his right side, a puddle of blood growing around him.

Davis put a hand over his mouth and stared at his colleague in shock, while Sully immediately reached for his radio. "Central, this is 55-Charlie requesting a bus forthwith at the corner of 58th and 11th, we have an officer down! I repeat, we need a bus on a rush, officer down!"

***

Faith heard Sully's voice over the radio and her heart skipped a beat. She blinked back a few tears as she stepped on the gas pedal and prayed that her partner was okay.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" Gusler's faint voice asked from the passenger's seat.

"No." she whispered. Hold on, Boz. I'm coming.

She spotted 55-Charlie a few minutes later, and screeched her RMP to a halt, running out of the vehicle. She didn't even think about Gusler as she frantically looked around, her concern for Bosco getting stronger and stronger.

When she finally found her colleagues, she stopped in her tracks and stared at the scene in front of her.

Ty Davis was crouched next to someone on the ground, with another man she couldn't recognize because his back was to her, while Sully was yelling over the radio, partially blocking her view. "Central, do you have an ETA for that bus?"

She could hear the panic in his voice, and was afraid to move closer and look at what was causing it. To see it would be to admit its truth.

"Faith, over here! I need your help!" The voice came from down low, down on the ground, next to the very thing that she couldn't bring herself to acknowledge.

She still couldn't move. She knew she was going to see blood, probably a lot of it, and hoped that it would be his leg or shoulder instead of his chest or head.

She finally forced herself to take a few steps forward and looked down at her worst fear. Blood was everywhere, spattered across his face, his hair, the ground around him, covering the hands of his friends attending to him. Oh my God, she gasped. There's too much blood...

"Mo? ... Maurice, wake up, man!"

She knelt down and suddenly became aware of the person right next to her. A voice she knew all too well. "Mikey?"

Her mind tried to come up with a good explanation for his presence on the scene, but she couldn't find one. She wanted to ask him a million questions, to learn what had happened, who had hurt her best friend, but she wasn't sure she could deal with the answers.

"Faith, please, you've got to help him!" he cried, grabbing her arm.

His words were like a jolt of electricity through her body. After taking in the sight of her partner's still form, she blinked a couple of times and snapped back to reality.

"Bosco? ... Bosco, can you hear me?" she asked, taking his hand in hers. His eyes remained closed, and a lonely tear slid down her cheek.

She quickly assessed his condition, running her hand through his injured abdomen and looking at his wound while she kept calling his name. "Bosco? ... Bosco, can you open your eyes? ... Please, open your eyes for me..." she cried, a hand firmly pressed on the wound to try and stop the bleeding.

"How long has he been down?" she asked.

"I don't know." Sully replied. "We just found him, but from the amount of blood I'd say..."

Faith didn't hear the end of that sentence. She just stared at the blood around him. She knew a gunshot wound to the stomach wasn't good, but she was determined not to let him go. "I'm going to fight, Boz." she whispered to his ear. "And you'd better fight too, you hear me? You've got to fight! ... Please, wake up..."

Bosco stirred and tried to move, but his whole body ached and he moaned in pain. He could hear Faith's voice, and thought he should let her know he was awake, but his eyelids were too heavy and he couldn't open his eyes.

He willed himself to do something, and managed to squeeze her hand.

"Bosco?" Faith called as soon as she heard the pressure on her hand. "Bosco, it's okay. Help is on the way. You just hang on, alright?"

She caressed his cheek and wiped away some of the blood on his face. He coughed a few times as pain ripped through his body and he tightened the grip on her hand.

"I'm right here, Boz. Please hold on..." she reassured him. Tears were now flowing freely down her face. "... Please, open your eyes, I need you to stay awake... please..."

"Maurice, I'm sorry, man... It's all my fault..." Mikey's voice sounded desperate. I'm watching my brother die right in front of me, he thought to himself. Is that my punishment? Am I going to relieve this nightmare for the rest of my life?

"Davis, get him out of here!" Sully ordered, pointing to Mikey who was making frantic attempts to get to his brother.

"What? No, please, I need to stay!"

"Just back off, man, give her some room." the officer replied. "Come on, why don't you sit down over there." Davis said, pointing to some steps nearby. He grabbed him by the shoulders and led him away from his brother as Sully walked back towards the RMP to wait for the bus.

"I'm sorry, man... I'm sorry..." he repeated over and over, staring at his bloody hands.

Faith watched the scene and realized there was a lot more to the story that she'd ever know. She would ask him about that later. For now, her main concern was to keep Bosco alive until the paramedics showed up.

She turned to look back at him and was surprised to meet his blue eyes. "Bosco? Hey partner..." she said, lacing her fingers through his. "Hold on, okay?"

His vision was still blurry and he couldn't see her face, but he knew she was smiling. He loved to see her smile. "I just... wanted to help him, Faith..." he whispered, immediately closing his eyes as a new wave of pain washed over him. "Prove my ma... you... that I'm not... useless."

Oh God, Faith gasped as she realized how much she'd hurt him with her words a few months before. "Bosco, listen to me. I'm sorry about that... I'm sorry I called you useless, I didn't mean it, okay? I... I was upset, and scared... you have to believe me." she pleaded, her voice wavering with emotion.

"I... deserved it..." he said again, gasping for breath.

She swallowed hard. "No! No, you didn't deserve any of it! ... Boz? Bosco, stay with me!" she cried as he closed his eyes and rolled his head to his side. "Come on, open your eyes for me!"

She looked down at the wound. Fresh blood was still seeping through the shirt she'd used to try and stop it. He's so cold. He's bleeding to death, she realized, immediately reaching for her jacket and covering him with it.

She could hear the siren getting closer, and the bus finally pulled over.

"See? Help is here." she said, still holding his hand. "Now we're gonna get you out of here and over to Mercy. You just hang on, okay? ...Stay with me, Boz..." she urged him.

He opened his eyes and licked his lips.

"Sshhh, don't try to talk." she told him, gently putting a finger over his lips.

Bosco felt himself drifting back to unconsciousness. "Tell Mikey... I don't blame him... for this."

"You'll tell him that yourself, you hear me?" Faith promised as she heard footsteps approaching and moved to her left to give the paramedics some room to work.

"Don't go..."

"No, Boz, I'm not leaving. I'm not going anywhere." she replied, looking over at Doc and Kim and motioning for them to hurry up.

He started coughing again, blood coming out of his mouth. "I'm... sorry I... let you down, Faith." were his last words before his eyes drifted shut and everything went dark.

"Bosco? Bosco, talk to me!" she cried.

"Faith? Come on, step back, we need some space here." Doc's voice told her. "Come on, we need to stop the bleeding." he said, handing Kim an IV.

"Help him... please."

"We're going to do everything we can." Kim assured her.

Sully put a hand on her shoulder and helped her get back to her feet. She covered her mouth with her hand, but couldn't help more tears from falling. "Oh God, Sully, he's lost too much blood..."

The older man gave her shoulder a light squeeze and pulled her closer. "I know." he whispered. "But I also know he's a fighter. Everything's gonna be okay."

TBC...