The Witness
Chapter 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raven and some of the others were all sitting around in the apartment. Ronnie opened the door and half-dragged Cole into the room. Raven dismissed the others so that it was just Ronnie and Cole in the room. Ronnie put Cole into a chair and left his hand on his shoulder so that he wouldn't try to get up.
Ronnie had a talk with Cole on the way over, although Cole pretty much didn't comprehend most of it because of the drugs he'd taken just before Ronnie's appearance. Basically, Ronnie told him that Raven was worried about how he freaked out over the job last night. He was worried that he'd go to the cops. Ronnie told Raven that there was no way that Cole would do that. That he knew better than to cross Raven or the Latin Lords, but Raven wanted to make sure.
Now, Raven stood up and slowly walked over to Cole. Even though Cole was under the affects of the drugs, he recognized Raven and knew that he meant business. He looked up at Raven as he stood in front of him.
"Where you been, Cole?" Raven asked him.
"Around," he answered.
"Around where?"
"Just around. Here and there. I had to score some drugs," Cole answered him again.
Ronnie could see that Raven was getting mad because Cole wasn't answering his questions. "I found him over in that abandoned building on Lex. You know, the one he usually hangs out in, Raven," Ronnie told him. "Man, he musta been there all night, 'cause he's pretty messed up."
"Yeah? Is that where you were all night, Cole? Because I can find out. I got people that can find these things out," he said, bending over and grabbing Cole by the hair and forcing him to look at him.
"Yeah. What Ronnie said. I been out of it all night. I found some good stuff. Stuff that helped me forget about last night. About you burning those old people," Cole said disrespectfully, which brought him a beating from Raven.
After the beating, Cole lay on the floor of the apartment, barely conscious. "Get him out of here. When he sobers up tell him who gave him the beating. Tell him there's worse where that came from if he opens his mouth about last night," Raven told Ronnie.
"He won't say nothin', Raven. He knows who his family is," Ronnie tried to assure him, looking down at his friend. Raven hurt him pretty bad. "He probably needs a doctor," he thought as he and one of the other guys who had come in helped him get Cole outside.
Ronnie dragged Cole around the corner and into the alley. He stayed with him for a while, but he was getting worse and Ronnie started to get scared. "Won't do to have Cole die. Then the cops'll start snooping around and Raven won't like that for sure," Ronnie thought to himself. He thought for a moment and then made a decision.
"Help's on the way, Cole. But, you better keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you," Ronnie said as he left Cole in the alley and went around the corner to the pay phone.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Faith and Bosco were on their way back out on patrol. They'd brought in a couple of men who were involved in a fistfight after a traffic accident. Bosco and Faith were willing to assist the men in exchanging insurance information and getting them on their way since there was minimal damage to either vehicle. But, the two men had different agendas and when the fighting continued and Bosco got hit in the eye, it was a done deal - those two were off to jail for creating a disturbance and assault on a police officer.
Lieutenant Swersky saw them walking down the hallway as they passed his office and called out to them. They walked back toward his office and met him in the hallway.
"What's up, Lieu?" Faith asked, as Bosco held the ice pak to his eye.
"What the hell happened?" The Lieutenant asked.
"Oh, Bosco got in the way of two guys fighting over a traffic accident. He stopped the fight with his face," Faith relayed to the Lieutenant with a smirk. The Lieutenant was able to stifle the laugh that tried to escape.
"Oh, well did you get it checked out to make sure you don't have any eye damage?" he asked Bosco.
"Nah. I was knocked around harder than this by my old man by the time I was 15," Bosco said casually, causing the Lieutenant and Faith to be speechless momentarily. Bosco'd never really talked about it with Faith. She knew he had it hard with his father. She knew he was a drunk and had hit his mother, but she never knew that he knocked Bosco around too.
"Okay, but if you have any problems, get over to Mercy," the Lieutenant said.
"Okay, Lieu," Bosco said as he and Faith turned to leave.
"Oh, I called you back here to tell you that the detectives ran that kid's name - the library card they found outside the fire last night - through the computer and sure enough he's got a record. Minor stuff. Stealing food from the groceries, minor vandalism and illegal trespassing in some abandoned buildings. Looks like he's homeless, just like the librarian thought," the Lieutenant relayed. "And, all of his arrests have been out of your zone, so keep your eyes open for him. Stop by the front desk for his booking photo," he finished.
"Okay. I'll go get it. Why don't you go look at your eye in the locker room," Faith offered.
"Alright," Bosco said, turning and walking down the hallway to the locker room.
"Tell me that he didn't get that black eye by goading one of those guys," the Lieutenant asked Faith. "Am I going to get a civilian complaint?"
"Absolutely not, Sir. Bosco did not instigate it this time. Those guys were just out of control, Lieu," Faith assured him.
"Alright. Get back out there," the Lieutenant said, turning to go back into his office. "Oh, and do me a favor, Yokas," he said as an afterthought.
"Yeah, Lieu?" Faith said.
"You drive. I don't need him running into something because he's seeing double," her boss said, turning and walking into his office.
"Yes, Sir," Faith replied and she went to go find her partner and pick up the booking photo of Cole Taylor.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Doc and Alex were just finishing up getting signatures from the patient that had decided to refuse transport to the hospital. Doc had tried to talk the woman into it, but she had refused. Apparently, she didn't feel that passing out on the sidewalk for no apparent reason was a good enough reason for a trip to the hospital.
"Yes, Ma'am," Doc said. "But if you change your mind or you have more symptoms, please just call back and we'll come right over," he urged her.
"Thank you, but I'll be fine, young man," she assured him.
They headed back to their rig when the radio crackled for them again. "Adam
55-3, take a call for an unknown, boy down. The alleyway on Lexington, in the area of 103rd," came the call.
"10-4, Central. Is there someone there to show us where to go?" Alex asked into the radio.
"Unknown, 55-3. It was a hang-up 9-1-1 call from a payphone at the corner," came the dispatcher's reply.
"10-4," Alex replied as Doc got in to drive and Alex climbed into the passenger seat.
"Seems like the day for people to just fall down for no reason," Doc said as they headed in the direction of the call.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
Faith pulled the RMP into the lot by the emergency entrance of Angel of Mercy and turned it off. "Maybe you should get that looked at as long as you're here," Faith said, noticing the bruise was getting worse.
"I told you, I'm fine, Faith," Bosco said again, tired of repeating himself.
"Yeah, well make sure you get another cold pak from Proctor while you're here," she said to him.
"Yes, Mommy," he replied sarcastically.
They walked into the emergency room and saw Doc and Alex standing at the desk finishing up their paperwork. "You brought in an assault?" Bosco said to Doc as they approached them.
"What the hell happened to you?" Alex blurted out.
"Line of duty injury," he said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, he felt it was his duty to get in the line of an oncoming punch at a traffic dispute," Faith filled in the blanks.
"Ouch," Doc said, grabbing Bosco's chin and lifting to get better light on his eye. "That's pretty red. You get it checked out yet?"
"I'm fine. Look, did you call us in here for an assault or what?" he said, getting perturbed. He walked over to where Alex pointed to their patient and looked into the exam room.
"He should really get that checked out," Doc told Faith.
"He says his old man used to knock him around worse than that and he survived. He's not gonna get it checked unless the Boss orders him to. You know how he is with doctors and hospitals," Faith said. "So, what's the scoop with your patient?"
"Fourteen year old kid. We found him in an alleyway. He's beat up pretty bad. Might have a ruptured spleen and probably a collapsed lung. He's high and drunk too. They're evaluating him now. He wasn't conscious when we got to him, but he's pretty dirty. Probably homeless," Doc reported with sadness in his voice.
"Okay. We'll take it from here. I'll let you know what we find out," Faith said, knowing that Doc liked to check up on his patients, particularly the ones that seemed to have no one.
"Okay. Have a safe one. And have him get his eye checked out," Doc tried one more time.
"I'll have Proctor tackle him before we leave," Faith joked as she turned and walked over to her partner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Raven and some of the others were all sitting around in the apartment. Ronnie opened the door and half-dragged Cole into the room. Raven dismissed the others so that it was just Ronnie and Cole in the room. Ronnie put Cole into a chair and left his hand on his shoulder so that he wouldn't try to get up.
Ronnie had a talk with Cole on the way over, although Cole pretty much didn't comprehend most of it because of the drugs he'd taken just before Ronnie's appearance. Basically, Ronnie told him that Raven was worried about how he freaked out over the job last night. He was worried that he'd go to the cops. Ronnie told Raven that there was no way that Cole would do that. That he knew better than to cross Raven or the Latin Lords, but Raven wanted to make sure.
Now, Raven stood up and slowly walked over to Cole. Even though Cole was under the affects of the drugs, he recognized Raven and knew that he meant business. He looked up at Raven as he stood in front of him.
"Where you been, Cole?" Raven asked him.
"Around," he answered.
"Around where?"
"Just around. Here and there. I had to score some drugs," Cole answered him again.
Ronnie could see that Raven was getting mad because Cole wasn't answering his questions. "I found him over in that abandoned building on Lex. You know, the one he usually hangs out in, Raven," Ronnie told him. "Man, he musta been there all night, 'cause he's pretty messed up."
"Yeah? Is that where you were all night, Cole? Because I can find out. I got people that can find these things out," he said, bending over and grabbing Cole by the hair and forcing him to look at him.
"Yeah. What Ronnie said. I been out of it all night. I found some good stuff. Stuff that helped me forget about last night. About you burning those old people," Cole said disrespectfully, which brought him a beating from Raven.
After the beating, Cole lay on the floor of the apartment, barely conscious. "Get him out of here. When he sobers up tell him who gave him the beating. Tell him there's worse where that came from if he opens his mouth about last night," Raven told Ronnie.
"He won't say nothin', Raven. He knows who his family is," Ronnie tried to assure him, looking down at his friend. Raven hurt him pretty bad. "He probably needs a doctor," he thought as he and one of the other guys who had come in helped him get Cole outside.
Ronnie dragged Cole around the corner and into the alley. He stayed with him for a while, but he was getting worse and Ronnie started to get scared. "Won't do to have Cole die. Then the cops'll start snooping around and Raven won't like that for sure," Ronnie thought to himself. He thought for a moment and then made a decision.
"Help's on the way, Cole. But, you better keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you," Ronnie said as he left Cole in the alley and went around the corner to the pay phone.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Faith and Bosco were on their way back out on patrol. They'd brought in a couple of men who were involved in a fistfight after a traffic accident. Bosco and Faith were willing to assist the men in exchanging insurance information and getting them on their way since there was minimal damage to either vehicle. But, the two men had different agendas and when the fighting continued and Bosco got hit in the eye, it was a done deal - those two were off to jail for creating a disturbance and assault on a police officer.
Lieutenant Swersky saw them walking down the hallway as they passed his office and called out to them. They walked back toward his office and met him in the hallway.
"What's up, Lieu?" Faith asked, as Bosco held the ice pak to his eye.
"What the hell happened?" The Lieutenant asked.
"Oh, Bosco got in the way of two guys fighting over a traffic accident. He stopped the fight with his face," Faith relayed to the Lieutenant with a smirk. The Lieutenant was able to stifle the laugh that tried to escape.
"Oh, well did you get it checked out to make sure you don't have any eye damage?" he asked Bosco.
"Nah. I was knocked around harder than this by my old man by the time I was 15," Bosco said casually, causing the Lieutenant and Faith to be speechless momentarily. Bosco'd never really talked about it with Faith. She knew he had it hard with his father. She knew he was a drunk and had hit his mother, but she never knew that he knocked Bosco around too.
"Okay, but if you have any problems, get over to Mercy," the Lieutenant said.
"Okay, Lieu," Bosco said as he and Faith turned to leave.
"Oh, I called you back here to tell you that the detectives ran that kid's name - the library card they found outside the fire last night - through the computer and sure enough he's got a record. Minor stuff. Stealing food from the groceries, minor vandalism and illegal trespassing in some abandoned buildings. Looks like he's homeless, just like the librarian thought," the Lieutenant relayed. "And, all of his arrests have been out of your zone, so keep your eyes open for him. Stop by the front desk for his booking photo," he finished.
"Okay. I'll go get it. Why don't you go look at your eye in the locker room," Faith offered.
"Alright," Bosco said, turning and walking down the hallway to the locker room.
"Tell me that he didn't get that black eye by goading one of those guys," the Lieutenant asked Faith. "Am I going to get a civilian complaint?"
"Absolutely not, Sir. Bosco did not instigate it this time. Those guys were just out of control, Lieu," Faith assured him.
"Alright. Get back out there," the Lieutenant said, turning to go back into his office. "Oh, and do me a favor, Yokas," he said as an afterthought.
"Yeah, Lieu?" Faith said.
"You drive. I don't need him running into something because he's seeing double," her boss said, turning and walking into his office.
"Yes, Sir," Faith replied and she went to go find her partner and pick up the booking photo of Cole Taylor.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Doc and Alex were just finishing up getting signatures from the patient that had decided to refuse transport to the hospital. Doc had tried to talk the woman into it, but she had refused. Apparently, she didn't feel that passing out on the sidewalk for no apparent reason was a good enough reason for a trip to the hospital.
"Yes, Ma'am," Doc said. "But if you change your mind or you have more symptoms, please just call back and we'll come right over," he urged her.
"Thank you, but I'll be fine, young man," she assured him.
They headed back to their rig when the radio crackled for them again. "Adam
55-3, take a call for an unknown, boy down. The alleyway on Lexington, in the area of 103rd," came the call.
"10-4, Central. Is there someone there to show us where to go?" Alex asked into the radio.
"Unknown, 55-3. It was a hang-up 9-1-1 call from a payphone at the corner," came the dispatcher's reply.
"10-4," Alex replied as Doc got in to drive and Alex climbed into the passenger seat.
"Seems like the day for people to just fall down for no reason," Doc said as they headed in the direction of the call.
*^*^*^*^*^*^
Faith pulled the RMP into the lot by the emergency entrance of Angel of Mercy and turned it off. "Maybe you should get that looked at as long as you're here," Faith said, noticing the bruise was getting worse.
"I told you, I'm fine, Faith," Bosco said again, tired of repeating himself.
"Yeah, well make sure you get another cold pak from Proctor while you're here," she said to him.
"Yes, Mommy," he replied sarcastically.
They walked into the emergency room and saw Doc and Alex standing at the desk finishing up their paperwork. "You brought in an assault?" Bosco said to Doc as they approached them.
"What the hell happened to you?" Alex blurted out.
"Line of duty injury," he said matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, he felt it was his duty to get in the line of an oncoming punch at a traffic dispute," Faith filled in the blanks.
"Ouch," Doc said, grabbing Bosco's chin and lifting to get better light on his eye. "That's pretty red. You get it checked out yet?"
"I'm fine. Look, did you call us in here for an assault or what?" he said, getting perturbed. He walked over to where Alex pointed to their patient and looked into the exam room.
"He should really get that checked out," Doc told Faith.
"He says his old man used to knock him around worse than that and he survived. He's not gonna get it checked unless the Boss orders him to. You know how he is with doctors and hospitals," Faith said. "So, what's the scoop with your patient?"
"Fourteen year old kid. We found him in an alleyway. He's beat up pretty bad. Might have a ruptured spleen and probably a collapsed lung. He's high and drunk too. They're evaluating him now. He wasn't conscious when we got to him, but he's pretty dirty. Probably homeless," Doc reported with sadness in his voice.
"Okay. We'll take it from here. I'll let you know what we find out," Faith said, knowing that Doc liked to check up on his patients, particularly the ones that seemed to have no one.
"Okay. Have a safe one. And have him get his eye checked out," Doc tried one more time.
"I'll have Proctor tackle him before we leave," Faith joked as she turned and walked over to her partner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...