The Witness
Chapter 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco was at the desk starting the paperwork on the kid that Doc and Alex brought in. Nurse Proctor had given him a new ice pak, but it was setting on the desk alongside his clipboard. Faith had gone into the exam room to see what she could find out from the doctor about the young man's injuries.
"Any ID on the kid in Room 4?" Bosco asked the nurse at the desk. She looked through the chart and flipped a few pages.
"Says here his name is Taylor. Cole Taylor. We're requesting medical records to check for any old charts in case he was treated here before. If so, there may be more information on next of kin and stuff," she answered him. He nodded as he started to write the boy's name in the report.
"You know, Officer. That ice would work a lot better if you actually applied it to your eye," came a familiar voice from behind him.
Bosco finished writing Cole's name on the report as the smile came across his face. He turned and said, "Well, Katy Logan. It's been a long time."
"Yeah. I thought you said you were going to call me," she said, some bitterness, but more humor in her voice.
"Um. I tried a couple of times, but we never hooked up. But I'm up for it if you are," he said, trying to sound charming.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are - up for the hooking up part anyway," she teased him as she walked over to the desk. "So, what happened to your eye?" she asked him. "I'm assuming that's why you're here."
"Actually, no. I think I'm here for the same reason you are. You are still with Childrens' Services, right?" he asked her, referring to the boy in Room 4.
"Cole Taylor?" she asked him, looking at her note from her secretary.
"The same," he said, suddenly recognizing the name. "You know the scoop on this kid?" he asked her.
"He's in the system," she said. "Lives on the street. He runs away from foster care. He's got a drug and alcohol problem. And quite the attitude if I remember correctly," she said. "So what happened to him?"
"Somebody beat the crap out of him and dumped him in an alley over on Lex," Bosco told her as Faith walked over to them.
"Hey, Faith," Katy said to her. "He finally got to you, huh?" she said, gesturing to Bosco's eye.
"Hey, Katy. No, I wish I could take the credit, but the idiot who did it is in lock-up right now," Faith said without elaborating.
"So, what'd the doctor say about the kid. You know it's Cole Taylor, right? The kid we're looking for in connection with that fire last night," Bosco informed Faith.
"Really?" Faith said, looking back into the room. "Well, the doctor said he had a collapsed lung and probably a lacerated liver. They got the lung re-inflated with a chest tube and they're gonna keep an eye on the liver for now. He may be okay without surgery. They're gonna send him up to CT to evaluate him for a head injury. It's that or the drugs and alcohol that have him unconscious," Faith said, as she looked back at the boy.
"What's this about a fire last night?" Katy asked.
"They found this kid's library ID outside of a bodega fire last night. The elderly couple that owned it and lived upstairs were found dead inside - with gunshot wounds. Medical Examiner's trying to figure out if they died before or as a result of the fire," Bosco explained. "Anyway, they think this kid may be a witness. By-stander mentioned the Latin Lords in connection with the fire," he finished.
Katy shook her head sadly. "I was hoping he'd stay away from the gangs, but he seemed to be gravitating toward it the last time we had him."
"What happened to his real parents?" Bosco asked. Katy looked through her file before answering.
"No Dad in the picture ever. Mom gave him up when he was born. He's been in foster care up until he turned 12. There were allegations of abuse, but we couldn't prove it. He decided he could take better care of himself than having to deal with abusive foster parents and took off," she said. "He's been in and out of hospitals for incidences similar to today. We had him in rehab a couple of times, but he never stuck it out," she told them. Bosco looked at the boy lying still on the bed.
"If I remember right, he was a pretty good student when he went to school. And he likes sports. He's pretty athletic actually. Plays some pick-up games of soccer in the park sometimes," she finished as the doctor came over to them.
"So, is he gonna be okay, Doc?" Bosco asked.
"He'll survive these injuries, but he won't survive much longer the way he's living his life. We ran a drug screen and he's got at least three different kinds of drugs in his system along with the alcohol. It's a wonder he didn't die in that ally," the doctor reported.
"We're gonna admit him. He's on his way up to CT and then to ICU so we can monitor him closely. He still may need surgery, but we'll have to see what the liver does," he finished, turning to fill out the chart.
Katy handed the doctor her card for the chart. "Could you give me a call if, I mean when, he wakes up, Doctor? Or if his condition changes? Whatever you do, don't let him leave without me talking to him first. I want to try to get him back into rehab if I can," she said. The doctor sighed heavily and nodded. He'd seen this kind of thing too often. Everyone knew that if he didn't want to get himself clean, it wasn't gonna happen.
"Well, keep fightin' the good fight, guys," Katy said as she prepared to leave. She slipped Bosco her card too. "In case you want to discuss the case," she said quietly in his ear before picking up the ice pak and putting it against his eye and putting his hand up to hold it in place before leaving. "Or anything else."
Bosco turned to watch her walk out. "Now, why don't you call her. She'd be good for you," Faith said behind him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bosco said.
"Well, you're just a big juvenile delinquent yourself," Faith said sarcastically as the nurse came over to the doctor as he tried to stifle a chuckle at Faith's comment.
"Doctor, he's starting to come around a little. We're putting the soft restraints on because he's trying to pull the lines out," she said. The doctor followed her back into the room with Bosco and Faith close behind.
The doctor took a quick glance at the monitors and then went to check his pupil reaction with a flashlight. "Cole. Can you hear me? You're at Angel of Mercy and we're gonna take care of you. But, you need to relax and let us do what we have to do so you don't injure yourself further. Do you know what happened to you?" the doctor asked him.
"F*(k you!" Cole yelled out, fighting harder.
"Nice vocabulary," Bosco said under his breath.
"Give him 10 mg of valium to calm him down," the doctor ordered. The nurse administered the medication and Cole seemed to quiet slightly. He opened his left eye, but his right eye remained shut probably from the swelling from the beating he took.
"Cole Taylor? I'm Officer Faith Yokas. Do you know who did this to you?" she asked him.
"NO! No cops! I ain't talkin' to no cops!" he yelled becoming agitated again. The doctor motioned for them to back off and they did.
Finally, Cole calmed down again, but not before Bosco saw something in the boy's eyes. Not anger, but... fear. "What are you afraid of?" he thought to himself.
They stepped out of the room and in a few minutes, the doctor joined them. "Well, he's sedated until we find out about his CT scan. He's not going anywhere so you might as well call later and we'll let you know if you can talk to him," he informed them.
"Okay, Doc. Thanks," Faith said. Bosco grabbed his clipboard and they started out to the RMP.
"Officer. If you start having any blurred vision or headaches, you should probably get back here and get that eye checked out and an x-ray of the bones around it," the doctor suggested.
"Geez! What is it with everyone today," he said in exasperation. "Thanks, Doc. I'll do that," he yelled over his shoulder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco was at the desk starting the paperwork on the kid that Doc and Alex brought in. Nurse Proctor had given him a new ice pak, but it was setting on the desk alongside his clipboard. Faith had gone into the exam room to see what she could find out from the doctor about the young man's injuries.
"Any ID on the kid in Room 4?" Bosco asked the nurse at the desk. She looked through the chart and flipped a few pages.
"Says here his name is Taylor. Cole Taylor. We're requesting medical records to check for any old charts in case he was treated here before. If so, there may be more information on next of kin and stuff," she answered him. He nodded as he started to write the boy's name in the report.
"You know, Officer. That ice would work a lot better if you actually applied it to your eye," came a familiar voice from behind him.
Bosco finished writing Cole's name on the report as the smile came across his face. He turned and said, "Well, Katy Logan. It's been a long time."
"Yeah. I thought you said you were going to call me," she said, some bitterness, but more humor in her voice.
"Um. I tried a couple of times, but we never hooked up. But I'm up for it if you are," he said, trying to sound charming.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are - up for the hooking up part anyway," she teased him as she walked over to the desk. "So, what happened to your eye?" she asked him. "I'm assuming that's why you're here."
"Actually, no. I think I'm here for the same reason you are. You are still with Childrens' Services, right?" he asked her, referring to the boy in Room 4.
"Cole Taylor?" she asked him, looking at her note from her secretary.
"The same," he said, suddenly recognizing the name. "You know the scoop on this kid?" he asked her.
"He's in the system," she said. "Lives on the street. He runs away from foster care. He's got a drug and alcohol problem. And quite the attitude if I remember correctly," she said. "So what happened to him?"
"Somebody beat the crap out of him and dumped him in an alley over on Lex," Bosco told her as Faith walked over to them.
"Hey, Faith," Katy said to her. "He finally got to you, huh?" she said, gesturing to Bosco's eye.
"Hey, Katy. No, I wish I could take the credit, but the idiot who did it is in lock-up right now," Faith said without elaborating.
"So, what'd the doctor say about the kid. You know it's Cole Taylor, right? The kid we're looking for in connection with that fire last night," Bosco informed Faith.
"Really?" Faith said, looking back into the room. "Well, the doctor said he had a collapsed lung and probably a lacerated liver. They got the lung re-inflated with a chest tube and they're gonna keep an eye on the liver for now. He may be okay without surgery. They're gonna send him up to CT to evaluate him for a head injury. It's that or the drugs and alcohol that have him unconscious," Faith said, as she looked back at the boy.
"What's this about a fire last night?" Katy asked.
"They found this kid's library ID outside of a bodega fire last night. The elderly couple that owned it and lived upstairs were found dead inside - with gunshot wounds. Medical Examiner's trying to figure out if they died before or as a result of the fire," Bosco explained. "Anyway, they think this kid may be a witness. By-stander mentioned the Latin Lords in connection with the fire," he finished.
Katy shook her head sadly. "I was hoping he'd stay away from the gangs, but he seemed to be gravitating toward it the last time we had him."
"What happened to his real parents?" Bosco asked. Katy looked through her file before answering.
"No Dad in the picture ever. Mom gave him up when he was born. He's been in foster care up until he turned 12. There were allegations of abuse, but we couldn't prove it. He decided he could take better care of himself than having to deal with abusive foster parents and took off," she said. "He's been in and out of hospitals for incidences similar to today. We had him in rehab a couple of times, but he never stuck it out," she told them. Bosco looked at the boy lying still on the bed.
"If I remember right, he was a pretty good student when he went to school. And he likes sports. He's pretty athletic actually. Plays some pick-up games of soccer in the park sometimes," she finished as the doctor came over to them.
"So, is he gonna be okay, Doc?" Bosco asked.
"He'll survive these injuries, but he won't survive much longer the way he's living his life. We ran a drug screen and he's got at least three different kinds of drugs in his system along with the alcohol. It's a wonder he didn't die in that ally," the doctor reported.
"We're gonna admit him. He's on his way up to CT and then to ICU so we can monitor him closely. He still may need surgery, but we'll have to see what the liver does," he finished, turning to fill out the chart.
Katy handed the doctor her card for the chart. "Could you give me a call if, I mean when, he wakes up, Doctor? Or if his condition changes? Whatever you do, don't let him leave without me talking to him first. I want to try to get him back into rehab if I can," she said. The doctor sighed heavily and nodded. He'd seen this kind of thing too often. Everyone knew that if he didn't want to get himself clean, it wasn't gonna happen.
"Well, keep fightin' the good fight, guys," Katy said as she prepared to leave. She slipped Bosco her card too. "In case you want to discuss the case," she said quietly in his ear before picking up the ice pak and putting it against his eye and putting his hand up to hold it in place before leaving. "Or anything else."
Bosco turned to watch her walk out. "Now, why don't you call her. She'd be good for you," Faith said behind him.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Bosco said.
"Well, you're just a big juvenile delinquent yourself," Faith said sarcastically as the nurse came over to the doctor as he tried to stifle a chuckle at Faith's comment.
"Doctor, he's starting to come around a little. We're putting the soft restraints on because he's trying to pull the lines out," she said. The doctor followed her back into the room with Bosco and Faith close behind.
The doctor took a quick glance at the monitors and then went to check his pupil reaction with a flashlight. "Cole. Can you hear me? You're at Angel of Mercy and we're gonna take care of you. But, you need to relax and let us do what we have to do so you don't injure yourself further. Do you know what happened to you?" the doctor asked him.
"F*(k you!" Cole yelled out, fighting harder.
"Nice vocabulary," Bosco said under his breath.
"Give him 10 mg of valium to calm him down," the doctor ordered. The nurse administered the medication and Cole seemed to quiet slightly. He opened his left eye, but his right eye remained shut probably from the swelling from the beating he took.
"Cole Taylor? I'm Officer Faith Yokas. Do you know who did this to you?" she asked him.
"NO! No cops! I ain't talkin' to no cops!" he yelled becoming agitated again. The doctor motioned for them to back off and they did.
Finally, Cole calmed down again, but not before Bosco saw something in the boy's eyes. Not anger, but... fear. "What are you afraid of?" he thought to himself.
They stepped out of the room and in a few minutes, the doctor joined them. "Well, he's sedated until we find out about his CT scan. He's not going anywhere so you might as well call later and we'll let you know if you can talk to him," he informed them.
"Okay, Doc. Thanks," Faith said. Bosco grabbed his clipboard and they started out to the RMP.
"Officer. If you start having any blurred vision or headaches, you should probably get back here and get that eye checked out and an x-ray of the bones around it," the doctor suggested.
"Geez! What is it with everyone today," he said in exasperation. "Thanks, Doc. I'll do that," he yelled over his shoulder.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...