The Witness
Chapter 14
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Faith pulled back into a parking spot in front of the Rehab Center, hoping to see Cole and Bosco waiting for her. Cole had taken off into the woods near the restaurant with Bosco right behind him and Faith lost them after that. She parked the car and went inside to the desk.
She asked if Bosco and Cole had returned to the Center and was told that Cole had not signed back in. The receptionist at the counter asked Faith if she knew where Cole was and, not wanting to get him in trouble, said, "They decided to walk back from the restaurant. They were talking about some things." She hoped that her lie didn't show on her face, but from the look she received back she was pretty sure that the woman was suspicious. Faith walked over and took a seat in the waiting room. She looked at her watch and then back outside at the falling darkness. She shivered slightly as she realized that the temperature was beginning to drop and remembered Bosco's jacket still in the car.
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Bosco followed the sounds of Cole as he quickly walked through the woods. Luckily, it wasn't too heavily wooded so that some of the moonlight was shining through and he could see where he was walking.
"Cole!" he called out again. "Just stop and talk to me, would you? If you don't want me to be your guardian, that's fine, but let's just talk about it. It doesn't have to be a bad thing."
Cole continued walking while he listened to Bosco. He couldn't believe that his fate had been decided without his input. "How dare these people make decisions that would affect the rest of his left without talking to him about it. Didn't they realize that he'd been taking care of himself for just about all his life?" he thought to himself. He heard what Bosco was saying and he knew that he only wanted to help him, but what if he agreed to this and Bosco tried to take over everything. He wasn't sure that he could live like that.
After a few more minutes, he couldn't hear Bosco behind him anymore and he slowed down. Maybe he lost him. Or, maybe Bosco got lost or hurt. He stopped and sat on a fallen tree and listened. He heard nothing but the sounds of the crickets. It was quiet and lonely. He had to admit that he hadn't felt lonely since Bosco had been around. He just sat and thought about things for a little while as it became darker and darker. He felt the temperature dropping and felt cold. He hadn't worn a jacket because it was so warm when they left the Center and he knew he'd be in Bosco's car.
He was brought back from his thoughts to his surroundings when he heard some twigs snapping. Then he heard Bosco's voice off to his left.
"Cole! Where are you? Are you okay?"
He thought that Bosco had given up and gone back to the restaurant - back with Faith. He looked at the silhouette of Officer Maurice Boscorelli against the moonlight for a moment. "I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a try. At least it'll get me out of this place," he thought to himself.
"Cole! Dammit! Are you still around here?"
"I'm right here," Cole replied quietly, startling Bosco who turned toward his voice.
"Why did you take off like that?" Bosco said with some irritation in his voice. He took a couple of steps toward Cole and Cole noticed that he was limping.
"Are you okay?" Cole asked him.
"What? Yeah, I just twisted my ankle. What's going on?" Bosco asked him, slightly out of breath. "Why'd you take off like that?"
Cole looked off into the distance and thought for a moment and Bosco sat on the log alongside him.
Finally, Cole said, "I'm just not sure about all this. I've been on my own a long time, Bosco. I don't know if I could handle someone telling me what I'm gonna do."
"I understand that. I'm not saying that's what's gonna happen. I'm talking about you having somewhere to live - somewhere to call home. You'll have a warm bed, food to eat, and most of all you'll be safe. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. I've been on my own for a long, long time too. I just wanna give you a little bit of what every kid should have growing up - someone who cares about you and wants you to be safe. Someone you can talk to, bounce problems off of. That's all," Bosco explained as best he could.
"But, I just feel like all these decisions are being made without me knowing about it. You come here today and tell me that you're going to be my guardian," he said. "I mean, what am I supposed to think?"
"Whoa. You didn't let me finish. This is NOT a done deal, Cole. That's why I brought it up. I'm asking you if that's something you'd be interested in. I just started the paperwork on it because your doctor said it wouldn't be that much longer that you'd have to stay here. Think about it. You don't have to make a decision today. I just wanted you to have somewhere to go when the time came," Bosco said, rubbing his ankle and feeling the swelling.
Cole noticed Bosco rubbing his ankle and stood up. "You gonna be able to walk on that?"
"Yeah," Bosco said, shrugging as he started to stand up. As soon as he put the foot down on the ground to take a step, he felt the pain shoot up through his lower leg. "Ow!"
"Do you think Faith's still driving around?" Cole asked him as he moved to Bosco's side to offer support.
"Nah. She's probably waiting back at the Center. Either that or she's busy calling out the crews for a ground and air search. She's a mother and they over-react," Bosco kidded as he put an arm around Cole's shoulder and the two headed out of the woods.
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Faith continued to read the magazines while she looked out the window and tried to avoid the looks from the woman at the desk. Finally, she felt a presence approaching and looked up to see Cole's doctor walking toward her.
"Officer Yokas. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to insist on calling the authorities about Cole's absence unless you can give me a good enough reason to wait," the doctor said.
"I'm sure that they are on their way back, Doctor," Faith answered. "Bosco mentioned to him about becoming his guardian and he got upset. He ran off and Bosco followed him. I'm sure that if there was a problem, Bosco would have called to let us know," she said as the front door opened and they both turned to see Cole assisting Bosco into the building.
"Bosco!" Faith said, standing up and rushing over to help Cole. "What happened?"
Cole and Faith helped Bosco to a chair and the doctor came over also after speaking to the woman at the counter. "Officer Boscorelli, what happened to you?"
Bosco looked at Cole and then spoke. "Cole and I were walking back and talking. I wasn't paying attention and I stepped in a hole or something and twisted my ankle. It's pretty sore and swollen, but Cole helped me all the way," he answered as the woman came back with two blankets and put them around Cole and Bosco to warm them up.
"Well, let's get that ankle checked out, Officer," the doctor said, picking up the phone and calling for assistance. "We have a full clinic right here in the building, including an x-ray unit."
Faith returned with two cups of hot chocolate out of the vending machine on the other side of the lobby and handed them to Bosco and Cole. "Is everything okay?" she asked, looking first at Cole and then to Bosco.
"Well, we talked and got a couple of things straightened out. Cole's gonna think about things and...," Bosco said, but was interrupted by Cole.
"Yeah," Cole said gruffly and Bosco and Faith looked at him.
"Yeah what?" Bosco asked, reaching down to rub his ankle.
"Yeah, I'll do it, I guess," he said with attitude.
"Yeah, well don't do me any favors," Bosco replied with irritation and half-joking as he tried to lighten the moment. An orderly came with a wheelchair and Cole and Faith started to follow.
"Just a minute, young man," the doctor said. "We have a few things to discuss; one of which is your late arrival back here tonight. I'm told that you got upset while you were out and I'd like to discuss things with you. Come into my office while Officer Boscorelli gets his ankle x-rayed."
Cole looked at Bosco who nodded for Cole to go ahead with the doctor. "I'll see you in a few minutes Cole. It'll be okay," he assured him.
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TBC...
Chapter 14
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Faith pulled back into a parking spot in front of the Rehab Center, hoping to see Cole and Bosco waiting for her. Cole had taken off into the woods near the restaurant with Bosco right behind him and Faith lost them after that. She parked the car and went inside to the desk.
She asked if Bosco and Cole had returned to the Center and was told that Cole had not signed back in. The receptionist at the counter asked Faith if she knew where Cole was and, not wanting to get him in trouble, said, "They decided to walk back from the restaurant. They were talking about some things." She hoped that her lie didn't show on her face, but from the look she received back she was pretty sure that the woman was suspicious. Faith walked over and took a seat in the waiting room. She looked at her watch and then back outside at the falling darkness. She shivered slightly as she realized that the temperature was beginning to drop and remembered Bosco's jacket still in the car.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco followed the sounds of Cole as he quickly walked through the woods. Luckily, it wasn't too heavily wooded so that some of the moonlight was shining through and he could see where he was walking.
"Cole!" he called out again. "Just stop and talk to me, would you? If you don't want me to be your guardian, that's fine, but let's just talk about it. It doesn't have to be a bad thing."
Cole continued walking while he listened to Bosco. He couldn't believe that his fate had been decided without his input. "How dare these people make decisions that would affect the rest of his left without talking to him about it. Didn't they realize that he'd been taking care of himself for just about all his life?" he thought to himself. He heard what Bosco was saying and he knew that he only wanted to help him, but what if he agreed to this and Bosco tried to take over everything. He wasn't sure that he could live like that.
After a few more minutes, he couldn't hear Bosco behind him anymore and he slowed down. Maybe he lost him. Or, maybe Bosco got lost or hurt. He stopped and sat on a fallen tree and listened. He heard nothing but the sounds of the crickets. It was quiet and lonely. He had to admit that he hadn't felt lonely since Bosco had been around. He just sat and thought about things for a little while as it became darker and darker. He felt the temperature dropping and felt cold. He hadn't worn a jacket because it was so warm when they left the Center and he knew he'd be in Bosco's car.
He was brought back from his thoughts to his surroundings when he heard some twigs snapping. Then he heard Bosco's voice off to his left.
"Cole! Where are you? Are you okay?"
He thought that Bosco had given up and gone back to the restaurant - back with Faith. He looked at the silhouette of Officer Maurice Boscorelli against the moonlight for a moment. "I guess it couldn't hurt to give it a try. At least it'll get me out of this place," he thought to himself.
"Cole! Dammit! Are you still around here?"
"I'm right here," Cole replied quietly, startling Bosco who turned toward his voice.
"Why did you take off like that?" Bosco said with some irritation in his voice. He took a couple of steps toward Cole and Cole noticed that he was limping.
"Are you okay?" Cole asked him.
"What? Yeah, I just twisted my ankle. What's going on?" Bosco asked him, slightly out of breath. "Why'd you take off like that?"
Cole looked off into the distance and thought for a moment and Bosco sat on the log alongside him.
Finally, Cole said, "I'm just not sure about all this. I've been on my own a long time, Bosco. I don't know if I could handle someone telling me what I'm gonna do."
"I understand that. I'm not saying that's what's gonna happen. I'm talking about you having somewhere to live - somewhere to call home. You'll have a warm bed, food to eat, and most of all you'll be safe. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. I've been on my own for a long, long time too. I just wanna give you a little bit of what every kid should have growing up - someone who cares about you and wants you to be safe. Someone you can talk to, bounce problems off of. That's all," Bosco explained as best he could.
"But, I just feel like all these decisions are being made without me knowing about it. You come here today and tell me that you're going to be my guardian," he said. "I mean, what am I supposed to think?"
"Whoa. You didn't let me finish. This is NOT a done deal, Cole. That's why I brought it up. I'm asking you if that's something you'd be interested in. I just started the paperwork on it because your doctor said it wouldn't be that much longer that you'd have to stay here. Think about it. You don't have to make a decision today. I just wanted you to have somewhere to go when the time came," Bosco said, rubbing his ankle and feeling the swelling.
Cole noticed Bosco rubbing his ankle and stood up. "You gonna be able to walk on that?"
"Yeah," Bosco said, shrugging as he started to stand up. As soon as he put the foot down on the ground to take a step, he felt the pain shoot up through his lower leg. "Ow!"
"Do you think Faith's still driving around?" Cole asked him as he moved to Bosco's side to offer support.
"Nah. She's probably waiting back at the Center. Either that or she's busy calling out the crews for a ground and air search. She's a mother and they over-react," Bosco kidded as he put an arm around Cole's shoulder and the two headed out of the woods.
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Faith continued to read the magazines while she looked out the window and tried to avoid the looks from the woman at the desk. Finally, she felt a presence approaching and looked up to see Cole's doctor walking toward her.
"Officer Yokas. I'm afraid that I'm going to have to insist on calling the authorities about Cole's absence unless you can give me a good enough reason to wait," the doctor said.
"I'm sure that they are on their way back, Doctor," Faith answered. "Bosco mentioned to him about becoming his guardian and he got upset. He ran off and Bosco followed him. I'm sure that if there was a problem, Bosco would have called to let us know," she said as the front door opened and they both turned to see Cole assisting Bosco into the building.
"Bosco!" Faith said, standing up and rushing over to help Cole. "What happened?"
Cole and Faith helped Bosco to a chair and the doctor came over also after speaking to the woman at the counter. "Officer Boscorelli, what happened to you?"
Bosco looked at Cole and then spoke. "Cole and I were walking back and talking. I wasn't paying attention and I stepped in a hole or something and twisted my ankle. It's pretty sore and swollen, but Cole helped me all the way," he answered as the woman came back with two blankets and put them around Cole and Bosco to warm them up.
"Well, let's get that ankle checked out, Officer," the doctor said, picking up the phone and calling for assistance. "We have a full clinic right here in the building, including an x-ray unit."
Faith returned with two cups of hot chocolate out of the vending machine on the other side of the lobby and handed them to Bosco and Cole. "Is everything okay?" she asked, looking first at Cole and then to Bosco.
"Well, we talked and got a couple of things straightened out. Cole's gonna think about things and...," Bosco said, but was interrupted by Cole.
"Yeah," Cole said gruffly and Bosco and Faith looked at him.
"Yeah what?" Bosco asked, reaching down to rub his ankle.
"Yeah, I'll do it, I guess," he said with attitude.
"Yeah, well don't do me any favors," Bosco replied with irritation and half-joking as he tried to lighten the moment. An orderly came with a wheelchair and Cole and Faith started to follow.
"Just a minute, young man," the doctor said. "We have a few things to discuss; one of which is your late arrival back here tonight. I'm told that you got upset while you were out and I'd like to discuss things with you. Come into my office while Officer Boscorelli gets his ankle x-rayed."
Cole looked at Bosco who nodded for Cole to go ahead with the doctor. "I'll see you in a few minutes Cole. It'll be okay," he assured him.
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TBC...