The Witness
Chapter 19
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"What do you mean you don't know how he got out?!" Raven said loudly as he got in the kid's face. He had just gotten back from the back alley doctor with his brother. He'd been lucky. The bullet from Cole had gone clean through his side, and he only required the wound to be cleaned and sutured.
"I swear Raven! I was right here the whole time. I don't know how he could have gotten out," the kid said, sweating now. Raven looked around the room and saw the evidence that the kid had been using drugs while he was gone.
"I'll tell you how he got away," Raven said, storming over to the table and picking up the used drug packet and syringe. "You were busy doing other things, weren't you!?" he stated more than asked.
"I'm sorry, Raven. Really, I am. I'll go out and look for him. He couldn't have gotten too far with the drugs in him," the kid said, getting up and heading for the door.
"Bobby!" Raven yelled before the boy had made it to the door. Bobby turned and looked at Raven, afraid that he was going to be killed for his mistake before he could try to make it up to Raven.
"You better find him and bring him back here. If you don't find him, don't come back. And, you better make sure I don't find you or your dead!" he warned the scared kid.
"I'll find him, Raven. I swear it," the boy said, leaving before Raven changed his mind and killed him right there.
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It had been about four hours since he'd had the drugs put in his arm and he could feel himself wanting more. He fought the urge to buy some more or get some alcohol, but it was getting harder and harder. He thought about calling Bosco, but he wanted to make sure that he was straight before he did. He didn't want anyone to know that he wasn't clean anymore - even if it wasn't his fault. Now that the drugs were wearing off, he could feel the pounding in his head returning. He needed to lie down somewhere. He needed to get some sleep. He looked around to see if he could find somewhere to crash and saw an empty storefront. He still didn't know where he was, but he knew that he was back in the City somewhere.
He stumbled into the store and looked for a quiet, out of the way corner. It was obvious that this place was used for drug activity. There were discarded syringes and empty drug packets, and burned candles scattered all over. He grabbed some old blankets that were lying in the corner and shook them out to make sure there were no bugs or rats in them. Satisfied that they were as clean as he was going to find in here, he piled them on the floor and curled up to sleep.
As he started to shut his eyes, he saw it. At first he thought he was hallucinating, dreaming. But as he looked more carefully he saw that it was real. When he had shaken the blankets out, it must have fallen out - forgotten by whoever was here last. Cole reached over and picked up the intact, full drug packet and gazed longingly at its contents. He looked around and saw a slightly used syringe on the ground - not a good idea, but then being a junkie wasn't a good idea either. He picked up the syringe and held it in his hand along with the packet of drugs. He closed his hand around the items and held it against his forehead, fighting the urge to use it right then. He shoved the items under the blankets and told himself that he had the willpower to fight the urge. He curled up and fell into a fitful sleep. "I'll feel better once I get some rest," he thought to himself.
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Bosco had left his phone number with the authorities Upstate and they promised to call him if they had any information. They were going to call his precinct when they had gotten the phone records for the Center, and Cole's doctor promised to call if he heard anything at all from or about Cole.
The five of them drove home in relative silence. Ty, D.K., Jimmy and Billy were exhausted from their search of the woods surrounding the Center and where Bosco had found him the other night. Bosco wanted to help, but they'd convinced him that they could search quicker without worrying about him with his broken ankle. His ankle was throbbing now, but he didn't want to take any medicine because the stuff knocked him out and he wanted to be ready if Cole called for him.
Now they headed back to the City. Bosco knew that Cole wanted to get home to familiar territory. He was sick of being in the "sticks" as he called it and so he figured that he was heading back to New York City. "I just don't understand why he hasn't called me?" he thought to himself as he looked out the window.
He pulled out his cell phone to make sure that it was still working. The battery was getting low. He hoped that he'd be able to get home before it died completely so he could put it in the charger. He called his home machine to see if there were any messages from Cole, but there wasn't.
"Anybody need coffee?" Ty asked as he drove down the highway. They were about an hour away from home and if he didn't get out and move around a little, he'd fall asleep while he was driving for sure.
"Yeah, sure," Bosco said, knowing that his friends were all exhausted. "Friends," he thought to himself. He'd never thought of them as his friends before, but I guess they proved him wrong.
"We can keep going if you want. I'll drive if you're tired, Ty," Jimmy offered.
"No. Stop for coffee. I need to move my leg anyway. It's getting all cramped up," Bosco said. Ty pulled into the right lane in anticipation of the next rest area.
"I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me out today. I really appreciate it," Bosco said, looking around the truck at the four of them.
"No problem, Bos. You've backed us up plenty of times on the job. I'm just sorry we weren't able to find him," Billy said. Ty pulled off to the rest area and they all got out and stretched, heading into the building for coffee and something to eat.
As they got their food and sat at a table, a cell phone rang. Bosco reached for his and realized that it wasn't his phone. Ty realized it was his phone and he picked it up. He talked for a few minutes and then hung up. They all looked at him.
"That was Sully. They got the phone records from the Center. They traced the call to Cole back to a phone at Mercy. Someone from the hospital called him," Ty said, looking at Bosco.
"What? Who could have called from there?" he wondered allowed. The men finished their meal quickly and got back on the road. Ty took Jimmy up on his offer to drive the rest of the way. They made small talk on the rest of the way back.
As they pulled into the parking lot of the Precinct, Ty asked Bosco if he wanted a ride home. "No, but you can drop me off at the hospital if you don't mind. I wanna see Katy after I check in with the Lieu," Bosco said.
"Sure thing," Ty said as they all got out. Bosco shook hands with Jimmy, D.K., and Billy, thanking them again for their help.
"No problem," Jimmy said. "I've got a shift right now, but if you need me in the morning I'm there."
"Me too," Billy said
"Yeah, me too. And I'm sure everyone else from the station will want to help too," D.K. added.
"Hopefully, I'll have heard from him by the morning and your offers won't be needed, but I appreciate it," he said, saying goodnight.
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Ty dropped Bosco at the front door of the hospital. "You want me to come up with you?" he offered.
"Nah. You've done enough, Ty," Bosco said, looking over at him. "I mean it, Man. I appreciate what everyone's done. I never knew that I had so many friends. I've been a real ass in the past," he said.
Ty held his hand out to shake Bosco's hand. "Well, like you said. That's in the past," Ty said.
Bosco got out of the car and Ty handed his crutches out to him. "Hey, if there's a bed in Katy's room, I suggest you use it for the night. You look like you should be a patient here," Ty teased him.
"You know, I feel like I should be a patient here," he replied. "Take it easy, Ty."
He watched Ty drive away and then headed into the hospital. He quietly walked into Katy's room so that he didn't wake her. He was surprised that he'd made it past the nurses since visiting hours were over, but since there was a policeman at her door, I guess they decided that it was up to him to regulate her visitors. Bosco nodded to the officer and showed him his badge and was allowed in. He walked up to her bed and looked at her. She looked so peaceful. If not for the bruises and the swelling, he would have thought that she should be at home, sleeping next to him.
"Hey," came her groggy voice. "Any luck?"
"No," he said quietly. "How're you doing? You feeling any better?"
"They've got great drugs here," she said, smiling.
"Uh huh, I could sure use some of them right now," he said, sitting in the chair next to her bed after kissing her.
"Bos? Are you okay? You don't look so good," she said with concern.
"Yeah. I'm just beat and my ankle is killing me. I think I put too much weight on it today," he said, yawning.
"I'd say so, since you weren't supposed to be walking on it at all," she admonished him.
"Yeah, well..." he trailed off, almost falling asleep in the chair.
"Bos?" Katy said and he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Why don't you crash on that bed? No one else is coming into this room anyway," she said.
"You want me too?" he asked.
"No. I want you in this bed, but I don't think you'll fit," she said with a smirk on her face. Hi grinned and shook a finger at her.
He looked over at the bed opposite hers and decided to take her up on it. He didn't have a way to get home anyway. He picked up his crutches and hobbled over. He found a place to plug in his phone - Faith had left the charger from his car in his locker at the station along with some other stuff she thought he might need. He kicked off his shoe and hung his jacket on the back of the chair and sat on the bed. Katy watched him take a half of one of his pain pills and swallow it down with some water from the nightstand.
He looked over and saw her staring at him. "You need something?" he asked her as he put one of the extra pillows under his leg to elevate his foot.
"No," she said. "Are you okay?"
"I will be when I find Cole. I talked to Faith a little while ago. She's been stopping by my apartment periodically to see if Cole shows up there like he did the night he ran from the hospital. She talked with the Super of my building and told him to let Cole in if he shows up and to call her. Ty, D.K., Jimmy and Billy from the firehouse went Upstate with me today. They're a great bunch of guys," he said, yawning again and laying his head back on the pillow.
She watched him fall sound asleep before his head was all the way on the pillow. She watched him for a little longer, thinking how much she was falling in love with this man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 19
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"What do you mean you don't know how he got out?!" Raven said loudly as he got in the kid's face. He had just gotten back from the back alley doctor with his brother. He'd been lucky. The bullet from Cole had gone clean through his side, and he only required the wound to be cleaned and sutured.
"I swear Raven! I was right here the whole time. I don't know how he could have gotten out," the kid said, sweating now. Raven looked around the room and saw the evidence that the kid had been using drugs while he was gone.
"I'll tell you how he got away," Raven said, storming over to the table and picking up the used drug packet and syringe. "You were busy doing other things, weren't you!?" he stated more than asked.
"I'm sorry, Raven. Really, I am. I'll go out and look for him. He couldn't have gotten too far with the drugs in him," the kid said, getting up and heading for the door.
"Bobby!" Raven yelled before the boy had made it to the door. Bobby turned and looked at Raven, afraid that he was going to be killed for his mistake before he could try to make it up to Raven.
"You better find him and bring him back here. If you don't find him, don't come back. And, you better make sure I don't find you or your dead!" he warned the scared kid.
"I'll find him, Raven. I swear it," the boy said, leaving before Raven changed his mind and killed him right there.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
It had been about four hours since he'd had the drugs put in his arm and he could feel himself wanting more. He fought the urge to buy some more or get some alcohol, but it was getting harder and harder. He thought about calling Bosco, but he wanted to make sure that he was straight before he did. He didn't want anyone to know that he wasn't clean anymore - even if it wasn't his fault. Now that the drugs were wearing off, he could feel the pounding in his head returning. He needed to lie down somewhere. He needed to get some sleep. He looked around to see if he could find somewhere to crash and saw an empty storefront. He still didn't know where he was, but he knew that he was back in the City somewhere.
He stumbled into the store and looked for a quiet, out of the way corner. It was obvious that this place was used for drug activity. There were discarded syringes and empty drug packets, and burned candles scattered all over. He grabbed some old blankets that were lying in the corner and shook them out to make sure there were no bugs or rats in them. Satisfied that they were as clean as he was going to find in here, he piled them on the floor and curled up to sleep.
As he started to shut his eyes, he saw it. At first he thought he was hallucinating, dreaming. But as he looked more carefully he saw that it was real. When he had shaken the blankets out, it must have fallen out - forgotten by whoever was here last. Cole reached over and picked up the intact, full drug packet and gazed longingly at its contents. He looked around and saw a slightly used syringe on the ground - not a good idea, but then being a junkie wasn't a good idea either. He picked up the syringe and held it in his hand along with the packet of drugs. He closed his hand around the items and held it against his forehead, fighting the urge to use it right then. He shoved the items under the blankets and told himself that he had the willpower to fight the urge. He curled up and fell into a fitful sleep. "I'll feel better once I get some rest," he thought to himself.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Bosco had left his phone number with the authorities Upstate and they promised to call him if they had any information. They were going to call his precinct when they had gotten the phone records for the Center, and Cole's doctor promised to call if he heard anything at all from or about Cole.
The five of them drove home in relative silence. Ty, D.K., Jimmy and Billy were exhausted from their search of the woods surrounding the Center and where Bosco had found him the other night. Bosco wanted to help, but they'd convinced him that they could search quicker without worrying about him with his broken ankle. His ankle was throbbing now, but he didn't want to take any medicine because the stuff knocked him out and he wanted to be ready if Cole called for him.
Now they headed back to the City. Bosco knew that Cole wanted to get home to familiar territory. He was sick of being in the "sticks" as he called it and so he figured that he was heading back to New York City. "I just don't understand why he hasn't called me?" he thought to himself as he looked out the window.
He pulled out his cell phone to make sure that it was still working. The battery was getting low. He hoped that he'd be able to get home before it died completely so he could put it in the charger. He called his home machine to see if there were any messages from Cole, but there wasn't.
"Anybody need coffee?" Ty asked as he drove down the highway. They were about an hour away from home and if he didn't get out and move around a little, he'd fall asleep while he was driving for sure.
"Yeah, sure," Bosco said, knowing that his friends were all exhausted. "Friends," he thought to himself. He'd never thought of them as his friends before, but I guess they proved him wrong.
"We can keep going if you want. I'll drive if you're tired, Ty," Jimmy offered.
"No. Stop for coffee. I need to move my leg anyway. It's getting all cramped up," Bosco said. Ty pulled into the right lane in anticipation of the next rest area.
"I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me out today. I really appreciate it," Bosco said, looking around the truck at the four of them.
"No problem, Bos. You've backed us up plenty of times on the job. I'm just sorry we weren't able to find him," Billy said. Ty pulled off to the rest area and they all got out and stretched, heading into the building for coffee and something to eat.
As they got their food and sat at a table, a cell phone rang. Bosco reached for his and realized that it wasn't his phone. Ty realized it was his phone and he picked it up. He talked for a few minutes and then hung up. They all looked at him.
"That was Sully. They got the phone records from the Center. They traced the call to Cole back to a phone at Mercy. Someone from the hospital called him," Ty said, looking at Bosco.
"What? Who could have called from there?" he wondered allowed. The men finished their meal quickly and got back on the road. Ty took Jimmy up on his offer to drive the rest of the way. They made small talk on the rest of the way back.
As they pulled into the parking lot of the Precinct, Ty asked Bosco if he wanted a ride home. "No, but you can drop me off at the hospital if you don't mind. I wanna see Katy after I check in with the Lieu," Bosco said.
"Sure thing," Ty said as they all got out. Bosco shook hands with Jimmy, D.K., and Billy, thanking them again for their help.
"No problem," Jimmy said. "I've got a shift right now, but if you need me in the morning I'm there."
"Me too," Billy said
"Yeah, me too. And I'm sure everyone else from the station will want to help too," D.K. added.
"Hopefully, I'll have heard from him by the morning and your offers won't be needed, but I appreciate it," he said, saying goodnight.
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Ty dropped Bosco at the front door of the hospital. "You want me to come up with you?" he offered.
"Nah. You've done enough, Ty," Bosco said, looking over at him. "I mean it, Man. I appreciate what everyone's done. I never knew that I had so many friends. I've been a real ass in the past," he said.
Ty held his hand out to shake Bosco's hand. "Well, like you said. That's in the past," Ty said.
Bosco got out of the car and Ty handed his crutches out to him. "Hey, if there's a bed in Katy's room, I suggest you use it for the night. You look like you should be a patient here," Ty teased him.
"You know, I feel like I should be a patient here," he replied. "Take it easy, Ty."
He watched Ty drive away and then headed into the hospital. He quietly walked into Katy's room so that he didn't wake her. He was surprised that he'd made it past the nurses since visiting hours were over, but since there was a policeman at her door, I guess they decided that it was up to him to regulate her visitors. Bosco nodded to the officer and showed him his badge and was allowed in. He walked up to her bed and looked at her. She looked so peaceful. If not for the bruises and the swelling, he would have thought that she should be at home, sleeping next to him.
"Hey," came her groggy voice. "Any luck?"
"No," he said quietly. "How're you doing? You feeling any better?"
"They've got great drugs here," she said, smiling.
"Uh huh, I could sure use some of them right now," he said, sitting in the chair next to her bed after kissing her.
"Bos? Are you okay? You don't look so good," she said with concern.
"Yeah. I'm just beat and my ankle is killing me. I think I put too much weight on it today," he said, yawning.
"I'd say so, since you weren't supposed to be walking on it at all," she admonished him.
"Yeah, well..." he trailed off, almost falling asleep in the chair.
"Bos?" Katy said and he opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Why don't you crash on that bed? No one else is coming into this room anyway," she said.
"You want me too?" he asked.
"No. I want you in this bed, but I don't think you'll fit," she said with a smirk on her face. Hi grinned and shook a finger at her.
He looked over at the bed opposite hers and decided to take her up on it. He didn't have a way to get home anyway. He picked up his crutches and hobbled over. He found a place to plug in his phone - Faith had left the charger from his car in his locker at the station along with some other stuff she thought he might need. He kicked off his shoe and hung his jacket on the back of the chair and sat on the bed. Katy watched him take a half of one of his pain pills and swallow it down with some water from the nightstand.
He looked over and saw her staring at him. "You need something?" he asked her as he put one of the extra pillows under his leg to elevate his foot.
"No," she said. "Are you okay?"
"I will be when I find Cole. I talked to Faith a little while ago. She's been stopping by my apartment periodically to see if Cole shows up there like he did the night he ran from the hospital. She talked with the Super of my building and told him to let Cole in if he shows up and to call her. Ty, D.K., Jimmy and Billy from the firehouse went Upstate with me today. They're a great bunch of guys," he said, yawning again and laying his head back on the pillow.
She watched him fall sound asleep before his head was all the way on the pillow. She watched him for a little longer, thinking how much she was falling in love with this man.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...