The Witness
Chapter 33
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco heard the shot and waited for the feel of another hot bullet to hit him. But, it didn't come. Then he heard someone coming through the door behind him and sirens in the distance getting closer.
"Don't move," he hard Faith's voice behind him commanding the remaining kid near Cole. "Bosco? Are you okay?"
"Um," he said, talking through the pain in his side. "I think I've been better." He looked up to see Raven lying on the floor, blood seeping onto the floor. He looked over and saw Cole sitting on the floor, Bosco's gun still in his hand. He was staring at Raven, his eyes wide and his hands shaking while the gun was still pointed in Raven's direction.
"You two come over here," Faith said to the two boys next to Cole. The one that Bosco shot in the arm got up and his buddy helped him over toward Faith as the uniformed officers came in behind her.
"There was another one," Bosco told them, referring to the one who'd thrown the chair at him and knocked his gun to the floor.
"He's in custody. We caught him coming out the back door," said one of the officers.
"We've got a 10-13. We need a bus," Faith told the officer, who immediately notified the dispatcher on his radio.
"How bad is it?" she asked, putting her gun away as one officer took the two kids away and the other went over to check on Raven.
Bosco didn't answer her. He was looking at Cole. He got up into a half-sitting position and managed to start moving toward him.
"Cole," he said quietly and calmly. "Cole, look at me," he urged him. Cole slowly turned his head to look at Bosco, the gun still in his hand.
"It's all over. Give me the gun," he said in a soothing tone.
"I killed him?" Cole asked, already knowing the answer.
"It's over, Cole. Everything's all over. Just give me the gun," Bosco told him as he reached his side.
"Um," Cole started, a tear sliding down his face. "I can't let go of it," he said, the shaking of his hand increasing.
"Let me help you," Bosco said, covering Cole's hand with his own. He managed to work the gun out of Cole's grip. Cole noticed the blood on Bosco's hand and looked at the wound in his side. He looked up to Bosco's face and saw the sweat forming.
"Are you going to die too?" Cole asked.
"What?" Bosco said, meeting Cole's gaze as he handed his gun over to Faith. "No, Cole. I'm not going anywhere. This is nothing," he said, the pain shooting through his side.
"He was gonna kill you," Cole said, looking back over at Raven.
"I know. You didn't have a choice. You saved my life, Cole," he said.
"I thought he was gonna kill you," Cole said, his voice trailing off as the emotions came pouring out.
"I know. It's okay now. It's all over," Bosco said, embracing Cole and holding onto him tightly until the medics came through the door.
Bosco felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the familiar voices of Kim and Alex at his side. "Bosco, let me take a look," Kim said as she tried to ease him back away from Cole.
"It's okay, Cole. I'm gonna be okay," Bosco said. "Faith," he said to his partner.
"I'll take care of him, Bosco. Just let Kimmy look at you," Faith said, coming around and helping Cole to stand up.
She walked him to the doorway and Bosco heard Cole say, "I want to stay with him."
"We'll wait down by the ambulance, Cole. You can ride in with him, okay?" Faith said gently.
"How bad is it?" Bosco asked Kim after she'd cut away his shirt and looked at the wound.
"Doesn't look too bad, but I'm sure it hurts like hell," Kim told him as she applied a dressing to the wound.
"And then some," he said as Alex came up alongside them.
"The other one's dead," Alex reported, reaching into the medic bag and pulling out an IV solution bag and tubing.
"Someone needs to check on Cole. He's the one that shot the guy. He saved my life," Bosco said proudly.
"Doc's outside," Alex said. "Faith'll get him checked out."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
About two hours later, Cole, Katy, Faith, Rose and a bunch of cops were waiting in the lounge outside of the Operating Rooms for word on Bosco's condition. They were told by the ER doctor that the bullet appeared to miss anything vital, but that the wound needed to be cleaned out and sutured. He was brought up to the OR so that the wound could be explored further to make sure nothing got nicked and then close it up. He was expected to make a full recovery.
While they were waiting, Cole had undergone questioning by the police department and Katy had called Alex Jenkins who had come over to the hospital. After answering the questions and talking with the DA, it was determined that Cole would not face charges from the shooting and the DA was prepared to drop the drug case against him in light of Chenise's testimony.
"How did you know where I was?" Cole asked Faith.
"Well, I didn't until Katy called me," Faith said.
"We were out looking for you when Faith called us to tell us about Chenise getting beat up by Raven - the hospital has to call the police when there's evidence of an assault. Bosco sent me home to wait for you and said he was going to go to the hospital to talk to Chenise. I know Bosco too well, so I called Faith to tell her," Katy said, letting Faith explain the rest because she wasn't sure what happened after that.
"I got Chenise's address and went over to talk to her. She said that Bosco was there and that he'd left to go look for you at Raven's place. I called the station for backup and headed over there too. And, you know the rest," Faith finished.
"I still can't believe I shot Raven," Cole said in disbelief.
"Well, you did what you had to do," Faith said, putting a hand on his arm. "If you hadn't, he would have killed Bosco and then you."
"You're not alone, Cole. You have a large family now and we all care about you. We'll get you whatever help you need to deal with this," Katy said.
"I know that now," Cole said.
The doctor came through the door and walked into the waiting area. He looked around the crowd and asked for Bosco's family. The four of them stood up and the doctor approached.
"He's going to be fine. The bullet passed through without doing any major damage. He's going to be sore for a week or so, but he'll make a complete recovery. He's in the Recovery Room and he's awake. He's asking for someone named Cole?" the doctor said.
"That's me," Cole said, stepping forward.
"Follow me and I'll take you back, but only for a minute. He needs to get some rest," the doctor said as they went through the doors.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Cole followed the doctor into the room and walked up to Bosco's bed. His eyes were closed and he whispered, "Bosco?"
Bosco's eyes fluttered open and a smile came across his face as he looked at Cole. "You okay?" he asked, holding out a hand. Cole grasped his hand and was soothed by the strong grip he received back.
"Yeah. The doctor said you're gonna be fine too, Bos," Cole told him.
"I didn't have any doubts. Thanks, Cole," Bosco said. "If you didn't grab my gun, we'd both be dead right now."
"I still can't believe I did it. I don't really remember it - it all happened so fast," Cole said.
"Good. You shouldn't have to remember stuff like that, but if you have any problems with it, just talk to me or somebody about it, okay?" Bosco said.
"Yeah, I will. Hey, Mr. Jenkins came over. The DA's dropping the charges on the drug case. So, I guess it really is all over," Cole said with a smile.
"Great. Now we can get back to being a family, right?" Bosco said.
"Right. Thanks, Bosco. For everything," Cole said as Bosco drifted back off to sleep.
"Okay, Cole. Let's let him get some rest," the doctor said, leading him out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Epilogue to follow...
Chapter 33
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco heard the shot and waited for the feel of another hot bullet to hit him. But, it didn't come. Then he heard someone coming through the door behind him and sirens in the distance getting closer.
"Don't move," he hard Faith's voice behind him commanding the remaining kid near Cole. "Bosco? Are you okay?"
"Um," he said, talking through the pain in his side. "I think I've been better." He looked up to see Raven lying on the floor, blood seeping onto the floor. He looked over and saw Cole sitting on the floor, Bosco's gun still in his hand. He was staring at Raven, his eyes wide and his hands shaking while the gun was still pointed in Raven's direction.
"You two come over here," Faith said to the two boys next to Cole. The one that Bosco shot in the arm got up and his buddy helped him over toward Faith as the uniformed officers came in behind her.
"There was another one," Bosco told them, referring to the one who'd thrown the chair at him and knocked his gun to the floor.
"He's in custody. We caught him coming out the back door," said one of the officers.
"We've got a 10-13. We need a bus," Faith told the officer, who immediately notified the dispatcher on his radio.
"How bad is it?" she asked, putting her gun away as one officer took the two kids away and the other went over to check on Raven.
Bosco didn't answer her. He was looking at Cole. He got up into a half-sitting position and managed to start moving toward him.
"Cole," he said quietly and calmly. "Cole, look at me," he urged him. Cole slowly turned his head to look at Bosco, the gun still in his hand.
"It's all over. Give me the gun," he said in a soothing tone.
"I killed him?" Cole asked, already knowing the answer.
"It's over, Cole. Everything's all over. Just give me the gun," Bosco told him as he reached his side.
"Um," Cole started, a tear sliding down his face. "I can't let go of it," he said, the shaking of his hand increasing.
"Let me help you," Bosco said, covering Cole's hand with his own. He managed to work the gun out of Cole's grip. Cole noticed the blood on Bosco's hand and looked at the wound in his side. He looked up to Bosco's face and saw the sweat forming.
"Are you going to die too?" Cole asked.
"What?" Bosco said, meeting Cole's gaze as he handed his gun over to Faith. "No, Cole. I'm not going anywhere. This is nothing," he said, the pain shooting through his side.
"He was gonna kill you," Cole said, looking back over at Raven.
"I know. You didn't have a choice. You saved my life, Cole," he said.
"I thought he was gonna kill you," Cole said, his voice trailing off as the emotions came pouring out.
"I know. It's okay now. It's all over," Bosco said, embracing Cole and holding onto him tightly until the medics came through the door.
Bosco felt a hand on his shoulder and heard the familiar voices of Kim and Alex at his side. "Bosco, let me take a look," Kim said as she tried to ease him back away from Cole.
"It's okay, Cole. I'm gonna be okay," Bosco said. "Faith," he said to his partner.
"I'll take care of him, Bosco. Just let Kimmy look at you," Faith said, coming around and helping Cole to stand up.
She walked him to the doorway and Bosco heard Cole say, "I want to stay with him."
"We'll wait down by the ambulance, Cole. You can ride in with him, okay?" Faith said gently.
"How bad is it?" Bosco asked Kim after she'd cut away his shirt and looked at the wound.
"Doesn't look too bad, but I'm sure it hurts like hell," Kim told him as she applied a dressing to the wound.
"And then some," he said as Alex came up alongside them.
"The other one's dead," Alex reported, reaching into the medic bag and pulling out an IV solution bag and tubing.
"Someone needs to check on Cole. He's the one that shot the guy. He saved my life," Bosco said proudly.
"Doc's outside," Alex said. "Faith'll get him checked out."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
About two hours later, Cole, Katy, Faith, Rose and a bunch of cops were waiting in the lounge outside of the Operating Rooms for word on Bosco's condition. They were told by the ER doctor that the bullet appeared to miss anything vital, but that the wound needed to be cleaned out and sutured. He was brought up to the OR so that the wound could be explored further to make sure nothing got nicked and then close it up. He was expected to make a full recovery.
While they were waiting, Cole had undergone questioning by the police department and Katy had called Alex Jenkins who had come over to the hospital. After answering the questions and talking with the DA, it was determined that Cole would not face charges from the shooting and the DA was prepared to drop the drug case against him in light of Chenise's testimony.
"How did you know where I was?" Cole asked Faith.
"Well, I didn't until Katy called me," Faith said.
"We were out looking for you when Faith called us to tell us about Chenise getting beat up by Raven - the hospital has to call the police when there's evidence of an assault. Bosco sent me home to wait for you and said he was going to go to the hospital to talk to Chenise. I know Bosco too well, so I called Faith to tell her," Katy said, letting Faith explain the rest because she wasn't sure what happened after that.
"I got Chenise's address and went over to talk to her. She said that Bosco was there and that he'd left to go look for you at Raven's place. I called the station for backup and headed over there too. And, you know the rest," Faith finished.
"I still can't believe I shot Raven," Cole said in disbelief.
"Well, you did what you had to do," Faith said, putting a hand on his arm. "If you hadn't, he would have killed Bosco and then you."
"You're not alone, Cole. You have a large family now and we all care about you. We'll get you whatever help you need to deal with this," Katy said.
"I know that now," Cole said.
The doctor came through the door and walked into the waiting area. He looked around the crowd and asked for Bosco's family. The four of them stood up and the doctor approached.
"He's going to be fine. The bullet passed through without doing any major damage. He's going to be sore for a week or so, but he'll make a complete recovery. He's in the Recovery Room and he's awake. He's asking for someone named Cole?" the doctor said.
"That's me," Cole said, stepping forward.
"Follow me and I'll take you back, but only for a minute. He needs to get some rest," the doctor said as they went through the doors.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Cole followed the doctor into the room and walked up to Bosco's bed. His eyes were closed and he whispered, "Bosco?"
Bosco's eyes fluttered open and a smile came across his face as he looked at Cole. "You okay?" he asked, holding out a hand. Cole grasped his hand and was soothed by the strong grip he received back.
"Yeah. The doctor said you're gonna be fine too, Bos," Cole told him.
"I didn't have any doubts. Thanks, Cole," Bosco said. "If you didn't grab my gun, we'd both be dead right now."
"I still can't believe I did it. I don't really remember it - it all happened so fast," Cole said.
"Good. You shouldn't have to remember stuff like that, but if you have any problems with it, just talk to me or somebody about it, okay?" Bosco said.
"Yeah, I will. Hey, Mr. Jenkins came over. The DA's dropping the charges on the drug case. So, I guess it really is all over," Cole said with a smile.
"Great. Now we can get back to being a family, right?" Bosco said.
"Right. Thanks, Bosco. For everything," Cole said as Bosco drifted back off to sleep.
"Okay, Cole. Let's let him get some rest," the doctor said, leading him out of the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Epilogue to follow...