It starts to rain. Just a drizzle at first, but it soon turns into a heavy downpour. The paramedics arrive, no one that I know. It could have easily been Doc and Carlos, or maybe even Kim and Alex. But we aren't in my...their precinct.

The rain begins to wash away the blood. The blood on Bosco's face. The blood that has spilled onto the roadway from the other driver. The rain hits the twisted and torn metal of the two vehicles, drowning out the voices. The voices that are saying, "He's crashing!"

They put Bosco into the ambulance, close the doors and drive away. Wait! I didn't get in, I need to be with him. Bosco, I'm so sorry that I'm not there.

_______________

"He's strong. He's a fighter."

I don't believe her either Mrs Boscorelli. Rose wraps her arms around herself and stands alone in the sterile hallway. The nurse who had spoken with her walks away, her shoes squeaking as she goes.

"My baby..." Rose whispers and covers her mouth with a hand. A shaking, pale white hand.

There's voices coming down the hall. Familiar voices, loud voices. The familiar figures of Ty and Sully appear, concerned expressions on both their faces. "Mrs Boscorelli?" Sully asks, looking unsure, even as he says her name.

Rose nods. "Do you...do you work with my son?"

Sully nods. If he knows about Bosco quitting, which I'm sure he must, he says nothing. "I'm sorry, about what happened. How is he?"

Ty leans against the wall, waiting for Rose to say something. Sully stands near her, looking as if he's ready to catch her if she falls. "Not good." Rose replies. A look flashes over her face, fear and something else. Something that I can't quite discern.

"The woman at the desk, she told us that he's in surgery." Ty says.

Rose nods. "He's been there for a while now. Is that a bad thing?"

"No ma'am," Sully says and places his large hand on her shoulder. "It's not a bad thing."

Rose shakes her head, looks down at the floor. "It's my fault." she says, not looking up. "I know he's been in a lot of pain since Faith's death. I should have helped him."

That's not true Rose, I don't think there's a damn thing you could have done. Yes, you could have called more often. Refused to serve him alcohol when he came into your bar during the wee hours of the morning. He needed to help himself.

"Ma'am," Sully starts to say something and then appears to think better of it. For a moment anyway. Then he continues, "You don't think that Bosco did this on purpose do you?"

Rose looks up at him. "You don't?"

___________________

"Faith..." Bosco's eyes open and he looks around the room frantically.

I'm here Bos. I touch his cheek and he immediately relaxes under my touch.

It's been a day since his surgery, he pulled through. Much to relief of his mother and his former colleagues.

A nurse rushes into the room. "Oh Mr Boscorelli! You're awake! That's wonderful!" She sounds too perky. And looks much too young to be a fully qualified nurse.

Bosco looks up at her. "Faith..." he whispers.

The nurse cocks her head to the side. "Do you want a bible Mr Boscorelli? I'm sure I could scrounge one up for you!"

Bosco closes his eyes. The nurse looks at him with puzzlement. "You want faith? Do you want a minister?"

"No, I want Faith." Bosco replies. His eyes open and looks up at the nurse.

"I don't understand Mr Boscorelli," the nurse falters slightly. "I think I'd better get a doctor."

She leaves the room. Bosco struggles in bed, he's trying to sit up. "Faith?" he says and gives up on the idea of sitting up.

Yeah Bos? I lay my hand gently over his. The one without the IV line in it.

"I saw you Faith. Just before that car hit mine. I saw you."

There's voices in the hall, they're coming closer.

"You were sittin' there next to me. Your hair was all loose 'round your shoulders. And then you put your hand on my cheek."

I did, I did do that. But how could he have seen me? Was it all a delusion created by his troubled mind? A fragment of a memory that returned to him as he witnessed the crash? Or did he really see me?

A doctor steps into the room, the too-young nurse hovers behind him. "Mr Boscorelli. Good to see you're awake."

Bosco nods but doesn't say anything.

"You gave us a bit of a scare there." the doctor says and consults a chart. "Nurse Howard says that you've been making a request for faith. We do have a chapel in the hospital, and if you would like, we can arrange for a priest to come by."

"He doesn't want that." says a familiar voice from behind the doctor. "He's looking for Faith."

The doctor turns around and steps to the side slightly. "Who are you? Are you Faith?"

"No, but I knew her. My name's Kim Zambrano, I'm a..friend of Bosco's." Kim looks across the room at Bosco. He looks surprised to see her.

"Is Faith someone that we should call?" the doctor asks. "A spouse? His girlfriend?"

"No," Kim lowers her voice. "She was his partner. She died a couple months ago."

"Oh." The doctor looks increasingly worried. "I'll call for a psych consult."

Kim shakes her head rapidly. "No, don't do that. Can I talk to him? Alone?"

The doctor, thinking he now has a lunatic case on his hands looks reluctant to leave. "You say you're his friend?"

"You don't have to talk like I'm not in the room," Bosco finally speaks up. "She's my friend, so let her stay."

Kim looks over at Bosco, a small smile on her face. She pushes her dark hair back from her face. "Please leave."

The nurse scurries away and the doctor soon follows suit. I watch as Kim heads towards the bed, pulls up a chair and sits down. "We were worried about you." she says. "All of us were."

"Even Carlos?" Bosco looks dubious.

"Even Carlos." Kim says. She pushes back her hair again. It seems to have developed a mind of its own. "Bosco, I know how hard it's been on you since Faith died."

Bosco turns his head away from her. "You all think I've gone crazy."

"I was there too Bosco," Kim says. I forget sometimes that she was. "I saw her, laying there. I tried to save her Bosco, believe me I did."

"So I heard." Bosco says. "I was too busy trying to satisfy my need for revenge to even look at her."

"Don't blame yourself." Kim says, her voice soft as though she were talking to her son Joey. "Believe me, I know what it's like. You replay it, in your head. Wondering if you had something differently, would they still be alive today?"

A look of pain crosses over her face and I realize that she's talking about Bobby. Bosco realizes it too and he looks back at her again. "I didn't try to kill myself, if that's what you're gettin' at."

"I'm not saying that you did." Kim replies. "I'm just sayin', I know what you're going through."

Bosco shakes his head. "No. No, you don't."

Kim bites down on her bottom lip. "I do Bosco, I do. I know how much she meant to you. And I know what it's like to lose a person like that. Feels like someone ripped you in half, and hid that other half."

"She's still here." Bosco says and looks around the room.

Kim frowns and then stands up. "I gotta go Bosco." She looks a little disturbed by Bosco's last statement. She throws her jacket on and leaves the room without saying another word.

"I scared her off Faith." Bosco whispers. His eyes close and he sighs. "Scared her off."