Returning the Favor
Chapter 9
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"I have to call his mother. I have to call Rose," Faith said suddenly, not realizing that someone was alongside her.
"I already have Sully and Davis on their way over to pick her up at her job," Lieutenant Swersky told her. She jumped slightly when she realized that someone was with her.
"Oh, thanks," she said to him, noticing Nurse Proctor behind him.
"Faith. Are you sure that you're alright?" the Lieutenant asked her, looking at her hands still covered in Bosco's blood.
"Oh, yeah. This is just... um, from Bosco," she said. "I should probably go get cleaned up, I guess," she said to no one really. "Is he okay?" she said, looking past the Lieutenant to Proctor.
"Yes, Officer. I just though I'd show you where you could get cleaned up. And, I have to evaluate you. You know, standard procedure. You're the only one left that was directly involved with the shooting to be checked out," she said to Faith.
"Oh, okay. They'll know where I am, right?" she asked, following Proctor into an examination room.
"Everyone knows you're with me," Mary told her as they rounded the corner, the Lieutenant and Sgt. Christopher looking on.
"She's screwed-up," said Christopher in his usual, arrogant tone.
The Lieutenant looked over at his Sergeant with a look of disdain. "Of course she's screwed-up. Her partner was shot - who knows how badly - while she wasn't with him because she was moving innocent civilians out of harm's way. She feels guilty for leaving him behind - however, ill-placed that guilt is. What she's feeling is absolutely normal. So, cut her some slack, Christopher. Until you've been in her shoes, you can't have any idea what she's feeling," he finished.
"Yes, Sir," Christopher said, hoping that no one else had heard him get put in his place.
"You have Officer Yokas' home number? I want to call her husband. She probably never even thought of it and if he hears it on the news, he'll probably freak," he said to Christopher, the anger from his last conversation apparently gone.
Christopher thumbed through his book that he kept with him and came up with Faith's home phone number.
The Lieutenant took it and walked over to the phone at the nurse's station, asking for and receiving permission to use the phone. He looked at his watch and dialed the number. He hated calling people late at night. He knew people always thought the worst when their phone rang in the late hours.
The phone was answered in the middle of the second ring. "Hello?" came the anxious voice on the other end of the phone.
"Mr. Yokas? I'm Lieutenant Swersky from the 55th..." the Lieutenant started, only to be interrupted.
"Yes! Is she okay?" Fred replied.
"Yes, she's absolutely fine. Not a scratch," the Lieutenant assured him, hearing the audible sigh of relief on the other end. There was really no easy way to start a conversation with an officer's wife or husband when they were at work.
"What happened?" Fred asked, relieved that his wife was unharmed. However, he also knew that she was involved somehow. "Did she shoot someone?"
"No, Sir," the Lieutenant said. "Her partner, Officer Boscorelli, was shot. He's being evaluated now. Faith is a little shook-up and hasn't thought to call and let you know that she's okay in case you hear it on the news. It all just happened, so I just wanted to give you a call," the Lieutenant said.
"Oh, okay. Should I come down there? How bad is Bosco?" Fred asked, concern for the man who backs-up and protects his wife at work everyday. Bosco had his problems, but he was a good guy and he knew that his wife was safe when he was with her.
"Well, Sir. You'd know better than I would if she'd want you to come down or stay with the kids, so I'll let you make that call. Officer Boscorelli took two gunshots; one to the leg, which doesn't seem to be life-threatening; and one to the upper right chest, which seems to have caused some damage to his spine, although they're trying to determine if it's just temporary," he explained.
"Look, tell Faith I'm on my way. I'll have Mrs. Ross from next door watch the kids - they're sleeping anyway. I'll be there in like 15 minutes," he said. "And, thank you for calling, Lieutenant."
"I'll let her know you're on your way," the Lieutenant said, hanging up the phone. He looked at his watch again, wondering how long a CT Scan took. Faith came around the corner just as Sully and Davis were bringing in Mrs. Boscorelli.
"Faith? What happened to my Maurice?" she asked, rushing over to Faith. Faith put her arm around the concerned mother's shoulders and walked her over to the chairs.
"Rose, he's alive. He is alive," Faith reassured her at the start, thankful that she had cleaned herself off before Rose had arrived. "He was shot twice; once in the leg, which is fine. That bullet didn't hit anything and passed clean through. But, he got shot in the upper right chest and they have him up at CT to evaluate the amount of damage that it might have done," she explained to her.
"But, in the chest? I don't understand? Didn't he have his vest on?" she asked, getting angry at her son for not having on his protective equipment. She'd told him about that numerous times.
"He had his vest on, Rose. It was a freak thing. The only thing I can figure is that he was trying to get out of the shooter's line of fire and turned sideways. His arm must have been up in the air to fire back and the bullet entered in the space between the vest and his underarm," Faith explained.
"So, what happens now?" she asked, not knowing what to do. "Is he awake? Can I see him?"
"He was awake at the scene for a while and I spoke with him for just a moment before they took him up to CT. They have him pretty well drugged up because they want him to keep still until they know what's going on, but I'm sure as soon as they bring him back down, they'll let you in to see him, Rose," she said, holding her hand.
Both Rose and Faith turned toward the door when they heard it open. Faith looked up to see her husband walking through the door. He didn't look angry, like she thought he would because he must have heard it on the news before she called him. He looked worried and anxious. She stood up and walked over to him and he immediately took her into an embrace.
"Faith. Are you okay, honey?" he asked her. "How's Bosco?"
"I'm fine, Fred. I'm sorry I didn't call you right away. I just wanted to find out how Bosco was first," she started. He interrupted her.
"It's okay, Faith. Lieutenant Swersky called me cause he figured you hadn't yet. The kids are with Mrs. Ross - actually she came to our house so I didn't have to wake them up," he explained.
"Thanks, Lieu," Faith said to her superior officer who was standing off to the side. "We don't know how he is yet. I don't think it's life threatening, but there's a question about damage to his spinal cord," she said quietly, so Rose didn't overhear that part. No use getting her upset before she needed to be.
Fred nodded his head in understanding and noticed the shiver that just went through his wife. He took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. "Thanks," she said quietly, fighting back a tear.
"What is it?" Fred asked her.
"I just..., I don't know. I should have been there with him. Maybe I could have stopped it from happening," she rambled. He shushed her and said, "Faith, you were doing what needed to be done, right?"
She nodded her head. "Then, stop second-guessing yourself. You know you can't stop things that are meant to be," he said. "Who's to say that if you were there with him, you wouldn't have been shot too?" he reasoned. "I guess," she said, trailing off and looking up at the clock again.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
About a half hour later the elevator doors opened and they saw Bosco being wheeled back into the trauma unit. Rose stood up and rushed over to her son, Faith close behind.
Faith reached out to hold Rose back. "Let them get him settled in first," she said.
The doctor came over to Faith, a grim look on his face and Faith felt her stomach knot tighten even further.
"Doctor, this is Rose Boscorelli, my partner's mother," Faith explained, the doctor reaching out to shake Rose's hand.
"How is he, Doctor? How badly is Maurice hurt?" Rose asked him, noticing the look on the doctor's face.
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TBC....
Chapter 9
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"I have to call his mother. I have to call Rose," Faith said suddenly, not realizing that someone was alongside her.
"I already have Sully and Davis on their way over to pick her up at her job," Lieutenant Swersky told her. She jumped slightly when she realized that someone was with her.
"Oh, thanks," she said to him, noticing Nurse Proctor behind him.
"Faith. Are you sure that you're alright?" the Lieutenant asked her, looking at her hands still covered in Bosco's blood.
"Oh, yeah. This is just... um, from Bosco," she said. "I should probably go get cleaned up, I guess," she said to no one really. "Is he okay?" she said, looking past the Lieutenant to Proctor.
"Yes, Officer. I just though I'd show you where you could get cleaned up. And, I have to evaluate you. You know, standard procedure. You're the only one left that was directly involved with the shooting to be checked out," she said to Faith.
"Oh, okay. They'll know where I am, right?" she asked, following Proctor into an examination room.
"Everyone knows you're with me," Mary told her as they rounded the corner, the Lieutenant and Sgt. Christopher looking on.
"She's screwed-up," said Christopher in his usual, arrogant tone.
The Lieutenant looked over at his Sergeant with a look of disdain. "Of course she's screwed-up. Her partner was shot - who knows how badly - while she wasn't with him because she was moving innocent civilians out of harm's way. She feels guilty for leaving him behind - however, ill-placed that guilt is. What she's feeling is absolutely normal. So, cut her some slack, Christopher. Until you've been in her shoes, you can't have any idea what she's feeling," he finished.
"Yes, Sir," Christopher said, hoping that no one else had heard him get put in his place.
"You have Officer Yokas' home number? I want to call her husband. She probably never even thought of it and if he hears it on the news, he'll probably freak," he said to Christopher, the anger from his last conversation apparently gone.
Christopher thumbed through his book that he kept with him and came up with Faith's home phone number.
The Lieutenant took it and walked over to the phone at the nurse's station, asking for and receiving permission to use the phone. He looked at his watch and dialed the number. He hated calling people late at night. He knew people always thought the worst when their phone rang in the late hours.
The phone was answered in the middle of the second ring. "Hello?" came the anxious voice on the other end of the phone.
"Mr. Yokas? I'm Lieutenant Swersky from the 55th..." the Lieutenant started, only to be interrupted.
"Yes! Is she okay?" Fred replied.
"Yes, she's absolutely fine. Not a scratch," the Lieutenant assured him, hearing the audible sigh of relief on the other end. There was really no easy way to start a conversation with an officer's wife or husband when they were at work.
"What happened?" Fred asked, relieved that his wife was unharmed. However, he also knew that she was involved somehow. "Did she shoot someone?"
"No, Sir," the Lieutenant said. "Her partner, Officer Boscorelli, was shot. He's being evaluated now. Faith is a little shook-up and hasn't thought to call and let you know that she's okay in case you hear it on the news. It all just happened, so I just wanted to give you a call," the Lieutenant said.
"Oh, okay. Should I come down there? How bad is Bosco?" Fred asked, concern for the man who backs-up and protects his wife at work everyday. Bosco had his problems, but he was a good guy and he knew that his wife was safe when he was with her.
"Well, Sir. You'd know better than I would if she'd want you to come down or stay with the kids, so I'll let you make that call. Officer Boscorelli took two gunshots; one to the leg, which doesn't seem to be life-threatening; and one to the upper right chest, which seems to have caused some damage to his spine, although they're trying to determine if it's just temporary," he explained.
"Look, tell Faith I'm on my way. I'll have Mrs. Ross from next door watch the kids - they're sleeping anyway. I'll be there in like 15 minutes," he said. "And, thank you for calling, Lieutenant."
"I'll let her know you're on your way," the Lieutenant said, hanging up the phone. He looked at his watch again, wondering how long a CT Scan took. Faith came around the corner just as Sully and Davis were bringing in Mrs. Boscorelli.
"Faith? What happened to my Maurice?" she asked, rushing over to Faith. Faith put her arm around the concerned mother's shoulders and walked her over to the chairs.
"Rose, he's alive. He is alive," Faith reassured her at the start, thankful that she had cleaned herself off before Rose had arrived. "He was shot twice; once in the leg, which is fine. That bullet didn't hit anything and passed clean through. But, he got shot in the upper right chest and they have him up at CT to evaluate the amount of damage that it might have done," she explained to her.
"But, in the chest? I don't understand? Didn't he have his vest on?" she asked, getting angry at her son for not having on his protective equipment. She'd told him about that numerous times.
"He had his vest on, Rose. It was a freak thing. The only thing I can figure is that he was trying to get out of the shooter's line of fire and turned sideways. His arm must have been up in the air to fire back and the bullet entered in the space between the vest and his underarm," Faith explained.
"So, what happens now?" she asked, not knowing what to do. "Is he awake? Can I see him?"
"He was awake at the scene for a while and I spoke with him for just a moment before they took him up to CT. They have him pretty well drugged up because they want him to keep still until they know what's going on, but I'm sure as soon as they bring him back down, they'll let you in to see him, Rose," she said, holding her hand.
Both Rose and Faith turned toward the door when they heard it open. Faith looked up to see her husband walking through the door. He didn't look angry, like she thought he would because he must have heard it on the news before she called him. He looked worried and anxious. She stood up and walked over to him and he immediately took her into an embrace.
"Faith. Are you okay, honey?" he asked her. "How's Bosco?"
"I'm fine, Fred. I'm sorry I didn't call you right away. I just wanted to find out how Bosco was first," she started. He interrupted her.
"It's okay, Faith. Lieutenant Swersky called me cause he figured you hadn't yet. The kids are with Mrs. Ross - actually she came to our house so I didn't have to wake them up," he explained.
"Thanks, Lieu," Faith said to her superior officer who was standing off to the side. "We don't know how he is yet. I don't think it's life threatening, but there's a question about damage to his spinal cord," she said quietly, so Rose didn't overhear that part. No use getting her upset before she needed to be.
Fred nodded his head in understanding and noticed the shiver that just went through his wife. He took off his jacket and put it around her shoulders. "Thanks," she said quietly, fighting back a tear.
"What is it?" Fred asked her.
"I just..., I don't know. I should have been there with him. Maybe I could have stopped it from happening," she rambled. He shushed her and said, "Faith, you were doing what needed to be done, right?"
She nodded her head. "Then, stop second-guessing yourself. You know you can't stop things that are meant to be," he said. "Who's to say that if you were there with him, you wouldn't have been shot too?" he reasoned. "I guess," she said, trailing off and looking up at the clock again.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
About a half hour later the elevator doors opened and they saw Bosco being wheeled back into the trauma unit. Rose stood up and rushed over to her son, Faith close behind.
Faith reached out to hold Rose back. "Let them get him settled in first," she said.
The doctor came over to Faith, a grim look on his face and Faith felt her stomach knot tighten even further.
"Doctor, this is Rose Boscorelli, my partner's mother," Faith explained, the doctor reaching out to shake Rose's hand.
"How is he, Doctor? How badly is Maurice hurt?" Rose asked him, noticing the look on the doctor's face.
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TBC....