Missing
Chapter 6 - Conclusion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco woke slowly, his bedroom still dark. He had no idea what day it was, let alone what time of day. He only knew that he was in his room because he heard the familiar sound of his shower dripping just off his bedroom. He didn't even remember coming into his apartment - let alone how he drove home without crashing.
Faith - he immediately thought of Faith and he got a tight feeling in his stomach along with tightness in his chest. He glanced over to the phone with the answering machine to see if there was a light flashing to indicate that he had a message. Nothing. He looked over to his alarm clock and saw that it was 5:00. "Is it 5:00 AM or PM?" he thought out loud and then sat up quickly worried that he'd missed work. He jumped up and looked out the window to see that the sun was just coming up. He watched for a few minutes as the garbage truck came down the alley and picked up the deposits left by the residents of the building.
"Shit," he thought to himself as he realized that his overflowing garbage can in the kitchen was still there. He sat back on his bed, trying to wake up fully. He rubbed his face, feeling the growth of whiskers and scratched his head. He stood up and grabbed a pair of sweats from his dresser and pulled them on. He slowly walked up the hallway to his living room and looked at the mess.
"Looks like I clean today," he said out loud to no one. He picked up the remote and punched the button to turn on the television. Throwing the remote onto the couch, he walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee, again mentally kicking himself as he looked at the full garbage can. A chill ran through him as he stepped off the rug and onto the cold kitchen floor with bare feet. He prepared the coffee pot and flipped the switch as the sound of the newscaster reporting on the recent blackout.
"Officials are still trying to locate the exact cause of the outage. However, it is believed that an animal may have gotten into the main breaker and shorted it out. Others are unconvinced that it is not another act of terrorism..." the reporter said, then sending the audience back to the studio and the news anchor with an ID picture of Jason Christopher on the screen behind him.
"In related news, the New York City Police Department will be completing plans for honoring one of their own - fallen by the riots that surrounded the blackout. Sergeant Jason Christopher succumbed to injuries sustained during the performance of his duties when he and his partner were ambushed by an angry mob and beaten. The building they were left in was then set ablaze and it took firefighters, spread thin by the riots, using nearby construction equipment to rescue the two men from the fully involved building. Sgt. Christopher's partner at the time, rookie Patrolman Steven Gusler, remains in critical condition at Angel of Mercy Hospital. Details on Sgt. Christopher's services will be passed on when they are finalized. As always when something like this happens, our hearts and prayers go out to those brave men and women who serve and protect us, as well as to their families," finished the anchor solemnly and then they faded to a commercial.
Tired of waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, Bosco removed the pot and put his coffee cup under the stream of coffee pouring from the machine. He looked in his refrigerator and pulled out an almost empty carton of milk. Opening it, he smelled it and decided that not everything in his refrigerator survived the blackout. Recoiling from the smell of the spoiled milk, he threw the carton into the sink. He took a sip of the black coffee and made a face, dumping the coffee into the sink.
Bosco picked up the phone after looking up the number of the hospital. He dialed information and asked about the condition of Fred Yokas and Steven Gulser. He was told that both were in serious condition. He thanked the woman providing the information and hung up the phone - his hand still resting on the phone for a moment. He turned and walked down the hallway, deciding that a hot shower was needed.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Lieutenant Swersky had finished giving out the information at roll call and had dismissed the officers to begin patrol. Bosco was talking with Davis when the Lieutenant called to him.
"Boscorelli! Can I see you for a minute?" the Lieutenant called to him.
"Yes, Sir," Bosco replied, nodding to Davis. "Later," he told the other officer as he turned and walked to the front of the room.
"Lieu?" Bosco said as he reached his boss.
"Boscorelli. You sure you're up to working today? You look like hell. If you need a day off, let me know," the Lieutenant said.
"No, Sir. I'm fine," Bosco said, unaware that he looked so bad.
"Have you talked to Yokas? How's her husband doing?" the Lieutenant asked.
"Um, I haven't talked to her today. But, last time I talked to her, she said he needed heart surgery," Bosco said vaguely.
"Everything okay between you two?" the Lieutenant asked him, sensing something was wrong.
"Yes, Sir. Just a tough time for her. I'm gonna stop by the hospital later on," he said, not sure if he had the guts to stop by or not - or whether she wanted him to or not.
"You hear anything about Gusler?" Bosco asked him.
Lieutenant Swersky nodded. "Yeah, he's awake, but still serious."
"He tell you anything about what happened? Why they were there?" Bosco asked.
"He only said that Christopher ordered him to go with him. Said he'd gotten a call about officers in distress. That's all we know," the Lieutenant said.
Bosco nodded. "He gonna be able to come back?"
"Not on the streets. He's still exploring his options. He can probably work the desk, but he lost vision in his left eye, so he won't be able to return to patrol," the Lieutenant told him.
"Damn," Bosco said. "Hey, he was good at drawing. Remember he drew that bank robber's picture and it was right on, even with only a quick look at the guy," Bosco said. "Maybe he could be a police sketch artist," Bosco suggested.
"Yeah, I remember that. We'll see," the Lieutenant said.
"Well, guess I'll hit the street," Bosco said.
"Yeah. Be careful," the Lieutenant said, knowing that he was riding without a partner.
"Thanks," Bosco said, leaving to begin his patrol, thoughts of his partner in his mind as he walked out of the precinct house.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
It was two days later and Bosco was standing in dress uniform next to Jason Christopher's flag-draped casket. Faith, Sully and Davis were standing at attention - the rest of those in attendance in formation around them. Bosco had been asked to be a pallbearer at the funeral - much to his surprise. But, he was honored to do so even though the two men rarely saw eye-to-eye.
As he turned to proceed with the casket, his gaze landed on Faith who was looking back at him. "Would things ever be the same between them?" he thought to himself as he proceeded along with the ceremony to put one of their own to rest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End.
Chapter 6 - Conclusion
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bosco woke slowly, his bedroom still dark. He had no idea what day it was, let alone what time of day. He only knew that he was in his room because he heard the familiar sound of his shower dripping just off his bedroom. He didn't even remember coming into his apartment - let alone how he drove home without crashing.
Faith - he immediately thought of Faith and he got a tight feeling in his stomach along with tightness in his chest. He glanced over to the phone with the answering machine to see if there was a light flashing to indicate that he had a message. Nothing. He looked over to his alarm clock and saw that it was 5:00. "Is it 5:00 AM or PM?" he thought out loud and then sat up quickly worried that he'd missed work. He jumped up and looked out the window to see that the sun was just coming up. He watched for a few minutes as the garbage truck came down the alley and picked up the deposits left by the residents of the building.
"Shit," he thought to himself as he realized that his overflowing garbage can in the kitchen was still there. He sat back on his bed, trying to wake up fully. He rubbed his face, feeling the growth of whiskers and scratched his head. He stood up and grabbed a pair of sweats from his dresser and pulled them on. He slowly walked up the hallway to his living room and looked at the mess.
"Looks like I clean today," he said out loud to no one. He picked up the remote and punched the button to turn on the television. Throwing the remote onto the couch, he walked into the kitchen to make himself some coffee, again mentally kicking himself as he looked at the full garbage can. A chill ran through him as he stepped off the rug and onto the cold kitchen floor with bare feet. He prepared the coffee pot and flipped the switch as the sound of the newscaster reporting on the recent blackout.
"Officials are still trying to locate the exact cause of the outage. However, it is believed that an animal may have gotten into the main breaker and shorted it out. Others are unconvinced that it is not another act of terrorism..." the reporter said, then sending the audience back to the studio and the news anchor with an ID picture of Jason Christopher on the screen behind him.
"In related news, the New York City Police Department will be completing plans for honoring one of their own - fallen by the riots that surrounded the blackout. Sergeant Jason Christopher succumbed to injuries sustained during the performance of his duties when he and his partner were ambushed by an angry mob and beaten. The building they were left in was then set ablaze and it took firefighters, spread thin by the riots, using nearby construction equipment to rescue the two men from the fully involved building. Sgt. Christopher's partner at the time, rookie Patrolman Steven Gusler, remains in critical condition at Angel of Mercy Hospital. Details on Sgt. Christopher's services will be passed on when they are finalized. As always when something like this happens, our hearts and prayers go out to those brave men and women who serve and protect us, as well as to their families," finished the anchor solemnly and then they faded to a commercial.
Tired of waiting for the coffee to finish brewing, Bosco removed the pot and put his coffee cup under the stream of coffee pouring from the machine. He looked in his refrigerator and pulled out an almost empty carton of milk. Opening it, he smelled it and decided that not everything in his refrigerator survived the blackout. Recoiling from the smell of the spoiled milk, he threw the carton into the sink. He took a sip of the black coffee and made a face, dumping the coffee into the sink.
Bosco picked up the phone after looking up the number of the hospital. He dialed information and asked about the condition of Fred Yokas and Steven Gulser. He was told that both were in serious condition. He thanked the woman providing the information and hung up the phone - his hand still resting on the phone for a moment. He turned and walked down the hallway, deciding that a hot shower was needed.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Lieutenant Swersky had finished giving out the information at roll call and had dismissed the officers to begin patrol. Bosco was talking with Davis when the Lieutenant called to him.
"Boscorelli! Can I see you for a minute?" the Lieutenant called to him.
"Yes, Sir," Bosco replied, nodding to Davis. "Later," he told the other officer as he turned and walked to the front of the room.
"Lieu?" Bosco said as he reached his boss.
"Boscorelli. You sure you're up to working today? You look like hell. If you need a day off, let me know," the Lieutenant said.
"No, Sir. I'm fine," Bosco said, unaware that he looked so bad.
"Have you talked to Yokas? How's her husband doing?" the Lieutenant asked.
"Um, I haven't talked to her today. But, last time I talked to her, she said he needed heart surgery," Bosco said vaguely.
"Everything okay between you two?" the Lieutenant asked him, sensing something was wrong.
"Yes, Sir. Just a tough time for her. I'm gonna stop by the hospital later on," he said, not sure if he had the guts to stop by or not - or whether she wanted him to or not.
"You hear anything about Gusler?" Bosco asked him.
Lieutenant Swersky nodded. "Yeah, he's awake, but still serious."
"He tell you anything about what happened? Why they were there?" Bosco asked.
"He only said that Christopher ordered him to go with him. Said he'd gotten a call about officers in distress. That's all we know," the Lieutenant said.
Bosco nodded. "He gonna be able to come back?"
"Not on the streets. He's still exploring his options. He can probably work the desk, but he lost vision in his left eye, so he won't be able to return to patrol," the Lieutenant told him.
"Damn," Bosco said. "Hey, he was good at drawing. Remember he drew that bank robber's picture and it was right on, even with only a quick look at the guy," Bosco said. "Maybe he could be a police sketch artist," Bosco suggested.
"Yeah, I remember that. We'll see," the Lieutenant said.
"Well, guess I'll hit the street," Bosco said.
"Yeah. Be careful," the Lieutenant said, knowing that he was riding without a partner.
"Thanks," Bosco said, leaving to begin his patrol, thoughts of his partner in his mind as he walked out of the precinct house.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
It was two days later and Bosco was standing in dress uniform next to Jason Christopher's flag-draped casket. Faith, Sully and Davis were standing at attention - the rest of those in attendance in formation around them. Bosco had been asked to be a pallbearer at the funeral - much to his surprise. But, he was honored to do so even though the two men rarely saw eye-to-eye.
As he turned to proceed with the casket, his gaze landed on Faith who was looking back at him. "Would things ever be the same between them?" he thought to himself as he proceeded along with the ceremony to put one of their own to rest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The End.