I followed into the hospital a few minutes later as they took her away through the Administration ONLY doors own Trauma Four. I felt like a mess. How could something like this happen? Sitting down in a chair I ran my hand though my short brown hair frustrated at the entire situation. I thought about if I should call someone. I didn't remember Cruz telling me about any family members. She didn't have anyone, besides me I guess.

          She had survived, god I don't know how she did it. The doctor came back telling me she had 4 broken ribs, from obviously getting punched. The bruise marks told them all they needed to know. She had suffered a severe concussion as well on top of that. They didn't tell me all that they thought happened and told me to go home. They wouldn't allow me to even see her, refused to make sure myself that she was alive.  So I decided not to put up a fight, left my number, and left.

          The next day I took off and fled to the hospital. After pestering the doctors and nurses to see Cruz they reluctantly allowed me in intensive care. Entering her room slowly I walked over to her motionless body and observed her not being able to recall when she looked so horrible. Both eyes were bruised badly, her face darkened, her eyes were shut. I could tell she was breathing lightly by herself now. Pulling up a chair beside her bed I sat there staring at her. That was enough for me, I didn't do much else. I didn't know what else to do, fearing if I touched her she would die. I passed out a few minutes later.

          "Bos." I heard a voice crackle as I came back to reality slipping myself up in the chair. Her eyes were open, staring at me, her lips parted.

"Hey." I whispered as I pulled the chair to her bedside, "How you holding up?"

          "What happened?" Cruz asked quickly her eyes narrowed at me waiting for an answer that I could not give.

"Someone broke into your place. You were pretty, beat up." I said to say the least.

Maritza stared at me blankly, her expression puzzled, then suddenly it grew into one of anger and rage, "That son of a bitch!" She cursed loudly causing her to cough. I nearly fell back at this comment, not expecting her to start screaming.

"What? Who did this to you?" I asked quickly standing up. They were going to pay. Then I remembered the coke I had found at her place. Bad timing to ask don't you think?

"Ray." She said simply. "I'm going to kill him. I'm going to friggen kill him!"  Cruz continued to rant.

"Shh…shh keep it down. Ray? Ray who?" I questioned her as I leaned close to her. "Tell me who"

Cruz just stared at me, her face twisted to hatred. She fell silent. "You…you went to my place…in my drawer. You know." She hissed at me.

I swallow hard and nodded at her slowly. "Yes. I didn't want to ask you right now."

"You want to know though right? What I'm doing with it?" She continued to ask. I hesitated.

"Let me call a nurse…Cruz, you need your rest." I said as I turned away from her however a slight touch on my arm stopped me.

"It's my little insurance policy." Cruz whispered as I turned around, staring down at her. "That's what Ray was looking for, that's what he took. I wasn't about to give it away without a fight."

"And go damn it Cruz! You nearly died!" I exploded in selfishness.

"Bosco, you don't get it," She paused looking at me sadly, "you never will." She hissed lowly at me.

Another few weeks passed and I hadn't spoken to Cruz or Faith. Life was messed up, that was for sure. I missed Faith, missed the friendship we had, and missed us working together. The month Cruz stayed on recovery; I had to cover both of our asses in ACU (Anti Crime Unit). I was almost sure Lieu was going to transfer me back to 5-5 David, and in a way, that's what I wanted, however, he didn't. The next few weeks I spent my days doing paperwork, and a new drug dealing circle that was going on. Cruz was missing out on a lot of fun. I had so much unfinished business to do; I truly wasn't sure where to start.  

One night at my place I decided to call Faith. I hadn't talked to her in nearly a month now, and the only time I saw here was every so often in the locker room. I wasn't sure how she was feeling, if she ever wanted to even talk to me again. I waited until I heard a voice on the other end answered, "Hello?"

"Hey, Faith, it's me." I said into the receiver.

"Oh. Hi," Faith replied simply. Silence.

"How you doing?" I asked her, my voice soft.

"Alright, you?"

"Yeah…Things could be better though." I spoke. More silence.

"Bosco," She spoke up suddenly, "Why did you call?"

"I need to know, Faith, if things are over between us." I replied after a pause. Good job Boz.

"Things change Bos. People change, relationships change." Faith told me.

"But is that it? We were best friends Faith," I paused, "You were my best friend."

"You were mine too. But that's how things were. Things have changed, a lot." Faith told me. "You can't dwell on the past Bosco, you have to pick yourself up and move on with your life. I'm not your mother anymore."

Tears were ripping at my eyes. I wanted to tell Faith, tell her how much she meant to me but no words came out.

"You have your entire life ahead of you Bosco, don't waste it." She told me.

"Faith…" I cried.

"You have changed so much since the first time we met; you've grown from an immature kid to a wise man. My work is done. I want the best for you Bosco, and everything I told you and did for you, was always true." Faith explained to me. I swear she was choking on tears herself. Why were we crying? I did nothing more then try to silent my tears. We both knew it was over. "I'll always be there for you Bosco, but you can't keep running back to me to fix your problems. I know you can do it yourself."

"I have no-body else Faith." I choked though my tears. "You are the only one I have. You could never compare to Cruz! And you know that"

"I know." She paused, "You're going to be fine Bosco. If you ever need to talk, I'm here. I got to go. Take care of yourself."

"Bye." I said and with that 'we' were over. I knew we would never be the same again. Maybe she was right, as much as I dreaded it, I was going to be fine.