Bosco made his way into his mom's bar after taking a short stroll down the cold, dark streets of New York. The bar was pretty much empty, the only people around were the regulars that made it a point to get drunk every night. He slowly walked to an empty bar stool and stared into the mirror across from him.

"Maurice? What are you doing here?" His mom approached him, a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other. "Is everything okay?" Her voice sounded doubtful.

He nodded. "Everything's fine, I just stopped by for a drink and to see how you were doing." He looked around the bar at the lowlife's who were all pretty much out of it by now. "Could I have some bourbon?"

"Of course you could." She pulled out a clear glass and poured the amber liquid. "Work going okay?"

"Same old shit, guess I can't complain." He chugged the bourbon and enjoyed the burning sensation it sent through his body. "How are you doing?"

"Fine. Trying to stop smoking."

He glanced at the half smoked cigarette cradled between her fingers. "Oh? Looks like you are doing good." His voice was sarcastic as he poured the next glass himself.

"I've cut it down to a pack and a half a day as opposed to the three I was smoking before."

"Ah, well good luck with that." He finished off his second drink and stood up. "It's late, I gotta get going." He kissed her on the cheek. "See you later."

"Oh Maurice, how's that girlfriend of yours doing?" She extinguished the butt of the Marlboro and watched the smoke linger above her.

"Good." He turned to walk out, wishing Jenna was in town tonight. He needed her bad. He needed her to chase the demons from earlier today out of his memory.

~~

Faith rolled over in her bed feeling Fred next to her. She glanced at the clock beside her, the red numbers gleaming into her eyes, causing her to squint. It was 3:30 and she hadn't slept a wink. She sat up and ran her fingers through her tangled hair and walked to the bathroom.

She wondered how Bosco was doing. He didn't seem himself. Who was she kidding? No one was themselves after that call.

She thought about the eerie silence in the hospital waiting room. No one had spoken a word. She just remembered the cold, sorrowful looks that were written across everyone's faces as they sat around wondering why the hell something that extreme could've happened.

She leaned against the sink and sighed. She hated these long nights when all she could do was sit there and watch each minute pass by and hear every click from the secondhand on her watch. She changed into a t-shirt and jeans and made her way to the front door. She needed to do something, she didn't want to sit around and wallow in her self-pity.

~~

She knocked lightly on his door, hoping he'd be awake or at least grateful that she'd come by. The last thing she wanted to do was piss him off. She heard a few bottles clank and some footsteps, and the creak of the door open. Bosco stood before her, his hair disheveled and his eyes sunken in.

"Hey F..Faith." He stammered on his words.

"Hey Boz, were you asleep?"

He shook his head. "No. I was just, I was just sitting here."

She stood in the dark hallway. She could smell the strong scent of alcohol on his breath. "Can I come in?"

He giggled. "Oh sure, come on in!" He opened the door wider, allowing her to walk past him, into his trashed apartment.

She noticed about 6 empty beer bottles next to the couch. "How much have you drank tonight Boz?"

He stumbled to the couch and sat down. "Oh here we go again."

"What?"

"Here we go again with you mothering me. God, I can't even get away from it when I'm in my own damn house!"

She bit her bottom lip. Pissing him off was not her plan. "I'm not mothering you, I just asked a question."

"Some bourbon and some beers. I can binge every now and then can't I?" He laid his head on the arm of the couch. "You want a beer or something? Wait, never mind. I don't think I have any left." He laughed again.

She shook her head no. "You didn't binge because something is bothering you, right?"

"Nah. I just did this because Jenna's not here. When she's around she doesn't like me to drink a lot. So I thought now was my chance before she got back into town."

For some reason, Faith did not believe a word that came out of his mouth.

~~

"So, how'd you sleep last night?" Sully ran his hand over his hair while looking in the locker room mirror. "Nights after a bad wreck are always hard for me, but I'm better now." He glanced at Ty.

"I guess okay. We didn't get it as bad as Bosco and Yokas you know?"

Bosco barged in, his head throbbing and his eyes bloodshot. Sully and Davis turned and stared at him.

"What the fuck? I heard my name and when I come in you bastards get quiet. What's up with that?" He opened his locker and threw his duffel bag in. "I hate when people talk shit behind my back."

Ty approached him. "We weren't talking shit, man. I was just saying that we didn't get it as bad as you and Faith did."

Bosco flashed him a confused look. "Get what as bad?"

Ty's eyes fell to the floor. Sully broke in. "That call yesterday."

Bosco sniffed. "Oh right. I'm fine. That was nothing. It's not everyday you get to scrape a little girl's brains off of the pavement you know?"

Faith walked in at the right time. "Boz, shut up."

"What's up your ass this morning?" He glared at her.

"Nothing, I just don't wanna talk about it."

Bosco raised his eyebrows. "I'm fine. It's over, let's get on with our lives."

Sully buttoned up his shirt. "Yeah, you look fine Bosco. See you guys in roll call."

~~

"So, where do you wanna start looking for this motorcyclist?"

Faith sighed. "They have a detective on that case so we won't be looking anywhere."

"Great, just great. They won't find him for 2 months, if at all." He leaned his head against the passenger side window. "You got some Tylenol or something? My head is throbbing."

"Yeah, binging on bourbon and beer will do that to you. I think I have some in the glove compartment."

"5-5 David, 5-5 Charlie, and 5-5 Edward, respond to 1-0-5 Clairemont and Smith Street. FDNY and EMS requesting your assistance at this time, forthwith."

"5-5 David responding, 1-0-5 Clairemont and Smith." Faith pressed hard on the accelerator, increasing their speed by 10 miles per hour. "I wonder what this is all about."

Bosco scoffed. "Bucket fairies, they can't handle situations themselves."

~~

Bosco and Faith were greeted by Sully and Davis who were already at the scene. Carlos and Kim were inside the ambulance, not making a move toward the injured man that lay bleeding on the sidewalk. Bosco looked around and saw nothing too out of the ordinary.

"What's going on?"

"We've got a man inside the building threatening to open fire if we attempt to work on that man over there." Sully pointed in the direction of where the man was suffering.

"So, what is the fire department doing here?" Faith glanced at the fire truck where everyone remained inside.

"He's also threatening to set the building on fire. They are on stand by until further notice."

"Unbelievable. Sounds like we got a regular whacko on our hands." Bosco shifted his weight from his right foot to his left. "So, what's the plan? Go in?"

"Our best bet is to have Davis and Bosco stay at the front of the building, secure that exit. Faith, you and me will go to the back, make sure he doesn't come out the alleyway. 5-5 Edward, you guys wait until we move in, then we'll all go in together, see if we can't get this guy down before that man bleeds to death."

Bosco and Ty stayed in their position. They could hear movement inside. Bosco peered in the window but quickly moved when a bullet shattered the glass, barely missing him. He queued his radio, "We have shots fired." He glanced at Ty. "We gotta do something now, he knows we are here." He spoke into the radio, "Sul, we gotta move in."

"Okay Boz, on my count."

Bosco could feel his heart beating out of his chest as he heard Sully begin.

"1....2....THREE!"

Bosco quickly kicked in the door but no one was present in the room. He looked up the staircase and saw no movement or shadows. "Suspect not visible from this point, you guys got a visual?"

"Negative, nothing in the back." Faith's voice echoed.

Bosco and Ty got up against the wall, both their breathing growing shallow and fast. "Cover me." Bosco whispered as he moved across a threshold, several bullets ringing out as he dove out of the way. "He's in the kitchen!"

They all entered the kitchen and noticed a swinging screen door and foot steps tapping. "FUCK!" Bosco ran after him, followed by Ty and Faith. Gunshots rang out on the street, several shattering the windshield of the ambulance.

Bosco screamed into his radio. "FDNY, EMS, get down. Suspect is coming at you!"

Faith felt the heat of bullets pass her as they pursued him on a foot chase. Her lungs burned from the cold air but her feet kept moving, as fast as they would carry her. She heard Bosco approaching and quickly passing her. The suspect turned around again, shooting straight at all three officers. Sully had stayed back at the scene to check on everyone else.

"Units in the 5-5, Lieutenant Swersky is calling off the chase. Repeat, calling off the chase."

Another bullet flew and hit Bosco in the shoulder, barely skimming him but drawing blood. He quickly grabbed the wound.

"Bosco! You okay?" Faith walked up to him.

He breathed heavy. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch. Dammit, why'd they call the chase off?"

Ty replied, "Because if we'd have kept on, he'd probably have killed us and many others."

Bosco started his walk back to the original scene. "Yeah, whatever."

When they arrived back Kim stood over Carlos and was working on him. Sully was bagging him as she inserted an I.V. into his left arm. Everyone stood around as she did her thing.

Doc yelled from the injured man, "How's he doing Kim?"

She took the cap off of a syringe. "Pulse weak and thready. Respirations are low."

Doc's eyes fell towards the man. "He's dead. We didn't get to him in time."

Everyone stared in shock, most of them afraid of what was going to happen to Carlos. Bosco broke the silence.

"What the hell happened?"

"Got hit in the chest as the suspect ran out the front door. He just shot anywhere he could, not really caring who was in the way." D.K. nodded and closed his eyes. He noticed the blood on Bosco. "You okay?"

Bosco lifted a hand. "Yeah, yeah. Just a scratch."

The trainee paramedic Doc was working with for the day spoke. "Let me take a look at that."

Bosco's eyes widened. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Jake Tennal, I'm field training today with Doc."

Bosco turned and faced him. "And what the hell makes you think I want some rookie working on me? Besides, it's just a scratch. The bullet barely brushed my skin."

"Just let me take a look at it. It's bleeding a lot to just be a scratch."

"Boz, just do it. What is the harm in it?" Faith realized she was mothering him again and didn't say another word.

~~

At the hospital everyone sat in the same waiting room, the same eerie silence haunting them again. Bosco wasn't sure how much more of this he could take. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. His arm was sore and he could hardly move it. The rookie had placed a sling on it to keep it in place for the night, though the wound really wasn't that bad.

"We should've gotten to that man sooner." Doc stared up at the ceiling as he spoke, his voice shaky.

"There was nothing we could do Doc. We were ordered to stay in the bus. What were we supposed to do? Get out and work on him and get shot?" Kim noticed the irony of what she said as soon as it exited her mouth.

Doc rebutted from across the room. "Carlos didn't leave the bus and here he is laying in a hospital bed on life support."

"It's my fault." Bosco looked at Doc in the eye.

Doc asked, "What is your fault?"

"Carlos being here. Us meeting back in this room."

"And how is it your fault?" Doc's voice was full of question. Bosco had gained everyone's attention.

He sighed. "For one thing, I made us move in too quickly. I was all hell bent on making a move in that I didn't think about you guys. And for another thing, I saw the perp in the kitchen and I was the one that ran in to get him, Ty just followed me. If I would've been a little more patient we could've gotten him in a non-violent arrest. Instead, bullheaded me moved in, the perp fled, and Carlos is fighting for life."

Faith stood up. "No Bosco, don't beat yourself up about this. It would've been a violent thing no matter what. That man was crazy. He belonged in a psych ward."

Sully spoke. "Boz, if the time wasn't right for us to go in after him I would've said no and waited. I was senior officer. So don't blame yourself. Bad things happen, it comes with the job. Don't go using what ifs and stuff, it'll cause more problems and we don't need that. Now all we can do is pray Carlos is okay. What happened back at that call is in the past, there's no changing it now."

Bosco scratched his eyebrow. "Easier said than done Sul. I know what I was thinking, I know how I was feeling. I'll never get that feeling outta my mind, ever. Thanks for trying to help but.." He stood up. "I gotta get some fresh air. Someone call my cell if anything happens." He walked out.

The room fell silent again.

~~

Bosco made his way into Rose's bar once more. The same familiar faces were there.

"Back again? That's two nights in a row Maurice."

"Yeah, it is." He grabbed a beer mug and poured his own draft from the spout. "So, how'd you do on your smoking today ma?"

"Same as yesterday. One and a half, but you didn't come here to talk smoking." She noticed his left arm was a bit stiff. "Something happen to you?"

"Bullet scratched me. Just keeping it wrapped for the night." He took a long gulp and savored the flavor.

She exhaled some cigarette smoke. "Oh, wanna talk about it?"

"No."

"Okay."

He made his way to the jukebox and put two quarters in. He flipped through the song choices and found Bon Jovi's "Blaze of Glory" song and chose it. He listened as the opening guitar chords came on and made his way back to his stool.

"Ma, a friend of mine got shot today."

"Who?"

"Carlos Nieto, he's a paramedic with the fire department."

"Is he okay?"

"Not sure. He took one to the chest. He's in critical condition right now."

"Is this what has gotten you so riled up?"

"Yeah." He grabbed her cigarette and took a long drag off of it. "It's been awhile since I've tasted a cigarette." He exhaled the harmful smoke and handed it back to her. "He got shot because of me."

"How?"

"I went after the suspect too soon. Spooked him. He took off out the front and shot up the ambulance Carlos was in. If I would've been more patient that wouldn't have happened."

"Honey, it isn't..."

"Save it ma." He cut her off. "No matter what you say, it won't help me. It just won't okay?" He put down a $10 bill. "See you later."

"That beer isn't ten dollars you know." She yelled at him before he made his way out the door.

"Keep the change as a tip. That'll buy your lunch tomorrow." With that comment he was gone into the dark night, not sure where to go next. Jenna would be home in the morning but he wasn't sure if he wanted to see her, not with the negative attitude he was giving everyone. He broke into a jog. He didn't care where he was going, as long as he was going somewhere.