Revenge
Chapter 36
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The heavy smell of smoke and burned wood filled the air. The flames were out, except for a few "hot spots" that were still smoldering. The firefighters continued to sift through the debris, putting out the smoldering embers and looking for the body of Paul Richard Peterson.
The police car pulled up alongside the burned out house. The door opened and Billy Walsh got out. He'd caught a ride with an officer that was leaving the hospital from another call. He thanked the officer for the ride and walked over to the truck to get a pike pole to start digging through the rubble for any smoldering embers. Jimmy looked at his face and knew things were not good for Bosco.
"Hey," Jimmy said to him as he approached.
"Hey," Billy replied back somberly as the other members of the crew gathered around to hear about what happened.
"It's not good, guys. I just don't know if he's gonna make it. I was talking to Kimmy after they turned him over to the trauma team. He's got two gunshot wounds, one of them was from those last shots. He threw himself on top of the kid so he wouldn't get shot. The other one seems like it's from a few days ago and it looks infected. He's beat up pretty bad and he took in a lot of smoke from the fire," he said, pausing.
"Did they get him back? They were doing CPR on the way out of here," D.K. asked him.
Billy nodded. "Yeah, for a minute, but then they lost him again. I don't know if they got him back again or not. They were still working on him, but I wanted to get back here to the fire. The place is mobbed with cops," he finished.
"How's Faith?" asked Jimmy.
"She's okay, I think. She just took a lot of smoke. She was waiting to go in with him as soon as they let her," Billy answered.
"Okay guys. Let's get back to work," the Lieutenant said. "We've got hot spots to put out." The crew quietly went back to work.
"I found him," came the voice of a firefighter a short time later. "Not much left of him though," he added as the detectives came over to him.
"Good," Jimmy said under his breath, but loud enough for D.K. and Walsh to hear and silently agree.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**
Rose, Trisha and Mikey were sitting in the waiting room with Ty and what seemed to be a hundred other men and women in uniform - many of them the upper echelon that always show up at the hospital when one of their numbers is seriously hurt. Every time a door opened, all eyes turned toward it hoping for word on Bosco.
Rose looked at Trisha. She hadn't made a sound the whole way over here and now she sat staring off into space, her hands grasping each other tightly. Rose covered her hands with her own.
"Trisha? Are you okay?" she asked the girl gently. She didn't get an answer - almost like Trisha hadn't heard her.
"Honey?" she asked a little louder. Trisha looked over at her with haunted eyes.
"Talk to me. What is it?" Rose asked, sensing it was more than just Maurice's condition - like that wasn't bad enough.
Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Rose. "It's just..., I can't...," she stopped beginning to sob. Rose pulled her into her and wrapped her arms around her.
"Sshh. It's okay. He's gonna make it. I just know it," she soothed, rocking Trisha gently. She held her for a few moments until she felt the sobs subside. Then, "You know that he's gonna be okay, right?"
Trisha nodded her head against Rose's shoulder. "It's just that. I remember sitting in a hospital waiting room the day my parents died. They were killed by a drunk driver. I was in the car and I didn't have a scratch on me. I was only five, but there was no other family - no one to come and take me home. That's how I ended up in foster care for the next 13 years - shuffled from one home to the next - always making friends and bonds and then getting moved around. Everyone always left, or I left...," she told Rose, the tears starting to fall again.
Rose hugged her again. "We're not leaving. And you don't have to either. Besides Maurice is going to need you to help him heal."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
After they had transferred Bosco over to the hospital's stretcher, they stood outside the room watching them work. Kim had switched the oxygen mask over to the hospital's oxygen and still felt his hair on her hand where she'd touched his head and told him to fight before she left the room. Carlos could still see the veins standing out in his hand from the workout they'd gotten by doing CPR. His hands ached from the fatigue and he was soaked in sweat.
When they'd pulled up into the hospital, nurses had tried to take over for both Kim and Carlos, but they'd refused. "We've got him," they both said and the nurses stood back, knowing that there was an emotional connection between the medics and this officer. They stepped aside and let them bring him into the emergency room. There they turned him over to the care of the hospital. Having done all that they could do for him, they had to wait for word like the rest of the people.
After a moment of watching them work, their view was obstructed by the team working on him and the equipment being brought in to help keep him alive. They each felt a hand on their shoulder from behind and turned to see Doc standing behind them. He'd been down at his office doing paperwork and was listening on the scanner. He'd come to see how Bosco was and to see how his medics were doing. They didn't even notice him waiting for them to arrive and following them into the hospital. He'd been standing behind them, watching along with them. It wasn't that long ago that they'd lost another one of their own - Alex Taylor.
"C'mon, guys. Why don't you get cleaned up and get something to drink," Doc said calmly. He walked down the hall with them and into the lounge.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Faith sat on the edge of her stretcher looking into the other room, tears falling from her eyes as she watched the chest compressions continuing. They'd put him on a ventilator because he couldn't breathe on his own. She wanted to be in there with him, but they told her no. She had to watch from where she was - helpless. She was unable to touch him, even just to hold his hand let him know she was there.
She pulled the oxygen mask off her face. Her throat and chest hurt from the coughing and from the smoke, and her head was pounding. The nurse had gone to get her something for her headache and something to clean up with. She sat staring - afraid if she took her eyes off of him, she'd lose him.
"Faith?" came the quiet voice from the doorway. She knew the voice immediately and held out a hand to him, still not taking her eyes from Bosco. Fred crossed the room and was at her side.
"Faith, are you okay?" he asked her as he held her close to him. He felt her tears soak his shirt and felt her start to shake from the sobs.
"I'm okay," she finally managed to get out in a whisper. "But, Bosco...," she trailed off. Fred looked over at the man in the next room. He was always so vibrant, active. Except for that time that he'd broken down in their apartment that night and he'd walked in on him, he'd never seen Bosco have a weak moment. And now, here he was, dependent on everyone else to pull him through this. He never did know that Fred had seen him crying that night and after that he'd had a new understanding of Bosco and the bond that he and Faith had for each other.
"He'll be okay, Faith. He's strong. He'll be okay," he repeated as Faith stiffened at the sight of them stopping CPR. Everyone stood still in the room, except for a couple of the nurses who were in charge of keeping things from getting too cluttered - moving equipment that was no longer needed and keeping track of discarded needles and medications bottles.
Faith sat up straight and Fred gripped her hand tightly. "Fred? Oh my God," she said. "Bosco!" she yelled, jumping off the stretcher. "No!" she yelled as she ran out of her room and headed for Bosco's room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 36
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The heavy smell of smoke and burned wood filled the air. The flames were out, except for a few "hot spots" that were still smoldering. The firefighters continued to sift through the debris, putting out the smoldering embers and looking for the body of Paul Richard Peterson.
The police car pulled up alongside the burned out house. The door opened and Billy Walsh got out. He'd caught a ride with an officer that was leaving the hospital from another call. He thanked the officer for the ride and walked over to the truck to get a pike pole to start digging through the rubble for any smoldering embers. Jimmy looked at his face and knew things were not good for Bosco.
"Hey," Jimmy said to him as he approached.
"Hey," Billy replied back somberly as the other members of the crew gathered around to hear about what happened.
"It's not good, guys. I just don't know if he's gonna make it. I was talking to Kimmy after they turned him over to the trauma team. He's got two gunshot wounds, one of them was from those last shots. He threw himself on top of the kid so he wouldn't get shot. The other one seems like it's from a few days ago and it looks infected. He's beat up pretty bad and he took in a lot of smoke from the fire," he said, pausing.
"Did they get him back? They were doing CPR on the way out of here," D.K. asked him.
Billy nodded. "Yeah, for a minute, but then they lost him again. I don't know if they got him back again or not. They were still working on him, but I wanted to get back here to the fire. The place is mobbed with cops," he finished.
"How's Faith?" asked Jimmy.
"She's okay, I think. She just took a lot of smoke. She was waiting to go in with him as soon as they let her," Billy answered.
"Okay guys. Let's get back to work," the Lieutenant said. "We've got hot spots to put out." The crew quietly went back to work.
"I found him," came the voice of a firefighter a short time later. "Not much left of him though," he added as the detectives came over to him.
"Good," Jimmy said under his breath, but loud enough for D.K. and Walsh to hear and silently agree.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**
Rose, Trisha and Mikey were sitting in the waiting room with Ty and what seemed to be a hundred other men and women in uniform - many of them the upper echelon that always show up at the hospital when one of their numbers is seriously hurt. Every time a door opened, all eyes turned toward it hoping for word on Bosco.
Rose looked at Trisha. She hadn't made a sound the whole way over here and now she sat staring off into space, her hands grasping each other tightly. Rose covered her hands with her own.
"Trisha? Are you okay?" she asked the girl gently. She didn't get an answer - almost like Trisha hadn't heard her.
"Honey?" she asked a little louder. Trisha looked over at her with haunted eyes.
"Talk to me. What is it?" Rose asked, sensing it was more than just Maurice's condition - like that wasn't bad enough.
Her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Rose. "It's just..., I can't...," she stopped beginning to sob. Rose pulled her into her and wrapped her arms around her.
"Sshh. It's okay. He's gonna make it. I just know it," she soothed, rocking Trisha gently. She held her for a few moments until she felt the sobs subside. Then, "You know that he's gonna be okay, right?"
Trisha nodded her head against Rose's shoulder. "It's just that. I remember sitting in a hospital waiting room the day my parents died. They were killed by a drunk driver. I was in the car and I didn't have a scratch on me. I was only five, but there was no other family - no one to come and take me home. That's how I ended up in foster care for the next 13 years - shuffled from one home to the next - always making friends and bonds and then getting moved around. Everyone always left, or I left...," she told Rose, the tears starting to fall again.
Rose hugged her again. "We're not leaving. And you don't have to either. Besides Maurice is going to need you to help him heal."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
After they had transferred Bosco over to the hospital's stretcher, they stood outside the room watching them work. Kim had switched the oxygen mask over to the hospital's oxygen and still felt his hair on her hand where she'd touched his head and told him to fight before she left the room. Carlos could still see the veins standing out in his hand from the workout they'd gotten by doing CPR. His hands ached from the fatigue and he was soaked in sweat.
When they'd pulled up into the hospital, nurses had tried to take over for both Kim and Carlos, but they'd refused. "We've got him," they both said and the nurses stood back, knowing that there was an emotional connection between the medics and this officer. They stepped aside and let them bring him into the emergency room. There they turned him over to the care of the hospital. Having done all that they could do for him, they had to wait for word like the rest of the people.
After a moment of watching them work, their view was obstructed by the team working on him and the equipment being brought in to help keep him alive. They each felt a hand on their shoulder from behind and turned to see Doc standing behind them. He'd been down at his office doing paperwork and was listening on the scanner. He'd come to see how Bosco was and to see how his medics were doing. They didn't even notice him waiting for them to arrive and following them into the hospital. He'd been standing behind them, watching along with them. It wasn't that long ago that they'd lost another one of their own - Alex Taylor.
"C'mon, guys. Why don't you get cleaned up and get something to drink," Doc said calmly. He walked down the hall with them and into the lounge.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Faith sat on the edge of her stretcher looking into the other room, tears falling from her eyes as she watched the chest compressions continuing. They'd put him on a ventilator because he couldn't breathe on his own. She wanted to be in there with him, but they told her no. She had to watch from where she was - helpless. She was unable to touch him, even just to hold his hand let him know she was there.
She pulled the oxygen mask off her face. Her throat and chest hurt from the coughing and from the smoke, and her head was pounding. The nurse had gone to get her something for her headache and something to clean up with. She sat staring - afraid if she took her eyes off of him, she'd lose him.
"Faith?" came the quiet voice from the doorway. She knew the voice immediately and held out a hand to him, still not taking her eyes from Bosco. Fred crossed the room and was at her side.
"Faith, are you okay?" he asked her as he held her close to him. He felt her tears soak his shirt and felt her start to shake from the sobs.
"I'm okay," she finally managed to get out in a whisper. "But, Bosco...," she trailed off. Fred looked over at the man in the next room. He was always so vibrant, active. Except for that time that he'd broken down in their apartment that night and he'd walked in on him, he'd never seen Bosco have a weak moment. And now, here he was, dependent on everyone else to pull him through this. He never did know that Fred had seen him crying that night and after that he'd had a new understanding of Bosco and the bond that he and Faith had for each other.
"He'll be okay, Faith. He's strong. He'll be okay," he repeated as Faith stiffened at the sight of them stopping CPR. Everyone stood still in the room, except for a couple of the nurses who were in charge of keeping things from getting too cluttered - moving equipment that was no longer needed and keeping track of discarded needles and medications bottles.
Faith sat up straight and Fred gripped her hand tightly. "Fred? Oh my God," she said. "Bosco!" she yelled, jumping off the stretcher. "No!" she yelled as she ran out of her room and headed for Bosco's room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...