Revenge
Chapter 37
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wait! I'm feeling a pulse. Stop compressions," the head of the trauma team ordered. Everyone stilled while they looked at the monitor. The only movement was that of the two nurses who were in charge of keeping the room clear and keeping track of medications that were used so it could be charted later when things calmed down.
Everyone waited, listening to the beeps on the monitor. First one, then another and then another. There was finally a steady rhythm. It wasn't perfect, but it was good.
"Okay, Dr. Morris. Let's start assessing his injuries and get him back among the living," the trauma doctor told his associate.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Faith careened around the corner of the room, crashing into one of the doctors coming out. He grabbed hold of her by the shoulders. "He's alive, Officer. He's alive," he told her as Fred caught up with her.
"What? I thought...," she said, not finishing her sentence.
"We got a rhythm back. I'm not saying he's gonna be fine. He's been through a lot and I would say it'd be a miracle if he survives, but he made it this far," the doctor told her, not wanting to get her hopes up.
"Can I see him? Please? Just for a minute?" she begged. The doctor looked over his shoulder, sensing the desperation in her plea.
"Jim! This Officer would like to see her partner for a moment," he called over to one of the other doctors.
"Absolutely," the doctor answered. "But quickly. We need to get him up to the operating room." Normally, they wouldn't accommodate someone with a patient this critical, but everyone understood the closeness of a police officer with his/her partner.
Faith was frozen for a moment. "Faith?" she heard Fred in her ear. "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked, gently squeezing her hand.
"Uh, no. I'll be fine. Besides, I don't think there's enough room in there for two people. I'll be right back," she told him as she pulled her hand from his and walked toward her partner.
"It'd be better if you came over to this side, Officer," the doctor told her. "Less machinery. You can get closer," he said.
Faith stepped around to the other side of the bed and looked down at her partner. He had such a peaceful look on his face. She didn't remember ever seeing that look - except for the time right after he broke down in her apartment. He'd fallen asleep on her couch when she went to get him a drink. When she'd returned, he was sound asleep and she saw him without a frown for the first time in months. She'd thrown a blanket over him and she and Fred went to bed.
And now, he had that same peaceful look on his face. "Bos?" she whispered close to his ear. She looked down to see if she could take his hand. She grasped it and held on tight, willing him to squeeze her hand back. "Can you hear me?" she asked. The nurses and doctors had backed away somewhat, trying to give her some privacy.
"Bos. You need to be strong now. You need to fight as hard as you can. We need you. You did great protecting that kid. He's gonna be fine," she said, hoping she was right. She hadn't checked on him yet.
"Please, Bos. I need you to be okay. I'm sorry it took so long for me to find you. I'm sorry, Bos," she said, tears falling again. She felt a tightening on her hand and looked down to see that Bosco was barely squeezing back. She looked at his face and saw his eyes flutter for a moment, but they remained closed. There was a slight increase to the rate showing on the cardiac monitor.
"Bos? Can you hear me?" she asked and felt the squeeze again, slightly stronger this time.
"Okay, Bos. You stay strong and fight. The doctors are taking care of you. You're at Mercy. I'll be right here waiting for you. Trisha, your Mom and Mikey are outside. So is practically all of the 55th," she told him and he gripped her hand again, but it was weaker this time. She sensed that he was tiring.
The doctor stepped up to her. "Officer. We really need to move him upstairs now. You can wait up there. There's a room right outside of the O.R. Why don't you go with the nurse right now and she'll help you get cleaned up and finish being checked out," he told her gently.
"Okay," she answered him. She squeezed Bosco's hand again and touched his forehead. "I'll be waiting, Bos. Keep fighting," she told him in his ear and was rewarded with another squeeze.
They started moving his stretcher away and his hand was pulled from hers. "Please, Doc. He's gotta be okay. Take care of him," she said.
"I'll be right with him the whole time, Officer. I'll let you know how it's going as soon as I can," Dr. Morris told her.
She watched until Bosco was out of sight and then she felt totally drained and exhausted. Fred was there to catch her as she leaned on him. The nurse helped him get her back to her room and she lay back on the stretcher, eyes closed.
"Faith," Fred whispered to her. "I'm gonna bring the kids in, just so they can see that you're okay."
"Okay. Thanks. Yeah, I wanna see my babies. Tell them I'm okay," she said, almost inaudibly.
When Fred returned with the kids, Faith was sound asleep. "Mom's okay. She's just really worn out. She needs time to get well. Grandma and Grandpa are coming to pick you up and bring you home with them. If they decide to keep Mom here, I'll bring you back first thing in the morning, okay?" he told them.
He watched as the kids looked at their mother, worry on their faces. It didn't help that she still had the soot and dirt on her face from the fire. "You can go give her a kiss if you want. She probably won't wake up, but go ahead," he urged them.
Emily went up to her first and kissed her mother on the cheek. "Love you, Mom." She picked Charlie up so that he could reach her as well. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her he loved her too. "See you tomorrow," he said as Emily put him back down.
"Okay, guys. Let's go. Let's let Mom get some rest," he said, gently guiding them outside.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Rose, Trisha and Mikey stood up as they saw Bosco being wheeled past them. He was hooked up to machines and he looked like he was asleep. A machine was still breathing for him. They caught up to the stretcher at the elevator and the doctor was told who they were.
"Mrs. Boscorelli," he said to Rose as Trisha and his brother listened. "He's very critical. He's got some severe injuries that need treatment right away. As you can see, we did get his heart started again, but he's not yet breathing on his own. Part of that is from the collapsed lung that he had from a broken rib puncturing it. We put in a chest tube for that and re-inflated the lung. Another reason is because of the smoke inhalation and the fact that he's.., well, he's just too weak to do it on his own right now. That's okay. I expect that to correct itself as he gets stronger," the doctor explained to them.
"Is he going to survive, Doctor?" Rose asked him. Trisha stepped over and held onto the hand that had just released Faith's and felt a slight squeeze back.
"I won't lie to you, Mrs. Boscorelli. It could go either way right now. I can't believe he made it this far with all I'm told he endured. So, he's proven to us that he's strong-willed," the doctor said, being interrupted by a chuckle from Bosco's brother, mother and girlfriend.
"More like hard-headed," Rose told him, letting him in on the joke.
"Well, whatever it is, it'll work in his favor. Look, I've got to get him up to surgery now. You can wait upstairs with his partner. I'll get word out to you and let you know how he's doing. If he makes it the next 48 hours, he'll have a good chance at recovering. But, it'll be a long, hard road back. He'll go to ICU right after the Recovery Room. I'll definitely come find you when he's out of the O.R.," the doctor told her.
"Thank you," Rose said, stepping forward to kiss her son on the side of his head. "I love you, Maurice."
Trisha lifted his hand and held it to her lips. She reached up with the other hand and smoothed his hair. His brother also touched his arm and said, "Hang in there, Mo."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Fred had gone out to the waiting room to bring the kids to his Mom and Dad who had come to the hospital to wait for word on Faith and her partner. Ty and Sully came over to him.
"How's she doing?" they asked him.
"She's out like a light. I'll be surprised if they don't keep her at least overnight. Not that I'd be able to get her to leave anyway," Fred said.
"Any word on Bosco?" Sully asked him.
"He's alive, barely. He looks awful. They took him up to surgery. I figure he'll go to ICU after that. He's pretty bad. They don't know how it'll go, but he made it this far. What exactly happened?" Fred asked, finally wondering about the particulars now that he'd found out everyone was still alive.
Sully and Ty filled him in on what had happened and a few minutes later the firefighters came in straight from the scene of the fire. They were released to go back to quarters, but wanted to stop by and see how Bosco and Faith were. They were all still covered in soot, dirt and sweat, the concern and exhaustion showing on their faces.
Fred walked over to Jimmy, D.K. and Billy and extended his hand to them. "Thank you. For getting Faith and Bosco out of there. Thank you for saving their lives. I heard it was pretty hairy in there and you just made it out before everything collapsed. I just wanted to thank you," finishing shaking the third man's hand.
"I'm glad we could get to them. I have to admit, I had some doubts there at the end. I thought we were going to lose them," Jimmy said.
"So, how's everyone doing?" D.K. asked.
Fred filled them in and then they decided to get back to quarters, get themselves and the truck cleaned up and ready for the next run. "Keep us posted," Billy called over to Ty before they left.
"You got it," Ty said, waving to them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 37
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wait! I'm feeling a pulse. Stop compressions," the head of the trauma team ordered. Everyone stilled while they looked at the monitor. The only movement was that of the two nurses who were in charge of keeping the room clear and keeping track of medications that were used so it could be charted later when things calmed down.
Everyone waited, listening to the beeps on the monitor. First one, then another and then another. There was finally a steady rhythm. It wasn't perfect, but it was good.
"Okay, Dr. Morris. Let's start assessing his injuries and get him back among the living," the trauma doctor told his associate.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Faith careened around the corner of the room, crashing into one of the doctors coming out. He grabbed hold of her by the shoulders. "He's alive, Officer. He's alive," he told her as Fred caught up with her.
"What? I thought...," she said, not finishing her sentence.
"We got a rhythm back. I'm not saying he's gonna be fine. He's been through a lot and I would say it'd be a miracle if he survives, but he made it this far," the doctor told her, not wanting to get her hopes up.
"Can I see him? Please? Just for a minute?" she begged. The doctor looked over his shoulder, sensing the desperation in her plea.
"Jim! This Officer would like to see her partner for a moment," he called over to one of the other doctors.
"Absolutely," the doctor answered. "But quickly. We need to get him up to the operating room." Normally, they wouldn't accommodate someone with a patient this critical, but everyone understood the closeness of a police officer with his/her partner.
Faith was frozen for a moment. "Faith?" she heard Fred in her ear. "Do you want me to go with you?" he asked, gently squeezing her hand.
"Uh, no. I'll be fine. Besides, I don't think there's enough room in there for two people. I'll be right back," she told him as she pulled her hand from his and walked toward her partner.
"It'd be better if you came over to this side, Officer," the doctor told her. "Less machinery. You can get closer," he said.
Faith stepped around to the other side of the bed and looked down at her partner. He had such a peaceful look on his face. She didn't remember ever seeing that look - except for the time right after he broke down in her apartment. He'd fallen asleep on her couch when she went to get him a drink. When she'd returned, he was sound asleep and she saw him without a frown for the first time in months. She'd thrown a blanket over him and she and Fred went to bed.
And now, he had that same peaceful look on his face. "Bos?" she whispered close to his ear. She looked down to see if she could take his hand. She grasped it and held on tight, willing him to squeeze her hand back. "Can you hear me?" she asked. The nurses and doctors had backed away somewhat, trying to give her some privacy.
"Bos. You need to be strong now. You need to fight as hard as you can. We need you. You did great protecting that kid. He's gonna be fine," she said, hoping she was right. She hadn't checked on him yet.
"Please, Bos. I need you to be okay. I'm sorry it took so long for me to find you. I'm sorry, Bos," she said, tears falling again. She felt a tightening on her hand and looked down to see that Bosco was barely squeezing back. She looked at his face and saw his eyes flutter for a moment, but they remained closed. There was a slight increase to the rate showing on the cardiac monitor.
"Bos? Can you hear me?" she asked and felt the squeeze again, slightly stronger this time.
"Okay, Bos. You stay strong and fight. The doctors are taking care of you. You're at Mercy. I'll be right here waiting for you. Trisha, your Mom and Mikey are outside. So is practically all of the 55th," she told him and he gripped her hand again, but it was weaker this time. She sensed that he was tiring.
The doctor stepped up to her. "Officer. We really need to move him upstairs now. You can wait up there. There's a room right outside of the O.R. Why don't you go with the nurse right now and she'll help you get cleaned up and finish being checked out," he told her gently.
"Okay," she answered him. She squeezed Bosco's hand again and touched his forehead. "I'll be waiting, Bos. Keep fighting," she told him in his ear and was rewarded with another squeeze.
They started moving his stretcher away and his hand was pulled from hers. "Please, Doc. He's gotta be okay. Take care of him," she said.
"I'll be right with him the whole time, Officer. I'll let you know how it's going as soon as I can," Dr. Morris told her.
She watched until Bosco was out of sight and then she felt totally drained and exhausted. Fred was there to catch her as she leaned on him. The nurse helped him get her back to her room and she lay back on the stretcher, eyes closed.
"Faith," Fred whispered to her. "I'm gonna bring the kids in, just so they can see that you're okay."
"Okay. Thanks. Yeah, I wanna see my babies. Tell them I'm okay," she said, almost inaudibly.
When Fred returned with the kids, Faith was sound asleep. "Mom's okay. She's just really worn out. She needs time to get well. Grandma and Grandpa are coming to pick you up and bring you home with them. If they decide to keep Mom here, I'll bring you back first thing in the morning, okay?" he told them.
He watched as the kids looked at their mother, worry on their faces. It didn't help that she still had the soot and dirt on her face from the fire. "You can go give her a kiss if you want. She probably won't wake up, but go ahead," he urged them.
Emily went up to her first and kissed her mother on the cheek. "Love you, Mom." She picked Charlie up so that he could reach her as well. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her he loved her too. "See you tomorrow," he said as Emily put him back down.
"Okay, guys. Let's go. Let's let Mom get some rest," he said, gently guiding them outside.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Rose, Trisha and Mikey stood up as they saw Bosco being wheeled past them. He was hooked up to machines and he looked like he was asleep. A machine was still breathing for him. They caught up to the stretcher at the elevator and the doctor was told who they were.
"Mrs. Boscorelli," he said to Rose as Trisha and his brother listened. "He's very critical. He's got some severe injuries that need treatment right away. As you can see, we did get his heart started again, but he's not yet breathing on his own. Part of that is from the collapsed lung that he had from a broken rib puncturing it. We put in a chest tube for that and re-inflated the lung. Another reason is because of the smoke inhalation and the fact that he's.., well, he's just too weak to do it on his own right now. That's okay. I expect that to correct itself as he gets stronger," the doctor explained to them.
"Is he going to survive, Doctor?" Rose asked him. Trisha stepped over and held onto the hand that had just released Faith's and felt a slight squeeze back.
"I won't lie to you, Mrs. Boscorelli. It could go either way right now. I can't believe he made it this far with all I'm told he endured. So, he's proven to us that he's strong-willed," the doctor said, being interrupted by a chuckle from Bosco's brother, mother and girlfriend.
"More like hard-headed," Rose told him, letting him in on the joke.
"Well, whatever it is, it'll work in his favor. Look, I've got to get him up to surgery now. You can wait upstairs with his partner. I'll get word out to you and let you know how he's doing. If he makes it the next 48 hours, he'll have a good chance at recovering. But, it'll be a long, hard road back. He'll go to ICU right after the Recovery Room. I'll definitely come find you when he's out of the O.R.," the doctor told her.
"Thank you," Rose said, stepping forward to kiss her son on the side of his head. "I love you, Maurice."
Trisha lifted his hand and held it to her lips. She reached up with the other hand and smoothed his hair. His brother also touched his arm and said, "Hang in there, Mo."
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*
Fred had gone out to the waiting room to bring the kids to his Mom and Dad who had come to the hospital to wait for word on Faith and her partner. Ty and Sully came over to him.
"How's she doing?" they asked him.
"She's out like a light. I'll be surprised if they don't keep her at least overnight. Not that I'd be able to get her to leave anyway," Fred said.
"Any word on Bosco?" Sully asked him.
"He's alive, barely. He looks awful. They took him up to surgery. I figure he'll go to ICU after that. He's pretty bad. They don't know how it'll go, but he made it this far. What exactly happened?" Fred asked, finally wondering about the particulars now that he'd found out everyone was still alive.
Sully and Ty filled him in on what had happened and a few minutes later the firefighters came in straight from the scene of the fire. They were released to go back to quarters, but wanted to stop by and see how Bosco and Faith were. They were all still covered in soot, dirt and sweat, the concern and exhaustion showing on their faces.
Fred walked over to Jimmy, D.K. and Billy and extended his hand to them. "Thank you. For getting Faith and Bosco out of there. Thank you for saving their lives. I heard it was pretty hairy in there and you just made it out before everything collapsed. I just wanted to thank you," finishing shaking the third man's hand.
"I'm glad we could get to them. I have to admit, I had some doubts there at the end. I thought we were going to lose them," Jimmy said.
"So, how's everyone doing?" D.K. asked.
Fred filled them in and then they decided to get back to quarters, get themselves and the truck cleaned up and ready for the next run. "Keep us posted," Billy called over to Ty before they left.
"You got it," Ty said, waving to them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...