Chapter 16
Faith looked down at the thermometer with wide eyes.
Bosco's temperature was reading F 103.5!
No, that cannot be right, Faith thought, and turned the thing off then back on again.
She put it in Bosco's ear again, the other ear this time and told him to stay still a second.
"C'mon Faith," Boz complained, "What are you doing?"
Faith took the thermometer out again and read it.
Still 103.5 degrees.
"Damn Bosco you are really burning up," Faith said, "I am taking you to Mercy whether you like it or not, you are running a fever of 103.5 Boz, that's not something to take lightly, you could be really sick."
Faith grabbed him by the sleeves and pulled him out of the back seat.
"Get in," she said as she opened the passenger side door to the RMP.
Bosco got into the car but did not shut the door.
"You cant make me go there Faith," he said to her with an annoyed tone.
Bosco hated hospitals and everything to do with them and was not about to let Faith drag him to one for some stupid bout out the flu.
"Like hell I cant," she replied getting really annoyed herself.
Faith pulled out her cell phone and started dialing a number.
"Who are you calling?" Bosco asked her.
Faith just glared at him.
"Faith who the hell are you calling?" Bosco asked again as she walked away from his door to the side of the bridge where he was out of earshot.
"Hello Doc, its Faith...Yokas yea...hey listen are you guys on a call right now? "
"OK Well I kind of need a big favor if you don't mind."
Faith liked Doc and trusted him to be discreet with the situation at hand.
She knew that he would be honest and tell Bosco and herself exactly what was going on with him.
"Can you come to the old abandoned lot by the river...yea that's the place, we are just under the bridge here...yea it's a medical issue...no I'm, fine Doc, its not me its Bosco...no bells and whistles ya know...OK then see you soon, Thanks Doc," and with that Faith hung up her cell phone.
Faith walked back over to where Bosco, who was still in the car, too tired to have even followed her to find out what she was up to.
He had his eyes closed and his head back again and Faith could see the beads of sweat all across his forehead.
Faith was really worried.
If one of her kids or Fred was running a fever that high and throwing up as much as Bosco had, she would most likely be on her way to the nearest hospital.
Faith looked up as she heard Doc's bus approaching.
She called Bosco's name but he did not reply.
"Boz ... hey Bosco" Faith shook him lightly.
Bosco slowly opened his eyes and mumbled something, then closed his eyes again and was back asleep.
Faith walked over to where Doc had pulled up.
He was riding with Kim today and Faith was at least glad for that because she knew that if it was Carlos the whole of the 55 would soon hear about Bosco getting sick.
"Hey Doc," Faith said, "thanks for coming so quickly," she said as he stepped out of the bus.
"Sure now what is the problem?" Doc replied, "You said something about Bosco being sick? What happened?"
"Yea he's just over there" Faith motioned to the car.
Kim walked around to meet Doc and Faith.
"Hey Faith" she said.
"Hey Kim" she replied, "Look I really appreciate you guys coming all quietly and everything, I know this isn't exactly regulation."
Faith looked at Doc with a little concern, he was always one to follow the rules and she didn't want to get anyone in trouble here.
"Well, I think that Bosco is really sick ... something's really wrong with him" Faith said before walking over to the squad car; "and he doesn't know you are coming, he's asleep in the car and he's...well he thinks he is fine, just coming down with the flu, but I think its more serious so that's why I called you guys."
Faith continued, "He has been acting weird for a couple of days now."
"More weird than usual?" Kim joked.
Faith glared at her and Kim instantly regretted saying it.
"He is just not himself at all and I just have a bad feeling about this," Faith went on, "I took his temperature and it is 103.5 and he cant stop throwing up, he has been getting sick for two days ... that I know of" Faith added.
"I tried to get him to go to Mercy and he wont listen to me, I think that he is really dehydrated...well you will see," Faith said, and started to head over to the RMP.
They all walked over to the passenger side of the car where Bosco was.
He still had his eyes closed, and was asleep.
"Oh my God," Kim said when she saw Bosco's face, all sweaty and flushed.
She put her hand on Bosco's forehead.
He flinched but did not wake up.
"Doc, he's burning up, really badly," Kim said, "we are gonna need to start an IV drip."
"Bosco...Bosco wake up, its Kim," she said as Doc opened the medic bag in front of him.
Kim took hold of Bosco's arm to start the IV, and when she did, Bosco immediately jumped and on instinct reached for his gun, knocking Kim over in the process.
"Wha...what the hell" Bosco recovered to see Kim on the ground in front of him.
"What are you doing?" he said to Kim as she stood up.
Bosco looked up and saw Doc standing next to Faith and immediately got on the defensive.
"Whoa, what's going on here?" he asked, sure that faith was up to something.
He wanted to get out of the car, but he just didn't have the strength.
"Bosco relax, I asked Doc to come and take a look at you since you refused to let me take you over to Mercy," Faith said, "don't even think about gettin outta this one Boz, you are gonna let them check you out if I have to put a gun to your head to do it."
Bosco relented, he didn't have much of a choice, plus he thought if Doc and Kim could make him feel even a little bit better then it was worth the trouble.
"I'm gonna put this IV in your arm to re-hydrate you Bosco, and its gonna pinch a little when the needle goes in OK?" Kim said to him, the concern plainly heard in her voice.
Doc was busy checking Bosco over, looking in his eyes with a mini flashlight and questioning the heck out of him about the last two days, what he had eaten or done differently, and when his symptoms had started to develop, and what exactly they all were.
"When did this fever start Bosco?" Doc asked.
"I don't know...yesterday maybe...OWW" Bosco yelped as Kim stuck the needle into his arm.
"Are you having chills and sweats?" Doc asked.
"Yes," Bosco answered, sick of hiding the truth anymore.
"Any diarrhea or blurred vision, passing out?" Doc kept questioning Bosco.
"No," Bosco answered but that blurred vision thing," Bosco paused.
"Yea, Bosco are you having trouble seeing?" Doc asked with concern in his voice.
"Well, no, not exactly but the light...it hurts my eyes every now and then," he said, to the surprise of Faith.
She hadn't noticed anything wrong with his eyes but didn't see how that could be relevant to Bosco being sick.
"What about anything else unusual?" said Doc.
"No...I ...I dot know," Bosco said losing energy fast.
"I am very concerned Bosco, you need to be looked at by a doctor, for these types of symptoms to appear this fast and this severe, its not a good thing," Doc said to him.
Faith was standing next to Doc and bent down to Bosco's level.
"Boz please let them take you in to Mercy, please Bosco" Faith all but begged him.
She was starting to really get scared about what was going on, especially since Doc, the most trusted and quite possibly the best paramedic in the city thought that it was this serious.
Bosco shook his head.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes again.
Kim had finished putting the IV into Bosco's arm and he could feel the fluid running into him.
The solution going into him made Bosco feel warm, and slightly better than he had before, but he was nowhere near normal.
"OK, it should be about 20 minutes for this to run all the way through" Kim said to Faith, but knowing that Bosco could hear her as well.
"Faith can I see you over here for a minute?" Doc asked her as he stood up and walked away from the squad car.
Faith looked down at the thermometer with wide eyes.
Bosco's temperature was reading F 103.5!
No, that cannot be right, Faith thought, and turned the thing off then back on again.
She put it in Bosco's ear again, the other ear this time and told him to stay still a second.
"C'mon Faith," Boz complained, "What are you doing?"
Faith took the thermometer out again and read it.
Still 103.5 degrees.
"Damn Bosco you are really burning up," Faith said, "I am taking you to Mercy whether you like it or not, you are running a fever of 103.5 Boz, that's not something to take lightly, you could be really sick."
Faith grabbed him by the sleeves and pulled him out of the back seat.
"Get in," she said as she opened the passenger side door to the RMP.
Bosco got into the car but did not shut the door.
"You cant make me go there Faith," he said to her with an annoyed tone.
Bosco hated hospitals and everything to do with them and was not about to let Faith drag him to one for some stupid bout out the flu.
"Like hell I cant," she replied getting really annoyed herself.
Faith pulled out her cell phone and started dialing a number.
"Who are you calling?" Bosco asked her.
Faith just glared at him.
"Faith who the hell are you calling?" Bosco asked again as she walked away from his door to the side of the bridge where he was out of earshot.
"Hello Doc, its Faith...Yokas yea...hey listen are you guys on a call right now? "
"OK Well I kind of need a big favor if you don't mind."
Faith liked Doc and trusted him to be discreet with the situation at hand.
She knew that he would be honest and tell Bosco and herself exactly what was going on with him.
"Can you come to the old abandoned lot by the river...yea that's the place, we are just under the bridge here...yea it's a medical issue...no I'm, fine Doc, its not me its Bosco...no bells and whistles ya know...OK then see you soon, Thanks Doc," and with that Faith hung up her cell phone.
Faith walked back over to where Bosco, who was still in the car, too tired to have even followed her to find out what she was up to.
He had his eyes closed and his head back again and Faith could see the beads of sweat all across his forehead.
Faith was really worried.
If one of her kids or Fred was running a fever that high and throwing up as much as Bosco had, she would most likely be on her way to the nearest hospital.
Faith looked up as she heard Doc's bus approaching.
She called Bosco's name but he did not reply.
"Boz ... hey Bosco" Faith shook him lightly.
Bosco slowly opened his eyes and mumbled something, then closed his eyes again and was back asleep.
Faith walked over to where Doc had pulled up.
He was riding with Kim today and Faith was at least glad for that because she knew that if it was Carlos the whole of the 55 would soon hear about Bosco getting sick.
"Hey Doc," Faith said, "thanks for coming so quickly," she said as he stepped out of the bus.
"Sure now what is the problem?" Doc replied, "You said something about Bosco being sick? What happened?"
"Yea he's just over there" Faith motioned to the car.
Kim walked around to meet Doc and Faith.
"Hey Faith" she said.
"Hey Kim" she replied, "Look I really appreciate you guys coming all quietly and everything, I know this isn't exactly regulation."
Faith looked at Doc with a little concern, he was always one to follow the rules and she didn't want to get anyone in trouble here.
"Well, I think that Bosco is really sick ... something's really wrong with him" Faith said before walking over to the squad car; "and he doesn't know you are coming, he's asleep in the car and he's...well he thinks he is fine, just coming down with the flu, but I think its more serious so that's why I called you guys."
Faith continued, "He has been acting weird for a couple of days now."
"More weird than usual?" Kim joked.
Faith glared at her and Kim instantly regretted saying it.
"He is just not himself at all and I just have a bad feeling about this," Faith went on, "I took his temperature and it is 103.5 and he cant stop throwing up, he has been getting sick for two days ... that I know of" Faith added.
"I tried to get him to go to Mercy and he wont listen to me, I think that he is really dehydrated...well you will see," Faith said, and started to head over to the RMP.
They all walked over to the passenger side of the car where Bosco was.
He still had his eyes closed, and was asleep.
"Oh my God," Kim said when she saw Bosco's face, all sweaty and flushed.
She put her hand on Bosco's forehead.
He flinched but did not wake up.
"Doc, he's burning up, really badly," Kim said, "we are gonna need to start an IV drip."
"Bosco...Bosco wake up, its Kim," she said as Doc opened the medic bag in front of him.
Kim took hold of Bosco's arm to start the IV, and when she did, Bosco immediately jumped and on instinct reached for his gun, knocking Kim over in the process.
"Wha...what the hell" Bosco recovered to see Kim on the ground in front of him.
"What are you doing?" he said to Kim as she stood up.
Bosco looked up and saw Doc standing next to Faith and immediately got on the defensive.
"Whoa, what's going on here?" he asked, sure that faith was up to something.
He wanted to get out of the car, but he just didn't have the strength.
"Bosco relax, I asked Doc to come and take a look at you since you refused to let me take you over to Mercy," Faith said, "don't even think about gettin outta this one Boz, you are gonna let them check you out if I have to put a gun to your head to do it."
Bosco relented, he didn't have much of a choice, plus he thought if Doc and Kim could make him feel even a little bit better then it was worth the trouble.
"I'm gonna put this IV in your arm to re-hydrate you Bosco, and its gonna pinch a little when the needle goes in OK?" Kim said to him, the concern plainly heard in her voice.
Doc was busy checking Bosco over, looking in his eyes with a mini flashlight and questioning the heck out of him about the last two days, what he had eaten or done differently, and when his symptoms had started to develop, and what exactly they all were.
"When did this fever start Bosco?" Doc asked.
"I don't know...yesterday maybe...OWW" Bosco yelped as Kim stuck the needle into his arm.
"Are you having chills and sweats?" Doc asked.
"Yes," Bosco answered, sick of hiding the truth anymore.
"Any diarrhea or blurred vision, passing out?" Doc kept questioning Bosco.
"No," Bosco answered but that blurred vision thing," Bosco paused.
"Yea, Bosco are you having trouble seeing?" Doc asked with concern in his voice.
"Well, no, not exactly but the light...it hurts my eyes every now and then," he said, to the surprise of Faith.
She hadn't noticed anything wrong with his eyes but didn't see how that could be relevant to Bosco being sick.
"What about anything else unusual?" said Doc.
"No...I ...I dot know," Bosco said losing energy fast.
"I am very concerned Bosco, you need to be looked at by a doctor, for these types of symptoms to appear this fast and this severe, its not a good thing," Doc said to him.
Faith was standing next to Doc and bent down to Bosco's level.
"Boz please let them take you in to Mercy, please Bosco" Faith all but begged him.
She was starting to really get scared about what was going on, especially since Doc, the most trusted and quite possibly the best paramedic in the city thought that it was this serious.
Bosco shook his head.
He leaned his head back and closed his eyes again.
Kim had finished putting the IV into Bosco's arm and he could feel the fluid running into him.
The solution going into him made Bosco feel warm, and slightly better than he had before, but he was nowhere near normal.
"OK, it should be about 20 minutes for this to run all the way through" Kim said to Faith, but knowing that Bosco could hear her as well.
"Faith can I see you over here for a minute?" Doc asked her as he stood up and walked away from the squad car.