Chapter 27
As the doctor approached, Faith grabbed onto Bosco's hand.
Bosco let his own hand slide into Faith's, the warm gentle touch of her hand about as soothing to him as any medicine could be right now.
She knew that he wasn't gonna be happy with a huge needle about to be injected into his spine.
But when she looked at Bosco's face, his eyes were still closed and he seemed relaxed, at least for the moment.
The shot of Valium the nurse had just given Bosco must have been starting to work, and Faith was at least happy for that.
"OK lets turn him on his side," the doctor said as the nurses continued to check his vital statistics before going ahead with the procedure.
As soon as Bosco felt the touch of the nurses' hands on his side, his body tensed up, his eyes darted open, and he started to take short ragged breaths again.
It was funny, Faith thought, that Bosco knew without opening his eyes, when it was a stranger touching him, as opposed to her own hand.
A remarkable ability that she too had, to sense the comfort and peace when her partner was there beside her.
She didn't truly realize how much she must really mean to Bosco until this very moment and it made her start to cry again.
'Be strong for Bosco,' she thought, as she tried to stop the tears from flowing, 'he doesn't need me to be a basket case.'
Bosco was starting to get really nervous, as no one had explained anything to him about what they were about to do.
He still felt about as crappy as he had in his whole life, his body was wracked with shivers now.
The nausea and the the pain in his neck and shoulders so was bad, that he was starting to forget what it felt like to feel normal.
The doctor saw that Bosco was somewhat awake so he began to tell Bosco what they were going to do to him.
Faith was not sure this was such a good idea, as she knew what the doctor had told her earlier.
"So, its about 5 inches long, and the needle will enter your spine and..." the words were lost on Bosco, as he stopped listening when he heard the words '5 inch needle' come out of the doctor's mouth.
Bosco started to pray for a blackout or some miracle to relieve him of this nightmare he was about to go through.
He was visibly shaking now and sweating, and he thought he was gonna throw up any moment, the fear in the pit of his stomach overtaking his body and mind.
"Faith" Bosco called out to her in a whisper, as though he couldn't see her, as if he needed to remind himself that she was really there, even though she was standing next to him, holding his hand.
The doctor was still talking to Bosco, explaining the procedure, although Bosco couldn't hear a word he was saying, his mind was too busy trying to find a way out, trying to find someone to save him.
"Boz, everything is gonna be OK, they know what they are doing" Faith chimed in, as she saw the look of sheer terror in her partners eyes, as they darted from her to the doctor, and around the room.
"Faith" Bosco whispered again, as he squeezed her hand tighter with every ounce of strength he had left, and that was not a lot.
Bosco opened his mouth to try and say something to her, but she could not hear.
Faith leaned in closer to him, as she saw him struggling to speak, and turned her head so that her ear was right by Bosco's mouth, "What Bos? What is it?" she asked him?
"Faith...Gonna..be sick..." Bosco barely got the words out before his stomach began to heave, and he turned his head to the side as the contents of his stomach spewed forth from his mouth.
It was only the fluid he had taken in from the IV bags, nothing else, but it came rushing out of him with such force, that it caught Faith off guard, as she jumped back to avoid getting blasted by Bosco puke.
Bosco started to cough and gag, as he was still lying down, somewhat turned to the side, not the most conducive position to be puking your brains out from.
As Bosco started to get sick again, a nurse came up to his side and put a bag in front of him so that he wouldn't get sick all over the floor, instead puking into this oversized brown paper bag.
He had tears streaming down his face, and Bosco had pulled his legs up to his stomach, into the fetal position, as if he were in a lot of pain.
"Officer Boscorelli, you need to like flat on your side so that we can start this" the doctor said, as he motioned to the nurse to help him get in the right position.
The doctor walked over to him and asked him if he thought he was going to be sick anymore, as they really needed to do this test before he became more ill.
Bosco answered a weak, "No" and then put his legs back down as they were before.
The doctor explained that they were testing for meningitis, and if he did actually have it, he could slip into a coma and be dead in a matter of hours, so Bosco really needed to get past his insecurities and let them run this test.
Bosco rolled over on his side, as Faith came back to his side and offered a smile to Bosco, as she grabbed onto his hand again.
He saw the needle in the doctor's hand and closed his eyes and prayed for this to be over with quickly...
As the doctor approached, Faith grabbed onto Bosco's hand.
Bosco let his own hand slide into Faith's, the warm gentle touch of her hand about as soothing to him as any medicine could be right now.
She knew that he wasn't gonna be happy with a huge needle about to be injected into his spine.
But when she looked at Bosco's face, his eyes were still closed and he seemed relaxed, at least for the moment.
The shot of Valium the nurse had just given Bosco must have been starting to work, and Faith was at least happy for that.
"OK lets turn him on his side," the doctor said as the nurses continued to check his vital statistics before going ahead with the procedure.
As soon as Bosco felt the touch of the nurses' hands on his side, his body tensed up, his eyes darted open, and he started to take short ragged breaths again.
It was funny, Faith thought, that Bosco knew without opening his eyes, when it was a stranger touching him, as opposed to her own hand.
A remarkable ability that she too had, to sense the comfort and peace when her partner was there beside her.
She didn't truly realize how much she must really mean to Bosco until this very moment and it made her start to cry again.
'Be strong for Bosco,' she thought, as she tried to stop the tears from flowing, 'he doesn't need me to be a basket case.'
Bosco was starting to get really nervous, as no one had explained anything to him about what they were about to do.
He still felt about as crappy as he had in his whole life, his body was wracked with shivers now.
The nausea and the the pain in his neck and shoulders so was bad, that he was starting to forget what it felt like to feel normal.
The doctor saw that Bosco was somewhat awake so he began to tell Bosco what they were going to do to him.
Faith was not sure this was such a good idea, as she knew what the doctor had told her earlier.
"So, its about 5 inches long, and the needle will enter your spine and..." the words were lost on Bosco, as he stopped listening when he heard the words '5 inch needle' come out of the doctor's mouth.
Bosco started to pray for a blackout or some miracle to relieve him of this nightmare he was about to go through.
He was visibly shaking now and sweating, and he thought he was gonna throw up any moment, the fear in the pit of his stomach overtaking his body and mind.
"Faith" Bosco called out to her in a whisper, as though he couldn't see her, as if he needed to remind himself that she was really there, even though she was standing next to him, holding his hand.
The doctor was still talking to Bosco, explaining the procedure, although Bosco couldn't hear a word he was saying, his mind was too busy trying to find a way out, trying to find someone to save him.
"Boz, everything is gonna be OK, they know what they are doing" Faith chimed in, as she saw the look of sheer terror in her partners eyes, as they darted from her to the doctor, and around the room.
"Faith" Bosco whispered again, as he squeezed her hand tighter with every ounce of strength he had left, and that was not a lot.
Bosco opened his mouth to try and say something to her, but she could not hear.
Faith leaned in closer to him, as she saw him struggling to speak, and turned her head so that her ear was right by Bosco's mouth, "What Bos? What is it?" she asked him?
"Faith...Gonna..be sick..." Bosco barely got the words out before his stomach began to heave, and he turned his head to the side as the contents of his stomach spewed forth from his mouth.
It was only the fluid he had taken in from the IV bags, nothing else, but it came rushing out of him with such force, that it caught Faith off guard, as she jumped back to avoid getting blasted by Bosco puke.
Bosco started to cough and gag, as he was still lying down, somewhat turned to the side, not the most conducive position to be puking your brains out from.
As Bosco started to get sick again, a nurse came up to his side and put a bag in front of him so that he wouldn't get sick all over the floor, instead puking into this oversized brown paper bag.
He had tears streaming down his face, and Bosco had pulled his legs up to his stomach, into the fetal position, as if he were in a lot of pain.
"Officer Boscorelli, you need to like flat on your side so that we can start this" the doctor said, as he motioned to the nurse to help him get in the right position.
The doctor walked over to him and asked him if he thought he was going to be sick anymore, as they really needed to do this test before he became more ill.
Bosco answered a weak, "No" and then put his legs back down as they were before.
The doctor explained that they were testing for meningitis, and if he did actually have it, he could slip into a coma and be dead in a matter of hours, so Bosco really needed to get past his insecurities and let them run this test.
Bosco rolled over on his side, as Faith came back to his side and offered a smile to Bosco, as she grabbed onto his hand again.
He saw the needle in the doctor's hand and closed his eyes and prayed for this to be over with quickly...