Helping Hand
Chapter 12
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Uncle B! What're you doin' here?" Charlie called from across the street. School had just let out and Charlie had looked up when he saw all the other kids marveling over some cool car parked across the street.
"That's your uncle?" asked one of the kids.
Charlie looked at the boy with pride and said, "Not exactly, but he's family."
"Cool car!" one of the other kids said to him. "Does he let you ride in it?"
"He let me drive it once," Charlie said, remembering the time that Bosco had let him sit on his lap and "steer" the car when he was pretty young.
"Cool!" a few voices rang out in unison.
Charlie looked up and down the street and crossed over to where Bosco was parked.
"Hey, Chuckie. Just on my way to work and I wanted to stop by and see how you were doing?" Bosco said, holding up his hand so that Charlie could give him a high-five
"I'm doin' okay. Still going to see that doctor though," he said with chagrin.
"Hey, whatever your Mom thinks you need, right? She knows best," Bosco reminded him and Charlie agreed.
After a moment of silence, Bosco said, "Well, I've gotta get to work. No problems?"
"No problems. Thanks again, Uncle B," Charlie said, stepping around the car and up onto the curb. He waved as Bosco drove away. Bosco had wanted to offer him a ride home, but he'd heard that Faith was getting read to come back to work, which meant that Fred would probably have changed his shift to be there when the kids got home from school and he didn't want to get into anything with him.
It had been about two months since Bosco had found Charlie and helped him break the news to his mother. Bosco stopped by school periodically when the kids were getting out to check up on the kids that Charlie was hanging with. He seemed to be making good choices and Bosco hadn't heard of any more problems. Not that he ever directly talked to Faith. One day, shortly after everything with Charlie had happened, he'd come home from work to see a message on his machine. Pressing the replay button, he was surprised to hear Faith's voice on the machine and his stomach tightened thinking that there was a problem. Knowing he'd be at work and she had decided to call and leave a message so that they wouldn't have the awkwardness between them. He still had the tape from the message and listened to it periodically just to hear his partner's voice. She'd send him short notes to let him know how Charlie and Emily were doing.
He pulled into the lot by the Precinct and looked around before getting out to see if he saw any signs of Faith. Nothing. He gathered his uniforms from the back seat and, throwing them over his shoulder, he headed into the House - late as usual - to get ready for his shift. He rushed into the locker room and came across Ty and Sully just putting the finishing touches on their uniforms.
"Bosco. Punctual as usual," Sully teased.
"Bite me, Sullivan," Bosco threw back playfully.
"Play nice, boys," came the familiar voice from across the room and Bosco froze. Ty saw the look on Bosco's face and smiled, trying to hold in the laugh. Bosco looked over his shoulder to see Faith sitting on the bench in front of her locker tying her shoe.
"Hey," was all Bosco could manage to get out and even then his voice cracked somewhat. Sully and Ty quietly headed out to roll call, giving them a few minutes alone.
"Hey yourself," Faith threw back at him, finishing the task of tying her shoes and standing up. "Boy, I forgot how much all this crap weighs," she said, referring to the gun belt and other equipment, trying to make small talk.
She looked over at Bosco who was still in the same position. "You better get ready for roll call. You know the Boss'll have your ass if you're late," she said, closing her locker and walking toward him.
"Faith...," Bosco started, opening his locker.
"Not now, Bos. You're late and I'm due at the desk - light duty still. But, we'll talk soon. I promise," Faith said, putting a hand on Bosco's shoulder as she walked past.
Bosco turned to watch her progress to the door and called after her. "Faith," he said and she turned back to him. "Welcome back."
"Thanks. Later, and be careful out there," Faith said, opening the door and walking out.
Bosco quickly finished dressing and hurried out of the locker room and to the roll call room. He threw a glance over his shoulder and saw Faith answering the phone at the front desk. He rushed into roll call just as the Lieutenant was starting his briefing.
"Glad you could join us, Officer Boscorelli," Swersky threw out to him. Bosco just flashed a smile and said, "Sorry, Boss."
After giving out the information of the shift, Swersky called out the car and sector assignments. "Boscorelli, you're with me today - at least a little while. I need a driver for the first half of the shift. After that, you'll be riding solo in 55-David," he said, expecting some kind of complaint.
"Yes, Sir," was Bosco's only reply. Nothing could ruin this day.
"Okay. That's it. Everyone get to work and be careful," the Lieutenant said, dismissing the shift to begin patrols.
Bosco hung back as the rest of the personnel shuffled out. The Lieutenant looked up at him as Sgt. Dillon was giving him some information. "Boscorelli. Go get us two radios and meet me in your RMP," Swersky said.
"Yes, Sir," Bosco replied and moved out to get the radios and get to the car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
Chapter 12
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Uncle B! What're you doin' here?" Charlie called from across the street. School had just let out and Charlie had looked up when he saw all the other kids marveling over some cool car parked across the street.
"That's your uncle?" asked one of the kids.
Charlie looked at the boy with pride and said, "Not exactly, but he's family."
"Cool car!" one of the other kids said to him. "Does he let you ride in it?"
"He let me drive it once," Charlie said, remembering the time that Bosco had let him sit on his lap and "steer" the car when he was pretty young.
"Cool!" a few voices rang out in unison.
Charlie looked up and down the street and crossed over to where Bosco was parked.
"Hey, Chuckie. Just on my way to work and I wanted to stop by and see how you were doing?" Bosco said, holding up his hand so that Charlie could give him a high-five
"I'm doin' okay. Still going to see that doctor though," he said with chagrin.
"Hey, whatever your Mom thinks you need, right? She knows best," Bosco reminded him and Charlie agreed.
After a moment of silence, Bosco said, "Well, I've gotta get to work. No problems?"
"No problems. Thanks again, Uncle B," Charlie said, stepping around the car and up onto the curb. He waved as Bosco drove away. Bosco had wanted to offer him a ride home, but he'd heard that Faith was getting read to come back to work, which meant that Fred would probably have changed his shift to be there when the kids got home from school and he didn't want to get into anything with him.
It had been about two months since Bosco had found Charlie and helped him break the news to his mother. Bosco stopped by school periodically when the kids were getting out to check up on the kids that Charlie was hanging with. He seemed to be making good choices and Bosco hadn't heard of any more problems. Not that he ever directly talked to Faith. One day, shortly after everything with Charlie had happened, he'd come home from work to see a message on his machine. Pressing the replay button, he was surprised to hear Faith's voice on the machine and his stomach tightened thinking that there was a problem. Knowing he'd be at work and she had decided to call and leave a message so that they wouldn't have the awkwardness between them. He still had the tape from the message and listened to it periodically just to hear his partner's voice. She'd send him short notes to let him know how Charlie and Emily were doing.
He pulled into the lot by the Precinct and looked around before getting out to see if he saw any signs of Faith. Nothing. He gathered his uniforms from the back seat and, throwing them over his shoulder, he headed into the House - late as usual - to get ready for his shift. He rushed into the locker room and came across Ty and Sully just putting the finishing touches on their uniforms.
"Bosco. Punctual as usual," Sully teased.
"Bite me, Sullivan," Bosco threw back playfully.
"Play nice, boys," came the familiar voice from across the room and Bosco froze. Ty saw the look on Bosco's face and smiled, trying to hold in the laugh. Bosco looked over his shoulder to see Faith sitting on the bench in front of her locker tying her shoe.
"Hey," was all Bosco could manage to get out and even then his voice cracked somewhat. Sully and Ty quietly headed out to roll call, giving them a few minutes alone.
"Hey yourself," Faith threw back at him, finishing the task of tying her shoes and standing up. "Boy, I forgot how much all this crap weighs," she said, referring to the gun belt and other equipment, trying to make small talk.
She looked over at Bosco who was still in the same position. "You better get ready for roll call. You know the Boss'll have your ass if you're late," she said, closing her locker and walking toward him.
"Faith...," Bosco started, opening his locker.
"Not now, Bos. You're late and I'm due at the desk - light duty still. But, we'll talk soon. I promise," Faith said, putting a hand on Bosco's shoulder as she walked past.
Bosco turned to watch her progress to the door and called after her. "Faith," he said and she turned back to him. "Welcome back."
"Thanks. Later, and be careful out there," Faith said, opening the door and walking out.
Bosco quickly finished dressing and hurried out of the locker room and to the roll call room. He threw a glance over his shoulder and saw Faith answering the phone at the front desk. He rushed into roll call just as the Lieutenant was starting his briefing.
"Glad you could join us, Officer Boscorelli," Swersky threw out to him. Bosco just flashed a smile and said, "Sorry, Boss."
After giving out the information of the shift, Swersky called out the car and sector assignments. "Boscorelli, you're with me today - at least a little while. I need a driver for the first half of the shift. After that, you'll be riding solo in 55-David," he said, expecting some kind of complaint.
"Yes, Sir," was Bosco's only reply. Nothing could ruin this day.
"Okay. That's it. Everyone get to work and be careful," the Lieutenant said, dismissing the shift to begin patrols.
Bosco hung back as the rest of the personnel shuffled out. The Lieutenant looked up at him as Sgt. Dillon was giving him some information. "Boscorelli. Go get us two radios and meet me in your RMP," Swersky said.
"Yes, Sir," Bosco replied and moved out to get the radios and get to the car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC...
