Helping Hand
Chapter 16
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Kim and Doc were the first of the medics to reach Bosco as he was brought out of the building by ESU. Carlos and Levine had already left to bring the other two officers in to Mercy.
"Doc! He's shot!" Faith called to Doc to hurry him as he approached.
"What happened? Where, Faith?" Doc asked as he set down his equipment bags and began to scan Bosco for injuries.
"On his left side, under the vest, Doc," Faith called over to him as Kim was trying to make sure she was okay, wiping Bosco's blood from her hands.
Doc cut away Bosco's blood-soaked shirt and undid the Velcro of his vest, cutting away the underlying t-shirt. He exposed Bosco's chest and lifted his arm away from his side and found the entry wound of the bullet. He put a dressing on to try to slow the flow of blood. Immediately, he turned Bosco to look at his back and checked his other side to see if there was an exit wound and found none.
"I'm fine, Kim. It's my partner that's hurt," Faith finally said in exasperation, pushing Kim away from her. "Just go help Doc," she said, in almost an apologetic tone realizing that Kim was only doing her job.
Jimmy Doherty, who had been standing in front of the firehouse with the other firefighters watching the events unfold had finally made his way through the crowd and reached Doc. The other members of the fire department had spread out and were helping the other medics and police in treating the wounded.
"Doc, can I do anything?" he asked.
"Yeah," Doc replied as he was starting an IV. "Get me some vitals and put the oxygen on him," he directed as Kim came over from checking on Faith.
"She's fine," Kim reported as she reached Doc's side.
"Okay, I've got him and Doherty's helping me. Get over and triage patients and make sure we've got enough buses and medics. If we need more, then call for more," he told Kim.
Jimmy went about setting up the oxygen and getting a round of vitals while Doc raised the hospital on the phone. As he was giving his report to the hospital, Jimmy read off the vitals as he obtained them. Doc moved the phone away from his mouth when he heard the blood pressure that Jimmy had gotten. "Take that BP again," he said to Jimmy, hoping that it wasn't really that low. "Stand by for BP, Mercy," he said in to the phone.
Jimmy re-took the BP and looked at Doc. "It's the same thing," he told him, repeating the numbers. Doc gave a slight shake of his head and repeated the numbers to the hospital as he reached to get what he needed to start a second IV.
"Doc?" Faith asked, coming closer.
"I don't know, Faith. He's in pretty bad shape, but he's young and he's in good shape," Doc told her as he worked.
Carlos walked over to him, having just returned from transporting the other injured officers. "Doc. What d'you need?" he asked, taken aback at seeing Bosco lying on the ground in front of him.
"Take over for Kim and tell her I need a stretcher over here. We've gotta run with him," Doc said as he put the last of the tape to hold the IV in place. He checked the oxygen flow and applied another dressing over the first that was soaked with blood. "Let's go," he said, standing up.
Kim reached him with the stretcher and Doc and Jimmy lifted Bosco onto the gurney. "You comin'?" Doc called over his shoulder to Faith.
"Yeah," she replied and turned to find Sully and Ty approaching. "Sully! Tell the Boss I'm goin' to Mercy with Bosco. And tell him to call Bosco's Mom," she added, turning to catch up with Bosco.
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Faith and Bosco's mother sat next to each other in the waiting area of the ICU. They were just bringing Bosco up to the floor following his time in the recovery room after surgery to repair the damage to his lung and spleen from the bullet that ricocheted around after it went in. There were numerous fellow officers and fire personnel pacing around and in and out of the waiting area with them.
Faith was sitting forward, her elbows resting on her knees, her head resting in her hands as her fingers massaged her temples in an attempt to relieve the tension headache that had formed there.
"Faith?" came the voice from the doorway and she looked up to see Fred standing there.
"Fred. What're you doing here? Where's the kids?" she asked, standing up and walking over to him.
"They're at home. Emily's there and my Mom's on her way over. What happened? I called the station to see how your first day back was going and found out you were over here. They wouldn't tell me anything and then I was listening to the radio on the way over and they said there was a gang fight and shootout in the middle of the station?!" he asked, unable to believe it and relieved to find out that she wasn't one of those hurt.
"Yeah. There was a gang fight a few blocks away and some rival gang members came through the front shooting," she told him.
"But, you're okay, right?" he said, looking her over for any signs of bandages or anything.
"Yeah, Fred. I'm fine. It's Bosco. He's been shot. He just got out of surgery and they're bringing him up here. He was hurt pretty bad," she told him and saw him stiffen at the fact that she was here because Bosco had gotten hurt.
"Fred. Don't. Not now. This isn't the place," she said in warning.
"I can't believe that you'd be here after everything that happened," Fred whispered to her. Faith looked over her shoulder to see if Rose had heard any of it. She didn't appear to have heard.
Faith gripped Fred's arm and pulled him further away. "That's Bosco's Mom sitting over there, so please keep your voice down."
She paused for a moment as Fred looked over her shoulder to see who Faith was talking about, sorry that he'd spoken so loudly. After a moment, Faith continued.
"Fred, it's time to let this thing with Bosco go. There were mistakes made on all sides. I know there were big mistakes made by Bosco, but I made some of my own and Cruz certainly had a big part in it as well. It's over. I was shot, I recovered and I'm back to work. And, we're all smarter for it happening. Now, my partner got shot today, and despite how seriously he was injured, he was still able to save my life from a scared kid, with shaking hands, that had a gun pointed to my head," she told him, her voice rising and his eyes going wide at the news.
"That's right. Bosco saved my life, Fred," she reinforced to him. "And I found something else out today," she said, pausing to regain some of her composure and to lower her voice.
"Bosco is my partner and he'll always be my partner for as long as he'll have me. We've been through hell and back together and I can't expect you to understand that, but it's the truth. And, he'd lay his life down for me if it came to it and I'd like to think that he could count on me to do the same thing for him. Hell, he was ready to sacrifice his career - all he knows or has - to keep me from going to jail, Fred! We have to trust each other out there, and there's no one I'd trust more than Bosco," she said, defiantly.
"But, Faith. Because of him you were almost paralyzed!" he reminded her.
"Fred, let me ask you something. If it was the other way around, do you think he'd have treated me the same way that I treated him? Do you think he would have blamed me? Did he hold it against me when he almost got killed because I didn't tell him about the cancer and I couldn't keep up with him when he was chasing that guy? He was shot in the chest at close range. Luckily, his vest stopped a bullet from his own gun. Do you think he once threw it back in my face and held it against me? No, Fred. He didn't. It happened and we learned a little about trusting each other that day," she said, as the elevator doors opened, pulling her attention away from Fred.
She saw the stretcher with Bosco on it being wheeled from the elevator and looked quickly back at Fred. "I can't talk about this anymore right now. Go home and be with the kids. Tell them I'm fine, but that Bosco got hurt. I'll tell them more about it when I get home and have more information," she said, turning to follow Rose toward Bosco. Turning back she added, "And I think you should thank Bosco for not ignoring that Charlie had a problem despite the crap that we put him through both before and after I got shot."
Fred watched Faith walk toward the hallway and stared after her as he let sink in what Faith had just said - especially the part about Bosco helping Charlie.
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TBC...
Chapter 16
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Kim and Doc were the first of the medics to reach Bosco as he was brought out of the building by ESU. Carlos and Levine had already left to bring the other two officers in to Mercy.
"Doc! He's shot!" Faith called to Doc to hurry him as he approached.
"What happened? Where, Faith?" Doc asked as he set down his equipment bags and began to scan Bosco for injuries.
"On his left side, under the vest, Doc," Faith called over to him as Kim was trying to make sure she was okay, wiping Bosco's blood from her hands.
Doc cut away Bosco's blood-soaked shirt and undid the Velcro of his vest, cutting away the underlying t-shirt. He exposed Bosco's chest and lifted his arm away from his side and found the entry wound of the bullet. He put a dressing on to try to slow the flow of blood. Immediately, he turned Bosco to look at his back and checked his other side to see if there was an exit wound and found none.
"I'm fine, Kim. It's my partner that's hurt," Faith finally said in exasperation, pushing Kim away from her. "Just go help Doc," she said, in almost an apologetic tone realizing that Kim was only doing her job.
Jimmy Doherty, who had been standing in front of the firehouse with the other firefighters watching the events unfold had finally made his way through the crowd and reached Doc. The other members of the fire department had spread out and were helping the other medics and police in treating the wounded.
"Doc, can I do anything?" he asked.
"Yeah," Doc replied as he was starting an IV. "Get me some vitals and put the oxygen on him," he directed as Kim came over from checking on Faith.
"She's fine," Kim reported as she reached Doc's side.
"Okay, I've got him and Doherty's helping me. Get over and triage patients and make sure we've got enough buses and medics. If we need more, then call for more," he told Kim.
Jimmy went about setting up the oxygen and getting a round of vitals while Doc raised the hospital on the phone. As he was giving his report to the hospital, Jimmy read off the vitals as he obtained them. Doc moved the phone away from his mouth when he heard the blood pressure that Jimmy had gotten. "Take that BP again," he said to Jimmy, hoping that it wasn't really that low. "Stand by for BP, Mercy," he said in to the phone.
Jimmy re-took the BP and looked at Doc. "It's the same thing," he told him, repeating the numbers. Doc gave a slight shake of his head and repeated the numbers to the hospital as he reached to get what he needed to start a second IV.
"Doc?" Faith asked, coming closer.
"I don't know, Faith. He's in pretty bad shape, but he's young and he's in good shape," Doc told her as he worked.
Carlos walked over to him, having just returned from transporting the other injured officers. "Doc. What d'you need?" he asked, taken aback at seeing Bosco lying on the ground in front of him.
"Take over for Kim and tell her I need a stretcher over here. We've gotta run with him," Doc said as he put the last of the tape to hold the IV in place. He checked the oxygen flow and applied another dressing over the first that was soaked with blood. "Let's go," he said, standing up.
Kim reached him with the stretcher and Doc and Jimmy lifted Bosco onto the gurney. "You comin'?" Doc called over his shoulder to Faith.
"Yeah," she replied and turned to find Sully and Ty approaching. "Sully! Tell the Boss I'm goin' to Mercy with Bosco. And tell him to call Bosco's Mom," she added, turning to catch up with Bosco.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^**^
Faith and Bosco's mother sat next to each other in the waiting area of the ICU. They were just bringing Bosco up to the floor following his time in the recovery room after surgery to repair the damage to his lung and spleen from the bullet that ricocheted around after it went in. There were numerous fellow officers and fire personnel pacing around and in and out of the waiting area with them.
Faith was sitting forward, her elbows resting on her knees, her head resting in her hands as her fingers massaged her temples in an attempt to relieve the tension headache that had formed there.
"Faith?" came the voice from the doorway and she looked up to see Fred standing there.
"Fred. What're you doing here? Where's the kids?" she asked, standing up and walking over to him.
"They're at home. Emily's there and my Mom's on her way over. What happened? I called the station to see how your first day back was going and found out you were over here. They wouldn't tell me anything and then I was listening to the radio on the way over and they said there was a gang fight and shootout in the middle of the station?!" he asked, unable to believe it and relieved to find out that she wasn't one of those hurt.
"Yeah. There was a gang fight a few blocks away and some rival gang members came through the front shooting," she told him.
"But, you're okay, right?" he said, looking her over for any signs of bandages or anything.
"Yeah, Fred. I'm fine. It's Bosco. He's been shot. He just got out of surgery and they're bringing him up here. He was hurt pretty bad," she told him and saw him stiffen at the fact that she was here because Bosco had gotten hurt.
"Fred. Don't. Not now. This isn't the place," she said in warning.
"I can't believe that you'd be here after everything that happened," Fred whispered to her. Faith looked over her shoulder to see if Rose had heard any of it. She didn't appear to have heard.
Faith gripped Fred's arm and pulled him further away. "That's Bosco's Mom sitting over there, so please keep your voice down."
She paused for a moment as Fred looked over her shoulder to see who Faith was talking about, sorry that he'd spoken so loudly. After a moment, Faith continued.
"Fred, it's time to let this thing with Bosco go. There were mistakes made on all sides. I know there were big mistakes made by Bosco, but I made some of my own and Cruz certainly had a big part in it as well. It's over. I was shot, I recovered and I'm back to work. And, we're all smarter for it happening. Now, my partner got shot today, and despite how seriously he was injured, he was still able to save my life from a scared kid, with shaking hands, that had a gun pointed to my head," she told him, her voice rising and his eyes going wide at the news.
"That's right. Bosco saved my life, Fred," she reinforced to him. "And I found something else out today," she said, pausing to regain some of her composure and to lower her voice.
"Bosco is my partner and he'll always be my partner for as long as he'll have me. We've been through hell and back together and I can't expect you to understand that, but it's the truth. And, he'd lay his life down for me if it came to it and I'd like to think that he could count on me to do the same thing for him. Hell, he was ready to sacrifice his career - all he knows or has - to keep me from going to jail, Fred! We have to trust each other out there, and there's no one I'd trust more than Bosco," she said, defiantly.
"But, Faith. Because of him you were almost paralyzed!" he reminded her.
"Fred, let me ask you something. If it was the other way around, do you think he'd have treated me the same way that I treated him? Do you think he would have blamed me? Did he hold it against me when he almost got killed because I didn't tell him about the cancer and I couldn't keep up with him when he was chasing that guy? He was shot in the chest at close range. Luckily, his vest stopped a bullet from his own gun. Do you think he once threw it back in my face and held it against me? No, Fred. He didn't. It happened and we learned a little about trusting each other that day," she said, as the elevator doors opened, pulling her attention away from Fred.
She saw the stretcher with Bosco on it being wheeled from the elevator and looked quickly back at Fred. "I can't talk about this anymore right now. Go home and be with the kids. Tell them I'm fine, but that Bosco got hurt. I'll tell them more about it when I get home and have more information," she said, turning to follow Rose toward Bosco. Turning back she added, "And I think you should thank Bosco for not ignoring that Charlie had a problem despite the crap that we put him through both before and after I got shot."
Fred watched Faith walk toward the hallway and stared after her as he let sink in what Faith had just said - especially the part about Bosco helping Charlie.
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TBC...