Cruz was backed into a corner. She was nervous, to say the least. She picked up her phone. Thomas seemed to be keeping quiet for the time being. I know what I have to do. It was time to deal with Boscorelli. Permanently.

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A nurse rushed in. Faith was frantic. "Please, something's wrong!" she repeated. The nurse checked the machine, adjusting a few knobs. Then she checked Bosco's vital signs.

"He's going to be ok. The reason the machine did that is because he's coming out of it. He's waking up." She smiled. "You're friend is going to be fine."

"Oh, thank God! Thank you." Faith hugged the nurse.

The nurse laughed. "Don't thank me. If you want to thank someone, thank the doctor that saved his life."

Faith nodded. "I know. Thank him for me, will ya?"

"Sure I will, sweetie. Now, after a while, when Officer Boscorelli is fully awake, I'm going to come back and check on him, but until then he's all yours. Just don't let him talk. He'll probably be too tired to do anything anyway." She closed the door behind her and Faith sat down beside her partner, waiting for his eyes to open.

"Hey there Bos. Can you hear me? It's Faith. You know, you're partner who you scared the hell out of. You'd better open your eyes or I'm gonna get pissed. Really pissed, and you know what happens then."

She saw his eyelids moving. "That's it, Bos. Just open your eyes for me, please?"

His eyes finally opened. He looked bewildered. Like a child. He raised his hand to his throat to feel the respirator, then his eyes clouded as waves of pain hit his sore muscles.

"Easy, Bos. Lay still. You were shot, remember? You have to lay still." She hated to see him in pain. That look, like a deer in the headlights…

He looked down at the respirator with questioning. "You have to keep that for a few days. The bullets hit your lung and you need help breathing. Don't mess with it, Bos."

His eyes widened. "What is it? Are you ok?" He moved his head slightly back and forth. "Do you remember what happened? Is that it?" He nodded slightly. Faith caught the motion his hand made. "You want something to write with?" She found the pad of paper and pencil the nurse had left and gently placed them in his hand. He painfully tried to write. "You don't have to do this, you know, Bos." He looked up and glared at her. She tried not to giggle. That's more like it. The old Bos.

He put the paper down, exhausted. She picked it up. It was hard to make out. She read it out loud. "It had to be her." There it is again. Who the hell is 'her'? She looked up at Bos to ask him. He was asleep. She smiled grimly. I'm gonna find out, Bos. I promise. "See ya later." She headed to the station.

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Cruz smiled. "Good, I'll meet you there. You'd better not let me down. You know what I can do to you…good." She hung up the phone.

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Faith waited. Impatiently. "So, what do you think? I think we're missing something, Lieu. Something big."

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Cruz pulled into the hospital parking lot. She waited in her car until a man walked up. He knocked on the window. She rolled it down. "Don't just stand there, get in. I need to talk to you. You want somebody to see us together?" she hissed. He obeyed.

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Swersky nodded. "We are missing something. Yokas, when you were talking to Boscorelli, did he say anything, anything at all about who he was talking about? Try to think."

Her brow creased in frustration. Trying to remember the exact words. Just out of grasp…something…yes…he had said something that didn't register at the time…what was it, damn it? Crap!

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Cruz got out of the car. She walked inside the hospital, asked for Bosco's room number. She rode the elevator up to the second floor. She smiled. It's exciting, a challenge. She walked up to the guard outside of Bosco's door. Smiled at him. "Hi, I'm Sgt. Cruz. I know Boscorelli. How is he?" She engaged the guard in conversation. He didn't see the shadow sneaking up behind him.

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I love writing cliff hangers, lol! Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing!!