I left a more detailed note at the end of this one. Thanks for reading and reviewing ;)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

-A Fine Balance-



Chapter 4

Bosco jumped when he heard the deafening wail of his alarm clock pierce through the stillness of his sleep.

'Damn, Faith,' he though to himself. 'Did ya have to put it on buzzer? Music would have done just fine.'

Slamming his fist aimlessly around on the night table, he finally managed to make the outrageously loud noise stop. Bosco groaned, it felt like he had only been asleep for a few minutes, and he had absolutely no desire to open his eyes. Realizing that Faith would have his head if he managed to screw up this whole pill system she had spent so much time preparing, he decided to do his best to make use of her work. He again reached over to the night table and fumbled with the lamp until bright light filled the previously dark room.

He took a second to allow his eyes to adjust, wiping a them sleepily with his one hand, while trying to prop himself up with his other.

Bosco saw the four rows of pills lined up neatly on the table before him. He stared at them for several seconds, thinking it probably wouldn't be wise to take them on an empty stomach. Deep in thought, he shifted his glance out the door towards the kitchen, as if willing the food to come to him. No such luck…

'Fantastic,' he thought to himself, tossing the bag of melted ice to the side and beginning to shuffle over to the edge of the bed so he could reach his crutches.

The journey to the kitchen was a challenge to say the least. Bosco found himself struggling more than he was earlier in the day. There's just something about those intravenous drugs that makes them work better than pills. He chalked it up to just being tired, but couldn't help but feel the wave of uneasiness at being so exposed and vulnerable. He found his mind wandering into visions of collapsing and not being able to get up - being left for weeks without food, water, or any form of rescue…

Bosco shook his head and felt a small smile forming on his lips. 'At least there's nothing wrong with my imagination,' he thought while propping himself against the counter before opening the fridge. He knew full well before he opening it, that a sea of nothingness would stare back at him. He certainly wasn't about to eat condiments to line his stomach. Despite the fact that there was nothing, and no hope of anything appearing in the near future, Bosco continued to stare blankly into the icy cell. When he was truly convinced that nothing was going to magically appear before his tired eyes, he admitted defeat and allowed the door to drift shut.

Without reassuming his position on his crutches, he placed both hands on the counter and slowly hopped forward towards the row of overhead cupboards across the bay area of the kitchen. The six or seven foot hop left him breathless, and he made a mental note that contrary to popular belief, hopping is NOT easier than manipulating crutches.

Once Bosco had caught his breath, he strategically leaned his left hip against the edge of the counter and reached above with his left hand, grasping the cupboard knob and whipping the door open.

He couldn't believe how stiff even his left side was. It was if his whole back had gone into some sort of reservation mode, shutting down all muscles for repair until further notice.

Bosco prepped himself again, and successfully managed to swing his arm high enough to grab the box of crackers that he knew was lying near the edge. Though he wasn't hungry, he recognized that taking the ridiculous amount of drugs he'd been prescribed, without food, would only lead to a mess later on. For a second, he was concerned at how he had become so knowledgeable on the side effects and procedures associated with prescription drugs. He decided that it was because he was far too injury prone… or stupidity prone, therefore leading to injuries. Whatever the case may be, he vowed to make a solemn effort to be more careful in the future. 'Riiiight,' he thought to himself, 'that'll last long.'

Before he endured the 'hopping' that would have to take place before he could reach his crutches again, he grabbed a handful of crackers and tossed the box into the sink, deciding that he'd put it away in the morning, when he felt more awake, and hopefully, more flexible.

Bosco's jaw, still sore and swollen from smashing through the window in the accident, wouldn't allow him to chew faster than a typical 90 year old man. He found himself grimacing, not necessarily because of the pain inflicted by the process, but because he found the whole procedure torturously slow - especially when all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep for the next three days.

He made his way back into the bedroom and tossed his crutches onto the floor. Grabbing the four pills from the front line, he popped them into his mouth and immediately chased them with the room-temperature water.

He slammed the half-empty glass onto the night table and then stared at the alarm clock. He really didn't feel that horrible, and if he wasn't so rudely awoken by an alarm that sounded similar to some form of demented buzzard, he probably wouldn't have been in any pain because he'd still be asleep. After he felt he had justified the motives for his plan, Bosco decided not to reset the alarm clock. Maybe, if he was lucky and God was on his side, he could sleep through the night, and wake up in time to dispose of the remaining pills before Faith arrived. He realized it was wishful thinking, and either way, he'd probably get an ass-kicking, or at least a lecture from Faith, but he felt the reward was worth the consequences.

Bosco sighed, and pressed his hand against the bandage on his temple to affix it more securely before lying back and closing his eyes. Feeling the drugs, the warm bed and the seeing the soft glow from the light beside him made for a quick departure into the comfort of sleep.

***********************

The phone rang several times before Bosco became conscious of the noise. He rolled over and grabbed it off the night table, but the machine had already kicked in. He threw the now silent object down on the bed and listened half-heartedly to see if he could determine who was calling him at 7 am. No one appeared to be talking, so Bosco shrugged it off while pulling the covers back over his head.

**********************

Faith arrived at Bosco's apartment around 9 in the morning. She knocked a couple times lightly before resigning to using her key, realizing that he was probably still asleep.

She kicked the door closed behind her and immediately bee-lined to the kitchen to put away the groceries she had purchased for him. She frowned noticing the box of crackers in the sink. 'What the hell was he doing last night?' she thought to herself as she placed the box back in the cupboard.

Faith quietly stepped towards Bosco's bedroom and peeked her head inside the door. She couldn't see him, just a lump under several layers of blankets. She tiptoed closer and shook her head in frustration when she saw that he had only taken one out of the four lines of pills she'd set out for him.

She sighed, deciding she would give him hell when he woke up, and wandered out into the living room to watch TV while she waited.

Faith slumped on the couch and unenthusiastically flipped through the channels. After about her third time through all the stations, she heard a rustling noise emerge from the bedroom. She quietly walked down the hall, only to see that Bosco had changed positions but still appeared to be deep in sleep. She laughed at herself, realizing that she hadn't been so attentive over anyone's sleeping habits since Emily and Charlie were babies - but then again, people had always said that she was Bosco's 'mother', and for the first time, she believed the title held true.

'SHIT!' she thought to herself, as it donned on her that she hadn't called Rose as she had promised Bosco she would last night. She pulled out her cell, not wanting to search Bosco's room for the phone which she had noticed was no longer on the night table where she'd placed it the night before, and dialed Rose's number.

The phone rang endlessly and there didn't appear to be any answering machine. Defeated, Faith hung up and deliberately dropped the phone on the cushion next to her. She felt a small wave of panic sweep through her chest and slowly reached down to retrieve the phone. Though she was sure she was overreacting, she phoned the house and was greeted by a young officer working the front desk. She asked for Swersky, comfortable that he knew the situation, and would be understanding if she was indeed acting irrationally.

"Yokas!" he greeted her, surprised to hear from her at such an early hour.

"Hey Lieu," she started. "I'm not quite sure how to say this, but I need you to check something out for me."

Swersky was instantly concerned by Faith's tone, and lowered his voice when he replied, "What is it? Is everything okay?"

"Well, I'm sure it is, but I just don't' want to take any chances. Did anyone at the house manage to get into contact with Bosco's mother after the accident?" she asked directly.

"As far as I was told, they couldn't reach her. Why?"

"Bosco's a little worried, and I guess so am I, for that matter, that he hasn't heard from her at all since the whole ordeal. Do you think you could have someone go check in on her?"

"Really? You haven't heard from her at all?"

"No," Faith answered, clearly troubled.

"Yeah, okay Yokas, I'll send someone over to check up on her. You don't suppose she's just out of town or on vacation, do you?"

"I guess it's a possibility," Faith answered before quickly shaking her head and dismissing the idea, "No, Bosco was at her bar the night of the accident, she would've said something to him if she was going away, and I doubt that she would have left within a few hours of seeing him last… It just doesn't make sense, Lieu."

"I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation, Faith, but just to be on the safe side, I'll send someone over to check it out."

"Thanks, Lieu, I really appreciate it."

"No problem. How's Bosco doing?"

"I don't' know, I've only been here for 15 minutes and he's been asleep the whole time."

"Okay, well when I hear something, I'll give you a call to let you know. Are you coming in today?"

"Yeah, Lieu, I'll be there."

"Okay, Yokas, I'll see you later then."

Faith hung up the phone and jumped a foot in the air when she heard a voice behind her.

"You talking to Swersky?"

She turned around to see a weary looking Bosco, still clothed from then night before, hanging like a rag doll off of the imposing crutches. She had been so deep in the conversation with the lieutenant that she hadn't heard him approach.

"Yeah, just seeing if he needed me in today," she lied, not wanting to worry her pale partner with the details of the conversation.

"How you feeling?" Faith asked, seeing that he looked horrible, but knowing he would lie right back at her, saying he felt fine.

"Fine." he answered quietly.

She grinned, mentally laughing at how well she knew her partner.

"You know, Bos," she said in a reprimanding tone, "I gave you one simple task when I left last night and you didn't do it."

He laughed and looked a the ground, "You saw that, did ya? I hid the rest of the pills when I woke up, hoping you hadn't seen them."

Faith shook her finger at him and smiled conspicuously, but didn't scold him any further.

Bosco struggled to move over to the chair opposite the couch, but was having a significantly hard time in doing so.

Faith saw the pained look on his face and got up from the couch, silently offering him her seat. He didn't argue, and took advantage of the closer resting spot, slowly lowering his stiff body into the cushions.

"What were you doing with crackers last night?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Well," he winced while adjusting his leg in front of him before continuing, "I didn't think that it would be very smart to take such a large amount of potent drugs on an empty stomach."

Faith mentally cursed herself for not thinking of that the night before. If he hadn't thought of it, he could easily have his head in the toilet right now.

"Right," she answered, not letting him in on her thoughts.

Her phone broke the silence, ringing out a classical tune. Bosco grabbed it off the seat beside him and tossed it at her. Faith methodically caught it with one hand and flipped it open while placing it to her ear.

"Hello?"

Bosco watched the expression on her face change into one of extreme concern.

"Okay, thanks Lieu, we'll be right there."

Bosco shot her a questioning glare, dreading hearing the news that made her so anxious.

Faith looked towards him with a touch of empathy.

"What?" he asked, panic overwriting the pain he thought he would never be able to ignore only a few seconds ago.

"We gotta go, Bos."

TBC. I'm sorry for all of you that were waiting for Ty to make an appearance in this one. I have plans for him in the next chapter. I just got a little caught up in this scene. Input Is greatly appreciated, be it through reviews or e-mails, it's your call. Let me know where YOU want me to take this. I write for you as well as myself. Thanks so much, guys! ~Joey~