Ok, Chapter 8 is ready. Thank you again for the support that you have
given me with this story. Hang on, here is the next chapter.
Bosco's Girl
Chapter 8- Chicago Hope
Bosco took a deep breath as he looked up into the clear night. An airplane flew high overhead leaving its white trail against the blackness of the sky. He briefly wondered where they were going. Vacations, family reunions, honeymoon, or emergencies. Bosco hoped that nobody was headed toward anything tragic or sad.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
"Maurice?" A voice called his name. Believing that it was in his dream, Bosco rolled over and buried his nose deeper into his blankets.
"Maurice?" The voice called again and this time was accompanied by a gentle shake.
Bosco groaned and opened his eyes focusing in on his mother.
"Ma?" What is wrong?" he asked as he sat up running his hand through his short hair.
"Oh baby, nothing is wrong," Rose Boscorelli said with a little smile. "I just found a great deal on some clothes for Mia. I just wanted to drop them by before work."
"Clothes," Bosco repeated shaking his head slightly to clear the sleep. "Thanks Ma."
"Where is that little angel?" Rose asked.
"She said she wanted to borrow the van, but she'll be back by ten," Bosco quipped looking at his mom with a crooked smile. "She should be sleeping in her room. She's teething again and I just got her down about an," he looked over at the clock, "hour or so ago."
"I'll just look," she said. "Go back to sleep Maurice baby, you look tired."
Bosco nodded and let his head fall back into his pillows, letting the darkness consume him again.
"What do you mean a few days off?" Bosco asked Lieutenant Swersky the next evening at the station.
"Bosco, you have been working too hard." Swersky said to the young Sergeant. "You look exhausted. You need some time to just relax."
"Boss, I've had so much time off lately." Bosco started but was cut off by his superior officer.
"Maurice, the time off you had was not for resting. You need to rest and regroup. I am not asking you to go a way for a few months, just give yourself a four-day weekend. If you want, we will look after Mia for you."
"No," Bosco said quickly. "Thanks for the offer, but you have already done so much for her, and I.
"You are going where?" Kim asked that evening while they talked on the telephone.
"Chicago," Bosco said as he flipped through the channels with the remote. "My Grandma lives there, she's 83, and she has not met Mia yet. I figured that since I have a long weekend, I would go and see her. "
"You're grandma?" Kim asked.
"Yes, my grandma!" Bosco could not help but smile. "I have one you know."
"Of course, but it just doesn't seem, well, it just doesn't seem like a Bosco thing to do!" she said. "Do you need me to do anything for you while you are gone? Plants?"
"Thanks Kimmy, but no." he said. "Ma is going to check on the place. I'll call you when we get home."
He hung up the telephone and watched the television listings roll by twice before he shut off the appliance and went into his room to pack.
"Flight 173 to Chicago calls all passengers with small children to please board now" came from over the intercom. The airport was crowded and Maria was not a happy girl. She kept rubbing her red cheeks and whimpering.
"Is that going to keep crying all the way to Chicago?" A businessman directed at Bosco as he tried to gather all Mia's things. He dropped her stuffed fish and then managed to lose much of the diaper bag contents as he tried to retrieve the toy. The man did nothing to help. He just kept glaring at Mia.
"Probably," Bosco shot at the man. "I hope you are in the seat in front of us!"
The man mumbled something under his breath, while Bosco bit his lip and forced himself to stay relatively calm.
A pretty young flight attendant helped Bosco and Maria onto the plane and got them comfortable. Soon the rest of the passengers started to board. Mia was crying pitifully while Bosco tried to console her. He knew that a bottle would work, but he had to hold off on that for a few more minutes. He could hear passengers already muttering about the crying baby. A year ago, he would have been one of them. A nice looking older lady came down the isle and stopped by Bosco, looking up at the seat numbers.
"I believe that I am your window!" She said with a pleasant smile. "And I see that you are the one with the darling baby! I don't know if you realize it, but that is a 'feed me please daddy' cry."
Bosco could not help but smile. "Thank you," he said as he stood up to let her through to her seat. "I know she's hungry but I want to wait until take off. That way it will keep her ears from popping."
"What a smart idea!" The lady said as she squeezed past the car seat and collapsed into the bright green seat by the window. "Oh what a sweetie you are! About 7 months are you?"
"Good guess!" Bosco said looking at the lady in surprise. "She turned 7 months last week!"
"I have a few grand children of my own," she said " Eight in fact. Four boys and four girls, a perfect split. I have pictures, but I am sure you are not interested."
The engines of the plane started to rev, cutting off Bosco's polite reply to the lady. He quickly pulled out Mia's bottle, shook it and held it for the baby. She took the bottle quickly and ate happily while the plane taxied down the runway and lifted gently into the air.
Bosco learned all about the kind lady. She told him all about her grandchildren, and gave him some advice when it came to Mia and her teething. The flight was blissfully short. The lady bade them good bye and went out to see her daughter Blaire, who was married to Timothy. Timothy who had one child of his own when they got married, Heather, but now are the proud parents of Jacob and Jessica who were two months old.
Within the hour, Bosco and Mia were at the door of his Grandmother Boscorelli's house. They were then ushered in and fussed over for the better part of the weekend.
On Monday morning, Bosco woke up suddenly. He was not sure what had disturbed him but he hurried over to the playpen that he had set up on the floor for Mia. She was laying on her back, her eyes were open but her face was very pale. Her cheeks were flaming red against the white skin. She started to whimper when she saw her father. Bosco snatched her out of the pen and wrapped her up in her pink blanket. He instinctively knew that needed to get her to the hospital.
His grandma was already up preparing cinnamon toast and cocoa, just as she had for Bosco when he was small. She took one look at the baby and at her grandson's face and gave him directions to the nearest hospital.
"Maurice, no one has driven my car in a few months, but try it first," she directed as she took the listless baby into her arms.
"Please," he said to himself as he turned the key and listened as the engine stuttered then sprang to life. Within minutes he had Mia buckled in and was on his way to the hospital.
He hurried into the emergency department of County General and over to the admitting desk where a very tall clerk was talking on the telephone. The clerk signaled to Bosco that he would be just a moment, ended his call and hung up.
"My baby," Bosco said in a rush. "Something is wrong."
The clerk looked at the baby then over his shoulder. A doctor with blond hair, tied up in a ponytail, was standing at the counter filling out a chart. "Dr. Lewis!" He called, and the doctor turned around.
"Jerry, I'm off," She said. "As in, invisible to your eyes, Officer Boscorelli!"
"Dr. Lewis!" Bosco nearly shouted as recognition and relief flooded through him. "Mia needs your help! She is sick."
Dr. Lewis quickly covered the distance between them and took the baby into her arms. "Talk to me," she said as she hurried over to a bed.
"She has been acting funny for about a week," Bosco said as he stood next to Mia, his hand on her blonde curls. "I thought that she was teething, but this morning she was so pale and so, so limp."
"Ok," Dr. Lewis said "I want to run a few tests, but it is probably not too serious." "Do whatever you need to!" Bosco said as he continued to stroke his daughter's hair.
"She's a little dehydrated so lets see if she will take some Pedialyte," the doctor said. "Yosh! See if you can find a bottle of Pedialyte!"
"Officer," Dr. Lewis started, but Bosco cut her off.
"Bosco," he said. "Please just Bosco."
"Bosco," she corrected herself. "She's going to be fine. Has she been sick recently?"
"She had a cold, a little one," Bosco said. "A few weeks ago, but it hardly bothered her."
"She probably has a slight infection. I know that it is hard, especially when it is our kids that are sick, but I'm sure she will be fine." Dr. Lewis said encouragingly. "What are you doing in Chicago?"
"Visiting my grandmother," Bosco said never once taking his eyes off his baby. "She had not met Mia yet, and I had a long weekend so. Are you sure she's going to be ok?"
Susan Lewis looked at the worried police officer and felt an emotional tug. He had done so much when her niece Suzie was missing. He had acted like somewhat of a jerk, but she had quickly learned it was because he cared so much; especially about what happened to children. Now here he was, his baby was ill and this time it was she who could return the favor. "Yes, she will be ok. We will probably give her some antibiotics and she will be as good as new in a few days. I didn't know that you had children."
"Child." Bosco corrected. "Mia is my only child. She is my life." He softly planted a kiss on the baby's sweaty head.
"Is your wife still in New York?" Susan asked. She could not help prying just a little. She had had many a dream about this handsome officer since they met all those years ago. "Faith died," Bosco said as he took his daughters tiny hand in his. He looked up at Susan and read her expression. "She had gotten a divorce, we got married and had Mia. She was killed 10 weeks after her maternity leave ended."
"Officer, I mean Bosco, I'm so sorry!" Susan said with shock in her voice.
"Thanks," he mumbled. He took a deep breath and looked up at the doctor. "How is Susie? That was her name right?"
"You have a very good memory officer," Susan smiled. "Actually Susie is doing just fine. She is living with me here in Chicago."
"She is?" Bosco asked. "What happened to that deadbeat sister of yours?"
"She OD'd two years ago," Susan said. "Susie is all I have. She's my life."
Bosco nodded in understanding.
The test results came back showing, just as Dr. Lewis had expected a minor sinus infection combined with a double ear infection. She gave Bosco a prescription and told him to call her if he had any questions, then left.
Bosco looked at the paper in his hand. It had both her home and her work numbers on it. With a slight smile he covered up the baby and headed back to his Grandmothers house.
A few hours later he sat down at the telephone, took out the paper and after a moment of hesitation dialed.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Bosco felt a smile spread across his face. Despite the coolness of the evening, he felt warm. He got up and walked over to the edge of the roof, leaned against the wall and gazed out at the city lights.
Bosco's Girl
Chapter 8- Chicago Hope
Bosco took a deep breath as he looked up into the clear night. An airplane flew high overhead leaving its white trail against the blackness of the sky. He briefly wondered where they were going. Vacations, family reunions, honeymoon, or emergencies. Bosco hoped that nobody was headed toward anything tragic or sad.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
"Maurice?" A voice called his name. Believing that it was in his dream, Bosco rolled over and buried his nose deeper into his blankets.
"Maurice?" The voice called again and this time was accompanied by a gentle shake.
Bosco groaned and opened his eyes focusing in on his mother.
"Ma?" What is wrong?" he asked as he sat up running his hand through his short hair.
"Oh baby, nothing is wrong," Rose Boscorelli said with a little smile. "I just found a great deal on some clothes for Mia. I just wanted to drop them by before work."
"Clothes," Bosco repeated shaking his head slightly to clear the sleep. "Thanks Ma."
"Where is that little angel?" Rose asked.
"She said she wanted to borrow the van, but she'll be back by ten," Bosco quipped looking at his mom with a crooked smile. "She should be sleeping in her room. She's teething again and I just got her down about an," he looked over at the clock, "hour or so ago."
"I'll just look," she said. "Go back to sleep Maurice baby, you look tired."
Bosco nodded and let his head fall back into his pillows, letting the darkness consume him again.
"What do you mean a few days off?" Bosco asked Lieutenant Swersky the next evening at the station.
"Bosco, you have been working too hard." Swersky said to the young Sergeant. "You look exhausted. You need some time to just relax."
"Boss, I've had so much time off lately." Bosco started but was cut off by his superior officer.
"Maurice, the time off you had was not for resting. You need to rest and regroup. I am not asking you to go a way for a few months, just give yourself a four-day weekend. If you want, we will look after Mia for you."
"No," Bosco said quickly. "Thanks for the offer, but you have already done so much for her, and I.
"You are going where?" Kim asked that evening while they talked on the telephone.
"Chicago," Bosco said as he flipped through the channels with the remote. "My Grandma lives there, she's 83, and she has not met Mia yet. I figured that since I have a long weekend, I would go and see her. "
"You're grandma?" Kim asked.
"Yes, my grandma!" Bosco could not help but smile. "I have one you know."
"Of course, but it just doesn't seem, well, it just doesn't seem like a Bosco thing to do!" she said. "Do you need me to do anything for you while you are gone? Plants?"
"Thanks Kimmy, but no." he said. "Ma is going to check on the place. I'll call you when we get home."
He hung up the telephone and watched the television listings roll by twice before he shut off the appliance and went into his room to pack.
"Flight 173 to Chicago calls all passengers with small children to please board now" came from over the intercom. The airport was crowded and Maria was not a happy girl. She kept rubbing her red cheeks and whimpering.
"Is that going to keep crying all the way to Chicago?" A businessman directed at Bosco as he tried to gather all Mia's things. He dropped her stuffed fish and then managed to lose much of the diaper bag contents as he tried to retrieve the toy. The man did nothing to help. He just kept glaring at Mia.
"Probably," Bosco shot at the man. "I hope you are in the seat in front of us!"
The man mumbled something under his breath, while Bosco bit his lip and forced himself to stay relatively calm.
A pretty young flight attendant helped Bosco and Maria onto the plane and got them comfortable. Soon the rest of the passengers started to board. Mia was crying pitifully while Bosco tried to console her. He knew that a bottle would work, but he had to hold off on that for a few more minutes. He could hear passengers already muttering about the crying baby. A year ago, he would have been one of them. A nice looking older lady came down the isle and stopped by Bosco, looking up at the seat numbers.
"I believe that I am your window!" She said with a pleasant smile. "And I see that you are the one with the darling baby! I don't know if you realize it, but that is a 'feed me please daddy' cry."
Bosco could not help but smile. "Thank you," he said as he stood up to let her through to her seat. "I know she's hungry but I want to wait until take off. That way it will keep her ears from popping."
"What a smart idea!" The lady said as she squeezed past the car seat and collapsed into the bright green seat by the window. "Oh what a sweetie you are! About 7 months are you?"
"Good guess!" Bosco said looking at the lady in surprise. "She turned 7 months last week!"
"I have a few grand children of my own," she said " Eight in fact. Four boys and four girls, a perfect split. I have pictures, but I am sure you are not interested."
The engines of the plane started to rev, cutting off Bosco's polite reply to the lady. He quickly pulled out Mia's bottle, shook it and held it for the baby. She took the bottle quickly and ate happily while the plane taxied down the runway and lifted gently into the air.
Bosco learned all about the kind lady. She told him all about her grandchildren, and gave him some advice when it came to Mia and her teething. The flight was blissfully short. The lady bade them good bye and went out to see her daughter Blaire, who was married to Timothy. Timothy who had one child of his own when they got married, Heather, but now are the proud parents of Jacob and Jessica who were two months old.
Within the hour, Bosco and Mia were at the door of his Grandmother Boscorelli's house. They were then ushered in and fussed over for the better part of the weekend.
On Monday morning, Bosco woke up suddenly. He was not sure what had disturbed him but he hurried over to the playpen that he had set up on the floor for Mia. She was laying on her back, her eyes were open but her face was very pale. Her cheeks were flaming red against the white skin. She started to whimper when she saw her father. Bosco snatched her out of the pen and wrapped her up in her pink blanket. He instinctively knew that needed to get her to the hospital.
His grandma was already up preparing cinnamon toast and cocoa, just as she had for Bosco when he was small. She took one look at the baby and at her grandson's face and gave him directions to the nearest hospital.
"Maurice, no one has driven my car in a few months, but try it first," she directed as she took the listless baby into her arms.
"Please," he said to himself as he turned the key and listened as the engine stuttered then sprang to life. Within minutes he had Mia buckled in and was on his way to the hospital.
He hurried into the emergency department of County General and over to the admitting desk where a very tall clerk was talking on the telephone. The clerk signaled to Bosco that he would be just a moment, ended his call and hung up.
"My baby," Bosco said in a rush. "Something is wrong."
The clerk looked at the baby then over his shoulder. A doctor with blond hair, tied up in a ponytail, was standing at the counter filling out a chart. "Dr. Lewis!" He called, and the doctor turned around.
"Jerry, I'm off," She said. "As in, invisible to your eyes, Officer Boscorelli!"
"Dr. Lewis!" Bosco nearly shouted as recognition and relief flooded through him. "Mia needs your help! She is sick."
Dr. Lewis quickly covered the distance between them and took the baby into her arms. "Talk to me," she said as she hurried over to a bed.
"She has been acting funny for about a week," Bosco said as he stood next to Mia, his hand on her blonde curls. "I thought that she was teething, but this morning she was so pale and so, so limp."
"Ok," Dr. Lewis said "I want to run a few tests, but it is probably not too serious." "Do whatever you need to!" Bosco said as he continued to stroke his daughter's hair.
"She's a little dehydrated so lets see if she will take some Pedialyte," the doctor said. "Yosh! See if you can find a bottle of Pedialyte!"
"Officer," Dr. Lewis started, but Bosco cut her off.
"Bosco," he said. "Please just Bosco."
"Bosco," she corrected herself. "She's going to be fine. Has she been sick recently?"
"She had a cold, a little one," Bosco said. "A few weeks ago, but it hardly bothered her."
"She probably has a slight infection. I know that it is hard, especially when it is our kids that are sick, but I'm sure she will be fine." Dr. Lewis said encouragingly. "What are you doing in Chicago?"
"Visiting my grandmother," Bosco said never once taking his eyes off his baby. "She had not met Mia yet, and I had a long weekend so. Are you sure she's going to be ok?"
Susan Lewis looked at the worried police officer and felt an emotional tug. He had done so much when her niece Suzie was missing. He had acted like somewhat of a jerk, but she had quickly learned it was because he cared so much; especially about what happened to children. Now here he was, his baby was ill and this time it was she who could return the favor. "Yes, she will be ok. We will probably give her some antibiotics and she will be as good as new in a few days. I didn't know that you had children."
"Child." Bosco corrected. "Mia is my only child. She is my life." He softly planted a kiss on the baby's sweaty head.
"Is your wife still in New York?" Susan asked. She could not help prying just a little. She had had many a dream about this handsome officer since they met all those years ago. "Faith died," Bosco said as he took his daughters tiny hand in his. He looked up at Susan and read her expression. "She had gotten a divorce, we got married and had Mia. She was killed 10 weeks after her maternity leave ended."
"Officer, I mean Bosco, I'm so sorry!" Susan said with shock in her voice.
"Thanks," he mumbled. He took a deep breath and looked up at the doctor. "How is Susie? That was her name right?"
"You have a very good memory officer," Susan smiled. "Actually Susie is doing just fine. She is living with me here in Chicago."
"She is?" Bosco asked. "What happened to that deadbeat sister of yours?"
"She OD'd two years ago," Susan said. "Susie is all I have. She's my life."
Bosco nodded in understanding.
The test results came back showing, just as Dr. Lewis had expected a minor sinus infection combined with a double ear infection. She gave Bosco a prescription and told him to call her if he had any questions, then left.
Bosco looked at the paper in his hand. It had both her home and her work numbers on it. With a slight smile he covered up the baby and headed back to his Grandmothers house.
A few hours later he sat down at the telephone, took out the paper and after a moment of hesitation dialed.
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-
Bosco felt a smile spread across his face. Despite the coolness of the evening, he felt warm. He got up and walked over to the edge of the roof, leaned against the wall and gazed out at the city lights.