A Hopeless Wound (3/?)
***
A/N: Once again, thank you so much for the amazing feedback. It really inspires me to write more. This is probably the most difficult thing I've ever written, but as long as you guys keep the reviews coming, I'll try and do my best to give you a new chapter every week. Please be patient and let me know if this fic is worth all my time! :)
***
Chapter three
***
Lieutenant Swersky was almost ready to leave the precinct and go home for the night when he got the call.
He was running late, and the uneventful shift had already stretched too long for his liking. Days like this always carried bad news, and he was glad it was almost over. All he had to do was sign the last report and he'd be out of the place.
That was before the news of the shooting at Boscorelli's apartment had hit the House.
The desk Sergeant's face was tight with worry as he announced that someone had just attempted to kill one of his officers, and Swersky's first reaction had been one of total disbelief. Then the news had gotten even worse, and he'd learned that the bullet had hit Bosco's mother and that she was on her way to Mercy in critical conditions.
He shook his head and quickly rose from his chair, heading outside the office. Looking around to see if any of the 3rd watch officers was still in the building, he spotted Ty Davis coming out of the locker room, still in his uniform.
He immediately got the young man's attention.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?"
"Yes."
Davis saw the look on his superior's eyes and felt his stomach tense, as if steeling for a blow, before he even knew what had happened.
"I need you to drive me to Mercy."
Hearing the hospital's name only confirmed that it was indeed bad news.
"Something happened?"
Swersky took a deep breath. "There's been an accident. Someone fired a shot through Boscorelli's apartment window. His mother's hurt."
"Damn..." he murmured, and for a moment he simply stood there, feeling a rush of sadness that struck too close to home. "He alright?"
"I think so. But I need to talk to him."
"Sure. I... I'll start the car." Ty offered, almost forcing the words out of his mouth.
The Lieutenant nodded. "I'll just be a minute."
He turned around and stepped back into the office to retrieve his jacket and tell his wife he would be late tonight.
As he leaned on his desk, phone in hand, his thoughts went on Bosco. He'd been there through the man's worst moments, from his PTSD to the Hobart incident, down to the whole fallout between him and his ten-year partner Faith Yokas. After seeing his reactions to all these traumatic events, he couldn't help but wonder if this would be the straw that broke the camel's back.
Closing his eyes for a moment, he said a silent prayer and headed outside.
***
Ty sighed and glanced at his watch. 5:54am. He got up and stretched out his cramped muscles.
The waiting room was empty except for he and Bosco, who was sipping his fourth black coffee and absently staring down at his feet.
Swersky had left hours ago, but Davis just didn't have the heart to leave his friend, and had offered to sit with him. Bosco hadn't been thrilled, but he didn't tell him to go either, and that in his book was a definite yes.
Unfortunately, Bosco hadn't seen a thing, and his account of what had happened in the apartment wasn't going to help in any way, but the Lieutenant had promised a round-the-clock investigation. If the shooter had really fired from the opposite side of the street then there was a chance that a neighbour or a passer-by had seen something.
It wasn't much, but it was all they had.
The PD always shows up at the scene of an accident along with the paramedics, but when the victim is a fellow cop or a member of his family it becomes a personal matter, and the best people usually assist, trying everything to ensure the criminal is brought to justice.
"How are you, man?" Ty asked, finally voicing the question that had bothered him since he'd set foot in the hospital and breaking the silence that had fallen like a dead weight on the room.
Bosco shrugged. Truth was he felt like shit, but Davis didn't need to know that.
"It's been four hours." He stated after a few moments, his eyes still downcast toward the floor. "Four hours and still no word."
Ty wasn't really expecting him to talk, but welcomed his frail attempt at a conversation. "I don't know, Bos. These things take time." He replied uncomfortably.
"Yeah."
Raising his head, Bosco spotted a nurse and immediately ran up to her. "Any news?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, officer. She's still in surgery. If you want to sit down and wait over..."
"I don't want to sit down, I want to know how my mother is doing!" he yelled, his voice straining with anxiety and fear.
Davis rose to his feet and hurried over to them. "Easy, Bos. Calm down, alright?"
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry." He raked a hand through his hair and turned around.
Ty gave the nurse an apologetic nod and led Bosco back to the plastic chairs on the other side of the room.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. Listen, I appreciate you being here and all, Davis, but it's late. You should really go home."
"I will, man, I will. Just not now."
Bosco nodded and leaned his head back against the wall.
***
"Bosco? Bosco, wake up, man."
The voice became increasingly louder, and he realized he was being shaken. Ma? He became instantly alert. "What? Is it ma? Is she alright?"
His eyes focused on Davis' face.
"She's out of surgery. The doctor wants to talk to you."
He nearly leapt out of his chair. Ma's fighting for her life and I've fallen asleep. "Thanks, Davis."
Rubbing his face, he turned his attention to the doctor that was standing a few feet from him. He looked exhausted, and his bloody scrubs only served to make his heart beat faster.
"She alright?" he immediately asked.
The man folded his arms across his chest. "Your mother is currently listed as critical. We found extensive damage to her abdominal area, which is why the surgery took longer than we expected. She also suffered a massive internal bleeding, but we were able to stop that. Frankly, I'm surprised she made it this far."
Davis moved to stand next to Bosco and glanced at him from the corner of his eye.
"The bullet entered just below her rib cage and travelled upward through the stomach, lodging itself in her left lung." The doctor continued, using his hands to help them understand what he was saying. "We've managed to repair both organs, but right now the possibilities of a complete recovery are less than 40%. If she survives the day, we'll run more tests and hopefully upgrade her conditions from critical to serious." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I'm sorry I can't give you better news."
The words took a moment to register but when they did, Bosco's features visibly paled and he stood there, hands thrust deeply into his pockets, unable to say a word.
Ty put a hand on his shoulder. "You okay, man?"
Bosco swallowed hard and nodded his head slightly. "I wanna see her."
"Of course. A nurse will come and get you as soon as we move her into a room."
"Thank you, doctor." Davis shook the man's hand.
"I'll see you later." He excused himself and walked away.
Ty gave his friend a concerned look. "You want me to call anyone?"
"What? No, I... no."
"Okay."
The room fell silent again. Ty was perfectly aware of what Bosco was going through. He'd been only a kid when his father was killed, but there are things you just can't forget, and although he didn't want to intrude, he knew that no one should be alone in situations like that.
"I always figured I'd be the one laying in a hospital bed with a gunshot wound." Bosco said quietly. "Never crossed my mind that it would be the other way around."
"Don't give up on her, man. There's still hope."
"I won't."
He sounded tired, nearly flat, like he had no emotions left. Ty had never heard him sound like this before.
"Go home, Davis. Get some rest. I'm going to sit with her now." He said as he spotted a nurse coming his way.
The younger man nodded. "Okay. I'll try and stop by later. Call me if you need anything." He grabbed his jacket and started to leave.
"Ty." Bosco called after him.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
***
Rose lay beneath the stark white hospital sheets.
Her chest rose and fell peacefully as the respirator pumped air into her lungs and a heart monitor beeped in rhythm to her pulse.
Bosco was beside her, asleep with his head on the edge of the bed, his hand cradling her wrist. Mary Proctor had draped a blanket around his shoulders an hour ago, and he hadn't even stirred.
When another nurse came to change his mother's IV, he finally woke up.
"How is she?"
The young woman smiled sympathetically. "Still holding her own."
He sighed. That meant she was no worse, but definitely not any better.
As soon as the nurse left the room, he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it gently. "I love you, Ma. Please wake up."
He thought of all the years and all the ways Fate had been unkind to them, of all the things they'd survived together, of the stuff he still hadn't told her, and wondered why it took something like this to understand what was really important in life.
He would turn back the clock if he could. He would visit her more, ignore her less, and concentrate on all the little things that used to make her smile.
"Come on, Ma." He whispered. "I need you."
He felt her hand move and expectantly looked up, but her eyes remained closed. They'd warned him about it, told him that it was just an involuntary reaction, but he wasn't sure if he should believe them or not.
Leaning forward, he gazed down at her, realizing that her chest was no longer moving. She wasn't breathing.
A machine started to beep.
Bosco dropped his mother's hand and raced into the hallway. "Somebody help us!" he yelled, his voice frantic. "Help!"
The same nurse who'd just checked on her immediately rushed in, followed by the doctor and the clatter of wheels as Mary Proctor carried a piece of equipment to the room.
He ran after them and listened as they shouted strange codes and the machine continued to beep. "Ma? What's going on?"
He tried to take a couple steps forward but one of the nurses pushed him aside.
"Mary, what's going on?" he asked again, his tone desperate.
The doctor gave her a look and she quickly walked up to him. "You can't stay in here, Bosco." She put a hand on his shoulder and ushered him out the door. "Go wait outside. The doctor will talk to you in a minute."
Tears welled up in his eyes as he watched his mother's body lying helpless on the bed, but he let Mary guide him away from her.
He started to pace the hallway, but that only helped to increase his nervousness, so he sat down in one of the plastic chairs nearby and rested his head in his hands.
Minutes passed, but it might as well have been a year.
Finally, he heard the door open and close. Bosco looked up to see the doctor standing in front of him. He tried to read the man's face as the muscles in his abdomen tightened, realizing that he was preparing himself for something bad, steeling his body before he heard the news.
"I'm sorry..."
TBC...