A Hopeless Wound (13/15)
A/N: Okay, I think I've recovered enough from the finale to try and post something new. sniff Yeah right, who am I kidding... recovering from "Monsters"? No way. I can't believe they were cruel enough to hurt Rose... sniff And here I was, thinking that this fic would just remain a creation of my evil mind! She can't die. She just can't, and seriously hope they'll take the right decision when the time comes. Anyway, I needed to get my mind off the episode for a while so here's another chapter. I'm actually working on the last one so I thought it was safe to say that this will be a fifteen-chapter story.
Now, since TPTB decided to kill Mikey off, the least I could do was give him a second chance in my fic so yeah, you're still gonna see him around. Thanks everyone for the great reviews, I wouldn't have finished it if it wasn't for you! :)
Enjoy!
Chapter thirteen
Faith sat outside Bosco's room in the Intensive Care Unit on the fifth floor of Angel of Mercy, waiting for the nurse to tell her it was okay to get in.
It'd been 72 hours since they'd found him, most of which she'd spent in this very corridor, moving from time to time only to walk up to the glass panel and look at her friend's sleeping form on the other side of it.
If the dull beige walls and the white, plastic chairs could talk, they'd tell about unnerving waits and sleepless nights, of heartaches and fear, tears and relief.
A steaming cup of black coffee stood on the chair next to her. She'd lost count of how many she'd drank, though loading up on caffeine had managed to keep her head clear enough to control her emotions once the adrenaline that had kicked in full gear in the first moments had gradually ebbed.
The doctor had told her it looked worse than it actually was, but he'd also not so subtly hinted that, had she not found him when she had, the hypovolemic shock caused by the blood loss would've probably killed him.
She sighed and took a sip of her coffee, her eyes still fixed on the closed door as she realized how close she'd been to losing him -for good.
When she'd first seen him in that alley, she'd thought for sure he was already dead, yet somehow he'd been spared the same fate of his mother. In Bosco's book, that was not something to be happy about, but she was definitely glad he'd survived.
The shoulder wound he'd sustained was through-and-through, with no damage to the joint or any major vessel, and the surgery to repair it had gone by pretty smoothly.
However, this hadn't been the doctor's main concern when they'd wheeled him into the ER. One of his broken ribs had punctured his left lung, keeping the surgeon and his team busy for quite a while.
As for the rest, there were just minor cuts and bruises that would not bother him more than necessary.
In time, and physically at least, he would recover well.
Faith shifted in her seat and leaned her head back, closing her eyes as the memories of those terrible moments came back to mind.
"Bosco? Oh my god..."
Shock and fear glued her feet to the ground and for an instant, all she could do was stare in stunned silence at the sight in front of her.
He was slumped against the wall, blood soaking through the right side of his shirt. His face was abnormally pale, and sweat beaded his brow, but it was only when her gaze focused on his hands, resting loosely in his lap, that Faith felt tears well up in her eyes.
Right there and then, she had the distinct feeling that it was too late, that she'd lost him forever. But then a painful gasp escaped his lips, and that small yet significant act shook her back to reality, willing her legs to move and kneel over him.
"Bosco? Bos, can you hear me?" She said, clasping his hand in hers.
Beside her, the dog continued to whimper, frantically moving from one side to the other as she reached for her radio and called for help.
After giving the Lieutenant her location, she turned her attention back to Bosco, praying that the medics would get there as soon as they could.
Tearing his blood-soaked shirt to locate the wound and apply pressure on it, she gasped at the multi-colored bruises marking his chest and swallowed down hard, forcing the thought of the beatings he'd had to endure out of her head.
As she firmly held her hands down to press on the bullet hole, flashes of the shooting in Noble's hotel room assaulted her brain. She still had a vague recollection of what had happened that night, but the clearest thing she remembered was laying in Bosco's arms, hearing his pleas as he begged her to hold on, and feeling strangely at ease despite the excruciating pain.
If he was aware of her presence right now, she hoped she would be able to convey the same message.
Unaware of her inner turmoil, Bosco cried out in pain at her touch and weakly lifted his own arm to try and stop whatever was causing him such distress.
"Bos, calm down." She murmured in a soothing tone. "I know it hurts, but I need to stop the blood. Hold on, it's gonna be all right."
His head slowly drifted towards that gentle voice and he struggled to open his eyes, his hand once again searching for some kind of comfort and closing around hers. His heavy lids eventually parted, and he was met with another set of blue eyes.
He stared at what he thought was a familiar face for a moment, then tried to say something when he finally recognized her.
A hoarse whisper came out. "Faith..."
"I'm here. And don't you go away either. Everything will be fine. You're gonna be all right."
He nodded slightly, though he really didn't believe her.
"Help's on the way. You just stay with me, okay?"
He closed his eyes for several seconds, then forced them open again. His pained expression did nothing to reassure her.
"Stay with me, Bosco." She pleaded. "We're going to get through this. I promise you."
"He's dead...I-I did it..." he whispered as his glassy eyes started to roll up into his head.
That was all. His breathing faltered as he lay there, still, then it stopped. His eyes closed and his head lolled to the right as if he didn't have the strength to hold it up anymore.
Faith felt his hand go limp in her grasp and panicked.
Standing on shaky legs, she ran both hands through her hair and looked around, desperately searching for the paramedics or any kind of help.
As if on cue, she heard the sirens getting closer, followed by Carlos' voice.
"Hurry! We're back here!" She yelled, waving her arms to get his attention before resuming her position at Bosco's side.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, a faint smile touched her lips when she turned her head towards him: the dog, an animal they'd never seen before, was licking his hand in a reassuring gesture, the gentleness and compassion in its features something she'd rarely witnessed in humans.
The dog. Faith shook her head at the thought.
She still couldn't explain it, but the animal had saved her partner's life.
The scene had repeated itself a few moments later, as they were loading Bosco onto the bus. The poor thing had started to whine and scratch at the door of the vehicle as if it'd known him its whole life, drawing a few curious stares from the men and women around.
After debating about what to do for a couple minutes, Carlos had called his roommate on their way to the hospital, and Ty had agreed to take care of him for a few hours. By the end of the day and upon hearing the whole story, Michael Boscorelli had decided to take it home with him until his brother could have a say in it. For all she knew, the young man was still keeping it in the small room at the bar where he'd spent the previous nights.
Bosco'd been unconscious most of the time.
The doctor had said his body needed time to recover, especially after the long surgery, but the people who knew him immediately sensed that there was more to it. He simply didn't want to wake up.
Faith had visited him as much as the nurses and the strict rules of the ICU allowed her. She'd talked to him, held his hand, even gotten mad at him for being a stubborn ass, and then one morning while she was home taking a shower and some much-needed rest, he'd just opened his eyes and asked for water.
Mikey had been there a lot too, but he'd barely spoken ever since.
Faith's feeble attempts at trying to get some answers out of him had been all turned down. He obviously wasn't willing to open up, and she didn't want to push him. At least not now. He would shut himself up completely and it just wasn't worth the risk.
Tossing the now empty cup of coffee into the nearest trashcan, she rose to her feet and stretched her sore muscles.
A million thoughts were swirling together in her head as she glanced at the clock on the wall in front of her.
He was teetering on the edge of the abyss. Would they be able to catch him before he fell?
"Bos?"
Faith opened the door to his room, a smile on her face and nearly out of breath, and almost stumbled inside.
The nurse's call had surprised her as she was about to fix herself a quick lunch. Did she want to come and see him? Of course she did. Bosco was awake. It was surely worth skipping a meal.
As soon as she focused in on him though, the smile quickly disappeared.
He was facing away from her, staring at some spot on the wall only he could see. His hair stood up in a rumpled mess on top of his head and his hands were curled around the white fabric of the hospital sheet. She didn't have to look him in the eyes to see the far off look and the pain reflected there, and it nearly broke her heart.
"Hey," she tried again, finally managing to get his attention. "You're awake."
His gaze slowly travelled from the wall to the bed, and finally to her. "Yeah."
She moved over toward the side of his bed. "How are you feeling?"
"Okay, I guess." He shrugged, wincing at the pain it caused his shoulder.
"Good." Faith nodded. "That's good. A lot of people will be happy to hear that."
Bosco let out a breath. He was avoiding eye contact, but she could sense his uneasiness in the way his hand fidgeted with the bracelet on his left wrist.
Her earlier assumption had been right.
To an unaccustomed eye, his behaviour would seem a natural reaction to the ordeal he'd had to go through, but she'd known him for 13 years, and it was clear enough that something was terribly wrong.
"Your brother's gonna be here soon." She continued, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "He was really worried about you. We all were."
Bosco glanced over at her briefly, then laid his head back against the pillow and closed his eyes.
"What happened to the other guy?"
Faith was taken aback by his question, but managed to hide the surprise in her tone. "He uh... he's in jail. The preliminary hearing is tomorrow. If they find him guilty like they probably will, he's looking at 15 to 25 years."
Bosco shook his head. "He was just a pawn."
"Yeah, well, he could've said no." She replied, this time unable to mask her anger. It was the wrong thing to say. She watched his hand grip the bed rail and immediately regretted the words.
"Sometimes you simply have no choice." He whispered a moment later.
Several seconds passed by as neither of them spoke.
Faith reached out her hand in comfort, but dropped it before touching him. Maybe it's too soon, she reasoned. He'll talk when he's ready.
As she listened to the sound of his breathing, she noticed that it was gradually becoming fast and shallow. Concern spread across her face and she stood up, leaning on the edge of the bed while the heart monitor increased its beeping.
"Bos, you okay?"
He took a deep breath and released it slowly. "Yeah."
"Want me to call your doctor?"
"No." His voice was barely audible. "I'm just... tired."
"Okay." She bit on her bottom lip. "I think I'm gonna go sit outside now. You need to rest." She gave his arm a light squeeze. "I'll see you later, okay?"
Bosco nodded without opening his eyes and placed one hand on his chest as his breathing slowly turned back to normal.
"Officer, you can go in now if you want."
The nurse, who'd finally finished checking on Bosco, walked up to Faith and put a hand on her shoulder.
"What? Oh, thanks." She replied as she rose to her feet. "How is he?"
The woman smiled. "He's doing pretty good. The shoulder's healing nicely, and so is his lung. He'll be sore for a while, but the worst is over."
Faith returned the smile and gathered her purse. "Has Doctor Morris talked to him yet?"
She shook her head. "He's been busy. One of his patients tried to kill himself last night. He said he'd try and see him later."
"I see. Thanks, Beth."
"No problem." The nurse started to leave, then stopped and turned around. "You know, I... I hope he can help. I hate to see him like this."
Faith lowered her head. "I know."
She watched the other woman disappear into another room and sighed, wondering if another shrink was really what he needed.
Through the glass panel, she could still see the lost look in his eyes as he stared at the exact same spot on the wall.
Yeah, maybe it was.
Her hand paused on the door handle for a moment and she drew in a breath, trying to collect her thoughts.
Then, with the certainty that she would do her best to help him out whether he liked it or not, she turned the knob and stepped inside.
Mikey looked at Faith as she came out of his brother's room, and frowned at the defeated expression on her face.
She was leaning against the door, eyes closed, her head touching the wooden surface.
He shook his head. If she hadn't been able to get through him, there was no way in hell he would succeed.
"It's that bad, huh?" he said, his words a statement more than a question.
His voice broke her away from her thoughts. "Sorry. I didn't realize you were here."
Mikey ran a hand through his hair. "What's wrong with him?"
"I honestly don't know. I thought it was too soon at first, you know? That he needed more time. But it's been three days now. He won't talk. He won't fight, grieve or even rationalize." She raised her hands in surrender. "I have no idea what's going through his head and it's killing me, because I don't know how to help."
"Mom's always been the one who could reach through him..." he whispered as he slumped down into one of the chairs, his features displaying how frustrated he was.
"I've never seen him like this. I mean, Mo's always been a loud mouth. But this... this silence... I just don't know what to do."
He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, and cradled his head in his hands.
Watching the young man struggle to try and come to terms with a situation that was too big for him to handle, Faith actually felt bad for him, realizing for the first time how truly devastating Rose's death had been for both her sons.
Mikey sure wasn't a perfect person, but he did love his big brother, and couldn't bear to witness the only stable thing in his world fall apart before his very eyes.
She sat down next to him and placed a reassuring hand on his back.
"The doctor's probably gonna come by later."
A sad smile curved his lips as he turned in the seat to look at her. "He's not gonna like this."
"Well, then he's more than welcome to yell at me. I'd rather see him mad than staring at that damn wall." She was quiet for a moment. "Any kind of reaction would be good right now."
Mikey started to play with the gold chain at his throat, the same one his mother had worn most of her life and that they'd found at the bar the night Bosco was kidnapped.
"We used to be close, you know? Like real brothers." He said, and for a moment the same far away look she'd just seen in his brother's eyes crossed his gaze. "Not sure what happened to change that... Seems like a lifetime ago now."
"People grow up." Faith whispered, but loud enough for him to hear it.
"I don't really know him anymore." He continued, covering his face with his hands, then dragging them up over his hair. "And it scares me, 'cause now that I'm clean and trying to get my life back together I'm afraid he doesn't want to have anything to do with me."
There was a moment of silence.
"I don't want him to think I'm the same loser I was six months ago 'cause I'm not. This... even before this happened... I'm changed. And now that mom's dead I... I need him to believe that." He admitted, his voice quivering with emotion.
Faith squeezed his shoulder. "It's gonna be all right, Mikey."
"Yeah." The young man stood up and nodded his head. "I'm gonna go in now."
"I think he's asleep right now."
"It's okay. I'll just sit with him for a little while."
"Okay." She pushed herself into a standing position. "I'm gonna head home. You call me if you need anything, alright?"
"Sure. Thanks, Faith."
"You're welcome."
TBC...