Waiting Is The Hardest Part

Chapter 1

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It was a quiet afternoon so far. Too quiet. Both Bosco and Faith were just waiting for the proverbial "shoe" to drop. It was Friday and Jennifer and the kids would be coming down first thing in the morning to spend the weekend in the City. Emily Yokas was going to babysit while Bosco, Jennifer, Faith and Fred went out to dinner and a show.

Bosco was thinking of the mess that he'd left the apartment in when he left for work. He'd gotten home last night late from work and just kind of left his clothes where he'd taken them off on his way to collapse into bed after a particularly awful shift. He'd just barely managed to wake up, talk with Jennifer briefly, and get to work on time this afternoon - leaving dirty dishes in the sink and the previous night's clothes still on the floor. He'd definitely have to go home tonight and clean up before they showed up in the morning...

"Dammit!" Bosco shouted as the loud beeping from his cell phone that was clipped to the sun visor above his head made him jump and grab the steering wheel tighter. He grabbed the phone from the visor.

"Again?" Faith said as she watched him try to respond to the two-way radio function on the cell phone and get no response back. He opened the phone and dialed Jennifer's number, getting no answer. He left a voice mail message.

"Hey, Jen. It's me. Remember, we talked about figuring out a better place to keep your phone when you're in the OR? Apparently something in your locker is pressing against your phone because it's been 'alerting' me for the last two hours. Anyway, give me a call when you get this message and let me know when you and the kids are heading down. Faith said she can't wait for tomorrow night," Bosco said into the phone. "Love you," he said before hanging up.

He looked at the phone again before clipping it back onto the visor. He used to carry his phone in his jacket pocket or clipped to his belt, but since getting the phone with the two-way radio feature, Jennifer had made him promise to leave it in the car while he's working. She was afraid that she'd call him at a bad time and he'd be distracted while trying to apprehend some bad guy, putting himself and Faith in danger. This way, if he didn't answer her it was because he was tied up with something. The phone was great in that they could talk to each other like they were using a walkie talkie instead of running up phone bills when he was at work.

"Is Jennifer operating all day today?" Faith asked him as she watched the sidewalks looking for trouble.

"Yeah. That's why she's not driving down tonight. She's got like three major cases today, plus any emergencies that come in. She's gonna be wiped out and doesn't want to drive with the kids in the car when she's like that," he explained as a young driver sailed through a yellow-to-red light at the intersection and realized too late that there was a police car right there.

Bosco grinned as he looked over at his partner. "And so it begins," he said, reaching over to flip on the emergency lights and follow the offending driver.

"You really enjoy your job too much, you know, Bos?" Faith teased as Bosco accelerated.

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They had just finished their meal break and Bosco grabbed his phone and looked at it to make sure he didn't miss Jennifer's call. "Nothing," he said out loud, more to himself than Faith.

"She hasn't called you back yet, huh?" Faith said as they walked outside and toward their RMP, noting the faint worried look in her partner's face. "Maybe she didn't get the message. Maybe her phone's dead from alerting you all day and she doesn't realize it yet," Faith offered.

Bosco looked at his watch, noted that it was around 7:00, and paused to look around the street. He wasn't actually looking for signs of trouble - it was more like he was looking for reasons that he hadn't heard from Jennifer yet. "No. The phone's the first thing she checks when she's done at work - to see if there's any message about the kids or from me," he told her.

He flipped his phone open and dialed. He got the answering machine at the house and couldn't help but smile at the sound of Jordan's voice informing the world that there was no possible way they could get the phone right now, but to leave a message and they would call back. The message finished with a screech from Jason, who was only about eight months old when the recording was made.

"Hey, Jen. It's me. Uh, haven't heard from you yet. Just wondering what the plans are for the morning. Give me a call. Doesn't matter how late," he said, hanging up the phone.

"She must still be at the hospital. Mrs. Jennings, the sitter, must have brought the kids to Jen's sister's house until she gets home," Bosco told Faith, the nagging feeling still poking at him.

He opened the phone again and dialed the hospital, getting the operator. "Could you tell me if Dr. Boscorelli is still in the hospital? This is her husband," he said into the phone.

While the operator paged Jennifer, he and Faith climbed into the RMP. Faith decided to drive for the second half of their shift.

"No. No message," he said into the phone and hung up, immediately dialing her cell phone number. There was no answer there either so he left another message to call him.

"She wouldn't have decided to drive down to surprise you, would she?" Faith asked him.

"I don't think so. She didn't think she'd get out of the OR until at least 5:00 - and that's not including any emergencies," Bosco said, dialing his sister-in-law's number.

When the phone was answered on the other end, he determined that his sister-in-law did not have the kids since Jen picked them up about 3:30 when her last surgical case got canceled because the patient had developed other medical problems that had to be dealt with first. As far as her sister knew, Jennifer didn't mention that she was leaving tonight to go to the City.

"Okay. No. I'm sure it's nothing. She probably took the kids out for dinner and a movie or something and turned her phone off in the theater. Yeah. If you hear from her ask her to call me. Thanks. G'night," Bosco said into the phone.

"Hmm," he said, puzzled as the radio came to life, sending them on a call for a group of kids acting up outside of a store on King Boulevard. He absently grabbed the radio and answered, "10-4. 55-Dave responding to King Boulevard."

As Faith pointed the car in the direction of the call, the nagging feeling kept nagging at Bosco.

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TBC...