Summary: My take on why Bosco and Sully don't get along. Takes place shortly after Bosco graduates from the Police Academy
Disclaimer: I don't own Third Watch or any of its characters.
A/N: This story was previously posted on another Third Watch site but no longer available there. I was encouraged to post it here by Joey and Orison.
Thanks for your wonderful reviews.
Rose pries her fingers from Bosco's limp hand. She gazes down at him and gently smoothes back the hair from his forehead. She turns to eye the clock on the nightstand; it flashes 1:17. She knows it's going to be a long night. She wants to call the hospital to find out what happened, but she doesn't want to leave him alone.
She leans in to towards him, and examines his sleeping form; She notices he sleeps with his eyes slightly open. It is unnerving watching him in this state. But, his soft shallow breaths indicate he's fast asleep, for the moment.
She gets up from the bed slowly and makes her way to the living room. The desk in the corner contains a telephone directory. She sighs loudly as she flips through it and finds the number for Mercy. She moves over to sit on the couch and briefly listens for any sounds from his room before picking up the handset and dialling.
"Mercy – Emergency Room." A small female voice answers.
"Uh, hello. I'm Rose Boscorelli. My son was admitted into the ER earlier tonight. His name is Maurice Boscorelli."
"One moment, please." Rose hears voices in the back ground as the phone is placed on the desk. After a few seconds of papers being shuffled someone picks up the phone again.
"Yes, he was here earlier but he seems to have left the hospital."
"Yes, I know, he's with me now."
"Oh...okay." The nurse flips through the chart. "Um...he wasn't discharged by his doctor yet and he needs to follow home care instructions. Does he have those with him?"
Rose feels her headache intensifying. She automatically reaches for her crucifix and fingers it lightly. "No, he doesn't have them."
"Alright then, I'll give you the instructions and then Mr. Boscorelli can come back to sign his papers and get his clearance for his return to duty." She wants to tell the nurse not to bother, that she knows the drill, that they won't find anything physically wrong with him. But she doesn't have the strength to argue. "Yeah, sure," she sighs out tiredly.
The nurse recites the instructions but Rose doesn't bother to jot them down. She's barely listening as her mind searches for something, anything that will make this nightmare end for all of them.
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Sully drives around aimlessly as he scours the streets for any sign of Bosco.
Eventually, he realizes that he's winding his way back to the hospital; subconsciously backtracking from Bosco's apartment.
He is beyond anger at this point and debates whether he should call Faith. He slams the car into park as he stops in front of Mercy and stares at her number. Calling her would mean admitting that he can't watch over his partner.
But she probably knows Bosco better than him and would be able to help figure out where he could've gone.
Sully walks into the ER and looks around for a phone. The waiting area and lounge seem to have emptied since the last time he was here a few hours ago.
He walks up to the nurses' station and picks up the handset on the counter.
"Officer."
Oh, oh. Nurse Ratchet is staring at him.
"I just need to make one phone call." He doesn't have the patience to deal with her right now and the weariness in his voice is evident.
"We found you partner," she says with a hint of annoyance.
"What?"
"Your partner, Officer Boscorelli. He's at his mom's. She called in a while ago to let us know."
The little energy Sully has left drains out of his body. He mumbles his thanks and then moves over to one of the plastic chairs in the waiting area. He slumps down wearily and leans his elbows on his knees. He sighs his thanks to whoever is watching over him because he can't deal with this kind of shit. He just can't.
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Bosco stares up as he hears the whooshes from the helicopter blades.
Each blade revolves slowly, throwing a huge shadow over him, momentarily shielding him from the bright sunlight. But with each turn, the juxtaposition of light and dark become more intense, more disorienting.
He doesn't move, doesn't signal for help. He doesn't feel a thing, not a shred of emotion. He has nothing left to give, not relief at being found, not sadness for the children.
Whoosh.
A hand reaches for him. Someone is next to him, pulling him by the collar.
Whoosh.
His father is staring down at him, anger in his eyes.
Whoosh.
Mikey is lying face down in the river.
Whoosh.
"What the hell is the matter with you? Look what they did to your brother. You were supposed to watch him you little brat."
Whoosh.
His father hauls him over to the river and pushes his head under the water. He's doing this to punish him for Mikey.
Whoosh.
He's flipped over. His father's hateful eyes lock on his. "They all wanna see you squirm, you little bastard."
Whoosh.
The villagers line the shore and watch, their eyes wide, their faces emotionless.
Whoosh.
His head is pushed back into the water.
Whoosh.
From underwater the faces of the children seem to swim over him.
Whoosh.
They look down at him, their brown eyes glistening with unshed tears but no one makes a move to help.
Whoosh.
His father smiles as he tightens his grip around his neck.
Whoosh.
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She stands and makes her way to the hallway leading to the bedrooms. She finds Bosco pushing his way into the washroom, stumbling towards the toilet.
She follows quickly and turns on the light as she enters. He is leaning over the toilet heaving heavily. The strength of the contractions forces the food and liquid up through his mouth and nose.
He falls onto his knees and grips the side of the bowl. Rose reaches over from behind and holds his forehead for support. The contractions and heaving continue long after his stomach has been emptied and between each one he gasps for air.
She feels his body weaken as it begins to tremble uncontrollably. His gasps are punctuated by desperate moans as his arms fall limply to the floor.
"Maurice?" Rose yells at him as she pulls him back into her. She feels his heart racing as she holds on to him. He tries to wrap his arms around himself but he's shaking so badly that he can't accomplish this simple task.
"Maurice." Rose cries out hysterically as she lays him down on to the bathroom floor. She continues to call out to him as she takes hold of his face.
"Maurice, stop this. You hear me? STOP." Rose takes him by the shoulders and shakes him roughly but when she sees that this has no effect on him she raises her hand and slaps him hard across the face, once, twice.
His eyes shoot open and he looks up towards Rose in complete confusion.
"Just breathe, Maurice." Rose encourages him as she tries to control her own breathing. "Breathe," she huffs out.
She can see the effort he's putting into to following her instructions and this assures her that he's fully awake now.
"That's it baby. Just breathe."
Rose leans back against the wall, and wipes the hair and sweat off her forehead. Only the sharp intakes of breaths can be heard echoing around the room as she closes her eyes and prays for strength.
TBC...