Thanks for the reviews, guys. Oh and Evilevergreen? Are you psychic? ;-)

"What have we got?" Bosco asked, as he strode across to where Doc and Carlos were working on a man.

"Male, Caucasian, no ID. He was unconscious when we got here. Call came in and said there was someone hurt, but we didn't know it was a shooting until we got here," Doc replied.

"Any idea who the call came from?" Faith asked, from Bosco's side.

Doc shook his head. "Sorry."

There was the sound of another siren and Bosco turned to see another RMP pulling up. "Okay," Bosco said. "We'll get these guys to ask around and we'll follow you to Mercy. Anything else we need to know?"

"He's been shot twice in the chest," Carlos said. "Somebody didn't like him very much."

Bosco nodded and headed over to where the other two officers were getting out of their car. "Hey, guys, can you do a canvass for us?" he asked, as he walked up to them. He repeated what he knew of the case and then left them to call for more help while he went back to the RMP. Faith was already waiting in the passenger seat and Bosco couldn't help but notice that she looked pale. He had to bite his tongue to stop from asking if she was okay, his pride winning out over his concern. If she didn't want him involved, he was determined to stay out of it.

With that thought, he started the RMP and preceded Carlos and Doc as they hurried toward the hospital. The fast drive gave him something to concentrate on and he'd soon cleared his mind of everything but ensuring that they arrived quickly and safely to their destination. Once there, he was out of the car without a word, leaving Faith to follow him as he helped the two paramedics get the injured man out of the ambulance.

"Thanks," Doc said, as they hurried through the ER doors.

Doc and Carlos took the man into one of the trauma rooms and Bosco was left outside, with nothing left to do. He turned and saw that Faith had followed them in and was now standing, looking at him.

"What?" he asked, defensive.

She shook her head and walked closer to him. She opened her mouth to speak, but Sully cut her off as he came around the corner. "Faith, we asked dispatch to get hold of you, but they said you were already on your way."

Faith paled slightly. "What is it? One of my kids?" she asked.

Sully shook his head. "No, it's-"

"Well, if it isn't my cheating wife!"

Bosco and Faith turned to see Davis leading Fred out of one of the exam rooms. He had a bandage on his forehead and the beginning of what would probably be an impressive back eye.

"Jesus, Fred, what happened to you?" Faith asked, taking a step toward him.

"Faith," Bosco warned, but she just glared at him over her shoulder and continued to walk toward Fred.

Fred gave a humorless chuckle. "What happened to me?" he asked. "Oh, I don't know, Faith, what could possibly have happened lately to make me like this?"

Faith stepped closer to him, shaking her head. "Not here, Fred," she pleaded.

He gave a twisted grin. "What's wrong? Don't you want your colleagues to know what a cheating whore you are?" he asked.

"That's enough!" Bosco said, stepping forward and getting into Fred's face. He could smell the alcohol on the other man's breath and knew he was drunk. "You need to shut up now!" he growled.

"Bosco," Faith warned, pulling on his arm.

He wanted nothing more than to pummel the man before him, but Faith would surely kick his ass for doing that. "Okay, okay," he said, taking a step away from Fred.

"I think we should go, Mr. Yokas," Davis said, looking wary.

"What, you don't want to hear all the juicy details? How she-"

"Fred, shut up!" Faith growled, stepping forward.

It happened so quickly that there was nothing that Bosco could do. Fred lashed out, tearing his arm away from Davis and pushing into Faith with his chest. The force of the hit caused Faith to overbalance and she fell back, hitting her head on the admissions desk behind her. No one moved for a second, but then Bosco was kneeling by her side, shouting for a doctor.

Doctor Fields rushed over to the scene, crouching down on the other side from Bosco. "She's unconscious. Let's get her on a gurney and into exam room three."

"She's pregnant," Bosco told them, as they placed her on the bed.

The doctor nodded. "Okay, we'll take care of them both, but you need to wait out here."

Bosco stood there as they wheeled his partner off down the hall and then turned back to where Davis and Sully were standing with Fred. "You son of a bitch!" Bosco roared, lunging at Fred before anyone could react. He got hold of his jacket, pulling the man roughly toward him. "You wanna hit someone, you have a go with me!"

"Bosco!" Sully cried, grabbing him around the shoulders and pulling him back. "Let him go."

Davis pulled Fred back, restraining him as Bosco fought to get away from Sully. "If I find out you've even been near her, I will kill you!" Bosco shouted.

"Boscorelli! Knock it off," Sully warned, holding him back.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Fred asked, his voice low and dangerous. "You knocked up my wife."

"You have no right to call her that after what you did to her," Bosco shot back.

Fred gave a bitter laugh. "What I did? That bitch is the one that's been screwing around!"

Bosco made another lunge for Fred, but Sully kept a firm hold on him. "Cut it out!" Sully cried. "Davis, get that jag-off out of here," he commanded. "And you," he continued, addressing Bosco. "You better calm down before I'm forced to file a report."

Bosco pulled out of Sully's grasp and stalked over to the waiting area as Davis all but dragged a still cursing Fred out of the hospital. Bosco slumped down in the seat, but squirmed as he felt eyes on him. He turned to see that Sully hadn't left with his partner. "What?" he asked, his voice harsh.

Sully didn't even flinch at his tone. "So, Yokas is pregnant?" Sully asked.

"Don't tell anyone, okay?" Bosco asked. "She doesn't want anyone to know."

"But you know. Is that because Fred was right?"

Bosco shot him a glare. "Leave it alone, Sully," he warned.

Sully shook his head. "I hope you know what you're doing."

"Shouldn't you be going with you're partner?" Bosco asked.

Sully nodded. "Yeah, I should. It's obvious you don't need me here." With that he turned and headed out of the hospital.

Bosco sighed and shifted in his seat. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Sully about what was happening. It wasn't that he didn't like the older man, not really. There was a grudging respect there, even if he'd never admit it. In truth, he just didn't want to let anyone know how much he'd screwed up. Hell, they probably expected there to be a tribe of Boscorelli's running around by now.

He wasn't sure how long he'd sat there until he was roused from his thoughts by a female voice. "Officer Boscorelli?" a nurse called.

Bosco got to his feet. "How is she?" he asked, not bothering to mask the concern in his voice.

The nurse - a woman he didn't remember meeting before - didn't reply, but simply indicated that he follow her. He found himself wishing for Proctor. At least Mary had some understanding of the concept of partnership. And some understanding of his total lack of patience, he thought, wryly.

"Ah, Officer Boscorelli," Fields greeted, as they rounded the corner.

"How is she?" he repeated, glaring at the nameless nurse.

"She's going to be fine. She has a mild concussion, nothing that a little bit of rest won't fix."

"And the baby?" he questioned.

"The baby's fine," Fields assured him. "You can go in. We're just going to have her rest quietly here for an hour or so before she can be released."

Bosco nodded his thanks and slipped into the room that the doctor had indicated. "Hey," he quietly greeted, when he spotted her.

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him. Bosco could see that she was upset. "Hey," she returned. She seemed to look him over for a moment. "You didn't do anything stupid, did you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nah, Davis hauled him off pretty quick."

"Good," she murmured. "I don't want you getting in trouble for me, Bosco."

He shrugged. "I can't think of a better reason for getting in trouble," he replied. "Besides," he hurriedly added, realizing what he'd just said. "Jag-off's gonna get what's coming to him when he's charged with assault police."

Faith shook her head. "I'm not pressing charges," she told him.

Bosco gave her an incredulous look. "Excuse me?"

"He's angry, Bosco, and he has every right to be."

He shook his head. "He can be as angry as he damn well wants, that doesn't give him the right to hurt you." He pinned her with an intense gaze. "I let it slide last time, but not now, Faith. Not this time."

"Why, because I'm pregnant?" she asked, sounding weary.

He shook his head. "No, because I had to watch it. You think Davis and Sully are gonna let this drop? What about your kids, Faith? What kind of message are you giving them, allowing him to hurt you and get away with it?"

She glared at him. "That's low, Bosco, even for you."

"It's the truth," he replied. "You don't like it, too bad."

She sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't want to fight with you."

He grinned charmingly. "Then don't."

She opened an eye to glare at him. "Shouldn't you be heading back to work?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nah, the doc's gonna release you in an hour or so. I'll wait so I can take you home and then I can head back to the house."

"Have you checked with Swersky about that?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, I guess I better call him, let him know what happened. Though Davis and Sully have probably filled him in by now."

Faith closed her eyes. "God, everyone's gonna know, aren't they?"

"It's nothing to be ashamed of, Faith," he tried to assure her.

"Yeah, a cop gets attacked twice by her husband. Nothing at all to be ashamed of."

"Hey," he said, sitting himself on the edge of the bed and waiting for her to look at him. "The first time, you got out of there and you didn't go back. That takes guts, Faith. You've seen how many women stay in an abusive relationship, especially when there're kids involved. And as for this time, he took everyone by surprise. I'm just sorry I didn't see it coming and try to stop him."

She shook her head. "Don't, Bosco. I can't deal with you blaming yourself right now."

"Then how about you go easy on yourself too, huh?"

She gave him a small smile. "Somehow I think we're both gonna find that tough."

TBC