"Okay, Ma. Yeah. We'll be home in about 45 minutes or so. No, Joey's fine," Bosco said into the phone as he checked on Johnny and told Rose when they'd be home. "Okay, Ma. Thanks. What's that? He took a step? All on his own?" he said with amazement.

"Bosco! You'd better be kidding!" Kim said, as she drove the car. Bosco had slept most of the way home since he'd been up for since 10 a.m. the previous day and then worked a whole shift and then drove all the way to Boston. He'd woken up about ten miles back and was apparently feeling better.

"I'm kidding!" he said back to her. "She already hung up," he said, talking about Rose. Bosco looked into the back seat and saw Joey sleeping with his neck at a weird angle.

"What time did he finally zonk out?" Bosco asked Kim, remembering how much he talked while Bosco was trying to fall asleep.

"He must have just fallen asleep, because he was talking to me a few minutes ago," she said, looking into the rearview mirror to see him. "See if you can straighten him out a little or he's gonna get a stiff neck. And throw my jacket over him so he doesn't get a chill."

"'Kay," Bosco said as he unfastened his seatbelt and moved around so that his knees were on the seat and he reached over the seat into the back. He straightened him out and put one of the pillows Kim had thrown in the car under his head. He threw Kim's coat over his arms and torso and his own over his legs. He was just about to turn back around when he glanced out the back window and saw Jimmy behind them still. He'd followed them back and was behind them most of the way.

"We better stop and get some more gas," Kim said to Bosco and he turned to look at the gas gauge.

"Yeah, just to be on the safe side," he said, looking out the window to see where they were and how far it was to the next service station. He sat back down and fastened his seatbelt. "The next rest area should be just up here. That's as good a place as any, I guess," he said. Kim put the directional on and moved over to the right lane in preparation to get off at the rest area. As they merged onto the exit ramp, Jimmy remained in the driving lane and passed them. He gave them a slight wave as he drove by and Kim continued on up to the pump at the rest stop.

Bosco filled the tank and paid for the gas, while Kim went in to use the rest room and get a snack for Joey in case he woke up. A few minutes later, she returned with chips and a juice for Joey and a cup of coffee for each of them.

"What, no munchies for me?" Bosco said, as they got under way. This time Bosco was driving and Kim placed the coffees in the console in between the seats.

"Oh ye of little faith," Kim replied, pulling a box of his favorite cookies out from the bag in her hand.

"Excellent!" he said as she opened the box and held it out for him. "Did you get any milk?" he asked.

"Don't push it," she replied, giving him a smirk.

They'd been driving for just about ten minutes when traffic started to bog down. They were about 20 minutes from the City. "Oh great. We're so close," Bosco groaned.

"I wonder what's going on?" Kim said trying to look around the cars ahead. "Some kind of checkpoint?" she thought out loud.

"Not at rush hour," Bosco said, knowing that they didn't usually try to slow traffic during peak hours to avoid traffic tie-ups.

Kim continued to sit up in the seat in an attempt to see over or around the cars ahead of them. "Looks like some kind of accident. I see an ambulance and a fire truck. Oh, and there's a couple State Trooper cars," she reported.

"Does it look like I should get off the next exit and go around?" Bosco said, trying to look around the cars also.

"No. It's right before the exit. Once you get past the accident, it should clear out," she said as they inched closer. The closer they got, the more she could figure out what happened. Apparently, a vehicle went off the road on the left shoulder and into the trees that divided the west and east lanes of the Thruway. Suddenly, it registered in her brain that she was looking at a familiar vehicle.

"Oh my God," she said, sitting forward and putting her hands on the dashboard.

"What?" asked Bosco.

"It's Jimmy," she said and as if he knew it before she said it, Bosco began getting to the shoulder of the road in preparation to stop. He pulled well off the shoulder and put the car in park. Kim started to get out of the car and Bosco grabbed her arm. Jimmy's vehicle was rammed up against a thick tree trunk and the front was crumpled up all the way back to the windshield. He didn't think anyone could survive that.

"Kim, wait here. Let me go check it out. I've got the badge," he said, reaching to the back seat and carefully taking his wallet out of his jacket pocket without waking up Joey. "Besides, if Joey wakes up and sees it's Jimmy he's gonna freak out. I'll be right back," he said and Kim nodded and settled back against the seat.

Bosco got out and closed the door, careful not to step into the driving lane. He walked up toward the accident and was stopped by a New York State Trooper.

"Sir, you need to go back to your car. We have all the help we need," stated the Trooper. Bosco opened his wallet and showed him his badge. The Trooper relaxed a little knowing that this wasn't just a civilian trying to get a look at the wreckage.

"I know the guy that's in that vehicle," Bosco said. "Is he alive?"

The Trooper got a solemn look on his face. "Yes, Sir. But, he's hurt pretty bad. It could go either way from what I could see, but I'm not a doctor. You know his name?"

"Jimmy Doherty. He's with FDNY. My wife's ex-husband. We were all coming back from Boston. We stopped at a rest stop for gas and he kept going. Is he conscious?" Bosco asked him.

The Trooper shook his head. "No. Not since I've been here. I don't see any skid marks. Looks like he may have fallen asleep. Witnesses say it looked like he just veered off the road. He had to be extricated and the medics are getting him stabilized. We've got a Life Flight helicopter on the way to airlift him to the nearest trauma hospital. Any preference if they ask?"

"Angel of Mercy," Bosco replied. "Let me go tell my wife and stepson and we'll head over there ourselves." Bosco started to walk back toward his car and turned back to the Trooper. "Can I see him first?" Bosco asked. In the slim chance that Jimmy could hear someone, he wanted him to hear a familiar voice - to know that he wasn't alone. At least he thought that's what he'd want if it were the one in the ambulance. "Thank God Joey wasn't with him," he thought to himself as the Trooper brought him over to where the medics were trying to stabilize Jimmy. He climbed into the back of the ambulance, trying to stay out of the paramedics' way. The Trooper explained to the medics who Bosco was.

"He's critical. We have to move him now," said the medic who seemed to be in charge.

Bosco nodded and moved a little closer to Jimmy. He reached out and took his hand as if he were going to shake it. He looked at Jimmy and could hardly recognize him because of the cuts and blood.

"Jimmy. If you can hear me, it's Bosco. You're gonna be okay. The medics are gonna take you to Mercy and Kim and I will meet you there. I'll take care of calling your folks, you just use your strength to get better," Bosco said. After a moment he realized that Jimmy wasn't going to respond to him and he nodded to the medics and got out so they could get him to the helicopter.

He shook hands with the Trooper and walked back to the car, trying not to look as concerned as he was. He climbed back into the car and Joey was awake and sitting on Kim's lap. He'd been crying and it looked like all Kim could do was to try to hold back the tears so as not to scare Joey more. He locked eyes with Kim.

"They're flying him to Mercy. I told Jimmy we'd meet him there," Bosco told her without looking away. He reached over to Joey and said, "They're taking good care of your Dad, Joey. He's hurt pretty bad, but he's strong. Your Dad said to tell you that he loves you," Bosco said.

Kim climbed into the back seat and fastened the seatbelt around Joey. Joey clung to his mother and looked out the window as Bosco slowly made his way around the traffic that the Trooper had cleared for him and they continued toward home. Kim looked at Bosco and mouthed the words she was afraid to ask out loud.

Bosco whispered back. "He's alive, but it's bad. Looks like he fell asleep and ran off the road the Trooper said." Kim hugged Joey tightly as they drove the rest of the way in silence.