Bosco awoke and instinctively reached for Kim. Finding the bed alongside him empty, he looked up and then remembered the phone message that Kim and the kids had spent the night at Catherine's. He looked at the clock and decided to get up and grab a shower.

He finished his shower and walked out to the kitchen barefoot with only his jeans, unbuttoned at the waist, and a towel around his shoulders - his hair still damp and uncombed. He started the coffee and then decided that he'd call Kim to see if she wanted to meet him for breakfast. The kids had been up and out to school for about an hour, so he knew that Kim was already up.

Bosco dialed Catherine's number and looked around in the refrigerator for something to snack on before meeting Kim. He was shocked when a male voice, sounding half-asleep, answered the phone.

"Doherty?" Bosco said, recognizing the voice and wondering what the hell he was doing there.

"Oh, hey Bosco. Hang on..," he said and then called over his shoulder to Kim. "Kim, it's Bosco."

Bosco heard the phone change hands and a chuckle from Kim. "Hey, how are you?" Kim said cheerfully into the phone.

"I'm good. What the hell is Doherty doing there?" Bosco asked, not bothering to hide the irritation in his voice.

"What?" Kim said, taken back by his tone. "We were at Haggerty's after Alex's service and he had too much to drink. I told him I'd drive his car and he could crash here. I didn't think he should be driving," Kim explained, still somewhat surprised by Bosco's attitude.

"Uh huh," Bosco answered. "So, how were the kids this morning? I missed them, and you. Sorry I couldn't make it to the service. How'd it go?" he asked.

"They're good. We missed you too. It was okay, sad. Doc didn't show, so Carlos gave a little speech instead. So, what time did you get home last night?" Kim asked.

"Carlos?! That must have been interesting. I got in really late. I was going to call you, but I figured you were either still at Haggerty's or sleeping," Bosco answered curtly, thinking again about Jimmy spending the night. "I wanted to know if you wanted to meet me somewhere for breakfast?" he asked her.

"Oh. I do, but I promised my Mom I'd go with her to the mall. She's got a date and wants me to help her pick something out to wear. I'm sorry," she said, truly sorry to have to miss seeing him before their shift. "How about we meet up for dinner tonight during work. Then, we have two whole days off together. I really did miss you last night," she said, lowering her voice and putting that certain tone in it that always got Bosco's attention.

"Yeah?" he said. "How much?" he said, teasing her.

There was a pause and then Kim decided she didn't have enough privacy to answer him. Clearing her throat she said, "A lot." Bosco laughed at the frustration in her voice.

"Okay. I'll stop in while I'm working," he said.

"Love you. Be careful," Kim said before hanging up.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Bosco walked into the firehouse to find it too quiet. Everyone was still feeling the effects of losing two of their own so things were pretty glum. None of the usual teasing and horseplay. Sasha had decided to wait in the car while Bosco firmed up plans to meet for dinner. Bosco walked in through the kitchen and saw Jimmy and Kim sitting next to each other talking quietly.

Walking to the doorway, he made sure to scuff his foot on the ground to get their attention. Jimmy saw him first.

"Hey, Bosco. How are you?" Jimmy said, standing up. Bosco only nodded to acknowledge him and Jimmy noticed the angered look on his face.

"Hey, Babe," Kim said, getting up and walking over to him. She leaned into him and gave him a kiss, but felt the cool response from him in the stiffness of his body.

"You okay?" she asked, wondering if something happened. "What happened last night?" she asked, finally able to talk to him about why he couldn't make Alex's service.

"I'm fine," he said shortly. "Stuff I can't talk about. But, I'm okay. So, you want to meet up for dinner?" he asked, changing the subject while giving Jimmy an irritated look.

"Yeah. When do you get dinner tonight?" she asked, walking him into the kitchen away from Jimmy.

"7:30," he answered, looking at her. "So, what were you two talking about?"

"Who? Oh, me and Jimmy? Nothing really," she said. "You sure you're okay? You seem upset."

"I'm fine. Well, I gotta get going. Faith's coming home from the hospital today and we're escorting the bus," he said coolly.

"Yeah, Carlos and Rossi are going to get her. Tell her I said hi," Kim said, walking out with him.

"If I get close enough," he said sadly, walking toward the RMP where Sasha was waiting.

"Bos?" Kim called to him. He turned back to her.

"Nothing," she said, deciding not to push it any further, even though she wanted him to let her in. "I'll call you if we get tied up on a call," she said instead.

"Yeah, me too," he said and she watched him get in the patrol car and drive off.

"Bosco, why won't you open up to me? I hate to see you like this," she said to herself.

"Any luck?" Jimmy asked, walking out behind her. They'd been talking about how Bosco was shutting her out and she told Jimmy how worried she was. That's what they were talking about when Bosco came in. Jimmy had offered to talk to Bosco, but Kim nixed that idea. No way was he going to listen to Jimmy Doherty, of all people.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

As the night went, Kim and Bosco never did meet up for dinner because of the whole thing with the truck full of contagious Asians.

Now, Bosco sat on the bench in front of his locker changing into his street clothes. He looked over to Faith's locker, where she'd be getting changed after their shift together. He thought about her lying in the hospital bed and the same sick feeling came over him as he remembered Fred's words about her being paralyzed.

The door to the locker room opened and even without looking up, he knew that Cruz had walked into the room. The tension in the air was that strong. He stood up and put his foot up on the bench to tie his shoe when he felt her right behind him.

"That was a wild shift, huh?" she asked. Startled by her closeness, Bosco stood upright and faced her. He was surprised at the look in her eyes - the same look that she gave him when she had come onto him back when all this had started.

"Uh huh," he said and then turned away from her. He put his other foot up and tied that shoe. Before he could get his stuff out of his locker and close the door to leave, she had grabbed him and turned him around to face her. Before he could stop her, she was up against him and had her mouth on his.

Grabbing her by both arms, he pushed her away. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he looked around quickly, hoping that there was someone else in the room that had witnessed what she'd just done.

Pointing a finger at her, he angrily said, "What the hell d'you think you're doing? Look, Cruz. Stay away from me. I want nothing more to do with you. You're bad news. Yokas knew it, Kim knew it. They tried to warn me, but I didn't see it. I was wrong and Yokas paid the price for it. Just stay the hell away from me." He slammed his locker shut and stormed out of the locker room and out the front door.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

Kim had finished checking on the kids and flopped alongside Bosco on the bed, letting out a big sigh.

"Everyone okay?" Bosco asked her quietly, the only light in the room coming from the alarm clock.

"Yeah. Joey's kind of freaked. He's really starting to listen to the news now. We have to pay more attention to what's on the television. That thing about the possible plague really freaked him out," Kim replied.

"He's not the only one that got freaked out. Here we were chasing this guy and nobody told us what was wrong with him. That kind of pissed me off - especially since we were the ones to find him," Bosco said, slight irritation to his voice, but not wanting to let Kim know that it was he and Cruz who'd found him - not he and Sasha Monroe.

"So, how WAS your shift with Monroe?" Kim asked, looking sideways and barely being able to make out his profile as her eyes adjusted to the dark.

"It was okay. We were assigned to Faith's place in case she needed anything. So, not much happened until we were pulled to help look for that Asian guy," he said. "So, you took the medication they were handing out, right?" he asked, looking over to her, concerned that she may have caught something from treating the patients.

"Yup. One of the first to take it. Not to worry," she said, reaching over and taking hold of his hand, her arm resting against his.

"So, how'd things go at Faith's?" she asked him and she felt him tense at the subject.

"I waited outside. They don't want me there. Sasha went in. She looks scared as hell," he said.

"Sasha?" Kim asked.

"No. Faith. I don't know how she's gonna deal with this if it's permanent," Bosco said.

"It won't be. The doctor said it was temporary, right? Just until the swelling goes down," Kim tried to reassure him.

"Uh huh," he said, stifling a yawn.

"You sound tired," she said.

"We chased that guy forever," he said, half laughing. "For being so sick, he sure could haul ass!" Kim laughed along with him.

"So, who caught him? You or Monroe?" she asked, knowing how competitive he was and that he wouldn't let a girl - let alone a new partner - outrun him.

"Actually me and Cruz caught him," he said, finally deciding to get it out in the open.

"Cruz?" Kim said, and this time Bosco felt Kim tense. "What the hell was she doing there?"

"She's back on the streets - in uniform," he said and Kim could tell he was smiling at the thought of her demotion.

"And she's working with you?"

"No. She just helped us corral the guy. I followed this guy as he climbed up the bridge and then ran along it until Cruz cut him off with the RMP. He had nowhere to go, but he dove over the side. I thought for sure he'd gone into the water, but there he was with his leg pinned between the bridge and the work scaffolding. We had to call in FDNY to get him out," he relayed to her.

"Was Jimmy there?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?" Bosco asked, a slight feeling of jealousy creeping in. She'd been talking to him a lot lately. At first, he assumed it was because of Alex and the Lieutenant, but now it seemed more frequent and they'd stop if he walked in.

"I'm just wondering if he took the medication since he was in contact with the guy too," Kim said.

"Well, the guy's alright I thought. Davis said that he just seemed to have a bad cold or somethin'" Bosco replied.

"Yeah, well. Better safe than sorry," Kim countered. "I mean, he'll be around Joey, who'll be around Johnny and Amanda. Look, did I say something wrong?" Kim asked, feeling as if she was being interrogated.

"No," Bosco answered too quickly and with irritation. "I guess I'm just tired," he said, turning over - his back now to Kim. "By the way, I took the medicine too. Just in case you were worried."

"Bosco," Kim said, reaching over and pulling herself closer to him receiving no answer. "Bos?" Then, she realized that his breathing had changed - he was sound asleep.