Off Duty
Chapter 157
Bosco left Faith in the locker room and headed for the door. He stopped when he saw Levine standing by the desk talking to a cop.
What was her first name? Molly. Polly.
"Holly?" He said hesitantly.
She turned, "Hey Bosco. Kim's probably waiting for you."
"You okay?" The medic looked a little more frazzled than usual.
"Just dandy. A man I've known and respected for years opened fire at my co-workers, but otherwise, I'm great."
"What are you talking about?" Bosco looked confused.
Holly realized her mistake, "Oh God, you don't know yet."
"Know what?"
"Doc, he had a gun and he-"
"Doc? Doc Parker? Doc had a gun?" Bosco tried to wrap his mind around the fact that Doc had brought a gun to the firehouse and shot at people he worked with. Doc, who had trained his- Oh God. "Where's Kim?" he asked.
"I don't know. I don't know where anyone is."
Bosco raced out of the precinct and into the street. He scanned the neighborhood and didn't see Adam 55-3. "Dammit." He pulled out his cellphone and dialed his wife's. "C'mon Kimmy pick up."
Kim stood in the ambulance bay of the hospital. Carlos had gone for coffee and she was trying to keep from sobbing. She heard a sound that she eventually identified as her cell phone. She opened it up and pressed 'send'. "Hello?"
"Oh thank God."
"Bosco?"
"Where are you?"
"The hospital. I'm just waiting for Carlos. We'll be back soon."
"Are you okay?"
His voice was quiet and concerned. Kim could feel a few tears slipping down her face as she spoke, "No, not really," she admitted quietly.
"I'm on my way there."
"No. Bosco, don't. You'll probably pass us on our way back to the house," Kim sighed. "We'll be there soon."
"I'll be waiting," he promised.
"I know. I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Are you sure Rose doesn't want to stay the night over here?" Kim asked as she put her bag down while Bosco locked the front door.
"She said she'd be fine," Bosco said coming up behind Kim and resting his hands on her shoulders. "She was more worried about you. She said she saw the news."
"Yeah. My mom called too. I talked to the kids on the way back to the house. Amanda wanted to know why 'nice Mr. Doc' would be so mean," Kim said shakily.
"Kim?" Bosco watched as his wife walked into the boys' room. He followed after a moment or two. She was standing by Johnny's bed holding a stuffed bear.
"You remember this?"
"Yeah," he nodded.
"What was it? Six weeks after 9-11?"
"Yeah, about that."
"Amanda and Joey helped him name his stuffed animals about a week ago. Joey insisted on calling this one 'Doc-Bear' because it was from Doc."
"Kimmy," Bosco crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her from behind. She turned and wrapped her arms around him.
"How could he do that Bosco? Why would he do that? How could we not see how bad he'd gotten?"
"You can't see what people won't let you Kimmy."
Kim sniffled as she pulled back to look Bosco in the eye, "You call me that."
"What? Kimmy?"
"Yeah. You. Jimmy. Bobby. My mom. Mel. The guys at the house. Davis called me Kimmy once."
"So? We're your friends and family."
"Have you ever heard Sully call me 'Kimmy'?"
"No."
"Faith?"
"No. What's going on?"
"Doc called me 'Kimmy'. At the time I just thought he was trying to be casual. Now, I just wonder if the signs were there and I just didn't see them."
"Because he called you Kimmy?"
"Because Doc has never called me Kimmy before. Ever. Because he went after Eugene. Because he lied and he kept lying. He ran over a guy with the ambulance. He shot someone Bosco. Doc shot someone because he thought that it would prove to him how much we needed the house open. Doc did all those things and we never thought anything was really wrong with him. We all just thought he was going through a bad time."
"C'mere," Bosco pulled her close again. "You don't have anything to feel guilty for Kim. You can't help people who won't let you help them. You can't see what people don't want you to see."
"Why doesn't that make me feel better?"
"Because he was your friend and he was your mentor. Kim, he trained you. You looked up to him. He was everyone's hero."
"Even yours?"
"Always. He took care of you when you and Alex were in that accident. And, even if he doesn't think so right now, he's still part of our family. He's Johnny's godfather. He's always welcome here."
"Once he gets his head back on straight," Kim amended.
"Absolutely."
