Chapter 163
"Hey, how's your mom?" Kim asked as she hugged Bosco.
"Asleep, hopefully," Bosco returned the embrace and squeezed Kim gently.
"Where are the kids?"
"Joey and Amanda are at school and Johnny's at Mom's. She's gonna come get me later."
Bosco nodded. "I'm sorry I wasn't here last night."
"Rose needed you. We were fine, don't worry."
Bosco smiled a little.
"What?"
"You know what scares me?"
"That I'm mother of your children," Kim kidded him.
"No, I think that's the only thing that doesn't scare me lately. I don't think I could've picked a better woman to love me than you Kimmy."
"Yeah? Thank you. I think that's maybe one of the best compliments I've gotten in a while. So, what scares you?"
"That one day, someone is going to offer Johnny drugs and for some reason or another he's going to take them."
"It won't happen," Kim told him. "He's going to know better."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Carlos picked up the phone at a nurses' desk down the hall while Holly Levine stood a few feet away. She'd won the coin toss, so he had to tell Bosco what happened with Kim.
"55th Precinct. Lt. Swersky," the voice on the other end said.
"Is Maurice Boscorelli there?"
"Officer Boscorelli is in a meeting right now. Can I take a message?"
"Lieutenant? This is Carlos Nieto from the fire station across the street. I'm calling about Bosco's wife, Kim."
"She alright?"
"Not exactly. Can I talk to him?"
"Hold on."
Carlos waited for someone to pick up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Bosco? It's Carlos."
"What's going on?"
"Did you hear about the fire tonight at that rave?"
"Yeah."
"Well, Kim was there. She inhaled some smoke and-"
"Carlos is she okay?"
"She's alive and she's awake and she's breathing."
"I'm on my way there."
"Okay," Carlos said as they hung up.
"How'd he take it?" Holly asked.
"Surprisingly well. Of course I didn't mention the fact that the only reason Kim was there was because of Harte."
"Bosco's gonna hurt him, isn't he?"
"It's a possibility," Carlos nodded. "I wonder if I should call Kim's mom."
"Let Bosco do it. You just think of a way to keep him from killing J.D."
"While I think ways to keep myself from killing him."
"Exactly."
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"Mary? Where's Kim?" Bosco asked the nurse as he came in.
"Down the hall and to your right. Second door on the left."
"Thanks," Bosco tossed over his shoulder as he fairly ran down the hall to his wife's room. He opened the door and walked in. "Kim?"
"Hey," she smiled at him. "Who called?"
"Carlos." He came over to her side and kissed her forehead. "I called Catherine. She's gonna keep the kids with her tonight."
"Okay," Kim nodded.
"Kimmy, what happened?"
"I was supposed to get a ride home today from my mom and she got held up so I tried getting a cab only I didn't have the money and no one else had it to lend me. So, that new guy offered me a ride. The hitch was that we had to make a ten minute stop."
"New guy? You mean Harte's the reason you're here?"
"They had chains on the fire doors, Bos. Everyone was so scared."
"You included."
"Yeah," Kim nodded. "I was scared. I kept wondering if I was ever going to see you guys again."
"I'll kill him. Kim, I swear to God, I will kill him."
"Don't. He's gonna be in enough trouble once I talk to Billy."
"Walsh? What about?"
"J.D.'s part of the rave. Or he used to be anyway."
"What?"
"Yeah. I don't know why he had to stop there but everyone knew him and he got in for free."
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah. They just wanna keep me here overnight."
"Lemme go give Catherine a call and I'll be back."
"Alright," Kim nodded.
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"Kim?"
"Shhhh!!!" He heard as he came into the living room.
"What's wrong," he whispered.
"I finally got Johnny to go to sleep. If you wake him up, it's your ass, Boscorelli."
"Sorry, Baby," Bosco sat down next to her. "How was your day?"
"Harte quit."
"What?"
"I went in to talk to Billy and before I could get a word out, he told me that Harte quit."
"You're kidding."
"Nope. As Billy said, 'not so much as a kiss my ass' and he was out the door."
"Wow. Maybe he was worried about what you'd say."
"Probably," Kim agreed. "Meanwhile, I saw the news. What the hell happened?"
"Cruz."
"Ah and what did Maritza do this time?"
"Maritza?"
"She's not my boss. I can call her whatever I want. But I don't want the kids to pick up on my other name for her."
"I'm afraid to ask."
"Later. I have a feeling Amanda's still awake."
"Okay." Bosco sighed.
"What?"
"I want you to be careful."
"Oh, why don't I like the sound of that?"
"The guy who died in the crash today, his father's some big drug guy."
"And he'll be looking for revenge?"
"Right. If I thought you'd go, I'd ask you to stay at your mom's."
"No way Jose."
"How well do I know you?"
"Very well," Kim smiled. "Wanna go to bed?"
"Yeah," Bosco nodded.
"Good," Kim smiled.
