Chapter 166
Bosco stood looking out the window at the gray, dreary day. The sick feeling in the pit of his stomach was unrelenting. He jumped, startled by the hand that gently touched his shoulder and squeezed.
"Sorry," Kim said in response to startling him. He reached up to cover her hand with his own. "How're you doing?" she asked in almost a whisper.
"I'm okay," he said unconvincingly.
"Let me get you something to eat before we go," Kim offered. He hadn't eaten anything since he'd come back from telling Rose that Mikey was gone. He shook his head. "It won't help anyone if you let yourself get run down. Rose needs you more than ever now," she reminded him.
"Later. After the wake," he said, turning from the window to face her. "You and the kids okay?"
"Yeah," Kim said, putting her arm around his and guiding him toward the couch. "Melanie came to get the kids earlier. She said she'd keep them overnight if we want. I just have to let her know."
"Nah. I want them home tonight, okay?" he said, looking at his watch. He stood. "We should get going. You ready?"
"Yeah. You?" she asked, walking over to get her purse and following him to the door.
"Not really. But, I better get over there. I told Ma to wait for me, but she'll probably go in even if I'm not there," he said, suddenly in a rush.
Bosco sat next to Rose on the couch near Mikey's casket. Kim stood off to the side talking to some of the members from the firehouse. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anthony Boscorelli walking toward Rose. Kim quietly excused herself from her conversation and casually walked over to stand behind Bosco. She almost felt the tension rise in Bosco as his father approached.
Mr. Boscorelli leaned over and said something quietly to Rose who then started to cry. Kim saw the tear escape down Bosco's cheek and she put a hand on his shoulder in support.
For a moment she thought there was going to be a confrontation right there in the middle of the funeral home, but Bosco checked himself and let his father leave to take his Aunt Fran back to her hotel while he helped Rose regain composure.
"How're you doing?" Kim asked Bosco has he watched Rose walk across the room with Faith. Faith was taking her outside to get some fresh air.
"She's really having a hard time," he said absently.
"She's strong. She'll be okay. We'll all be here to help her through it," Kim said. "I left my cell phone in the car. I'm gonna go get it and check on the kids, okay?"
"Yeah. Tell them I love them," Bosco said, looking Kim in the eye. "I love you too," he said, kissing her on the cheek.
"Ditto," she said, placing her hand on the side of his face for a second and then turning to go to the car.
Bosco looked back at Faith and Rose who'd been stopped by well wishers on their way outside.
It all happened so fast - he hardly had time to register the yell from Ty and Sasha from the lobby of the funeral home before something came crashing through the doors and into the room with him. He felt himself being launched through the air and slamming against a few chairs and the wall. He landed with a thud on the floor, head first into an overturned chair.
"What the...?" he said, taking in the commotion as he threw debris off of himself. His brain tried to register the fact that there, in the middle of the room, was a car, smoke billowing from under the hood from a broken radiator. He stood quickly without taking stock of whether or not he was injured. He never felt the cut on his left cheek - the cheek that Kim had kissed just seconds before. He looked around quickly for Kim and saw her trying to get back into the room from where she'd exited the building. She was blocked by debris. At least he knew she was okay.
Now, he sat in the waiting room, remembering of the terror in Faith's voice as she called for him while he wrestled the detonator from the guy that had run the car into the building. He shuddered as he remembered the dread he'd felt thinking that Faith had been injured again and then the further fear that Faith had been with his mother when the whole thing had started.
The lump was still in his throat from when he circled around the car and saw his mother lying, unconscious, on the floor.
He now listened as Cruz, Faith and Ty discussed the fact that Yoshi wasn't at the raid or the wake. With all that had happened, he couldn't for the life of him figure out why it mattered.
"What difference does it make where Yoshi is?!" he said, exasperated. He happened to glance over at Faith whose eyes went wide as she straightened in her seat. He knew something terrible was about to happen just by the look on her face. At the same time she called his name and directed his eyes to the window facing the hospital hallway.
They saw the gunman raise his weapon. The last thing Bosco heard before the glass started to shatter was the sound of Kim's voice as she screamed his name. They all hit the floor trying to duck below the line the bullets traveled.
Kim was talking to Holly, Carlos and Grace when she'd finally had enough of Grace's 'holier than though' attitude and walked out of the nurses' lounge. As she opened the door and headed in the direction of the waiting area and Bosco, she saw masked gunmen coming down the hallway. She froze at the sight of the man raising his weapon and aiming it at the window where Bosco waited for word on his mother.
Her screams brought the attention of the other gunmen to her and she dove back through the door of the lounge as they opened fire in her direction.
