Disclaimer: Once again, everything belongs to NBC except for Samantha Boscorelli, Gordon Sharp, Sarah Boscorelli, and Kelly (whom I forgot to mention last time. Sorry!) Thanks.
There was blood everywhere, it seemed. Her beautiful brown curls had been soaked in it. Her face was positioned away from the door he had just entered, and for that he was grateful, for he didn't have to see the empty face of his wife. The nightgown she wore was red now.
He heard a moaning sound. From his own throat. He couldn't tear his eyes away, until he heard the soft sobbing of a child. His child. His daughter. He remembered that she was here too. He looked around the room wildly until she saw her in the corner, as far away from her mother's body as she could be.
"Daddy!" she cried. She cried and cried, and, as he gathered her up in his arms, so did he. She was only three years old.
"Bosco?" came a sad questioning voice.
"Bosco?" came the question again, more firm. "Bosco!" He snapped his face towards the sound. "Bosco, are you alright?" asked Faith.
"Huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He turned to look back out the window. He knew that she didn't believe him for a second. The buildings of New York City flew by him without meaning. They were supposed to be on patrol, but his mind was about as far from patrol as it could be.
"Let's break for dinner, ok?" Faith knew where his mind was. It was where hers had been all day too. Unfortunately, she was driving, so she couldn't lose herself in the memory like he could. She had been there that day too. Bosco's wife, Sarah, had been one of her best friends. "55-David to central. Permission to go 10-63."
"Central to 55-David. Permission granted," came the squawk over her radio. Knowing that Bosco was lost again, she decided on where they would have dinner. Just as they were pulling up the diner, Bosco came back to life.
"Wait, can we go back to my place for dinner?" Normally, Faith would have assumed this was a dumb joke on Bosco's part, but not tonight. She knew exactly why he wanted to go back there. Sam was there.
"Sure, no problem Boz." She turned the car around and headed to the Boscorelli apartment.
"Sam?" Bosco called as he and Faith walked through his apartment door. "Sam, where are you?" Faith could see that he was starting to tense.
"Hi dad," Sam said, coming from her bedroom with her babysitter, Kelly, right behind her. "What are you doing home?" Bosco visibly relaxed when he saw her and a small smile crept across his face.
"I just thought I would come by a bug you."
"Aunt Faith, you're here too?" she asked.
"You bet, kiddo," she replied.
"Mr. Boscorelli," Kelly spoke up from her position behind Sam. "Since you're here, do you mind if I run back to my house to get some homework I forgot?"
"Sure Kelly, no problem. But we gotta leave in 45 minutes."
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Thanks." Kelly grabbed her backpack and walked out the door.
"Okay dad, really. Why are you here? You never come home for dinner." The curious look on her face got to Bosco and he decided to tell her the truth.
"Sit down kiddo," he said, pulling her towards the couch. Faith slipped away towards the kitchen to heat up some leftovers for dinner.
"What's up dad?" Sam asked, starting to get nervous. Bosco looked into the eyes that reminded him so much of Sarah and he almost lost his nerve.
"Sweetie, do you remember what happened to your mom?" Bosco had never really brought it up, and Sam had never mentioned it, so they never talked about it.
She held her dad's gaze for a second before looking down at her lap. For a while, she didn't say anything. Bosco put a comforting arm around her shoulders.
"Not a lot," she finally said quietly. "I was supposed to be sleeping, but I was thirsty. Mom was sitting in front of the TV and when I asked her for some water, she got up to get it. I heard a really, really loud banging noise and then mom was covering me on the floor. I remember mom was so heavy, but I pushed her off of me cause she…she wouldn't get up." She was starting to break with this memory, and Bosco held her tighter as she went on. "She still wouldn't get up when I shook her and called her name and…she turned red…and…her eyes wouldn't look at me…and…Daddy I was scared…I was so scared of her…" With that, Sam turned her head into her father's chest and sobbed. Bosco found himself shedding tears himself at his daughter's painful remembrance. He turned and saw Faith standing by the kitchen door, crying herself.
He listened to Sam's sobbing subside and he caught Faith's eye. She nodded in understanding that he wasn't going to be going back to work tonight. He turned back to the huddled mass in his arms and slowly rocked her. He wasn't going to tell her about Gordon Sharp tonight. He didn't see any point in upsetting her further. He was going to stay with Sam and protect her. At least for one night, he could do that.