TITLE: A Friend in Need
AUTHOR: trista groulx (the dustytiger)
DISCLAIMER: kim, faith, fred, joey, bobby, jimmy, bosco, davis, sully, none of these characters are mine, i'm just borowing them to play with them for a little while, they belong to their creator and the actors and actresses who portray them, i promise i'll be gentle, don't sue RATING: PG-13 tops currently
CONTENT: kim/faith friendship, fred/faith divorce, kim/bobby r, faith/bosco sex/ust
SPOILERS: 32 bullets and a broken heart (missing scene/continuation)
SUMMARY: Kim and Faith become friends after they share their heartaches that Valintines day.
AUTHORS NOTES: all right two more parts and i'm skipping head a bit again, hehe... so as i said i feel the mecdical info is fairly accurate but you get to a point in the reasearch where you get "your doc will..." so, for that stuff i just kind of made it work, i hadda do a little bit of re-write when i finally found some recovery stuff, and i feel this is as a accurate as i can make it without getting the diease myself... tell me what you think as always i love to hear it

Bobby and Kim were hugging each other very tightly in the waiting room before Kim's operation was scheduled to start. Kim didn't seem like she wanted to let go of him. Now that the day was upon her she was terrified

Part of her didn't want to go, although she knew what would happen if she didn't. She held Bobby for a long moment, ignoring the other man in the room with them.

Bobby kissed her on the cheek. "Are you ready?" he asked.

"No," she replied honestly.

"It's going to be all right, and once you're in your room, I'll be there the rest of the time, I promise."

"I'm so scarred." She somehow managed to bring him closer into their embrace.

"I know, but you'll be better soon."

Jimmy watched helplessly at the scene unfolding in front of his eyes. He wasn't even sure why she had wanted him there. He would get so jealous whenever he saw Bobby with his ex wife. Especially when they were having moments like those.

"You're going to be just fine," Bobby whispered in her ear.

"I hope you're right," she said, trying not to cry.

Her eye finally met Jimmy's. She extracted herself from Bobby's loving arms, and went to her ex husband. She gave him a hug, but not one quiet as friendly as she had just shared with Bobby.

"You give Joey some extra hugs and kisses for me while I'm in the hospital and he's staying with you," she told him.

"I will," he promised.

"And don't forget what we talked about."

Jimmy nodded. "I know, I won't."

"Thank you for everything."

"What are friends for?"

He still found it odd to call himself her friend, but that was what she needed him to be. So that was the role he was going to play for her. He hated to be the one who knew what all her wishes were if something were to happen on the operating table.

She smiled at him, then gave Bobby another hug, before the nurse led her away, to prep her for her surgery.

The two men sat down in the waiting room, and were ready for the long haul. It was not going to be a short nor simple surgery and both men knew it. The could only hope that everything went smoothly, and that she would get through the surgery in one piece.

"You scared?" Bobby asked Jimmy.

"Yeah, I'm terrified," Jimmy replied. "You."

"Yeah, I'm more then the scared. I'm glad I'm not the only one."

Jimmy simply nodded, unsure of what else to say.

Who would of ever thought we'd be getting along?" Bobby asked.

Jimmy smiled nervously. "Pretty shitty circumstances though."

"Yeah, do you think she'll be all right?"

"I think she'll be fine, she's really tough."

Bobby nodded. "Yeah."

"Besides I saw her when she saw Joey the first time, she would not go away from him without a fight."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I've never seen anyone look like that before. She got him in her arms, and at first she wasn't sure what was really going on, like she didn't believe it. Then he moved, or something, I can't ever remember, but all of a sudden instead of looking at him, like what in the hell is this, she looked at him like – I don't know, Bobby it's hard to explain. When you two have a kid you'll see what I'm talking about."

"I guess so, maybe."

"She wants another one, she said that after Joey was born. She's always wanted a little girl."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she'd say it all the time. When his hair started to grow, she was upset cause he was a boy and she couldn't let it grow long and brush it. When Joey grew out of stuffed toys, and wanted fire trucks, and action figures she said she wanted a little girl to play with dolls, and her old toys."

"She still has her old toys?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, she does, her favourite ones, anyway. She said she had kept them for her own kids, and she couldn't wait to have a daughter."

Bobby smiled. "That sounds like Kim, that's for sure. She never throws anything out."

Jimmy laughed. "Yeah, that's Kim all right. I screwed that up on her, but I'm sure that you can fix it."

Bobby shook his head. "I really don't know." He needed to change the subject. "When's Catherine supposed to be coming by with Joey?"

"She said once he's done school, and she gets him supper she'll bring him over, and then I can take him to my place whenever he gets tired."

"That makes sense I wonder if he'll want to see her if she's up while he's here."

"I hope so, it'll make him a lot easier to deal with if he knows that she's gonna be all right."

"Yeah."

Jimmy and Bobby kept talking about Joey, just sharing different stories, to try and pass the time until they got news about her.

Both of them were terrified that they would get bad news at any moment, but sharing stories about Joey seemed to keep their minds off the bad stuff.

xxxx

Later that day Bosco and Faith were riding around between calls. Bosco had noticed his partner was a million miles away. She had spent most of the shift so far staring out the window.

He thought for a moment about what could possibly cause her distant mood.

It didn't take him long to remember what was going on that might make his partner half a world away.

"Isn't Kim's operation today?" Bosco asked her.

Faith nodded. "Yeah."

"Why didn't you take the day off?"

"What would be the point of sitting at the hospital, or at home all day doing nothing but worrying?"

He shrugged. "It's just that-"

"I know, I'm not all here right now, and I'm sorry At least this way I can put it out of my mind for a little bit and focus on working."

Bosco nodded. "I understand. Think she'll make it through?"

"Yeah, I think she's going to be fine in time."

"How long of a recovery does she?"

"About a week in the hospital, a couple months of taking it easy. But she's not going back to work for another six months just to be safe."

"That makes sense, you wouldn't want to go back to early after that kind of surgery."

"Yeah, I know."

"Are you going to be stopping by to see her later?"

Faith nodded. "Yeah probably."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Thanks, Bos, but I think I'll be able to handle it alone."

He nodded. "All right, just thought I'd offer."

"I do appreciate it, thank you, honestly."

"I just figured that that's something that friends do for each other."

She smiled at him. "Yeah, it is. I really do appreciate it Bosco. Do you think I should bring her something when I visit her?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know a book or something."

"It wouldn't be a bad idea."

"Got any suggestions?"

"The Kama Sutra?" Bosco joked.

Faith shook her head. "Just when I thought you were getting serious on me!"

"Never count on me staying serious."

"I'm learning that now. Got any real ideas on what to get Kim?"

He smiled at her. "Maybe one of those girly mystery novels, that have a bit of a romance plot, but it's more about the mystery."

"How do you know about those?"

"I've been in a lot of women's rooms, I sometimes take a peak at the books on their bedside tables. Those ones seem to very popular."

Faith nodded. "That's actually not a bad idea, thanks Bos."

"So we'll stop at a bookstore on lunch so you can get one."

"Good."

Faith was beginning to like this new side of Bosco, there were times where he'd still be his same old self, but there were times where he was just being a really nice guy. He had been so supportive of her through everything, she was still surprised.

She was actually starting to want to try to make excuses to spend time with him outside of work. She was trying not to let her think that anything was developing between them because she wasn't ready for that.

If she was going to try anything with Bosco she wanted to try something serious. She didn't want to be another one of his casual flings, and before she went for it she had know that that was not what she'd end up being.

"Earth to Faith," said Bosco.

"Huh, what?" she asked.

"Am I still taking both of the kids next week?" he asked.

"Yeah, if you want to."

"I was thinking about taking them to the wave pool, would you like to come too?"

"Trust me you don't wanna see me in a bathing suit."

Bosco smiled at her, an sly kind of seductive which Bosco reserved only for very special women.. "I've seen you in your birthday suit, I'm sure I'll be quiet pleased by what I see in a bathing suit."

She shook her head. "I'll think about it, Bos."

"Good cause Charlie really wants you to go with us sometimes."

Faith shook her head. "That's cause those kids are plotting to get you as their new daddy."

"Really?"

"They told me that I should marry you the first time you took them out."

Bosco laughed. "Would that be such a bad thing?"

"I'm not anywhere near ready to be married again."

He nodded. "Fair enough."

Bosco could hardly believe that her kids would actually want them as their mother's new husband. He actually felt quiet proud of himself. Faith meanwhile was kicking herself for telling him what she had just told him.

She didn't really want him to know that she nor the kids liked the idea of just having him as her partner at work. Although Bosco had been very supportive through everything she knew she still had to cautious around him.

XX

Jimmy and Bobby were still in the waiting room, when a nurse came in. They two of them looked up, their hearts just about jumping out of their respective chests.

"Mr. Caffey, Mr. Doherty," she said.

"Yeah?" they both said at the same time.

"Miss Zambrano is out of surgery, and in her room now. One of you can see her now, if you'd like."

"I'll go tell everyone that's she's out of surgery," Jimmy said, getting up.

Bobby followed the nurse to Kim's room. It was a semi-private room but there wasn't anyone in the second bed. As soon as Bobby saw her his heart skipped a beat.

Although it was hard to see her attached to the catheter, and the tube in her nose, as well as the other standard post operative tubes and wires; he just was glad to see her alive.

"She must have fallen asleep again," said the nurse.

"That's all right. Will she be able to talk when she wakes up?"

"She may find it difficult at first because of some of the equipment she's hooked up to, but yes, she should be able to speak."

The nurse left, and for the first time since the whole ordeal had started he began to cry. Seeing her made it all too real for him. Before it had all seemed abstract, but now that she was laying in the hospital bed it was really real.

He went over, brought a chair as close as he could to the bed, and took her hand. She didn't respond to him, but he didn't care, he was just glad to be able to be near her again. Just hearing her breathe helped him to calm down.

He finally realized that he could have lost her, and he still could even though the surgery seemed to be a success. He sat with her for a long moment, just staring at her, wondering what he would have done had she not pulled through.

He realized he probably would have had a heard time getting past it if something had happened to her. He stood up, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. He then carefully ran his hand through her hair.

"Bobby?" she rasped, coughing a little until she realized what was going down her throat.

"Yeah, I'm right here, Kim," he replied.

She half smiled at him. "I'm alive?"

He smiled. "Yes, you are."

"Where's Joey?"

"He's not here yet, your mother's gonna be by soon, I'm sure"

"I'm hungry."

"I'm sure you are, but I think it's at least a few more days before they're gonna give you solid food, from what I read."

"Yeah."

He caressed her temple. "How about you just get your rest? At least when you're sleeping you're not as uncomfortable."

"Mm," she sighed before falling asleep.

XX

When Jimmy arrived at the firehouse, everyone was getting ready for supper. He was glad that they weren't on a run. He went inside, and everyone went quiet. They all looked at Jimmy patiently awaiting his news.

"She's out of surgery," Jimmy announced.

"That's great!" said Doc. "Can we check on her while we're there?"

"Yeah, she's just not allowed to have more then two visitors at once, though."

"Good. Is she up yet?"

Jimmy's phone rang, he answered it when he realized that it was Bobby calling.

"Just thought I'd tell you she was up for a few minutes just now," Bobby told him.

"Good, how is she?"

"Hungry."

Jimmy laughed. "That's m- our Kimmy for you."

"Yeah, I should go, though. She's gone back to sleep and I don't want to wake her."

"All right. I'll see you when I get back."

"Yeah, later."

Jimmy put down the phone. Everyone was looking at him waiting for the new news he might have.

"Well?" asked Lombardo, after what seemed like forever.

"She was up for a few minutes and she said she was hungry."

Everyone burst into laughter, finally feeling like she would actually be all right. Jimmy was glad that she was all right, but he was a little upset that he could not have been the one to be there when she woke up.

"You wanna eat?" DK asked.

"Nieto's not cooking?" Jimmy asked.

"Nope."

"Sure, why not? It's not like Kim'll wanna see this mug when she wakes up."

Walsh laughed. "Yeah, she woke up to it too many times already."

"And probably has nightmares, about it" added Lombardo.

Everyone in the firehouse roared with laughter. Before long they had all sat down to eat. It seemed a lot calmer around the station the it had been the last few days now that everyone knew Kim's surgery was over.

They all knew that all the danger wasn't over, but they were glad to know she had made it through the hardest part.

xxxx

Kim was surprised when her mother came in, alone. She knew that she had brought Joey with her, and she really wanted to see her son.

"I thought you were bringing Joey?" she asked.

"He's in the hall with Bobby, he's afraid to come in," Catherine explained.

"Oh, I really want to see him."

"I'm sure he'll find his nerve as soon as Jimmy comes back."

Kim smiled. "Yeah, probably."

"He doesn't like to look like he's not brave around Jimmy. You sure you want Jimmy to take him while you're in the hospital?"

Kim nodded. "He is Joey's father."

"I know, but still."

"Bobby's gonna be here, it's best for everyone."

Catherine nodded. "I guess so."

"Look, I know Jimmy's made some mistakes in the past, but he's been really supportive through this, and he should be the one taking care of Joey."

"I know, it's just."

"I know you're gonna miss him, but you knew the day would come when Jimmy grew up and you might see a little less of Joey."

"All right, all right. So how are you feeling?"

Kim smiled. "I'm so hungry."

Catherine laughed. "How long before you're allowed solid foods?"

"They said about two or three days."

"That long?"

Kim nodded. "At least a few more days, I can't get this tube out of my nose till I have a bowel movement, then I can have liquids and if I can handle that then they'll give me some real food."

"Yikes, and they wonder why weight loss is such a problem getting this kind of cancer."

The door squeaked open and nurse came inside. She checked all Kim's vital signs, which all seemed good.

"You're doing well, Miss Zambrano," said the nurse.

"Call me Kim, please" she replied.

"I think you have a couple of visitors waiting in the hallway."

Kim nodded. "Thanks."

"How about I go see if it's Jimmy, and if it is I'll send him in with Joey?" Catherine suggested.

"Thank you, Mom," said Kim.

The nurse charted a few things then left the room, as Joey and Jimmy entered.

"Hi," said Jimmy.

"Hi," said Kim.

"Are you okay now?" Joey asked.

"Almost."

"What's everything for?"

Kim smiled at her son. "One of them is just to make sure that my heart is beating like it should. There's another one here that helps me to pee."

"Eww! That's gross." He said scrunching up his nose at the idea.

"Yeah, and then the thing in my nose it to keep my stomach empty."

"Does it hurt?"

"A little, but I gotta keep in it another few days.'"

"A few days?" asked Jimmy.

"Yeah, at least two, maybe three." Kim explained.. "Jimmy could you lift Joey up so I can give him a kiss please?"

Jimmy nodded, and carefully lifted Joey up, and to her face. Kim gave him a kiss on the cheek. Joey immediately rubbed his face after. She smiled at him, and Jimmy put Joey down.

"Can I sit on the bed with you, Mommy?" he asked.

"Not just yet."

"How are you feeling?" Jimmy asked her.

"Sore, but they've got some good drugs here though."

He laughed. "Usually hospitals have some of the best stuff."

"Does it feel funny?" Joey asked.

"Does what feel funny?" asked Kim.

"Not having all of your tummy, does it feel funny?'

Kim smiled. "Right now I'm still a little too sore to really know what it feels like, honey."

"Was it scary?"

"Yeah, it was."

"When are you gonna be home?"

"Hopefully in a week. But aren't you excited about staying with Daddy?"

"Yeah, I am, but you need me to help take care of you."

She smiled, at him. "Until we're both at home, the nurses and Bobby are gonna do that. But when we get home, then you can help as much as you want."

He nodded, smiling. "Okay."

Jimmy could tell that Kim was getting tired, but she didn't want to say anything.

"Hey, Joey," he said. "Your mom needs to get some sleep, how about we go downstairs and get some hot chocolate?"

"Okay!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks, Jimmy," Kim said.

"Any time, see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, love you Joey."

"Love you, Mom," Joey said reluctantly.

Jimmy then took his son's hand, and the two of them left the room. As Kim was falling asleep she heard the door open, and assumed that it was Bobby who had just come in to watch her sleep.

tbc...

end notes: ummm... yeah, so that's that... i saw on untold stories of the ER that you can acutally talk with a nasogatric tube in your mouth, so that works... meh i know i'm missing some of the juice of the surgery, but i think this works, tell me what you think thnx everyone hope you like it