Standard disclaimers applied.
Author's Note: I claim no knowledge about the workings of the police force. I apologize in advance for the whole bunch of rubbish that you are going to read, but please be patient. Stick it through until the end, because the story is coming to a close.
The rating is up to a T for this chapter because of mature themes. You have been warned.
Part XVI The Longest Night
After the divorce, Fred, naturally took his truck, and went to live with his mom. She moved out of the old apartment, to something smaller and closer to the station. Whatever was left from her savings and the extras from her divorce, went towards a down payment into a second-hand Jeep Cherokee.
It was less conspicuous than Bosco's blue Mustang. Wordlessly, Faith led the way to her vehicle and handed Bosco her keys. The decision became second nature after so many years of working together. They fought for the keys often, but usually Bosco was the one who ended up driving anyways. Liked so many things, it became part of their daily ritual while patrolling in 55-David.
Their current ride was silent - she was coming along with him and no, he didn't have to transfer to another precinct because of her. She didn't add the fact that losing him to another station would be a severe blow to her psyche.
About ten minutes into the ride, the silence was interrupted. "I know that this doesn't mean much right now, but I'm proud of you, Faith."
"What do you mean?"
"You, becoming a sergeant. I know that you are too smart to be just a regular beat cop like the rest of us."
"You were there?" Surprise, but she couldn't help but feel her previous disappointment going away. Of all the people that she really wanted to be present tonight, it was him.
"Yeah, I was standing in the very back and came in just in time to see Sergeant Faith Mitchell walk across the stage."
Hearing him referring to her by her maiden name sounded awkward. From the moment that they first met at the academy, they had been Yokas and Boscorelli. Then, they fell silent, before she ventured to ask, "Where exactly are we going?"
"We set up a surveillance team at the Sheraton Hotel, Downtown. Cruz had wanted the phones tapped and cameras set up - you know the whole nine yards at every stakeout spot. She wanted this to go down in the books. She ordered eight warrants, but I know for a fact that she had plans tonight for seven of eight. The last one was for Yoshi to investigate."
Yoshi could be considered Cruz's right hand man. The Japanese man had been undercover for several international drug rings, so he was a source of a lot of insider information.
"But, Yoshi requested three days off for some dead relative's funeral," she interjected.
"Exactly. It is rather convenient, really. She has her search warrant, but the place won't be wired or tapped. We can only take her word for what happens."
"You do know what this means."
"We are going to the Sheraton to find out where the last stakeout spot is. That's probably where Yoshi is and we'll probably find Cruz there as well."
-o-o-
Despite the fact that Bosco had been kept out of the loop for one of the biggest crackdown operations, he did know which hotel room the surveillance team had set up their equipment. By this time, it would probably be abandoned as each team were dispatched to their designated locations.
Years of working together had honed their skills to a perfection. Bosco started on the right, while Faith veered to the left. Their weapons drawn, but held in a relaxed position. Rummaging through piles of paraphernalia, they weren't sure what they were looking for, but they would know it when they came across it.
However, their silent sweep of the room was interrupted by the clicking of heels coming from outside the hall. The lock to the hotel room jiggered to indicate somebody's entrance. Bosco's eyes caught the hazel ones of the blonde in front of him and they hastily found various positions in the room to hide.
Cruz entered the room with a cell phone in her hand. She was muttering to herself as she waited for the other person to pick. Her free hands lazily pushed away papers that Bosco had just been previously searching. "C'mon Yoshi, pick up!"
The Latina sergeant was walking near the position that Faith was hiding underneath the couch. Bosco watched in baited breaths and prayed that she did not decide to sit down. She paced the length of the couch, while cursing under her breath.
"Yoshi! You better have good news for me," when somebody picked up on the line.
It seemed that Yoshi had pulled through after all, as Cruz listened and nodded for a few minutes. She then moved away from the couch to one of the drawers at the far side of the room. Her back was turned so none of the officers from the 55-David could see its contents. Cruz left the hotel room with these words, "I'll get you tonight, Mann for everything that you've done to my sister."
-o-o-
A Jeep Cherokee followed Cruz's sleek Monte Carlo down the streets of New York. They were making for one of the richer parts of town, away from all the industrial and business high-rises. Yoshi had gotten a heads-up that Mann was making his escape tonight. Maritza Cruz had no plans of arresting Mann tonight, in fact, she had planned on killing him before he had a chance to ditch town.
That's why she obtained the search warrant for Mann's estate but never setting up the surveillance. Yoshi's funeral alibi was just that - an alibi that Cruz could use. She was going to assess the situation herself but she didn't want to jeopardize the safety of her team with lack of information. By her investigation, she was going to kill Mann, most likely claiming self-defense on her part.
What happened that night took under ten minutes of actual time, but if somebody was to ask Faith this, she would have say that it seemed like much longer. David Mann was waiting for his personal chopper to pick him up on the roof. Cruz intercepted him just as the helicopter was in sight. "I don't think so. I've worked too hard to let you get away tonight, Mann."
"You have nothing on me, Cruz. You think this will change anything - me being in jail? It won't get your sister back because at the end of the day, I will always come out on top."
The chopper drew closer to its destination, but Cruz was determined. "No, this ends here tonight."
Two shots rang out and a single body fell. Yoshi came out of the shadows with his gun drawn, as he leveled it in the prone body of Cruz. She saw his betrayal as she drew her last breath, he had been playing both sides.
"Good work, Yoshi, but I'm afraid I have no need for your services anymore," Mann was a merciless man. He had no need for more leverage as he drew out his own gun before the Japanese man could utter another sound. He fell lifeless next to the sergeant that he had only a few moments shot to death. This was the scene that Bosco and Faith witnessed from the shadows. However, they had no time to digest everything as chopper loomed closer.
Two guns drawn, they shouted. "Freeze! You're under arrest."
What they didn't see was the fact that from helicopters, one of Mann's minions had pulled out a semi-automatic. As the first several rounds of bullets were released, Bosco made a dive for Faith, covering her body with his own. They crashed onto the floor, in amongst the debris and empty bullets. When the noise died down, all Faith saw was Bosco covered in blood. He did not respond to her frantic calls to wake him up. She began doing chest compressions, staining her hands and lips in the vivid red. In the back of her mind, she heard the faint voices of Mann. He had made it for cover briefly when the shots rained down and now he positioned himself beneath the helicopter.
On impulse, Faith grabbed the fallen weapons next to her. Bosoc's handgun in her left and her own weapon in the right, she began shooting, vowing in revenge for taking her partner's life. It seemed like a hopeless fight, two little handguns against a moving medium. Perhaps guided by faith and so plain luck, one of her bullets shot Mann in his right kneecap, rendering immobile. However, Mann hadn't escape the authorities for so long without a lot of fore-planning. He had initially set a bomb to go off at his mansion, just after his own escape.
Within seconds, a blast erupted from the ground floors and making its way upwards. The helicopter thought it was probably safer to escape the authorities, than rescuing their injured employer. Faith knew that she had to escape now, as the building was going to collapse on itself. There was little hope for Mann even if he did manage to survive the blast of his own creation. Doubling back, she lifted Bosco's body in her arms and ran towards the edge of the roof. She then leapt, aiming for the in-ground swimming pool below, as the building exploded a final time and was engulfed in flames.
-o-o-
She had typed the final email message to John before she was interrupted by the shrill sounds of the phone ringing. Simultaneously, her pager went off. Signing off on email, she answered the call from Mercy. Multiple traumas with a disaster sited in the community, they needed every staff possible.
It seemed that Mann truly wanted to leave New York with a bang before his attempted escape. Yoshi had provided some inside information on both sides for the sake of money, but even he, did not know the extent that Mann was willing to go. While the sting operations were successful, there were already prior plans to hire a professional arsonist to set fire to Camelot (1).
As the fire and paramedic crews responded to the fire, victims were transported to Angel of Mercy Hospital. It was this scene that Dr. Jing-Mei Chen came to. She wasn't in Chicago when the plane crashed just a few blocks from County General (2). However, she imagined the scene would be similar.
It was pure chaos, as stretchers wheeled in victims with various degrees of burns. Other officers were supporting their colleagues on their arms and giving some basic first aid. Those who escaped with minor injuries were treated for smoke inhalation injuries before offering moral support in the waiting rooms. Some were on the phones trying to contact families, and friends.
Jing-Mei never got used to smell of burnt skin. It was one of the few things that got to her in medical school and it affected her still. However, she wasn't given the luxury to find her courage. The victim screamed in agony, partly from the pain and party from the shock. Major parts of the skin were beyond recognition, as the increased surface area allowed for greater evaporation of body heat. Simultaneously, there was rapid shifting of body fluids causing edema and leaking exudate. In cases liked this, the depth and extent of the wound were hard to access. It was always prudent to assume the injury to be worse than it was.
Jing-Mei and the rest of the emergency team rapidly went into a series of choreographed motions. Not only did the wounds needed to be treated, but the patient's condition had to be stabilized first. Shock was setting in, as the blood pressure took a drastic dive. Respirations needed to be maintained as the patient was hooked onto a chest tube. All the while, they had to worry about infection setting in.
She didn't know how many people she treated as she changed gowns and gloves and went from room to room. She knew some of the officers that were brought in, but she prayed that she didn't have to attend to the members of 55-Edward and 55-David - the people that she was closest to since starting here in NYC.
However, her fears manifested itself as voice of Sully broke the maddening pace that the Mercy staff had set. Davis as always, followed closely behind but he was quickly joined by Lieu Swetzsky who was hobbling on a broken foot and was just recovering of smoke inhalation. Two of his best people were fighting for their lives.
The Chinese doctor just wouldn't understand how Faith could have gotten herself in such a state, when they had just hours before watched her promotion to a Sergeant. The blonde was soaked when the paramedics pulled her from the pool outside Mann's burning building. Her clothes were stained with blood, though, they found no shot wound on her. She was stunned by the fall and had swallowed a great deal of water. She was currently unconscious.
Bosco was in worst shape of all. He had already lost too much blood from the four bullets that he took. Much of his face and upper body took the blunt of the shots. One was very close to his jugular vein. The plunge into the water did not help his condition at all. His weakened body was being sent to new lows. Vital signs were crashing and his body was filled too much with fluids that it was hard to keep his airways patent. However, he needed to be stabilize before he could be seen in the OR.
Jing-Mei's attention was divided between Bosco and Faith. She felt that it was part of her obligation not to leave them, so she kept up vigilant watches. She had been the one to bring Bosco up to the OR and assisted with the grueling session that spanned over ten hours. Bosco crashed twice in the interim and it took several chest compressions and defibrillation to bring him back.
By the time she shed her OR scrubs, she could at least bring back news to Sully, Davis and the rest of the crew that Bosco was in critical condition, but the surgery had been successful. She was hopeful because Maurice Boscorelli was strong, but she did caution the severity of his injuries. It was she who personally told Faith about Bosco.
The blonde had collapsed to tears, both in relief and regret. "He pushed me down and took those bullets for me, Jing-Mei. He could have died."
"Bosco is strong and I doubt that he wanted you to blame yourself."
She stayed until Faith cried herself to sleep. Sully came in with a cup of coffee, which she took gratefully. Words were unnecessary and Jing-Mei felt herself in dire need for fresh air. The room had became too stifling.
She took a deep breath when she exited through the automatic doors. Her obsidian eyes closed in a momentarily bliss as she took a sip of a caffeine in her hand. She tried to imagine herself away, but no amount of pretending would allow her to escape the images from the previous hours. Another sip went down, as she was interrupted by a rich baritone voice.
She didn't want to open her eyes for fear that exhaustion was playing tricks on her mind. But, it was no joke because there was only one person in the world who would call her, Deb. Coffee cup fell unceremoniously onto the ground, as her legs gave way. Her body soon followed, catching in the warm embrace that was John Carter.
End of Part XVI
AN: This is probably the longest chapter thus far and there are two chapters left to the fic.
Also, if there are any Luby fans out there who are still reading this story, go check out Infinite-Ending's Luby story, called "In Paradise," which expands on the universe that was created for the stories "In This Life" and "By Correspondence." It was established that they eloped on a remote island, and "In Paradise" talks about Abby & Luka's wedding.
(1) The precinct was located on the corner of King and Arthur Street. That's why it was nicknamed "Camelot". In this story, Mann had ordered for the precinct to be set on fire.
(2) In my other story "In This Life," Deb was taken an earlier flight out of Chicago and wasn't in the city when the crash happened. I'm just going on the same premise.