Chapter 16- Whoa!
I watched in amazement as Bosco went through the locker-room as fast as a tornado, practically ripping the hinges off the locker door in his attempt to get dressed in record time.
He was no longer my lover at that moment, he was a cop, a man with a mission. His whole personality had changed as soon as the Nicholson case was mentioned. It had only been ten minues ago that he was laughing and teasing me
that light side of him was never more prevalent than it had been this morning. But now was not the time to dwell on it. I knew that abuse cases were especially hard on him, and I had to admit that they were hard on me as well. The fact
that Lily was Nicole's daughter just topped off the cake.
He stood before me, his eyes wide and his jaw clenched, wating expectantly.
" Well, are ya comin or not?" He asked, again. He slapped his thighs over and over while he waited.
" Ya, I'm coming. Give me a sec."
" You look fine, Faith. Let's go."
I stood in front of him clad in my uniform pants and my bra.
" Do you think I could maybe put my shirt on first?" I barked, getting annoyed with him.
" Oh, just hurry up. I want to get to Lily now. Not a hundred years from now."
" Yes, can you give me enough time to zipper up my pants?"
He barely nodded before he stalked out of the room and called over his shoulder to me to get my ass out to the car in two shakes or he was leaving without me.
Long live the romantic side of him.
When we got to the hospital he practically ran toward the front door. I had to almost double my strides just to catch up to him.
Bosco went to the front desk to speak to Mary Proctor and see if anything had changed in the last hour or so. It turned out that they had a
uniform from another precinct sit outside of Lily's room all night in case her step-father tried to come and see her. I went to the machine to get a cup
of coffee and one for Bosco. I was so tired that I thought I just might pass out before the night was through. We weren't even supposed to be on duty and I
seriously wondered if I could stay awake for the rest of the day.
Finally, I got back to the desk and handed Bosco his coffee. He was still talking to Mary about Liky's case.
" Hi Faith."
" Hi Mary, how's it goin?"
The elder woman smiled at me warmly. " Not so bad. Must be a full moon comin tonite tho'. All the weird ones come out the day of a full moon."
" We gotta go check on Lily now." Bosco said, grabbing me by the arm and guiding me down the hall.
We got to the uniform officer and Bosco told him to come back in a half hour or so, so that we could have a chance to talk to Lily privately. I think the real reason was that Bosco didn't trust anyone from any other precinct to watch the door. I knew that he had no idea what this Tony Nicholson guy looked like, and didn't know who his friends were. I was sure that he was afraid that somehow, someway, the man who was responsible for terrorizing poor Lily would find a way to hurt her again.
He turned to me, as serious as I'd ever seen him. " Faith, let me talk ta her. She trusts me 'an I know she's scared ta death here, so just sit back, okay?"
It wasn't like I didn't know my place or how to do my job and it certainly wasn't the first time that Bosco had told me what to do and I knew that it wouldn't be the last---but for whatever reason, even though I was a little put off, I nodded my head and followed my gut.
He knocked softly and opened the door a crack. " Lily, honey? It's Officer Boscorelli. I'm here to talk to you again. Can I come in?"
I stood close behind him but I couldn't hear her speak. He stuck his head in the room and tried again.
" Lily, I'm here to talk to you and I brought my partner with me. Her name is Officer Yokas. She's really nice and she wants to help you too. Can we come in?"
"Ok--I guess." Came a soft whimpering voice.
He turned back to me. " You just wait till ya see her--there's no way in hell this kids lyin. Just let me---" He started again.
"I know, Bos. I'll let you do the talking." I said, rubbing his arm gently. Impulsively, he leaned over and planted a quick kiss on my lips, the only reminder that what had happened between us the night before had been real.
" Sorry for bein so bossy but this thin' really eats me up."
" I know, babe. It's okay."
We pushed through the door and stepped in slowly. Before me, a tiny girl sat in the chrome hospital bed surrounded by large white pillows. She wore a pale green hospital gown over her thin shoulders. Her blond hair was sweet and she really was a beautiful child. A lump formed in my throat as I looked at her.
But it wasn't until she lifted her head and raised those startling blue eyes to me, that I really saw her.
For I had seen those eyes before; Looked at them every day for the past few years. I loved those eyes.
And I had only seen them on one other person.
Bosco.