It was Always You
Chapter 5: You Gotta Have Faith
A/N: Sorry for the last cliffhanger! Let's see if I can make this one a little bit longer... You ready? We last so our heroes in a stand-off at gunpoint...
Faith flicked her eyes back towards Bosco. Don't worry. You've got this, I trust you. Just squeeze. Bosco tried to tell her. Her grip steadied once again and she moved her finger back to the trigger.
Bosco closed his eyes as the shot rang out.
Bosco's eyes shot open, it felt like he couldn't breathe. For a moment, Rico's arm cut-off his air and then he was falling backwards. The now dead-weight of the bank-robber pulled Bosco to the dusty floor. Bosco scrambled to disengage himself from Rico's grip, and rolled to the side. He grimaced as he saw the bloody, pulverized remains of Rico's face. He sat up to see Faith, gun still drawn, looking quite shocked she that had actually made the shot.
Faith lowered the gun and smiled at Bosco. Bosco's eyes all of sudden showed a flicker of terror, he raised his hands and pointed behind her, "FAITH! Look..." he began, when lightning pain arced up Faith's side.
The gun fell out of Faith's hands and clattered to the floor, as she collapsed on her side. Faith gasped as pain shot through her again, but she managed to roll over onto her back. Johnny was standing over her with a piece of pipe, and he raised it above his head to bring it back down smashing into her chest this time. Faith would have screamed, but she couldn't seem to catch her breath.
Bosco leapt into action, frantically searching through the rubble on the warehouse floor for Rico's gun. His hands hit the cold steel barrel just as Johnny raised the pipe up for his fourth hit to Faith, who was now moaning in pain. Bosco got to his knees and levelled the gun at Johnny's back. Compensating for his vision, Bosco double-checked his aim, and emptied the entire clip into Johnny. The small man tumbled to the ground, landing on top of Faith, and the pipe clattered onto the ground. Bosco jumped to his feet, and immediately searched Rico for his knife. Finding it Bosco went to work best he could, trying to slice the duct tape off his wrists so he could help Faith. Oh God Faith... Hold on. Bosco thought to himself. He heard her groan and turned his head towards her. The knife slipped briefly and bit into the palm of his left hand. He cursed silently and focused again on cutting the tape.
When his hands were free, Bosco ran to Faith's side. He pushed the small man off her and gently placed her head in his lap.
"B-Boz.." Faith struggled to say his name, as she gasped to breathe.
"Shhh. Faith, don't talk. I gotta find an ambulance!" he replied, and looked at her face. Blood was forming at the edge of her mouth. This was bad, he needed help right now.
Bosco glanced around the warehouse frantically, trying to figure out what to do now. He didn't even know where they were to call an ambulance here. He quickly ran his hands over his jacket pockets, and then his jeans. "Fuck..." he muttered to himself as he realized he had left his cell phone sitting in the cup-holder in his Mustang. "Faith, I'll be right back, I swear. I gotta find a phone. I'll be right back. Okay?" He said, looking into her scared eyes. She nodded weakly, and grabbed his hand giving it a squeeze. She had put some pressure on his cut hand, but he didn't care. "You'll be okay Faith. I'll make sure of it." He gently put her head back onto to the floor and got to his feet. He took off his jacket and quickly rolled it into a ball. He lifted her head again and place his jacket underneath her head, and gave her another encouraging smile.
Bosco moved towards Johnny and quickly patted him down trying to find a cell phone. Having no luck, he tried Rico. Neither of them had a phone on them. Bosco looked again at Faith. "Faith, I'll be back as soon as I can. You hang in there!" He yelled over his shoulder as he headed out the door of the warehouse.
The night air was cold and clean compared to the dust in the warehouse, and the rats scattered away from Bosco's pounding feet. He approached the street in an all out sprint, just in time to see an older man driving a brown Ford pickup truck. The breaks squealed as the driver tried to avoid running-down the crazed looking man who had suddenly appeared in front of him. The driver rolled down his window as Bosco ran to the driver's side of the truck.
"Jay-sus, sonny. That's a good way to git hit you know!!" The man declared, giving Bosco an accusatory stare.
"I know! I need a phone though! Now, I need to call an ambulance. She's hurt, and I can't let anything happen to her. I need to call her kids. I need the police, but I REALLY need an ambulance!" Bosco all but screamed, as he clutched the side of the truck door, his knuckles turning white.
The driver was somewhat shocked by Bosco's tirade, but rummaged around in his truck until he produced a large cell phone and passed it out the window to Bosco. Bosco stared at the phone for a moment, the phone was about the size of a brick and probably as old as he was. Shaking himself, Bosco dialed 9-1-1 and put the phone to his ear.
"My name is Officer Maurice Boscorelli, with the NYPD, shield number 42015. I need paramedics and police here NOW." He stated, slightly regaining his composure.
"Yes Officer, and what is your situation and exactly where is here?" The dispatcher queried.
"Where are we?!" Bosco snapped at the slightly stunned driver.
The poor man rattled off the nearest intersection, and Bosco repeated it back to the operator. He then told her about Faith and the two dead men before snapping the cell-phone shut. He passed it back to the driver. "Listen, when the paramedics get here, you lead them to that warehouse back there, okay?" Bosco told the driver as he pointed towards the warehouse partly hidden in the shadows of the larger warehouses. "I'm going to go back to Faith!" He shouted at the driver and sprinted back towards the warehouse door.
Bosco reached the warehouse door and pushed it open, leaving a bloody patch on the door frame. Bosco quickly examined his cut hand, to see that it was still bleeding sluggishly. No time for that, Faith was in more trouble than him.
He crossed the warehouse floor quickly, returning to his fallen partner's side. He gently returned her head to his lap. "I'm back Faith, the ambulance is coming." He said gently, as he reached with his uninjured hand to brush her hair out of her face, and he stroked her cheek as she struggled to breathe.
"Bos...I'm...scared. Glad..." she closed her eyes, clearly in pain "You're...ok..."
"I am thanks to you, Partner. That was quite a shot." He said, smiling at her.
"Good...teacher..." she replied, trying to smile. Some more blood welled up to her lips and trickled down her cheeks.
Bosco tried to ignore it, and held her a little more tightly. "A teacher you used to mock for carrying a second gun on his ankle!" He exclaimed. "Something about, I would explode if I fell over, huh? Since when do you keep a second gun, Detective?"
"Since...you...s..shot..in..hospital." She managed to reply, her breathing was even more laboured now, and there was more blood. Bosco was terrified, but tried to keep her distracted.
Against his better judgement, Bosco leaned forwards and gently placed his lips on her forehead. "I'm glad you had it, partner. You saved my life." He whispered against her cool, sweaty forehead. He kissed her a second time softly on her forehead and returned upright.
Faith smiled at him in between laboured breaths. As Bosco studied her, he saw she was becoming very pale. He quickly stripped off his knit sweater and placed it over her. Faith looked like she was about to say something, but before she could get the breath to do so, she began to close her eyes.
"Faith?" Bosco shook her ever so slightly. "Faith?! Don't do this Faith, stay with me Faith!" He pleaded. He slipped his hand into hers and squeezed. He heard the alternating hi-lo tones of the ambulance, and saw the lights through the dingy warehouse windows. "I'm right here, I won't leave you. Stay awake Faith, please, please stay with me. The paramedics are here! Don't do this to me Faith!" He hung onto her hand with all his might, pleading in his mind with any god who would listen to please let her be okay. He heard the warehouse door slam open as the paramedics came rushing in behind the driver of the truck.
Carlos and Grace appeared at Bosco's side and got to work. Bosco moved slightly aside to let them work, but kept his grip on Faith's now limp hand. Vaguely Bosco noticed the Police come through the door and mutter "Holy shit..." as they surveyed the scene in the warehouse.
"It looks like she's got a tension pneumo!" Carlos announced as Grace dug through the bags and removed a c-collar. "What happened to her, Bosco?" He asked. "Bosco?" He asked again, looking up at him. Bosco just continued to stare at Faith's white face. Carlos sighed and put his stethoscope to Faith's chest and listened. "Grace, you gotta get an airway, and then we gotta get her out of here fast!"
"Alright, just wait til I get the collar on!" She replied. She finished up with the collar and secured the velcro restraints.
As Carlos came running with the stretcher, Grace completed the tube and began to ventilate to help Faith breathe. An officer approached Bosco to ask him some questions, but hesitated when he saw the look on Bosco's face. He was staring intently at the Detective, and gripped her hand tightly, as if willing her to wake up and looking at him. Questions could wait until later, Bosco obviously was focused only on his old partner.
Carlos and Grace started to move Faith into the ambulance with Bosco right beside. He helped them lift her up and climbed in beside her. He wasn't going to let his partner out of his sight. Grace climbed in the back as well, and Carlos slammed the doors shut. He ran to the driver's side and quickly drove away from the warehouse.
Carlos glanced into the back of the bus, "How is she?" he asked Grace.
"Not good. Hurry up Carlos. She needs the ER now!" She replied. She looked at Bosco, who was almost as pale as Faith. "Bosco," she said softly, putting a hand on his shoulder, "What happened?"
"The asshole beat her a bunch of times with a pipe before I could shoot him." Bosco replied grimly. He reached up to wipe his face, and was rather surprised to find tears on his finger tips. He quickly wiped his face again, not wanting to cry yet. He had to be strong.
"That cut looks really bad, Bosco. You need to have a doctor look at it." Grace said, as she continued to squeeze the bag.
"I will. Just make sure she's alright." He said and looked down at her hand, hanging limply in his own. His throat constricted, How did this happen? He asked himself. He bit the inside of his cheek so hard it bled, attempting to distract his mind. He snapped his head up and leaned towards the front of the ambulance, "Aren't we there yet Nieto!?" he snapped.
"We were down by the Port Authority Bosco, we'll be about one more minute." Carlos replied, ignoring the angry tone in Bosco's voice. Carlos knew the other man must be in anguish. Yokas and Boscorelli had always been ridiculously close.
Carlos breathed a sigh of relief as Angel of Mercy hospital finally came into view. He quickly backed the ambulance into the bay and put the rig into park before flying out the door to help get Faith out.
Bosco kept muttering every prayer he knew under his breath as they wheeled Faith into the ER. Please be okay. Please be okay. I don't want to be alive in a world without Faith. Please be okay. He thought to himself.
They slowed as they approached the trauma room, and Nurse Proctor took Bosco bloody hand and gently peeled it off of Faith's. With her other hand she took Bosco's chin and made her look into her no-nonsense brown eyes. "We've got her from here Bosco. Let us work." She said and disappeared into the trauma room.
Bosco stood there, staring in the doors. Nurses and doctors rushed around him, but he continued to stare after his partner. Carlos and Grace came and stood next to him, watching the action behind the glass. Grace and Carlos both looked at Bosco's face. He looked like he was about to say something.
"Please, Faith." He whispered, and finally allowed himself to collapse in tears and exhaustion. Carlos and Grace grabbed him by either arm and led him to the waiting room.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Sorry if some of the medical stuff wasn't 100...I'm only a Geography student after all.. :) Wow, what a chapter! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please R&R! I'll try to be speedy with the next one!
