It Was Always You
Chapter 7: I Needed to Tell You Something
A/N: To my most consistent reviewers, kimtom4eva and BreathlessFaith, Thank you for your support, and all you others who enjoyed and reviewed! Now, onto my next chapter! This is most likely the second last chapter! Enjoy!
Being a cop was a great way to learn things. For instance, Bosco happened to know that there was a side door on the West side of Mercy that didn't lock all the way. He also knew that this door led to a stairwell that was infrequently used because it was so out of the way. He had also learned in the duration of his career as a beat cop that the ICU was on the fourth floor, and this out-of-the-way stairwell led right up to the end of the ICU hallway, away from the nurse's station.
As Bosco approached the side door attached to the stairwell, he surveyed up and down the sidewalk to make sure no one was around to watch his actions. He smiled inwardly, thinking about how ironic it was that he was using his cop knowledge to essentially break into the hospital. At 4am no less. Oh well. He thought to himself. I'm not hurtin' anything. He grabbed the door-handle and gave it a quick, forceful pull to dislodge the faulty lock-catch mechanism. He felt the lock give under his hand, and the door swung open to an empty stairwell. Bosco quickly ascended the stairs, ducking down as he approached the fourth floor landing, avoiding the waist high window in the door to the hallway. He got close to the door and slowly rose up a little so he could see into the hallway. If he wasn't so distracted with Faith, he probably would have been humming the theme song to Mission Impossible to himself. This wasn't the time for those antics though.
He quickly ducked down as he saw a nurse coming down the hallway towards the door carrying a tray with some pill containers on it. Bosco listened until he didn't hear footsteps in the hall anymore, and moved back up to look out into the hallway. It was clear. He made a silent wish that Faith would be in one of the rooms on this side of the hall, not down past the nurse's station. Now or never. Bosco thought. He placed his palms against the metal door and pushed it slowly open, keeping an eye on the hall. Bosco winced as the infrequently-used door creaked loudly. He whipped his vision towards the nurse's station, ready to head back down the stairs if one should appear. Fortunately, everything was all clear. Bosco could hear his pulse pounding in his ears as he took a couple quiet, careful steps down the corridor. He examined the names next to each room as he tip-toed by, Henley, Greene, Price, Marquez, Sunley, Hammond... A peal of laughter snapped Bosco's attention back towards the Nurse's station. He was getting really close to the nurses, and there was no sign of a room labelled Yokas yet.
Bosco decided to cross the hall to the side where the nurse's desk was closest. He squinted to see the room assignments just beyond the station. Of course, there it was, a door past the nursing station, the door with Faith's name next to it. Well, this should be interesting. Bosco thought, grimacing. Somehow, he had to get past the nurse's area and into that room. The desk was about waist height, and looked out towards the hallway. That basically left him with one option. He had to somehow get past the doorway without being seen, and crawl past the front of the desk. Bosco briefly wondered whether this was worth it, but quickly dismissed the thought, he had to talk to his partner, it couldn't wait. With another sigh, Bosco got down on his knees, and into the crawling position.
He slowly approached the doorway that led to the nurse's station and cautiously peeked his head around the corner. The nurses were gathered together around the coffee machine, filling up their mugs and laughing about something. Bosco heard one comment on how quiet it was on the floor tonight. Bosco recognized the nurse Trish, standing directly facing the doorway. Suddenly, she looked up from her coffee mug, and looked in his direction. He whipped his head back from the doorway, and held his breath, waiting for her to come around the corner and find him.
It never happened. He waited another ten seconds and peeked again, she was now talking animatedly with the nurse next to her, and no eyes were towards the door. Bosco took the opportunity, scrambling past the doorway as fast as his knees and hands could take him. He paused on the other side of the doorway, listening for the approach of a nurse, but it seemed like they were all still talking and laughing in the common area. Bosco couldn't believe his luck. He continued his crawl until he passed the full length of the desk. This was it. He looked up, he was right in front of Faith's door now. He carefully got to his feet, very aware of his proximity to the nurses. He placed his hand on the doorknob, turning it as gently as he could manage. The door swung open silently, and Bosco slipped into the room and shut the door behind him without a sound. Bosco leaned up against the door, and willed his heart to slow down a little. And he thought that clearing a building was nerve-wracking. It had nothing on sneaking past a set of strict, no-nonsense nurses! Talk about a rush.
Suddenly Bosco remembered why he was here, and looked over to the hospital bed. His breath caught in his throat as he saw his partner there, looking so pale and helpless, with tubes down her throat. He crossed the room to her bed-side and took her hand in his own. He looked up at her, and thought he saw her eyes flicker slightly as he squeezed her hand. He shook his head, she was most likely heavily sedated, there was no way she knew he was here.
"Hi Faith." he said simply. He realized he was shaking, and took a deep breath to steady himself. He gazed around the room as he attempted to collect his thoughts. He wasn't exactly sure how he should phrase what he wanted to say. Oh hell, what does it matter anyways? She's unconscious!It's not like she can reject you or yell at you. Bosco told himself. It took one more look at her face to seal his confidence. He drew in another deep breath and began.
"I know you can't hear me or anything. I'm sorry for everything that happened tonight. I should have had your back better, like you had mine. You're always so good at takin' care of me...I guess I have some catch-up to do, huh? Bosco looked down at his hand in hers, before continuing. "I know I should be letting you get some rest and all that, but I needed to talk to you. It was really important. Important enough for me to essentially break into the hospital. I guess I've done worse though." Bosco chuckled to himself, and then quickly regained his composure. "The thing is, Faith, I needed to tell you something."
Bosco sat back a little, the fact she was unconscious was giving him confidence. It was like a wall somewhere within him had broken right open. Here goes nothing.
"You need to get better. You need to get better for me. Because the thing is...well... the thing is that I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you, Faith. I know you'll probably think that I'm delusional, or that I've never really truly loved anyone before...but I'm pretty certain about this one. It was always you Faith, the one that I loved I mean. It was always you takin' care of me, it was always you I went to with any problems. You're the one person I'd trust with my life, the one person I could tell anything to. Ever since that first time I met you at academy, It was always you being there, backing me up, being a part of my life somehow." Bosco looked up at that pretty face, admiring his best friend, "I'm sorry we fell outta touch, that was stupid of me. You're so much more than a partner to me, Faith. I need you, I need your advice everyday, I need you there to be a part of my life. I need you to wake up, so I can somehow get the courage to tell you this with your eyes open, when you can actually hear me and tell me..."
"So you think you're pretty smart, Officer?"
Bosco jumped straight up out of his chair, missing it on the way down, and consequently tumbling to the floor. He turned around, still sitting on the floor, to gaze up at Trish's amused face.
"Thought you could just crawl past my nursing station, unnoticed?"
Bosco winced. "Uhh...yeah, sorry about that." He swallowed, feeling the his cheeks go burning red with embarrassment. "I thought you didn't see me." He finished lamely.
"Nurses see everything, Boscorelli." She said with a smirk. "I was about to call you, before I saw you poking your head in the door like an idiot." Trish giggled slightly.
Bosco relaxed slightly, realizing she thought this was all pretty comical. "Okay, so sneaking in wasn't the best idea." He said, finally getting to his feet. "Hey. Wait a sec. You were going to call me? Why? What's wrong with her!?" He turned his eyes back towards Faith, trying to discern if she looked any sicker.
"Well, she seems to be doing better, actually, considering she's awake and everything." Trish replied looking at Bosco like he was a crazy.
"She's WHAT!?" Bosco asked, staring dumbly at the nurse.
"Awake. You know, conscious? I'm sure you noticed..." She stopped and gestured towards the bed.
Bosco slowly turned to face the bed, and to his shock, realized he was looking into a pair of very familiar green eyes.
To be continued...
