Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.
Collision Course, Chapters 11-12
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As Sully trudged ahead, he almost ran over Lieutenant Swersky and Faith. He looked up with a frown.
"Where are you going, Sullivan?" Swerky asked.
"I'm going to get Bosco's mom." Sully retorted.
From the tone of his voice, Swerky knew not to question him further.
Faith caught a glimpse of the sadness in Sully's eyes. Her heart sunk and she headed over toward the wreckage to see what was going on. She stopped once again when she noted Maritza Cruz had taken Sully's previous position. She burned with fury. What right did Cruz have to be with Bosco at a time like this? But then again, what right did she herself have? She and Bosco had barely spoken since she had returned to work. Faith had wanted to talk to him, to forgive him, to work things out. But she hadn't for two reasons. The first reason was Fred. Despite his new found faith in God, Fred hated Bosco. He had dislike Bosco for years, but since the incident with Cruz and Noble he truly hated him. The second reason was Maritza Cruz. Faith had been devastated when she returned to see Bosco not only speaking to Cruz but actually working along side her at times like nothing had ever happened. How could he do that after what Cruz had done to them? Was he that naïve and gullible? Faith had been furious. So she had avoided him until one night when they were left alone in the locker room at the end of their shift. Bosco had approached her and his words still lingered in her mind. "Faith, I know that you have every right to hate me and I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness. But I want you to know that I never wanted to hurt you. I'm sorry Faith." Then her stomach turned as she remembered her own words. "Not tonight, Bosco. I don't want to hear it." She didn't look at his face to see the pain that she'd caused. But she had seen it everyday since that night. Whenever he saw her his eyes dropped in shame and his shoulders hunched. No, he would not want her with him now. Her heart ached at the thought that she might never get another chance to make things right. But still she needed to do something. She turned suddenly to search for Sully and saw him opening the door to his police cruiser. "Sully wait!" She shouted. "I'll go with you." Rose didn't need to hear this from a stranger.
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Maritza Cruz stood silently watching Kim and Jimmy working frantically to free Bosco. He was mumbling incoherently. His breathing was fast and labored. And every few minutes he let out a low groan. She wanted to comfort him, but wasn't sure how. And she was surprised at the ache in her heart at seeing him like this. She knew that most people thought she was heartless. Sometimes she even thought so herself. She had tried to convince herself that her previous relationship with Bosco was just physical, with the exception of her need for comfort when she lost her sister. But she knew that it was more than that. She had realized when it was too late that she actually cared for him. But that didn't matter now. She was so caught up in wanting revenge for her sister's death that she did whatever it took, including using Bosco. And even though he seemed to now tolerate her and may have even forgiven her, she knew that he didn't fully trust her and never would. She had ruined any chance that they had at a real relationship.
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Despite the busy pace in the ER at Mercy hospital, the place seemed amazingly quiet. They had taken 3 victims from the multi-car pile-up earlier. But they had diverted the last 3 to other hospitals when they heard that two officers were involved in a high-speed collision and one was seriously injured. Now there was an uneasiness in the air. They had received an update that transport of the more critical officer had been delayed because he was trapped in his car.
Mary knew from listening to the radio transmissions that this would be a bad one. She only hoped that this would not be one of the officers that she knew. In her years at Mercy, she had gotten to know many of the officers well. 'Some of them too well.' She smiled thinking of some of the officers she'd dealt with that seemed to always find trouble. Her smile disappeared when she saw Doc and Levine enter with Sasha Monroe on their gurney and Ty Davis close by her side. She didn't appear to have any major injuries.
"Exam 2." Mary instructed. She caught Ty's arm as they passed.
With a sad expression Ty turned back toward her and uttered the one word that she dreaded to hear. "Bosco."
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"YES!" Jimmy shouted as he felt Bosco's foot finally come free from the wreckage.
In what seemed like a whirlwind, Kim and Carlos moved Bosco onto the gurney and raced toward the bus. Cruz had to jog to keep up. And when the motion stopped she found herself seated by the head of the gurney starring into Bosco's glazed over eyes.
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Kim busied herself placing a pressure bandage on Bosco's leg. It was evident that both bones were broken and one was protruding through the skin. He was still bleeding heavily. Once the bandage was in place, she began to apply anti-shock trousers which when inflated basically compressed any bleeding areas and helped direct the blood flow back towards the heart. She then changed the IV bags once again and repeated his blood pressure. He seemed to have stabilized a bit.
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Cruz noted a sudden look of recognition on Bosco's face. He appeared to be trying to say something, so she leaned down toward him to listen.
"What is it, Chico?" She questioned softly as she rubbed her right thumb along his jaw line.
"Wh…where's Fa…Faith?"
Maritza's spine tightened. She still didn't understand Bosco's relationship with Yokas. Why did he need her so much? Cruz had been in the restroom outside the locker rooms a few weeks ago and overheard Bosco apologizing to Faith. She had also heard Yokas' reply and had seen the despair on Bosco's face in the days that followed. And still he asked for her. She resisted her urge to be angry. This was not the time to be selfish.
"She's on her way, Bosco. She's going to meet us at the hospital." She was relieved to see a slight smile appear on his face.
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Sully and Faith entered the small bar owned by Rose Boscorelli. It was still relatively early and the crowd was small. Faith noticed Rose look up as they approached.
"Faith, how nice to see you," she smiled briefly. "What brings you here?" she questioned and then her smile wavered a bit as she saw Faith's frown.
Rose frowned as well. "What's Mikey done this time?" she inquired.
Faith was a little shocked by the question, but replied grimly "It's not Mikey, Rose."
Rose suddenly paled and Sully reached out to support her elbow, as she muttered in horror "No. Not Maurice."
Faith took her hand and lead her to a chair to sit down. "There's been an accident, Rose."
"Is he.." Rose could not finish the question as she raised her hand to cover her mouth. She let out a small gasp.
"No, Rose. He's alive. But we need to get you over to Mercy. Ok."
Rose looked up with a mixture of relief and fear on her face. "I'll have to tell Julie so she can close the bar."
Julie, Rose's employee, had been standing nearby. "It's ok, Rose. I heard. I'll take care of everything here."
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Ty watched as the emergency room doors at Mercy flew open. Kim, Carlos, and several of the hospital staff members were practically running with the gurney. Despite all the chaos, Bosco was perfectly still. Kim was forcing air into his lungs through a mask and Carlos was compressing his chest as he ran along side. Maritza Cruz followed behind with tears streaming down her face.
He overheard Kim's report to the trauma staff. "33 year old male with multiple injuries from a high-speed MVC, originally regained consciousness at the scene, noted to have scalp and facial lacs, a fractured left arm, multiple rib fractures, probable internal injuries, an open left tib-fib fracture with significant blood loss. Patient lost consciousness again in route. He stopped breathing about two blocks away and we lost his pulse shortly thereafter. 7 liters of saline given in the field. One amp of Epi given in the bus."
'Stopped breathing? Lost his pulse?' Ty could not believe what he was hearing. This was Bosco. Bosco couldn't die.
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As soon as they entered Trauma 2, Dr. Poole, Mercy's newest trauma surgeon, started barking out orders. He was fairly young, but he was very aggressive and had a very commanding presence. "Listen up, people. Get my heart monitor hooked up. I want two units of 0 negative on a rapid infuser. Get me a CBC, Chem 14, type and crossmatch……"
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Mary Proctor could not believe what she was seeing. She felt almost as if she were caught up in a bad dream, or rather a nightmare. Dr. Thomas calling her name snapped her back to attention.
"Mary. Mary? I'm going to need the bronchoscope." He admonished.
"Of course." Mary replied and moved to get the instrument. It wasn't uncommon for the ER staff to use it to help intubate a trauma patient. 'You have to snap out of this and pay attention,' she chided herself. 'You'll be of no help to Bosco if you don't.'
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Dr. Poole looked at the heart monitor. There was a rhythm, but it was very slow. 'Probably PEA.' He asked Carlos to hold chest compressions. And as he suspected there was still no pulse.
Carlos took the opportunity to step back and allow one of the other ER workers to resume compressions. Jeremy was new in the ER as well and was very eager. He was also a very stout young man. With his first compression, several loud pops were heard. "Take it easy." Dr. Poole ordered. "He's not a very big guy."
Carlos winced as he stepped out of the trauma room. There was no doubt that if Bosco's ribs weren't already broken, they were now.
"Give me 1mg of Atropine and another amp of Epi." Dr. Poole commanded.
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Dr. Thomas listened to Bosco's lungs and was glad to hear breath sounds on each side, although they were a little decreased on the left. Mary taped the tube in place and started bagging Bosco through it. Dr. Thomas then proceeded to try to put a larger IV in Bosco's neck.
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Dr. Poole did a quick exam and noted the extensive bruising on Bosco's left side. He felt his abdomen, which was extremely tense. There was no doubt that he was bleeding internally. He left the anti-shock trousers in place. Once Dr. Thomas reported that the tube was in, he listened to Bosco's lungs. Then he noted the heart rate on the monitor. It was still much to slow. He had Jeremy hold compressions again. There was still no pulse. "Resume compressions."
He ordered another round of Epi and Atropine. And two more units of blood were started. Even then, there was still no pulse. "Get me the thoracotomy tray." He announced.
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Mary Proctor knew what she was about to hear but still was not prepared for it. "Cracking" a person's chest was a last resort. She had only seen it done a few times, but had never seen it work. Bobby Caffey was the only patient that Mary had seen who actually made it to the OR. The others had died in the ER. She sighed inwardly. She hated to see Bosco undergo such a brutal procedure.
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Kim, Carlos, Levine, Cruz and Ty all stood silent watching the commotion in the exam room. Doc had gone to get coffee, but had told Levine to be ready to go when he returned. Sasha fortunately had been sedated and was resting in another room. When Kim heard Dr. Poole ask for the thoracotomy tray, she turned her back and walked away. She had watched them do this to Bobby and she couldn't bear to see it again.
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Dr. Poole took a deep breath as he began to make a large incision between two of the ribs along the officers left side. During times like these he often wondered how he'd gotten himself into this position. What had happened to the college freshman that only wanted to teach high school science? He had often joked that he had gotten a little side tracked and found himself in medical school. On days like today, he sometimes wished he had followed his original course.
He had performed this procedure a few times, but seldom with good results. As he placed the rib spreader between the officer's ribs and began to open it, he visibly cringed. He still could not get over the gruesome sound of ribs breaking and flesh tearing. He wondered if he really had any right to do such a barbaric thing to another human being. He almost felt as if he were in the middle ages. Maybe he was wrong to prolong things and submit this man to further torture. But he had to try. It was his duty. He'd sworn an oath.
When the ribs were spread a small amount of blood drained out onto the bed and dripped onto the floor. The lung was badly bruised. But Dr. Poole didn't find any significant bleeding within the chest itself. He suspected that most of the blood loss was within the abdomen and from the leg. He proceeded on to locate the aorta, the main artery that supplied all the major organs in the abdomen and the legs. It was a risky move that could potentially lead to organ damage or even paralysis because this artery also supplied the spinal cord. But he had no other choice. When he found the artery, he clamped it off.