Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters or places.
Collision Course, Chapter 32
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"Oh my…..No! You're not." "You're pregnant?" Sasha almost whispered.
Cruz looked down at the table as she fumbled with her napkin. Slowly she glanced back up at Sasha's expectant face.
"How pregnant?" Sasha finally asked.
"Oh, I'd say all the way." Cruz replied sarcastically.
"No…. I mean, how far along are you?" Sasha clarified.
"Thirteen weeks." Cruz answered quietly.
"Thirteen weeks?" Sasha slowly counted back. "But that's when…."
"When I was raped." Her voice broke on the last word.
Sasha sat in stunned silence. Cruz looked back down at her hands that continued to twist her napkin. Tears welled in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
Sasha cleared her throat, unsure of what to say. "Sarg, didn't they offer you the morning-after pill?" she questioned softly.
Cruz nodded her head up and down. "I didn't take it."
"What?" Sasha asked in confusion thinking maybe she had heard her wrong.
"I didn't take it…. because of my religious beliefs." Cruz repeated.
Sasha tried to gather her thoughts. "So you're going to have it?" she questioned.
"Yeah, I'm going to have her." Cruz answered. "It's not her fault that her father is a rapist or that I was stupid enough to get myself into that situation."
"You were not stupid Sarg. You couldn't know that he was going to do that." Sasha assured her.
"No, but I could have listened to you and left well enough alone." Cruz replied.
"Still, this is not your fault. You can't blame yourself." Sasha was completely baffled by the whole situation.
"Did you say 'she'?" Sasha asked.
"Yeah, it's a girl." Cruz smiled briefly despite the tears threatening to fall. "You may think this is crazy, Monroe, but I want her. I mean… I don't have anyone else. My mom was a hooker and I don't even know who my father was. My sister and I were raised by our grandmother, but she died when Lettie was seventeen. And now Lettie is gone. This baby is the only relative that I have and I want her. I don't care what anyone thinks either. She is just as much a part of me as she is of him." Cruz confided.
"I don't think it's crazy, Sarg. It's…. different, maybe. But not crazy." Sasha replied with a hint of sadness to her voice. "Does anyone else know?" she questioned.
"Bosco knows. I was sick one night when we were out on patrol and I got a little lightheaded. He was going to make me go to the ER, so I had to tell him." Cruz answered.
Sasha could not help but be curious about Bosco's reaction considering his history with Cruz and his reaction to her being raped. "What did he say?" Sasha asked hesitantly.
"Actually, he gave me some pretty good advice. He said if I wanted to have her it was my business and no one else's. And if I wanted to keep her, it was my business. But to make sure that I was able to love her unconditionally and not resent her because of what happened. He said if I was going to do that, I should consider giving her up to someone who could love her regardless." Cruz paused, then continued. "I decided that night that I was going to keep her."
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Kathy sat staring into the ICU room. Her shift had ended almost an hour ago, but still she waited. Finally Dr. Poole exited the room.
"You should go home. I think he's going to be fine." Tim reported.
"Are you angry?" Kathy asked.
"Well, if he'd crumped then, yeah. I would have been angry with you. But since he's ok, I'm not mad. In fact I'm a bit relieved that I no longer have to worry about when it will be the right time to extubate him. He took care of that little problem for us." Tim reassured her with a smile.
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Kathy had panicked initially when she realized that Officer Boscorelli had pulled his breathing tube out. It seemed as if it took forever for respiratory therapy to get there. When they arrived, it had actually been Marge who was just in the process of clocking in when all the commotion started. Marge quickly attached a facemask to the oxygen port coming from the wall and approached the bed. However, Officer Boscorelli must have recognized her from their previous interactions because he looked at her in horror and started yelling for her to stop. Actually it was more a squeak since his voice was still very weak. But Marge got the message and handed the mask off to Kathy. Kathy had finally gotten the mask on him. She moved him back onto his back and elevated the head of the bed. Then she retied the restraint on his right wrist to keep him from pulling the mask off. He struggled briefly, then finally began to calm down. When he did, his breathing calmed as well. His oxygen level stabilized and he finally relaxed.
Tim had come in shortly thereafter. Since the patient was holding his own, he decided to hold off on reintubating him and just watch him. He continued to do well and they were even able to wean the oxygen from the facemask down some. Still Kathy had been reluctant to leave until she knew that he was ok. Now she glanced from Tim back to the patient. He seemed to be sleeping, the expression on his face calm. His oxygen level was good, and his blood pressure and heart rate were stable. She let out a small sigh of relief.
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"Kathy, you really should go home." Tim reiterated. "Aren't you working tomorrow? We're going to hold his tube feedings in case we need to reintubate him. But really, he's doing ok."
"I need to finish up an incident report. And I guess I should call his mother and let her know what happened. She was going back to work and wasn't planning to come back until tomorrow morning." Kathy commented.
"Well, it's fine to let her know what happened. But it's probably just as well that he doesn't have any more visitors tonight. I'd rather keep him as calm as possible until we make sure he's going to do ok." Tim replied.
Kathy nodded and went to find Rose's work number.
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Collision Course, Chapter 33
Day 8, 7:15 AM
Kathy hurried about, making her initial assessment of her patient. The night before had been fairly uneventful after she left. Well, at least uneventful until Christine untied Officer Boscorelli's wrist restraint during his bath earlier this morning. Within a few minutes, the officer had pulled his oxygen mask off, at the same time pulling the feeding tube out of his nose. He had apparently rested quietly after that and his oxygen levels had remained stable once the mask was replaced. After checking the IV bags that were hanging at the bedside, Kathy glanced down at the officer. She was surprised to see his deep blue eyes watching her. Was that a look of confusion or curiosity on his face? Maybe both.
"Good morning, Officer Boscorelli," she chirped as she moved closer to the bed.
"Bosco" a raspy voice whispered.
"What?" Kathy questioned. She was having trouble understanding him.
"Bosco" He repeated a little more loudly.
Kathy realized then that he was referring to himself by the name that his friends and coworkers called him. "Ok. Good morning, Bosco." She replied with a smile. "I'm your nurse, Ka….."
"Kathy" the raspy voice cut in.
Kathy looked at him in shock. "I wasn't sure that you would remember that." She confided.
"Bits and pieces." Bosco mumbled. Suddenly a frown crossed his face. "Where's Marge?" He questioned.
Kathy let out a small laugh. "Oh, you remember Marge, do you? Well don't worry. She want be in until tonight." Kathy assured him.
Bosco looked slightly confused. "What time…" He stopped to clear his throat.
"It's 7:15…. In the morning." Kathy answered when she realized what he was trying to ask.
"Sunday?" He questioned.
"No, Saturday." Kathy corrected him.
'How could it be Saturday morning when the last thing I remember is Saturday afternoon?' Bosco pondered.
Seeing the perplexed look on his face, Kathy continued, "You're in the hospital, Officer. You've been here for a week now. Do you remember what happened?"
'A week? What …'
Kathy watched as Bosco wrinkled his brow in thought and then closed his eyes tightly.
He finally opened his eyes and asked, "Monroe?"
It took Kathy a minute to realize that he was asking about Officer Monroe. "She's fine, Officer. Barely a scratch on her." Kathy assured him.
"Bosco" he muttered again and then coughed, his face contorting in pain.
"Right, sorry. Why don't you rest, Bosco? You really shouldn't talk too much since the breathing tube just came out." Kathy admonished.
Bosco nodded his head and closed his eyes. He was too tired to think about it all now.
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Kathy had allowed Bosco to sleep until around 9:00AM. But she had been left explicit instructions from Dr. Poole that he wanted the officer to try to sit up in a chair this morning if possible. He was going to be dialyzed again later in the day. So she and one of the orderlies had moved him into a chair at the bedside. They elevated his feet, so that the casted leg would not be hanging down.
Kathy had straightened his linens in the meantime and now was busy charting. She looked up when she heard a low moan. Officer Boscorelli was extremely pale and had tiny beads of sweat across his forehead. "Are you ok, Offic… Bosco?"
"Don't feel so good." Bosco mumbled, taking a few quick and obviously painful breaths.
Kathy glanced at the clock. It was only 9:35. She had intended to have him sit up for at least an hour, maybe even through the visiting period. But it appeared that it was not to be. "Let me get some help and we'll get you back into bed." Kathy assured him.
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Rose sat in the waiting room watching the clock on the wall. Her foot tapped up and down nervously.
"It's almost time." Sully commented.
"Are you going back with me, John?" Rose asked.
"No, I don't think so. If he's awake, the last thing he's going to want to see is my ugly mug." Sully joked. He glanced at Rose's tapping foot. "You nervous?"
"What? Oh, no." Rose answered as she stopped her shaking leg. "That's just a habit."
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Kathy glanced up as Rose Boscorelli entered the room. "Hi Rose. How are you this morning?"
"I'm good, Kathy, really good. How's my boy?" Rose questioned.
"Well, he sat up in the chair for a little while, so he's pretty wiped out right now. I think he'll wake up for you though." Kathy reported. With that, she headed out of the room to give Rose some privacy.
Rose eased over to the chair at the side of Bosco's bed and sat down. He was sleeping so peacefully, she hated to wake him. The bruises on his face continued to fade. The oxygen mask was a welcomed sight compared to the ventilator. She slowly placed her hand in his. When she did, he curled his fingers around hers. "Maurice?" She asked in a whisper. His eyes fluttered slowly open.
Standing and leaning over the bed, Rose stroked his forehead with her fingers. "Maurice, baby?" she muttered though tears.
"Ma" Bosco rasped, tears trickling down his own face.
"Shh, baby. It's ok. Mamma's here." Rose assured him as she brushed the tears from his cheek. Leaning over further, she kissed his forehead and then rested her head against his.
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Collision Course, Chapter 34
Bosco slept through most of Rose's visit, but she seemed content to sit with him, holding his hand and occasionally patting his arm. After the visiting period ended, Tricia, the dialysis nurse, wheeled her machine in.
"Well, I see we've made progress since our last dialysis session." Tricia observed. "When did that happen?" she questioned, making reference to the fact that Bosco was no longer on the ventilator.
"Oh, he pulled the tube out himself last night." Kathy replied.
"Oh, I see." Tricia stated as she started to hook the machine to the large catheter in Bosco's leg. As she attached the tubing, Bosco began to stir.
"Good morning, Officer Boscorelli. I'm Tricia."
Bosco looked around worriedly and was relieved when he located Kathy. Looking back at what Tricia was doing, he croaked, "What's that?"
"That's the dialysis machine, Officer." Tricia answered.
Bosco looked back at Kathy in confusion. Meanwhile, Kathy was wishing that Offficer Boscorelli had been awake enough earlier this morning for Dr. Poole to talk to him about his injuries.
"You've been dialyzed a couple of times, Officer." Kathy began.
"Bosco" he reiterated with a frown.
"I'm sorry. Bosco. You had some internal injuries from the accident. Dr. Poole had to remove your spleen and one kidney. And the other kidney was damaged because your blood pressure was very low for a while. So you're being dialyzed to remove the toxins that build up in your body." Kathy explained.
The frown on Bosco's face increased as he looked back toward Tricia and her machine.
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Kathy said goodbye to Tricia and glanced back at her patient. He had been extremely distant since their conversation earlier. For a long time he just stared at the dialysis machine; then he finally dosed off and on. Now he lay quietly, rolling the sheet between the fingers of his right hand. Kathy was glad that the 2:00 visiting hour was fast approaching.
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Kathy watched as Sergeant Cruz washed her hands prior to entering Officer Boscorelli's room. His mother had visited for the first 10 minutes of the visiting period. Bosco had rested with his eyes closed and barely responded to Rose. Kathy had assured her that he was probably just wiped out from the dialysis. She was curious now as to how he would respond to Sergeant Cruz.
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Maritza Cruz stood at Bosco's bedside and watched his face closely. His forehead would wrinkle up as if he were in pain or having a bad dream. She hoped it wasn't the latter. She had witnessed him having one nightmare back when they were together. She had watched him toss and turn for a few minutes, thinking that he would wake up or settle down. Instead he bolted straight up in the bed screaming at the top of his lungs. When she reached out for him, he grabbed her by the shoulders and shouted at her to run. 'RUN! RUN! IT'S COMING DOWN!" He had shouted it over and over and tried to push her away from him. He was breathing in gasps and sweat poured off of him. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally managed to wake him. But when he realized what was going on, he turned away from her. He sat on the edge of the bed shaking, trying to control his breathing. Then without a word he left the bedroom. She found him sitting on her couch in the dark. The streetlight outside cast an eerie shadow, making the look in his eyes more haunting. They sat in silence for a long time, until finally he told her about 9-11. She was shocked that he opened up to her, but even more shocked by the things he had witnessed. They both shed silent tears that night and Bosco finally fell asleep with his head resting on her shoulder. The next day he acted completely normal. Well, normal for Bosco. And they had never spoken about that night again.
Looking again, Cruz noticed his expression was more intense. And despite what Rose had said about him being exhausted, she decided to wake him. She placed one hand on his arm and shook it gently. "Bosco. Bosco, wake up." She coaxed. He tried to pull his arm away. "Come on, Chico. I know you've been awake today. Open your eyes." She continued. "Hey there. Now that's better." She said when he finally complied.
"Hey" he mumbled.
"How are you feeling?" Cruz asked as she sat down in the chair and moved her hand to rest on top of his.
"Like I've been hit by a truck." Bosco grumbled, then coughed slightly.
"Well that's close." Cruz smirked.
Bosco studied her for a moment. "How are you?" he questioned.
Cruz was a bit surprised by his question. "I'm not the one in the ICU, Bosco."
"You know what I mean." He said slowly, trying not to strain his raspy voice too much.
Cruz smiled. "We're doing fine, Bosco."
Bosco seemed satisfied and remained quiet for a few minutes. Finally he looked back at Cruz. "I'm getting dialysis." He stated in a matter-of –fact manner.
"Yeah, I know. But that's only temporary." Cruz assured him.
"How do you know?" He asked her.
"I just know. You've come a long way, Bosco. And you're going to get past this. Just wait. You'll be back to your old self in no time." She assured him.
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Dr. Poole came in to check on his patient shortly after the visiting hour. "How are you feeling, Officer Boscorelli?" He questioned.
Bosco shrugged his shoulders, but soon regretted it when he felt the pain in his chest from the motion.
Dr. Poole picked up on his discomfort. "We're going to change your pain medication so that you can give yourself an extra dose when you need it, Officer. I wanted to talk to you about your injuries." Tim continued.
Kathy was amazed as she watched the interaction between the two. She was first surprised that Bosco didn't insist on Tim calling him Bosco. She was also surprised that he didn't really ask Tim any questions as Tim told him about his injuries, like he had her. In fact, he seemed disinterested in the whole conversation.
When Tim finished, he approached her. "He's not very talkative is he?" Tim asked.
"I think maybe he's just tired. We've had a busy day." Kathy reported.
"Well since he's doing so well, I'm going to change his oxygen mask to nasal bi-prongs and have the speech therapist see if he can eat. Let me know if he has any problems." With that Tim left the room.
Kathy glanced back at her patient who had closed his eyes once again.