Disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters or places.
Collision Course, Chapter 42

As roll call ended, Cruz hurried to catch up with Faith. "Yokas, wait up! I need a word with you." She half-shouted.

"And I need to get to work, Sarg." Faith replied as she climbed up behind the front desk. She turned around and stared down at Cruz, the look on her face asking 'What?'

"Why didn't you call me and tell me what was going on with Bosco? I know you called the others." Cruz demanded.

"Well, I contacted people on a need-to-know basis." Faith paused, then smiled a menacing smile. "Maybe, I didn't think you needed to know."

Cruz was a bit taken back initially by Faith's answer. When she finally regained her voice, she replied angrily, "Look Yokas! Whether you like it or not, I care about Bosco. You're not going to change that. AND I AM STILL HIS SARGEANT. SO YES, I NEEDED TO KNOW." Cruz's voice escalated as she spoke.

"Well then be sure that Rose knows to call you from now on, because it's not my job to keep you updated, SARGEANT." Faith retorted.

Just as Cruz opened her mouth to respond, Lieutenant Swersky walked up and cleared his throat. "Is there a problem here, Ladies?"

"No problem, Lieu." Yokas replied with a smirk. If looks could kill, Faith was sure she would have fallen dead on the spot. But Cruz didn't reply. She just turned and stalked away.

Faith watched with a satisfied grin on her face, until the Lieutenant cleared his voice again.

"Get back to work, Yokas." He ordered. This is going to be a long night he thought.

XXXXXXXX

After almost an hour of total silence from Cruz, Monroe decided to test the waters. "Sarg?" she questioned. Cruz just looked at her. "Are you ok?" Monroe continued.

"I'm fine!" Cruz snapped.

"Ok" Sasha said defensively. After another few minutes she hesitantly spoke again. "I guess I should have gone to visit Bosco yesterday."

"What?" Cruz questioned, as hearing Bosco's name snapped her out of her trance.

"I said, I guess I should have visited Bosco yesterday. But I wanted to wait until he was moved to a regular room. I just didn't want to see him in the ICU like that. And now he's worse again. I should have gone to see him while I had the chance." Sasha stated.

"What is it with everyone today? Bosco is a lot stronger than anyone gives him credit for being. He's gonna be fine. This is just a little set back." Cruz replied.

Monroe wasn't sure who Cruz was trying to convince. "I'm sure he will be, Sarg. I just regret that I didn't go see him." Sasha answered. She soon decided that maybe it was best to just be quiet and leave Cruz alone. "Great. This is going to be a long night," she mumbled.

XXXXXXXX

Ty and Sully slowly approached the ICU waiting area. It was just after the 6PM visiting hour and Sully had insisted that they stop and check on Bosco, even if they couldn't go in. Ty suspected that he was actually checking on Rose.

They entered the waiting area to see a weary appearing Rose Boscorelli as she exited the ICU.

"Hi, Rose." Sully smiled at her as Ty rolled his eyes. "How's he doing tonight?" Sully asked.

"Hello, John. I didn't really expect anyone to come by tonight. There hasn't been much change. He still has a fever and he's very restless." Rose answered.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sully replied. "Look, Davis and I are on our meal break and we wondered if you had eaten anything yet. We could go down to the cafeteria or to the little place across the street." Sully suggested.

Smooth one, Sul. Ty wondered he had come to be included in that.

"Oh, that's nice of you, John. But Anthony and Michael are on their way over now. We're all going over to Dominic's. They both insisted that I get out of the hospital for a while." Rose replied.

"They're probably right." Sully responded. "Well, I guess we had better get going. We just wanted to check on Maurice."

"Thank you so much for stopping by, John. And you too, Officer Davis."

"You're welcome, Maam." Ty replied.

Ty watched as Sully said goodbye to Rose and exited the waiting area. He could tell by his slumped shoulders how disappointed he was. Boy, this is going to be a long night. Ty thought.

XXXXXXXX

Mary hurried into the ICU at 7:05 PM. She had been exhausted and didn't hear the alarm on her clock. "I'm sorry I'm late." She quickly explained what had happened to Kathy.

"I'm just thankful that you're here." Kathy replied.

"I guess that means that your day didn't go much better than my night last night. What happened to your head?" Mary asked.

Kathy filled Mary in on the day's events. Yawning, she finally wished Mary good luck and said goodbye.

Mary slowly entered Bosco's room to see if indeed her patient was in as bad a shape as Kathy had suggested. What she found was actually worse than she expected. Bosco lay under a cooling blanket, shivering and mumbling to himself. His latest temperature was 103 degrees. His heart rate was up and his breathing was fast. His hair was wet and curled up around the edges. His face was pale except for a slight redness to his cheeks. As she pulled the cooling blanket back to examine him, his eyes shot open and he let out a loud moan.

Mary stood frozen for a moment, looking into Bosco's deep blue eyes. His eyes were glazed over and Mary wasn't sure if he was registering her at all until he tried to speak. "M…M….Mary" He muttered between shivers.

"What is it, Bosco?" she whispered as she smoothed his hair back from his forehead with her fingertips.

"C…C…Cold" Bosco mumbled.

"I know, Bosco. But you've got a fever and we're trying to get it down, ok." Mary soothed.

"M…Mary….h….help… me." Bosco pleaded.

"Shhh… it's ok, Bosco. You just rest. Mary's gonna take good care of you." She assured him. She stood at his bedside for a long time with one hand on his arm and the other gently stroking his forehead. Despite the tough act that she put on in the ER, she really did care about the police officers and medics that she came into contact with. And truth be known, Bosco was one of her favorites. She had had a very difficult time during the first few days after he nearly died in the ER. And seeing him like this broke her heart. Oh Bosco, it's going to be a long night. Mary thought sadly.

XXXXXXXX

Faith had just returned from her meal break when the call came through. Another 10-13. It was the first one since Bosco's accident. And it sent shivers down Faith's spine. After a moment, she realized that she recognized that voice. It was Monroe saying that they had an officer down and calling for a bus.

Faith notified FDNY to dispatch an ambulance to the location. Then she caught the Lieutenant's attention as he rushed by. "Wait up, Lieu. Do you need a driver?" She wasn't sure why she asked or if she really even cared. She knew that Cruz was riding with Monroe tonight.

"Hurry up" was Swersky's only reply.

XXXXXXXX

"Cruz, talk to me. Open your eyes." Sasha pleaded. "Come on Maritza. Open your eyes!"

"Monroe, what's going on?" Sully questioned as he and Ty approached the scene.

Sasha looked up quickly. "We stopped a couple of guys we suspected of dealing. And one of them clocked Cruz and then kicked her in the stomach."

Sully knelt down beside the two. Cruz was propped up against the back tire or her RMP with blood trickling down her forehead from just above her left eye. "Sarg, can you hear me?" Sully questioned. Cruz groaned slightly and brought her hand up to her forehead.

"Take it easy, Sarg." Sully instructed as he rose to go meet the arriving ambulance.

Kim and Carlos hurried toward the scene. "What have we got, Sul?" Kim questioned.

"Sergeant Cruz" Sully replied. "She was clocked by some perp that they stopped. Looks like she was out cold for a few."

"You guys just can't stay out of trouble, can you?" Kim joked.

"It sure doesn't look like it." Sully answered.

Kim knelt down beside a very unhappy, now conscious Cruz. "Sergeant, can you tell me what happened?"

"I can tell you what's going to happen when I find Leroy." Cruz grumbled. Pushing a very concerned Monroe away, she continued "Move Monroe. Let me up."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Sarg." Monroe answered.

"Yeah, well I don't think I asked you." Cruz replied as she pushed herself to a standing position. She swayed slightly, and then moved her left hand up over her ribs.

"You should take it easy, Sarg. Let the medics look at you." Sasha encouraged.

"We're gonna need to take you in to get checked out." Kim reported as she placed as steadying hand on Cruz's right arm.

Along with other numerous officers that had responded to the call, Swersky and Faith approached.

"I'm fine." Cruz grumbled again. "I don't need to go anywhere."

"Sarg, he kicked you in the stomach." Sasha argued. "What about the baby?" She continued without considering all of the onlookers.

Cruz glared at Sasha, who now realized that she had revealed Cruz's secret.

"What baby?" Kim questioned.

"I'm pregnant." Cruz muttered angrily. "Come on if you're going to take me in." She ordered, as she headed towards the bus.

Sully, Ty, Faith, and Lieutenant Swersky all stood in shocked silence as Sasha suddenly found the ground very interesting.

"She's pregnant?" Faith finally asked the question that everyone else was thinking.

Collision Course, Chapter 43

Faith sat in the ER, staring at the floor while Lieutenant Swersky questioned Monroe about what had happened. The doctor was in examining Cruz.

Pregnant. Cruz pregnant. Maritza Cruz pregnant.

Faith was captured by this one thought. She couldn't imagine Cruz with a child. She couldn't even imagine that Cruz would want a child. What was the she-demon going to do with a child? And better yet, who would be crazy enough to get Cruz pregnant? Who would be crazy enough to even sleep with Cruz? Well, with the exception of Bosco.

BOSCO! No. No, it couldn't be Bosco. He wouldn't go back to Cruz. Not after what she did to me. Not after what she did to us. He wouldn't. Would he?

Faith thought about the days since Bosco's accident. She thought about how Cruz had been visibly shaken at the scene. How concerned she had seemed. The tears she'd seen her cry. The prayer she'd seen her offer. She knew that Cruz had visited Bosco almost every day. She thought about how angry Cruz had been earlier today that Faith hadn't informed her that Bosco was worse. And the more she thought about Cruz's reactions, the angrier she became.

BOSCO! How dare you go back to her after what she did to me? How dare you? I'll kill you myself if this child is yours.

XXXXXXXX

Maritza Cruz lay on the examining table as the obstetrician on call spread the cold gel for the ultrasound over her abdomen. The cut above her eye had already been stitched.

She had felt so ashamed when Monroe had blurted out that she was pregnant. She could almost feel the cold stares of her coworkers. Hear their unspoken accusations. And she was ashamed. She was so ashamed that she almost wished that she would loose this baby. For the first time in weeks she doubted her decision to go on with this pregnancy.

"Everything looks fine, Sergeant." The doctor announced.

"What?" Cruz looked up in question.

"I said everything is fine. The baby's ok. See." He pointed to the screen.

Maritza looked up to see the small form on the monitor. She could see her feet and little toes. She could see the baby's tiny hand held up to her mouth. "Is she…."

"She's sucking on her hand." The doctor announced with a smile.

A large tear rolled down Maritza's cheek. I'm sorry little bambina. Mama's so sorry. Again she was ashamed, but this time she was ashamed of her doubts and fears.

XXXXXXXX

"Faith? Faith?" Faith finally looked up to see Monroe standing over her calling her name.

"What, Sasha?" she asked.

"I said, I'm going up to check on Bosco while the Lieutenant is talking to Cruz. Do you want to come with me?" Sasha replied.

"Oh….. No. No, I'll just stay here." Faith muttered.

XXXXXXXX

Cruz was hesitant to look the Lieutenant in the eye as he glared at her and paced back and forth across the room. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, MARITZA?" Dave Swersky yelled.

Cruz looked down at her feet, but didn't reply.

Swersky took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant? Huh? You should never have been on the streets. Well?" Swersky questioned.

"I don't know Lieu. I guess I wasn't thinking about it." Cruz answered.

"You weren't thinking alright." Swersky spat.

"I'm sorry." Cruz replied.

Dave Swersky just shook his head. Finding out that Cruz was pregnant was like a bomb being dropped. He was completely astonished. He only hoped that this mess didn't involve one of his other officers, one officer in particular that he had in mind. With the way things had gone over the last year, that would be certain to cause trouble. He knew that it probably wasn't really any of his business, but he didn't want to wait for the other shoe to drop. "Cruz…." Swersky stalled, not sure how to ask what he was about to ask.

"Yeah, Lieu." Cruz looked up at him.

"This may be none of my business, but I need to know who the father is." Swersky stated bluntly.

Cruz took a deep breath as her temper tried to get the best of her. "You're right, Lieutenant. It isn't any of your business." She replied gruffly.

Swersky's gaze met hers. "Is it Boscorelli?" he asked.

Cruz was too shocked to speak initially. Then as she processed the lieutenant's assumption, she let out a half-hearted laugh. "Hahaha. I wish, Lieu." At Swerky's confused look, she continued. "I'd much rather my child have Boscorelli for a father than a rapist." She said coldly.

The lieutenant stared at her for a moment, before understanding showed on his face. "Warner?" he questioned.

Cruz shook her head to say yes and looked back down at her feet, suddenly feeling very ashamed again.

Swersky approached her slowly and placed his hand over her arm. She flinched at his touch. "I'm sorry." He finally managed. "I had no idea."

"It's ok." Cruz said softly. "Lieu?"

"Yeah?" Swerky's voice was just as soft.

"Can we keep this just between us?" Cruz pleaded.

"Of course. Certainly. There's no need for anyone else to know." Swersky replied, giving her arm a gentle squeeze.

XXXXXXXX

Sasha pulled the RMP to a stop outside of Cruz's apartment. Glancing over at Cruz, she saw the lost look on her face. "Sarg?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah." Cruz replied as she looked up and noticed where they were.

"I'm sorry." Monroe whispered.

"It's ok. It's not like I would be able to hide it much longer anyway." Cruz replied. "Goodnight, Monroe." She stated simply as she opened the car door.

"You have a few days off?" Monroe questioned.

"Yeah, doctors orders." Cruz answered.

"Let me know if you need anything." Sasha urged.

XXXXXXXX

"Faith, is something wrong, honey?" Fred approached Faith cautiously.

"WHAT? Nothing's wrong, Fred. Why?" Faith snapped.

"Well, you came in slamming the front door, slammed every cabinet in the kitchen, and haven't said a word in over an hour?" Fred commented.

"Maritza Cruz is pregnant!" Faith exclaimed.

"Really? And you're mad about that?" Fred questioned.

"She's pregnant, Fred. Cruz. Who would get Cruz pregnant, Fred?" Faith grumbled.

"Well, I….I don't know, honey." Fred replied defensively, almost as if Faith were accusing him of the deed.

"BOSCO!" Faith shouted.

"Bosco? Did she tell you that?" Fred asked.

"No Fred! But who else would be dumb enough to sleep with her?" Faith questioned.

"Well, I don't know, babe. I mean she is a beautiful woman. I could imagine that I lot of guys might be interested." Fred said innocently.

"BEAUTIFUL! IS THAT SO, FRED? BEAUTIFUL! THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THE WOMAN WHO ALMOST KILLED ME!" Faith shouted.

"I… I didn't mean it like that, babe. No, I mean… she's pretty and all, but no. I don't think she's ….beautiful. Not really. I mean… she has that scowl about her, you know." Fred stuttered along, trying to talk his way out of the mess he'd created.

"SHUT UP, FRED!" Faith shouted. Turning she stalked down the hall and slammed the bedroom door. Fred sighed and took a deep breath. Idiot! You big stupid idiot. He berated himself.

Hearing the door to the bedroom open, he turned toward the hall, hoping that Faith had calmed down. But as he turned, a pillow flying through the air smacked him in the head. "I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE COUCH! GOODNIGHT!" Faith screamed and turned back to their room.