Title: Riot in Lockup
Author: Phyllis
Disclaimers: Owned by John Watson, Warner Bros., and NBC-no profit made-only borrowing for a short time
Rating: PG
Warnings: none
Word Count: 6297
Summary: Bosco returns to work
RIOT IN LOCKUP
Bobby was standing in front of the fire station when he saw the blue Mustang pull up across the street. He walked over to greet the occupant as he got out of the Ford.
“Hey, Bosco. About time you came back to work.” He lightly clasped the man’s shoulder “How’s the shoulder doing?”
The young officer shrugged his shoulders a couple of times. “Pretty good. Aches some. If I move too fast, it’ll bother me some, but really, it’s not to bad.” Bosco looked at the tall paramedic. “I haven’t talked to you since I got shot. I know you came by a few times, but I haven’t had a chance to tell you thanks for being there. I don’t remember too much, but Faith tells me you guys saved my life.” Bosco extended his hand. “I wanted to tell you and Kim thanks. I mean it.”
Bobby waved Bosco off. “Hey, man, just doing what I get paid to do. I’m just glad we were able to help. Everyone was pretty worried for a while.”
“Well, thanks anyway. You just proved what I’ve always thought and that’s that you and Kim are a great pair of paramedics. And I, for one, think you don’t get enough credit.” Bosco released Bobby’s hand. “ Well. I had better get in there and report for work. I’ll see you later.”
The two men split and went in separate directions to start their day of duties. Kim Zambrano arrived just as the two men split. Smiling, she called to Bosco. He gave her a wave as he headed for the doorway to the station house. She turned toward the firehouse and told Bobby hello over her shoulder. He came up behind her and put his hands on her small shoulders. “Hello, partner. How’s your day going?”
“Things are good. Joey had a good day at school. He told me all about it on the ride over. He and Mom are going out to eat tonight, because he got two gold stars at school today.” Kim laughed. “He gets to pick the place for his reward. Where do you suppose they’re eating?”
Bobby smiled “Pizza”
Kim reached up and patted Bobby’s hands on her shoulders. “You know my son too well.” Once inside, she went back to change while Bobby stopped in the kitchen to get a drink. Their shift started in twenty minutes. When Kim came out, they would begin checking the bus and supplies. They checked both at the beginning of each shift. Chances were good that they would have to gas up and add oil. This had become a daily event for them. There was an oil leak, but nothing that would take the ambulance out of service.
Jimmy Doherty walked up and took a bottle of water out of the refrigerator. He nodded an acknowledgement to Bobby. “Afternoon.” Bobby nodded, but said nothing. Jimmy kept moving through the kitchen area to the workout room at the back of the house.
Doherty had been quiet since coming back to duty after being shot by a mentally ill ex-firefighter several weeks prior. Maybe a real brush with death would help to settle the jerk down. Bobby still got angry when he thought about Kim and Jimmy together. Sure, they were married at one time, but divorced when he started running around on her. As good a firefighter as Doherty was, it was overshadowed by his poor choices in his personal affairs. He gambled too much, was unfaithful to his wife, and a poor dad to his son. For all his faults, Jimmy was a good man at heart, just too immature for his and everyone else’s good, except at his job. In that area, Jimmy Doherty excelled. Bobby Caffey had no problem with firefighter Jimmy Doherty. He had great respect for that man.
But Bobby’s feelings for Kim made it hard for him to accept the personal side of Doherty. No matter what Doherty did to Kim, if he showed up at her door, she would let him in. She was his safety net. That was Bobby’s problem with him. Kim had not talked about Jimmy much in the last few weeks. Before he had been shot, Bobby had been with Kim and engaged to another woman at the same time. Bobby would never understand why Kim could not just cut her ties with the jerk. Of course, they had a son together, but the boy lived with his mother and Dad had visitation every other weekend.
There was no sense worrying about them. Kim was his partner and as long as Jimmy was a part of her life that was all she would ever be. He was brought back to the present as Kim came out tucking her uniform shirt in. “Hey, partner, ready to go to work?” Kim looked at Bobby, seeing him as a good friend. Well, as long as she was around, Bobby would be happy.
Bosco waved to several people as he passed through the station to the locker room, but he didn’t stop to talk to anyone. After being off for two months, he felt out of place in his own station house. He hoped the sensation would pass soon and things would get back to normal. He changed to his uniform, but left his vest in the locker. The doctor had released him for light duty only, so he would not be on the streets where he should be and wanted to be. Hopefully, it would not be long.
He shut his locker, took a deep breath, and then left the locker room by the only door. As he came out, Faith Yokas was just turning the corner at the end of the hall closest to the locker room. Bosco smiled and raised his arm to greet his partner. Faith’s greeting was a little more physical. She put her forearm against his chest and shoved him back through the door he had just come out of. He stumbled backwards into the locker room and stopped only when he ended up against the end of the locker bank. Surprise was on his face as he tried to remember what he might have done to set his partner off.
“Damnit, Bosco, when are you coming back on full duty? I’m sick of riding around with those idiot rookies straight out of the academy. He couldn’t find a crime if it hit him in the face, much less solve one.” Her eyes blazed as she confronted him.
“He?” Bosco raised his hands in an act of surrender when her eyes flared again. “Hey, I want to go back on duty as much as you want me back, but they won’t release me for …..”
She cut him before he could finish his statement by shoving him back against the lockers again. “Do NOT say two more weeks. I have to get you back in that car now, so I can get rid of that idiot Whitney” Faith took a couple of breaths and relaxed the pressure against Boscos’ chest. “Bos, I can’t take another two weeks.” Yokas said almost tearfully.
At that moment a tall, thin red haired cop came up behind Yokas. He stepped into the doorway of the locker room behind Yokas. Faith dropped her head slightly. “Yes, Whitney? What is it?”
The young officer smiled “Yes, Officer Yokas. I just wanted to let you know, there were no major incidents on our beat today. The officers in unit 55-David responded to 2 domestic calls, 1 shoplifting call at the grocery on Fifth and Vickery. They reported activity at all the schools, but as schools are opening next week, that was not unexpected. That is all they had-a very slow day according to senior Officer Ramirez. The sun is due to set at 8:21 pm so the temperature should drop soon after that. We might think about putting light jackets in the truck of the squad. Well, we should get to roll call. It is almost time to start the day’s briefing.”
Faith had her eyes closed during the entire exchange. The young officer did an about face (that was the only way to describe it) and proceeded to the briefing room.
Faith still had her head hung down, but she must have felt a small vibration in Boscos’ chest. Her head jerked up and her eyes locked with his. He felt, rather than saw, her hand reach for her holster. “I swear to God, Bosco, if you laugh, or even smile, I will pull out my gun and shoot you right here.”
Bosco bit his lip and opened his eyes wide to stop the laugh that lurked at the back of his throat. Faiths’ face hinted that she might not be kidding. “Never.” Was all he could muster.
Captain Elchisak was suddenly standing at their shoulders, hands resting on his belt. “Is there a problem here?” he looked both officers in the face as he crossed his arms across his chest. “Boscorelli, you’ve only been back ten minutes and already causing trouble?”
Faith released her partner. “No. He wasn’t doing anything, Captain. I was threatening him with death if he ever did something like getting shot again.” She turned to Bosco and smiled. With a wink, she told him, “It is good to have you back.” She turned and walked off to the briefing.
Bosco looked the captain. “I guess I had better get over there. Hate to be late my first day back.”
The Captain held up his hand to halt Boscos’ step. “Are you sure that you are ready to come back? It hasn’t been that long. How’s the shoulder? And don’t say that the doctor released you. I’m asking you what you think, not what he thinks.”
“Captain, I’m fine. I’ve been doing the physical therapy that the doctors recommended. I’ve talked to the department shrink. I honestly do feel ready to go back on the streets. If the department wants to put me on limited duty, that’s their call, I’ll do what is required. But, I feel that I’m ready for duty. I can do my job.” Bosco turned and faced his captain. The two had never been on good terms, their views on conduct varied, but both understood what it took to be a good police officer.
The taller man stood there for a minute. Then he inclined his head toward Bosco. “Then I suggest that you get to work. Duty will be in the station for a couple of days. Then we’ll see about getting you back in your squad.” He turned to leave, then turned back. “Before your partner shots that procedural idiot that’s riding with her now.” Bosco had to laugh at that. The older man left and Bosco headed to the briefing room.
Bosco hurried to the briefing room, knowing he was already late. As he entered the room, the sergeant stopped talking and looked in his direction. Like a kid caught without a hall pass, Bosco waited for the lecture he had heard several times before. He was taken back when everyone in the room stood and applauded. He glanced around the room and located Yokas. Her look told him that, true to her word, she had recounted the events of the day he was shot, so as to place him in the role of hero. It was a role that he did not like or want to be in. He still couldn’t remember too much from that day, so he was very uncomfortable with this display. Bosco’s glare only drew a shrug of Yokas’ shoulders. She seemed to say, “I told you I’d tell it my way.” Bosco surveyed the room, took a small bow and then took a chair. Faith watched Bosco cross the room and take a chair behind her. The color in his cheeks told his embarrassment, but the gleam in his eyes told her that he was pleased that the watch was glad to have him back. For some reason, Bosco did not feel that he was well liked at the station. He could be pretty obnoxious at times, but he did his job and took care of his partner. That counted for a lot in this business. His perception that people did not like him probably accounted for his cavalier attitude toward procedure. She knew she would pay later for his embarrassment, but it had been worth it to see him draw himself up straighter and enter the room without the strutting walk that he so often used.
Briefing ended without further interruption. Within ten minutes, everyone had collected their gear and headed to their duty assignments. Several people came up to Bosco to welcome him back and ask how he was doing. In the crowd, Faith was able to slip out without the condemnation she knew was coming. She was only delaying the inevitable, but she’d deal with that when the time came. At the moment she had another problem to deal with. She could see Whitney waiting at the squad. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and released it. She headed through the door to her temporary partner. Very temporary.
__9:30 pm ___
“55-Charlie”
John Sullivan keyed the mike on his left shoulder. “55-Charlie”
“55-Charlie. 10-34 at 34252 E King St. at the bar.”
“55-Charlie. 10-4 dispatch” He glanced over at Ty Davis as he logged the call in the logbook.
“Fight at the bar?” Davis questioned.
“Yeah. They’re getting a late start tonight.” Darkness had descended on the city. Only a deep purple in the western sky hinted at the day gone. As Sully and Davis pulled up in front of the bar, lights flashing, several patrons were exiting. Sully could tell by their attitude they were trying to escape the fight within. Davis reached for the door handle.
“Davis, hold up a minute.” Sully reached for his mike again. “55-Charlie requesting backup at King for 10-34 call.”
Dispatch acknowledged the request and Sully nodded to his partner. As he exited the squad and headed for the door, he was vaguely aware of dispatch putting out a call for a backup to their location. Yokas in 55-David answered the call and estimated arrival in three minutes. Sully nodded, and then turned to his partner. “ OK. Let’s see what’s going on.”
Sully stepped through the door, closely followed by Davis. He saw exactly what he expected. There were several men fighting in the back of the bar. The bartender turned as they came in. He half pointed to the back with both hands. “They were watching the ball game. Fight broke out over a pass interference call on Denver. Giants had them down ‘til then. Denver scored and won and the fight started.” The bartender shook his head. “It’s going to take more than you two”
To himself, Sully thought, “It’s going to take more than the four of us.” To the bartender, he said. “No problem. We’ll handle it.“ Again he called dispatch, “55-Charlie to dispatch. We are going to need a bus and a wagon on King. We have ten to twelve involved in a brawl.” Once again dispatch acknowledged and put out a call.
Yokas acknowledged the call to King St. and flipped on her lights. “Sully knows this area pretty well, so when we get inside, follow his lead. If he’s knocking heads, you do the same. We’ll sort them out after we have control of the situation. Is that understood?” Faith eyed the young redheaded officer.
“Shouldn’t we assess the situation ourselves? We might be able….” he started.
Yokas interrupted Whitney in mid-sentence. They were rounding the corner and she pulled up behind Sully’s unit. ”Hey, what did I just say? You follow Sully’s lead. Don’t think-just follow our lead, Whitney.” She jumped from the car and headed into the bar. As she entered, the noise of the fight assaulted her ears. In the back of the room, she saw Sully leaning against the pool table with a man pinned beneath him. Another man was on the ground under Sully’s feet-literally. The police officers’ right foot was on the mans’ back. Davis wasn’t making out as well. He had taken a left to the jaw just as Faith got to the back of the bar. His head snapped back, but he did not go down. If anything, the blow angered more than injured the young cop. He came back at his assailant with a punch to the stomach, followed by an uppercut to the chin that rocked the man back on his heels. If his friends had not been standing behind him, the man would have hit the floor without feeling anything for hours. The three men lay down their cohort down and then stepped up in front of the rookie officer. Davis drew himself up and prepared to be overpowered by numbers. Yokas was suddenly at his shoulder, stick out and ready.
“OK, gentlemen. Let’s go. I’ve been wanting to crack somebody’s head for two weeks now. So, who’s going to be first?” Yokas had her face and posture sat for the coming fight.
Davis peeked over at Faith and saw the glint in her eyes. It said a lot about her mood. He was sure that she was dead serious about breaking heads if the men decided to fight. Working with Bosco must have rubbed off on her. Ty looked at his partner to see Sully grin.
“Whitney! Get over here and cuff these guys. I don’t think they’ll be giving you any trouble.” Sully applied pressure to both men. “Isn’t that right boys?” Tired and bloody, both nodded their heads in response. Whitney approached and took charge of the two men. Sully took a position behind the three men who confronted Davis and Yokas. “OK. Now that the odds are even, what’s it going to be? The choice is yours. You are all going to jail. You can go walking or you can be carried, but you are going.”
The three men looked from the officers stone faces to each other and back again. As one, they stepped back, towards Sully, and interlocked their hands on top of their heads. Sully relaxed slightly and reached for some zip locks he had stuck in his belt before coming in. “Done this before, have we boys?” Yokas and Davis came over and helped to restrain the men.
A few moments later, Doc and Carlos came through the front door with their medical equipment draped over their shoulders. They drew up short at the sight of broken tables, glass, chairs, and bodies. Sully waved them in and began to point out patients. “We’ve got two down here and two more on the other side of that pool table.”
Doc assessed the situation. “You check those two. I’ll go on the back.” Carlos started unloading equipment and knelt down by the man Davis had dropped a few minutes earlier.
As Doc headed to the back, two officers came in the front. “Officer Sullivan?” Sully looked up. “We have your transportation outside.”
“OK. Let’s load them up. We’ve got four being looked at the paramedics. That leaves…” Sully paused. Glancing around the room, he did a quick count. “That leaves seven for you to take. We’ve got three here, two back there and two more over there with Whitney.”
As the men were gathered up and escorted out, Doc finished with the man he was working on. “Sully, this one can go. He’s fine, just a small cut on his head. Head wounds tend to bleed a lot. They look worse than they are.”
“Thanks, Doc.” Sully pulled the man to his feet and told Davis to put him in their car. He turned back to Doc. “Do you need some help with these three?” Doc shook his head. “I’ll have one of the wagon officers go with you. I’ll call ahead to the hospital also and have security waiting. Once they’re patched up, we’ll arrange to pick them up.”
Sully headed outside to join Davis. “Craig, go with Doc and Carlos, just in case.” The younger officer nodded and went back into the bar to assist the paramedics.
Back at the station, Bosco was working in lockup. It was his least favorite duty to pull. There was too much paperwork-forms to fill out, photos to catalog, and fingerprints to file. After the paper work, was the task of keeping the prisoners confined up until they were transported downtown where they were arraigned. The most excitement routinely, was a happy drunk. Bosco didn’t to see drunks come in. You never knew when they might go from happy to belligerent to sick. The last thing he wanted to do on his first day back was clean up after some alcoholic, puking up his dinner. But at least he was out of the house and away from Nicole and his mother. For the past eight weeks, he had been waited on, pampered and coddled by both of them. At first, he was enjoying the attention, but after a couple of weeks, even he had had enough. He hadn’t been allowed to do anything for himself. The last straw was when he told Nicole he was going for a drive in the Mustang and she had insisted that she drive. That was when he knew he had to get back to work and back to normal. He made an appointment with the department shrink the next day and begin to double up on his physical therapy. Bosco knew he wasn’t 100 percent, but was close enough that one or two weeks more would not make too much difference in his performance.
It had been a quiet day until Sully and Davis’ rowdies had arrived. Bosco began processing them and placing the men in holding cells. A request had gone out to central for transportation downtown where they could be arraigned and than bailed out. Most of the men had sobered somewhat and were quiet, though three were still a bit belligerent. Bosco and the rest of the officers ignored them as they tossed out snide comments and complaints.
Most of the rowdies were fingerprinted and had mug shots taken by the time Sully and Davis showed up with the eighth prisoner. Sully and Davis had placed their guns in lockers outside of the holding cells as protocol prescribed. Davis fingerprinted the man after his picture was made, then took him to the cells. Another rookie, Matheson, was turnkey for the shift. That meant that he had the duty of unlocking the cells during prisoner movement. He was talking to Davis about the ballgame as he unlocked the cell. He had his head turned slightly, so he didn’t see the three burly men tensed at the door of the cell. As the door swung open, they charged forward, taking both officers and the man between them down. One man grabbed the keys, out of the lock and started unlocking doors.
Bosco stepped back as Sully rushed forward. Turning, Bosco saw what happening and, leaning across the desk, slammed his hand down on the panic button. As well as alerting the station to the trouble in lockup, it also locked all the doors to the outer areas. It effectively sealed everyone in the room with no way out. The only way to open the door was with a key from the outside. The Captain and the duty sergeant carried the only keys that would open the doors. Bosco charged in behind Sullivan and started swinging.
Motion momentarily stopped as the alarm sounded throughout the station. Then every officer without a charge in front of them headed for lock up. Yokas and Whitney were working on their report. Faith knew what that sound was and she knew where her partner was. Whitney looked at Faith, confusion on his face. Faith jumped up and yelled over her shoulder, “Trouble in lock up!” She was halfway across the squad room before Whitney was standing.
Sully grabbed the still cuffed prisoner and tossed him into the closest cell. He bent down to check on Davis and Matheson. “You two ok?”
Davis started to nod his head. Motion behind Sully drew his attention. “Look out!”
Sully ducked and felt the wind as a chair sailed over his head and crashed into the bars of the cell door. Wood splinters rained down on Davis and Matheson. Both rookies shook the splinters off. They looked at each other and jumped up in unison as if a mental agreement had been made in that short glance.
Sully had turned and punched the chair thrower in the face. The man staggered back two steps before going down, out cold. Sully turned back to see Davis and Matheson reaching into a pile of bodies on the floor. They each came up with non-uniformed forms. Davis punched his man in the stomach and then booted the breathless man through an open cell door. Out of the twenty-three prisoners in lock up, only eight decided to stay put in their cells. Fifteen made the decision to fight-not a good choice. There were only three officers on duty in lock up normally. Tonight, Sully and Davis made it five. Three to one odds were not good, but even if they did overpower the police, there was no way out of the room. Apparently, no one had thought of that as the men fought each other and the five police officers.
Outside the locked doors, the rest of the station watched the fighting while waiting for a key to open the locked doors. Captain Elchisak and Faith arrived at the same time. The captain pushed his way through with Faith right behind him. They could see bodies all over the room. Most were still fighting, some were not moving. Captain Elchisak was inserting the key when Faith spotted Bosco on the far end of the room. She watched helplessly as one of the biggest men picked up her much slighter built partner and lifted him off the ground. She heard the key turn and the lock disengage a moment before she saw Bosco, feet dangling twelve inches off the ground, being slammed against the wall where an old gun locker was anchored to the wall. She could almost imagine hearing his ribs crack with the impact. She was first through the door. She stopped halfway across the room when Bosco brought both hands, clutched together, down on the bigger man’s neck. He hit the man twice more, quickly, and the man’s knees started to buckle. Bosco slid down the wall. Landing on his feet, he brought his knee up into his assailant’s stomach, doubling the semi-conscious man over. Bosco’s eyes flared as he drew back his arm. Faith ran forward, but stopped short, as he lowered his arm and grabbed the man’s collar to drag him to a cell. Yokas grabbed the man from the other side and helped her partner.
“You ok?” She watched as Bosco cuffed the man to a bar in the cell. He was breathing hard and looked a little pale and sweaty, but he nodded his head.
“I’m fine.” He looked over his shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get this mess cleaned up.”
The influx of police officers quickly turned the tide on the men fighting. The mayhem stopped as fast as it began. Luckily for the five officers in lock up at the start of the fight, most of the men were more interested in fighting than escaping. They didn’t even care who they were fighting. Paramedics were called over from across the street to patch everyone up. Though Bosco was the only one not bleeding, no one was seriously injured. Most of the injuries consisted of cuts and bruises. Matheson had a cut on his arm that would require stitches and he told Bobby he would get it attended to as soon as they had the mess cleaned up. Central division had sent several wagons and officers over to collect the prisoners and transport them downtown to be booked on assault charges in addition to their original charges. Things quieted down quickly as the fifteen pugilists were escorted out to the waiting vehicles. The remaining eight men were held for the next transportation to keep them separate from the others downtown.
Matheson left to go to the hospital and get his arm stitched up. Sully, sporting a swollen lip and black eye, and Davis, who had received another cut over his eye, were still hanging around downstairs when Faith came up to them looking for Bosco.
Ty said “Last I saw of him, was when we loaded up the last prisoners outside.”
“Thanks, Ty.” Faith turned and headed for the back door that lead out to the alleyway.
Sully turned to his young partner “Well, shifts almost over. Why don’t you go up and get started on the reports? I’ll be there in a minute.” Davis was too weary to argue, so he turned and left without protest. Sully watched as Davis headed out the door. He then turned and followed Yokas outside.
Faith found Bosco down the alleyway off the back door exit. He was sitting on the edge of a supply dock, holding his left arm. “Hey, what’s going on?” Bosco jumped up as she approached. “You alright?’
“Yeah. I’m fine.” He released his arm and looked around nervously. Then he looked down at the ground. He seemed to be having a hard time making eye contact with Faith.
Faith studied him for a minute, chewing on her upper lip, and then reached for his right arm. “Come on. We’re going across the street and get you checked out.”
Bosco raised his arm up and away from her grasp. “No, we are not. There’s nothing wrong with me, other than a little bruising. I don’t need a paramedic to tell me that.”
Faith lowered her hand. “Well, I do.”
Bosco leaned back on the dock. “Too bad, cause I’m not going over there. Bobby looked at earlier.”
“Yeah? When? When you reported in for work?” She crossed her arms and glared at the stubborn jerk she called partner. She could be just as stubborn as him “You’re going, if I have to get the Captain involved.”
“No. I’m not.” Bosco sat his jaw and stared back at her.
Sully walked up in time to hear Bosco. He looked at both of them and couldn’t help but compare them to a couple of kids having a staring contest to see who would blink first. “Come on, Faith. Bosco says he’s ok. Just drop it.” Faith continued to watch her partner. She saw Sully reach out and clasp Bosco’s left shoulder.
Bosco gasped and jerked away. “Son of a bi……” Bosco grimaced. He paced around holding his arm close to his side.
Faith knew why Sully had done what he did, but she couldn’t help but glare at him as she once again reached out to her partner. “Bos, please. Do it for me. Just let Bobby check you out. I’ll rest easier.”
Bosco straighten up and turned up the alleyway. “Alright. But I’m telling you, it’s just a bruise.”
The three walked out of the alley and crossed the street to the fire station. They saw Bobby and Kim restocking the ambulance as they approached. Bobby looked up as they entered and grinned as he saw Bosco wave off Faith. “She wouldn’t believe me when I told her that it’s only a bruise.”
Bobby was still smiling. “See. You should have let us check you out over there and saved yourself the trip. “ Bobby sat Bosco down at the back of the ambulance and had him remove his uniform blouse. As he started a visual exam, he said loudly to Bosco. “I told you she’d ask.”
Bosco rolled his eyes. He knew that Bobby was right. But his response was a “Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. “ He wished that he had been checked at the station and avoided this. He was pretty sure that he had only bruised his back when he hit the wall. He was positive that he didn’t want to find out it was something else. The last thing he wanted was to be put back on medical leave.
Kim had brought out the trauma box and sat it down by Bobby. She checked Bosco’s blood pressure while Bobby examined his back. “Man, you are going to have a butte of a bruise tomorrow. Whatever you hit, you caught it just to the inside of your shoulder blade.” Bobby probed the area gingerly. He checked the bone to see if it might be chipped or cracked. “Any trouble moving your arm in any direction?”
“Nah,” he said as he rotated his arm. “See? Full range of motion. The arm and shoulder are healed. Doctor told me that I’m back to 90 percent strength. And I’m getting stronger each day.” He turned toward Bobby, but saw that he was looking at Faith. He turned quickly and saw Faith lower her arms. Bosco just shook his head. “Ok, Faith.” To Bobby, he said “Just to ease her mind, you want to check my ribs?” He turned his eyes on his partner. “That’s what you want, right?” Bosco heard Kim chuckle behind him.
“It would greatly relieve my mind.” Faith stood her ground. Bosco was trying to shame her into backing off, but she was not having any of it and returned his look. This staring contest continued for a minute, then Bosco turned back to Bobby. He raised his arms in surrender.
“Why don’t you take a couple of deep breaths?” Bosco did as asked as everyone looked on. “Any pain or discomfort?” Bobby asked.
Bosco shook his head. “Nope.”
“Well, I’m convinced. Kim, how about you?” Bobby turned to his partner.
Kim nodded as she folded her arms across he chest. “That about does it as far as I’m concerned. Seems good to me.”
Everyone turned to Faith. “Ok. So I’m a concerned partner.” Sully cleared this throat-loudly. “ Ok! Ok! So I’m a mother hen. I just want to be sure he’s not injured himself any further. I need him back in the squad.” She looked around for support and got back blank looks. She threw up her arms and turned to leave.
Bosco felt bad. He knew she had only made him get checked because she was concerned. He grabbed his shirt and went after her. He caught her in a couple of steps and saw her brush at her eyes. “Hey, come on. Don’t do that. I wasn’t trying to make fun of your concern.” Bosco looked her in the eyes. “I’ve been babied enough the last two months. I’m just a little tired of it. I know that I’m all right. And I need you to accept that I know what I’m talking about. Ok?” His eyes pleaded to her to understand. “I need a partner, not another sitter.”
Faith looked into Bosco’ eyes for a moment, studying him. Finally, she looked away. “Ok. I believe you. I’m sorry I made such a big deal of it. But when that guy slammed you against the wall, I thought he broke you in half. He was so big. It was gruesome to watch.”
“Yeah, well, just because I’m slight, it doesn’t mean that I’m fragile. So, are we ok now?” Faith smiled and nodded. Sensing that her guard was down, Bosco grabbed her and bent her back from the waist. And in his worst Irish brogue said, “Alright, then. How’s about a little kiss, darling?” And, with that, he gave Faith a kiss on the cheek.
Faith pushed her partner away as she stood ramrod straight. Her face was bright red. Bosco’s smirk did nothing to cool her off. “You asshole! Ahhh! Why do I put up with you? Every time I think you’re finally going to grow up and act mature, you go running off at the mouth and get yourself in trouble.”
Sully roared at the exchange, while Bobby and Kim gaped, wide-eyed, at the pair. Yokas looked mad enough to hit him. She clenched her fist to stop the shaking. She was so furious she considered hurting him.
Bosco reached for Faith again, but she stepped back. “Oh, come on. You know you love me. That’s why you want me back. Just admit it, Faith, You can’t live without me!” This last statement was shouted at her retreating back as she went back across the street to change and head home. She never slowed up, as she displayed a universally understood hand gesture.
Bosco turned back to the others. He spread his arms wide and, smiling like the lunatic Sully sometimes thought of him as, he said to them “See! That just proved it. If she didn’t love me, she’d just ignore me. “ With that, he also headed for the station and home.
Sully turned to Bobby and Kim. “Hey, what can I say? They make for cheap entertainment.” Sully made for the door, but turned back. “Appreciate the help. Thanks guys.”
Bobby and Kim watched him leave, and then turned toward each other. Kim shook her head slowly. “I hope we aren’t ever that weird.” She looked at Bobby. She could see his chin quivering. “On second thought, I just hope we never get that public.” And they both burst out laughing with that.
Feed the Wolves
