Chasing the Clouds Away

Part 3

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Remember me? The person who doesn’t own ANYTHING! Hope you enjoy this!

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"Every lifetime has a little bit of rain. This is just your rainy season. Trust me when I tell you, your sun will shine again."

 

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Faith stared at the clock but the numbers were blurry. She strained her eyes and the big red numbers finally came into focus. 2:03 A.M. Bosco hadn't made a sound or moved since he woke up from his nightmare a little after 1:00 A.M. Faith rolled over to put her arm around Bosco so she could snuggle close to him, but he wasn't there. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Bosco?" She walked down the hall. "Bosco?"

 

He wasn't in the bathroom or the living room. Faith checked the dining room and Bosco wasn't there either. She went into the kitchen where she found a note on the counter. "Faith- I didn't want to keep you or the kids up all night with my nightmares, so I went home. I'll see you at work. –Love Maurice."

 

She sighed and went back to bed.

*******

"DAMMIT!" Bosco hopped out of the shower and looked down at his soggy cast. "Shit!" He hadn't slept at all since he had left Faith's apartment, and the lack of sleep was really taking its toll. He had been in the shower for close to five minutes before he realized he had forgotten to put a garbage bag over his cast.

 

He wrapped a towel around his waist, and hobbled to the hall closet. Bosco pulled a pair of wire cutters out of his toolbox. "Dammit," he mumbled as he once again looked at his cast, which was soaked through. For fifteen minutes he sat on the couch and worked on cutting the soggy material off his leg. When the cast finally broke apart he rubbed his leg and foot. "Oh that feels so much better."

 

Bosco wiggled his toes. Then moved his foot. "Oww!" He closed his eyes in pain. After the sharp twinge in his ankle was gone Bosco looked and noticed that there was still bruising around his foot and ankle. "This is going to take forever to heal," he griped as he hobbled back into the bathroom to finish his shower.

********

Faith sat next to Bosco in roll call. "You didn’t have to go," she whispered.

 

"Yeah I did. Every time I closed my eyes I'd panic. I just…I just couldn't---" he shook his head.

 

She put her hand on his knee; not worried about who would see their exchange. "Did you sleep at all when you were home? You don't look real good."

 

He shook his head. "No. It was there every time I closed my eyes."

 

"You should have stayed with me."

 

"Why?" he huffed. "I still wouldn't have been able to sleep."

 

"But you wouldn't have been alone." She squeezed his knee. "I want to help you."

 

He put his hand on top of hers. "I know," he whispered as Lieutenant Anderson started the briefing.

 

After the briefing was over Bosco stood up and started to walk the couple of feet over to where his crutches were leaning against the wall. He stumbled as he put weight on his bad foot. Faith quickly grabbed him around the waist to keep him from falling. "Bosco are you OK?!"

 

"Yeah it's just---"

 

"What happened to your cast?!"

 

"I cut it off."

 

"What?! Why?! You shouldn't have done that! You could injure it more! You need to---"

 

Bosco put up a hand to stop her onslaught of words. "Whoa! Stop!"

 

She gave him a stern look. "Explain," she said as she crossed her arms.

 

"Well…this is gonna sound dumb."

 

"I'm waiting," she said as she tapped her fingers on her arm impatiently.

 

"I was so tired from being up all night, and add that to the night before, and well anyway…this morning I got in the shower and totally forgot to cover my cast. By the time I realized it; the cast was water logged. So I finished it off."

 

Faith nodded. "Well when we're done today I'll take you over to Mercy."

 

He nodded then looked around the room. It was empty except for them, so he leaned forward and kissed her quickly. "Be careful today. I'll see you later."

 

"Have a good day Bosco."

********

"Sergeant Christopher, will you take this to Lieutenant Swersky please? It just arrived and it's marked urgent."

 

"Sure thing," replied Christopher as he took the sealed manila envelope from the desk sergeant. As Jason walked to Swersky's office he read the writing on the envelope. "To: Lieutenant Swersky. Regarding Maurice Boscorelli. URGENT."

 

"Hmmm. Wonder what Boscorelli got himself into this time?" Christopher entered Swersky's office. "Sir this just arrived."

 

"Thank you Sergeant." Swersky read the information written on the envelope. "Do me a favor and see if Boscorelli is still here. Tell him I need to speak with him."

 

"Yes sir." Christopher backed out of the office and found Bosco sitting in the locker room where he was waiting for Faith as she finished brushing her hair. "Boscorelli!"

 

Bosco turned to him. "Yeah?" he asked in an annoyed tone.

 

"Lieutenant Swersky wants to see you in his office."

 

"OK." Bosco looked at Faith. "I'll meet you outside," he said quietly. She nodded.

 

Sergeant Christopher followed Bosco into Swersky's office. The lieutenant looked at Christopher. "That will be all Sergeant. Close the door on your way out." Reluctantly Christopher left the office. He was disappointed that he wouldn't be getting any dirt on Bosco. "Have a seat Bosco."

 

"Yes sir."

 

Swersky held up the manila envelope. "This just arrived. It's your counseling assignment."

 

"That was fast," Bosco said in surprise.

 

"Well you seemed pretty upset yesterday, and I figured the sooner the better. So I put a rush on it."

 

"Thanks," he said quietly.

 

"Not a problem." He handed Bosco a sheet of paper, and put the other one back in the envelope. "That is all the information you'll need. The time of your session, name of the doctor, the office address; all that stuff. Your first session is tomorrow afternoon."

 

Bosco nodded. "Is that it Lieu?"

 

"Yes, you're free to go." Bosco stood up to leave. "Bosco."

 

"Yeah Lieu?"

 

"I think what you are doing, the counseling, is very admirable." Bosco smiled weakly. "Good luck Bosco."

 

"Thanks boss." Bosco opened the office door to leave, and glared at Christopher as the sergeant pushed his way into the office before allowing Bosco to exit. "Bastard," Bosco said under his breath.

 

"Lieutenant these forms need your signature," Christopher said as he went to hand the forms to Swersky.

 

"Just let me put this away first."

 

Christopher smiled inwardly as he watched Swersky put the manila envelope in the top right hand desk drawer. "I've got you now Boscorelli," he thought.

******

Bosco sat on the exam table in the ER with an ice pack on his foot. He looked at Faith who was standing next to him. "I feel like we've been here before."

 

"Yeah," she chuckled. "That's cause we were here a little over a week ago."

 

He smiled. "Oh yeah."

 

Nurse Proctor came in. "Hey you two. We're pretty backed up so you could be waiting a while. We'll get to you as soon as we can."

 

"Thanks," smiled Faith. She looked at Bosco. "I better call the Hanson's and let them know we'll be a while."

 

"'K. I'll be right here," he said tiredly as he yawned and laid down.

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"Hello."

 

"Hi Irene. It's Faith."

 

"Hi Faith."

 

"Um, I'm gonna be late tonight. I hope that's OK. I had to bring Bosco, I mean Maurice, to the hospital to get a new cast."

 

"Is he OK?"

 

"He's fine. His cast just got wet."

 

"Oh. Your lawyer called for you. He wanted me to tell you the custody hearing is Monday at 4 P.M. He said he'd call you tomorrow night to discuss things."

 

"OK. Thanks Irene."

 

Faith went back into the exam room to find Bosco had fallen asleep. She could see he was restless. "His nightmare must be starting," she sighed. As she got closer to him he quickly rolled over knocking his ice pack on the floor. Faith was afraid that if he got too agitated he'd fall off the exam table. "Bosco. Bos wake up." She shook his shoulders, and he sat up quickly.

 

"Huh?! What?"

 

"Whoa Bosco relax." She rubbed his back to calm him. He had that terrified look in his eyes.

 

"I can't even take a nap without having a nightmare."

 

"It's OK Bosco." He looked at her. "What?" she asked with a confused look on her face.

 

"Why do you always call me Bosco?"

 

"Duh, because that's how you introduce yourself. Only your mom calls you Maurice."

 

"All my girlfriends called me Maurice."

 

"So what are you saying? You want me to start calling you Maurice?"

 

He shrugged. "Well everybody calls me Bosco or Bos. I mean, I guess I'd like it if you called me something more, I don't know, more personal."

 

She kissed him. "I could always call you hot lips," she smiled. "But I think at work they might consider that sexual harassment."

 

"Come on Faith. You know what I mean," he said with a hint of frustration.

 

Faith picked up the ice pack, and put it back on Bosco's foot. "Yeah I know what you mean," she said softly as she ran a hand through his hair. "But I've known you as Bosco for so long. I mean I look at you and you just *look* like a Bosco. You don't look like a Maurice."

 

He sighed. "I just want us to have something special."

 

"We do have something special." She kissed him once more, and rested her forehead against his. They were quiet for a moment. "The custody hearing is Monday," she said softly.

 

"Really?"

 

"Yeah." She looked into his eyes. Faith began to cry, and Bosco pulled her into a hug. She sobbed into his shoulder. "I'm scared 'rice." As she sobbed only half of his name came out.

 

"I know baby. I know you are." He stroked her hair.

 

"Will you go to the hearing with me?"

 

"Of course I will. There's no where else I'd rather be than by your side."

 

"Thanks Reese," she said softly as she wiped at her eyes and nose. The name just rolled off her tongue, she hadn't even thought about it. Bosco smiled to himself when Faith called him Reese. It was like music to his ears to hear her call him something that no one else called him. It made him feel like he was hers.

******

Lieutenant Swersky wasn't in his office. Sergeant Christopher went to the front desk. "Do you know where Lieu is?"

 

"He just left for his dinner break. He should be back in about forty-five minutes."

 

Christopher rubbed his hands together. "Thanks." He smiled slyly and headed to Swersky's office. He sat in the desk chair, and looked to make sure no one was watching as he opened the top right hand desk drawer and pulled out the manila envelope with Bosco's name on it.

 

He opened the envelope, and read the contents. "Oh this is too perfect," smirked Christopher as he put the envelope back where he found it and laughed.