Bosco thought he heard something; someone calling him.

“Bosco? Boscorelli?” There it was again. For a second Bosco thought it sounded like Doc’s voice, but what was Doc doing in his dream? Sure, he had dreamt about Kim and even Faith, but Doc?

“Maurice. Open your eyes for me,”

“Come on Bos. I’m really startin’ to worry here.”

<FAITH?> With that Bosco’s eyes shot open. “Owww. Man, that’s bright,” Bosco moaned as Doc was shining his pen light in Bosco’s eyes. “What’s the big deal?” Bosco tried to sit up, but instantly regretted the movement as his head pounded, his energy vanished and a wave of nausea swept over him.

“Whoa Bosco. Just lie still. We’ll get you to the hospital soon. Take it easy,” Doc ordered.

Bosco tried to sit up again, “Hospital? What?” And with that burst Bosco’s energy vanished and he passed out.

“Is he gonna be all right Doc?” Faith asked as the paramedics loaded Bosco into the ambulance.

“Looks like he’s got a nasty concussion and his forearms are bruised pretty badly, but he should be fine. You ridin’ with us?” Without replying Faith climbed into the back of the bus.

****

Once Bosco was unloaded into Exam One at Angel of Mercy Doc and Faith took a seat in the waiting room. “Any idea what happened at Bosco’s place?” Doc asked Faith as he handed her a cup of coffee.

“The same person who vandalized his car threatened him in a note. Guess the guy must have been waiting for him when he came home.”

“How’d you know Bosco was in trouble tonight?”

“I don’t know, I just kinda felt it. Maternal instincts I guess. I called him around 2a.m. and he usually answers the phone all pissed off when you wake him up, but he didn’t answer. I got worried so I went to check on him. When I got to his place the door was wide open and he was just lying there. I couldn’t wake him up;” Faith’s voice trailed off.

Just then the doctor from the ER came out. “Well, Officer Boscorelli’s starting to come around now. His CT scan was as normal as can be, but he has a severe concussion. He’s going to have a pretty bad headache for awhile. His left wrist is broken and his forearms are bruised and swollen. I’d like to keep him awhile for observation.”

“Can I go see him?” The doctor nodded.

Yokas headed down the hall; “Hey Doc. Thanks for everything.”

“Glad I could help.”

Faith walked into the room, and was surprised to see how angry the bruise on Bosco’s temple looked. She softly called out to him, “Bos? Bosco?” His eyes slowly opened, and he tried to focus on his partner, “Faith?”

“Hey Bos. How ya feeling’?” He tried to sit up to survey his surroundings, but couldn’t muster up the strength to lift his head. “Just lay still Bosco.”

“Man, my head is killing me. What happened? What am I doing here?”

“Somebody must have been in your apartment when you got home. I came over and found you unconscious. You regained consciousness right before you got loaded up in the ambulance, but then you passed out. You’ve got a concussion, and a broken left wrist. Other than that you’re just bruised.”

“I feel like I got hit by a truck.”

“Actually Bos it was a Louisville Slugger.”

********