Weathering the Storm
Part 8
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NOTE: For those of you who don't know; there are TONS of different side effects to taking sleeping pills. And well, I felt like incorporating lots of different ones to make things more "interesting".
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15 days….27 sleeping pills
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Bosco's alarm went off at 5:30. He put his head under his pillow, and put his arms over the pillow trying to block out the noise. He wasn't ready to get out of bed; it was too early. Knowing that the noise wouldn't stop until he did something about it he blindly stretched his arm out in the direction of the clock. He tried to flip the switch, but his movement caused the clock to fall to the floor. "Dammit!" Reluctantly he kicked off the blankets, and picked up the clock before turning it off.

He stretched his arms above his head as he yawned. "Damn I'm tired," he thought as he rubbed his eyes. He sat on the edge of the bed contemplating what to do first. Make coffee or take a shower?
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After taking a shower he went into the kitchen to make some coffee. As the coffee brewed he looked at the two Pop Tarts that were still on the table from the day before. He reached down, and picked one up. He took a bite, and started to chew the now stale breakfast food. His stomach felt sour, and he immediately spit out what he was chewing. He dumped both Pop Tarts into the trash. Coffee would be his breakfast all though he wasn't sure if that was a good idea either.
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Faith followed Bosco with her eyes as he walked from the locker room door to his locker. He didn't acknowledge anyone, and he still looked half-asleep. He sat down in front of his locker, and slowly spun the combination dial. "Hey," Faith called over to him.

He looked up, and tried to smile. "Hey yourself."

"You feeling any better this morning?"

He put a hand on his stomach. "I'm a little nauseous, and feel kinda hung over."

"Probably side effects from that sleeping pill," she figured.

"Yeah. Probably."

Faith watched him as he started to change. She couldn't get over how haggard he looked. Something was definitely wrong with him, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe she could get him to open up to her when they started patrol.
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She kept a watchful eye on Bosco as they sat in roll call listening to the morning briefing from Lieutenant Anderson. Bosco looked like he had really tied one on last night, and if she hadn't known better she would have believed that to be true.

He rubbed at his eyes, and covered his mouth as he yawned. Bosco knew that Faith was looking at him, but he didn't really care. When briefing was over he stood up, and lined up with the rest of the officers to sign out a radio. Faith stood in line behind him. She put her hand on his elbow. "Are you feeling up to this?"

Bosco nodded. "I'm all right." His actions told her different as he put his hand on his stomach as he fought off another wave of nausea.

She watched as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Trust me. Like you said it's probably just the side effects. I'll be fine."

"OK," she hesitated, "but I'm gonna drive."

"Knock yourself out."
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They drove around their sector in silence. Bosco spent most of this time staring out the passenger's side window. Faith alternated between watching the road, and trying to get a good luck at Bosco. He was way too quiet. Sure he didn't feel good, but rarely was he this quiet. Even when he wasn't feeling well he usually complained about it. His silence was unnerving.

They hit a pothole, and Bosco groaned as his stomach lurched. "Faith," he whispered. She looked at him but didn't respond. His eyes were closed. "Faith can you pull over?"

"You OK Reese?"

He shook his head. "Just pull over."

Faith pulled over, and stopped the car. Bosco hopped out without another word to her, and quickly ran to the nearest garbage can. He braced himself by putting one hand on each side of the can, and then unloaded the contents of his stomach. Faith had gotten out of the car and was now standing behind him. She gently placed her hand on his back, and rubbed in a circular motion.

Bosco came up for air; panting slightly. His hands still gripped the edge of the trashcan. "Hey, hey, you all right?" she asked with concern.

He started to reply but quickly bent over the can again heaving up the coffee he had before work. When he was done he stood up, and wiped his mouth with the long sleeve of his shirt. "Oh man," he groaned.

Faith still had her hand on his back. "You feel better?"

"A little," he nodded. "That was gross."

She chuckled. "Yeah kinda. Breakfast didn't agree with you huh?"

He thought about telling her that he didn't eat breakfast. That he for some reason just couldn't eat, and that instead he had almost an entire pot of coffee, but he decided against that. What she didn't know couldn't hurt her. "Guess not." He walked toward the vendor selling bagels a few feet away. "I gotta get some water."

Bosco slowly made his way back to the RMP. He took a drink of water, and swished the liquid around in his mouth before spitting it out onto the sidewalk. Then he opened the car door, and settled into the passenger's seat. He leaned his head back against the headrest.

Faith climbed into the driver's side, and looked at him. "You look a little green."

He looked at her. "I just hurled Faith. What do you expect?"

She shrugged. "You gonna be able to make it through the rest of the shift?"

"Well, there isn't anything left in my stomach, so I don't have to worry about blowing chunks again."

"You paint such a pretty picture."

"I try," he said dryly.

"Just let me know if you feel worse."

He nodded.
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A few minutes later a call came over their radio. "Central to 55-David."

Bosco responded. "Go ahead Central."

"10-22. 1397 North Fayette."

"55-David…13 uh…139…1397 North…" He let go of the button on his radio and looked at Faith. "Where?"

Faith keyed her radio. "55-David 1397 North Fayette."

He rubbed at his temples, and shook his head. "What is wrong with me?" he wondered. "I'm always good with numbers and streets."

She looked over at him. "That was odd," she thought.
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There were a few more incidents throughout the day were Bosco seemed to lose his concentration. It was a good thing their day wasn't very eventful. For the most part Bosco had sat quietly in the RMP, and Faith drove around their sector worrying about him. A couple times she spoke to him just to make sure he was still awake.

When their shift was over Faith once again kept a watchful eye on her partner as he got dressed. Sully and Davis were getting ready to head out for their shift. "Hey Bosco. Me and some of the guys have tomorrow off and we wanna max out in the weight room. You wanna join us?"

"What time?"

He shrugged. "Real early. Like five or so. That way some of you day shift guys can join us."

Bosco nodded. "Yeah Davis that sounds good. I'll see ya then."

Ty and Sully left the locker room, and Faith stared over at Bosco. He hadn't put his shirt on yet, and she couldn't believe what she saw. "How did I not notice the other day?" she asked herself as she walked over toward him. Her mouth was open in shock.

He saw the look on her face. "What?"

She looked at him. "Stand up."

"Huh?"

"Stand up," she said sternly. He did what he was told, and looked at Faith with curiosity as she stared at his upper body. She walked behind him, and then stopped. He turned to look at her.

"What are you looking at?"

"My God. I can't believe I didn't notice the other morning when you came over," she said softly.

"What? Notice what?"

She put one hand on his stomach, the other on his back; and then moved one hand to each of his hips. "When did you lose so much weight?"

He looked down at his stomach. "I haven't lost any weight."

"Yeah…yeah you have. I can't believe I didn't notice." She looked into his eyes. "You're practically wasting away."

"I am not," he chuckled.

Her hands were still on his body. "What's going on? How sick are you?" Her voice sounded alarmed.

"Faith, relax I'm fine. I'm not sick."

"No, something is definitely wrong here. You haven't been doing anything that would make you lose this much weight…have you?" She put a hand on his cheek. "Please don't lie to me. Is there something I should know about? Are you…are you OK?"

"I'm fine Faith. Really."

She sat down on the bench. "Reese when I had cancer it did some really strange things to my body. I was sick, and I lost weight, and I---"

Bosco cut her off. "Look Faith, I'm fine. I don't have cancer. I'm not sick."

"Your body is telling me something different."

"I had blood tests and stuff done a couple weeks ago remember? They woulda told me if something was wrong."

She looked up at him. "Maybe you should go back. Get a full check up."

He sat down next to her. "Faith I'm telling you I'm fine!" She started to say something, but he held up his hand. "I'm fine."

Reluctantly Faith let it go. They had talked not so long ago about sharing their feelings, and not keeping things bottled up inside. Bosco had made a huge leap when it came to opening up to her, and expressing his feelings. There was no reason for her to doubt what he was saying. He started to put on his shirt, and Faith put her hand on his arm. "I'm just worried about you," she said gently.

"I know." He smiled at her. "Trust me, you'd be the first to know if something was wrong." Bosco kissed her cheek, and then finished getting dressed.

Faith walked outside with him. "You wanna come over for dinner tonight?"

He shook his head. "No thanks. I'm still not feeling all that great."

"The side effects shouldn't have lasted this long. Maybe you are coming down with something."

He shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe."

"If you aren't feeling better tomorrow maybe you should call in, and get a doctor's appointment."

"We'll see."
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Bosco sat alone in his apartment thinking about what had happened throughout the day. He hadn't felt good at all, and he had trouble concentrating for the majority of the day. Something wasn't right, and Faith had picked up on it.

He went into his bedroom to get ready for bed. Bosco took off his shirt, and caught a glimpse of himself in the full-length mirror that hung on the wall by his closet. He tilted his head to the side as if to get a better angle. "Maybe Faith was right," he said to himself as he walked over to the mirror to get a closer look. He ran a hand over his stomach, and then turned to the side.

Without hesitating he went into the bathroom, and pulled the scale out from underneath the sink. Making sure the dial was exactly on the zero he stood on the scale. "Shit," he whispered. He stared in disbelief at the number the red needle was pointing to. He stepped off the scale shaking his head. "No way I lost eleven pounds. When was the last time I weighed myself," he wondered, but couldn't remember.

Figuring it was pointless to try and figure it out he put the scale away. He had lost weight. No point in trying to find out where it went. He obviously just needed to eat more. If he hadn't been feeling like crap the last few days Faith probably wouldn't have even noticed the weight loss. Besides, life had been hectic, and he'd had a lot on his mind the past few weeks. "Yeah, that's it," he thought to himself. "That's life. Shit happens. No big deal."

He nodded. Satisfied with his theory on the weight loss. "Gotta get up real early tomorrow," he said aloud as he reached for the bottle of prescription pills. Twenty minutes and three pills later he was fast asleep.