Weathering the Storm
Chapter 9
********
Don't own the characters and unfortunately I doubt I ever
will.
Remember this is fiction, and yes I did some research, but
I'm twisting it a little to make it fit the story. HOWEVER, I am doing my best
to keep it SOMEWHAT realistic.
NOTE: In "The Long Guns" Bosco told Hobart he could bench press 300…so just go with what I'm saying OK :)
********
30 pills in 16 days
********
Bosco was awake at 4:30a.m. so he could meet Davis in the weight room at five. It was too early to even attempt to eat breakfast, and he wasn't about to drink any coffee after what had happened the day before.
*****
He dropped his duffel bag by his locker, and headed into
the weight room where Davis and a few other officers were warming up. "Hey
Bosco," Davis called him over. The two officers slapped hands.
"Mornin'."
"Man, I gotta be crazy to be up this early on my day
off."
"Hey you said it not me," Bosco replied with a
grin as he pulled off his sweatshirt. He did a few stretches and warmed himself
up. As he stretched he looked around the room and took in the appearance of the
other guys. It was early in the morning, and they all looked really tired.
"Good," Bosco thought, "I won't have to worry about anyone
telling me how tired I look."
"You ready Bos?" Davis asked from where he stood
by the bench press. Bosco nodded, and made his way toward his tall friend. Davis
motioned toward the bench. "Be my guest."
"Don't mind if I do." Bosco sat down, and then
laid back on the bench. "How much you got on here?" He asked as he
positioned his hands on the bar.
"It's just 175. I thought we'd do one set for a warm
up."
Bosco didn't bother to reply. Instead he just lifted the
bar, and began his reps. Inhaling and exhaling as he lowered and raised the bar.
He pumped out ten quick repetitions then placed the bar back on the pegs. He
quickly rolled off the bench and stood up making himself a little dizzy.
Davis grabbed Bosco's arm as he swayed. "You all right
man?"
He nodded. "Just got up too fast. You're up."
Bosco walked to the head of the bench to spot Ty during his reps.
When Davis was done they started stripping the weights off
the bar. "What did you max out at last time?"
Bosco thought for a minute. "350. How 'bout you?"
"365." They worked in silence as they added the
proper weights to the Olympic sized bar to equal 350 for Bosco. "All right
Bos. Get this up three times then we'll bump it up to 360."
He nodded as he took his place under the bar. Bosco put the
palms of his hands on the bar, and slowly and meticulously curled his fingers
into place. He took a deep breath, and exhaled loudly. "Up," he
instructed, and Davis lifted the bar off the pegs for Bosco to start.
Seeing as they were maxing out right now Davis was paying
closer attention to spotting Bosco than he had when they had done their warm up
reps. Ty's knees were slightly bent, and he had his hands positioned so he could
take the bar form Bosco if he couldn't handle the weight.
Bosco slowly lowered the bar to the folded and taped up
towel that was lying on his chest. The towel was to make sure he didn't lower
the bar to the point where he couldn't push it back up. When the bar touched the
towel Bosco concentrated on pushing the bar toward the ceiling. He exhaled, but
could barely lift the bar. His arms began to tremble from the weight, and his
face started to turn red. He continued to struggle with the bar.
"Help," he said to Davis admitting his defeat.
Ty grabbed the bar, and assisted Bosco in bringing it back
up to it's resting position. He looked down at his friend who had covered his
face with his hands. "We probably shoulda started out slower. My
mistake," Ty said quickly. He knew Bosco prided himself on his strength and
he didn't want him to feel embarrassed. Plus since Bosco had maxed out at 350
last time they should have started a little lower rather than starting at his
max.
"No big deal." Bosco handed Ty the towel, and
they switched positions. Ty quickly pumped out three reps, and they went to
change positions again. "You wanna knock it down some?"
Bosco didn't want to lower the weight, but he didn't feel
like making a fool out of himself either. "Let's go 340."
They each took five pounds off an end, and then replaced
the clamps. Once again Bosco curled his hands around the bar. "Up."
When the bar was in position he lowered it until it touched the towel, and
exhaled as he pushed it skyward. He inhaled as he brought it down again. The
second rep was a little harder. His face turned pink, and he had to rest for a
second at the top of the lift.
Ty instinctively put his hands on the bar thinking Bosco
might need help again.
Bosco lowered the bar, and began to raise it again. His
face turned a darker shade of red, and the bar became uneven. "Come on
Bosco! Straighten it out." Davis encouraged as Bosco worked to straighten
his lift. "One more. You're almost there!"
With his final effort, and a grunt he was able to lift the
bar. Davis helped him slide it back on the pegs. Bosco sat up. Davis walked
around and slapped him on the back. "Nice work."
"Whatever." He stood up. "So you wanna go
360 or 365?" Ty watched Bosco carefully as he walked around the bench.
Something wasn't right. His friend was off in some way. "Davis."
"Huh?" Ty broke from his thoughts. "Oh, uh
365."
When the bar was ready Bosco spotted his friend as he
easily pressed the weight three times. "Wanna go up ten?" Bosco asked
quickly before Ty could offer to let Bosco attempt another lift. Ty nodded, and
Bosco got the bar ready. As he put the last clamp back in place he noticed his
arms were still shaking slightly from his lift. He looked down at Davis who was
preparing himself to lift. "Uh, hold on a sec Davis."
Bosco looked around the room. "Hey Sean! Come here a
sec. Help me spot Davis." He knew with his arms feeling this way there was
no way he could help Ty if he got in trouble.
Sean walked over to join them. "What Boscorelli, too
weak to spot him by yourself?" Sean joked.
"No!" Bosco shot back. "It's just better to
be safe than sorry. Ready Davis?"
When all was said and done Davis had capped out at 375, and
Bosco at 340. Davis was up ten, and Bosco down ten from the last time they maxed
out. Davis had offered to spot Bosco at 345, but Bosco refused to attempt the
weight. He knew he couldn't do it.
Davis walked over to the squat rack, and Bosco slowly
followed him. "Ya know Davis. I'm not really into this today. I think I'm
gonna go for a quick run. I'll see ya later." Bosco turned to leave.
"Hey Bos?"
"Yeah."
"It's no big deal ya know. So you went down ten. Give
yourself a break. You were on desk duty for a month. It was bound to
happen." Ty could tell Bosco was upset, and tried his best to make him feel
better.
Bosco nodded. "I know. I'm just not into this right
now." Ty nodded as Bosco turned away again. Little did Davis know that
during the time Bosco was on desk duty he had lifted weights almost every day to
maintain his upper body strength. This shouldn't have been happening.
Davis watched as Bosco walked out of the room. There was
something about his body language. Something was definitely wrong.
*****
Bosco put his sweatshirt on as he stepped outside, and
breathed in the cool morning air. He needed to run. He needed to let off some
steam, and maybe figure out what was going on. There was no reason he shouldn't
have been able to lift 350 today. The last time he maxed out he hadn't had any
problem lifting the weight three times.
He quickly glanced at his watch. His shift started in an
hour, which gave him enough time to go for a run, and get showered before roll
call. He took off running. Not exactly sure where he was going, but knowing he
needed to go somewhere.
His lungs burned, and his legs ached as he jogged through
the streets. He kept thinking about everything that had happened in the last
couple of weeks, and how he hadn't been feeling well. There was something wrong
with him. He knew that.
The pounding of his feet on the pavement began to cause his right foot and ankle to throb. He turned back toward the station house in disgust. His foot was still getting used to being out of the cast, and he needed to take it easy.
*****
Davis saw Faith enter the precinct, and immediately excused
himself from the group of officers he was talking with outside the weight room.
"Hey Faith, wait up!" He called as he followed her up the stairs.
She turned around and smiled. "Hey Davis. How have you
been?"
"I'm good. How about you?"
"Not bad."
"Things still going good with you and Bosco?"
She nodded. "It's been great."
"Faith," Davis said quietly. "Can I talk to
you about something?"
"Sure."
He looked around the hall. "In private?"
Her eyes filled with concern. "Yeah. Is everything
OK?"
"That's what I wanted to ask you."
Ty ushered Faith into the empty roll call room. He
scratched his head unsure how to start. "Bosco came this morning to lift
weights."
"Yeah I know."
Davis ran a hand over his face. "Is everything all
right with him?"
"Well, things have been kinda rough. A lot of personal
stuff going on." She looked down at the floor, and then back up at her
friend. "He's been seeing a counselor," she said softly.
"Oh," Ty whispered.
"Please don't tell anyone. He'd hate me if he knew I
told you."
He shook his head. "No worries. I won't tell a
soul."
Faith looked at Davis, and knew he had something weighing
on his mind. "What is it Davis?"
He took a deep breath. "This morning we were doing our
maxes on the bench press, and you know Bosco's a strong guy." Faith nodded.
"He was really weak today. Dropped ten pounds off his max, and that's just
not like him. I've never known him to drop down a weight. I mean he always goes
higher or maintains, but never down."
"He hasn't been feeling real well the last couple
days. Maybe that had something to do with it?"
"Maybe," Ty said quietly and shrugged. "I
don't know though. I mean I haven't seen him in a while, but he just doesn't
seem right."
Faith tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know
what you mean. I've been thinking the same thing the last couple of days.
Yesterday I noticed he's lost a bunch of weight."
"Man, has he been that sick?" Davis asked with
concern.
She shook her head. "Not that I know of. I see him
everyday."
They stood in silence each thinking about what the other
had said. "Well I just wanted to say something. He just didn't seem right
this morning, and with the troubles Sully has been going through…well I just
wanted you to know that I'm there for you guys if you need anything."
"Thanks Ty. I really appreciate that."
******
Faith was sitting on the bench in front of her locker when
a sweaty Bosco came back from his run. He walked over to her and placed a kiss
on top of her head. "Morning beautiful."
She smiled at him, and took his hand. "How you feeling
today?"
"Good," he nodded.
"How did the weight lifting go this morning?"
"Not bad. I wasn't really into it though so I went for
a jog instead." He kissed her hand. "I gotta get in the shower."
Faith watched him as he headed for the showers. He sure was doing a good job of covering something up.
*******
Their shift was going fairly well. However, Bosco had
stopped answering radio calls after having trouble remembering the locations
again today, so Faith had stepped up to answer the calls. Other than that Bosco
seemed to be doing fine. They actually spoke to each other today. Bosco had
wanted to know all about the kids previous day at school since he didn't spend
any time with them yesterday.
He had even made Faith laugh a few times with some of his
comments. For a while Faith started to think that maybe she and Davis were way
off base. Maybe Bosco just hadn't been feeling good, and that was the source of
these problems they noticed.
It was 1:15 when Faith heard a growl from the passenger's
seat. She looked over to find Bosco with a hand on his stomach and a grin on his
face. "I think that was the sign that it's time to stop for lunch," he
said with a chuckle.
A few minutes later they were cleared for a meal, and were
seated in one of their favorite diners. Bosco was starving. He couldn't remember
the last time he had eaten a meal. He ordered his normal, a cheeseburger, fries
and a Mountain Dew. While Faith had her normal boring salad. "Why don't you
ever order real food for lunch?"
"Real food? This is real food Bos."
"No, that's rabbit food." He pointed at his
burger. "This is real food." He took a big bite of the sandwich.
Faith looked at him. He always got his burgers so they were
still pretty pink in the middle. "No, that's a cow, and I think it's still
mooing."
He polished off his entire meal, and was feeling pretty
good. Faith noticed how much he ate. "I see you got your appetite
back."
Bosco nodded. "Yeah."
"You must be feeling a lot better today."
"I am. I didn't take any of those pills last night,
and I feel pretty good." He looked down at his empty plate. He had just
lied to her, and was all ready feeling bad about it. "I'm starting to think
I'm dyslexic or something though. Can you believe how bad I messed up those
street numbers on that report this morning?"
"I know. That's not like you at all."
He shrugged. "Oh well what are ya gonna do?"
******
Bosco kissed Faith as they departed the station. "I
gotta get going or I'm gonna be late for my session."
Faith hugged him. "Drive safe. I'll call you
tonight."
"OK," he smiled. He watched her walk away, and
then got into his mustang. It took all the strength he had not to vomit in the
last half hour since they had gotten back to the station. It had felt so good to
get some food into his stomach, but now he was sure there was a Revolutionary
War reenactment taking place inside him.
Before pulling out of his parking space he pulled out his
wallet, and found the number for his shrink. He flipped open his cell phone, and
dialed the number.
"Dr. Parker's office. This is Jane. How may I help
you?"
"Hi Jane. This is Maurice Boscorelli. I'm supposed to
have an appointment with Dr. Parker at 3:30, but I'm not feeling real well, so
I'm not gonna make it today."
"Ok Maurice. Looks like your next appointment will be
on Monday. Hope you feel better."
"Thanks." Bosco closed the phone, and threw it onto the passengers seat. "Please let me make it home before I puke," he prayed.
******
He rinsed his mouth out, and came out of the bathroom
wiping his face with a cold, wet washcloth. Bosco looked at the clock.
"Well at least I kept the food down for a few hours."
As he sat down on the couch his phone rang. "That's
gotta be Faith," he thought to himself as he hit the 'talk' button.
"Hello."
"Hey babe."
"Hey."
"So how was your session today?"
"I didn't go."
"What?! Why not?!"
"When I got in the car to go over there I just got
really sick."
"Really? What's wrong?"
He chuckled. "Well let's just say I saw lunch
again."
"Oh, I'm sorry. You doing any better?"
"A little."
"Maybe you should…"
"I'm gonna go see a doctor tomorrow. I called and got
an appointment."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"OK well you get some rest, and if you don't feel well
enough call in sick tomorrow."
"Sure thing," he said softly.
"I love you."
"Love you too."
******
He was tired, and it was almost time to hit the hay. Bosco
walked into the bathroom, and per his now normal routine he grabbed the bottle
of sleeping pills. He shook three pills out, but didn't take them right away.
"Hmmm. Wonder where that info the pharmacist gave me is?"
Pills in hand he walked into the kitchen. He was pretty
sure he had shoved the papers into one of the drawers. It didn't take long to
find the papers, and he quickly scanned the pages. "Side effects. Side
effects," he repeated to himself until he found the words.
"Appetite loss, weight loss, weakness, vomiting,
nausea, dry mouth, constipation, headache, dizziness, drowsiness, confusion.
Damn there's a shit load. No wonder I felt like crap." He threw the pages
back into the drawer without reading the warnings about addiction. "So this
will all stop as soon as I'm done taking them. Guess there's no need to go to
the doctor tomorrow."
Bosco popped the three pills he was holding into his mouth, and tipped his head back as he swallowed.