TW: Major character injury and Gunshots
Objectively Bose probably enjoys fighting crime a little too much, he can never get over the adrenaline rushing through his veins and the thrill he feels finally catching someone who's been terrorizing his town. He punches like he can't feel the throbbing in his knuckles or the bruises along his sides. He's thirteen and he feels on top of the world.
As he gets a bit older the bruises start hurting a bit more, old wounds he's gained never heal quite right, and he gets a bit more careless with his own life. So when he's fourteen and a villain fires a gun at him all he can think is, "Thank God, it's me," because it would tear Miles apart if it was Mika and it would ruin Mika if it was Miles, and Chapa is their heaviest hitter and the most protective person he knows while most of the time he feels like he's just there to lighten the mood. He doesn't hear his teammates horrified screams as he blacks out.
Bose is unconscious for five days with the others constantly vigilante by his bedside. Ray comes up to Chapa on the third day, "You've got to go home kid, your parents are probably worried," Chapa doesn't look up at him, "They're not. I told 'em there was a field trip."
Ray sighs as he takes in his haggard sidekick, "Still kid, you've got to go home." Chapa finally turns to look at him but she's glaring hatefully with her jaw set stubbornly, "I'm not going anywhere so stop asking." Ray glares back at her, "I wasn't asking. I'm telling you as your boss and the adult here to go home."
Chapa laughs incredulously at that before exploding, "Oh so now you're the adult? Where were you when Bose was putting his life on the line for this town? Where were you when Bose was getting shot? Where were you when Bose was dying on that field as I held his gunshot wound closed with my bare hands?"
Ray sighs as Chapa yells at him before snapping, "You're right! I should've been there! I'm the adult and you are the children! Which is why I'm telling you, you need to go home. You're exhausted from fighting and watching Bose. I promise if anything happens to him while you're gone I'll call you."
Chapa glares at him for another few minutes before sighing, "Okay, I'll go home, but you have to tell me the second anything changes." Ray smiles at her and brings her in for a hug, "Be safe, okay kid?" Chapa rolls her eyes but promises she will.
Ray sighs as he sits back down next to Bose, "I'm really sorry kid. I just-" Ray stops himself before he says anything else, "I'm so sorry I even got you into all this." Bose doesn't make any indication he can hear him. He gets up to greet Mika and leads her towards Bose when he hears her walk in.
Mika understands that Bose will heal from his injuries and trusts Shwoz when he assures her Bose being unconscious is for the best right now. But that doesn't quell her fear when she sees him laid up in bed with a breathing tube through his nose and all the bandages on him.
Apparently, he'd been fighting with a broken arm so that had had to be bandaged as well as his chest being wrapped from where the bullet had hit. It's unsettling watching her lively friend be so still.
A bit selfishly watching Bose in the hospital bed makes her wonder about her own safety. Somehow fighting in space and being kidnapped pales in comparison to her best friend dying in a hospital bed. It makes her wonder if this time wasn't a fluke, if this is the rest of their lives, constantly toeing the line with death. She sighs as she curls tighter in her ball beside Bose's bedside hoping he'll wake up soon.
Miles will be the first to admit it, he's been avoiding the Man Cave. He can't stand the thought of seeing his best friend so hurt. He gets away with this for about three days before Mika barrels into his room ignoring his outraged protests about her breaching his privacy and encroaching on his personal space.
"Why haven't you gone to see Bose?" she demands. Miles stammers for a minute before caving, "I'm scared okay? I'm afraid of how I'll react when I see him! I was so scared when I heard that gunshot go off! I felt so useless! Bose was lying there and there was so much blood. I thought he was dead!" "Oh Miles," Mika sighs as she hugs him, "we all felt like that. But imagine how upset Bose will be when he gets told you didn't visit him once?" Miles' shoulders sag at his sister's words but he nods, "You're right, I'll go see him, cover for me with Mom and Dad!" "Wait Miles I didn't mean right now-" Mika doesn't get to finish as Miles disappears in a flash of yellow light.
Miles takes a moment to prepare himself before he enters the makeshift hospital room they've made for Bose in the Man's Nest. It doesn't do anything to help the heart-stopping moment when he sees his best friend, pale and sickly looking.
He takes a deep breath to steel himself before walking to sit down next to his friend, "Hey Bose, sorry I didn't come by sooner. I feel a bit dumb talking to you when I'm not even sure you can hear me, but hopefully, you can. I'm really scared dude. I want you to be okay so badly. Just...please wake up soon." Miles sighs as Bose doesn't react.
Chapa comes back from her temporary ban from the Man's Nest two days after it occurs, five days after Bose was shot. She greets Mika and Miles before asking about Bose's condition. "He's fine," Schwoz assures her, "He should wake up soon." Chapa doesn't know how much she believes him, unable to shake the terror she's felt since she watched that bullet tear through flesh and blood.
"Should we...turn the TV on?" Ray questions hesitantly. "Uh, I have my laptop we can watch old seasons of Geniuene Moments from there while we stay by Bose," Mika volunteers. No one volunteers any other ideas so they settle around her laptop. They're forty minutes into the third Geniuene Moments episode when Bose groans. No one hears him at first but Chapa shushes everyone aggressively when he groans again, "I think Bose is waking up!" They all hold their breaths for a few minutes before his eyes flutter open.
