THE MAN
HE USED TO BE
Starsky faces the biggest challenge of his
life, recovering from Gunter’s attack. Can he fight his way back from the edge
of death and be the man he used to be?
Author’s Note: Since the first few chapters
will follow the actual events from the episode “Sweet Revenge”, some excerpts
from that story line will be used. However, this story will focus more on
Starsky’s time in the hospital and long recovery afterwards, as well as Hutch’s
emotions during that period of time more than it will the actual search for
Gunter.
A/N: Many thanks to Dawn Rice from the Love of
Me and Thee yahoo group for her invaluable help with the medical information
for this story. Thanks also to Audrey and everyone else who supplied useful
medical information. In addition, I would also like to thank Dawn Rice for beta
reading this story.
CHAPTER ONE
It was a beautiful sunny day in southern
The squad room was in disarray because it was
being painted. The long tables that were normally used as desks had been folded
and leaned up against the walls and tarps were spread everywhere. One painter
stood on a ladder covering a wall with the same obnoxious green that most
institutional facilities seemed to favor. A second painter was sitting in a
corner eating an early lunch. Someone had pulled the ping-pong table from the
break room into the squad room. To pass time until they got a call, Starsky and
Hutch were indulging in a game of “Trivia” Ping-Pong. The loser had to buy the
winner a three-course meal at a restaurant of their choice. It had been a close
game but Starsky had managed to score the winning point.
The two detectives left the squad room arguing
good naturedly about Starsky winning the bet. As they left the building through
the rear door that opened into the parking lot behind the station, Starsky said
with a smirk,
“You owe me a dinner, buddy boy.”
“Well, a bet’s a bet,” Hutch agreed, as the two
men walked past a row of black and white cruisers parked along the side of the
building and started to cross the lot to the Torino.
“All right!” Starsky gloated gleefully. He had
expected Hutch to put up more of an argument.
“Hey, look….as long as I’m buying, why don’t we
pick a date? How about tomorrow?” Hutch suggested
“Tomorrow? Sounds great.”
“How about five in the morning?” Hutch said with a
grin as he stepped around to the passenger’s side of the car and waited
patiently for Starsky to dig his keys out of his skin-tight jeans.
“No way,” Starsky told him. “You owe me a three-course
dinner.”
“What? Hamburger, fries and a chocolate shake,
huh?” Hutch teased him affectionately.
“No way,” Starsky told him defensively. “I’m
talking about a broiled lobster maybe or a New York Steak.”
“Come on. Hurry up,” Hutch said impatiently waiting
for Starsky to unlock the car doors.
“What’s your hurry?” Starsky asked as he fumbled
with his keys. “It’s not every day you can buy your best friend a three course
meal.” He flashed a grin at Hutch over the roof of the Torino.
Hutch’s attention was drawn to the sound of metal
scraping against metal. He glanced over towards the building in time to see a
black and white cruiser pull forward, the rear quarter panel hitting the front
fender of the cruiser parked beside it. The blond watched as the barrel of a
gun suddenly appeared in the window on the passenger’s side of the cruiser.
“STARSKY!” Hutch screamed frantically, reaching
for his own weapon and automatically dropping to his knees beside the body of
the Torino. “GET DOWN!”
Gunshots filled the air, followed by the sound of
shattering glass and bullets slamming into the metal body of the Torino. Tires
squealed shrilly as the cruiser accelerated and roared out of the parking lot.
Hutch fired three shots after the retreating vehicle but it was moving too fast
for his aim to be accurate. Bouncing to his feet, it suddenly registered in his
mind that he hadn’t heard any answering gunfire from Starsky’s weapon.
“STARSKY!” he yelled desperately as he shot
another round at the fleeing cruiser. “STARSK!” he shouted again, his voice
even more frantic when he didn’t get an answer from his partner. His heart
pounded with fear, slamming against his chest like a sledge hammer. Dropping
his weapon to his side, he ran around the front of the Torino and stopped dead.
Hutch felt the color draining from his face and he
felt like he’d been hit in the stomach with a wreaking ball. His partner and
best friend lay crumbled on the ground beside the car, his body curled in a
fetal position with his head resting in the rear wheel well. Blood was rapidly
pooling on the ground beneath him, pouring from wounds in his chest and
abdomen. Starsky had been caught in the direct line of fire, trapped on the
driver’s side of the car with no place to hide.
The parking lot broke into chaos as other officers
came running out of the building attracted by the sound of gunfire. Hutch
didn’t even notice the shouts and curses that filled the air as he slumped down
to the ground beside his fallen partner. He was afraid to touch Starsky, afraid
of what he would find. Then instinct took over and his trembling fingers
reached out to press against the side of Starsky’s neck, searching frantically
for a pulse. He found one but it was weak and erratic.
Gently, Hutch eased Starsky’s head and shoulders
into his lap, using his hands to press down against the terrible wounds in his
chest, trying to stop the blood pouring out of his body. Other officers had
arrived at the scene and were frantically trying to help, pressing jackets and
bare hands against the wounds to slow the loss of blood. Hutch heard someone
yelling that an ambulance was on the way but his attention was focused solely
on his partner who could be dying right in front of his eyes.
Starsky’s face was pale, his eyes were closed and
his breathing was shallow and labored. Blood ran from the corner of his mouth
in a frothy foam that indicated a direct hit to his lung. Hutch could hear the
gurgling sound deep in Starsky’s chest as he struggled to draw in each breath.
He’d heard that sound too many times in his career. It meant that Starsky was
drowning in his own blood as it filled his lungs.
“Please God….” Hutch whispered, the tears that
burned his eyes beginning to fall down his cheeks. “Not now….not like this.
Don’t die on me, Starsk. Please don’t die…” Hutch knew his prayers were futile.
It was out of his hands. Starsky’s fate rested in the hands of a much higher
power now.
“The ambulance should be here soon,” someone that
Hutch didn’t bother trying to identify said.
“Starsky’s tough.” another person commented.
“He’ll make it. You’ll see.”
The wail of an approaching ambulance drowned out
the voices around him. The sound was cut off abruptly as the ambulance pulled
into the parking lot. The emergency vehicle screeched to a halt a few feet away
and two paramedics jumped out, running to the fallen man lying on the pavement.
Hutch felt hands on his arms, trying to pull him away from his injured partner.
“Come on, son…let the paramedics take care of him
now,” Captain Dobey’s voice said soothingly as he tried to pull the tall blond
to his feet.
“NO! HE NEEDS ME! I HAVE TO STAY WITH HIM!” Hutch
yelled, trying to fight the hands that pulled at him insistently.
Reluctantly, Dobey gestured for assistance and
three other officers stepped forward to help pull Hutch away from Starsky’s
side. Hutch cried out in despair and struggled against the hands that held him,
hands that pulled him to his feet and away from Starsky. Dobey held Hutch’s arm
firmly, holding him back and keeping him from falling back on his knees beside
his partner.
“Let them do their job, Ken,” Dobey said quietly,
his own eyes watering with tears at the tragedy unfolding in front of him. Like
every other officer gathered there he knew that Starsky’s chances of survival
were slim at best. Starsky was losing too much blood much too quickly. His body
was torn apart by the bullets.
The paramedics worked rapidly to access Starsky’s
condition and to stabilize him for transport to the hospital. Time was of the
essence. An oxygen mask was put over his nose and mouth, and IV’s were started.
Pressure dressings were slapped over the wounds to prevent both blood loss and
to keep air from getting into the chest cavity. An EKG monitor showed Sinus
Tachycardia caused by the severe blood loss he had already suffered.
Without any time to waste, the two paramedics
carefully lifted Starsky onto the gurney and started to lift it into the back
of the ambulance to rush him to the hospital.
“Give me that bag of Lactated Ringers.” the dark
haired paramedic yelled at his partner as he started a second IV. “He’s
bleeding out! We gotta move or we’ll gonna lose him!” The ominous words echoed
in Hutch’s ears as he watched the doors to the ambulance closing.
“Come on, son…” Dobey said. “I’ll drive you to the
hospital.” He could feel the tall blond’s body trembling beneath his touch as
he guided Hutch over to his car and helped him inside. Several other officers
rushed towards their own vehicles to accompany their fallen comrade to the
hospital.
Hutch slumped down in the front seat of Dobey’s
car and buried his face in his hands, silent sobs racking his body as they
raced towards the closest hospital with a trauma unit. Dobey threw worried
glances at the man beside him. He recognized the early signs of shock and he
knew in his heart that he stood the risk of losing not just one good officer
but two. If Starsky didn’t survive then neither would Hutch. They were too
close, their lives too intertwined with each other.
Every man and woman who pinned on the badge knew
the risk they faced every day. Dobey had lost his own partner several years ago
and had never gotten over the loss completely. He had the love of his wife and
his family to help him deal with his grief and loss but Hutch didn’t really
have anyone except his friends in the department to stand by him. He was
estranged from his own family who didn’t approve of him deciding to become a
cop instead of following in his father’s footsteps. Starsky and Hutch had both
had some close calls in the past but never anything like this. Dobey said a
silent prayer that Starsky wouldn’t die on the way to the hospital.
Although Dobey had never admitted it to the two
detectives, Starsky and Hutch were his favorite team and he cared about them as
if they were part of his own family. He knew that the sight of Starsky lying on
that pavement surrounded by a pool of his own blood would be branded on his
brain for the rest of his life. Captain Dobey was a religious man and he
believed in miracles. He knew that Starsky’s life was now in God’s hands and
that God would be the one to decide if he lived or died.
Without a second thought, he reached over and laid
a comforting hand on Hutch’s thigh. “He’s gonna be okay, Ken. Starsky won’t
give up without a fight.” Dobey said, using Hutch’s first name deliberately to
focus his attention. “But he’s gonna need you right there beside him fighting
too.”
Any further words Dobey had planned to say were
cut off as he pulled into the driveway at Memorial Hospital. Hutch was out of
the car and running towards the emergency room entrance before Dobey had a
chance to come to a complete stop. Slamming on his brakes, he threw open his
door and hurried after the distraught blond, moving remarkably fast for a man
of his bulk.
Inside the emergency room, he found Hutch at the
receptionist’s desk demanding to see Starsky.
“He’s a cop! He was shot just a little while ago!”
Hutch said in a loud voice, ignoring the fact that he was in a hospital. “He’s
my partner and I want to see him! Now where the hell is he?”
The nurse on duty looked uncomfortable as she
said, “Sir, if you will just have a seat over there….I’m sure someone will be
out to talk to you soon.”
Stepping up behind him Dobey put a gentle hand on
Hutch’s shoulder and said quietly “Let’s sit down, son. They’ll tell us how he
is as soon as they know anything.”
“C..C..aptain….” Hutch said, the stutter that only
appeared when he was upset or under stress making him stumble over his words “I
have to be in there with him. I can’t let him d..d..ie alone….”
Hutch’s words tore at the Captain’s heart. He knew
how Hutch felt but he knew that the medical staff would never allow it. Their
eyes met and they each saw the pain and fear reflected there. Hutch’s shoulders
slumped in defeat as he meekly followed his Captain over to one of the hard plastic
chairs in the waiting room and sat down at his side. Hutch didn’t even notice
several other people sitting in the waiting room blanching at the sight of his
blood stained clothes. He leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs as
he bowed his head, closed his eyes and prayed harder than he had ever prayed in
his life.
CHAPTER TWO
Hutch stared into the cup of coffee he held in his
hand. It was cold by now. His weary eyes glanced at the clock on the wall. It
had been almost eight hours and there was still no word from any of the doctors
about Starsky’s condition. Hutch knew that he would have been told by now if
Starsky was dead. The waiting was starting to grate on his nerves. He could
feel a tension headache building up behind his eyes.
The waiting room was filled with fellow police
officers who had joined the vigil. Captain Dobey and Minnie Kaplan, the
resident computer whiz at headquarters, were keeping busy making sure that
everyone had coffee or soft drinks.
A nurse walked over to Hutch and smiled, holding
out a neatly folded set of surgical scrubs. “I thought you might like to change
your clothes. Some of the other visitors are getting upset because of the
bloodstains. I can take them down to the laundry for you and have them washed.”
Hutch looked up into the nurse’s compassionate
brown eyes and nodded his head absently. Accepting the clean clothes from her,
he shoved himself to his feet and stumbled down the hallway to the men’s room.
Pausing in front of one of the sinks, he turned on
the water, adjusting it to a comfortable temperature. Holding his hands
underneath the spray of water, he watched in a detached way as the water turned
red, rinsing the traces Starsky’s blood from his skin. Raising his head, he
looked at his reflection in the mirror, barely recognizing the stranger’s face
that stared back at him. The big blond’s shoulders began to shake with silent
sobs as he lowered his head and struggled to contain his fear and his grief.
The image of Starsky’s body lying on the pavement beside the Torino played over
and over in his mind like an endless loop of tape. He had never felt more alone
or terrified in his life.
Finally pulling himself together, he took off his
bloody shirt and jeans, changing into the scrubs. He stuffed his bloody clothing
into a plastic laundry bag the nurse had given him. Turning back to the sink,
he turned on the cold water and cupped his hands beneath the faucet. He
splashed some cold water on his face to try and clear his head before returning
to the waiting room.
When he returned to his seat, Minnie sat down in
the chair beside him and handed him a fresh cup of coffee. “Here you go,
Sugar,” she said quietly. “I put in lots of sugar and cream….just the way you
like it.”
“Thanks, Minnie,” Hutch told her with a feeble smile.
He didn’t bother to correct her. That was the way Starsky preferred his coffee
and Hutch had just gotten in the habit of drinking it that way, since they
shared the same cup most of the time anyway. It was just one of the routines
they had fallen into over the years just like stealing food off each others
plate or borrowing each others clothes. As a sudden hush fell over the room,
Hutch glanced up to see a doctor dressed in surgical scrubs walking down the
hallway towards them. The tall blond held his breath as he waited for the
doctor to speak.
“Family for David Starsky?” the doctor asked, as
his eyes swept over the crowded waiting area. Hutch and Captain Dobey both
immediately stepped forward. The doctor frowned slightly, realizing immediately
that neither of these men resembled his patient enough to be related to him.
“I’m Captain Dobey of the Bay City Police
Department. Sergeant Starsky is one of my men and this is his partner, Sergeant
Hutchinson. How is he?”
“Why don’t we go somewhere we can talk privately?”
the doctor said, gesturing for them to follow him back down the hallway.
Hutch took a deep breath as he followed the
doctor. He braced himself, knowing that the news was not going to be good. The
doctor led the way to a small room that was used primarily to talk privately to
friends and family members of critically injured patients. As the three men
stepped inside, the doctor motioned for Dobey and Hutch to have a seat. They
sat down on a black leather sofa and looked at the doctor expectantly.
Sighing softly, the doctor pinched the bridge of
his nose as he took a seat in a black leather chair sitting adjacent to the
sofa. Looking at the worried, anxious faces in front of him, he said, “My name
is Dr. Riley and I am one of the surgeons that operated on Sergeant Starsky.
He’s still alive but he’s suffered massive damage to his chest and abdomen.
We’ve managed to stop the bleeding and remove the bullet fragments but with the
damage he’s suffered…it’s highly unlikely that he’ll survive. By all rights, he
should be dead, but he’s not. His heart stopped twice during surgery and we
managed to get him back but he’s still not breathing on his own.”
“But there’s still a chance as long as he’s still
alive. Isn’t there?” Dobey asked as the doctor’s words sank in.
“There’s always a chance and I don’t want to take
that hope away from you” Dr Riley said solemnly “But the human body can only
withstand so much damage. Any family members should be notified immediately and
you might want to think about making him a no code. If his heart stops again,
it might be more humane to just let him go in peace.”
“NO!” Hutch snapped sharply. “We have medical
power of attorney for each other and I won’t allow you to do that!” Hutch
looked at the doctor, his ice blue eyes warning the doctor not to push the
issue.
“Can you tell us exactly what the injuries were?”
Captain Dobey asked. He lay a hand on Hutch’s shoulder to calm him until the
doctor had a chance to tell them everything.
“Sergeant Starsky was hit four times by high
caliber bullets in the torso. One bullet entered his left shoulder, causing
massive tissue and muscle damage. As it exited through his back, it shattered
his shoulder blade. A second bullet entered his body just under his left
nipple. This bullet shattered two ribs on impact and broke into fragments. The
bullet fragments and shattered pieces of bone from the broken ribs caused
severe damage to his left lung. That lung collapsed, filling with blood.” The
doctor watched their faces as he carefully explained the damages caused by the
bullets. Once he was certain they were processing the information, he
continued, “A third bullet entered his right side just below his waist and
exited through his left side just below his ribcage. That bullet ruptured his
spleen, causing massive internal bleeding. It also tore open his lower
intestine and caused the contents of his bowel to seep into his abdominal
cavity. The fourth bullet entered his lower back, close to his spinal column,
and exited through his stomach, causing major damage to the stomach itself.”
The doctor paused. This was the part of his job that he hated the most. Doctors
were not miracle workers and there was only so much they could do, especially
in cases as serious as this one. “All we can do now is wait and see how well
his body responds to treatment. I think time is going to be the key factor
here. We’re doing all we can, but to be honest with you---I’m not sure it’s
going to be enough.” Doctor Riley looked at the two men sadly.
“Can I see him?” Hutch asked trying to keep his
voice level and calm but the crack in it was still noticeable. His emotions
were in turmoil. Although the doctor’s words were pretty much what Hutch had
been expecting him to say, it still hurt to hear them said out loud.
“It will be a couple of hours before he’s settled
into a room in the ICU. I’ll have one of the nurses come and get you when he
is. But you need to prepare for what you will see,” the doctor explained. “He’s
on a ventilator because he isn’t breathing on his own, he has several IVs and a
colostomy. He’s also hooked up to a lot of different machines that are
monitoring his vital signs. He’s in a coma, so he won’t be able to respond to
you.” Shoving himself to his feet, he waited while the two men did the same. He
could see the devastation in their faces at his news and he hated being the one
to put that expression in their eyes.
Hutch mutely allowed Captain Dobey to guide him
back to the waiting room. The big blond was stunned and in shock. Blackness
fell over him as he thought about a life without Starsky. Without Starsky, he
had no life, at least not one worth living. Hutch made a solemn vow to hunt
down whoever did this and bring them to justice. It would be the last thing he
did for his fallen partner.
When they walked back into the waiting room, one
look at Hutch’s face was all it took for his fellow officers to know that the
news was not good.
Captain Dobey helped Hutch over to a sofa at the
far end of the room and left him to Minnie’s care. Turning to face the other
officers gathered around the room, the burly black man said quietly in a voice
that was even gruffer than usual, “It doesn’t look good. The doctors don’t
expect Starsky to pull through. I want everybody back out there on the streets
trying to find out who is behind this! I’ll be staying here at the hospital for
now.”
With murmurs of support and concern, the gathered
officers began to slowly drift out of the room. When a fellow officer is hurt,
it affects the entire brotherhood and when that officer is shot down in the
Police Department parking garage by two men dressed as police officers that
makes it even more personal. Every officer on the force from the lowest
patrolman to the highest level officials would be working together to find the
person responsible for the attack on Starsky. Starsky and Hutch were both well
liked by most of their peers and even the ones who didn’t particularly like
them still respected them. Their partnership was almost legendary in the
department and everybody knew how close the two men were, not just as partners
but as best friends. It was unusual to see Starsky without the tall blond by
his side. At times, they seemed to share almost a psychic bond that could be
unnerving to be around but it was also one of the things that made their partnership
so unique.
As the room cleared out, Captain Dobey turned his
attention back to Hutch. Minnie was sitting on the sofa beside the big blond
with one arm around his shoulder, talking to him quietly. Hutch was simply
sitting there, staring at the floor, lost in his own grief. His arms were
resting against his knees with his hands so tightly clenched together that his
knuckles were white. Dobey could feel Hutch’s pain intensely. His own heart was
torn in two by the tragedy. Dobey had to maintain a certain distance from his
men for professional reasons but those boundaries had been crossed more than
once with the team of Starsky and Hutch. He had spent more hours than he cared
to remember over the past seven years sitting in one emergency room or the other,
consoling one of them when the other one was injured, waiting for news on their
condition. But it had never been this bad before. Dobey had lost several good
men over the years and he hated the thought of losing Starsky. He closed his
eyes for a moment and sighed deeply. There were phone calls that needed to be
made and he didn’t think that Hutch was in any condition to be making them
right now.
Walking over to the sofa, he glanced down at Hutch
and Minnie. In a soft voice he said, “I’m going to call Starsky’s family. Can I
get either one of you anything?”
“No thanks, Captain,” Minnie said, shaking her
head as she gently rubbed her hand over Hutch’s hunched shoulders. “We’ll be
just fine.” Hutch didn’t respond and Dobey couldn’t help but wonder if he had even
heard him. Dobey’s shoulders slumped wearily as he slowly made his way to a row
of payphones down a short hallway to his right. Mentally, he braced himself for
the phone call that no police captain wants to make.
By the time he finished making his calls; Rachel
Starsky was on the phone making an airline reservation. Two hours later, she
was boarding the flight to Chicago for the connection to LAX where Captain
Dobey would be waiting to pick her up and take her to her son’s side.
CHAPTER THREE
Hutch straddled a chair with his arms folded
across the backrest, as he stared through the observation window into Starsky’s
room in the Intensive Care Unit. Captain Dobey stood behind him, looking
through the glass at his fallen officer. Starsky was lying on a bed, his
normally olive complexion as white as the bed linens. A sheet covered his lower
body, his exposed chest and stomach heavily bandaged, along with his left
shoulder. A nurse and the doctor were both with him, checking his bandages and
vital signs.
Two IVs dripped steadily into the back of his
right hand and one into the back of his left. Wires and tubes protruded from
various areas underneath the bandages. A clear plastic bag hanging on the
bottom of the bedrail collected his urine.
The lower part of his face was obscured by the
mouthpiece to the ventilator that forced his chest to rise and fall in the
normal rhythm that he could no longer maintain. Hutch found his eyes drawn to
the heart monitor standing to the right of the bed. As long as he could see those
jagged green lines on the screen, he knew that Starsky was still alive.
“Mrs. Starsky should be here around ten p.m.,”
Dobey said quietly. “I’m picking her up at the airport. She doesn’t know where
his brother is to tell him.”
“Did you get hold of his Aunt and Uncle?” Hutch
asked, trying to focus on what Dobey was saying. He had met Starsky’s mother
and the rest of his family. He knew how close they all were with the exception
of Starsky’s brother, Nick. Nick Starsky was too busy looking out for his own
interests to care much about the rest of his family.
“They’re out of town until tomorrow morning,”
Dobey told him with a heavy sigh. “It’s already on the news…”
“Is there any way to get in touch with them before
they hear about it on TV?”
“I’ve got Minnie working on it. If there’s a way,
she’ll find it.”
Both men fell into an uneasy silence, continuing
their silent vigil. It had been almost twelve hours since the shooting and they
were both exhausted, physically and mentally. Hutch was holding up better than
Dobey had anticipated but he could still feel the blond’s guilt at not being
able to prevent his partner from being shot.
Neither of them noticed Huggy Bear hurrying down
the hallway towards them until the tall thin black men stepped up beside Dobey
and looked through the observation glass. His shock and concern for his friend
was clearly written on his face.
“Cap?” he said softly, a catch in his voice.
“Couple of guys dressed up like officers,” Dobey
told him gruffly. “He’s lucky to be alive.”
“He’s gonna be okay….” Huggy said his words more
of a question than a statement of fact.
“He’s dying,” Hutch said in a flat toneless voice
without taking his eyes off his motionless partner.
“No….” Huggy gasped
“He’s suffered massive damage,” Hutch said softly.
“The body can only withstand….” His words trailed off into silence.
“But there’s a chance,” Huggy insisted, refusing
to accept the idea that his friend was dying. “There’s always a chance.”
“Of course there’s a chance,” Dobey said grimly.
“There’s always a chance.”
Doctor Riley came out of Starsky’s room and
paused, looking at the three men with sorrow in his eyes. Hutch immediately
rose to his feet, determined to be with his partner, even if it was only for a
few minutes. “He’s in a coma,” The doctor reminded him needlessly as Hutch
brushed past him and went into the room.
Captain Dobey stopped the other man as he turned
towards the nurse’s station. “Hey, Doc…ummm….” he paused, unable to say the
words as he looked at the Doctor anxiously.
“He may live a few more hours…maybe even a couple
of days….there’s no way of knowing,” the doctor told him, apparently convinced
that the dark haired detective would die from his injuries. He continued on his
way down the hallway, leaving Huggy and Dobey to stare after him in stunned
silence.
Inside Starsky’s room, Hutch slowly approached the
bed. The nurse finished writing some notes in her chart and left the room.
Hutch’s eyes drifted to the monitor beside the bed that was registering
Starsky’s heartbeat. It was slow and irregular, the soft beeping sound filling
the air.
Hutch slumped into a chair beside the bed and
stared at his partner lying on the bed in front of him, feeling an overwhelming
sense of helplessness and grief. His eyes took in the mass of tubes, wires,
machines and IV bags that surrounded his injured friend. Hutch instinctively
started to reach out to touch Starsky but then drew back his hand, suddenly
afraid to disturb the wounded man.
Hutch hunched over in his seat, resting his arms
on his knees. He could feel the sting of unshed tears in his eyes and the lump
that seemed to be stuck in his throat. But the worst was the crushing pain in
his chest that made it hard to breathe. He felt numb and detached, his mind
still struggling to prepare him for a life without Starsky.
His mind drifted back to all the other times that
he’d found himself in a hospital room waiting for Starsky to wake up after
being injured in one way or another. They had both had many close calls but
nothing like this. This time it was for real. This time, Starsky wasn’t going
to wake up and smile that crooked smile. This time, there was nothing Hutch
could do but watch his best friend die.
He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the
ventilator as it pumped air in and out of Starsky’s lungs. The soft beeping of
the heart monitor blended into the background. The sounds of a life still
hanging precariously in the balance. Hutch could still smell the blood as it
pooled on the hot pavement beneath Starsky’s body. And he could hear the gunshots
echoing in his head. The guilt of not being able to save Starsky from being
shot was tearing him apart. It should have been him, not Starsky. Starsky had
never done anything to deserve this.
Hutch lost track of how long he’d sat there before
he finally shoved himself to his feet and stumbled from the room. In the
hallway, Captain Dobey was sitting in a chair directly across from the
observation window. Numbly, Hutch slumped down in the vacant chair beside him,
staring sightlessly at the wall. He barely noticed when Dobey spoke.
“You know, there’s not much I can do at
headquarters that I can’t do here.”
“Yeah,” Hutch muttered in a barely audible voice.
“I think I’m gonna stay,” Dobey told him. “I
mean…I think one of us ought to be here in case we lose him.” The Captain stood
up and stretched to work the kinks out of his back and then slumped back down
into his chair with a heavy sigh. “Why don’t you go wash up and get something
to eat?”
“Yeah,” Hutch said listlessly. He wasn’t hungry
but he knew he had to keep his strength up to get through the days ahead.
“Catch up with Huggy. He just went for some
coffee.”
Sighing wearily, Hutch pushed himself to his feet.
He stopped a passing nurse and asked, “excuse me, where’s the men’s room?”
“At the end of the hall,” she told him continuing
on her way.
Turning back to the Captain, Hutch said, “Cap, you
want something to eat?” Without bothering to reply, Dobey shook his head, lost
in his own thoughts. Hutch turned and walked down the hallway towards the men’s
room.
As he started to go inside, he almost collided
with a man in a white tunic coming out. Without bothering to apologize, the man
brushed past Hutch and hurried down the hallway.
Hutch stepped over to one of the sinks and turned
on the water, splashing some on his face as he choked back a sob. As he reached
up for a paper towel, he glanced in the mirror and saw a man’s legs, reflected
in the glass, sprawled on the floor in one of the stalls. Turning to push open
the door to the stall, he discovered a man’s body slumped against the wall,
blood dripping down the side of his face. The unconscious man was dressed in a
white tee shirt with a stethoscope slung around his neck.
Remembering the man he had almost collided with as
he entered the restroom, Hutch burst through the door into the hallway. He
caught a glimpse of the fake orderly disappearing through Starsky’s doorway.
Running in that direction, his heart pounding with fear, Hutch reached the
doorway and grabbed the other man by the shoulder, pulling him back into the
hall.
With an angry oath, the man took a swing at Hutch,
knocking him off balance and to the floor. The fake orderly ran down the hall
towards the exit as two uniformed officers joined the chase. Captain Dobey
scrambled to his feet when he saw Hutch brawling with the other man. Stepping
forward, he reached down to help Hutch to his feet.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine!” Hutch snapped in an irritated voice,
shaking off Dobey’s hand. “Whoever the hell he was, he wasn’t any doctor. He
was after Starsky! The real doctor is unconscious back in the men’s room.”
Satisfied that Hutch was unharmed, Dobey took
command, barking orders at several other officers who had gathered around them.
“I want a police guard put on Sergeant Starsky’s room immediately! No one gets
in there without proper identification and authorization! Nobody! Is that
understood?” At the affirmative nods from his men, Dobey stomped down the hall
to the nurse’s station, followed closely by Hutch.
The petite blonde behind the desk looked up at the
burly black man cautiously and said “May I help you, sir?” The dramatic events
of the past few minutes had unnerved her and the expression on the faces of the
two men suddenly confronting her wasn’t helping any.
“I’m going to be using the empty room beside Detective
Starsky’s as a temporary command post for me and my men,” Dobey told her in a
voice that made it clear he wasn’t going to be argued with.
“Yes, sir.” the nurse said meekly. “I’ll tell the
charge nurse and leave a note for the other shifts.”
Dobey turned on his heel and headed back towards
Starsky’s room. A young uniformed officer came rushing through the doors at the
end of the hallway and said breathlessly, “They caught the guy dressed up like
a doctor. He’s under arrest. Baker and Jones are taking him down to
headquarters now.”
“Good. I’ll call Edwards and Arnez and have them
interrogate him,” Dobey said in a satisfied voice.
“Wait, Cap…” Hutch told him “Have Miller and
Barnes question him instead,” he suggested. “They’ll do a better job.”
Dobey nodded his agreement and went to find a
phone while Hutch slipped into Starsky’s room to sit with his friend.
CHAPTER FOUR
Rachel Starsky disembarked from the plane and
entered the busy terminal at LAX. She was exhausted from the cross continent
flight from New York but nothing was going to keep her away from her critically
injured son. The phone call from Captain Dobey had been one she had been
expecting and fearing for years. David loved being a cop so much, in spite of
the danger.
During the entire flight, Rachel had had
flashbacks of her husband Michael’s death almost twenty years ago. He had been
the same age as David when he died, murdered in their driveway on his way home
from work. His wounds had even been almost identical to the ones that David had
suffered. But her David was still alive and she could only pray that he would
be strong enough to stay that way.
As she made her way through the crowd of departing
passengers, she easily spotted Harold Dobey standing near the luggage claim.
She had met the burly black man on a visit to see David three years ago.
Walking closer, she could see the tired lines etched around the black man’s
eyes, evidence of his weariness.
“Mrs. Starsky…” Dobey said graciously as he
reached down for her carry-on bag. “I have a car waiting outside. How was your
flight?”
“Long. How is David?”
“No change, I’m afraid. Would you like to get your
bags and drop them off at David’s apartment before going to the hospital?”
“No. I want to go to the hospital first. I want to
be with my son.”
Dobey nodded and led the way over to the baggage
claim. He gathered up the two suitcases Rachel pointed out to him and led the
way through the busy terminal to the exit. Outside, the night sky was clear and
the temperature still lingered in the low seventies. Millions of lights
glistened as the city spread out around them.
Dobey’s dark blue sedan was parked at the curb a
short distance from the exit. One of the privileges of being a police captain
was being able to park wherever he pleased. Digging his keys out of his pocket,
he opened the truck and put the bags inside. Slamming the lid shut, he opened
the passenger door for Mrs. Starsky and helped her settle into the front seat.
As he slid beneath the wheel and turned on the
ignition, he found himself thinking how strongly Mrs. Starsky reminded him of
her son. They both had the same inner strength and determination that had seen
them through the tragedies in their lives. But more then that, they shared the
same quick wit and sharp mind that made Starsky such a good detective. Captain
Dobey knew that physically Starsky bore an uncanny resemblance to his deceased
father but he could also see a more subtle blend of Rachel Starsky’s features
in his face. It was mainly in the shape of his mouth and their quick easy
smile.
“Is my son going to die, Captain Dobey?” Rachel
asked in a quiet voice that still sounded loud in the confines of the car.
“I hope not. He’s a good man.”
“But the doctors don’t hold out much hope, do
they?”
“No, I’m afraid they don’t,” Dobey admitted with a
heavy sigh.
“My Davy just might surprise them all,” Rachel
said with a thin smile that wavered slightly. “He’s just like his father….” Her
voice broke as she choked back a sob. She turned to stare out her window to
hide the tears that suddenly flooded her eyes.
The woman beside him was living every mother’s
worst nightmare. Her son was lying in a hospital and not expected to live, the
victim of four bullets that had ripped his body apart. And for Rachel Starsky,
it was a constant reminder of her husband’s murder so long ago. The
similarities between the two cases were staggering. Unfortunately, Michael
Starsky’s murderer had never been identified. Dobey prayed that Starsky’s
attempted assassins would be. An uneasy silence filled the air that lasted the
rest of the way to the hospital.
Twenty minutes later, Dobey was pulling up in
front of the entrance to Memorial hospital. He pulled up to the front door and
got out to help Mrs. Starsky from the vehicle.
“Why don’t you wait inside while I park the car?”
he asked. “I won’t be long.”
A few minutes later, they stepped out of the
elevator on the fourth floor of the busy metropolitan hospital.. Several
uniformed officers lingering in the hallway stopped their conversations and
glanced at the petite dark haired woman stepping off the elevator with Captain
Dobey.
“That’s Starsky’s mother,” Dobey overheard one of
the men whisper to another man as he led Rachel down the hallway. As a sign of
respect, several officers touched the brim of their hats as she walked by.
As they approached Starsky’s room, Rachel clutched
Captain Dobey’s arm just a little tighter to prepare herself. She paused in the
doorway to the room, taking in the image of her son lying on the bed, so quiet
and still. Hutch was hunched in the chair beside him, his gaze focused intently
on the brunet’s face. Sensing their presence in the doorway, he glanced around,
rising to his feet immediately when he saw Rachel. He crossed the room to her
in a few brisk steps and reached out for her hands. Ignoring his outstretched
hands, Rachel wrapped her arms around the big blond and hugged him tightly.
For the first time in almost eighteen hours, Hutch
gave in to his emotions. He leaned his head against the smaller woman’s
shoulder and let out a quiet sob. “I’m sorry….I’m so fucking sorry….” he
whispered in a broken voice. “I didn’t protect him….I didn’t keep him safe.”
“It’s all right, darling. It’s not your fault,”
Rachel said, soothing him much as she would have comforted David under similar
circumstances. She gently stroked his hair and when he raised his head to look
into her eyes, she reached up to brush a tear from his cheek. Captain Dobey
felt a tear in his eye as he watched the touching scene unfolding in front of
him.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” he told them quietly.
“I’ll be next door if you need me.”
When Dobey left the room, Hutch took Rachel’s arm
and to lead her over to the chair sitting beside the bed. Ignoring the offered
seat, she leaned down and gently kissed her son’s forehead. “I’m here, baby,”
she whispered. “Mama’s here now.”
Hutch bowed his head as she quietly recited a
prayer in Hebrew, all the while running her fingers through Starsky’s thick
dark curls. When she finished the prayer, she took the chair that had been
offered earlier. Hutch remained standing at her side, one hand resting on her
shoulder as they looked at the face of the man they both loved so much.
Rachel’s eyes swept over her son’s motionless
body. She smiled faintly. She had never seen her David so quiet and still. His
normally hyperactive personality wouldn’t stand for it. She silently cursed his
tendency to get into trouble. He seemed to attract it like a magnet. Just
like your father, she found herself thinking. I wish you’d stop trying
to be so much like him. I can’t bear to lose you too….not like this.
When the nurses came in to change the bandages and
do some other routine chores, Hutch escorted Rachel from the room. “Why don’t
you let me drive you back to Starsky’s place so you can get some rest?” Hutch
suggested. “You must be exhausted after your flight.”
“I want to stay here for now,” Rachel said with a
stubborn tilt of her chin that was an exact duplicate of a gesture her son
would have made. “I need to be close to Davy.”
“At least let me buy you some coffee,” he told
her. “They won’t let either one of us back in there until they’re done.”
“You should get some rest too,” Rachel told him,
noting the exhaustion in Hutch’s ice blue eyes and the weary slump of his
shoulders.
“I can’t leave him here alone anymore than you
can,” he told her with a feeble attempt at a smile. Exchanging an understanding
glance, they walked towards the elevator to go down to the cafeteria for some
coffee.
When they returned to the fourth floor an hour
later, Hutch paused at the doorway and said, “Why don’t you go and sit with him
for awhile. I’ll wait out here.” As Rachel went into the room, Hutch slumped
down in one of the chairs facing the observation window. Exhausted beyond
belief, Hutch’s eyes drifted shut and he fell into a restless slumber.
In the ICU room, a shiver ran through her body
even though it was warm in the room. The sound of the various machines in the
background blended with the other sounds drifting in from the rest of the
hospital. A phone ringing at the nurse’s station, the soft murmur of voices as
the staff went about their routine duties, the soft ding as the elevator
stopped at the fourth floor.
She began to sing softly, a familiar lullaby that
she’d often sang to both of her sons when they were babies. Rachel believed that
a person in a coma was still aware of their surroundings. She was determined
that if her son died, he would know that he was not alone.
She found herself gently rubbing a spot on David’s
right shoulder where there were no bandages, wires or tubes. His skin felt cool
to her touch, almost too cool. She wondered if he was cold. He hated to be
cold. She thought about pulling the sheet up from his waist to his shoulders
but she didn’t want to disturb the bandages or the IV lines.
Abby Lynn, one of the primary nurses on the ICU
unit, walked down the hall towards David Starsky’s room. She smiled faintly
when she saw the tall blond slumped awkwardly in a chair across from the
observation window. He looked so uncomfortable but he was sleeping and she
didn’t want to bother him. She knew that he had been there since early morning
when his partner was brought into the ER. Walking into Starsky’s room, she
immediately noticed the petite brunette woman sitting beside the bed. From the
strong resemblance to her patient, she knew the older woman must be his mother
or another close family member.
“Hello. I’m Abby, one of David’s nurses,” she said
quietly, as she automatically began checking his vital signs and writing down
the readings from the various machines in the patient’s chart.
“I’m Rachel Starsky. David’s mother.” She watched
the nurse gently tending to her injured son. “How is he?”
“About the same. There hasn’t been any change.”
“Could you get him a blanket? I think he might be
a little cold.”
“Of course.” Abby walked over to the closet and
opened the door, pulling an extra blanket from the top shelf. Carrying it back
over to the bed, she carefully spread it over Starsky’s lower body, smoothing
it down gently. Rachel gave her a grateful smile.
“He hates being cold.” She affectionately brushed
her fingertips against his cheek. Her eyes clouded with sadness and despair.
“Is he going to die?”
“That’s not for us to decide. That’s up to God,”
Abby said as she continued her work, quietly and efficiently. She looked at
Rachel and smiled encouragingly. “Your son is young, strong and in good
physical condition. Those are all points in his favor.”
“The doctors don’t think he’s going to make it.”
“Doctors don’t know everything.” Abby straightened
up and looked at the woman before her more closely. “I won’t try to lie to you.
David is hurt very badly. His condition is critical but he is still alive and
the longer he stays that way, the better chance he has of pulling through. You
should really get some rest. He’s gonna to need you more than he ever has
before in the next few days.”
“I will….soon. I just need to be with him for a
little longer.”
“I understand. I’ll be at the nurse’s station if
you need anything,” Abby said as she quietly left the room leaving the mother
to care for her son.