Like a heavy tide rolling onto a rocky beach, the pain coursed thru his body. Wave upon wave rolling through him, only letting up when the wave receded to the dark corners of his body. Through it all, he kept his eyes closed, afraid if he opened them he would still be alone, no one to hold and comfort him.
"What had happened?" he thought to himself. One minute he was fine, the next 'he was being wheeled into isolation, held down by loving hands and hospital straps, his fever spiking as a seizure racked his damp body.
He remembered hearing words floating around him as he struggled: "Relapse; infection; body still fighting; total isolation needed." In anger and fear, he began to fight the restraints, the voices, the hands holding him down. Until he heard the soothing voice of his best friend, beckoning him to open his eyes, coaxing him to relax and be still.
Slowly, he opened them, and two pairs of blue eyes met. Each windows to the other's soul. One giving comfort and peace, the other taking it and letting it spread all over him. They had done this before, speaking to each other with only their eyes, sharing a friendship and a bond understood by few, envied by many.
Heaven and hell and worlds in-between had been moved to find a cure. It had been found, and, instead of sharing death and pain, those eyes had shared happiness and laughter…until now.
The pain was returning and he was still alone and so very scared. Slowly, he opened his eyes, looking around, praying for someone to be there.
And, then, he saw it, and he knew he had never been alone.
One word, in big red letters on the window…HUTCH
Note: I tried to write this as a Sweet Revenge story. But, even though "A Coffin for Starsky" came before "The Plague", my muse insisted I write the story like this. Hope you enjoyed it.