Betrayal (Missing Scene from Targets without a Badge, part 1)
Hutch suddenly slumped to the ground beside the body of Lionel Rieger. His face was pale and sweaty and he was breathing shallowly and irregularly.
"Somebody get an ambulance!" shouted Starsky. He knelt next to Hutch, gently lifting Hutch's head into his lap. "You okay? Shit, you're not ok, are you? Come on, Hutch, wake up, please?"
A crowd of onlookers had gathered to stare at the bizarre scene. One man dead, shot in the chest, another man either unconscious or dead, and a destroyed car was burning on the other side of the street. Glass lay shattered around the three men, who were huddled together in the middle of the road. Food lay scattered over the asphalt, flung from the bag in Hutch's arms when he was thrown to the ground by the explosion.
"Hutch, wake up. Talk to me. Tell me you're going to be ok." Starsky was at a loss as to what to do next. The guy they'd promised to protect was laying dead beside him, and his partner and best friend in the whole world was injured, maybe dying, because some creep blew up his car. They had been set up, and now everything had gone to shit.
The ambulance, along with a couple of police cars, pulled up with a screech. Captain Dobey jumped out of one of the cars, moving with a speed belying his size. "Starsky, what the hell is going on here?" He stopped short as he noticed the dead informant lying beside Starsky, and Hutch cradled in his lap. "Is he ok?"
"I don't know, Cap'n. He won't wake up for me. And Lionel's dead. Somebody set us up. They blew up Hutch's car so that I'd leave Lionel alone in that room up there, and then they took Lionel out. They damned near killed Hutch too, and maybe they have. Jesus Christ, Cap'n. We thought we could keep Lionel safe and we fucked up."
"Starsky, the ambulance is here and they need to take Hutch to the hospital. Let's stand back and let them do their job." Starsky reluctantly turned Hutch over to the paramedics and stepped back to stand near Captain Dobey.
"Never mind about that guy, he's beyond your help. Look after my officer here. He's been injured in an explosion," growled Dobey to the paramedics, who had rushed up to them and now stood there, wondering which man to treat first. After stabilizing Hutch, they got him onto a gurney and into the ambulance.
"I'm going with him, Cap'n, and no one's going to stop me." Starsky crawled into the back of the ambulance and they headed off to Memorial Hospital.
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"Here we are again, Blintz. This time it's you in the bed and me in the chair, waiting for you to wake up. The doc says you're going to be fine, just got another knock on that hard head of yours. Betcha you're going to have one hell of a headache when you wake up."
Starsky sighed and got up, pacing around the small room. "What the hell is Huggy going to think of us now? And Lionel's wife and little girl? We fucked up Hutch, we fucked up big."
"Yeahhhh, I know. Starsk, c'mere. Thirsty." Hutch had managed to open his eyes, squinting against the fluorescent lights.
"Hutch, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Like shit. Ohhhh, my head." Hutch sank back onto the pillow. "Can I have some water.?"
"Sure. Just small sips until you know if your stomach can handle it." Starsky held the glass for Hutch, letting him have only a little.
"S'enough, thanks. When can I get out of here?" Hutch asked, impatient to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. He sat up and immediately turned even paler."
"Uh, Starsk…?"
Starsky took one look at Hutch and quickly grabbed an emesis basin, shoving it under Hutch's mouth. Hutch gagged and retched a few times, but managed to keep from vomiting. He lay back down on the bed.
"Guess I've got a concussion again, huh? I should be used to this by now."
"Yep. Want me to get the doc to see if you can go home? I'll take you to my place. We've gotta talk about what happens next."
"Yeah." Hutch sat up again, waiting for the room to stop spinning. "I think I'll be ok now. Just get the doc."
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The doctor on staff gave Hutch the okay to go home, as long as he had someone with him for the next 24 hours. Starsky loaded him into a wheelchair and took him down to the car, helping him into the backseat where he could lie down.
Hutch managed to hold on to his stomach until he got to Starsky's place, making it just in time to rush to the bathroom and drop to the floor in front of the toilet.
"You ok, Hutch? The doc said that throwing up wasn't a good sign." Starsky hovered over him with a worried look on his face.
"Yeah. It's not just the concussion. I keep seeing Lionel lying there like that", Hutch muttered, again hanging his head over the toilet.
"I know. What the hell are we going to do now, buddy? What are we going to do?" Starsky had wet a cloth with cold water and pressed it to Hutch's forehead.
"I don't know, Starsk. All I know right now is that I need to lie down for a while."
"Come on, you can sleep in my bed for a while. Don't get pissed off at me when I wake you up once in a while. Got to make sure that big brain of yours isn't addled or something."
"Hmph. Your brain is more addled than mine, and you didn't get blown halfway across a road. Don't worry about me." Hutch snorted.
Starsky helped Hutch get settled into the bed, and then he went to sit in the living room. The impact of what had happened today was just starting to make itself felt, and Starsky leaned his head back against the couch.
Tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day. But at least Hutch was safe and alive and here with him. Too bad he couldn't say the same about Lionel. It was going to take a long time to get that scene on the street out of his mind.