Hearts Broken
"Hey Doc," Captain Dobey hailed the doctor in charge of Starsky's care. "I'm very worried about one of my officers, Hutch." He explained.
"Hutch?" The middle-aged man asked him with a slight frown wrinkling his forehead. His fatigue was evident upon his worn face.
"Yeah, the blonde-haired guy who just went in there…" Dobey pointed towards Starsky's room. "He and Starsky have been partners for many years, and…"
The doctor nodded in understanding at this however and the police chief found that he didn't have to say anymore. This evidently wasn't the man's first experience of dealing with an injured officer, and the knock on effect this had on all those who worked with him – but things were always especially difficult on the man's partner.
"I see." He sighed, looking in through the window of his patient's room. He saw Hutch draw up a chair as he sat down slowly at Starsky's bedside.
"Listen Doc, what are his chances?" Dobey asked, following his gaze and observing the scene too. Starsky was in a coma, there was no way of Hutch getting through to him to let him know that he was there, but that didn't seem to matter to the blonde. The captain knew that he would stay by his best friend's side until he woke up… or until the unthinkable happened. He wouldn't want Starsky to be alone.
The Doctor looked back at him, and he could tell by the look in his eyes that Starsky's chances of pulling through weren't great. "He's suffered massive internal damage… we're doing everything we can." He told him.
"Just give it to me straight Doc! We need to know!" Dobey snapped.
"Not… not great then I'm afraid!" The man sighed.
"Listen, if something happens to Starsky, I don't know how that would affect Hutch." The Captain explained as calmly as he could given the difficult circumstances. "Even now I can't be sure what this may be doing to him. I know that he's broken, and every moment Starsky spends in a coma is tearing him apart. They're like two halves of the same whole those two. I've never seen a bond as strong as theirs before, and I've seen some pretty close partnerships in my time!"
The Doctor nodded.
"Can you do me a favour?" Dobey asked him.
"I can't promise anything." The Doctor replied, although his tone was kindly and significantly suggested otherwise.
"Keep an eye on Hutch too?" He said.
"We'll do our best." The Doctor nodded.
"Thank you." Dobey sighed, before the two men departed company – the doctor off to do his rounds, and the police chief to keep what was likely to be a long and difficult vigil outside Starsky's room.