Hi everybody! Sorry for being again so late, but RL caught me up for a long time! And to be honest I thought about stopping the whole story because I got some very bad private emails from somebody I don't know...But a BIG THANK YOU to Didi and Prov., who encouraged me and kicked me into my butt to go on! Thanks for being there for me! And THANKS to all the other wonderful and great readers who left reviews or send me mails! You are the BEST!

Chapter 9

The rain and thunderstorm had faded away, but Dobey was still soaked. With a handkerchief he dried his short black hair and stared concentrating at the bank entrance.
Everything was ready. The escape car was ready, the money in the suitcase stood as requested beside the car on the sidewalk. The car had been wired; a highly efficient direction finder would make the pursuit easier for them. Nat stood beside him, he had spent the last hours with Minnie. Naked fear was written on his face but he tried not to show his feelings. Suddenly he pointed at the bank door excitedly.

"There ...they're coming out!" He shouted out. "I can see my Mom!"

"Be quiet son, I can see her too...damn!"

He saw Reeba walking slowly out of the bank, followed by a small group, several blankets covered them completely. Another kidnapper came behind them and directed his weapon at the small group.

"Oh my God..." Minnie whispered and wrapped her arm protectively around Nat's shoulders, while Dobey reached for a transmitter.

"The shooting orders are canceled. I repeat: Hold your fire! Everybody remain in position until you get new orders."

It only needed one shot and everything would be lost.
Slowly the small group went to the van. First Reeba jumped into the car and then the others followed one by one. Dobey could see a limp body being laid down in the loading space. The last kidnapper seized the money bag, jumped into the van and closed the tailgate. The engine roared and the lights switched on, with spinning tires the car drove off and seconds later it had disappeared.
"Mom?" Nat whispered distressed and he nervously looked at Dobey. "Where are they going?" „

"I don't know, but we'll get them Nat, I promise." Dobey tried to cheer the boy up as best as he could, but he wasn't successful. He looked at the direction finder which gave a steady beep.
"All units, the black van is driving east on Wilshire Blvd. Keep your distance; I don't want to see any patrol cars. Robbins, you come with me and you Commissioner..."

"I deal with everything here, Captain. That was good work...but the most important thing is that you don't lose the contact with the kidnappers. Save the hostages and bring your men back!" Chief Walters exchanged a short look with Dobey. "You can be sure of that, Chief and if it's the last thing I do!"

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Starsky carefully laid his friend down on the floor of the van; Reeba squatted beside him and checked the dressings on Hutch's chest. The wound had started to bleed again, but not so badly as before. Starsky also sat down on the ground and leaned his back against the side of the van. He sat with his legs open so he could support Hutch's hips. Gentle he rested the blond's upper body against his chest. Hutch's head lolled feebly against his shoulder and he had bent his legs to relieve the dreadful pain. His left hand was searching for support while his other lay protectively across his chest. Starsky hugged Hutch's shoulders and tried to make him as comfortable as possible. Every bump or violent changing of direction sent new pain waves through Hutch's body again; he couldn't suppress his pain any longer and moaned loudly.

"Easy Hutch, it'll be over soon. Look at me, Reeba is here, too. Can you hear me?"

'Please God…Hutch stay with me, don't leave me…please God don't allow it!'

Hutch winced in pain, his unnaturally shiny deep-set eyes were half open, and his gaze searched for his friend, searching for his strength and comfort.
"St-arsk...think I ...won't… make it, just hold me...don't leave me alone... scared…"

Starsky eyes filled up with tears, he squeezed his eyes closed and after a while he desperately looked at Reeba. Reeba pressed his shoulder and sadly shook her head.

"I can't do anything more, David." She whispered wearily. She could hardly believe what she had said, she had never felt as helpless as at this moment. She could feel Hutch's strength failing. Starsky looked at her in disbelief as if she had pronounced his sentence of death.

"Hutch, we'll make it, I won't leave you alone, never. I promise!"

Hutch used up his last reserves of strength to open his eyes once more, he looked in the pale, nervous face of his friend. He managed a weak smile and heard his friend's familiar voice and saw the fear in his eyes. He could feel Starsky's fear but he didn't have any more strength left to say something to comfort him. His vision became blurred; slowly it became darker and darker around him.
Starsky pressed him firmly to his chest and in despair he leaned his chin on the back of Hutch's head. A vehement coughing fit wracked his body and blood spurted out of his mouth. Hutch's body became limp and his hand feebly slid from Starsky's.

Maybe it was time to get used to the thought, to imagine a life, a world without his best friend.

Starsky heard himself call his partner's name over and over again but he knew that Hutch couldn't hear him any more. Holding the twitching and shaking body of his dying friend and letting him know he was not alone was all Starsky could do. Reeba rested her head on Starsky's shoulder, her fingers entwined firmly with Hutch's.

The black van raced madly through the night, after several changes of direction it came to the Bay City limit and turned into a mountain road. At a safe distance an insignificant blue Ford followed the black van and then it was replaced by a brown Chevy.
Inside the van tense silence ruled. The only thing that could be heard was Starsky's incessant murmuring he was whispering reassuring words into Hutch's ear, not sure whether his half unconscious friend could still hear him. Pure desperation gripped him because he knew that his friend hadn't much time left. His life was flowing so fast from his body like the sand in an hour-glass.

Furiously he bent forward and begged: "Cole, please how much further do you want to drive? You've got everything you wanted, my Captain has fulfilled his part of the agreement and you gave me your word, now let us go!"

He would never have thought that one day he had to beg a criminal for something, but Hutch's life meant more for him than anything else, he would even negotiate with the devil in person if it was necessary.

Cole turned round and grinned broadly at Starsky. He finally had what he always wanted: a policeman begging him for something!
"Oh Detective Starsky, why are you so impatient? Now it's getting really interesting! Just a little patience, it won't last long, we'll... Rick, WATCH OUT!!!"

Cole's shrill scream made Starsky and Reeba look up frightened. The heavy van suddenly skidded off the wet and slippery road, the brakes screeched and Sam tried to control it. But the car slid around a curve and crashed its left fender into the ledge of the narrow road. The passengers in the vehicle were flung around. Starsky tried desperately to hold on tight to Hutch and Reeba, but when the car skidded off the road the three of them were catapulted around inside. The driver lost control of the car, Starsky heard a loud scream and then he felt a gruesome pain in his left leg and heard bones breaking. Dazzling lights exploded in his head and then he fell into a deep black hole.
The car tumbled around, fell on its right side, descended into the canyon, overturned several times and then came to rest on its roof with the engine whining.

Cole woke up with a searing pain in his head and tasted blood in his mouth. He was lying on his side; his upper body leaned against the passenger door. The driver's door was flung wide open and he could see Rick's body, hanging half inside half outside the door. His eyes were wide open, staring in the sky.
He was dead.

Cole heard the wailing of the siren and loud shouts. He tried to sit up but he cried out in pain when he moved his right leg. His ankle was twisted at an odd angle and was obviously broken. He bit down the pain, reached for the money bag, crawled over Rick's body and dropped out of the car. Dragging his injured leg he limped into the canyon and vanished in the dark.

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"The van has gone off the road and it has fallen into a gulch. We need the fire brigade and rescue teams immediately!" The voice in the transmitter yelled.

"What?!"Dobey hit his hand on the steering wheel and furiously pressed the accelerator. "How did it happen? Has anyone survived the accident?"

"The van was going too fast, it slipped on the wet road; we can't say yet if anyone survived."

"I'll be there in a few minutes!"

He looked in the rear-view mirror; Minnie had gathered Nat in her arms, he noticed that the boy had started to cry. Dobey's car drove up the mountain road at high speed, ten minutes later he reached the place of accident. These were the longest minutes of his life, when would this nightmare finally end? The fire service was on site; rescue teams had reached the crashed van and stopped it from slipping off. Dobey noted that the driver's door was open and a lifeless body was lying in the door.

"Minnie, you stay with the boy."

And silently he added: 'I just want to be sure that his mother is still alive.'

From down the canyon he heard loud shouts; as fast as he could he hurried down the steep slope and he was breathless when he reached the scene of the accident. One of the firemen had managed to open the rear door from the inside and now pushed open both doors. Another fireman lit the inside of the car with a strong flashlight.

"Hurry up, I need the paramedics, this doesn't look very good…" He roared and waved his arms urgently. Dobey joined the other men and followed the paramedics.

"Dear God!"

It slipped out of his mouth. He would never get this picture out of his head. The lifeless bodies of the three hostages were lying on top of each other. A paramedic knelt beside Starsky and was feeling for his pulse.

"We need some more help here," he looked over to his partner who examined Hutch and Reeba.

"I have a pulse, but his leg doesn't look so good, possibly multiple fractures what about yours?"

"The girl is alive, her right arm has broken, the blond...well, he has a pulse, but very weak, he has a chest injury bleeding heavily, looks like a gun shot wound. But he's in big trouble with his breathing. Seems to be several fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He needs oxygen; we have to keep an eye on him because we might have to tub him. Call in to Memorial and tell them that we're coming in with three trauma patients and we need two helicopters, immediately!"

Dobey drew a deep breath, they're alive, injured but alive.

"Sir, you know these victims?" One of the paramedics asked.

"Yeah, I'm their captain, these are Detective Starsky and Hutchinson, and this is Reeba Hunter."

Four more paramedics arrived and helped to take care of the injured victims. They put them on stretchers and brought them outward.
One paramedic radioed to Memorial and the doctor told them to splint the broken bones and to attach cervical collars around their necks to protect any spine injury. They added a glucose i.v. and oxygen.
Two kidnappers were dead, but one had disappeared. Dobeyordered Robbins to put an APB on the fugitive kidnapper. He himself stayed close to his injured detectives and kept a careful eye on them as the paramedics worked to get them stable.
Tom, one of the medics who monitored the vital signs of the injured, suddenly noticed the blond haired man open his eyes for a short moment and look around; then his head fell to one side. The paramedic reacted immediately.

"Detective... can you hear me? Ken? Come on, Officer stay with me..." He felt for a pulse and rubbed hard over Hutch's sternum, to provoke a pain reaction, but there was no response.

"Damn... Kevin, I need some help here, we're losing him. We have to start CPR and I need a tube here."

The medic pushed back Hutch's head and opened his mouth. He inserted a laryngoscope into his throat and slipped the tube into his windpipe. Then he checked the right position with his stethoscope and he started to give artificial respiration with the bag. Meanwhile his partner had attached an i.v. in Hutch's arm had suspended a drip and now started with the CPR.

He was swimming, the sea was cold and dark, and the waves let his body make bob up and down. The waves dashed against his head and then he suddenly found himself lying on the beach. He lay in the surf and the waves washed around his legs. He opened his eyes and saw the stars shining above him and he looked into the dark sky.

Hutch was lying on his back, his eyes wide open. He heard loud voices, engine noises, saw lights flashing. He looked around. A thought flashed through his head.

Starsky, where was Starsky?

His best friend, his partner, he couldn't see him. He was the most important person in the world and now he was gone. Had he lost him? Up to the end Hutch had heard the familiar voice; the reassuring words had surrounded him like a warming cover. But now icy cold surrounded him. He felt infinitely empty, as if somebody had stolen his whole vitality, his soul.

He had failed.

His friend was gone.

Hutch closed his eyes and turned his head aside, a single tear ran down his cheek.

He dived into the sea and was swimming again. He wanted to find his partner and knew he would never come back again until he had found his partner. He dived deeper and deeper into the dark sea and disappeared.

Horrified Dobey watched as the tube was pushed into Hutch's pharynx and a medic tried cardiac massage to get his heart beating. But when Hutch didn't show any sign of reaction the medic injected some drugs into the IV and started again with his massage and watched the small heart monitor closely. After some more CPR rounds suddenly the monitor indicated a slow heartbeat and everybody heard the quiet but steady beep.
Kevin nodded briefly, the beep was music to his ears. "We got him back again; now let's bring him up to the street. We have got no time left."
Dobey moved up closer and knelt down beside his detective and touched him gently on the arm.

"Will he make it?"

"If he's a fighter... he lost a lot of blood, he has got a punctured lung a couple of broken ribs...he's in a very bad shape... I'm sorry to tell you that it's so bad, but expect the worse. Now I'm sorry, Captain, but we have to go."

"What about Detective Starsky and Miss Hunter?"

"Oh well... both are stable for now, they have a few fractures and your man has a possible a severe head injury, but he'll survive. If you want, you can fly with the chopper... come on." Kevin and his colleague reached for the gurney and started to walk up the canyon.

"Please wait, Miss Hunter's son is here... can he see her?"

"It's better if the boy waits until the doctor has seen her in the hospital; I don't want to frighten him."

Dobey waved to an officer. "Brandon, tell Officer Kaplanthat she should driveNat to the hospital, I'll fly with Detective Hutchinson to Memorial. Look after Detective Starsky and Miss Hunter; I want to make sure someone is with them when they wake up."

"Sure Captain, I'll take care of it."
Dobey and the officer hurried after the paramedics and climbed up the canyon back to the road.

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Reeba groaned quietly, every movement caused her terrible pain, she had the feeling that she had been run over by a quarterback from the LA Rams. She didn't know how long she was lying in that bed; hours, days? Carefully she tried to move around a little to get more comfortable but she was rewarded by more dreadful pain.
All she could remember was that she had briefly woken up in the van. She lay on her belly; her right arm was lying under her, completely distorted at an odd angle. When someone turned her carefully on her back, she felt the same pain and had lost consciousness immediately. When she woke up in the hospital, a policeman was sitting beside her bed and he assured her that everything was fine. He couldn't tell her anything about the two officers, but he told her that the doctor would come to see her soon. The policeman walked out of the room and left Reeba to her thoughts.
Reeba looked at her injured arm and she was glad that she didn't have to go through the examination procedure in fully conscious. Her right arm was propped up with some pillows and had been put in a cast from her wrist to the upper arm.
The X-ray pictures, hanging beside her bed on the wall, needed no explanation. Ulna and radius were broken nice and clean and the upper arm above the elbow too. And to top it all her wrist seemed to be broken in several places; maybe she had fallen on her outstretched hand with her full weight. For the next six to eight weeks she wouldn't be able to move her fingers.
She couldn't tell which part of her body didn't hurt, she was covered with bruises and cuts, and she had a violent headache. The door to her room opened and a doctor about forty years old came in.

"Hello, Miss Hunter, I'm glad that you're awake! My name is Dr. Gilbert. How do you feel?"

"Like I was run over by a quarterback! – Please Dr. Gilbert, it's very important for me, could you tell me something about the two policemen? We came into the hospital together. How are they?"

Dr. Gilbert sat down next to her bed and suddenly looked very sad.

"Well, I thought you were more interested in your own medical problems…"

"Well it looks as if my arm is broken and I saw the x-rays over there, so you don't have to waist your time in telling me something I can actually see and feel." She winced when she moved a bit too fast.

The doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise; he had not expected this kind of reaction.

But he was used to all kind of human reactions and so he smiled at his impatient patient. "First of all you have to calm down and then…"

"Doc, please… I will calm down if you tell me everything I want to know!" Reeba interrupted the poor doctor and tried to suppress her raising anger. "I know the damn hospital rules, you're not allowed to tell me anything, but please…I have to know it…" she begged.

The doctor sighed deeply.

'Seems to be getting to be an especially difficult case here!'

After a while he looked at Reeba and saw the desperation in her face and felt sorry for the injured young woman. Slowly he nodded his head. "I understand you all have been through a lot and Detective Hutchinson owes you his life, so…"

"So… how bad is it?"

"Well, Detective Starsky has a severe concussion, but fortunately there is no bleeding or a cranial fracture. His left kneecap has broken and his left ankle has broken in several pieces. We have operated him, wired the patella and put together the jigsaw puzzle in his ankle. Because of the heavy swelling we haveput the leg into a splint to prevent any nerve damages. In three or four days we'll be able to fix the leg in a cast, but he will haveat least two weeks of bed rest. Then he will be not allowed to put any weight on it for several weeks but he can walk around on crutches. If he follows my orders the leg should heal nicely without any further problems, but now it's important that he get as much rest as possible." The doctor stopped and sighed again. "Detective Starsky will be in a lot of pain, so we have given him some strong painkiller. Now he's in recovery, but he'll certainty sleep for several hours. – But what about you? I'm sure; you're in pain and please be honest! I know that nurses are the worst patients beside doctors and policemen. So, your arm is in pretty bad shape, you need anything?" The doctor carefully touched the fingertips of her bandaged arm and was pleased to see no swelling or bruising. Reeba winced, as the movement caused her some new pain.

"Yeah, to be honest… it's bad; some pain killers would be nice!"

Now Dr. Gilbert smiled and tried to cheer her up. "Believe me. It looks worse than it is. In eight weeks you'll get rid of that cast and with some physiotherapy you'll be as good as new. You only need to be patient. The nurse will bring you something immediately and then you try and get some rest and that's doctor's orders."

"When can I see Detective Starsky?"

"As I've already told you, he's still in recovery and you should keep this arm as still as possible. Just get some sleep and then we see what happens, okay?"

"I'll be good, honest! But what about Detective Hutchinson...I know he was in bad shape, but I've to know what happened to him!"
Dr. Gilbert could hear the fear in her words and tried to calm her.

"Dr. Samuels is looking after him. From what I've heard he had a lot of difficulties stabilizing him before he could take him into surgery. He almost lost him in the ER... he's still in surgery. As soon as I see him I'll tell him that he should speak with you, all right?"

Reeba sighed and tried to digest the news. "Thanks a lot for being so honest with me, Dr. Gilbert. Have you seen my son? Is he here somewhere?"

"Yes, he's waiting outside and can't wait to see you. However, you remember, you need your rest! Only five minutes!"

"That would be nice, doctor, thank you very much!"

The doctor smiled, said goodbye and left the room.

A few seconds later Nat stormed into the room, a nurse at his side and stopped for one moment, startled to see his mother with the thick plaster cast. Reeba smiled weakly and waved over him.

"Hey it's really me under all these bandages! How're you doing?"

Nat's eyes were full of tears. "Mom... I was so afraid... thought I would never see you again..." Sobbing he fell beside her on his knees and he laid his head on her chest to cry. Reeba softly touched his head.

"Believe me...I'm going nowhere for a long, long time," she murmured and her eyelids became as heavy as lead. She noticed that the nurse put a syringe in the drip and then she fell in a deep sleep.

TBC