Ghosts From the Past

Chapter Twelve

After a few minutes, Hutch helped Starsky up from the floor and then he and Huggy helped to get him settled back in the bed. Huggy walked out of the room to go find Anita to have her bring up some more water and towels, as well as to give them some privacy.

Starsky was himself again, at least for now, but he was severely ill. Hutch sat on the side of the bed and worked to remove what was left of Starsky's filthy shirt. As he did so, he saw the multiple burns along his chest, his back, and his neck. Finally, when he pulled off the sleeve over his left arm, he found the needle marks, just like the ones in his own arm.

Hutch felt his anger rise, but pushed it down as Starsky quietly spoke again saying, "I'm sorry, Hutch."

He sadly replied, "You've nothing to be sorry for, Starsk. Just take it easy."

"You know what I'm talking about," Starsky said.

"You mean for worrying me to death for four days?" Hutch asked, knowing full well that he was referring to him asking him to kill him.

Starsky responded, "Is that how long I was gone?"

Hutch nodded sadly as Anita walked in and slowly set a new pitcher of water on the nightstand beside the bed as well as the new towels and then walked back out without a word. Hutch got to work right away with treating Starsky's wounds, using the medical supplies that Huggy had brought up before Hutch had gotten there.

Hutch spoke up again after she left saying, "You'll be happy to hear that both Simonetti and Dryden have been suspended for two months without pay for their role in this. It isn't as much as they deserve, but at least they will no longer be around to cause us any problems."

Starsky started to laugh until he started coughing, but as he gained control back, he whispered, "I wish I could have seen…the looks on their faces."

"Do you remember what happened to you, Starsk?" Hutch asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah, I remember most of it," Starsky replied. "But I saw a lot of other things too. I'm not sure what was real and what wasn't. Like a few minutes ago. I just know...that Arvin Nicholson…was behind it all."

Hutch looked down at his friend and asked again, "Do you remember being injected by something?"

Starsky nodded, but before he could say anymore his face contorted in pain and he began to cough uncontrollably. Hutch held onto him to reassure him he was there, until he eventually fell unconscious. His partner's fever was high and still rising, despite his efforts and he knew that the nightmares or hallucinations would continue for however long the drugs in his system would last.

Hutch also knew that he needed to be in the hospital, but Starsky kept saying that they would find him if he was there and he believed him. Hutch had no idea who else was working with Nicholson, who seemed to have unlimited resources to money, as well as accomplices. The only people he could trust to help him take care of his friend were Huggy, Anita, and Captain Dobey, whom he realized he still needed to contact. It was then that Hutch got an idea that wasn't a great solution, but it was the only thing he could think of that might be able to give Starsky the medical help he really needed.

Hutch walked over to the phone and quickly called Captain Dobey to tell him to come alone to The Pitts, without telling anyone where he was going and that he would explain the rest when he arrived. When he hung up, he took a seat in the chair beside the phone and called another number.

When the other end of the line picked up, Hutch responded wearily, "Hello again, Dad."

Hutch's father asked, "Ken, I didn't expect to hear from you again so soon. You sound terrible. Is everything all right?"

"No, Dad," he answered grimly. "I really need your help. I'm fine, but Starsky, he's…I need you to help him, please."

"I just got back to my hotel after finishing my business here in San Francisco," Hutchinson Senior replied. "I was getting ready to leave to catch my flight. Where can I find you?"

Hutch responded, "Call for a cab and tell him to drop you off at a place called The Pitts here in Bay City. Do not tell anyone where you are going. I'll be waiting for you."

The older man agreed and hung up the phone. Hutch looked back at his partner covered up in the bed and left the room to find Huggy down in the bar. Hutch stopped at the bottom of the stairs when he saw that Huggy saw him coming down and motioned for his friend to come over.

Huggy asked, "How's our boy doing?"

"Not good, Hug," Hutch answered sadly. "He's himself again for now, but he's really sick and we can't trust that he'll be safe at the hospital. Any of the doctors or nurses could be on Nicholson's payroll."

"That's true," Huggy agreed. "What do you plan to do?"

Hutch replied, "I've called my father, who's a doctor. He'll be here within an hour. When he arrives, will you send him up? You'll know who he is when you see him. I'm going to stay with Starsky. Let me know if you see anyone looking suspicious come in here. No doubt Nicholson will know about this place too."

Huggy nodded as he responded, "Fine, but what about the bad dude still locked in the van I hid out back?"

"Dobey's also on his way here," Hutch said. "We'll talk with the guy then."

"You got it," Huggy answered.

Hutch walked back to the room and moved the chair by the phone to Starsky's bedside. He took a seat, grabbed a towel to soak it in water, and began to wipe down his partner's head, face, chest, and arms, not only to try to bring down the fever, but also to wipe away the grime and filth that covered him. Hutch could see that he was held somewhere dirty. When he finished, he remained in the chair to wait as he exhaustedly placed his head in his hands.

About forty minutes later, Huggy came into the room to find Hutch was resting and he carefully walked over and gently put his hand on his shoulder to wake him. Hutch jumped as he did so.

Hutch moved back as he said, "Sorry to scare you, Brother. I came in to tell you your father's here, as well as Captain Dobey. They ran into each other downstairs."

After Dobey walked into the room and to his officer's bedside, Hutchinson Senior stepped through the door and slowly walked over to the bed where he saw his son's partner was lying unconscious and very ill. He looked into his son's tired eyes and walked over to Starsky to begin checking him over.

"What happened. Son?" the older man asked before Dobey could.

"He was abducted the night after you left by the same men responsible for putting the body in his apartment," Hutch replied. "He was tortured for four days until he somehow managed to escape and make his way back here. It looks like he was burned over and over with a hot metal object and then injected with some kind of drug at least four times. The marks are here in his arm. So far, his fever is slowly continuing to rise, despite my efforts to wipe his head and face down with hot water. He's got chills and shaking uncontrollably, and has been having trouble breathing. The worst thing though, is that he's been hallucinating; seeing things that I'm not sure of. He's terrified, Dad."

The older man looked directly at his son and grimly asked, "Has he been suicidal?"

Hutch looked quizzically at his father as he responded, "What does that matter? I mean, I know he's in bad shape, Dad, but I need you to do whatever you can for him."

"I'm only trying to rule out drugs like heroin and others that cause a person to get high," his father answered. "I…"

"It wasn't heroin," Hutch replied defensively. "Believe me, I know. Whatever drug this is, it has different effects and it's not addictive. Starsky didn't beg me to give him more like an addict would. He asked me to kill him."

The older man responded as he continued to administer to Starsky, "I see. Listen, I'm going to give him an antibiotic to help him with the fever, but since we have no idea what's in his system, we cannot risk giving him anything stronger to help with the pain. He needs to be in a hospital so I can run tests on him. Otherwise, I can't…"

Dobey interrupted saying, "You can use the lab at the police department. Just take the blood from him that you need and I'll escort you back. I know it isn't ideal, but the men who did this to Starsky are still out there and will do whatever it takes to find him and kill him. We cannot guarantee his safety at the hospital."

"All right," Hutchinson Senior replied as he injected the antibiotic into a vein below his right wrist. "I understand. I'll do what I can or him, Son. I promise. In the meantime, just keep doing what you've been doing. He'll keep getting worse until we figure this out, but you're doing fine."

"Just so you know, I've got the kidnapper, who Starsky locked in the van on his way to the station as we speak. A couple of traffic cops are driving him. Don't worry, they don't know anything about him being tied to Starsky's kidnapping. I'll take care of the thug myself and try to find Nicholson."

"Thanks, Captain," Hutch said. "And thank you, Dad."

After his father drew the blood he needed from his partner and once everyone left, Hutch took his seat once again beside Starsky's bedside. Huggy came back a few minutes later with some fresh water and helped Hutch take care of their friend. Anita brought them up some food, as well as a beer to drink. Then, she went down and closed up the bar early before heading home. No doubt would Hutch need Huggy's help and she had already been there longer than her shift was meant to be.

As she left, she failed to notice a car parked across the street carrying two passengers in the front seats, who were watching the bar known as The Pitts. These men worked for Arvin Nicholson, who had told them to check the place out after learning that it was owned by one of Detective Starsky's good friends.

For now, they were only watching, not knowing Starsky was inside, since they had not been there when Lupo had been escorted out by the two traffic cops, but they were warned that if Detective Hutchinson arrived at the bar, that they were to call Arvin immediately because he knew that he would be the one to lead him to Starsky.