Chapter 13

For the rest of that day, the two men just enjoyed the opportunity for some quiet time. Sarah came in and out with medication, checking out the blonde's drip, but she left any checks on temperature and the like to Starsky. She was beginning to bond with Hutch and, reticent as the blond was to allow any woman, let alone a nurse into his life at that moment, Starsky could see that the ice was melting and that, if Hutch would allow, there may be something more to their friendship than purely nurse and patient.

The rest of the time, between Hutch sleeping for long periods, they just talked about anything and everything. They decided on a vacation and wondered if their friend Traff might like to join them, although Starsky was never happy about Hutch's choice of venue. He always maintained he was cut out for the playboy lifestyle, not roughing it in the woods somewhere, communing with nature. But right at that moment, Starsky would have happily gone to the moon of Hutch had have wanted to, such was his relief at having the blond back again.

There was only one small incident to mar the day and that was when a nurse who hadn't been briefed on the situation came into the room unannounced. She was dressed in the same white uniform and hat that Diana had dressed herself in and she knocked on the door and came into the room asked for Sarah's whereabouts. It was during one of Hutch's waking periods and he looked up to see her stood in the doorway. It didn't help that the nurse had brown hair and suddenly the blonde's body went rigid and he gave an involuntary cry as Starsky looked around and angrily ushered the startled woman from the room. Once outside, the nurse was all apologies, but the damage had been done and Starsky tried hard to temper his anger

Coming back in, he could see the cold sweat on the blonde's forehead and the slight tremor in the hands as Hutch used the bandages on his hands to wipe his face. With a self conscious smile he shrugged his shoulders.

'Sorry Gordo. Guess I'm gonna have to work on that a while' he grinned shyly 'she just took me by surprise'.

Starsky snorted. 'Nothing that a good night out with a couple of Memorial's finest won't cure'.

But he saw the haunted look in the ice blue eyes and immediately wished he could eat his words. 'Sorry Blintz, that was crass. You'll get over it. Ya just gotta give it time'.

'Don't apologise' Hutch said, trying to keep the trembling under control. 'God, if you have to watch everything you say, we'll never have a conversation. And as for the nurse thing. I'm in a hospital! Not gonna avoid 'em for ever, am I?'

'No. S'pose not. But I still wish we could've done this at home' Starsky said with feeling. 'I feel like I let you down. I promised you, when you were…….when I found ya, that there'd be no hospitals, but they wouldn't let me take ya home'.

It was Hutch's turn to dole out a little comfort, seeing the sheepish look in his partner's eyes. 'Hey Starsk, you did the next best thing'. He waved his hands at the extra bed and the blinds at the windows. 'You couldn't do all this at home. With all this lot' he looked at all the gauze and bandages, 'I'm keeping Glaxo in business at the moment. I'll be home soon enough, then you got me all to yourself. If you want?'

'What's that supposed to mean, "if I want". Wild horses, partner. Wild horses. Apart from that, you can see how it feels. I've been on the end of your nursing often enough. It's the patient's revenge!'

'You might want to reconsider, buddy. I don't think I'm gonna mend overnight you know' Hutch said, staring at his bandages again.

Starsky sat on his bedside. 'Hey, partner. I'm here as long as it takes, you understand? As long as it takes. And speaking of as long as it takes, do you feel up to a serious talk?'

Hutch stared levelly back. 'About what?'

'About what Dobey told me yesterday. The three nuts who got you. We know they were mental patients, so before they could have ever have stood trial there would have had to be a competency hearing, an' you'd have to testify .As it is, there's only Diana now but the situation's still the same. An' if Diana was found competent, you'd have to testify again at the main trial' Starsky said it all in a rush, wanting to come clean about the state of things.

Hutch closed his eyes and rested his head back against the pillow, a look of pain flashing across his handsome face as he considered the options. 'So I gotta give a statement first for them to establish whether an already convicted psycho is still psycho, is that it?'

'That's about the size of it pal, an' you need to do it fairly fast. The DA needs your statement tomorrow. You up to this?'

Hutch paused, considering. He felt like he was only just coming to terms with what had happened to him and still when he thought about his days spent in the dark and in pain it made him break out into a cold sweat. To have to tell someone else about it, even this man who was closer to him than a brother was more than he thought he was up to.

'I dunno Starsk. God, I'm supposed to be the cop. I'm the one that catches the bad guys and gets the evidence. I'm not supposed to be the evidence. What am I gonna say? Well, Your Honour, a woman who'd convinced herself that she was my girl had me kidnapped and tortured me just to make me love her? Who's gonna go down the insanity route then huh? You can just hear defence counsel "And, Mr Hutchinson, what makes you think you are so special to this woman?" Its still crazy enough in my head, how's it gonna sound to a jury, if it ever gets in front of one?'

'Well, you've got the choice of taking the stand and hoping she's convicted and moved to a maximum security facility, or her staying at Brock Hurst and hoping they can do something to help her. The choice is yours'.

Hutch took a deep breath. There was silence in the little room for a while. 'So, you gonna take the statement then?' he asked.

Starsky nodded. 'If that's what you want Blintz. Or if you'd prefer someone…..'

'No, just you, OK? And do it now before I change my mind'.

And so for the next two hours, Hutch dictated his statement to the brunette. Throughout it all Starsky tried to remain quiet and impartial but there were times when Hutch described the treatment he'd received at the hands of the three that he couldn't keep his temper in check.

'You mean she kept you blindfolded for the whole two weeks?' he asked incredulously.

'Pretty much, yeah' Hutch answered him. He'd tried hard to keep the account to a strictly factual level, knowing that it would hurt his partner to hear everything that had happened to him over the 14 days, but there were certain things that had to be said and he worried as he saw the set of Starsky's jaw when he mentioned the various tortures he'd had to endure.

'Well that explains the welt across your eyes then' Starsky glared angrily at the statement form as though it was the papers entire fault that this had ever occurred. 'And she did the chest drain thing with no local?'

'Yeah'

'Jeez, I bet that smart!'

'More 'n' you'll know' Hutch chuckled grimly.

'God I wish I could've got my hands on her. When she came into the room after I'd shot Harley and Snape, I cuffed her then handed her over to Gonzalez. I was too anxious to get to you. If I'd known what she'd done to you, I'd have…'

'You'd have done what any good cop would've done, read her her rights and bundled her into the nearest black and white' Hutch finished for him. 'Look, Starsk. I know you feel bad, but I need you to be calm for me right now. Just be my voice of reason here. I need you to keep me sane right now, coz I'm in danger of loosin' it if I have to tell all this to anyone else. I just need you to be strong for the two of us. Will ya do that for me? Huh?

Starsky closed his eyes, getting his emotions under control before nodding with a sigh. 'Ya have to ask Blintz? You've done the same for me often enough. We'll get through this, and Diana'll end up where she belongs'.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After the conversation and the statement, Hutch started to improve rapidly. As soon as the wounds on his shin had healed well enough, he was given a general anaesthetic and had his leg set and placed in a bright white cast. By the end of his first week in hospital, Sarah and Starsky had managed to get him out of bed and into a chair, although it hurt Hutch more then he let on. It just felt good to be out of a bed and in some semblance of a vertical position again after so long. The physiotherapist came and started him on some simple exercises to build up his muscle tone, and once the orthopaedic surgeon had deemed it OK, they had him up and walking.

The first time he tried to stand, he was dizzy and nauseous when he stood up, but as the physio pointed out, he hadn't achieved that position for over a month so it was to be expected. Hutch didn't, however, expect the pain as he stood. Bright white flashes lanced through his shins as he took his weight on his legs, causing him to sweat and grunt in pain, but he refused to give up and by the end of the second session, he was walking on his own. Difficulties occurred because he couldn't use his hands to hold crutches and so he was still beholden to his partner to walk with him everywhere, but they both felt that it was a big step forward to be mobile again.

Pretty soon, Hutch felt confident enough to have the brunette leave him for periods. He realised some people may have thought him crazy or weak for wanting his partner around, but then, very few people knew exactly what he'd been through. Privately Sarah and Starsky were amazed at the speed of his recovery. He could even cope with the sight of nurses in uniform again and the blinds had been taken down from his window so that he could see something of what was going on in the hospital. Only Sarah remained in her street clothes when she looked after Hutch, and the two had bonded well together. Such was the extent of their rapport that on the ninth day of his hospitalisation, Hutch told Starsky that if he wanted to go home and get some rest, he was fine about it. He had been sitting in his chair by his bed and Sarah had been standing at his side. As he'd said it, Sarah had looked fondly down and placed a supporting hand on Hutch's shoulder.

At first, the brunette was reluctant, but he felt he was becoming almost institutionalised and deep down he longed for just one night of full sleep. Since being at Hutch's bedside he'd wakened constantly during the night, either because the blond needed him, or just because the noise in the hospital kept him awake. So finally on the evening of the ninth night, he said goodbye to the blond, who was chatting with Sarah, and made his way back to his apartment.