CHAPTER 13

Hutch paused to take a drink of water from his water bottle. The sun beat down relentlessly, making it hard to breath in the unbearable desert heat. Hutch's fair skin was already turning red on his face and exposed forearms. With the help of two colleagues, Simmons and Babcock, Hutch had spent the last twelve hours searching for his missing partner.

With nothing more than his instinct to guide him, Hutch had chosen the stretch of desert they were presently searching. Guided by the unique bond between them, he could sense that Starsky was still alive but not for long if Hutch didn't find him soon. He could tell that Simmons and Babcock were both frustrated but they kept their doubts about the search for Starsky to themselves.

Hutch let his gaze sweep across the horizon, focusing on a strand of sagebrush and cactus in the distance. Without any conscious thought, he began to walk in that direction. As he got closer, he picked up his pace until he was almost running. Babcock and Simmons trailed behind not sure what had Hutch so fired up but trusting his lead.

As Hutch reached the thickest part of the sagebrush, he saw the curled up figure lying on the ground, sheltered from the sun by the thick brush. "Starsky!" he cried. In his heart he knew that the still figure was his missing partner and not just another victim who got lost in the desert. Fighting his way to his partner's side, he knelt down beside him and gently turned Starsky over so he could see his face.

Starsky's face was gaunt and dry, the skin cracked and red from exposure to the desert sun. His body was emaciated, the lean frame almost skeletal. There were numerous bruises in various stages of healing along with festering cuts and abrasions. With a trembling hand, Hutch reached out and pressed two fingers against the artery in Starsky's neck. At first he couldn't feel anything but then he felt a faint unsteady beat beneath his touch.

He let out the breath he hadn't been aware he was holding as he gently gathered his partner in his arms and held him close. Leaning down until he was speaking directly in Starsky's curl covered ear, he said "I'm here, Buddy. I got you…just hang on and we'll get you out of here."

"Holy shit," Simmons muttered under his breath when he saw Hutch with his fallen partner. "We did it. We found him."

"We've got to get him out of here," Hutch said in a strained voice. "He's not going to last much longer if we don't."

"I'll go back and bring the car up closer," Babcock said. He threw a cautious look at his own partner. They both knew that time was of the essence and that Starsky was more dead than alive. Simmons nodded his head silently telling his partner that he would stay with Starsky and Hutch until he returned.

As Babcock hurried back in the direction they had come from, Simmons pulled a clean hanky out of his pocket and used the water in his bottle to wet it. Kneeling down beside Hutch, he handed the tall blond the went cloth. Smiling his thanks, Hutch began to gently bath his partner's face and neck, squeezing the rag occasionally to let a few drops seep between the unconscious brunet's dry, cracked lips.

"Hang on, Starsk…don't you dare die on me," Hutch said in a broken voice "Do you hear me? Don't you dare die on me or I'll kick your ass…" His voice softened almost to a whisper "Please don't die…I need you…I can't do this alone…not without you…"

Simmons kept his eyes focused on the ground, not wanting to intrude on this intensely personal moment between his two friends. The partnership and friendship between Starsky and Hutch was legendary. Even other long term partnerships didn't share the closeness that these two did. It was common knowledge that the two were a unit, two bodies sharing one soul. If anything happened to either one of them, there was no doubt that the other one would find a way to follow, unable and unwilling to go on alone.

The sound of an engine approached as Babcock drove his battered blue sedan across the hard packed sand, parking just beyond the brush. Simmons reached out and gently clasped Hutch's shoulder to get his attention.

"The car's here," he said softly.

Hutch nodded as he gently slipped his arms around Starsky's limp body and lifted him cradled in his embrace as he unsteadily rose to his feet. With Simmons leading the way, Hutch carried Starsky through the brush and to the car. He settled in the back seat with Starsky held securely in his arms. Simmons slid into the front seat with Babcock, who hit the gas and headed back to the city. As they got close to the city, Simmons flipped on the siren and slapped the bubble light on the roof to clear the way as Babcock raced for the closest hospital.

In the back seat, Hutch held his dying partner close, murmuring quietly in his ear, words of comfort as he begged his partner repeatedly to hang on and not to die. As soon as Babcock pulled up in front of the emergency entrance to the hospital, Simmons jumped out of the car and opened the back door to help Hutch out of the car with his injured partner.

As Hutch stormed through the entrance to the emergency room, several members of the nursing staff immediately ran to his aid.

"Help him! Please help him!" Hutch begged as he gently laid Starsky down on a gurney.

An intern immediately started a preliminary exam, yelling out to his co-workers. "He's coding!" The atmosphere grew tense as the staff began life saving measures even as they pushed Starsky into the interior of the emergency room.

No…Starsky!" Hutch said in a choked voice. Babcock and Simmons both grabbed an arm to keep the distraught blond from following his dying partner through the swinging doors that opened into the closed area of the hospital.

"Come, Hutch," Babcock said as he gently tugged Hutch towards the plastic sofa against one wall. "Let's have a seat and let the doctors take care of Starsky."

"I'll give Dobey as call." Simmons volunteered anxious to do everything he could to ease the burden on his friends.

Hutch barely noticed as Babcock helped him to the sofa and prompted him to sit. His gaze locked on the swinging doors that separated him from his partner, his mind in that room with Starsky as the waiting began.