Ghosts From the Past

Chapter Fourteen

Once Huggy came back about an hour later with the medical book Hutch had asked him for, he left Hutch alone once again. Hutch read carefully through the book for several hours, until he could no longer read and eventually began to doze off. Starsky had woken a few times throughout the night after having nightmares, but he had been unconscious for the last few hours, giving Hutch a chance to rest.

It wasn't until late morning the next day that Starsky awoke again and became caught up in one of his hallucinations. Starsky cried out in anger and fear of whatever it was he was seeing. Huggy had to come into the room to help him as Hutch struggled to calm their friend down. Neither one of them could tell what Starsky was seeing, but from his outbursts, they figured he was seeing something back from when he was in Vietnam. Hutch held onto him tightly in hopes of calming him down and finally he did, but Hutch was worried for him as he struggled to cope with the pain he was suffering.

"I'm here for you, Buddy," Hutch whispered to his friend as he continued to hold onto him. "I'm not going anywhere. Just take it easy."

"Please…make them…make them stop, Hutch," Starsky whimpered. "I can't…can't…"

Hutch gently turned his head in order to get him to look into his eyes and softly replied, "Yes you can, Starsk. I know you can. Don't you dare give up on me now. We have been through too much together and you were always the first one to encourage me not to give up. This time, I'm here for you. You will get through this, just like I did because of you."

After remaining on the floor like this for more than ten minutes without talking, Starsky finally asked, "Can you help me up?"

"Sure," he answered as he and Huggy struggled to pull him up and started to move him back to the bed.

"No," Starsky said as they did so. "We need to find Nicholson. I know you and Dobey have been trying to do so, but we do better as a team and you know it."

Huggy responded, "No way, Brother. You're in no condition to go anywhere, but back to bed."

Hutch agreed as he said, "Huggy's right, Starsk. You can barely stand."

"I am tired of just lying here and not being able to do anything about it," Starsky responded. "I can't let this keep happening to me. Maybe if…"

"I promise you, Starsk, everyone is doing all they can to stop this," Hutch said. "Dobey put out an APB on Nicholson and is working from the station, along with my father, who…"

"Wait, your father?" Starsky asked as he interrupted. "What's he doing back here?"

Hutch answered, "I called him and asked him to come and help you, since we can't take you to the hospital. He gave you some antibiotics to help bring down your fever, or at least keep it from rising much more. Now he's working in the station's lab trying to find a way to flush these drugs from your system without doing you anymore harm. I didn't know what else to do."

Starsky smiled and replied, "I'm surprised he came back. I didn't think he liked me."

"You forced me to result to begging," Hutch responded as he smiled. "You'll owe me for that later. My father may be hard headed, but he would never say no to helping someone, especially me. Deep down, he's a good man. Thanks to you, I saw that in him last night."

"Have you figured anything else out yet?" Starsky asked as he allowed his partner and Huggy to help him sit him up on the bed.

Hutch shook his head and answered, "When Captain Dobey spoke with Lupo, the guy you knocked out in the van, he said he couldn't remember the name of the drug, except for the first few letters; mal, but that he knew it was the same drug Nicholson used to torture his other victims with during the war. Do you remember what it was, Starsk?"

After he thought hard for a minute, he shook his head and replied, "I know he told me what it was, but I can't…"

Starsky's face suddenly contorted in pain as he doubled over and put his head in his hands. Hutch held onto him until he rode out the sudden burst of pain and then helped him to lie all the way down on the bed.

"It's ok, Starsky," Hutch said. "Don't worry about it now. Just try to relax."

"How can I relax when this psycho is out there?" Starsky asked as he struggled with his pain. "He's looking for me and when he finds me, you and Huggy are going to be in his way. What if…"

Huggy responded, "If he comes here, we'll be ready for him and make sure he pays for all he's done."

Starsky then asked, "What if you were to use me…as bait? I could draw him out. It'll work."

"Not a chance," Hutch replied firmly. "Just trust us to do all the work for a change, will you?"

"Hey, didn't the two of you go see the dude who was in charge of Starsky's unit in the war several days ago?" Huggy asked as he suddenly got an idea.

Hutch nodded as he looked over at Huggy and responded, "What about him?"

Huggy looked between Hutch and Starsky as he answered, "What if you called him to find out the name of the drug. If he originally arrested Nicholson in Nam, wouldn't he have mentioned the drug in his report? He may even have a sample if Nicholson had it on him at the time of his arrest."

"Hug, you're a genius," Hutch said as he stood and quickly walked over to the phone. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"That's right, why didn't you think of that?" Starsky replied sarcastically. "Why didn't I?"

Hutch laughed as he dialed the operator to get the number for the address they went to see him at. Once he got the number, he hung up with the operator and began to dial the number to speak with former Captain Rice's son, since Rice himself was probably too ill to speak on the phone himself.

As the son picked up the phone, Hutch got right to the point as he said, "This is Detective Hutchinson again, Mr. Rice. I believe you remember me from coming to your home a few days ago?"

The son answered, "Yes, I remember you, Detective. What do you want now?"

"I need you to speak with your father about something from his file on Arvin Nicholson's arrest," Hutch replied. "It's important."

"Why should we help you anymore, after you and your partner treated my father the way you did when you were here," the son responded angrily. "I understand my father made a mistake, but he did not deserve to be treated like a criminal."

Hutch answered, "Your father helped Nicholson to kidnap and hurt my partner, as we warned you he would. Starsky was injected with a drug multiple times over a four day period, a drug that your father may have access to, or at least have the name of in this file. We need that name in order to save him. He's in bad shape and getting worse."

The son replied, "I will talk with my father and get back to you. Give me a number I can reach you at."

Once Hutch gave him the number to Huggy's, the son hung up. Hutch set the receiver back down and walked back over to the bed. He told his partner and Huggy what the son had said and then waited to hear back from him in silence, as Starsky's fever began to spike. Huggy walked back downstairs to get some more water and when he came back up, Hutch informed him that Rice's son had called back while he was gone.

"Rice does still have a sample of the drug there at his home down in San Diego," Hutch said to Huggy as he pulled him away from the bed. "I need you to go and get it for me, Hug. I know it's asking a lot, but…"

"This is for Starsky," Huggy responded. "You don't got to ask. I know someone who can get me there and back lickedy split."

Hutch patted their friend on the shoulder as he turned and walked out of the room, after handing him Rice's address. Once he was gone, Hutch sat back in the chair beside the bed as he poured the fresh warm water over a towel and began to wipe down Starsky's face and neck again. Starsky moaned from the pain and Hutch used his free hand to keep a hold of one of his for comfort. Eventually, Starsky once again fell unconscious.