Part 19

Captain Dobey still remembered the afternoon of Starsky's shooting like it was yesterday. The events of that day had been firmly branded into his mind, searing through his consciousness and burning a deep scar into his heart which could not be seen but which he'd felt the pain of every moment of every day since. It had left a wound which he doubted would ever fully heal. It continued to plague his every waking moment even now, and had been the cause of many sleepless nights throughout those first few terrifying days. He could only imagine what it must have been like for Hutch during this time, and how much he must still continue to be suffering now… his pain having gone unnoticed for so very long.

The day of the shooting the Captain had heard the sound of what he'd thought to be rapid gunfire shortly after returning to his office following the conversation he'd shared with the two young officers – although his rational mind hadn't allowed him to give into his immediate instincts. Starsky and Hutch had left in high spirits, on their way to grab a spot of lunch, and after he'd stood and watched them leave Dobey had returned to carry on with his paper work, unaware of the tragic sequence of events about to unfold in the police parking lot. The whole department had been unusually quiet throughout the prior weeks, almost eerily so in the eyes of a Captain who was used to a bustling work room full of busy officers, all of them working hard to complete various items of paperwork to deadline, and with barely more than an arm's length of desk space between them. Whilst redecoration work was carried out on the department Captain Dobey had seen his team scattered to all corners of the busy police station – only Starsky and Hutch had continued to visit him during this time, and even then he had suspected that this had been for the joy the pair seemed to derive from winding him up more than through any real need to consult with him on the details of one of their many recent cases.

There would of course come a time during the weeks to come when he would have given anything to have them both back cavorting around, playing their practical jokes on him, and occasionally even also on each other – but at least for those few short minutes he'd been able to laugh at himself and smile at the thought of his two favourite Detective's batting the small ball backwards and forwards towards each other over their makeshift table-tennis table.

That too was now an image firmly fixed into his memory – the pair's harmless banter echoing through the recesses of his mind.

Within only a few minutes of the Captain sitting back down to his work station all hell had broken loose, and from that moment onwards his life as he'd known it would be forever changed. His peaceful haven of the past few weeks had been suddenly shattered as a crowd of confused and anxious officers had been ushered through the main doors of the empty department.

Captain Dobey had got angrily to his feet, marching across the small room and towards the door to find out what all the commotion was about as a young and nervous looking officer had burst through the door into his office – without even bothering to knock. Dobey had noticed then that the young man had appeared to be suffering from the effects of some sort of shock – his skin was pale, and glistened in the sunlight beaming through an open window – but he hadn't cared to establish the reason for the man's obviously deeply disturbed frame of mind, more the reason for the unprovoked interruption.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion officer?" He'd barked, pulling a small handkerchief from his pocket to wipe at the beads of sweat which had begun to form upon his brow.

Pale and shaking the young man could do nothing but stand and stare at his Captain, eyes glassy and expression slightly glazed – his body had appeared suspended in mid-air like a terrified animal caught in a juggernaut's headlights. His gaze turned from the Captain to look upon the terrified figures of the men and women who'd been packed into the small workroom and now stood huddled behind him. No one seemed to know what was going on and he appeared to have been looking at each and every one of them in turn, desperate for someone to put into words the horror of what it was they'd witnessed.

Finally he'd turned his gaze back to meet with the angry glare of the Captain.

"Sir…" He'd stuttered, grappling with words which were obviously difficult to stomach. "Sir there's been a shooting… an unregistered patrol car in the parking lot just started shooting at a couple of Detectives… they didn't stand a chance…"

"Anyone hit?" Dobey had asked, his anger having immediately given way to fear. As the shock had subsided and he'd been able to get his head around the significance and the sheer magnitude of what he'd just been told his heart had seemed to stop, his stomach had lurched unpleasantly and he'd found himself suddenly thrust into the forefront of what had been evidently a very serious situation.

The officer had simply shrugged. "I don't know…" He'd finally brought himself to speak, and Dobey had noticed that there were tears glistening in the young man's eyes. "But it didn't look too good…" He'd explained. "I think one of the officers bore the brunt of the bullets!"

"Who?" Dobey had demanded.

"I… I don't know." The young man had faltered. "I don't know their names… one was blonde… the other brown haired… curly…"

The Captain's heart had skipped a beat…

Starsky and Hutch – no it just couldn't be…

When asked to recall what had happened later Dobey would be unable to recall any of the second half of their conversation, nor what had happened next. In a terrified daze he'd left his office, taking the station's maze of corridors at a run as he'd followed the sounds of shouting, crying and grief stricken screams out into the police parking lot. As he'd burst out into the open air he'd heard someone shout out "We're losing him! Where the hell is that ambulance?"

Well that had answered his most pressing of questions then, there had definitely been an officer down!

As he'd made his way quickly over to an area of the lot where a large crowd had gathered he had allowed himself to entertain the fear that the victim, or potential victims, might have in fact been one of his own officers – and he'd pleaded helplessly to God to watch over his two best, and favourite Detectives.

Dobey had quickened his pace as he had neared the scene, moving quite sprightly for a man of his size and build, but the blood which ran cold inside his veins had now turned to ice.

He'd found himself turning to prayer in a last ditch attempt to save himself from the scene he'd pictured in his head – one partner leaning helplessly over the other's lifeless body, powerless in the knowledge that there was nothing they could do – or even worse, two bodies laid out on the cold tarmac, blood oozing from their veins.

But in his heart Dobey knew that he was already too late.

As he'd neared the crowd he'd heard Hutch's helpless cries, and had seen one of his own Detective's holding the blonde back. In hindsight he hadn't so much been holding him back but more holding him up as Hutch had tried weakly to escape the firm arms which held him in a bid to reach his best friend's side.

"It should have been me…" Dobey had heard him muttering quietly to himself as he'd approached the young man's side. "It should have been me…"

"It's alright son…" Dobey had sighed, placing what he'd hoped to be a reassuring hand upon the distraught man's shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could… everything's going to be alright…"

He didn't see how anything could possibly ever be alright again though.

Dobey hadn't been able to see how everything could possibly have been alright as he'd laid eyes upon Starsky's lifeless form for the first time. There was a large pool of blood surrounding his body, and more blood oozing from a series of four or five large bullet holes than the officers fighting to save his life could possibly hope to stem. Dobey had also noticed that there was more of Starsky's blood soaking Hutch's shoes, but none evident anywhere else upon his person – and had come to the conclusion that someone had probably had the good sense to drag Hutch away from the scene before he'd had the chance to reach Starsky's side.

In his current state of distress he could have in fact ended up doing more harm than good.

To his relief Dobey had finally heard the sound of siren's wailing in the distance, and an ambulance had pulled up just a few yards in front of Starsky and the small group fighting to save him. It had taken the paramedics no longer than five minutes from the moment Dobey had first heard the sound of gunfire to reach them – even so the Captain had doubted that there was very much they could do. It had been evident to him from the moment he'd first laid eyes upon the young Detective's body that Starsky had gone.

Dobey had watched as the paramedics had then hurried forwards, taking the place of the police officers who'd done their best but could only offer the young man very limited first aid, and Hutch had been lowered to the ground. The young officer holding him up still hadn't relinquished his hold of the Detective however – Hutch had still been muttering quietly to himself, his gaze remaining firmly fixated upon Starsky's unmoving form, and as he'd bent down beside him Captain Dobey had removed his jacket and carefully draped it over the young man's shoulders.

"Hutch…" Dobey had choked, failing to keep his own raw emotions from creeping into his tone, but Hutch hadn't responded. He'd sat and watched the team of medics working on his best friend.

"Hutch… can you hear me?" Dobey had asked. Still there had been no response from the young Detective.

"Hutch?"

Finally, and to Dobey's relief, Hutch had managed to drag his eyes away from his partner's limp and lifeless form and had looked up into the concerned face of his Captain – there had been little trace of tears upon his pasty cheeks Dobey had noticed, reemphasising the fact that he hadn't yet been able to bring himself to cry for his partner, but his complexion had been pale, almost ghostly white and tinged with tones of blue and grey, and he'd been shaking violently. As Captain Dobey had helped him to his feet and the team of paramedics had loaded Starsky's body into the awaiting ambulance he'd been alarmed by just how cold Hutch's hands were to the touch, and as he'd released him from his grasp the young Detective's legs appeared to have given way beneath him and he'd had to be assisted back inside by Captain Dobey and the aid of another officer.

"I need to be with him…" Hutch had muttered as they'd sat him down on a chair in Dobey's office, and someone had rushed forward with a blanket to wrap around his shoulders whilst Dobey had checked the young Detective for injuries of his own. There had been no evidence that he had himself been hit during the crossfire whilst they'd all been outside, but they couldn't be sure that he hadn't sustained any injuries which had gone unnoticed in the chaos.

"If he's going to die… I need to be with him… shouldn't have left him alone." Hutch had continued to mummer under his breath, his tone becoming more and more urgent as Dobey had probed the Detective's body for concealed wounds.

"Yes, of course Ken, once we've established that you're alright!" Dobey had soothed, using Hutch's given name in a gesture of comfort – dispensing with the customary formality.

These words had seemed ridiculous as soon as they had left his lips however.

'Alright?'

Of course anyone could see that the blonde was far from alright. If anything happened to Starsky he'd doubted that he would ever be alright again.

"I need to be with him Captain." Hutch had choked, looking up into his Captain's eyes pleadingly – there had been tears glistening in his eyes now, and he'd looked as though one strong gust of wind just might have been enough to break him.

"Starsky's gonna die Cap…" He'd choked. "He's gonna die and there's nothing in the world that anyone can do about it… but I can… I can make sure that he doesn't die alone…"

Dobey had nodded – helping the young man back to his feet he'd wrapped one strong arm around Hutch's waist to support him, not convinced that in his current state he'd been capable of supporting himself.

"I'll drive." He'd sighed, his own heart heavy with grief. "Come on son…"

Hutch hadn't said anything on the ride over to the hospital; he'd sat in the passenger seat beside Captain Dobey and had stared out of the window. The picnic blanket had still remained loosely draped around his shoulders but there hadn't appeared to have been anything anyone could do to stop the young man from shaking.

When they'd arrived they'd both been informed that Starsky had been rushed into emergency surgery – to Dobey's surprise they'd been told that the Detective had survived the ride over, but his survival so far had been nothing short of miraculous. Even if he came through the surgery successfully they still didn't know if he'd ever wake up.

If he survived the night it would take yet another miracle, but his chances of survival would increase with time, and if he made it through the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours he stood a small but much better chance of making it.

Hutch, having suddenly collapsed upon receiving this news, had then been taken into an examination room where he'd been treated for shock. This seemed to have helped ease some of his more alarming physical symptoms, but when he'd finally been given the all clear and been allowed to see his best friend the young Detective had still evidently appeared weak.

Dobey had known that there had only been so much that warm blankets and saline could do for the man – he'd needed his partner.

Hutch continued to shake, and had remained unsteady on his feet for several hours following – a couple of nurses had sat him down on a chair outside his friend's room so he could at least see Starsky, even if he couldn't be with him until he'd been given the all clear by the doctor to go in to be by his partner's side.

And so had begun a hellish waiting game – their time spent sitting vidual beside Starsky's bedside, hoping and praying that if he could just make it through to the end of each day then he'd stand a better chance of making it.

They'd taken it in turns to sit at his bedside – talking to him, clinging to the hope that the constant murmur of familiar voices might spur him to fight, and to find his way back to them – but Hutch had rarely left the hospital during this time. The only time it seemed anyone could encourage him to leave Starsky's side had been to follow up on a potential lead regarding the identity of Starsky's shooter. Risking his own life had appeared to be Hutch's only solace.

Dobey recalled sadly a conversation he'd shared with Starsky's doctor on the day of the shooting. As Hutch had entered his best friend's hospital room, taking his seat loyally by his partner's side, Starsky's doctor had exited – and Dobey had taken the opportunity to call the slightly older man aside.

"Hey Doc," He'd hailed, as he'd watched him exit Starsky's hospital room from a side door, and massage his face wearily with the broad palms of his hands. "I'm very worried about one of my officers, Hutch." He'd explained, as the doctor had looked up and acknowledged his presence with a tired nod.

"Hutch?" The grey haired doctor had asked with a confused frown.

"Yeah," Dobey had explained, "the blonde haired guy who just went in there…" He'd gestured towards Hutch through the window with a nod of his head, "he and Starsky have been partners for many years, and…"

The doctor had nodded his head in understanding at this, and there had seemed no need on the Captain's part for any further explanation. "I see." He'd sighed, and smiled meekly.

"Listen Doc, what are his chances?" The Captain had asked.

The Doctor had released a tremulous breath. "He's suffered massive internal damage… we're doing everything we can."

"Just give it to me straight Doc! We need to know!" Dobey had suddenly snapped, regretting his tone immediately. He'd known that Starsky's condition was far from hopeful, he'd known that his chances of making a recovery were far from good, and he'd known that the doctors were trying their hardest to do everything they could, all this went without saying – but even so he still needed to hear the cold, hard truth spoken from the doctor's own lips.

"Not… not great I'm afraid!"

"Listen, if something happens to Starsky, I don't know how this would affect Hutch," Dobey had sighed a little shakily, "even now I have no idea what this may be doing to him… Starsky and Hutch are like two halves of the same whole, I've never seen a partnership like theirs before, and I've known some pretty close partnerships in my time!"

The Doctor had nodded.

"Can you do me a favour?" He'd asked.

"I can't promise anything." The Doctor had replied, although his tone had been kindly and had significantly suggested otherwise.

"Keep an eye on Hutch?"

The man had nodded.

"For as long as he's here, we'll do our best." He'd responded, regarding the Captain with a brief but reassuring smile.

"Thanks." Dobey had sighed.

The two men had then departed company, Dobey observing Hutch out of the corner of his eye through the window of Starsky's room as he'd started his long vigil at his partner's bedside.