Part 22

"Oh God…" Starsky exclaimed as they both turned simultaneously upon hearing the bang, and upon seeing the young man's prostrate form, lying motionless behind them, they were both up and by his side in an instant. Dobey, being the quicker of the two men, was the first to reach him and tried to rouse him as he approached.

"Hutch?" He called to the seemingly unconscious man. "Hutch, can you hear me? Ken?"

The gentle rise and fall of the man's shoulders and ribcage was the only reassuring indication that he was even still breathing.

Starsky wasn't accustomed to hearing the Captain use either of their given forenames very often, but this barely even computed with him as he neared the two men.

"Oh Hutch…" He sighed as he approached and took in the sight of his best friend, who had mercifully already started to regain consciousness. Starsky felt the overwhelming urge to shove the Captain aside as he noticed his partner begin to move, but held back slightly, logic telling him that Dobey was currently a lot stronger and quicker than he and therefore the one much better placed to help Hutch.

"It's alright son, just take it easy." Dobey did his best to reassure Hutch as he knelt down by his side and helped him to sit up. "It looks like you hit your head when you fell."

There was a deep gash oozing blood to the side of Hutch's head, and as he instinctively put his hand up to the point at where pain was evidently emanating from the Captain gently batted his searching hands away as he reached for a towel to apply pressure and to try and stem the bleeding.

Hutch groaned. "What happened?" He asked.

He sounded weak as he rested his aching head against the kitchen unit behind him. His eyes were still half closed and it was quite clear to all involved that he still hadn't completely come round from the bang on the head yet. Dobey was concerned.

"I don't know son…" The police chief started to explain as he gently pressed the rolled up fabric to the side of Hutch's head, and held it in place for a minute. "You lost consciousness for a moment… it appears you fainted… do you remember what happened?" He asked.

"…Hutch?"

But Hutch had suddenly gone very quiet, and he was beginning to worry that he might have lost consciousness again when suddenly his breath hitched in his chest, and he let out a choking sob.

"Starsky…" Hutch choked.

"Hey buddy." Starsky smiled down at his best friend as he sat upon the cold kitchen floor, with tears glistening in his eyes and Dobey's hand placed reassuringly upon his quivering shoulder. Hutch was still pale, although some of what little colour he had lost slowly started to return to his bony cheeks as he looked up into his best friends eyes. Captain Dobey appeared at a total loss as to what to do. He'd heard all about Hutch second-hand from both Starsky and Huggy but the Detective had himself been doing a pretty good job of keeping the truth about his deteriorating health from the Captain – up until now at least – and he'd never seen either of his boys in such a bad way before. Both had been through a lot together over the years, and had known the physical pain of being torn into by bullets, poisoned, and both had found themselves teetering on the edge of death on more than one occasion, but despite the odds both had always come through whatever life and the job had had to throw at them before, united in the combined strength of each other.

Captain Dobey realised however that things had been very different this time – he'd come to the conclusion over the past few weeks that throughout everything the pair had been through in the past neither had ever allowed himself to believe that the other really might die before. It had kept those burning embers of determination alive within them, and had driven them to fight for each other, urging one to never give up so long as there was still life in the other's veins and hope within their own aching heart. They had both forced themselves to the absolute brink of human endurance for each other, shunning food and evading sleep – each unable to even contemplate life without the other. Captain Dobey had witnessed for himself on more than one occasion the unique bond of friendship between the two men and had himself starred deep into the pained dead eyes of one, before watching the light within them miraculously return as the news was delivered that the other was slowly clawing their way back to them, determined not to relinquish their hold on life.

Hutch however had genuinely started to believe that Starsky was going to die in the days following the shooting – and that had been the blow which had finally crushed his spirit, allowing his feelings of grief and misplaced guilt to overwhelm him, and even after Starsky had finally regained consciousness he hadn't had the emotional strength left to fight.

As Starsky approached the two men slowly Hutch looked up into his piercing blue eyes, framed by a messy mop of curly brown hair. His own eyes glistened with unshed tears.

"It's alright buddy." Starsky smiled back at him as he knelt down by his side. "It isn't your fault, any more than it's your fault that I got shot, or mine, or Captain Dobey's, or Huggys, but you can't carry on like this Hutch…"

"It still haunts me Starsk." Hutch sobbed as Starsky took the blonde into his arms, and cradled his head in his hands as Dobey took a step back to survey the situation. "Gunther may now be behind bars, but he's still holding me hostage… he won't let me go! I still see you lying there every evening when I close my eyes, I see the blood, I watch you fading away from me, and it tears me apart inside. I should have been able to protect you… I should have been able to stop it… sometimes I think it would have been better if it had been me who'd taken those bullets, not you!"

"Don't you say that Blintz…" Starsky shook his head, as he took his partner's head in the palms of his hands and looked into his eyes. "Do you think it would have been any easier for me if it had been the other way around? Do you think that I wouldn't have spent every moment of every day at your bedside, praying for you to wake up and come back to me? You're the best friend I have in the whole world Hutch. I would take a hundred bullets for you, and I would take this pain away from you in an instant if I could, but I can't. This pain is your pain Hutch, and you have to deal with it, because I don't want to lose you anymore than you want to lose me!"

"What are we going to do Starsk?" Hutch sniffed as Starsky took him back into his arms, one arm resting comfortingly around the back of his neck as the other rubbed soothing circles down the length of his friend's back. He looked up at Captain Dobey, who acknowledged his glance with a nod of the head and a meek smile.

"Well first we'd better get you up off this floor and into bed." Starsky smiled. "Unless you plan on spending the rest of the day down here. I'll make us some lunch and then I'll give Huggy a call, see if he can pop around after work."

"I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you Starsk, remember?" Hutch remarked guiltily, his hand returning to the side of his head and he winced slightly with the pain as Starsky removed the rolled up towel from the side of his friend's head to take a closer look at the wound. At least the bleeding appeared to have now stopped, and it didn't look deep enough to require stitches – even so Hutch had sustained a nasty flesh wound, and he was bound to have quite a bruise to show for it for the next few days to come.

"I think I can cope with rustling up a spot of lunch." Starsky smiled. "And tomorrow I think it's time you made an appointment to see Doctor Maybrouk Hutch." He explained gently. Dobey with this approached the two men from the opposite side and together he and Starsky assisted Hutch carefully to his feet.

"I've spoken to him…" Starsky continued to explain as they both helped to steady Hutch against the kitchen unit behind – both men reluctant to let the young Detective go for fear that he might stumble in his disorientated state and cause himself any further damage, "and he'd like to see you. He says that there are things they can do Hutch, drugs they can prescribe to help settle your stomach, and to help you sleep, just until you get your strength back."

Captain Dobey then took the weight of the blonde haired Detective in his arms as he wrapped one supporting hand around his torso, and slung the young man's arm over his shoulders before he carefully assisted him back into the living room and over to the couch where he might rest in more comfort. He was shocked by how little the man now appeared to weigh.

"Starsky's right Hutch." He sighed, as he helped him to sit down. "You can't carry on like this."

Hutch nodded. "I've been such a fool." He whispered.

"No Hutch." Starsky shook his head as he joined them, and took his seat beside Hutch on the sofa, as Dobey took the chair opposite his two men. "You're sick Hutch. It's our fault for not noticing it sooner. Gunther's bullets hurt both of us. They hurt me physically, but Hutch they hurt you too. They hurt your heart and soul."

Starsky then turned to the Captain, and with a silent plea in his eyes and a worried expression upon his face he pulled him aside and whispered, "I think you'd better call a doctor." Hutch's complexion was still very pale, almost grey in the light of the room, and his eyes were already beginning to close. He'd only caught his head a glancing blow against the kitchen unit as he'd feel, but he'd sustained a hard knock to his temple and Starsky was beginning to worry about the possibility of concussion or other such brain injury that had yet to be established.

"I don't need a doctor." Hutch's eyes immediately flew open as he heard Starsky's words however. There was a look of panic within his bright blue eyes and both his partner and his captain wondered how he had even heard what had been said when Starsky's voice had been barely more than an utterance. Even Captain Dobey had struggled to hear his words. "I just need you."

The curly haired brunette sighed sadly.

"And I need you too Hutch." Starsky implored as he gently knelt down in front of his best friend and looked up into his frightened eyes. "I need you to get better, but you're not going to mend my stomach, or repair my damaged lungs where Gunther's bullets ripped through them. You're not going to make me strong so that I can return to duty; only the physio can do that, and you're going to need medication too to help you get better. But I am going to be with you every step of the way. I promise. We'll do this together."

Hutch looked up at him, his expression blackened by self-doubt. A slight smile curled the corners of his pale lips but both Starsky and Captain Dobey could see that it was a forced gesture.

"So will you let me call a doctor?" Starsky asked. "If only to get that cut on your head seen to, and put my mind at rest?"

Hutch hesitated a moment, but finally nodded. Starsky could tell that his best friend was still a little unsure, and was probably only agreeing his request out of his own sense of concern – not being able to withstand the thought of him spending the rest of the day worrying about him – but at least, Starsky thought, it was a start.