Part 30

Starsky rubbed at his tired eyes wearily as he stumbled from the sofa into the quiet kitchen late one morning in search of breakfast and his compulsory mid-morning caffeine fix which set him up for the day. Hutch had spent a rare night in his own bed, after Starsky had finally managed to convince him that he would be alright spending a night on the sofa.

Hutch wasn't up yet, although he'd heard him tossing and turning late into the previous evening, and it was unlikely that he would emerge anytime soon. Although the young Detective's sleep had become increasingly more settled in the weeks since he'd started taking the sleeping tablets, it was still of a broken and troubled nature, and he remained frequently exhausted once he awoke. Indeed Hutch's distress had appeared so extreme the previous evening that Starsky had finally found himself having to resist the urge to wake his friend when, as the sitting room clock had chimed the stroke of midnight the nightmares appeared to have yet again taken a disturbing hold over his subconscious mind – but Starsky had realised that in Hutch's case a broken sleep really may be better than no sleep at all.

It was only now, having spent the last few weeks living with Hutch, that Starsky had begun to realise just how badly his shooting had appeared to have affected his partner – the reason for his exhausted, pasty and alarmingly emaciated appearance in the hospital having now become painfully apparent, and it still pained Starsky deeply to think of the weeks during which he must have spent suffering in silence, and alone.

After only a few minutes of Hutch's incessant tossing and turning however the powerful hold which the nightmare appeared to have over him began to subside – another effect of the sedatives he'd been advised to take. Hutch had eventually descended into a much deeper state of sleep, and Starsky too had finally been able to drift into a state of blissful unconsciousness.

Now, as he reached for a glass from the top shelf of Hutch's cabinet, filling it half full with water and popping a single pill from each of an assortment of prescription medication bottles which he still had to take several times each day, his thoughts turned to the day ahead. The ringing of the phone at about nine o' clock that morning had disturbed him, and woken him from his slumber – and although he'd struggled to ignore the piercing drone for several long seconds – he'd finally had to admit defeat, and get up to answer it.

Not wanting to disturb Hutch, who still appeared to be sleeping soundly, he got unsteadily to his feet – slipping his cold toes into a pair of old carpet slippers he'd left beside the edge of the couch, and throwing his dressing gown over his shivering shoulders, before making his way weakly over to the phone.

To his surprise however it had not been a wrong number as he'd silently suspected, but Captain Dobey who had greeted him as he'd picked up the receiver.

"Hey, it's Captain Dobey here." The Captain said in his usual bark, and he'd had to hold the receiver several inches away from his ear as he'd rubbed his aching eyes wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose with a pained squint. "Who is this?"

"Starsky Captain." He sighed, perching himself down somewhat precariously upon the armrest of Hutch's couch, and stretching his left leg out in front of him. "Hutch is still asleep at the moment." He explained. "He had another bad night last night."

No further explanation between the two men was needed.

"I see." Dobey sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry to have to disturb you Starsk… how are you both doing?" He asked.

"Oh, you know me Captain." Starsky smiled. "A little tired, but I'm alright. I'm afraid Hutch is still in a bit of a bad way." He explained sadly. "But I'm taking care of him."

"Yes… well…" He heard Dobey falter, his gruff voice hesitant, before continuing uncertainly. "This is all very difficult for me Starsky… look, I know you two are still on sick leave, but I need somebody to take care of Rosie for a couple of hours. Edith needs to visit her mother this morning, and I've been called into the office, and I was just wondering… you know I wouldn't ask you guys unless it was urgent…"

Starsky smiled, Rosie was a bright young girl with all the acute brains of her father and the kindness and compassion of her mother. Both himself and Hutch held the little girl in the highest regard, and with a great deal of affection.

One thing for sure was that she had a very bright future ahead of her.

He grinned a trademark cheeky smile. He hadn't seen Rosie since before the shooting, suspecting that Captain Dobey had probably been doing his best to keep the inquisitive young girl away from both himself and Hutch for the past few weeks in order to give them time to recover – but having the little girl around for a while might even brighten up the place, and Hutch could certainly do with a little cheering up.

"Of course we can look after her for a few hours Captain." Starsky responded, rubbing one warm palm through his messy locks of his curly brown hair. "It would be our pleasure."

He heard Captain Dobey falter slightly on the other end of the receiver however – still somewhat unsure. His normally gruff tone of voice softened slightly.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

The conversation had subsequently continued on like this for several long minutes, going round as if stuck on a tandem, until Captain Dobey was finally assured that the two officers really were feeling strong enough to take on the task in hand – Rosie being both young and inquisitive could sometimes be a handful. But the matter was finally agreed.

This however had left Starksy with just about enough time to shower and change, when he could really have done with another couple of hours extra sleep. But it had been a long time since either himself or Hutch had seen the tiny girl, and he was very much looking forward to seeing Rosie again.

It was at this moment that there was a knock on the apartment door, and the curly haired brunette smiled. Tipping the remaining dregs of water away into the sink, and placing his glass back down on the draining board, he went to answer it – today was going to be a very long day indeed.