Hearing was the first thing that came back to him, but all he heard was the soft brushing of fabric against fabric. He tilted his head slightly to the sound, but it stopped abruptly and he felt something cold touch his arm.

"David, can you hear me?" A voice soft, contrasting with the firm grip on his arm. Starsky recognised it as Linda's voice, and he assumed she was the one touching him.

With all the strength that had returned he opened his eyes and looked up into the dark eyes of the nurse. It was only when his eyes were fully open that he noticed something was over his nose and mouth. He reached a hand up to pull it away, but Linda caught his hand.

"Hey, I'll be the one who decides when that can come off" She said firmly, but with the trace of a soft smile around her lips. "And I've decided now is the right time" She took the oxygen mask away from Starsky's face.

"What happened?" Starsky's voice was raspy, so he coughed once to try and clear it.

"You did a very foolish thing, do you remember what?"

A few spots of memory came back, but nothing that made much sense. He saw the image of Dobey leaning over him telling him something. His words came back to him slowly.

"All we know is…he was shot"

"Hutch" Starsky said, grabbing Linda's arm suddenly, but that movement sent waves of biting pain along his whole body.

"I see you do remember" Linda continued with a stern expression "We found you unconscious in the middle of the corridor. You're Captain guessed you'd try to get to the elevator" She lifted a finger and let it hover over Starsky's face.

"That was a very foolish thing to do. You managed to split more than a couple of stitches and gave us all a bit of a scare, but you're very lucky you didn't pull anything internally"

"I just needed to see Hutch. Please tell me, is he all right?" Linda's face softened after staring at Starsky's pleading eyes for longer than a few seconds. She sighed and leaned closer to him.

"I'll let you see your partner, but only on one very stern condition" She made sure she had Starsky's complete attention before she continued. "You never ever try something like that again. If you do I may have to convince the doctor to either keep you restrained or sedated. Now do you promise to stay put and be a good boy?" Starsky nodded feverishly.

"Yes, I promise"

"Swear"

Starsky placed a hand over his heart. "On my badge, now please can I see him?"

Linda smiled.

"All right, but only for a little while" She stepped away from the bed and waved a hand at a figure sat behind her. Starsky turned his head to see Hutch sitting in a wheelchair with a small smile. There was an IV in his arm that run up to a bag hanging from a pole attached to the wheelchair and Starsky could just make out a bulky bandage protruding from underneath the gown, over his right thigh.

"Hey Buddy," Hutch said cheerfully. Starsky took his eyes off Hutch's leg long enough to smile back.

"You're all right?"

Hutch chuckled at the question, but when he caught the look in his partner's eyes he automatically stopped.

"Of course I am. The bullet went right through my leg. No serious damage, I'll be fine"

Linda patted Starsky on the arm with a warm smile.

"See, nothing to worry about. Now, I'll leave you both alone, but I'll be back in a few minutes to take Ken back, so you both can get some rest" She waved as she exited the room. Hutch gave her a pleasant departing smile, but once the door was closed it dropped it and turned back to Starsky.

"I don't quite know how to feel about what you did," He said slowly. Starsky took a deep breath, but winced knowing that hadn't been a good move.

"I was just…you know a little concerned. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get hold of a good partner?"

"Please don't mention…." The creaking of the door hinges stopped Hutch's line of thought. Alan's head poked through the gap and his timid voice was only barely heard.

"Can I-I come i-in?"

Starsky gave a weak gesture of welcome, while Hutch just pasted on a smile.

"Sure"

Alan took a step big enough to get him through the door, but didn't venture any further.

"Um…Alan, this is my partner, David Starsky, Starsk this is Alan…um…sorry I forgot your surname" Alan smiled a little, but seem to catch what he was doing and hung his head.

"I w-wanted to c-come b-by and a-a-apologise for…w-well, what I d-did"

Hutch barely made out what he said, but enough to understand what Alan was trying to say.

"What did you do?" Starsky asked. Hutch cleared his throat and opened his mouth, but instead of talking he cleared it again.

"I was the o-one who s-s-shot him"

If Starsky had the strength he would have sat up in bed to get a better look at Alan, but the best he could do was glare from where he lay.

"Why did you do that?" Starsky asked coldly.

"Hey, Starsk, it was an accident," Hutch said keeping his voice calm and in control. "He was aiming for the guy I was fighting with, but the guy moved at the same moment Alan fired. It was all just an accident"

Alan raised his head a little, just enough to make eye contact with Hutch. He didn't dare to look at Starsky even though the injured detective had softened his expression some what.

"You a-aren't mad at me?" Alan asked, entwining his fingers. Hutch shook his head and smiled to prove his point.

"No, we got the guy, I'm going to be fine and that's the main thing"

Alan lifted his head up a bit more and a smile came from somewhere, but just a small one.

"Thank you…I'm s-sorry again, but thank you" His hand fumbled with the door handle.

"I better b-be off. I have a r-report to write up"

Starsky gave him a small parting wave while Hutch just kept smiling.

Once Alan was out of the door Hutch carried on staring at the door, his smile still there.

"You know something Starsk?" He said quietly, "that kid did me a favour" Starsky raised his eyebrows and waited for Hutch to continue.

"With my leg out of action, by the time I get back on my feet, you'll be out of here and my vacation will beginning and the best thing about that is" He looked around to stare directly at Starsky, his smile gone in a flash. "I will no longer have to work with a temporary partner. You don't know how good that is to say"

Starsky snorted, the closest he could come to a laugh without causing pain.

"See there is always a bright side to being shot, I just never found it"

Hutch wasn't sure how to respond to that so he just folded his hands on his lap and looked down at his injured leg.

"So, now that you won't be working with a temporary partner anymore, can I have Deli back?"

Hutch was not prepared for the question and for a moment wondered who Deli was, but the memory of the fluffy plushie returned and he smiled.

"Oh, well, we had a little chat the other day and he decided that he'd like to stick with me for a while. We had a great time together"

The stricken look on Starsky's face nearly made Hutch burst out laughing, but he kept his face natural.

"You're kidding right?"

"No, in fact the day you gave him to me we went for a nice drive and he enjoyed it and you know what, he had no complaints about my car"

That hit Starsky hard, leaving him speechless for a second.

"Okay, now you're just trying to give me a heart attack, no thing on this earth can enjoy driving in your car, let alone go near it" Hutch turned the wheels of his chair so he was face away from Starsky, it was the only thing he could do or else he would have laughed.

The pleasant feeling of being able to banter with his partner like odd times cancelled out the pain in his leg and for the first time since it happened, he was glad Alan had been his partner, he'd taught Hutch a valuable lesson. Appreciate your partner, every little thing about them just in case you end up with someone like Alan.

TBC

I was going to end it there, but I've been advised to add in an epilogue, so I shall.