"Hutch?" I heard my partner yell from the living room. Then I heard my front door close. "Hutch, where are ya?"
"Out here." I was in the greenhouse. I heard Starsky whistling his way in to the room.
"Hutch, whaddya doin' up there?" I was up on an extension ladder, about twelve feet up in the greenhouse.
"I'm replacing the fan. My plants are going to be fried by tomorrow if I don't get this replaced today." The greenhouse was perfect for southern California weather. I was able to grow all sorts of plants due to the even warmth and humidity that the greenhouse provided. But that was only if the fan kicked in when it got excessively hot. And the forecast for the next week was for scorching temperatures all week. The fan was the only thing that kept my leafy children from a sad, painful death.
"You're up pretty high there, partner. You think it's wise to be doing that work all by yourself? If you fell, nobody'd be around to help ya." It sounded like I had a volunteer in my presence.
"Well, thanks for offering, buddy. I'm almost done with the wiring here. If you could go over to the circuit breakers and wait for my signal, you'd help me out a lot. Keep me from climbing up and down." He gave me a dirty look, but went to the electrical box in the kitchen.
"Okay. I'm in position, Hutch. Yell when you're ready." Starsky shouted from the kitchen.
"All right." I yelled back.
"Okay?" He shouted again.
"All right!" I yelled back. What was he, deaf? And just as I thought that, a bolt of electricity shocked me off of my perch and I lost my footing. I must have yelled, although I don't remember that, and I heard Starsky call my name and I saw him running towards me as I fell from the ladder.
It was good that Starsky was as fast as he was, because if I hadn't had him there to buffer my fall I could have been hurt really bad. As it was, I was feeling really weird from the jolt I absorbed. The voltage was pretty low on this particular fan, so I'm sure it was just a shock and no serious damage came of it. But I was feeling strange and a little out of it and it took me a while to realize that it was kind of quiet in the room.
I looked around and saw Starsky sprawled on the floor. I started to get up, but was feeling a little woozy still. Then I heard him groan, and I realized that I must have fallen on him pretty hard. Probably knocked the wind out of him. He started to get up, and he saw I was having trouble getting up myself.
"Hey, Hutch, you okay?" He crawled over to me. I was probably still looking a bit stunned, but my partner wasn't looking so good either.
"Fine pair we are, partner." I said to him. He moved closer and looked steadily into my eyes.
"Hutch, are you okay? I thought you said it was okay. What happened?" His breathing seemed a little labored, but he was ignoring that to check on my condition.
"I think I'm okay. Just a little bit of a shock, that's all. It wasn't high voltage. I think I was more surprised than anything. Good thing my big lug of a partner was around to break my fall." I smiled at him, trying to see if there was anything seriously wrong with him.
"Yeah, well, that's what partners are for." He grabbed my hand. "Did you get burnt or anything?"
"No. I'm okay Starsk. How're you?" He seemed to be struggling a little less with his breathing now.
"Got hit pretty hard in the chest. I'll be okay. Just need a minute to get my breath. What the hell happened?" He was as confused as I was about getting our signals mixed like that."
"Don't know, buddy. We had a little breakdown in communication there." I was starting to feel better already, but I was concerned about the mixed signal. That was really weird for us. We're usually so in synch with each other that it sometimes scares even us.
"Maybe you should leave the electrical work to the professionals from now on, huh?" My partner was not helping. He knew I was under time constraints with the forecast as it was for the week.
"If I could have gotten an electrician here today I would have, Starsk." I was getting a little irritated with him, although I felt guilty feeling that way when his body block certainly saved me from severe injury. I got up and walked to the circuit box and turned off the breaker. Then I headed back up the ladder.
"Whaddya doin'?" Starsky grabbed my arm before I got very far.
"Starsk, I have to finish this." He was looking pretty concerned. I patted his hand, which was holding tight to my arm. "I'm fine. This won't take long to see if this unit shorted out. If it did, I'll need to run to the hardware store real quick. I'll be careful." He let go, and I went up the ladder. I finished tightening the screws and told Starsky to flip the breaker.
He headed slowly out to the kitchen. I wondered if he was hurt more than he was letting on. He flipped the switch and nothing happened.
"Hey partner, come in here a minute." He came back into the greenhouse. "Go check the temperature in here, would ya? This thing should have come on immediately if it's as hot as I think it is." I had set the fan to go on at seventy-eighty degrees. It was at least that in the room now, with no fan working for the last four days.
"Eighty-two in here, eighty-nine outside." He sounded like he was tired of playing helper.
"Okay," I said as I started down the ladder, "I think this one's shot. I'm going to run down to the hardware store and pick up another one. You want to come?"
"I think I'll stay here and rest a while." He was heading, again too slowly, to the couch.
"Had a rough workout today, huh Starsk?"
"I had the full tonnage of Hutchinson landing on me. I think I've earned a rest." He put his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. And he probably did earn the rest.
"Okay. You know where everything is. I'll be right back."
"Yeah." He replied. I think he forgot to hide the pain in his voice. He usually does that when he tries to hide the pain he's in. Whether it's physical or emotional, he will get this tough-guy sound to his voice. I don't think he knows that I'm on to that, though. I watched him for a few seconds and then closed the door behind me.
It took a little longer than I'd planned at the hardware store. They were out of the fan I wanted, and I had to take a close look at the two available on either side of it in terms of quality and cost. I finally made the determination with no help from the dimwitted teenager who was working the floor and did not appear to know much about anything.
I locked the door when I left, and coming back I figured Starsky would have fallen asleep, so I grabbed my key and let myself in. I was disturbed by what I found. Starsky was moaning and grabbing the back of his head. I dropped the stuff on the floor and kneeled next to my partner.
"Starsky, what's wrong?" He opened his eyes. They were glassy and unfocused. Damn it. He probably knocked his head when I fell on him. "Starsk, can you hear me?"
He seemed to be awake, but was having trouble focusing on what I was saying. I grabbed the phone and called for an ambulance. The dispatcher informed me that there was a huge pileup out on Interstate Five and that an ambulance would not be coming any time soon. I slammed the phone down. Shit.
"Starsky, I need to get you to a hospital. Are you with me?"
"Ah, my head is killing me, Hutch. I musta hit it on the floor when you landed on me."
"Yeah, well I think you knew that before I left, dummy. Why didn't you say anything?"
"I thought maybe it wasn't that bad. Oh, my head." He grabbed for his head with both hands. It was time to get out of there.
"Okay, I'm going to help you up. Ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." I helped him up, and he leaned heavily into my chest, head hanging down.
"Oh, Hutch. I'm dizzy."
"I know. But you're gonna be okay. I'll get you to the hospital right away. We'll get you feeling better in no time." We'd been through any number of concussions, the both of us. We knew what to expect. With some compazine and some painkillers and rest, he'd be back in the saddle in no time. But to say I was feeling guilty about this particular concussion would be an understatement. And apparently my partner saw that in my face.
"Hutch, don't." He said.
"Don't what, buddy? Are you gonna be sick?"
"Nah. Don't feel guilty. It wasn't anybody's fault. You know it'll be okay in a coupla days." Yeah, I knew that. I smiled at my partner, and walked him to the car. He seemed to be rallying a little. I settled him in the passenger seat and then hurried up to the driver's side of the LTD.
"Hutch, do me a favor? Don't finish that job today? Let's call Uncle Al and see if we can get his electrician out here tomorrow, okay?" He looked a little afraid that I would continue the work alone. I wouldn't, today was a good lesson in that regard. There was nothing more I wanted to do right then than ease my partner's anxiety.
"Whatever you say, Starsk. We'll call Uncle Al when we get back from the emergency room, okay?"
"Thanks, Hutch. You can't afford to have too many shocks at your age. Plus, it can't be good for your hair, gettin' shocked like that." He yawned. "You probably lost a hundred hairs when you got zapped, and you really can't afford that."
"Funny man." I said, grinning at my partner. Starsky smiled through the pained expression on his face. "You know you'll be paying for that wisecrack when you're feeling better, right?" I questioned as I ran my hand through his thick curls. He knew just what buttons to push, my partner. He looked up at me with that combination crooked grin and droopy eyes and knew that I'd forget about it soon enough. There was no mixed signal here – we both knew I was putty in his hands.
The End