Chapter 2

"What do you mean he thinks he's six years old?" Hutch demanded after listening the doctors assessment of Starsky's mental status.

"Just what I said," the doctor replied patiently. Detective Starsky's head injury apparently caused him to revert to childhood, I'm sure the condition is only temporary but we won't know anything for sure until he recovers from his concussion."

"Well how long will that take?" Hutch asked impatiently,

"It's hard to say…a few days…or a few weeks. It depends on how fast he heals. In the meantime he's: going to need someone to watch over him, In his mind he's only six years old and he's going to act accordingly.'

"So, in other words until he recovers I've got a big overgrown kid on my hands." Hutch said in an amused voice. Starsky had always had a childlike side that surfaced at times especially around Christmas, How hard could it be to deal with side of his personality for a few days? "Can I take him home?"

"Lets wait until morning just to be on the safe side." The doctor said. "If there are no further complications you can take him home in the morning."

Great. I'll be in his room." Hutch said, He turned and walked away.

'Intense young man." The doctor observed.

"Doc, you don't know the half of it," Dobey said with a chuckle,

Back in Starsky's room, Hutch found him busy coloring in a book a nurse had brought him from the children's ward. When he saw Hutch, his eyes lit up and he said happily "Look! I stayed inside the lines like a big boy."

"You sure did, Buddy," Hutch said in a proud voice as he solemnly examined the picture. He wasn't surprised to see that it was the picture of a car and that Starsky had painted it red. "That's a nice looking car.''

I'm gonna have car like that when I get big."

"I bet you do too," Hutch said with a soft smile.

Bored with coloring Starsky laid the book aside and said quietly, "Can I go home now?"

"Not yet. In the morning you can come home with me," Hutch told him

Starsky frowned. "Where's my mom and pop? Why can't I go home with them? I don't even know you. You're a stranger and I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

"That's true. My name is Hutch and your mom and pop asked me to take care of you for a few days."

"Where did they go? Why didn't they take me along?"

"Uhh…something came up." Hutch said leaving it at that. "You were in the hospital and they figured they'd be back before you got out."

"Oh…" Starsky said apparently satisfied with Hutch's explanation. 'Okay. Are you a cop too? My pop's cop."

"As a matter of fact I am. I'm a detective." Hutch smiled warmly

"Wow!" Starsky exclaimed in an awed voice. "That's neat!" He threw Hutch a crooked smile. "Can I get some ice cream tomorrow?"

"You bet. We'll stop and get some on the way home."

"Goody!" Starsky cried, happily clapping his hands. Hutch had to smile at his partner's childish antics. He had a feeling that he was about to experience what the brunet was really like at that age.

Starsky yawned and laid down, curling up with his pillow in his arms. His eyes drifted shut and in seconds he was sleeping soundly. Hutch settled down in the chair sitting beside the bed and picked up the newspaper lying on the bedside table. He began to read as he sat there keeping a silent vigil over his injured partner.

Starsky slept through the night without any dreams and woke up early the next morning.

"Can we go home now?" he asked as he climbed out of bed.

"As soon as the doctor signs your release" Hutch told him. He smiled as Starsky's hospital gown flapped open in the back giving the blond a flash of Starsky's naked backside. "Why don't you wash up and get dressed? Your clothes are in the closet."

"I'm hungry"

"The nurse will bring you a tray after you get dressed."

After a light breakfast for both men, Starsky looked at Hutch hopefully. Can we go home now?"

"As soon as you tie your shoes before you trip over one of the strings." Hutch told him, hiding a tolerant smile.

Starsky looked at Hutch with a pout and whined "I can't…I don't know how…" he looked at Hutch hopefully. "Can you teach me?"

"Sure, buddy." Hutch said with a grin. He knelt down and deftly tied his partner's shoes tightly, doubling knotting them so they wouldn't come undone. Starsky watched him intently. When he finished, the brunet cocked his head to one side and said,

"Pop was teaching me how to tie my shoes…" There was a wistful tone in his voice that went straight to Hutch's heart. "I miss Pop. I hope him and Ma get home soon."

"I'm sure they will be. Let's go, pal. Time to get out of here."

The brunet happily skipped out of the room ahead of Hutch, earning a grin from several of the nurses as he ran down the hallway and eagerly pushed the button for the elevator. Starsky glanced back over his shoulder as he waited for Hutch to catch up with him.

"See, I pushed the button for down. Is that right" He asked shyly, earning another grin from the big blond.

"You bet it is." Hutch told him as the doors slid open and the two friends stepped inside.

Outside, it was a beautiful California day. The sun was shining brightly, the temperature in the low eighties with a light breeze out of the north. As Hutch started to lead the way across the parking lot to where he had moved his car, Starsky reached out and grabbed his hand tightly. He looked at Hutch with a soft smile.

"Ma always makes me hold her hand when we go outside." He said

"That's good." Hutch said "That way you won't get hurt."

Starsky giggled. "Ma says it's so I won't run away."

"That too." Hutch said solemnly. "My car's over tan one…"

Starsky obediently skidded to a halt beside his partner. As the blond unlocked the car doors, Starsky cocked his head to one side and said, "Jeeze…is this your car? It looks like you need to get a new one pretty soon."

"This car suits me just fine." Hutch said as he slid under the wheel and leaned over to unlock the other door. "She's still got a lot of miles left in her." As Starsky climbed into the car, slouching in his seat and propping his feet against the dashboard, Hutch said, "Put your feet down on the floor and fasten your seatbelt."

"Okay…" Starsky whined as he reluctantly obeyed. "You sound just like Pop."

He fumbled with the seat belt, finally managing to latch the stubborn buckle that never wanted to catch right the first time.

As Hutch pulled out of the parking lot, Starsky turned on the radio, flipping aimlessly from channel to another, until Hutch reached over and turned it off. "Stop that." He said "It's annoying. If you're not going to listen to one channel than you don't need to listen to it at all."

"Okay…" Starsky said, his attention quickly diverted to the scenery passing by outside his window. "Wow! This sure doesn't look like home." He exclaimed.

Hutch pulled into a small grocery near Starsky's apartment. He had decided it would be better to take the brunet to his own place so he could be in more familiar surroundings. Maybe something there would jog his memory. "Let's go get your ice cream." Starsky's eyes brightened when he remembered his promised treat. He jumped out the car and ran towards the store, laughing while he waited at the door for Hutch to catch up. "You stay with me, you understand?" Hutch told him as they walked into the busy store to begin shopping.

Hutch got an empty card and began pushing it down the aisle while Starsky skipped along beside him. Several customers shot an amused glance at the big blond and his skipping partner, looking away quickly when Hutch shot them a warning look in return. Hutch soon found himself occupied putting things back on the shelves that Starsky kept grabbing and throwing in the cart. By the time they finally made their way through the store, besides some basic staples and Starsky's promised ice cream, Starsky had also managed to talk the blond into buying him a big bag of potato chips, pretzels, Oreo cookies, and two different kinds of cereal, as well as a six pack of root beer.

As Starsky was helping put the sacks in the back seat of the car, he looked at Hutch and grinned. "Ma never lets me get so much junk." He said in a smug, satisfied voice, as if he had gotten away with something naughty. "She says it's not good for me."

"It's not." Hutch said, realizing that he had been conned by the wily brunet. "That's why most of it is getting put away when we get home and you can't have any without asking first."

Starsky looked crestfallen for a moment but his spirits quickly lifted as he climbed into the car. "Can we have hot dogs for supper?" He asked

"Sure…but you're going to eat a salad and all your vegetables too." Hutch insisted. Starsky stuck out his tongue and then turned his attention back to the passing scenery as they drove the rest of the way to Starsky's apartment.