Chapter 10

Sandy Lewis, one of the day shift nurses, stuck her head inside the doorway to Starsky's room and said, "Hutch, there's a phone call for you at the nurse's station. Someone named Minnie. She said to tell you that it's important."

Hutch glanced at his restlessly sleeping partner. Starsky was having a bad day and he hated leaving him, even if it was only for a few minutes. Rachel was sitting by the bed, crooning softly to her agitated son, trying to soothe him. She looked up at Hutch and said, "Go on, Ken. She said it was important."

Hutch nodded and stepped into the hall. He hurried down the hall to the nurses's station and picked up the receiver lying on the desk. "Hutchinson." He said into the reciver.

"Hutch, honey…it's mother Minnie. I think I found something in those backgrounds I was doing on those other four victims. Can you meet me at headquarters as soon as possible?"

"Starsky's not having a very good day. I don't want to leave him. Can't you tell me over the phone?"

"I'd rather not. How about if I meet you in the hospital cafeteria in twenty minutes?" Minnie suggested.

"Okay, I'll be there." Hutch agreed with a heavy sigh. He reached over the desk to hang up the phone and then hurried back to Starsky's room.

"Did you find a lead?" Rachel asked him as soon as he entered the room.

"I don't know. Minnie, at headquarters, thinks she found something. She was doing an extensive background check on the other four victims. I'm meeting her in the cafeteria in twenty minutes." Hutch moved closer to the bed, noticing immediately that Starsky seemed to have quieted down although his breathing was still labored and ragged.

His fever was high again making the brunet restless and disoriented. He was also having severe muscle cramps that made him try to curl up in a fetal position to ease the pain. Even morphine given directly into his IV did little to ease the pain.

Hutch stayed at Starsky's side until it was time to meet Minnie in the cafeteria. He hurried down to the basement and entered the nearly empty dining room. Minnie was already there, sitting at table in the back with a stack of computer printouts lying on the table in front of her. Hutch joined her, his cool blue eyes beseeching her for answers.

"What have you got, Minnie?"

"I found a connection between the four other victims and Starsky." She said in a quiet, carefully guarded voice.

"What kind of a connection?" Hutch asked anxiously

"All four of the victims and Starsky served together on the same squad in Vietnam." Minnie told him in a satisfied voice.

"Vietnam?" Hutch exclaimed "What does Vietnam have to do with this virus?"

"I don't know what it has to do with the virus, honey…but it proves that Starsky and the other victims knew each other."

"So, maybe somebody singled them out for some reason…something connected to Vietnam." Hutch said, thinking out loud. "Maybe something happened over there that they were all involved in somehow."

"Unfortunately, the only one that might be able to tell you anything is Starsky and he's not in any condition to talk right now." Minnie said. "I can do some more digging but there's not much to go on and military records are classified. I can't get into most of them."

"Then I need to find somebody who can." Hutch said thoughtfully. "Thanks, Minnie. You've been a big help. Keep digging." He stood up and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. "I have to get back to Starsky."

"Give that naughty boy a big hug for me and tell him that he'd better get well soon." Minnie said. Hutch nodded sadly. Nobody knew how serious Starsky's condition really was except for Hutch, the medical staff, Captain Dobey, Huggy Bear and Rachel Starsky. They all agreed that it was better that way. They didn't want to start a panic if word leaked out about a mysterious, incurable virus in the City.

Hutch hurried back to Starsky's room, mulling over the new information he had just been given by Minnie. It seemed too coincidental that all four of the previous victims plus Starsky had served on the same unit in Vietnam. There had to be a connection there somehow between the victims and the virus. But what? What could have happened in Vietnam to single them out specifically? Hutch spent the rest of the afternoon going through his list of contacts, both on the street and otherwise, trying to figure out who he could get to help him dig into the classified military records of the five men involved.

Towards evening, Starsky regained consciousness but he was confused and disoriented, talking out of his head and swinging his hands at things that only he could see in his feverish mind. Neither Hutch or Rachel could calm him down. Finally, the doctor was forced to give him a powerful sedative to knock him out to keep him from hurting himself or tearing out one of his IVS or other lines.

Captain Dobey came by and picked up Rachel shortly afterwards and took her back to his house to get some rest but Hutch remained steadfastly at Starsky's side. In the quiet solitude of the hospital room, he sat there and ran his fingers through Starsky's thick curls, gazing at the beloved face. A muscle in Starsky's left cheek still twitched even in his drugged slumber.

"Hey, babe…" Hutch whispered, leaning down so that he was speaking directly into a curl covered ear. "Can you hear me? You gotta keep fighting…for me…for us. You can't let this thing beat you." He sighed heavily. "I know I don't tell you often enough…but I love you…I really love you. I can't do this without you." A ragged sob caught in his throat and he took a deep breath to compose himself. "You have to live, babe…I'm not ready to lose you. I'll never be ready to let you go…"

Hutch? Is that you? What's wrong with me? Where am I? Why can't I open my eyes? Stay with me, Blondie, don't leave me alone. I'm scared. I don't wanna be alone.

Hutch felt a shiver run though his very soul. He'd heard Starsky's voice clear as day in his mind. He could feel the brunet's fear clear as day. "Shhh…babe," he said, leaning his head forward to touch his forehead to Starskys, their private gesture of affection. "It's okay…I'm here. Hutch is here…sleep now…you're safe."

Hutch heard an immediate difference in Starsky's ragged breathing as it evened out and deepened. Resting his head against the edge of the mattress, Hutch drifted into a deep sleep of his own.

He was running through the woods looking for Starsky. They'd had a fight and Starsky had walked away from their campsite into the woods. Hutch had to find him before it was too late. Starsky hated the woods. Then he saw him up ahead, standing at the edge of a steep cliff. "Starsky!" Hutch yelled running towards his best friend and partner.

Starsky slowly turned around and looked at Hutch sadly. In a broken voice, he said, "I don't know if I can keep my promise anymore about sticking around, Blondie. It hurts too much and I'm so damn tired."

"Don't say that, Starsk!" Hutch pleaded in a choked ragged voice, reaching out for his friend. "You can't leave me! You promised! After Gunther, you promised you wouldn't die on me again!"

"I know I did but…"

"No, buts! If you break your promise, I'll never forgive you!"

"Okay, Hutch…" Starsky said in a tired, hopeless voice "I'd do my best…for you. But, I can't make any promises…not this time."

Hutch's eyes flew open with a start. His gaze automatically went to Starsky's face, reassured by the steady rise and fall of his chest. A dream. It had only been a dream. Hutch grabbed Starsky's hand and held on tightly, desperately needing the reassurance of feeling Starsky's warm, living flesh in his hand.