Chapter 14

Everyone stood in silence around the bed, holding their own breath as they waited for the end. They were all startled when the door to the room opened and the room began filling with medical personnel, pushing equipment and machines. Hutch bounced to his feet and glared at the intrusion. "What the hell is going on?"

"We've have orders to put David on life support immediately." Dr. Franklin said solemnly.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Hutch and Rachel both said at the same time. "That's not what David wants!" Rachel added.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said apologetically. "It's out of our hands. The military has taken over the case and ordered us to put David on life support."

"What the fuck has the military got to do with this?" Hutch growled "They're the reason he's in this condition in the first place?"

As the rest of the medical staff began hooking Starsky up to the machines that were designed to prolong his life, the doctor sighed and looked at the other angry faces in the room. Sighing heavily, he told them what he knew.

"The last round of tests we ran on David showed that his body is starting to produce antibodies that are attacking the virus. Apparently, this happened with the other victims too just before they died, but in David's case, he's producing the antibodies at a faster rate than the other victims. So the military has taken over the case and ordered us to put David on life support so they can draw some of his blood to use for a serum to try and develop a vaccine for this virus."

"If they can develop a vaccine from David's blood, will it save David?" Rachel asked, her voice trembling with emotion as hope flared in her heart.

"Probably not. He's too far gone…his body's too weak and debilitated from the virus."

"When the military is finished with him, can we remove the life support?" Hutch asked, his mouth set in hard, thin line. Although he knew that it was be the hardest thing he had ever done to have the life support disconnected, knowing that Starsky would die without it, he was honor bound by friendship and love to respect his friend's wishes.

Yes, you have that right." Dr. Franklin acknowledged with a slight nod of his head. He turned his attention back to his patient, leaving the grieving friends and family to watch the proceedings in silence.

Hutch, the Dobeys, Huggy and Rachel stood at one side of the room and watched as Starsky was hooked up to the machines that he hated and hadn't wanted used this time. Soon the beeping of the heart monitor filled the room, accompanied by the whooshing sound of the respirator that was pumping air into Starsky's tortured lungs. Tears ran freely down Rachel Starsky's face as she gazed at her son's face, pulled back from the very edge of death by the machines that he resented.

After the medical staff finished their tasks, they left the room. Rachel, Hutch, the Dobeys and Huggy Bear gathered around the bed and looked at Starsky. Hutch grabbed Starsky's hand and whispered, "I'm sorry, buddy…I know this isn't what you wanted…." Although Hutch hated the way the military had stepped in and taken the choice out of their hands, he was secretly grateful for the gift of a few more stolen moments with his friend.

His eyes drifted to the screen on the heart monitor, watching the jagged line that flickered there. Although the brunet lingered on the verge of death because of respiratory failure and his heartbeat was a bit slow, his heart was still beating as strongly as the respirator forced oxygen through his system. But Hutch knew he was clinging to false hope. Once they turned off the machines, Starsky would die. His body was just too weak and worn out, he had lost the will to go on fighting. Without the intervention of the machines, he would already be gone.

He could hear Rachel in the background, softly voicing a prayer in Yiddish. Edith Dobey was joining her in a prayer of her own. Hutch envied them for their faith in a God he had stopped believing in a long time ago. Although his faith in God may have been shaken through the years, he did hope there was some kind of afterlife because that meant that he would see Starsky again someday and they would be together in death as they had been in life.

Medical personnel came in and out of the room for the rest of the day, running tests and drawing vials of blood from the brunet, so much blood that Hutch began to wonder if they really cared how much they were taking since they expected Starsky to die in the end anyway. Finally, Hutch had to leave the room for a while, unable to watch what he considered the needless abuse of his helpless friend any longer.

He walked through the quiet halls, lost in his own thoughts. He was surprised when he found himself at the entrance to the small chapel on the third floor. He slipped inside and walked up to a pew in the front row, sinking down onto the upholstered bench. He raised his eyes to the cross on the altar and found himself speaking, "I don't know what to say…I haven't done this in a long time…not since Starsky almost died from Gunther's attack. I put my faith in you then and you gave me a miracle, you let him live when they all said there was no hope." His throat tightened and he had to take a deep breath before he could continue. "You gave him back to me because you knew I couldn't go on without him. Maybe it's not fair to ask you to do the same thing again; maybe this time…there aren't any miracles left. But I'm still asking you not to do this to him…he's a good man…he doesn't deserve to die like this…" Hutch took a deep shuddering breath as his eyes flooded with tears "I'm still not ready to let him go. I'll never be ready to let him go. He means more to me than my own life. If I could, I'd let you take me if that meant he would live." Hutch bowed his head and closed his eyes. "Please…give me another miracle…just one more time." He sat there for a long time in the quiet solitude, his shoulders shaking with silent sobs as he grieved for his dying friend.

It was a long time before he finally found the composure to shove himself to his feet and return to Starsky's room. The others were still there, united in their vigil at the brunet's side. None of them intended to leave until it was over. It was the least they could do for Starsky after everything he had done for all of them. They would make sure he died knowing that he was surrounded by love from the people who cared about him the most. One of the nurses had thoughtfully moved a recliner into the room so they could take turns resting and Edith Dobey had convinced Rachel to lie down in it for awhile. She had drifted into an exhausted sleep, the resemblance to her son as she slept almost uncanny.

There were deep lines etched in her face from the ordeal with Starsky that made her look older than her fifty some years. Even Captain Dobey and his wife looked liked they had aged dramatically in the past few days. Deep lines of grief were etched in everyone's face but they showed more deeply in Hutch's than anyone else. He settled down in the chair beside Starsky and took his hand. His soft, melodious voice echoed softly through the air as he started singing one of Starsky's favorite songs, bringing tears to everyone's eyes.