Chapter Six
It took Starsky almost two weeks to notice that he and Hutch were both avoiding taking their cars into the parking garage at the Metro Division building. When it was Starsky's turn to drive in, he unconsciously looked for a parking space outside the front of the building and so far had been lucky. He hadn't really taken in that Hutch had being doing the same. That was until today.
Hutch had driven them both in and, as they came along the street, Starsky realised there were no spaces out front. In the past, Hutch would have driven straight round the side of the building and into the parking garage but not today. He circled the block, coming round again, hoping that someone would have left the building therefore making a space become available. The car slowed to a crawl and then Hutch double-parked across three cars that were parked diagonally in the front of the building. He stared at his colleagues' cars as if by sheer will-power he could make one of them disappear.
"Hutch?" Starsky asked, "Have you been in the parking garage since…since the incident?"
Hutch swallowed and carried on looking out of the front windscreen. "No."
"How'd you manage that all these months? I mean what about when you went out with other detectives in their cars?"
"I got them to pick me up out front."
Starsky breathed out a long breath. "We've both gotta face it sometime buddy. Maybe today's as good a day as any."
Hutch gripped the steering wheel tighter and his face went pale. Starsky placed a hand on Hutch's shoulder. He was just about to say: 'If I can do it, you can do it' when something stopped him. He took a moment to think about this from Hutch's point of view. Starsky had been the one attacked, shot at and horribly injured but Hutch had had to watch it happen. His heart bled for the horror his partner and friend had been made to go through.
"Oh buddy, I'm so sorry."
Hutch turned to him in surprise. "What are you sorry for?"
"For not realising how hard the whole thing must have been for you…It was all right for me in lots of ways - I was out of it. You, you had to witness the whole thing…How'd you not end up a basket case? I think I would have, if it had been you lying there."
"Who says I'm not a basket case?" Hutch shook his head and gave Starsky a tentative smile.
Starsky just looked at him and squeezed his shoulder. Hutch went back to staring out of the window but his colour gradually improved. He turned back to his partner.
"Starsk, if you can handle it, I-I can handle it."
Starsk nodded encouragingly. "You and me Hutch. We can handle anything."
Hutch took a deep breath and took the parking brake off. He pulled the car out, turned a lazy circle and headed towards the parking garage. Starsky kept his hand where it was on Hutch's shoulder, offering support and strength.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Starsk, what are we doing stopped outside a High School on a Saturday morning? I thought we were going to the beach."
It was fairly early on the Saturday of a much anticipated free weekend and Starsky had just pulled the red Torino up outside Lincoln High School and cut the engine. He turned to face Hutch.
"We are but first we're signing up for evening classes."
"We're what?!"
"There's a ten week adult education class starting here next week on 'Art of Indigenous Peoples' that's got my name all over it!"
"You gotta be kidding me!" Hutch protested.
Starsky pouted. "Hutch, you promised you would try something new with me."
"I know I did…but a ten week art course?"
"No dummy! That's what I'm doing. You've got to choose what you want to do." Starsky opened the glove box and pulled out a folded paper. "Here's the brochure. Take a look and then we'll go enrol."
"You're serious," Hutch stated.
Starsky didn't bother to reply just gave him 'the look'.
"Okay, okay…Let's see…" Hutch began scanning the titles and course summaries in the booklet. "No, no, definitely no…English Romantic Poetry, possible…No, no…History of Modern Philosophy, maybe…No, no, no…Hmm."
"Hmm what?"
"Well, the Photography course looks interesting," Hutch admitted, "You get to use the dark room and develop your own photos. I know how to take photos but I've never done any of the technical side."
"So? Is that the one?"
"All right buddy. Photography it is."
Starsky grinned and jumped out of the car. "Come on, let's enrol and then get going to the beach. I can't wait to go to that little taco shack."
"Oh, I can feel the indigestion coming on already!"
"Lightweight!"
"Junk food junkie!"
Starsk sped away towards the building and Hutch hurried to catch up with him. Starsky paused and jerked his head from Hutch to the building.
"Come on slowcoach, or we'll never get to the beach."
Hutch gave him a playful shove and then they walked into the building together. Starsky's excitement was catching and Hutch found he was suddenly looking forward to the prospect of learning something new.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Starsky had finished his last ever session of physiotherapy and was determined to try to see Mac this time. Out of the last three occasions that he had visited the hospital, he had only seen her once and then only for a few minutes as she had been called away to an emergency. He would track her down and he would not leave without at least a phone number and a promise to meet him and Hutch one weekend for a picnic.
He made his way up to the cardio ward and hovered around the nurses' station for a while. Finally, one of the younger nurses looked up and asked, "Can I help you, sir?"
"Yes, I'm looking for Mac…I mean Head Nurse Laura MacKenzie."
"I'm afraid she's not here…" The look that passed across the young woman's face sent Starsky's sense of trouble onto alert.
"Has something happened to her? It's all right you can tell me, Nurse MacKenzie and me are friends and I'm a cop." Starsky flashed his badge in the hopes that would help.
"I'm surprised you haven't heard then…if you're a cop."
Starsky held his temper in check. "Heard what, please?"
The nurse realised he was genuinely worried and decided to fill him in on what had happened. "We had a prisoner come in last week from the Bay City Correctional Facility with a possible heart attack. Only he was faking it, wasn't he? When the guards left the room, he attacked Nurse MacKenzie and tried to escape. Fortunately they got him."
Starsky's voice was hoarse as he asked, "What happened to Mac?"
"Bumped head and a broken leg. She'll be off for six to eight weeks."
Starsky breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't nice but it wasn't life-threatening. He wouldn't ask for Mac's contact details as he was pretty sure the hospital wouldn't give them to him and, in any case, he could find a way to get them from work. An assault by a prisoner on a member of staff at the Bay City Hospital would have been logged as an incident at his own precinct. Minnie would help him track the information down.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
It had taken Mac an hour to get dressed that morning. She gathered all her clothes together on the bed and tackled the challenge with determination. She'd opted to wear a pale blue dress that would be nice and cool for the hot weather Bay City was currently having and was also quick and easy to slip on. It would make using the bathroom during the day easier too. Trousers were too complicated with her cast.
After what felt like a mammoth effort, she struggled down the stairs, wriggling down each step on her bottom, her broken leg stuck out awkwardly in front of her, before going into the living room to throw open the doors to the garden and let a welcome breeze into the stuffy room. She perched on a chair and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl her sister had left out for her. Then she hobbled her way along to the kitchen in desperate need of her morning cup of tea. While she was waiting for the kettle to boil, she thought about what she would do that day. First things first, a cup of tea enjoyed with a view of the garden then maybe a little walk around her patch to do a bit of dead-heading…then probably a lie-down on the sofa, watching trashy day-time TV while she snoozed. She blew air out of her mouth in frustration. I hate being tired out by doing the smallest thing. It's going to be a long six weeks.
The kettle whistled and Mac leaned against the counter for support while she one-handedly made the tea in her favourite mug. It was then she realised that she couldn't use her crutches and carry her tea back through to the garden. "Damn!" She blinked back tears, feeling so frustrated that for a moment she felt like taking it out on her mug. It was just then that the doorbell rang. Mac jumped with surprise then grabbed both her crutches and made her way along the corridor to the front of the house. She opened the front door to find Starsky and Hutch standing on her doorstep and nearly burst into tears right then and there.
"What are you two doing here? How are you here?"
Starsky said, "We are detectives you know. We're on our way on shift so we can't stop long but we just wanted to check you're doing okay."
Mac swallowed. "Well, your timing couldn't be better. You're like my own personal knights in shining armour. Come in…come in."
"Something you need help with my lady?" Starsky asked, as they followed Mac down the corridor.
To say she was travelling at a snail's pace would have been unfair to the snail: she was clearly struggling to get to grips with her crutches. When they reached the brightly tiled kitchen, Mac turned round and faced them. In the brighter light pouring in through the kitchen windows, Starsky noticed the red rim round her eyes.
"You okay?"
"No, I'm being pathetic!"
Hutch reassured her: "I'm sure you're not."
Mac sighed. "It's my first day of being completely on my own and I thought I could handle it but then I came in here and made a cup of tea."
"And?"
"It is impossible to carry a mug of tea and use crutches!" Mac exclaimed.
"Oh, I see."
"I was just thinking about hurling the mug against the wall when you rang the doorbell."
Starsky grinned at her. "Glad we're here in time to save your crockery!"
Mac laughed. "I'm forgetting my manners. Would you like a drink? And would you mind making it yourselves? Milk's in the fridge, mugs are over there, and the coffee and tea are in those pots," Mac said, as she pointed out where to find the things they needed.
"Why don't I make the coffee, Starsk, and you carry Laura's tea through for her?" Hutch suggested.
Starsky picked up Mac's bright yellow mug and said, "Lead the way Mac."
Hopping slowly, Mac led the way to a bright, airy sitting room with French doors that opened out onto a small garden that looked like a miniature tropical jungle.
"Hutch will love that," Starsky commented, nodding with his head towards the open doors. "He loves plants."
"He does?" Mac asked, as she lowered herself onto one end of a dark red sofa and carefully rested her broken leg on a small wicker stool that had been set there ready for that purpose.
"He's a nut for them. Talks to them and everything."
Hutch entered the room carrying two mugs of steaming coffee and came to an abrupt halt, transfixed by the view in front of him. Mac smiled at the sight. Starsky coughed to get his attention. Hutch suddenly remembered where he was and handed Starsky a coffee.
"You can take yours out into the garden Ken, if you want to look around," Mac said. "I'd give you the guided tour but I'm slower than a sloth on a Sunday on these wretched crutches."
Hutch made his way out into the garden, pausing just outside the door to stoop and smell a yellow rosebush. Starsky settled himself next to Mac on the sofa and regarded her as she watched Hutch in the garden. There was a look of affection and maybe longing on her face. This is something I'm going to try and encourage, Starsky thought. Out loud, he asked, "So Mac, how are you really? I was so worried when I heard about the incident."
Mac turned her attention back to Starsky. "It's very sweet of you to come here Dave and check up on me. I was sorry when I realised I had missed your last visit to the hospital for physio…Wasn't sure that I'd get to see you again."
"That's how I found out. I was trying to track you down on my last visit to get your contact info…See if you'd like to meet up sometime, maybe go for a picnic with me and Hutch one weekend."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. We're friends, ain't we? Or at least I thought we were."
Mac pulled a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose a couple of times. With a hitch in her voice, she said, "We are. I thought maybe you wouldn't feel the same once you left the hospital…that it was just a nurse-patient thing, you know?"
"Are you kidding? No way. You and me are buddies!"
Mac took Starsky's hand and gave it a quick squeeze just as Hutch came back in from the garden. Starsky saw his friend's face change colour and thought: Interesting. I don't think Hutch is going to need much encouragement at all but I better make sure he knows I'm not interested in Mac in that way.
"You've got a lovely garden Laura," Hutch observed. "When you get better on those crutches, you'll have to give me the guided tour."
"I'd like that Ken. Here come and sit down." She patted the space next to her on the sofa. Hutch obliged.
"There's no point showing Starsky your garden. He wouldn't recognise a gerbera from a snapdragon," Hutch said a bit waspishly.
"Guilty as charged, buddy," Starsky retorted good naturedly, knowing what was eating away at his friend, even if Hutch hadn't realised it himself just yet. "Anyway, I've told Mac we'd like her to go for a picnic with us sometime when she's feeling better."
"I'd love too. Thank you." Mac smiled at both of them.
"So," Starsky asked, "Have you got anyone checking in on you?"
"My friend, Ali, is going to pop over tomorrow and get some shopping for me. My sister's only just left, she'd been here for a few days and she's popping back next weekend…so I'm well looked after."
Starsky pulled a pad of paper and a pencil out of his shirt pocket.
"I'm going to give you mine and Hutch's numbers. You need anything, call one of us," he said, ripping the page out of the notebook and handing it to her.
Mac blushed slightly. "Thank you. That's so kind."
"Not at all. Not after all your help and advice." Starsky handed her the pad and pencil. "Here give us your number so we can keep in touch."
Mac scribbled her number down and handed the pad back to Starsky, asking, "So how's it been getting back to work?"
"Okay. Had a few frustrations but I tried to remember your advice to take things slow. I'm getting there…'Course I've had the help of the best partner in the world."
Hutch blushed as Mac turned approving eyes towards him.
"What about you Ken? Glad to have Dave back as your partner?" The hazel eyes looking into his blue ones demanded an honest answer.
"Yes, very glad...but don't tell him I said that."
Starsky rolled his eyes at the lame attempt at humour.
"Good." The hazel eyes were still regarding him intently. "I hope you don't mind me saying but I take it you're sleeping better. You look much more relaxed."
Hutch smiled at her. "Yes thanks. I'm sleeping okay now."
Mac smiled back at him and then blushed slightly. She turned her attention to her yellow mug and finishing her tea before it got cold.
"Hutch and I have started going to evening classes," Starsky told her. "One of the things I put on my list after talking to your friend, Tom."
Hutch interrupted: "Am I ever going to see this list buddy, so I know what to expect next?"
"Nope. You get to see it when it's complete."
"Can I at least ask how many things are on the list?"
"Nope," Starsky said serenely. "It's strictly on a need to know basis."
Hutch rolled his eyes at his partner. Mac giggled.
Starsky stood up. "We should probably leave you in peace but do you need anything before we go?"
Mac leaned back on the sofa, saying, "If you could carry the mugs out to the kitchen for me, that would be a big help."
Hutch picked all three up. "No problem, I'll wash them up too."
"Thank you Ken."
"You're welcome. See you soon. Don't get up. We can see ourselves out. " He winked at her as he left the room.
Starsky bent down and gave Mac a peck on the cheek. "Promise you'll ring if you need anything."
"I will."
"And maybe in a couple of weekends, we can get you out of here for that picnic. Keep practising with those crutches."
"I will. Bye."
"Bye." Starsky went to find Hutch and the two of them left the house, calling out a 'goodbye' and then closing the front door behind them.
As Starsky climbed into the car, he observed, "I think she was really pleased to see us."
"Yep." Hutch looked out the window.
Starsky got his pad and pencil out and copied Mac's number onto a second sheet. Hutch turned to see what was doing and was surprised when his partner ripped the sheet out and handed it to him.
"Don't take too long to ring for that tour of the garden."
Hutch frowned and stuttered: "B-but I thought-"
"You thought wrong buddy. We're friends, that's all…She really likes you."
Hutch's expression lightened. "Really?"
"Yeah, it's obvious," Starsky said as he started the engine of the Torino. He pulled away from the kerb and drove out of the residential street, turning left to head towards the main road and in the direction of the city centre.
After a few minutes, Starsky said, "You loved Terri, right. She and you were friends."
"Of course, buddy, you know that. What are you thinking?"
"Well, I think Mac's gonna be like that for me: my buddy but your girlfriend…and we agreed, didn't we, that whoever we date has got to accept our friendship or it's going to be no good."
Hutch put his hand on Starsky's shoulder and left it there. "Yep. I remember."
"Good. That's good Hutch…I think Mac'll be good for both of us."