Chapter 22

Starsky managed to sleep better once Hutch was back in the room. It seemed to the blond however that his partner was dreaming as his body twitched on the bed and occasionally a low moan would be forced from his lips. By morning both men had managed to catch some sleep and awoke feeling a little more relaxed. Hutch was awake first and he led on the narrow cot for a while staring at the ceiling before he heard movements from the bigger bed and got up to check on his partner.

Starsky's eyes still held a haunted, hunted look, although the dark circles around them were disappearing slowly but surely and as Hutch eased himself off the bed, the brunet was throwing back to covers and rolling himself into a sitting position. He stopped for a moment while the room stopped doing a salsa around him.

'Easy there buddy. Should you be getting up?' Hutch asked, concern lining his sleep crumpled face.

'If I lay in bed one minute longer, I'm gonna go crazy…. well, even more crazy' the brunet smiled wryly. 'Sometimes a man's just gotta pee on his own. Gimme a hand up and then stand back. Starsky's on the move' he grinned.

Delighted to see a little bit of fire back in his buddy's eyes, Hutch helped get Starsky balanced and then stood to one side as the brunet tottered to the small bathroom. There were small, domestic sounds of running water, towels and the like and then a grey faced brunet came back into the room and eased himself down onto the chair with a grunt, unwilling to admit just how tired the small actions had made him.

'Made it' he crowed, obviously pleased with himself.

Hutch handed him a towel to wipe at the wet curls still plastered to his forehead. It was obvious that while Starsky had managed to get himself washed, drying was too much of a task and he sat dripping onto the floor.

'Uh huh. Today the bathroom, tomorrow the world huh?'

'You got it. Now where's the Doc.? I wanna get out of here. I have things to deal with before…. well before I go back there.'

The unspoken word "jail" lingered in the air and Hutch looked away in distress.

'Starsk don't do this. You can't plead guilty coz you weren't. We've established the fact that Fi….' Hutch cut himself off short from finishing the word as he saw his partner's body tense. 'We've established the fact that someone forced you to do all this and so long as Liz can work that defence, which she will buddy, she will, you don't need to worry about going back to that hell hole. There's no way I'm gonna testify against you, you know that.'

The brunet stared at the shiny tiles on the floor. 'I knew you wouldn't, but it don't alter the fact of what I did to you. I know you're tryin' to protect me, but Hutch don't ya see. Even if I got off scot free, it's still up here, in my head. I can't get rid of the picture of you lyin' on the ground with my slugs in your chest.'

Hutch rounded almost angrily on his partner. 'Just like I can't help but think that if I'd shouted louder you'd have got down faster and Gunther's goons wouldn't have shot you? Don't you think that I think about that every single day of my life? It aint easy. Life aint easy, but we have to deal with it. We have to deal with what life throws at us and the only way I know how to do that is with my partner's help. I watched you struggle through those months of recovery an' I felt like crap every day, but you kept me goin'. It was seein' your determination while you were sweating blood and tears that got me through it, and now it's your turn. I'm getting there. I'm dealing with what happened in the best way I can but I need you to stop beating yourself up about what happened. It happened, I got hurt, but so did you buddy, and now we move on…… We move on, got it?'

Hutch stood panting slightly with exertion and emotion from the long speech and for a moment there was silence in the room. Eventually there was the sound of a soft snicker and Starsky raised his head.

'Hot damn Hutch. You're magnificent when you're angry!'

The blond's eyes blazed back angrily at his buddy and met softened indigo blues. Tension flowed between the two men, thrumming through the air like electricity before Hutch's face cracked into a grin and he perched on the side of Starsky's vacated bed.

'Are you ever gonna listen to me though?'

'Maybe. When I get outa here and stop feeling like an invalid. Go find the Doc huh? I wanna go home.'

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Later that day, and with the doctor's permission that so long as he rested, he could go home that evening, Starsky received another visit from Beth. The woman had promised to help the brunet through his difficulties, although she admitted to herself that while she found Dave Starsky to be an attractive man, she was still more attracted to his golden, flaxen haired partner. Hutch had a gentle, direct way to him which she found touching, refreshing and also sometimes disconcerting. She was also impressed by the way the two men interacted and it was that strong bond that urged her on to help the both of them.

Beth arrived just after lunch time and smiled as she saw both men asleep, Starsky on the bed and Hutch slumped in the chair close by. As the door closed behind her, the brunet's eyes cracked open and he regarded the woman sleepily. By his side, Hutch let out a soft snore, his head resting right back on the chair back. Starsky stretched carefully and grinned.

'He's great out of the traps, but he has no stayin' power.'

'You look better' Beth said, genuinely relieved that it seemed there was no lasting damage to her favourite prisoner.

'Yeah. Tired I guess, an' I know my head is still messed up, but I guess that's what you're here to deal with.'

'Uh huh. And the fact that you've realised that your head is messed up is a big step towards you dealing with it. Have you remembered any more about the case?'

Starsky started to nod, his mind going back to the investigation when suddenly he got a blinding pain over his right eye. It was sudden enough to make him gasp and clutch at his forehead and Beth's forehead furrowed in concern.

'Are you ok Dave?' she asked quietly.

'Hmm? Oh um, yeah….yeah. I'm good. Just a headache.'

'Ok. You did so well yesterday that I want to try the sodium pentothal again. I've checked with your doctor and he says it's ok. Are you up for it?'

'Is it gonna make me better?'

'I don't know about better, but I have the feeling that the person who has you under his influence has conditioned you to respond to a trigger word. If I can find that, then we're making progress.'

'Trigger word? Makes me sound like a dog' Starsky grunted, rolling up the sleeve of his pyjama jacket to give the woman room to inject him with the drug. The brunet hated the feeling of emptiness and powerlessness it brought, but at the same time, he was desperate to get to the bottom of what had happened to him. Closing his eyes, he felt the cold alcohol swab and then the familiar bee sting scratch preceding the pull of the drug. As he felt himself drawn down into the warm embrace of the truth serum, he heard Hutch yawn loudly as he woke up.

Beth's voice came at him from a distance. 'Dave I want you to think back to the phone calls you had. You told me that Edgar phoned you. Is that right?'

Hutch watched intently as his partner seemed to struggle with the response. Starsky seemed to be in pain and rubbed at his forehead and the bridge of his nose. 'Edgar….yeah. Edgar phoned he….' A groan escaped his lips, cutting off his sentence.

'Think past the name Dave. Think past the name and concentrate on what was said. You're doing well. This isn't the call, I want you to imagine you're a spectator listening in. There's no pain and no-one is going to hurt you. Ok?'

Dreamily, Starsky nodded. 'No pain….just listen, yeah.'

'So you've answered the telephone. Is this the first call?'

'Um…..dunno. He knows me. Knows my name. Calls me Dave. Tells me he needs to check if I'm ok.'

'Tell me how he checks' Beth urged, wondering what that meant.

Again a flash of pain creased Starsky's brow and again Beth told her patient to relax and allow the conversation to unfold like a radio programme he was listening to. Starsky relaxed marginally.

'He says he has to check that I'm his. Says he wants me to follow his instructions….tells me it's important to do what he says.'

From the other side of the bed, Hutch's eyebrows rose. Now they were getting somewhere.

Starsky was continuing. 'Says I have to do as he says and he'll tape our conversation. I can hear the tape click on and he tells me this is our secret. Tells me he needs to test how far I'll go. Tells me he likes me…he tells me that he needs to see how much I like him.'

Beth saw Hutch's hands ball into fists at the other side of the bed. Reluctant to allow the blond to impede her progress with her patient, she motioned Hutch to wait outside as she pressed on with her questions. Starsky was showing signs of stress. Perspiration once more beaded his brow and upper lip and his body was tense, twitching at unseen pains.

The blond rose slowly and made a telephone motion with his hands, mouthing "phoning Dobey about tapes" as he left the room. Beth turned her attention back to her patient who was continuing.

'He tells me…..oh God, no, I don't want to do that. No. It's not right….it's…'

'Move on Dave. Watch it and move on' Beth's voice interrupted his moaning and for a moment Starsky stopped his ramblings.

'Tell me how Edgar tested you' Beth said, knowing that it would have to be something difficult, designed to test the power of his hypnosis over his subject's free will. The test would have to be something that Edgar would know Starsky would find abhorrent, just like he would find shooting Hutch against his nature.

'He tells me….damn….tells me he wants me to….dear God no.'

'It's nearly over Dave. Nearly over, but you need to tell me to move on.'

'He tells me he wants me to jack off so that he can hear me down the phone' Starsky almost yelled at her, his eyes tight closed at the pain of the memory.'

Stunned, Beth could hardly find the words for a moment to bring the man out of his terrible memories. Starsky continued to shake with indignation and fear but slowly the woman put her hand on his shoulder.

'You did well Dave, very well. When I count backwards to one, you'll sleep. You'll sleep and awake feeling rested. Three, Two, One and sleep.'

Beneath her hand, the brunet's body relaxed and shakily Beth got to her feet, determined that this part of the therapy at least, she would not be sharing with Hutch.

She went to the door of the room and out into the corridor, feeling that there was no air in the room. Fisher, the man she'd hailed as an expert in his field was a monster and she vowed she'd help Hutch as much as she could to nail the bastard.

Hutch walked slowly up the corridor to meet her. 'Over already? Did you get anywhere with him today?'

'Um….oh, yeah. We um….. we didn't find the trigger word, but we covered a lot of ground. I know for certain now that Fisher has him so deeply under his control that only he, or another expert is going to be able to break his hypnotic influence. Dave is still in danger while Edgar Fisher is at large.'

'Well, I've phoned Dobey. Told him that if anyone does pick Fisher up, they should be looking for tapes too. That'll be our primary evidence against him.'

'Tell them not to listen to them Hutch. It's important' Beth said urgently.

'Why? Are they dangerous or something?'

'No, not dangerous, but private and it's Dave's privacy we're dealing with.'

Hutch's brow furrowed. 'What did he do? What's on the tapes Beth? What did he force Starsky to do?'

The woman smiled weakly. 'You don't want to know, and Dave wouldn't want you to know. It was a test of Edgar Fisher's power over him, that's all.'

'And I guess my partner passed?'

'With flying colours' Beth said grimly. 'I have to go. He'll sleep for a while and he won't remember much when he wakes up, fortunately. I can come by again tomorrow.'

'Come by my place. The Doc says he can go home this evening, so while he's sleeping I'm gonna head off back to my house and get it ready for him. I'll be back about six to pick him up and get him home. Don't worry Beth, we're grateful for everything you're doing for us. He'll be safe. I'll keep him that way.'

Hutch and Beth walked back down the corridor and outside into the afternoon sunshine. The blond walked her to her car and stood by the open door. Hutch kissed the woman tenderly on her lips and hugged her to him. 'Is it good for a man to fall for a shrink?' he asked softly.

'Only if you don't want to keep secrets' she grinned. 'We have ways and means!'

The flaxen haired cop waited until Beth had drive away before getting into his old LTD and heading off back to Venice Place. Not finding a need to look in the mirror, he didn't see the tall thin man in the BMW close by, listening with his window down. The man smiled to himself and settled down to wait for a while.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Hutch and Traff spent an enjoyable afternoon getting Hutch's pad ready for the brunet's homecoming. Deciding that Starsky's place would hold too many bad memories, and not wanting to disturb Beth's treatment, both friends decided it would be better if Starsky came back to Hutch's. By five o'clock, the place was as neat as a new pin and clean as a whistle. Hutch grabbed his keys from the table by the door.

'We'll be back in an hour. Have the beer chilling huh?' he said as Traff flipped him a wave.

20 minutes later, Hutch drew up inside the parking lot at the hospital and whistling quietly under his breath he took the elevator up to the first floor. Walking along the corridor he was just about to head to Starsky's room when he saw orderlies pushing a gurney holding a body into it. His heart in his mouth, Hutch rushed towards the body but was brought up short when he saw a tuft of ginger hair sticking out of a bandage around the patients head. Most definitely not chocolate coloured curls.

With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, the blond ran back to the nurses' station and rapped on the counter top.

'Starsky. Dave Starsky from room 122. Where is he?' he asked.

Alice, one of the night nurses looked up from her charts. 'David went home about an hour ago.'

'What?' the world spun around Hutch and he grabbed sickly for the counter. 'Who? Who did he go with?' he asked urgently.

'It was a lovely man. Tall, distinguished looking. Dave knew him and left with him quite happily. I thought maybe it was his uncle?'

'Did he give a name?'

'Yes, he did. It was…um…now isn't that odd? I can't remember and I'm so good at names usually' Alice said.

'Was it Edgar Fisher?'

'NO!' Alice's voice rose as she glared at Hutch. The blond smiled back grimly.

'You just answered my question.