Chapter 7

Starsky rushed to Hutch's side as the blond knelt by the side of the girl on the bed. Alice's once sweetly pretty face was a welter of blue and black bruises, her lips cut and swollen and her eyes almost closed. Around her neck there was a chain of finger shaped bruises and across her body a scattering of burns that looked like they'd come from a cigarette. Intertwined with those burns were other livid red wheals criss crossed across her back, front and thighs, testament to the sever whipping she'd suffered. In all, neither detective could find a single area of her body that wasn't cut or bruised or otherwise marred by an injury.

Softly the blond put his hand up to cup her face, trying to ignore her once beautiful hair which seemed to have been burned off in parts. Now it lay against the bed sheets in a soot laden mass.

'Alice?' Hutch said softly. 'Alice honey it's me, Hutch.'

With difficulty, her blue eyes struggled to open and she looked up at him. 'Hey….handsome Hutch' she managed to rasp through her swollen throat. Her hands fluttered down to her naked body, trying unsuccessfully to cover it and the blond detective looked around.

'Have ya taken the photos you need? Can we get her a cover someone?'

A uniformed cop handed him a bathrobe and tenderly Hutch laid it over Alice's injured body. 'Thank you' she whispered and closed her eyes again as a tear trickled its lonely path down her face. 'I didn't want you……to see me like this' she sobbed quietly

'Who did it honey? Why? Was it Janos?

'No…..it….' her body stiffened and she gave a little cry 'Hutch it hurts….. I hurt, make it stop.'

'I will. I will honey. Try not to move that pretty little head huh?' Just hold on a while longer. We'll fix it. We'll make it all better.' Hutch's soft tones seemed to ease her and she relaxed a little, her eyes focused on her Handsome Hutch as he stayed by her side. In the background, Starsky prowled like a caged tiger, unsure how he could also comfort the woman. In the end, he settled for directing proceedings and making sure the forensics guys were as thorough as they could be. He winced each time Alice stiffened or whimpered and more than once he went to the door of the room to look out for the ambulance.

Hutch was still talking to Alice, keeping her distracted with his voice as he had done on so many occasions with his partner when Starsky had been hurt. But the woman was getting tired, her injuries hurting her too much, and pretty soon she was shaking with shock and pain. Hutch wondered how much longer they'd have to wait and gently he took her in his arms and cradled her against his body where she sighed and rested her head against his chest. Hutch was trying to decide whether he could ask her some simple questions but at that moment, they heard the sound of sirens and minutes later a paramedic came in bearing a fold away stretcher and a bag of equipment. The medic barged through the crowd and shouldered Hutch out of the way to get to his patient. Alice let out a whimper and opened her eyes again.

'Don't leave me' she whispered frantically looked around for the blond. 'I'm scared Hutch, don't leave me' and Hutch came back to her side immediately, kneeling by the side of her as he took one blood stained hand and held it. The medic continued to work, talking softly and gently to the frightened women as the blond let his other hand rest against her cheek. She snuggled into it with a sigh. 'Don't go' she said again.

'I'm not leaving you honey. And Starsky's right here too. We're here. We aren't goin' anywhere. We'll look after you. We won't let them hurt you again.'

The paramedic looked up. 'Are you a relative?'

'No, just a friend. How is she?'

'We'll know more when we get her to the hospital. The most worrying thing is the damage to her throat. The rest I think maybe looks worse than it is. The cuts and bruises will fade and her hair will grow again. We need to get her over to County General.'

'Can we come?'

The medic looked doubtful but Alice settled the discussion. She refused to let go of Hutch's hand and so with the brunet bringing up the rear, the two detectives made their way out of the studio. As Hutch got into the back of the ambulance, Starsky drove his car and in that way they made their way back to the hospital.

In the relative quiet of his car on the way Starsky was brimming over with questions. Alice had said it wasn't Janos Martini who'd done this, although after "Sexational Films" the brunet wouldn't have been surprised. Martini had always been into the kinky stuff and the brunet had busted him for it before. In fact Alice had been his victim in the past, although nothin as severe as this. And then she'd been only too willing to spill the beans on her ex boyfriend. But this time Alice had been given adamant that Janos wasn't the perpetrator of the terrible crimes against her. He drew up in the parking lot and walked into the Emergency room entrance looking for the patient. Hutch was sitting on a small plastic chair with his head in his hands and Starsky dropped two quarters into the drinks machine and handed his partner a scalding cup of black coffee.

'How is she?'

Hutch looked up and took the cup. 'About like you'd think. Some of her hair has been burned clean away, she was strangled almost to death and from the look of the wheals on her body they obviously enjoyed themselves first. Shit Starsk, that's torture – out an' out torture.'

'I know buddy. An' we'll get the sickos that did it for sure. Did she manage to say anythin' else?'

'No. She was pretty well whacked up on pain meds by the time we got here. The only thing she was clear about was that she didn't want me to leave. She was insistent about that' Hutch snickered softly while Starsky grinned at him.

'She always did have a soft spot for ya Blondie. Ever since that night at the Pits. The first night ya met her, remember?'

Hutch snorted. 'How could I forget? You set me up good an' proper. And there as me tryin' to be a good friend to my new partner.' Hutch let his mind wander back over the years.

'……..He said your name was Alice?' Hutch asked, his voice slightly unsteady as she regarded him with her cerulean blue eyes.

'Uh huh. Around here folks know me as Sweet Alice.'

'Coz you're a lovely girl?'

'That…..an' they say I taste nice!' she giggled as she nuzzled his neck.

Hutch choked on the mouthful of beer he'd taken, the fine spray cascading across the bar. 'T taste?' he stammered, his cheeks colouring.

'Uh huh. You could maybe come 'n' find out?' she asked in a sultry voice.

'Maybe another time Sweet Alice. We're on duty….An' I don't think he could afford ya!' Starsky said, leaning over to peck the woman on her cheek. She smiled at him, and then looked sadly at the blond. 'Maybe I could give you a free trial some day Suga?'

She kissed him softly then shimmied away. Hutch looked confused. 'She's a….?'

'Yeah, an' a good one, I've heard' the brunet smirked. 'Haven't tried her myself.'

'Tried her…..Starsk! She's a hooker!...A cute one, but she's a….and you……with……?'

'Don't tell me you never have, Blondie. Oh wait, you had the wonderful Van to keep you happy, but that's been…what? Two, three years now?'

'I'll never know why she took a shine to me, but it's never faded, has it?'

'She's attracted to your animal magnetism' the brunet grinned and straightened as the doctor came out of the cubicle and headed for them.

'Are you friend or relatives of Alice Sawyer?'

'Friends. We're cccops, but we're…. we're friends too' Hutch said quickly, his stammer apparent in his eagerness to get news of the woman. 'How's she doin'?'

'Not too good, I'm afraid. The damage to her throat is quite extensive and is usually the case in these kinds of crush injuries, they are continuing to swell. I'm afraid we need to put her to sleep and put her on a respirator in order to preserve her airways. I need someone's consent to do that and as she doesn't have any relatives here, I wondered if you would….'

'Can I see her Doc.? She ought to know what's goin' on' Hutch asked.

'Of course. She's very sleepy, but I think she could appreciate a friend at the moment. Just try not to tire her huh?'

The two detectives brushed aside the white curtain and entered the small cubicle. Alice looked very fragile lying on the white sheeted gurney draped in a white hospital gown. A lot of her injuries had been covered, but nothing could cover the dreadful damage done to her crowning glory of silky wheaten hair. One whole patch of it at the side of her head looked as though it has been burned away and the scalp showed through dark and bloody. Starsky winced, but Hutch went straight to the bed and took a hold of Alice's hand, smiling down at her reassuringly. Her eyes fluttered open and rested on her knight in shining armor.

'Hey' she whispered.

'I said I wouldn't leave. How're ya doin'?'

'I'm not so scared when you're here' she said shyly, 'but I hate these places an' sometimes, coz of what I do, they don't treat me too nice.'

Starsky came around the other side of the gurney and held her other hand in his. 'Hey honey. I hate 'em too. But they're gonna take real good care of ya. Me an' Hutch'll see to that huh?'

'Uh huh. You just tell us if you don't get the best of everything' Hutch added. 'Only the best for our pretty lady.'

Alice's face crumpled and she tried to turn away. 'I aint no oil paintin' now. They burned ma hair. I'm ugly. I feel so ugly. Why'd you fellas stay around me huh?' she sobbed.

The blond closed his eyes, trying to compose himself. He knew Alice wasn't vain, but lying there at her most vulnerable, she needed all her pride and her hair was a large part of that. He tried to speak, but nothing came out, and instead he heard his partner.

'You're beautiful to us no matter what honey. An' I promise when you're feelin' a bit better we're gonna get the best hairdresser to come in an' make ya even prettier all over again.'

Alice looked up at him. 'Ya are? Why?'

'Coz we love ya!'

Hutch took up the conversation. 'Alice, how do you feel honey? Is it getting' tough to breathe?'

'Yeah' she said in a small voice. 'It scares me some.'

'I know, I know' the blond's voice was gentle, not wanting to upset the woman any more than he had to. 'The Doc says you have some damage to your throat and it could make breathin' a little hard for a while, so he wants to fix it.'

Alice's eyes flew wide 'How?'

'He wants to put a tube in your throat and have a machine help you to breathe. Don't worry honey, you'd be asleep the whole time. You wouldn't know anythin' about it, honest.'

She gripped his hand all the harder. 'I'm scared' she rasped and set off a bout of coughing. By the end of it, she was limp and drained and Hutch was soothing her forehead.

'Sssh. Don't try to talk, you'll make it worse. Do you want me to sign the form to let him do it?'

She nodded. 'Stay with me. At least for a little while, till I'm asleep?'

'Sure thing honey. No problem. Starsky can tell the doc an' I'll stay right here. I won't leave ya, I promise.'

The brunet looked at his watch. 'Its gone 4 o'clock Hutch. If you stay here with Alice, I'll head back an' start the paperwork huh? I'll let Dobey know what's goin' on and I'll let Sarah know too.'

Hutch smiled 'Sure, thanks Starsk.'

The curly haired cop leaned over Alice's bed. 'Be good now, ya hear? Hutch is gonna stay with ya an' I'm gonna start catchin' the bad guys. See ya later honey' he kissed the blond woman on her cheek and trailed his thumb down her bruised face, turning away before she could see the anger in his eyes. God he hated violence against women. But when it was a woman he knew well….. he'd nail the bastards if it was the last thing he did.'