Chapter 5

'Hutch, I can't see'. The blond let the simple statement hang in the air, not wanting to trust his voice to say anything. Starsky looked bad enough – the pasty greyness, the vacant look in those indigo eyes and the blood on his face. Hutch didn't want to have his partner go to pieces on him, but he was worried at the predicament they were in. He knew that Richardson's bullet had hit him somewhere in his side and that he seemed to be bleeding freely from the wound. He also knew that if he couldn't stop the bleeding any time soon, he was going to go into shock and that wouldn't help his blind partner any at all.

Starsky was sitting still, turning his head slowly from side to side as if trying to see around an obstacle, putting his free hand up in front of his eyes and squinting. Hutch could see that his partner hadn't come to terms with his loss of vision and wondered what other damage the blow on his head had done. Through the dust he could see that the brunette looked pale and was also bleeding heavily from the cut just above his right eye, the blood running through the dark eyebrow and trickling into his partner's eye. As he completed his observations of his friend, he also saw that there was a beam of wood wedged across Starsky's left leg, pinning it to the ground. Again, he put his hand out, resting it on the brunette's arm.

'Starsk, try no to worry, it may just be temporary, you'll be OK. We just need to try to get out of here and soon. It's just, ah, I may need a bit of help buddy'.

Starsky turned his head towards him a blank look on his face.

'What?'

'We need to get out of here' Hutch said again, his worry levels rising. Starsky didn't seem to appreciate the predicament they were in or what had happened.

'Out? Yeah, right'. The brunette said it automatically, shaking his head, and tried to stand, grunting as his left leg prised free from the wooden beam. Slowly he stood upright, grabbing at the pile of rubble as he swayed. The action caused the chain linking their manacles to pull and Hutch gasped as the movement through his arm jarred his injured side.

Starsky's mind seemed to be in a fog and he couldn't comprehend where he was. He tried hard to remember the sequence of events leading up to that moment. He remembered coming to a small luxurious hotel, eating supper and then they were in a…. Nothing! He couldn't remember where they were and a sense of panic descended over him. He looked down at the blond man still on the floor. Hutch. Yeah, he remembered Hutch – how could he forget his partner of six year? He was a cop. He remembered that too and there was another man, Shepherd. Jimmy Shepherd? Starsky slowly put the pieces of the jigsaw together but could never get past the point of having supper.

'What happened after supper?' he mumbled, more to himself than to his partner.

Hutch concentrated on his friend's voice. He was feeling spacey and cold and knew he had to get moving pretty quickly. He had to find some way to stem the flow of blood from his side otherwise he was going to be worse than useless to his partner or to himself. He stopped a moment, taking a deep calming breath. What could he find to stop the bleeding and then where could he go to have a good look at the brunette's injuries? He tried hard to think, but the pain in his side was getting worse by the minute, clouding his thought processes and making his mind foggy and unfocussed. Suddenly, the memory came to him. "Some confidence the hotel has if it has a fully equipped sick bay!" He remembered standing in the room, chuckling, but now he blessed the foresight of the builders and designers to include the room in the hotel. Now, if he could just get them there!

Starsky was still mumbling to himself. 'What happened after supper? Hutch? I can't remember what we were doing. Ya there Blintz?'

'Yeah, I'm here Starsk. We went to bed after supper and you were taking first watch in the reception hall. Don't ya remember?' Hutch's voice sounded dry and cracked as the pain and dust took their toll.

Starsky concentrated, trying to clear the fog in his brain, but the more he tried, the more the memory seemed to elude him. OK forget that. Concentrate on getting out.

'Hutch, we gotta get moving. I wanna get out of here NOW' he said, his voice a little less shaky'.

'No arguments from me pal' Hutch grunted as he tried to move. The sickening pain lanced through his side again and he let out an involuntary yelp.

'Hutch? You're hurt?' Starsky heard the yelp and bent over in the direction he thought it had come from, running his hand down the chain connecting the manacles until he found Hutch's right hand. He gave it a squeeze of reassurance and felt it cold and clammy, knowing in his heart that Hutch was hurt, but not pushing the subject for the moment - it could wait a while.

The big blond didn't want to worry his partner any more than necessary. One job at a time. Get out first and get to the sick room.

'Just stiff an' sore' he lied, taking a hold of the smaller man's hand. Slowly he levered himself up, biting back a groan and stood with his back to the wall, waiting for the waves of nausea to wash over him as the remains of the building spun around him.

'Starsk, d'ya remember the reception hall?'

'Yeah'.

'We gotta get to the little room behind the reception desk. Remember, the little sick room? If we can get there, I can take a look at that cut on your head. How're ya feeling buddy?'

Starsky stopped to consider. 'Headache' he said. 'Not too bad other than that. Leg's sore, my stomach feels like its on fire an' I can't see. I can remember everything up to havin' supper but nothin' after that. It's kinda freakin' me out. Can you see a way out or does it look as bad as it feels?' he asked trying to wipe some of the dust from his hands.

Hutch stared at the rubble around them. Now that the dust was beginning to settle he could see that some walls were down, and there were large chunks of wood across the corridor. Freakishly, the part they were sitting in seemed to have come off worst from the earthquake. The ceiling had fallen through, making a pile of rubble around them, but further along, the devastation seemed to be less. As Hutch peered through the gloom, he could see that their way was only partially blocked and they should be able to climb over the masonry and wood to get back into the reception area, although what they'd find there was anyone's guess.

'Its not too bad, I don't think' he told his blind partner. 'We got some climbing to do pal, but I think we can make it. Ya think ya can manage?'

Starsky nodded briefly then jangled the chain links. 'Not gonna loose ya, am I?' he chuckled grimly.

Hutch pushed himself away from the wall and edged past the smaller man, starting to negotiate the devastation in front of them. The going was necessarily slow. With only one working hand each and with Hutch hurting and Starsky unable to see, each step seemed like a marathon. The blond tried desperately to bite back the groans as he climbed over the rubble, but he couldn't hide the fact he was hurting from his friend. Starsky had been following behind his partner, feeling his way around and across the obstacles in their path. Several times he fell, scraping his arms and legs on the rough surfaces and once he put his foot where he thought there was solid ground, only to partially fall through a void. As he tumbled forward he yanked on the manacle chain, pulling Hutch backwards and the blond cried out.

'Hutch what's wrong. You are hurt. Just tell me huh?'

Hutch waited till the pain lessened a little. 'Richardson fired at us, d'ya remember that?'

The brunette shook his head. 'I remember four goons with guns, but that's about it'.

'OK. Well, one of them was a big tall guy called Richardson. He was taking us down to the basement for fun and games. I managed to kick him out of the way, then we ran. He ran too and when this 'quake started he shot at us'.

Starsky was still looking blank, the description meaning nothing to him. It scared him to realise there was a part of his life missing at that moment, but the pain in his partner's voice scared him more.

Hutch was continuing. 'He missed you and he kinda put a little nick in me' he said, looking down at his side. His shirt and the hip of his jeans was soaked red with blood and the wound showed no signs of stopping bleeding any time yet.

'How little of a nick?' the curly haired cop asked carefully.

'It's nothing. Let's just try 'n' get to the sick room, ok? Once we're there we can try an' sort out this mess. I can see the reception all now. It's just a few more yards, but there's a wall of debris nearly to the ceiling at one part. We're gonna have to move some of it'. Hutch tried to keep the desperation out of his voice. Once they'd turned the corner he'd seen the mountain of masonry and although it wasn't solid, there wasn't enough space to climb through. He gritted his teeth and led his partner a little further on until he could start moving the rubble.

It was slow work. The blond could only move small pieces at a time and knew he was getting weaker by the minute. Each piece of the mountain he handed to his partner had to be tossed backwards and the job seemed endless. After half an hour or so, they stopped for a rest. The flaxen haired cop was weary. He needed fluid and he needed to stem the blood flow and he needed both fast. With a heart felt sigh, he reached up and took hold of another brick, placing it carefully in Starsky's hand. As his partner threw it backwards, the ground started to shake again as an aftershock shook the building. Both men braced themselves, waiting fo the impact of further falling bits, but amazingly, the tremor worked in their favour and finally, as the dust cleared again, Hutch could see a pace big enough for them to crawl through.

'Starsk, we've got our way out' he panted as he peered through the hole between the rubble and the ceiling.

'Yeah? Can we get through?' Starsky was beginning to feel like a spare part. He hated not being able to see because he felt he wasn't integral in their escape bid. So far he had stowed the idea of it being permanent deep down in side him. He had no time to think about the future, he just wanted to get out of this hell hole. Any other scenarios would have to wait.

Hutch pulled on the manacle chain, urging his partner forward. As he led, Starsy followed behind, squeezing through the tiny opening and into the reception hall behind. As they got through to the other side, Hutch looked around him. The devastation here was slightly less. The roof was still on and although there were piles of rubble everywhere, it was possible to walk carefully between them. As he got to the counter of the reception desk, they both had to duck under a beam that had fallen across the desk.

Carefully, Hutch put his hand on top of his partner's head to stop him from banging it further on the beam as they both finally and with a sigh of relief, found their way into the sick bay.

Hutch looked around him, trying to get his bearings before staggering towards the cupboard he seemed to remember held distilled water.As he reached up to open the door to look inside, he heard a distinct and familiar metallic noise. The cocking of the gun made he and his partner freeze as voice behind them said 'Easy gentlemen, no sudden moves'.