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Blood, Sweat, and Tears

Chapter 5

The first thing Starsky noticed as consciousness slowly returned, was the smell. The unmistakeable smell of burning flesh. The acrid smell burned his nostrils and turned his stomach.

The next thing was the pain. A burning pain low on his right side caused his body to lurch upward. Fully awake now, he lashed out at the source of the pain.

"Hold him, Moses!" a woman's voice yelled. "I'm gonna do more harm than good if he keeps movin'."

The last thing he remembered before the darkness took him again, was the heavy weight that pressed him down to the bed, making it difficult to breathe.

"Hutch!" he cried. Then, nothing.

Mama Jade was relieved the man had passed out again. He was a handful. His side had started bleeding during the night, forcing her to cauterize the wound. She admired his will to live. With the fever and blood loss, he should not have made it this far. All of his valiant effort would be for nothing, though.

"Is he gonna die?" Moses asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"I'm not sure. We're gonna do all we can for him." she lied with a small amount of regret. But she couldn't let go of her goal. Revenge was a harsh master and she didn't have the strength to overcome it's strong pull. This man held the key to her long battle with it and soon, she would finally be free.

No, she would keep him alive just long enough to accomplish her plan, and it was time to set it into motion. She steeled herself, knowing what she was about to do. Once it began, there would be no turning back.

"Moses, you stay with him 'til I get back." She patted the large man fondly. "I'm gonna see what I can get for his pain."

"Yes, ma'am." Moses nodded. He was proud of the responsibility she had given him. "I'll take real good care of him."

Mama Jade nodded and smiled, "Good boy. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Moses looked at the man. He was so still. Was he alive? His question was answered as the man took a deep breath and grimaced. Compassion overwhelmed him. "Please hurry, Mama Jade."

ooooooo

Hutch dropped into the chair that sat across the desk from Starsky's. Tired couldn't even begin to describe how he felt. He kept thinking he was going to wake up and find this had been nothing more than a horrible nightmare. Any time now, Starsky would come bouncing in with that stupid smile on his face.

Stupid smile. How many times had he said that? Right now, that smile meant more to him than anything. What he wouldn't give to see it.

Falling into a retrospective haze, Hutch was flooded with feelings he couldn't control. He knew if he didn't get somewhere fast, the whole station was going to witness his breakdown. Literally running, he made it outside to his car before the tears actually started falling.

"Starsky!" he sobbed. "Where are you? Don't let it happen like this."

Memories came, unbidden, like his tears. His friend, closer than a brother, holding him as he went through the hell of withdrawal. His friend, unrelenting, searching for him until he found the wreckage at the bottom of the canyon, saving him from sure death. Starsky's smile, his touch, his boyish love of life, had so taken Hutch by surprise. When did it become 'Me and Thee'? When did they become so important to each other that life was not life without the other? Was it all the times they risked everything for each other, willingly putting life itself on the line?

Hutch was startled out of his reverie by the radio. "Zebra 3, come in."

"Yeah. Hutchinson." he snapped.

"Call for you. Lady says she knows something about Starsky."

Suddenly totally focused, Hutch nearly yelled, "Patch me in!"

"Negative, Zebra 3. She just left a number and said she wanted you to call her." the radio cracked back.

"Give it to me!" Hutch was yelling now.

Writing down the number, Hutch didn't even take the time to sign off. He hung up the radio and drove like crazy to the nearest phone. Practically jumping out of the car before it stopped, he fumbled for a dime, dropping change on the ground in his rush. Quickly dialing, he tried in vain to calm his nerves and slow his frantic breathing. He could tell he was working on a headache, which was something he couldn't afford right now.

Two rings, still no answer. Hutch let the phone ring eight more times then slammed the receiver down. Dropping to his knees in utter frustration, he yelled to the sky, "What game are You playing with me, God?"

oooooo

The phone finally stopped ringing, much to Mama Jade's dismay. She got much pleasure from the vision she had of Kenneth Hutchinson frantically dialing and then waiting for an answer. "That should get him going real good. A few more tricks like this and he will practically run into the trap I'll set for him." She knew they would trace the number down but that didn't bother her. She had give him the number to the phone booth several blocks from her house.

Very pleased with her cleverness, she realized vengence was much sweeter than she imagined it would be. She was going to enjoy every minute of it. She laughed out loud when she tried to guess how many more times he would call, and just how long she would make him wait. She would have to have the patience of Job not to get in too much of a hurry. The longer she drug this out, the more Hutchinson would suffer.

oooooo

Coolness on his face woke him. God, that feels good, he thought to himself. Slowly opening his eyes, squinting as the light strained them, he notice the same huge, dark face he had seen before.

Moses saw the deep blue eyes open and smiled. "You're finally awake."

Starsky tried to smile but grimaced instead. "Where am I?"

"You're in Mama Jade's house." Moses answered as he gently wiped the sweat from the man's face.

"That feels good. What's your name?" Starsky asked.

"Moses. I'm taking care of you until Mama Jade gets back." Moses said proudly, continuing his ministrations. "What's your name?"

"David. Who's Mama Jade?" Starsky asked.

"She takes care of me and anybody else who needs help." Moses responded.

"I'm sorry about all the questions. I don't remember much." Starsky said, weakly.

"That's okay." Moses assured him. "I like talking to you."

Starsky smiled. "How long have I been here?"

Moses paused, trying to think. "I think two days."

"Two days!" Starsky yelled, raising up from the bed. He quickly collapsed when the excrutiating pain in his shoulder and side took his breath. "Damn!" he cursed.

"You better be still. You'll bleed some more." Moses said, trying to calm Starsky down.

Knowing he had no choice, Starsky sank back to the comfort of the soft bed and fought the nausea that made his head spin. Slowly, the pain subsided and he was able to continue. His heart softened when he saw the sincere concern in the simple man's eyes. "Hey, it's okay, Moses."

Moses just nodded, not making eye contact.

Trying to lighten the moment for Moses, Starsky said, "Moses. That's a great name."

Moses looked up, smiling. "You think so? Boys used to make fun of me."

Starsky had a hard time believing anyone would be brave enough to make fun of this giant. "Moses was a great man who lived a long time ago. He saved a lot of people." Starsky tried to keep his voice encouraging in spite of the pain he was in.

Moses seemed thrilled. The smile on his large face couldn't get any bigger. "Can I be your friend?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure you can. I need good friends." Starsky answered.

"Me too. I don't have many." Moses said sadly.

"Can I have some water?" Starsky asked, realizing how thirsty he was. He reasoned his fever must be pretty high.

"I will get you some fresh water." Moses offered. "Be right back."

Finally alone, Starsky quickly took in his surroundings. He didn't have a good feeling about this. Any normal person would have taken him to a hospital.

The room was very clean and sparsly furnished. The smell of blood and sweat was evident, though. His pants were hanging on a chair across the room, as was his jacket and very bloody shirt.

Slowly, the recent past began coming back to him, the busted operation, the gun play, and the memory of Kimbrough going down hard. "Hutch must be worried sick!" he said out loud. Trying to get out of the bed, his breath caught from the pain. Pushing it all aside, he continued his struggle. The soft 'click' of a gun, his gun, being cocked stopped him cold.

Turning, he saw an older woman no bigger than a girl pointing his gun at him. The look on her face made his blood run cold, but her words scared the hell out of him.

"Hutch isn't nearly as sick as he's gonna be!" she seethed. "Lay down and put your right arm up next to the headboard."

Starsky painfully complied. His injured shoulder screamed with pain and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. "Lady, what's goin' on?"

Pulling his handcuffs out of her dress pocket, she roughly clamped Starsky to the headboard, securing him tightly. A wicked smile then spread across her face, "Sweet revenge!"

tbc