THE EDGE OF DARKNESS
CHAPTER 12
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Hutch was ready to jump out of his skin. He was on a gurney in the emergency room and he knew that Starsky was in the same room. But his view of his friend was cut off by the curtain that separated the two beds. Hutch tried to follow the pieces of conversation he heard on the other side. The voices were disjointed and the words echoed around him. It was like listening to something being spoken in a different language. He understood single words or a sentence occasionally but for the most part, he was bewildered and scared. The concussion resulted in his confussion but Hutch only knew that Starsky was in grave danger and the blond needed to be with his friend.
Hutch tried to ignore the nurses who swarmed around him but he flinched as the needle bit into the vein on his arm. He turned his head toward the muted voices rather than think about the stinging sensation as the doctor probed and manipulated his shoulder. He was groggy and shaky but he had to reach out to Starsky. His head pounded and his shoulder burned but he tried to concentrate on what might be going on behind that curtain. Starsky still had not awakened since they'd been brought to the hospital and that concerned Hutch. He also couldn't help himself. He had to offer verbal support.
"Starsky.. I'm here! C'mon boy and make some noise!" The unnatural stillness unsettled Hutch and fueled the flames of his guilt. Again, he scolded himself for his inability to help Starsky when he needed him most.
"Detective, please lay still. You have a severe concusion, a lacerated scalp, a dislocated shoulder and a few broken ribs. We'll be taking you to surgery shortly." The doctor stated matter of factly the list of injuries but was not pleased that his patient didn't seem to be paying attention.
"What's happening? Is he okay?!" Hutch tried to sit up but his shoulder protested and the blond bounced back against the mattress. He let out a sigh that was somewhere between frustration and pain.
He'd been pleading for someone to help his friend but Hutch didn't realise how distraught he'd become. The nurses tried to calm him with their quiet assurances but Hutch wasn't interested in their words.
The emergency room nurse had sought out the police captain when Hutch became extremely agitated. The head injury resulted in a very emotional and distracted Hutch. His fear turned into a battle of arms and guilt as he fought against the people who were only trying to keep him safe.
The Captain had secured the crime scene as quickly as possible and left the various units to their tasks. An hour later found him pacing in the visitor's lounge when a nurse bustled in calling out for family of Ken Hutchinson. The Captain glanced at his watch again as he stopped circling the room and made his way over to the nurse.
She efficiently explained that Ken Hutchinson was highly agitated. Dobey smiled to himself. He could just imagine the commotion the blond would be making inspite of his own condition. Hutchinson would be hard to deal with until he knew for sure that Starsky was alright. Dobey didn't wait to be invited back to the cubicle, instead he rumbled past the starched nurse and followed the voice until he reached Hutch's room.
The nurse had been very discreet in her public appeal to Captain Dobey. As he entered the room, he took in the pleading tone coming from one bed and the quiet bedlam surrounding the other bed. One doctor and two nurses worked quickly on Starsky. Their voices rattled off numbers and readings while another nurse slit the bloody clothes from the dark haired man's body.
Pulling himself away, Dobey turned to Hutch on the other bed. The blond flailed his hands at the people surrounding him. His fear was evident in the pitch of his voice and he repeated one name again and again.
"Starsky... Starsk!"
The Captain hovered just out of the way until a nurse caught his eye and begged him to help them. Somehow they needed Hutch to calm down and hoped that this visitor would have more effect than the three nurses were having.
Dobey took a few steps toward the bed and spoke in a calm, but firm voice.
"Hutchinson... Starsky's being well taken care of. Just let these people help you now. Do you hear me?" At the strong, familar voice Hutch relaxed slightly and turned his gaze toward his superior.
"Cap, Starsky--- is he okay?" Dobey quickly met the nurses blank face and she just shrugged her shoulders. Dobey again turned toward the other bed, noticing another white coated man had entered the space.
More instructions spoken with more urgency seemed to be what everyone had been waiting for. The new doctor rattled out specific orders followed by his own quiet consultation with the first doctor.
Dobey turned his attention back to Hutch.
"Listen here.. You aren't doing Starsky any good by carrying on this way. Just do what you guys do best... that silent stuff. He knows you're with him so just cooperate now.. that's an order!" Dobey's voice had lost some of the gruffness and by the time he'd finished his last word, Hutch had relaxed and didn't fight the probing and did his best to answer the endless questions the nurse asked him.
A short time later, the memory of his wounded friend came back to the cop. His frustration grew at his perceived guilt but at the moment, all he could manage was to grasp the metal railing on the bed. It vibrated and shook under his hand. Dobey watched the agony in the blue eyes and wondered if the railing clanked against the side of the bed because Hutch was shaking out of pain or something only the two detectives could understand.
Hutch blinked and squinted. He finally recognized the captain but confusion deepened the furrow between his eyes.
The blond gulped and winced as the pain in his shoulder grabbed him. With his other hand he covered his eyes. The lights were too bright but he also tried to shut out the guilt that continued to swirl around him.
"Hutch.. you'll be okay. So will Starsky" Hutch cracked an eye open and was surprised to find Captain Dobey standing beside the gurney.
"You were making too much racket. The nurse thought I might be able to calm you down."
Dobey wasn't sure he could make the injured man understand how much time had passed. Starsky was in surgery and Hutch had passed out for awhile after that.
As Hutch came around agin, he hadn't noticed that he was without his partner. But soon enough, the events of the past few hours came flooding back and the remorse in the pained blue eyes turned to the Captain for help.
"Cap... I should've been more aware of Stone. I should never have turned my back on the bastard!" Hutch punched the mattress with his hand to emphasize his guilt.
"Hutchinson, no more of this guilt trip. You hear me? Crawford was a sick man. There was no way to have predicted what he was gonna do." Dobey sat forward and reached his hand out to Hutch. He hesitated and instead, he grabbed the rail and wrapped his hand around the cold metal.
The captain watched as the blond head turned toward the other side of the room. Dobey tried to answer the fear he saw in the blue eyes.
Dobey sat in the hard, unforgiving plastic chair. He was uncomfortable and did not know exactly what was expected of him. He wasn't sure he could provide Hutch with what the man craved.
"You've been out of it for awhile. Starsky's in surgery. A specialist was called in to examine your shoulder and they should be coming to take you for surgery soon."
Hutch turned back to face his captain. He closed his eyes in resignation. Things were now out of his control. But one thing he could control and he was determined to make his point.
"Cap make sure they put us in the same room! I swear if I wake up and Starsky's not there..." Hutch's voice couldn't maintain the demanding tone but Dobey knew better than to dismiss the odd request. He remembered from experience that it would only cause more trouble if the two detectives weren't together during the hospital stay. He couldn't explain it other than to accept the bond the two shared. It was obvious that in times of great physical stress, they did better and healed quicker if they were allowed to be near each other.
The captain stood up just as two orderlies came into the room. The men busied themselves making sure Hutch was tucked in and any equipment that needed to go with the patient was also part of the move to surgery.
"Promise me cap! Make sure!" Hutch's voice was no more than a whisper but it was loud enough to reach the Captain's heart. There's no way in hell he'd allow the two men to be separated.
The Captain stood in the hall, watching as the gurney made it's way to surgery. He leaned against the wall, anticipating more waiting. Slowly he pushed away from the wall and his feet guided him to the visitor's lounge. His breath hitched in his chest as he lowered himself to a blue plastic chair. He closed his eyes as he leaned back but opened them quickly. The things he saw when his eyes closed scared him more than what was in front of him. He wished Edith were with him. She had such a calm aura about her that in times of stress, he'd found himself needing her more. Maybe he was getting too old for this job. Maybe he was more emotionally involved with Starsky and Hutch than he should be. Maybe he cared about these two detectives more than he was willing to acknowledge.