Huggy's POV

It was one of those quiet days when you have time to really look at the smears on the glasses. There were a few lunch-time clients sitting in booths or at tables. A couple of all-morning clients were at the bar nursing their glasses.

I had the TV on as usual.

"….at the Metro precinct an hour ago. At least one officer is injured……"

I pricked up my ears. Metro is where Starsky and Hutch are based. They usually come here for lunch and I'd noticed that they were late. I figured they'd had to deal with whatever was going on. I turned to look at the screen
Starsky's face filled it. A nice photo, taken a few weeks back after the Mayor personally gave the guys their badges back.

"…..Detective David Starsky….at least four bullet wounds…..in a serious condition…..no other news available at this time…."

I reached for the 'phone.

They put me through to Minnie. She was crying. "He's in Memorial…Hutch and the Captain are with him…."

I yelled to the staff to hold the fort and ran out back to my car.

Hutch was sitting staring through the glass at Starsky. He looked like he might be praying. Dobey was standing behind him. The pain and the anguish were written all over Hutch's face. I asked Dobey and he said "two of them, dressed as cops"

I never thought it would end like this.

I remember when he arrived at the High School, a shy kid with an accent that didn't fit in. He was slightly aggressive the way shy people sometimes are. Some of the other kids tried to give him a bad time and he got his nose bloodied a few times before he learned to fight back.

His cousin was in my class. They were only a couple of months apart so Dave was put in our class too. Harvey didn't exactly protect him; but enough of the kids knew about his dad's connections not to try too hard.

Harvey told me. "His dad was murdered and he's a witness." I found out later that Dave's dad was a cop.

We got on OK. He could be funny and intense. He was one hell of an athlete too.

We finished school; just scraping graduation. I started running with JT and saving for my big move. Dave did a few odd jobs for his uncle's connections and drove a cab.

Then he got called up. He drank himself into a near stupor then walked out of the bar I was managing. I thought I'd never see him again.

I didn't recognize the young officer leaning heavily on a walking stick as he came down the stairs to the bar. He sat at the bar and pulled of his hat. "Get me a beer Huggy."

He'd been badly hurt. You saw the stuff on the news and heard about the number of casualties for the day – but you never thought it would be someone you knew. He nearly lost a leg…and an eye. He spent nearly six months in rehab and now he was home fighting to get really fit again.

He went back to the odd jobs until he could run like before. Then he did what he'd always really wanted to do…follow in his dad's footsteps. He signed up at the Academy and introduced me to this big blond lunk with a supercilious upper lip and announced that this was 'Hutch' and they were friends. Hutch turned out to be OK though – more than OK once he got over the culture shock of seeing how the real poor live.

They are close. I've never seen anything like it. They almost live like shadows of each other; there have been plenty of people over the years who think they're gay…I run on both currents and believe me those two guys are strictly for the ladies.

But they love one another with an intensity that most married couples would like to have.

And now Hutch is here; waiting to see if this time it really is over.

Dobey has just stood up. "I'd better go and call his mother."

Hutch touched his arm. "Must you, can't it wait until…"

"No Hutch. If Huggy saw it on the local TV we can't risk the national networks picking it up. I can't let Lily learn about this from her TV."

We watched him walk away.

I took Hutch by the arm. "Will they let you stay with him?"

"Not tonight. Tomorrow; I can visit him tomorrow. But I can't leave…I can't risk not being here if…"

He bowed his head and sobbed into the bundle of blood-soaked clothes. I sat beside him; if Hutch was going to sit vigil all night he was going to have company.

I touched his arm the way I'd seen Starsky do so many times. Yea, I admit it, I'd like to get closer to Hutch…but I guess I should keep my distance.

"How bad is it?"

"He took four bullets Huggy. I only felt two exit wounds. Four bullets in the back, Huggy. One of them ripped up his arm too. He had his arm across his body – he was reaching for his gun when he fell. The bullet must have come out and lodged in his arm. It shattered his shoulder blade too. The doctor said he has massive damage. His heart stopped in the ambulance; and again on the operating table. How much can his body take, Huggy?"

I knew how much it had taken in the past; but I've never really known what Hutch knows.

"He was badly hurt before." I said carefully.

"I know about that, Huggy. I know how he fought to keep his leg; how his arm was hurt too and how he nearly lost his eye on a bamboo shoot."

So that's what he told you about that scar. I didn't say it aloud

"He pulled through Hutch."

"He was more than ten years younger too Hug. We've been through a lot since then. He's taken more bullets; he's been poisoned and gassed; his resistance is reduced."

"Physically, yes; but you know how stubborn he can be."

"He's going to have to be more stubborn than any mule I ever saw this time."

"He'll pull through"

I was trying to convince myself.

I thought of something; if I saw the TV so did Starsky's folks. Dobey was getting in touch with his mom – and as she was in New York she might not have heard yet…but what about the others?

Harvey arrived alone. He'd spent an hour trying to calm down his mom; Starsky's Aunt Rosa. She'd gone hysterical the moment she heard the news on the TV. Harvey was here to check out the situation. Hutch had gone to the men's room. Harvey sat next to me.

"Do we know who did it Huggy?" He asked me. We go way back, I told you that. Harvey still works for the people Dave did odd jobs for. In fact they were a team; a damn good team.

"Hutch said it was two guys dressed as cops."

"That's not what I meant." Sometimes he sounded just like Starsky (except for the accent); that same slow even grim delivery that held menace in every syllable.

"No." I said. "We don't know who's behind it. You hear anything?"

"No. Benny's got the feelers out but he doesn't think it was a local hit."

"Who out of town would want to kill them?"

"From what I heard…."

He didn't get a chance to finish. Hutch came back. He never really knew what to make of Harvey. They were not exactly friends – but not foes either. Starsky and his cousin got closer over the years and Hutch knows better than to get in between Starsky and his past.

"Hi Harvey. How's Rosa taken it?"

Harvey rolled his eyes. He has deep brown eyes but you get a hint of the family resemblance when he does that. "How do you think? She went hysterical and dad had to stop her calling New York straight away. He made her agree to wait until I got back."

"Dobey's already dealing with that." Hutch said quietly – I heard the catch in his voice.

Harvey stared at the floor. "That bad?"

"Yea. His heart stopped in the ambulance and again on the table. They worked on him for three hours. Massive damage and the doc thinks they'll probably have to go in again a couple more times if…"

Harvey swallowed and put a hand on Hutch's shoulder.

"Don't they think he gonna pull through?"

"They don't know. If he wakes up when they try to bring him out of the coma... SHIT!

Even if he does wake up we have no way of knowing what state he'll be in."

"One thing I know about Dave, he'd rather die than spend the rest of his life in a hospital." Harvey said it so carefully that Hutch and I understood what he was saying.

"I have power of attorney before Lily arrives." Hutch said. "But she would have to make that decision, not me. I couldn't take him away from her without her permission."

The doctor came back and said he wanted to explain things a bit more to Hutch. Harvey and I watched them walk into an office along the hall.

"He loves him, Huggy. He doesn't want to lose him either."