Chapter 22 – 2 weeks later

Starsky looked up from his chair as Hutch walked into the small private room and cocked an eyebrow. 'Well?'

'Well nothin'. The pre hearin' went pretty much as we thought. Sue is tryin' for an insanity plea. She sat in the witness box and played it for all it was worth. Even dribbled at one point. I couldn't believe it' Hutch replied tightly.

Starsky sighed. Dobey had been to pay the duo a visit the previous night and had warned them both about the way the Sue Gunther case was going. While Hutch had ranted and raved about the injustice of it all, Starsky seemed more sanguine and had tried to calm down his blond partner.

'Hey cool it Blondie.'

'Cool it? How the hell am I meant to cool it? She deserves to serve life in max security, not in some cushy mental facility.'

Starsky grinned lightly. 'Nuthin cushy about Cabrillo State. Maybe we could get Matwick reinstated – those two would get on so well together. C'mon Hutch, don't do this to yourself. Concentrate on getting' well huh?'

While the brunet remained a patient at the hospital, Hutch had attended the hearing on both their behalves and had come away feeling cheap, and somehow cheated and he was secretly scared of what Starsky's reaction would be.

In the past two weeks the brunet had once again amazed everyone with his recuperative powers. For two days after his admission to the hospital he'd lain between life and death, battling the pain and the recurrent fevers that were the legacy of the poisoned water he'd been forced to drink. By the third day, he'd started to open his eyes and obey simple commands from the medics and it became clear that the poison had done no lasting damage to either body or mind. By day six, the brunet declared himself fed up of drip feeds stating very clearly his intention that he was gonna eat again, regardless of what the nurses thought. They'd refused to allow him anything solid and so he stole a plate of Jell-o from Hutch's dinner tray and wolfed down the lot.

Once he'd established that he could be in charge of his own recuperation, Starsky started pushing himself to the limit, anxious that he should stop Hutch from his incessant worrying. By day ten, and despite the physio telling him it was still too early, he got out of bed and sat for an hour in the chair. By the end of that time, he was white and shaking, but happy to have proved to himself and everyone else that he was still on top of things.

On day eleven, there was an even bigger breakthrough. Waking up that morning, Starsky felt hands on the centre of his body and instinctively cringed away, giving an involuntary yelp. The nurse who was tending to his catheter looked up in alarm, unaware of what Sue had done to the brunet, and Starsky had blushed and looked away. Angry at himself for giving in to his nightmares, he told the girl he wanted the infuriating tube removed and after a full scale argument during which Hutch had to physically hold him down on the bed, the doctor arrived and tried to explain to Starsky that it was still too soon.

'You aint the one with the Statue of Liberty rammed up your old man' Starsky snapped, his voice still husky and raw.

'And you aren't the one with seven years of medical studies under your belt' the doctor retorted.

'No, wise guy, but I know my own body, an' I know I don't need this thing any more.'

Hutch sighed, knowing it was pointless to argue with his partner when he was in full "Starsky" mode. Instead he raised his eyebrows at the medic. 'He's had enough of 'em to know. Why don't ya try? If it's too early, ya get the satisfaction of rammin' it back in and watching his eyes tear' he said helpfully.

The brunet glared at his partner. 'Shudup' he growled. 'Who asked you?'

'Just tryin' to help out, Starsk old man' Hutch said mildly and stood back as the doctor poked and prodded at his patient's abdomen. There were several "hmms" and "ahhs" and finally the medic looked up.

'I still think it's too early, but if you wanna try…..'

'Uh huh. I do. You have no idea how much I wanna try' Starsky said emphatically. He lay quietly as the nurse assembled her trolley and Hutch went out of the room while the procedure was undertaken. He heard the small squeak from the brunet which signified that the tube had been removed and smiled to himself as he went back into the room. The nurse's face was flushed and there was a patina of perspiration across Starsky's brow, but there was also a smile on his lips.

'Ok, help me up. I'm gonna go pee' he said as the nurse escaped the room and Starsky held his hand out to the blond. Carefully Hutch took a hold and held up the sweating brunet as he tottered towards the small bathroom. At the door, he gave loose of Hutch's arm and disappeared into the small room while the flaxen haired man waited outside.

Two minutes later there was no sign of the brunet and Hutch started to worry.

'Starsk, are you ok?' he called.

'Fine' the pained voice came back.

'You're takin' a long time. What's up buddy?'

'I um…. I can't go.'

'Oh. Have you tried relaxin'?' Hutch asked helpfully.

'Oh yeah. I always relax when I have the prospect of having a hose pipe reinsterted into little Davey.'

'Well whistle.'

'Huh?'

Hutch sighed. 'When I was little, Mom used to get me to go by whistling. Try it.'

A few discordant notes and curse words later, the noise stopped and Starsky's angry voice sounded. 'Any more great ideas Einstein?'

'Well Mom always used to try singin'.'

'Thought ya said she whistled.'

'Well that never worked so she sang.' Hutch cleared his throat and self-consciously started to warble. 'Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so…'

'Oh for fucks sake!' the disembodied voice from the smallest room sounded.

'Did it work?' Hutch asked.

'Do I sound like it worked?'

'Well ok, last resort time.' Hutch strode into the bathroom ignoring the blushing brunet and quickly turned on all the faucets until all that could be heard was the gushing of water and Starsky's pained gasps. The blond made a swift exit and stood once again by the door. There was silence for over a minute and then one by one the faucets were turned off and Starsky staggered to the door of the bathroom looking pale but inordinately proud of himself.

'I did it' he crowed. 'I peed.'

Hutch grinned. 'Well aint that somethin'. Hold on, let me get to a phone. We should announce it on CNN. Here, let me help ya back to bed, you look all in.'

The chocolate curled cop grinned back. 'Don't care. Once a man can pee under his own steam, the worlds his lobster.'

'Um….isn't that oyster buddy? – the world's his oyster?'

'Uh uh. Oyster's too small. This calls for a lobster or nuthin' Starsky said with a sigh as he eased himself back onto the bed. As he did so, the jacket of his pyjamas fell open and he noticed the wince from his partner as Hutch looked away.

Well aware that Hutch felt he was somehow to blame for everything that had gone on, Starsky realised it was time for some straight talking and as he settled himself back on the pillows, he fixed his buddy with a stare.

'Don't do that Blondie.'

'Huh?'

'That look. Don't do it. I know somewhere in that muddled blond brain you're thinkin' you should've stopped all this, but how could ya? You were as much a victim as I was.'

Hutch refused to meet his buddy's gaze and instead studied an interesting spot on the floor. 'She was my girl' he said defensively.

'She wasn't anyone's girl Hutch. She was….she is James Gunther's daughter. If she hadn't got us this way, she'd have found some other way. She hurt you more coz I know you really thought she was the one.'

Hutch's head snapped up. 'How can you say that? That she hurt me more? Dammit Starsk, you almost died…..you did die in the ambulance, twice.'

'But I came back. I'm still here, an' you know why?'

'No.'

'I'm still here for two reasons. First one is that Gunther failed to kill me four years ago, and now he's failed again. I'd never have given him the satisfaction of dyin' coz that way he'd have won.'

The blond listened, his head cocked slightly on one side. 'And the second reason?'

'Huh?'

'You said there were two reasons. Gunther was one. What's the other?'

'Jeez, you live up to the reputation sometimes buddy' Starsky snickered softly.

'Which is?'

'Sometimes you're a real dumb blond! The second reason is you, ya moron. I couldn't die an' leave you alone, and I know that sounds soapy, but there it is.'

'Starsk, I….'

'When Sue had me and she was…..well when she was beatin' the crap out of me, she told me that you thought I was dead and that you'd given up on me.'

Hutch paled in anger, his fists balling the sheets of the bed.

Starsky continued. 'She read me the newspaper cutting about my "death" and she read out an advert for my car. She told me you wanted to get rid of all my stuff, but I knew that wasn't right. I knew you'd never do that, an' the thing that fuelled me….the thing that allowed me to stick it out was the thought of her hurtin' you more. I wanted so much to get back at her and if I died, I wouldn't be able to do that. You….thoughts of you, drove me on. You saved my life buddy.'

'I'd never give up on ya. When she was trying to suffocate me she kept tellin' me how you were hurtin'….how she was hurtin' ya and I couldn't do a damned thing abut it. When they wouldn't let me out of the hospital, I couldn't rest, so I kinda went on the run. Me an' Huggy got a call sayin' where you were.'

'You did? From who?'

'Dunno, it was a female voice, but they didn't give a name. Why?'

'You're gonna think I've lost it, but after Sue and her goons left, there was this girl. It's all kinda fuzzy and I don't even know if she was real or not. I was kinda driftin' in and out, but she seemed so real. She kept me company and she was so sweet. I thought….. nah, it don't matter.'

'Go on. You thought what?' Hutch asked.

Starsky grinned shyly. 'I thought she was an angel.'

The blond nodded. 'Maybe she was buddy, maybe she was. Whatever or whoever she was, the docs say that if she hadn't telephoned me when she did, you'd be dead by now.'

The sobering thought had them both quiet for a few moments. Starsky flexed the fingers of his left hand, the only part of that limb he could move as his shoulder and forearm were encased in plaster.

'We need to get her into jail buddy. Gunther aint gonna get either of us ever again.'

Hutch glanced up in surprise. 'How can you think of that? How the fuck can you think of goin' back out on the streets? What's it gonna take buddy? If it aint Gunther, it'll be Forest, or Diana Harman or any one of the hundreds of flakes we've put away over the years. How can you think of getting' back out there after two close calls like we've had?'

'You don't get it, do ya? Starsky said levelly.

'No. Explain it to me.'

'I want to get back out there because of Gunther and Forest and all the others. That's why I became a cop and I suspect that's why you did too. Just so that we can make sure flakes like them don't do this to anyone else.'

'Yeah, but….'

'Hutch, I didn't like what Sue did to me, or what she did to you. And I sure as hell don't like hurtin' or a machine breathin' for me, or peein' through a tube. But better me than some other poor sod. I joined the force to stop this from happenin' to the man on the street and if that means that we get injured, well that's just the way it is. I need to stop 'em and I can't do that in hospital or from the comfort of my home. I don't like the pain, but I'm sure as hell not gonna stop because of it. If anythin' this just makes me more determined to get back out there.'

Hutch sighed deeply. 'I can't watch this keep happenin' to ya buddy. My nerves won't stand it an' I'm getting' old before my years. No other job would ever ask so much of anyone.'

'And no other job means so much. C'mon Hutch, this aint like you. We get well, we get out an' we get back on the street.'

'I don't know if I can Starsk. Why do they always get to us through women? Terry, Gillian and now Sue. God, this sucks!'

'All the more reason to put a stop to it, but I can't do this without ya buddy' Starsky put his bandaged right hand on Hutch's and locked eyes with his partner. 'Whatever we do, we do together. If we stay, we stay as partners. If we go……God knows what we'll do. What is there out there for an ex soldier and a failed medical student?'

'Hey, I did not fail. I merely changed course' the blond replied huffily, then snickered as he realised he'd once again been suckered by his partner's quick wit. 'Ok, ok. But we don't get back out there until we're both good an' fit huh? Maybe we can get a nice sun filled vacation out of this one. Does Huggy still have connections in the travel trade?'

Starsky smirked. 'With our luck, we'd get the very last tickets for the maiden voyage of the SS Titanic.'

Hutch's face turned serious again. 'Fine, we give it one last try huh? We stick together and we watch each other's backs. I'm not leavin' ya alone again partner. I'm not lettin' you out of my sight,;

'That's good. In fact that's great' Starsky said as Hutch stared in surprise.

'It is? I thought you'd argue against it – I know what you're like for needin' your own space.'

'And I still do, babe. Only thing is, my own space got kinda burned down. So, for the time bein' I think you just got yourself a lodger. Oh, an' maybe I could borrow some of your clothes an' shoes…….and I can cook.'

Hutch's face fell. 'No problem buddy. of course you have to stay at my place and you can borrow my clothes till the insurance pays out, but as for cookin'…..'

'Hey, what's the matter with my cookin'?'

'Starsk, do you even know what a carrot is? Or broccoli?'

'Oh my God. Are we getting' a rabbit too?' Starsky asked with a grin. He snuggled back on the bed, his riotous curls standing out darkly against the white pillow slip.

'Starsk, you're the limit, ya know that? You know what I mean about….. Starsky? Starsk?'

Hutch smiled to himself as he watched his buddy sleeping. Gently he straightened the sheet and padded back to the other bed in the small room to lie down. Whatever they did, they'd still be together, the way they were meant to be. As sleep overtook the recovering blond too, a small smile played across the golden face. Starsky was gonna be ok, he was gonna be ok. His Prayers in the dark, cold days of the past months had been answered. They'd be back to being Me and Thee, just as it should be.

--fin--

Dear all, thank you so much for reading this story. It's been a blast for me to write and I've enjoyed reading your reviews. There is a sequel written, it's called Little Angel, but here's the thing.

Real life is once again making it's presence felt and unfortunately I may not be around much for a while. I apologise but that's how things must be. It breaks my heart as I love to write and to keep in touch with you guys through my stories.

It may transpire that I can publish a chapter every other day. I hope so and I hope you understand the way things are.

Thanks for being there!

Hugs, Janet