Hutch's Longest Day
by
“Well that weren't that bad” mumbled Starsky as he stuffed the last piece of the taco into his mouth.
Hutch looked at his partner and grinned; he had just watched Starsky eat nearly everything on the menu at the local Mexican restaurant. He himself had just settled for a plain salad and a beer, now all he wanted to do was go home and go to bed. Tomorrow would be another day on the streets and he was tired, even though the day had been spent at their desks catching up on the pile of reports.
The morning had begun with Captain Dobey shouting at them to get their butts into his office, Starsky´s annoying habit of kicking the door shut did not help Dobey´s mood. They then got a lecture, a lecture, which they had heard pretty often about the importance of handing in daily reports and not weekly ones. So the two partners went back to their desks, loaded up with black coffee and made a start of going through the now very tall pile of reports and paperwork on their desks.
By late evening Hutch was tired of Starsky forever whining about being hungry and eventually gave in and took him to a small Mexican restaurant on the way home, but now having done that he was tired and really wanted to go to bed.
“Hey, I've just remembered they're some old movies on tonight, how about coming to my place, having a few beers eh?” Starsky said, now taking the napkin out of the collar of his shirt.
Hutch pulled a face, “Aw Starsk, come on, I'm dead I just wanna go to bed”
In return he got a look from his partner, it reminded him of a puppy, but tonight he was not going to give in, he needed his sleep.
“No Starsk, I'm going home, are you gonna drop me off?”
“Yeah, yeah as you're paying” replied Starsky, who was obviously not tired, the food and beer only seemed to have given him more energy, but he knew his partner well enough to know to leave it for now. He fished the keys to his car out of his pocket and headed for the door while Hutch paid the bill. They both got into the car and Starsky drove to Venice Place where Hutch lived.
“Are you sure, Hutch?” Starsky asked as Hutch stepped out of the car. Hutch shook his head, sometimes Starsky could be pushy although he'd never tell him that, but now even he was getting a bit fed up “Starsky! Give it a rest will ya?”
“Ok, ok I'll pick ya up, usual time in the morning” Starsky gave a Hutch a salute, grinned, shoved the car into drive and sped off into the night.
Hutch walked up the stairs, reached up and got the key from above the door and went into his apartment. As he went around watering his plants, he began to think of his partner, he hated to let him down, they were best friends, more than that, he would lay down his life for him and he knew that Starsky would do the same for him. They had been there for each other through thick and thin, shared losses, tragedies and dangers, but they had also had a lot of fun together, he especially enjoyed their undercover work . Starsky could be so funny, he was such a character, and he often told him that the stage had lost a great actor and comedian when he joined the police force.
He began to yawn, he got undressed did his teeth and got ready for bed, it seemed that as soon as his head hit the pillow he was out like a light.
The next thing he knew the phone was ringing, he thought he was dreaming at first, the ringing continued, he looked at the clock, aww it was only 4 o'clock who the hell could be phoning at this hour? He reached across to the phone and took up the receiver
“Lo?” he mumbled, but there was no reply, he could just hear breathing, if he had been more awake he would have hung up straight away, but something felt wrong, he felt a chill go down his spine,
“Lo?” he asked again
“ Who is this?” he asked, and then he heard a voice
“Hutch......help....” he felt his heart race
“Starsky is that you?” he knew it was, but he kept asking, praying to get an answer, but now he got no response. He dialed the emergency number and asked for an ambulance to be sent to Starsky´s apartment.
He then shoved on his pants, sweater, leather jacket, shoes and grabbed his keys, he ran out into the road to where his brown rusty car was parked. He started the engine and drove as fast as the car would let him to Starsky´s apartment, the ambulance hadn't arrived yet, he parked the car outside, slammed the car door, and took the stairs two at a time, his heart racing. Starsky´s apartment door was slightly ajar, Hutch took out his gun and stood to the side of the door, he then used his foot to kick the door open, he then swung in and aimed the gun into the blackness of the room, he saw no one, he walked slowly into Starsky´s bedroom “Starsky! Starsky!” he called earnestly. He saw the empty bed, and then as he moved around to the other side where the phone was he saw the body of his partner, his friend. He heard his own breath catch in his throat as he rushed to his side, his partner was unconscious, his eyes closed, Hutch felt for his pulse, it was very faint, he tried to make his friend more comfortable and turned him on his side. Where the hell are the paramedics? Panic was now rising in Hutch; suddenly in the distance he heard the sirens.
“Come on Starsk, please don't do this to me, hang on, please” Hutch then ran to the window to see the ambulance arriving, then out into the hall.
He was aware of himself screaming at them to hurry up, he couldn't help himself he knew he was panicking and he couldn't do anything about it, his best buddy was in trouble and he was helpless, they seem to take ages to come up the stairs.
“Hurry, hurry for god sake!!” he yelled, he could feel his own heart pumping faster and faster and he was feeling physically sick.
The paramedics were now tending to Starsky, taking his pulse and giving him oxygen, they asked Hutch questions, but he seemed unable to make sense.
God, I have to get a grip for Starsky´s sake, thought Hutch. He then told them that his partner had phoned him and asked for help, probably then losing consciousness. The paramedics then carefully lifted Starsky onto the stretcher and wheeled him out of the apartment.
“Are you coming with us?” one of the paramedics asked,
“Yeah, yeah of course” Hutch's mind was going around in circles, what the hell had happened? Was it something Starsky had eaten? Had he got some sort of disease?
As Hutch went out of Starsky´s apartment, he saw Starsky´s most recent addition to his watch collection; it was a sports watch with allsorts of timers and a whole array of buttons on it. Hutch had often teased him that the watch probably wasn't even capable of timekeeping, but now he slipped the watch into his pocket. Starsky loved his watches, almost as much as he loved his car, this sometimes annoyed Hutch, but now he put the watch in his pocket and got some comfort out of it, hopefully Starsky would be wearing it soon.
He sat next to Starsky in the ambulance and rested his hand on Starsky´s shoulder, his friend was pale, but he seemed to be coming around.
“I'm here, Buddy” Hutch tried to comfort his friend.
“Can you hear me Starsk?” Hutch kept trying to get through to his friend and get maybe some sort of response from him. After a little while Hutch was met by Starsky´s blue eyes looking up at him, it seemed difficult for him to keep them open, he moved his lips, trying desperately to form words.
“I'm here, it's ok, we'll soon have you in the hospital, you'll be fine, it's probably too much Mexican Starsk” Hutch tried to joke, but inside his heart felt heavy, he hated to see his friend in trouble.
“Hutch, I was injected with poison” Starsky finally managed to say before closing his eyes again.
On arrival at the hospital, Starsky was wheeled off into the ER with Hutch following close behind; Starsky had now almost regained consciousness. Hutch left the doctors to do their thing, and began to relax; Starsky seemed to be recovering, so I guess he must be ok, thought Hutch as he walked into the corridor. He spent the time there pacing up and down, his mind racing.
After a short while he went back into the room where Starsky was being treated, he was desperate to talk to him properly. Hutch sighed a sigh of relief; Starsky seemed to be a lot better now, thank god! His partner would survive to fight another day; he then turned his attention to the doctor who had asked to speak to him outside.
With sudden swiftness Hutch was suddenly brought back to reality, what was this doctor saying? Starsky had less than 24 hours to live; he wasn't going to make it! This doctor must have got it wrong, Starsky wasn't going to die, this was his friend, his partner, he didn't die just like that, he was strong, he was special was Starsky. Hutch turned again to the doctor, and looked into his face, the doctor was obviously not finding this easy, no matter how often you do it, it was never easy to tell anyone that their loved ones were dying.. No! This couldn't be happening, Starsk was recovering; he was in hospital for god's sake!! Hutch felt numb and could feel himself trembling. This was it, his worst nightmare, now there was a good chance that this time tomorrow he would be alone, his whole life would change, irreversibly.
Now was the time to phone their captain, he needed all the help he could get, besides Captain Dobey was always there for them, below that hard exterior was a man who both Starsky and Hutch really cared about. They had many times given him a reason to kick them out, but he always trusted their judgment and stood by his men.
Hutch dialed he number; he was soon answered by a gruff voice, which he knew so well,
“Captain Dobey! Who is this?” The voice shouted.
Hutch took a deep breath
“Captain, it's Hutch, sorry for calling you at home”
“Well this had better be good, I'm eating my breakfast!” his Captain shouted, only to be shushed by Edith
“I'm at Memorial, Starsky´s been poisoned”
“What! Why the hell didn't you say so, I'm on my way!” he then replied.
Captain Dobey slammed down the phone.
Hutch hung up the receiver and leant against the wall as he gathered his thoughts.
Hutch walked back into the room where Starsky was sitting, he looked into those blue eyes, their eyes met, he didn't need to say anything, sometimes there was no need for words, he put his hand on Starsky´s shoulder and for a moment said nothing.
They began to ask all the practical questions, hoping against hope that they together could fight this strange hand of fate. Hutch looked again into Starsky´s face, they were thinking the same thing, the only real chance they had was if they could go on the streets and track this maniac down, themselves. It was Starsky´s best bet, the doctor was not happy about it, but they came to an agreement, they would return at 10 pm that evening. Later Hutch would remember that, because at that moment it felt like they had a lot of hours. I mean lets face it; they worked quickly and usually got results in no time at all. Here's hoping that they could be just as successful, because now more than ever they needed to be, a life depended on it, not anyone's life either, this was Starsky´s life hanging by a thread.
He then rang Captain Dobey and asked him to meet them at the precinct, so that they could get started on tracking this unknown maniac.
Hutch than waited as his friend, who was now looking remarkably healthy, jumped off the table and asked for his pants, oh hell thought Hutch; I didn't even think to take any clothes.
“Terrific, no pants, no badge, no gun, no dignity….” Starsky raved, arms in the air, Hutch hoped that the ground would open up and swallow him and it only got worse, Starsky then proceeded to walk through the ER wearing only the hospital gown that he had been put in during the recent tests. Hutch tried to calm him down by giving him his watch, but even that didn't help and things only got worse when they had to go out and hail a cab.
“Where's my car?” yelled Starsky as he walked out of the front of the hospital
“Its at home, I came with you in the ambulance remember?” Hutch in his mind was counting up to ten; he had already yelled back telling Starsky that he could have taken any of his crumby old blue jeans. He shoved his partner into the back of the cab and they headed for Starsky´s apartment. Now a strange silence surrounded them as all at once the reality of the situation seemed to hit both men at the same time, now was no time for joking, yelling or teasing, a life was on the line, they both felt it badly, the partnership and all it stood for was in serious trouble.
As Starsky jumped out of the cab, Hutch paid and followed his friend up the stairs to the apartment where Hutch had found him only a few hours earlier. It felt strange for both of them being there again, but they didn't have time to think, time was of the essence. As Starsky got dressed Hutch paced up and down, trying to keep any negative thoughts from settling in his head, he looked around him, this place was so Starsky with all his nick knacks and sentimental things. Starsky loved material things and hated to throw anything away. What would life be like without this larger than life character? God, I hope I never have to find out, thought Hutch. He now turned his attention to Starsky, who was now tying the laces on his blue and white Adidas tennis shoes.
“Ready?” he asked
“As I ever will be,” Starsky replied
Hutch looked around as they stood up to leave, no sign of anything here, there were no clues at all.
Starsky said he'd been injected, what the hell was going on?
Of course if he was going to go down the road of checking people that held grudges against Starsky, well it was going to be along road. But they would have to travel down it together and get some answers.
They went down the stairs together, neither of them saying anything; Hutch's mind was racing, where to start? He needed something to feast his energies on; he was terrified of losing his best friend.
Starsky drove them to the precinct in his Ford Torino. He always drove fast, god knows I complain enough about it, thought Hutch, but today he was as eager as Starsky to get there as soon as possible. On the way they met their friend Huggy Bear, who promised to do all he could to help his friend. He was visibly shocked to hear of Starsky´s predicament and left to make some phone calls to see if there was any news on the street of the hit.
As they returned to the car and headed to the precinct Hutch decided to call Collins in the filing department and ask him to pull all their files. Hutch was now feeling the heat, he was snappy and losing it, Starsky managed to lighten things up a bit and calm him down, not for the first time either. Hutch now glanced at his watch suddenly time seemed to be moving faster than usual, it was already mid morning, by the time they got to Dobey´s office it was gone 11:30.
“What's going on Hutch? How's Starsky?” Dobey asked as he came walking up to Hutch. Despite Captain Dobey´s gruff exterior, he was very fond of these two men, they were good cops, with their hearts in the proper places and although they didn't always do things by the book, they didn't exactly break the rules either, they found ways around them. Their fellow officers held them in high esteem also, even though a lot of them felt a little bit jealous of that partnership, which was as strong as ever.
Dave Starsky was one of those guys, who you just couldn't get mad at, he was honest and completely true, what you saw was what you got.
Both detectives sat in Dobey´s office trying to make sense of the situation, Captain Dobey now looked over at Hutch, he was showing signs of strain and his forehead seemed to show lines that were not there yesterday. Starsky tried to fill Dobey in with as much information as he could remember. Then at last Collins came in with a pile of files and with help from the computer they were able to narrow the search down to 3 men. These men all harbored a grudge against Starsky and had openly threatened him. The names of the three men were Vic Bellamy, Janos Martini and Albert Wedell. Dobey put as many men as he could on the case, which was nearly everyone. The only address they had was for Vic Bellamy so Starsky and Hutch left the building to track him down.
The only change to be seen in Starsky was the tense look on his face, he felt rough though, he could feel himself getting weaker and weaker, but some inner force pushed him on.
They went to see Bellamy first, as they went up the stairs to the apartment where Bellamy was supposed to be; Hutch realized just how weak his friend was getting. He was beginning to sweat profusely; Hutch felt wrenched seeing his friend like that. But they had to move on, he knew they were good and they together were Starsky´s best bet. When they saw Bellamy with a broken leg, his body slumped; there was just no way that he could've done it and they just didn't have time to dwell on it. So they left the apartment and went downstairs, Starsky stumbled slightly on the steps on the way out, and he realized that he was getting weaker by the minute. They set of again with Starsky still at the wheel of the Torino. Now they had to look for Janos Martini. They went to see an old girlfriend of his, Sweet Alice. She had a soft spot for these two cops and was willing to help them find Janos. He was making cheap adult films in some low down apartment and it didn't take long for the two detectives to find the place. Hutch was aware of the clock ticking; he even noticed that Starsky was forever glancing at his watch, constantly keeping an eye on the time. Usually he would be telling Hutch what all the buttons were for and telling him the time in different time zones all over the world, but not now. Now everything was serious, deadly serious and Starsky was in lot of pain, the sweat was almost pouring off him and he was suffering from stomach cramps and could hardly walk. After trashing Janos's studio, where even Hutch managed to release some of his pent up anger they went outside again, Starsky was getting very weak, he slumped down outside the building, unable to move. Hutch was never afraid to show his feelings and he hugged his best friend,
“Buddy I'm here, I'm here,” he said as he held Starsky, they sat there for a moment saying nothing. Hutch was trying to comfort his best friend as best he could. As he sat there cradling his best friend, an awful lot of thoughts were going through his head. He didn't expect it all to end like this, he had always imagined them growing old together, their families visiting each other, sharing Thanksgiving, Christmases, weddings, or just sharing a beer or two in the evenings and having a few laughs. It was not supposed to end like this, there was so much left to do.
Hutch helped his friend up and into the car, Starsky still insisted on driving, the thought went through Hutch's mind that maybe it would be easier if he let Starsky drive like a maniac and kill them both, he couldn't face life without him, but the thought went as soon as it came, Hutch was not a quitter and Starsky wasn't either.
They drove back to the precinct in silence, Hutch's left arm just resting on Starsky´s shoulder as they drove, a silent sign of support.
Starsky was now in such bad shape that back at the precinct Sheryl had to give him some strong painkillers. This was the first time that Hutch had seen him really hurting and scared. Hutch was devastated, there was nothing he could do to ease the pain, either physically or mentally and nothing he could say, he felt completely useless. It was such a shock to see his best friend, who was always so full of life suddenly become scared and vulnerable.
They went up to Captain Dobey´s office where they were told that Wedell had been dead for the last 4 days. As they leave the office and make way to their own desks, they are both devastated, that was the last lead, their last hope.
Starsky´s answer as usual is to make a joke of the situation, but it was a feeble attempt, anyone could see that. Hutch finds it impossible to smile, hell why is life so unfair? They spend their lives trying to do the right thing and for what, for this pain, which is indescribable, this is it….. the end….finally what Hutch had feared was maybe going to come true.
They had never needed to say anything, what one thought the other was already thinking, that's maybe why they were so good, maybe there were things that needed to be said though, who knows, nobody can prepare you from this, there are no rules, no guide lines, just utter, utter hopelessness. He looked at his partner, the man who he was so fond of, the man he trusted with his life, the man now sitting there who looked frightened and Hutch just wished that there was something he could do. Starsky held out his hand and Hutch held it…
Then this woman came in needing to look at some photographs, how blood annoying, why couldn't she just go away and leave them to try to get through this? Hutch gave her the photographs hoping it would keep her quiet. The moment was broken, she recognized Bellamy though, and all of a sudden there was a slight glimmer of hope, a light in the tunnel. She had seen Bellamy buying material to make a cast for his leg, of course! It had all seemed too easy, Bellamy was sneaky and the lowest of the low.
Hutch helped Starsky up, this time even he knew that he was too weak to drive and automatically sat in the passenger seat, this spoke volumes to Hutch, as they sped off to Bellamy´s place.
After a struggle to get up to Bellamy´s apartment, they found the empty plaster cast, he had the answers they knew, all of a sudden there was hope, Hutch felt a great heaviness leaving his body, but little did he know that it would soon return to devastate him more than he would ever know. He instinctively followed Bellamy up to the roof and then shockingly realized that he couldn't shoot him, damn he had set himself up, he couldn't shoot him and he seemed unable to talk any sense to him he was in dire need. He was in serious trouble, Bellamy had cornered him and there was nothing he could do, Bellamy was Starsky´s only hope, Hutch tried to hide out of sight and his mind was wildly trying to think of some way out, god, he should have taken reinforcements, he had made a mistake, he wasn't thinking, as his mind raced Bellamy closed in on him and took aim, all of a sudden shots rang out, Hutch dived for cover, then with a great shock he realized that Starsky had shot Bellamy, he had, with great difficulty reached the roof and shot Bellamy and had saved Hutch's life, but by doing that he had committed suicide, Hutch couldn't believe his own eyes, he ran out to see if Bellamy could be saved, not a chance, he was dead. Hutch removed Bellamy´s gun and walked over to his weakened partner, for the first time he felt completely empty, hollow, as he took Starsky´s gun.
“Thanks Buddy, what dya do that for?” he asked, knowing full well the answer
“It seemed like a good idea at the time” replied Starsky who then collapsed. Hutch held the body of his partner in his arms and fought back the stinging tears.
Later Hutch looked at this as his darkest hour, he was so close and yet so far, he felt that he had failed his partner, guilt over took him and as he sat on the roof top holding his very sick partner, the tears began to flow freely. Help was on its way, the shots had been heard and he could see the blue flashing lights in the street below. Hutch didn't remember much of that trip to the hospital, of the paramedics easing the now barely conscious Starsky out of his arms on the rooftop and being helped down the stairs. As he said good-bye to Starsky in the ER he just couldn't say anything more, there were no words to express how he felt. They had always had more than enough to say to each other, but now were all of a sudden at a loss, a complete loss. The silence between them spoke volumes.
“I have to go now,” Hutch told Starsky.
Hutch couldn't give in, he was not ready to lose his best friend, his partner, his reason for getting on with life, for meeting another day knowing he would not be alone no matter what. He had two hours, two whole hours and by god he would use them well! The answer was out there, someone always made a mistake, they always think they're so damn clever, he turned and looked once more into those blue eyes as his friend was taken upstairs for more tests, he would do everything in his power to save Starsk!
He walked out into the corridor to see Captain Dobey, usually so proud and straight, he looked tired and his shoulders sagged, to hell with it, had Captain Dobey given up? For gods sake there were still 2 hours left, he would not give up even if there were only 2 minutes, Starsky was owed that, he knew that if the tables had been turned, Starsky would have done everything in his power and more to save Hutch, he had already proved that by shooting Bellamy.
Hutch then paced up and down, clicking his fingers incessantly, there had to be something, there had to be.
Suddenly it hit Hutch, my God he had been blind! Of course Bellamy could never have been clever enough to do something this complex alone, he was sneaky, but definitely not clever. Hutch ran as fast as he could to the Torino and shoved it into Drive, the tires screeched in good ol´Starsky fashion. He drove faster than ever before, back to Bellamy´s, there must be a clue there, he was met by what can only be described as a pathetic woman whining that she was sorry, the noise that she was making sounded more like a painful, sick, hysterical laugh. Hutch could have throttled her, in fact he was very near the edge and it wasn't until she saw this that she came up with the information, it was someone connected to the university, the truth suddenly dawned, it had to be Sheryl's father, he hadn't been able to help them at all today and still blamed Starsky and Hutch for the death of his drug addicted son. He had been shot by accident as he grabbed Hutch's gun all those years ago. The woman was still sobbing. He would have loved to have slapped her, no amount of “I'm sorry”´s would have made him feel at all forgiving, but he left her to stew in it, he had more important things to do, he ran down to the Torino and radioed Captain Dobey, he was sending a team up to the university to help the campus police in the search for the lethal compound, which had poisoned Starsky.
As Hutch drew up in the car park he saw Sheryl's car, he headed towards the house. He could hear them inside, no matter what he was feeling he had to get a grip of himself and keep his cool, he took a deep breath and rang the bell. As soon as he walked in he knew he was in the right place, the look on her fathers face said it all, there was almost madness about him. All he had to do now was to get the information; he felt as though he was walking on eggshells, he had to tread very carefully if he was to save his friends life. He was also aware of the time ticking away and yet he had to stay calm. Everything depended on it, everything!
After a lot of reasoning he finally got hold of the syringe, even though at one point he felt that he was going to be injected himself, that was one very sick man. He had seen a lot of things in his career; a lot of unstable and sick people, he would never forgive that man, no matter what. He was aware of Sheryl comforting her father, not understanding it, but there again he was biased, oh so very biased!
He radioed Captain Dobey again to let him know of the situation and drove to the hospital, the tires seemed to screech at every corner, it seemed as though even the car was pulling out all the stops for its owner.
He parked the car at the front of the hospital (if you could call it parking) He drove up the sidewalk, almost through the door, left the car running and the door open. He ran, pushing away anything in his way, luckily it was a quiet night and he ran almost unheeded, he met the doctor who had been paged by Dobey and gave him the syringe, all of a sudden he felt this overwhelming feeling of helplessness, now he could only wait. And wait he did…..
It seemed an eternity, but the doctor soon managed to find out which chemicals had been injected into Starsky and the amounts, so now they could begin to work on an antidote. The doctor smiled, Starsky was weak, but he was going to make it.
Hutch felt his heart lift, god life could be good, they were going to fight another day, meet what the world had to throw at them and they would do it together, as partners, friends and as a team.
Hutch went out into the corridor as they worked on Starsky, he could feel himself trembling and as the doctor walked away he sat down. Suddenly he realized just how close he had been to losing his best friend, his partner, and the best thing in his life, the one person who he could always count on, always.
Hutch was physically, mentally and emotionally drained, he put his head in his hands and sobbed.
After a while he felt a hand on his shoulder, Captain Dobey had arrived,
“Well Hutch are you going to see that partner of yours or what?” he said quietly to his blonde detective.
Hutch wiped his face with his hands, stood up and smiled,
“Wouldn't miss it for the world” he said
The end
