Hutch was getting a bit annoyed. They had been back in his room for over four hours now and Starsky kept finding reasons to stay there. He had left briefly to get them some food but then he had happily planted himself on the spare bed and refused to leave. He had minutely scrutinized every book, plant, and article of clothing Hutch owned and Hutch thought that surely he would soon get bored and move on. But no such luck.
“Hey, Hutch!” Starsky exclaimed enthusiastically. “Would ya look at this?” In his hands he held Hutch’s most prized possession, his guitar. By the look of wonderment on Starsky’s face, one would think he had never seen one before. “Do you know how to play this thing?”
“Yeah, I play a little,” Hutch replied modestly. “But only for my own amusement, never in front of anyone.”
“Why not? Shoot, if I could play the guitar I’d play it for anyone who would listen! Do you sing too?”
“Look,” Hutch replied, his patience wearing thin. He took the guitar from Starsky’s outstretched hand and gently returned it to the shelf. “I really don’t want to talk about this anymore. My head is killing me and I’d like to try to get some rest.”
Immediately the expression on Starsky’s face changed into one of concern. “Hey man, I’m sorry. Why don’t you lay down and try to get some sleep? I’ll just hang out and maybe read a book or something.”
“Starsky,” Hutch began, his irritation growing, “Why are you still here? I’ve told you I’m fine. Why don’t you go back to your room or go out on the town or something? I promise to be good.”
“No way!” Starsky said with finality. “I’m not leaving you until your 24 hours are up. In case you’ve forgotten, I’m the reason you hurt yourself in the first place.”
“So that’s why you’re still here? Out of some misguided sense of guilt? I don’t need your charity, Starsky. I’m a big boy now and I can take care of myself.” Hutch realized that he was nearly shouting. “Go on! Just leave!”
“OK!” Starsky shouted back. “But first you’re going to answer one question for me, pal. Why did you do it?”
Hutch looked at the other man and felt the anger drain out of him as he saw the hurt and confusion in those deep blue eyes. He decided it was time to come clean and tell Starsky the truth. He had never been so scared in his life.
“I’m sorry, Starsky. I..I didn’t mean to yell. Please, sit down over there and I’ll try to answer your question as honestly as I can.”
Starsky took the offered seat and looked up at Hutch expectantly. Hutch began pacing restlessly around the room wondering how he was going to answer that question. He stopped to stare out the window and gather his thoughts. After a deep breath, he began to speak.
“The simple explanation, I guess, would be to tell you that I was just trying to save the little girl and you got in the way. But that’s not exactly true.” Hutch studiously avoided the other man’s eyes. “When I saw that tree branch headed straight for you, something inside of me just reacted. It was almost like I was meant to be there to protect you. It was weird, almost like the feeling I got when...” Hutch’s voice trailed off.
“When what?” Starsky asked softly.
Taking another deep breath, Hutch continued. “When I saw you for the first time in the gym.” There. He had said it. That one incident had been weighing on his mind for the last two days and it was good to finally get it out in the open. ‘He’ll probably think I’m a lunatic!’ Hutch thought to himself, but he gathered his courage and turned to look at Starsky’s face.
Once again, Hutch was caught up in the intensity of those eyes. But this time, instead of pain and fear, Hutch saw only understanding and acceptance mingled with relief. He knew for certain now, that whatever had happened to him in the gym that day had happened to Starsky also.
Suddenly Starsky’s face broke out into a high wattage smile only this time, the smile reached his eyes. “It’s ok, Hutch,” he said reassuringly. “I felt it, too.”
The next couple of hours flew by for the two men as they got better acquainted. Brick-by-brick, the wall came down as piece-by-piece the armor was removed. They talked about everything, and for the first time, they let their guards down enough to let someone else in. Somehow they knew they would never regret it.
Starsky once again looked into the face of the man who was becoming so important to him. He marveled at how easy it was to talk to him, how, for the first time in his life, he felt like he could be himself. Whenever the conversation had been difficult, Hutch had merely reached out his hand and gently squeezed Starsky’s shoulder. Starsky was amazed by how that simple touch could calm him and encourage him to go on. He knew he had found a rare gift.
Starsky broke out of his reverie to see Hutch once again pacing the floor. “Hey, buddy. What’s on your mind?”
Hutch turned around to face him. “Starsky,” he began, “I have a problem.”
It didn’t take long for Starsky to figure out what part of the problem was. They had been talking for so long that Hutch’s injury had been forgotten and Starsky could see the pain etched into the lines on a face that was way too pale. Hutch swayed for a moment and would have fallen if Starsky hadn’t caught him and eased him down onto the bed. He spent the next few minutes fluffing pillows and fetching aspirins, water, and ice until he was satisfied Hutch was comfortable. “Look,” he said. “Why don’t we take a time out so you can get a little sleep. You don’t look so good.”
“I’m ok, really,” Hutch replied, trying to sound confident and failing miserably. “I just really need your help with something.”
“Name it, pal, and it’s yours.”
“Will you please promise me that no one else will find out about my little mishap in the park? I’m afraid if the higher-ups around here get wind of it they won’t let me finish. And I’m in enough trouble as it is.”
“You! In trouble?” Starsky asked incredulously. “I can’t believe it! But, if it will ease your mind, I promise not to let anyone know what happened if you promise to tell me if you start feeling any worse so we can get you looked at. Deal?”
“You drive a hard bargain, but ...ok. Deal!”
Starsky was relieved to see some of the tension slowly leave Hutch’s face. “Now, Blondie, why don’t you tell me what kind of trouble you’re in so we can fix that too.”
Hutch heaved a huge sigh. “I...uh...well, I don’t have a training partner. You know we were supposed to choose someone and turn it in by 1600 hours today, and I didn’t. Fact is, I don’t think any of the other cadets want me as their partner. Do you think they’ll kick me out of the Academy?”
Starsky allowed himself a small grin of satisfaction. “Not to worry, Hutch. I already took care of it.”
“You did what?” Hutch asked, sitting straight up in bed. “What do you mean you took care of it?”
“I already signed us up,” Starsky replied, grinning broadly.
“When?”
“Two days ago.”
“Two days ago?” Hutch’s face was a study of puzzlement. “You didn’t even know my name two days ago! How in the...what were....why? Why did you do that two days ago before you even knew me?”
“Oh, let’s just say I had this feeling...” Starsky was positively beaming at his new friend. “Partners?” he asked, sticking out his hand.
Hutch gladly accepted the offered hand and gave it a hearty squeeze. “Partners!” he agreed.
Who knows what forces brought us here,
And only time will show
The depth of friendship that we’ll share,
How close our hearts will grow.
I saw you standing there, alone,
And then your eyes met mine;
For one brief moment, time stood still
As our souls somehow combined.
Nothing could have helped me before I saw you there,
No one could reach out to me, no other person cared.
You came to me and touched my heart, your love has made me whole,
Until there was a ‘Me and Thee’ I was only half a soul.