When Hutch entered the waiting room, Kira rushed toward him and threw her arms around his waist, “Oh, Hutch, I came as soon as I got the news. Why didn’t you call me?” She looked up at him, posing her lips in a pouting expression. Hutch reached down and peeled her arms from around his waist. His face was contorted with a look of utter disgust.
“Listen, lady, I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing, but it’s over. You don’t give a damn about me or about Starsky. You never did. How could you? You don't even know the meaning of love, much less, how to love."
Hutch looked past Kira, then shook his head in disbelief, "I just can’t believe I was stupid enough to buy into the line of crap you’ve been feeding me.”
Kira took a step back, intimidated by the deadly quiet in Hutch’s voice.
“Just be glad that my partner wasn’t killed on that rooftop before I came to my senses and saw you for what you really are.”
Only the fire in Hutch’s hardened blue eyes hinted at the depth of his anger. He was deceptively calm as he said, "Now, I suggest to find someone else to play your mind games on. Because," he pointed his finger at Kira as he spoke "I've got your number now, and you will never, I repeat, never have another opportunity to come between my partner and me."
With that final word, he turned and walked down the hall toward the cafeteria to have that much needed cup of coffee Captain Dobey had suggested. Huggy stepped from the shadows where he had silently witnessed the encounter, and followed Hutch down the hall, leaving Kira reeling with the realization that she had finally been exposed for what she truly was.
Huggy clapped his hand on Hutch’s shoulder, “You are one bad dude, my man. One bad dude.”
š ›
“Detective Hutchinson, your friend is awake. He’s asking for you,” the nurse said, as she approached Hutch and Huggy in the cafeteria. Hutch leapt from his chair and practically sprinted down the hallway to the ICU.
As he neared Starsky’s bed he saw his partner’s eyes were open, though still a bit glazed from the medication. “Hey, buddy, how’re you doing?” Hutch asked as he reached over and took Starsky’s hand.
“Better than you, Blondie. Ya look like somethin' the cat dragged in,” Starsky came back. His voice was still weak and the words slurred, but the spunk was there. Hutch felt as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“Listen, Hutch,” Starsky said in a much more serious tone, “I wanna apologize for the way I been actin’. I mean, if you’re happy with Kira, I wanna—like you said, ‘bow out gracefully’.”
Hutch tried to interrupt, but his partner ran on, not allowing him to speak. “And all that stuff about not wantin’ to be your partner no more, well, it was bull.”
“Starsk, would you just listen a minute?” Hutch finally got a word in edgewise. “I’m the one who’s been acting like the village idiot. The woman was bad news. I’m ashamed that I let things get out of hand.” Hutch smiled at the expression on Starsky’s face.
“I was really worried for awhile there, buddy, that I wasn’t going to have a chance to set the record straight. I was afraid I wasn’t even gonna have a chance to thank you for backing me up, for saving my life back there.”
Starsky wrinkled his brow, confused by this turn of events, but mumbled, “Piece a cake,” then flashed one of those killer smiles Hutch knew so well.
“You know—when the chips are down, like we’ve always said, ‘me and thee’.”
Starsky wanted to ask more questions, wanted to understand what had happened to cause Hutch’s change of heart about Kira, but he was exhausted now and didn’t have the strength to pursue it further.
Hutch saw he was drifting to sleep again. “All you need to know right now, Starsk, is that you’re my partner, and we’re gonna stick together. And next time, we’ll talk it through, okay?” Starsky’s only reply was a smile.
As Starsky’s eyes slowly closed, Dr. Riser entered the room with the medical chart. “Your friend is doing fine now," he told Hutch. "His vitals look good and I don’t think he’ll need further transfusions. We’ll keep him a few days and monitor him closely, in case the bleeding starts again. But frankly, I don’t expect that to happen.”
Suddenly, Hutch felt very, very tired. He smiled at the doctor and thanked him for the good news. Hutch sat down beside the bed and watched Starsky’s even breathing for a few minutes, to assure himself that the doctor was right.
He could go home now. He needed the rest. In a few days, Starsky would be honking the horn on the Striped Tomato, complaining at Hutch to hurry up—they had another case to solve…