It all started with a simple head cold.
They were on the second night of stakeout when he came down with it and in the damp, cold air of a Southern California winter it got progressively worse. Hutch had been very solicitous, supplying him with tissues, cough drops and even chicken soup. If it hadn't been that they had been pursuing this case for almost two months and that they were about to break the biggest drug ring in the city, he would have taken some time off.
The cold settled into this throat. He couldn't even whisper without it setting off a coughing fit. Hutch kept after him about seeing a doctor and he kept promising that he would. Problem was that by the time he got off-duty, all he wanted to do was sleep. When he finally dragged himself out of bed, it was time to go back on stakeout.
A few more nights passed and with some gunplay and a few tense moments the drug ring was broken, evidence collected and reports written. And he was feeling better. His throat wasn't quite so sore, the fever was down and he was beginning to feel almost human again.
One night, after a particularly wet and nasty day he went to bed wearing his warm sweatsuit that he usually wore when running with Hutch. That night he woke shivering and crawled out of bed to get another blanket. The next day his fever was a little higher, but he still didn't feel too bad. He never noticed his glazed eyes nor the slight reddish blush on his cheeks. But Hutch did. Once again his partner started in on him about seeing a doctor. Once again he promised but was too busy, too tired to go.
A few more days passed, the fever remaining and he woke every night shivering. One morning he woke feeling as if someone had shoved sandpaper down his throat and across his eyes. His head was pounding so hard, he could barely see. He struggled to the bathroom and tried to pee, but couldn't. It hurt. A lot. Giving up, he wove his way to the kitchen and concentrated on making himself some of the herbal tea that Hutch had given him for his throat. It was all he could do to carry the hot mug over to the couch. Setting the mug down carefully he collapsed onto the couch. His head hurt so bad and he could hardly swallow and he was so damn hot. Perhaps if he just laid his head down for a minute, he'd feel better.
********
It was Hutch's turn to drive that morning. Arriving at Starsky's door he knocked. No answer, knocked again, still no answer. Again, loudly. No answer. Fishing out his copy of the apartment key, he let himself in. The apartment was still dark, but he could make out Starsky slumped over on the couch, his feet on the floor and his upper body stretched out sideways. Rushing to his partner's side he tried to rouse him. Touching Starsky's head he was shocked to feel how hot he was. Flipping on the lamp beside the couch, he called Starsky's name.
********
He heard his name being called but it was very far away. He tried to concentrate on the voice, Hutch's voice. It was like swimming through mud but he finally surfaced. Opened his eyes, then squinted against the glare of the lamp.
'Hutch. My head hurts." He managed to rasp out. This set him off on a coughing fit, but he was too weak to do more than a few feeble coughs and gasps.
Hutch was trying to get him to sit up, hoping to ease his breathing. "Come on, Starsk, can you sit up?"
"No, don't, you're making my head hurt worse." He almost whined. At that moment he just wanted to be left alone.
Propping a cushion under his friend's head, Hutch went in search of some aspirin and a cold cloth. Coming back to the living room, he was alarmed to find Starsky moaning and thrashing about on the couch. With his feet still on the floor, he had almost slid off the edge of the couch. Hutch caught him just in time and managed to swing his feet up and push him back more securely.
"Hot…. Why's it so hot?" He whimpered, trying to brush his partner's hands away. "Thirsty," becoming slightly more alert. "Can you get me some water, Hutch? I'm so thirsty…" Again Hutch tried to get him to sit up. Finally succeeding in a halfway sitting arrangement with most of Starsky draped over his shoulder, he offered him the mug of now cool tea. His patient sipped a little then leaned back exhausted.
He tried to focus on his friend's face, "Hutch, I think I'm really sick. I'm so hot and my head hurts so bad I can hardly stand it." He was silent for a moment, gathering what little strength he had. Reaching for his partner's arm, he tried to sit up a bit more, but was too weak. Falling back, he lay his panting more of a wheeze than actual breathing. 'God, this hurts.' "Hutch," he tried again. "Hutch, this morning I couldn't pee, it burned."
Now his partner was really frightened. He knew that the last was a sign of severe dehydration and not something that a couple of aspirins and bed rest was going to take care of.
"Starsky, do you think you could walk to the car? I think we need to get you to the hospital."
With minimal help from Starsky, Hutch managed to get his partner up. Grabbing the afghan that was across the back of the couch, he wrapped it around Starsky, who protested that he was too hot. "Hush, Starsk. We're going outside and it's too cold not to have this. Trust me." With that the sick man stopped trying to push the cover off and leaned even more heavily on his partner. With Hutch half-dragging and Starsky struggling to put one foot in front of the other, they managed to make it to the car.
Hutch got him into the passenger seat. Locking and shutting the door, he dashed around the other side just in time to keep his partner from falling over onto the driver's side. With some pushing, he managed to get the semi-conscious man sitting up far enough that he could get in. Then, with some more shoving and whimpers, he got Starsky positioned in such a way that he could hang on to him and still drive. Although he would have loved to go with full lights and siren, he knew that the sound would be too much for his partner's headache. Besides which, he didn't know if it would be safe driving at those speeds with Starsky laying on him.
********
He kept slipping in and out of consciousness. He was aware enough to know that they were in Hutch's car and that he was leaning against his partner's arm. If it was possible, his head hurt even more than before and he could barely swallow what little saliva he had. He was so hot that he wanted to strip off the afghan, but Hutch had told him he needed it, to trust him. Every bump, every turn, brought more pain, and if he had been more aware he would have been scared. As it was all he wanted was for the pain to stop and to be allowed to lie down. He tried once to move and put his head down, but Hutch stopped him. "It's okay, Starsk, we're almost there. Hang in, buddy." Hutch's soothing voice worked its way through the fever induced fog and he quieted.
*********
Hutch could feel the heat radiating off of Starsky. 'God, he's burning up. Come on, move!' He fumed silently at the car in front of him when it didn't immediately pull out at a green light. Finally they drove into the Emergency-parking bay. Even though the sign said 'Ambulances Only', Hutch pulled into the area and skidded to a halt. Laying Starsky flat on the seat, he jumped out and ran inside for help. Flashing his badge, he gathered up a nurse and an orderly with a gurney. The nurse took one look at Starsky's feverish face and dashed back inside for a doctor. Between Hutch and the orderly they got the now comatose man out of the car, onto the gurney and into the ER.
The nurse had a doctor waiting when they arrived. Quickly accessing the situation, he had the nurse call for the isolation ward to be prepared.
"We're going to have to put him in isolation until we determine what he has. Besides the fever, what other symptoms does he
"Sore throat, having trouble swallowing. He was complaining of a severe headache. And he said that he couldn't go to the bathroom, that it burned."
"How long has he been sick?"
"He had a cold about 3 weeks ago and just never seemed to get over it. He wasn't feeling too bad and then 4 or 5 days ago I noticed that he seemed to be feverish and flushed but he said he was fine. Then I found him this morning like this. He's been slipping in and out of consciousness since then. I don't know how long he was out of it before that.'
"Okay, we're going to take him down to the Isolation Ward and run some tests, get some fluids into him, start him on antibiotics. I don't want you to leave until we know what we're dealing with. You've been exposed and may be infected too."
"I'm not leaving until he's better. Can I stay with him?" Hutch watched worriedly as two ER personal trundled his partner away to Isolation.
"Not till we know what's wrong. Then we'll let you know. The nurse will show you were you can wait." With that the doctor hurried after his patient leaving a distressed Hutch to be escorted to a secure waiting area. To wait. To worry.
******
The nurse left Hutch with Starsky's admittance papers and promised to come and tell him if there were any developments. He tried to concentrate on filling out the forms but his worry for his partner kept interfering. Finally completing the task, he threw the clipboard on a coffee table and started pacing. Noticing that there was a phone sitting on a desk in the corner, he realized that he hadn't reported in to Dobey. Quickly snatching up the receiver he got an outside line and called his captain.
"Dobey" the brusque voice of his Captain.
"Captain, it's Hutch." Was all he got out before Dobey interrupted him.
"Where the hell are you, Hutchinson? And where's your partner?"
"Captain, we're at the hospital. Starsky's sick." The worry in his voice got through the Captain's anger.
"Hospital? What's wrong?"
"I don't know for sure. When I went to pick him up this morning he was running a high fever and practically unconscious. I got him to the hospital and they've put him in isolation until they figure out what's wrong with him. It doesn't look good, Captain. And they won't let me leave or see him until they know whether he's infectious or not." Hutch was trying his best to keep calm but it wasn't easy.
"Do you want me to come down there?" The concerned Captain asked.
"No, they've got me in sorta isolation myself until they figure things out and then they said I might be able to stay with him. You can't do anything here, sir. I'll let you know as soon as I know."
After a few more words of shared worry the two hung up. Hutch went back to his pacing.
*********
Starsky woke briefly when the nurses started to undress him. He protested feebly, but the two women were used to difficult patients and soon had him in a hospital gown and settled in bed.
"Hutch… Where's Hutch?" He mumbled.
"Who's Hutch?" One of the nurses asked gently.
"My partner. He brought me in. Where is he?" The fevered man was starting to get agitated.
"Shh, he's still here. He just can't be in here with you for awhile. You have to settle down now. We want to get an IV started." The nurse's soothing voice calmed him and soon he slipped back into the dark.
*******
Hutch was still pacing when the doctor came in. Looking at his face, the blonde detective was not reassured by his sober demeanor.
"We didn't get introduced when you brought your friend in. I'm Dr. Padgett and you are?"
"Hutchinson, Detective Sergeant Hutchinson. Sergeant Starsky is my partner."
"Then you must be the 'Hutch' that he keeps asking for?"
Hutch nodded. "How is he? Do you know what's wrong yet?"
"Not for sure. We've ruled out several things. There's a very bad flu virus going around, but this doesn't appear to be it. We've also eliminated some more serious ailments. We think that he's contracted Scarlet Fever. He has the telltale rash on his abdomen and the high fever and delirium are also indications. We've started him on fluids and antibiotics and are trying to bring his fever down. Right now it's 105F, which is very serious but should start coming down quickly."
"Just how serious?" Hutch was not happy with what the doctor was telling him.
"There can be complications. With the fever we have to watch out for seizures or heart failure, but he's young and strong so those are remote possibilities. Some patients develop eye or heart problems after, but with the medications we have now those are also remote. The most important thing now is to get his fever down and let the bacteria run it's course." Checking the chart he was carrying. "You said he'd been ill with a cold for some time. Did he complain of a sore throat?"
"Yeah. We were on night stakeout and we just thought it was the damp. He lost his voice for a couple of days but then he seemed to get better. Why?"
"He probably had strep throat. It's the same bacteria and unless treated can develop into either Scarlet or Rheumatic Fever. Just be glad it's the former. Rheumatic Fever can cause some very serious problems."
"Damn it, I told him to see a doctor. I should have dragged him there myself!"
"Well, this is a sneaky illness, Detective. Some people don't even realize
they're sick until they end up like your partner. Now,
he's asking for you and is somewhat agitated. Since you've already
been exposed for a length of time, I don't think you're in any
danger. We'll get a gown and mask on you and let you sit with him,
if you'd like. Once the antibiotics kick in, he should start
improving quite rapidly. The worse problem right now is the dehydration.
We'll have to keep an eye on kidney function for a
while, but once the fever's down, that should also take care of itself."
Hutch quickly assured the doctor of his wiliness to sit with his partner. Dr. Padgett took him to the Isolation Ward and left him in the care of one of the nurses. They provided him with a gown and mask and lead him into the room.
Starsky was lying quietly in the bed, with a light sheet covering him. On both sides there were cold packs. When Hutch looked questioningly at the nurse she told him these measures were to bring down his fever. His dark-haired partner was hooked up to an IV and a couple of monitors. Hutch placed his hand on Starsky's forehead. He was still burning hot, but did look a little better. 'The fluids must be helping' he thought, 'his face doesn't look so pinched.'
The touch of his friend's hand awakened the sleeping man. Looking up into the concerned eyes of his partner, he tried to smile. "Hey, Hutch. You decided to cover that ugly puss before coming to see me?" He tried to tease, but his voice was barely a whisper.
"Nah, they just don't want you spreading your germs all over me. How you feeling, partner?" Although Starsky couldn't see his friend's mouth, he could see the smile in his eyes.
"A little better. My head doesn't hurt quite so much, but I'm still hot." He sifted uncomfortably. "And these cold pads feel slimy." He complained.
"Yeah, well you just leave them alone. They'll help to bring down your fever. Why don't you go back to sleep and I'll just sit here with you? Okay, partner?"
"Sounds good to me. Wake me if that cute nurse comes back, through." Starsky smiled as he slid back into sleep.
Hutch settled down in a comfortable chair that the nurse had brought in for him. He sat holding his partner's hand and just watched him sleep. Exhausted by all of the worry and panic of the morning he dozed off himself.
*********
He woke, shivering again. He couldn't figure out where he was at first. Looking over to the side he saw his friend fast asleep. He felt very strange, like he was under water and didn't have enough air. He tried to take a breath and couldn't. He started to gasp and thrash around, trying to get some air into his lungs. Things were starting to get fuzzy around the edges when he heard Hutch yelling.
*********
"Starsky! What's wrong? Oh, my God, he's not breathing." With that Hutch dashed to the door and yelled for the nurse.
******
Hutch watched in dread as the medical staff converged on the struggling Starsky. All he could see was Starsky's terrified eyes as he fought to breathe. He heard words like 'trach' and surgery and other medical terms that flew right by him. A nurse pushed him aside as she brought in the crash cart.
'God, don't let this happen. Let him be all right.' He repeated over and over. He had never prayed so hard in his life. There was nothing else he could do.
It only took a couple of minutes for the doctor to realize they were fighting a losing battle. He ordered the patient to be sent immediately up to surgery. That's when Hutch realized that they were planning on doing a tracheotomy on his partner. 'His throat's seized up! No, God, please don't let him die.' The silent prayers were getting more desperate.
The last Hutch saw of his partner as they rushed him towards the elevator were his eyes. And they were glazing over.
********
He had never felt so scared and so panicked in his life. Once when he
was a kid he had dove too far into the deep end of pool
at the centre and became disoriented. One of the bigger kids had dragged
him to the surface just in time, but he had felt as if his
lungs would burst before he broke water. This was the same sensation,
but there was no big kid to help him. He kept trying to
draw in a breath, but nothing was moving either way. He felt them put
the oxygen mask on him, and felt the needles going into
his arm, but it was all getting more and more distant. He heard the
order for the tracheotomy and knew what it meant but in a
very detached sort of way. He tried to reach out to Hutch as they wheeled
past him out of the room, but he couldn't make his
arm move. The last he saw of his partner was his tear dampened face
as it slowly faded away.