COME RUNNING
BY P&C PRODUCTIONS

CHAPTER 3

    Starsky laughed at his own remark as he kidded his partner about the size of his rear end. Telling him that covering his ass was a BIG job. He always seemed to have the ability to crack a joke when Hutch was trying to be serious...sometimes to break the tension and sometimes just to hear Hutch laugh. He always loved to hear Hutch laugh…
    But this time…there was no laughter…there was only a horrible silence after what sounded like a muffled gasp for air. Starsky knew that something was wrong and Hutch was in trouble.
    By that one sound…that one fraction of a second…had set off a panic in him like a four-alarm fire…
    “Hutch….HUTCH….HUTCH…TALK TO ME GOD DAMNIT!!!” Starsky yelled as fear gripped his body.
    Cassie came running from her bedroom and stood in the hallway watching as he continued to scream into the phone.
    “SAY SOMETHING….HUTCH!!!…..” Suddenly the loud thumping sound as the phone was hit again and again with force against the table.
    (It was Hutch.…)
    (Calling to him…)
    (Reaching out to him for help….the only way he could.)
    Cassie called out to him with fear in her voice…
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Take this….” Starsky said as he handed her the phone. “Don’t hang it up.”
    “If he talks…keep him awake till I get there.” He told her as he slammed the front door and jumped into his car…peeling rubber as he sped off down the street.
    Cassie could hear the siren as he turned it on a block from the house. It frightened her as she placed the phone to her ear and heard the light thumping noise…growing lighter and lighter…until there was nothing. All the while…she called to him…
    “Hutch….Hutch…are you there?…Hutch…Hutch…please answer me…Davey’s on his way…just hold on…Davey’s coming…”
    When the thumping stopped and she heard the receiver bounce down the  side of the dresser as he released it…her tears began to fall.
     “Oh God….HUTCH!!” She cried as she let the receiver slide down to her cheek and fell to her knees sobbing. He was always so sweet and gentle. Lately they had become closer than ever and she held a very warm place for him in
her heart.
    But now that place was filled with pain and fear…

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    Starsky called for an ambulance to meet him a Hutch’s place as he rounded corner after corner with flashing red light and siren at full volume. If they couldn’t hear him coming from a few blocks away then they were too deaf to own a license. He strategically passed car after car…most pulling off to the side of the road when they saw him coming but others who either had
no respect for the siren or who just couldn’t get out of his way in time…forced him to weave in and around them.
    All he could think about was Hutch. He had no idea what prompted the sudden attack…maybe it was his heart…but he’s a young man who drinks a health food shake every morning and jogs five miles a day.
    (How could HE of all people have heart failure?)

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    The ambulance arrived at Hutch’s small cottage house and the paramedics broke down the front door as instructed over the two-way radio.
    They found Hutch sprawled on his bed…the blanket covering half his body and his chest bare. He was twisted at the waist with his left hand dangling over the edge of the bed and laying on his right side…His right hand wrapped loosely around his throat.
    The phone hung by its cord off the table. While one of the paramedics spun his body around and examined his eyes and throat closely…the other young man put the phone to his ear to see it there might be someone on the other end.
    “Hello…” He said as he listened to the sound of light sobbing for a moment.
    “Hello…is he alright?” Cassie said eagerly when she heard his voice as she brushed a tear from her cheek.
    “We’re checking him out now…can you tell us anything?”
    “Davey was talking to him…He’s on the way…He’ll know.” Cassie said as she composed herself a little more to speak to him.
    “You better hang up now and let us do our job.”
    “Can I stay on the line for a few minutes? Please…I need to know if he’s all right.”
    “Alright…hang on…” He said as he placed the receiver back down.
    The older more experienced paramedic had found the object in Hutch’s throat and noticed the half-eaten apple lying in the bed next to him.
    “We have to make him a new airway…give me some gauze…a scalpel…and some antiseptic.” He told him. “Then we’ll install the oxygen tube directly into the passage.”
    “You can’t do that here…it’s not sterile.” The young man protested.
    “His passageway is swollen and blocked…we don’t have a choice.”

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    With both paramedics now concentrating on the delicate procedure…neither of them had noticed the dark curly haired man as he entered the room.
     The older man began to make the incision when a hand grabbed hold of his arm with force and he found himself staring into a set of cold blue eyes.
    “What the hell are you doing?” Starsky asked as he held him in a firm grip.
    “Saving this man’s life…” He told him with a serious expression. “If he’s your friend I suggest you let me go.”
    “Starsky released him and watched in horror as the incision was made and blood gushed from the gaping wound. Layer after layer of tissue was cut before the airway was finally found and exposed. The plastic tube was quickly inserted and the oxygen attached to it.
    Hutch’s body lurched forward as Oxygen filled his lungs. He was still unconscious but now sucking air through the hole in his throat. His lips were blue and the area around his eyes was dark and discolored.
    The paramedics wrapped the tube with tape to keep it in place on his neck before they could transport him. Starsky watched as they pulled the stretcher inside and wheeled him out. As he was following them out the door
the younger of the two turned around to speak to him.
    “Hey…there’s a girl on the phone that wanted to know how he was…you mind talking to her for me?” He asked with a smile. “You can follow us in your car.”
    “You go on ahead…I know the way.” Starsky told him as he turned to go back into the bedroom.
    The phone was resting now on the table where the young paramedic had left it and Starsky walked over to pick it up and talk to her.
    “Hey Cas…It’s me.” Starsky told her. “I’m going to the hospital to be with him.”
    “Pick me up first…I don’t want to be here alone…Please?” She begged him as she stood in the kitchen in her nightgown. “I’ll be ready when you get  here.”
    “Alright…but you better come running as soon as I blow the horn…” He told her.
    “No problem…how is he?”  “Not good…I’ll tell you about it on the way.” He said and hung up the phone.
    She heard the click and sat the receiver back on the hook. For a moment  she stood their staring into space wondering what he meant by his comment.
    (Not good…what does that mean?)
    He was alive…otherwise they wouldn’t be going to the hospital. That was  at least a good sign. Sometimes it helps to look at the glass as half full…instead of half empty.

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  Chapter 4
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