COME RUNNING
BY P&C PRODUCTIONS

CHAPTER 4

    Starsky pulled up to the curb in front of his apartment laying on the horn before the car came to a complete stop. Cassie hurried out the door…closing it behind her and jumped into the passenger seat.
    Her Rodeo had been out of commission for the past two weeks due to a  faulty carburetor that had left her stranded at school.
    They sped off towards the hospital with the red light still flashing on top of the Torino…but the siren now turned off. She looked over at him and noticed the intense expression on his face. She could tell that he was really worried…and on the verge of tears.
    “Is he gonna be alright?” She asked as she kept her eyes on him.
    “I don’t know.” He said without turning his head.
    “What happened?”
    “He couldn’t breathe…they had to cut his throat and shove a tube in his  neck.” He said abruptly…forgetting for the moment, that he was speaking to a very emotional young girl.
    “Oh my God.” She said softly as she cupped her hand over her mouth. “How did it happen?”
    “I DON’T KNOW!!” He shouted at her as the stress of the moment caused him to lose his patience with her.
    She began to cry softly as she turned to face the window.
    (He didn’t have to yell at her…She loved him too…)
    He looked over at her and noticed her obvious concern. He didn’t mean to yell at her and so he reached over to touch her hand…only to have it yanked away from him.
    “I’m sorry…Cas.” He told her softly. “I’m just worried about him.”
    “And I’m not?” she said as she turned her face to him…tears streaming down both of her cheeks.
    “I know you’re upset…Look… I’m sorry I lost my temper.” He apologized. “I guess I just wasn’t thinking.”
    “We never used to yell at each other…I don’t want to argue anymore.” She told him as she reached out to take the hand he offered to her a moment before. “Hutch wouldn’t like it.”
    He gave her a smile and turned his attention back to the road. The hospital was just up the street and he pulled onto a side street to come up on the emergency room entrance…it was the shortcut that the ambulances always took to avoid traffic.
    He drove up to a parking space close to the entrance and he got out quickly…making his way to the other side of the car to open the door for her. She liked the way he always did that. It made her feel like a lady.
     She climbed out and they both ran into the hospital and up to the nurse’s desk to find out how he was doing.
    “My partner…Officer Ken Hutchinson was just brought in.” Starsky told her quickly. “Can you tell us anything?”
    “Are you family?” She asked smugly. “Only family members can be given that kind of information.”
    “He’s my partner…We’re like family.”
    “”Look Mister….Officer…Who ever you are…” She began as she stuck to her guns. “If you’re not related…you’ll have to wait here.”
    “I’m his daughter…” Cassie spoke up as Starsky looked at her with surprise. “Can you tell ME anything.”
    “Come with me dear…” She said as she opened the door to let her in the back. “You can see him for a moment.”
    “I won’t be long…I promise.” She whispered to Starsky as she followed the nurse into the hallway.
    “I can’t believe this!” He said as he threw his hands in the air and began to pace the floor…rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand like he always did when he was frustrated.
    (They always let him go back before…All the times he had been injured in the line of duty…why not now?)

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    Cassie was lead down the hall and through another set of large double doors. Then at the end of the hallway was a set of rooms with glass observation windows. She looked through a couple of them until something caught her eye…it was Hutch. Hooked up to a machine to help him breathe and the tube still in his throat. He looked horrible.
    The nurse stood at the entrance to the room and called to her.
    “Do you want to sit with him for a minute?”
    “Yes…” Cassie said with a sad expression on her face.
    They walked in and the nurse pulled a chair up to the bed close to him for her to sit in. “He’ll be moved to a room on the third floor in the morning…we want to keep him here tonight.”
    “What’s wrong with him?
    “He had a blockage in his airway…a piece of fruit. We managed to remove it and the tube will come out tomorrow…but I’m afraid he went a good while without oxygen to his brain.” She explained to her.
    “So what does that mean?”
    “The Doctor can answer all your questions in the morning…stay for a little while and then come back tomorrow.” She told her as she walked out of the room…leaving the two of them alone together.
    Cassie moved quietly up to his bedside and picked up his lifeless hand gently. She placed his left hand in hers and kissed it  softly Then she began to rub his forearm with her free hand as she spoke to him.
    “Hutch…it’s Cas…Can you hear me?” She asked him calmly as she continued to touch him. His skin was cold and he didn’t respond to her at all. He wasn’t asleep…He was unconscious. She reached up to touch his face and spoke again.
    “Davey is outside waiting for you…Everything’s gonna be alright Hutch…You’re gonna be fine…We won’t let anything happen to you.” She told him. “I know you can hear me…I know you can…”
    Her eyes filled with tears that flowed steadily down her cheeks as she spoke to him. She had been in a coma before and she knew that he could hear her.
    “I love you so much…I need you Hutch…You were always there for me…now…I’m gonna be here for you…I promise.”
    Then she began to sing…a song that she hadn’t sung since the night her father died. The song that he used to sing to her when she was very small.
    Her voice was sweet and tender as it echoed in the small room and she held onto his hand tightly. At that moment… as she sang to him…the song took on a new meaning for her. It was very special to her…but so was Hutch…and she wanted him to know it.

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    Starsky was furious at the stubborn attitude of this guard dog on duty. Most of the rest of the staff understood about the special relationship that two cops who work so closely together…have with each other. This old crone had made him mad as hell…rules are rules but…bending them in this type of  situation was done all the time.
    He glanced up from the coffee cup he held in his hand when Cassie walked back into the waiting room to talk to him.
    “So…how is he?” Starsky asked eagerly.
    “He’s not good.” She told him softly.
    “Don’t give me that.” He said smugly. “Is he awake? Did you talk to him?”
    “No…he’s not awake...” She said as she looked up at him. “The nurse said that the Doctor would tell us more in the morning.
    “He’s asleep?”
    “No…He’s more than asleep…it’s like when I was sick.” She explained to him. “I couldn’t wake him up.”
    “What about the tube?”
    “They’ll remove it tomorrow and put him in a room on the third floor…but the nurse said something that I don’t  understand.” She offered as she continued to keep her eyes on his. “She said that he went a long time without oxygen
to his brain.”
    Starsky knew what that meant…it was possible he might have permanent damage. The brain cells will slowly die off from lack of oxygen. He released a sigh and spoke again….
    “We’ll just have to wait until he wakes up.” He told her. “Want a soda?”
    “Are we staying?”
    “I am…if you want to go home…I’ll take you back.”
    “No…I’ll stay with you.” She told him. “There’s no school tomorrow anyway.”
    He took her over to the soda machine and purchased one for her. As she leaned forward to retrieve it a thought occurred to him.
    “Did you find out why he stopped breathing?”
    “He choked on something…a piece of fruit I think.”
    Starsky walked slowly away from her as he replayed the moment in his mind.
    One minute he was fine and then the next……it was the moment when he had made the comment. The laughter that he had expected to hear replaced by a gasp for air.
    (It was HIS fault...It was ALL his fault.)
    (If not for his warped sense of humor…this would never have happened.)
    Hutch had a history of choking on his food when Starsky caught him off guard at lunchtime. Starsky knew that he always took a deep breath before laughing. Several times he had to hit him on the back to retrieve something he had sucked down his windpipe. He should have known better than to try it over the phone.
    He had heard the sound of the apple Hutch was eating. Hutch always liked to eat fruit in bed when he was reading.
    Starsky had moved over to rest against the wall now…letting the guilt sink into his mind when she approached him.
    “You alright?”
    “Yeah…I’ll be right there.” He told her as he made a motion to her with his hand and stood there alone for a few moments longer.
    The revelation hit him like a ton of bricks…He knew he was eating…and he did it anyway…
    How could he have been so damned careless?

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