“Withdrawal”
Chapter 6
Hutch felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“Any word yet?” asked Dobey.
“No. He’s still in surgery.
Lost a lot of blood, they said.”
Hutch had been staring out the
window of the waiting room replaying those last minutes in the bank. After he’d unlocked the door, Dobey and the
other officers had swarmed the bank.
Billy was quickly placed in a black-and-white and transported to the
county jail. The coroner’s unit was
dispatched for Tony.
Starsky had briefly regained consciousness
when they moved him onto the stretcher.
He’d given Hutch a small lopsided grin and reached for Hutch’s
hand. At his touch, Hutch felt the
tension in his own body lessen, but knew it wasn’t over yet. Starsky’s life could still be in
danger. He’d lost so much blood, and
there was always the chance of infection.
He knew his partner would be concerned about regaining full use of his
left hand. Dobey had finally given in
and let Hutch ride in the ambulance, but warned him that he expected a full report
on why Hutch had done such a foolhardy thing by not telling anyone, especially
him, and gone into the bank alone.
Hutch could still hear Dobey’s concerned yet angry words. “Didn’t you know you were putting your own
life on the line, as well as Starsky’s?!”
At the sound of footsteps coming
down the hall, Dobey and Hutch turned.
Doctor Miller approached them, briefly shaking hands in greeting. “Detective Starsky is still in recovery. He lost a lot of blood, as you know. He came through surgery fine, but there is
the chance of infection, since the bullet was in for some time before
removal. It doesn’t look like there
will be any permanent damage to his shoulder, but if it had hit a few inches
lower...Detective Starsky wouldn’t have made it. He’s an extremely lucky young man.”
“When can I see him?” asked Hutch
anxiously.
“He’ll be out of recovery in about
an hour and then moved to a regular room.
You can see him then, but only briefly.
He’ll need a lot of rest.” Dr.
Miller walked away promising he’d check in on Starsky before he left for the
evening.
Hutch sank down in one of the
cushioned chairs, sighing. He dropped
his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees.
Dobey gently put a hand on Hutch’s
shoulder. “Remember, tomorrow I want a
full report. That was a foolish thing
you did, going in by yourself. The SWAT
team could have been all over you and your partner.” He gave the shoulder a slight squeeze and added gently, “After
you’ve seen him for a few minutes, go home, son, and get some rest. Starsky isn’t the only one who needs
it.”
˜ ™
Hutch poked his head around the
corner of Starsky’s door and smiled when he saw his partner sleeping
peacefully. It had been two days now,
and Starsky was finally regaining strength.
Hutch had spent the first night in Starsky’s room, afraid to let his
partner out of his sight. But other
than awakening for a brief moment when the medication wore off and the pain
returned, Starsky had slept comfortably.
He still slept a great deal of the time, but the good news was that the
medication had kept any infection in check.
With plenty of rest and some therapy, Starsky would be back to his same
old annoying self before too long.
Hutch’s smile stretched across his face at the thought.
The sound of the door closing caused
Starsky to stir. Hutch sat down quietly
in the chair next to the bed, hoping not to disturb his partner further. He knew he hadn’t succeeded, when he saw two
deep blue eyes looking at him sleepily.
“Hey, you back already?” asked
Starsky.
“Already? It’s been five hours. I
finally finished all the reports to Dobey’s satisfaction. Looks like you took a good nap. How ya feelin’, buddy?”
“Better. Did you bring me any food?”
“Don’t start, Starsk. You know the doctor said you could only eat—”
A sudden tapping at the door caused
them both to turn their heads. The door
opened as a gentleman wheeled in Katie, holding a tiny bundle. “Would you mind some company for a little
bit?”
“Of course not,” said Hutch
answering for the both of them. He
stood up to hold the door open. “Here’s
the lady who saved the day. How are you
feeling?”
“Oh,” Katie continued, looking
embarrassed. “I’m doing just fine. How are you, David?”
Starsky carefully turned to hold out
his right hand to Katie. “I’m doing
better. Katie, I really want to thank
you—”
“Wait, just a second,” she
interrupted. “First, I want you to meet
my husband Robert, Robert Cole. Bob,
this is Detective Ken Hutchinson and Detective David Starsky. I owe them my life.”
“More like I owe you mine,” said
Starsky, as the men shook hands all around.
Starsky awkwardly extended his right hand.
“Hey, wait a minute,” said Starsky
looking puzzled for the moment. “Uh...I
thought you told me the baby wasn’t due for three weeks. How come...?”
“Well, it wasn’t,” said Robert. “But apparently with all the excitement, it
decided to come early. Both Katie and
the baby are fine. In fact, we’re
getting ready to go home...as a family.”
He beamed at Katie and squeezed her shoulder.
“Oh, that reminds me,” said
Katie. “The main reason we came in
here, besides checking on how you were feeling, was to introduce you to
someone.” She carefully handed the baby
to Hutch, who took him gingerly. “I
wanted to introduce our son to the detectives who played such an important role
in the beginning of his life.”
Hutch, feeling awkward, passed the
baby on to Starsky. He carefully laid
him in the crook of Starsky’s right arm, but kept a supporting hand around the
baby, in case his partner found it too difficult or tiring.
“Gentlemen, I would like you to meet
Robert David Cole. Robert David, I’d
like you to meet Starsky and Hutch.”
Katie continued, “We hadn’t settled on a middle name, and after what
happened at the bank we thought it was appropriate to name him after you.”
Starsky looked up, incredulous. “His middle name is David? You hear that, Hutch?”
Hutch chuckled at his partner’s
obvious embarrassment.
Starsky
blushed and stammered, “I-I-I...”
“Oh, just be quiet,” said Hutch,
grinning at his partner. Turning to
Katie and Robert, he offered, “It’s not often my partner’s at a loss for
words.”
Starsky continued staring down at
the tiny baby in amazement. Carefully
touching the sleeping baby’s fingers with his left index finger, Starsky suddenly
broke into a grin and looked up at Hutch with a gleam in is eyes.
“Oh, no,” said Hutch, holding up his
hands in protest. “When you get that
look on your face, we’re in for trouble.”
Starsky looked at his partner,
grinning from ear to ear. “As soon as I
get out of here, we have to go to the bank.
I still need to make a little investment.”
“What do you mean an
investment? I’m not going anywhere near
a bank for a long time to come, and neither are you. Have you forgotten that’s how this whole thing started? You and your investments!”
“No, Hutch, you don’t understand,”
protested Starsky, still grinning and with a wicked twinkle in his eye. “We aren’t going to make a withdrawal. We’re going to make an investment. We’ll open an account—a savings account for
Robert David Cole.”
Hutch nodded. Ruffling the brown curls on his partner’s
head, he laughed. “Now, that’s one investment I’ll make with you,
partner.”
The End
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