Darkest Before The Dawn
By
Tooki
2021
Edited
by Tonya
Detective Dave Starsky lay flat on his back on his partner's couch, mouth open, arms and legs slung all over and sound asleep. He hadn’t meant to spend the night, it had been a long day, a very long day. He should have just gone home and crashed but Hutch had suggested picking up dinner. Starsky couldn’t resist when his friend said he would spring for pizza. They did need to unwind, and they had the weekend off so he agreed.
Starsky was dead to the world until he was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. The whole building was shaking, the cabinet doors flew open, spilling dishes and glassware to the floor. Hutch’s plants tumbled, the pots shattered, spreading dirt on the floor. Starsky rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he tried to stand but it was impossible. Things were still falling around him. It seemed like the shaking would never stop. Starsky glanced at his watch, it was nearly 4 a.m. Cracks were forming in the walls and bits of ceiling were raining down on his head.
“HUTCH!” He bellowed. There was no answer, just the sound of falling rubble. Again Starsky tried to stand but to no avail, he was knocked to his knees.
Finally the shaking stopped, it was pitch black, the electric had been knocked out. Carefully Starsky got to his feet, from what he could see Hutch’s apartment was a disaster. “HUTCH!” He yelled again, and again no answer. The only sound that met his ears was falling debris and sirens in the distance.
He moved carefully across the room to his friend's bedroom door, Starsky turned the knob but the door didn’t open, it was either stuck or something was blocking it. Starsky yelled his partner's name over and over again as he slammed his shoulder into the door.
Finally the door flew open. If Starsky hadn’t been holding the door frame he would have fallen into the void where Hutch’s room had been. He stared at the rubble, horrified. He looked up into the stars, half the building was gone. Flashlight, he needed a flashlight, Starsky pivoted back into the room, he knew Hutch had one in a drawer in the kitchen.
Starsky clambered over toppled furniture, he made it to the kitchen pulling open drawers that weren’t already hanging open.
“Ouch!” Starsky cried out. He realized he was standing in glass barefooted, he should have put his shoes on but he had been too worried about his partner. He finally found the flashlight and flipped it on. Both of his feet were bleeding, “Dammit!” He didn’t have time to deal with his feet. He grabbed a roll of paper towels he found on the floor and made his way back to the couch.
Holding the flashlight under his chin he inspected his feet. They weren’t as bad as he feared; he pulled out a few shards of glass. After wrapping paper towels around his injured feet, he jammed them into his shoes and went back to the gaping hole that had been Hutch’s bedroom.
The whole side of the building had pancaked on top of each other. Shining the light into the hole he searched for a way down but it was too deep and he didn’t want to take a chance of hurting himself further. Starsky wondered if he was also trapped in the crumbling building.
He made his way to the front door, there were deep cracks in the walls and over the door. Starsky was afraid when he opened the door the frame would crumble. Very slowly he turned the knob and pulled, at first the door didn’t budge but finally with a little wiggling the door came open. The stairs were still there going down to the ground floor but they didn’t look very stable. The stairs leading to the third floor hung precariously.
Starsky carefully started down the steps staying close to the wall. There were popping and cracking sounds but he made it safely to the bottom.
“Can you help me?” Starsky saw a woman trying to get out of her apartment but debris blocked the way. He removed the obstruction and pushed open her door helping her out. She was dressed in a robe with nothing but slippers on her feet. “Dave! Is Ken alright? Thank heavens for insomnia or I would probably be dead. The two floors above me are in my bedroom.”
Starsky asked, “He was in bed. I’m trying to get to him. Any chance of that from your apartment?”
“I’m sorry, no. The debris is spilling into my apartment from the bedroom.” She answered, she was covered with dust but unhurt.
“Kim you need to get out of here, if there is an after shock the building might come down.”
“You need to get out too,” Kim said, taking Starsky’s arm.
“I have to get to Hutch.” Starsky said, “You go on.”
Kim knew both detectives, she had lived on the ground floor long before Hutch had moved in. He was a wonderful neighbor, “I hope you can get to him.”
There was a pitiful meow from Kim’s apartment. Starsky squatted down, “Come on Whiskers,” a furry face peered out the door, Starsky held out his hand to the cat. Whiskers sniffed the detective then allowed Starsky to pick her up. Starsky brushed dirt from the cat's fur and handed her to Kim. “You two need to get out of here.”
Kim hugged Whiskers, “I didn’t think you made it!”
“You know 9 lives and all. Now go!” Starsky needed to get back to figuring out how to rescue Hutch.
Hutch, exhausted, made his way to his bedroom as soon Starsky had fallen asleep. It seemed like his head had just touched the pillow when the shaking started. Like Starsky, he had tried to get up but was thrown back into bed. A large crack opened up the bedroom ceiling sending debris raining down on the detective's head. Hutch knew he needed to move before the ceiling came down.
Just as he started to roll off the side of the bed hoping to maneuver himself under it, a huge section of the ceiling crashed on top of him, he barely had time to cover his face. Hutch was knocked unconscious, when the ceiling came down.
When he came to he thought he heard crying, Hutch wasn’t sure how long he had been out. There was barely enough room to move but he managed to push a chunk of debris from his chest. Hutch began taking inventory of himself, he could feel the congealed blood on his forehead so he knew he had been out a while. He quickly realized his legs were trapped, when he tried to sit up.
He needed to get his legs free so he could see how badly he was hurt, he wasn’t in any real pain although a headache was coming on quickly. Wiggling his toes was a good start but he couldn’t budge the fallen ceiling. He wondered how the other tenants were. Kim, directly under his apartment, was a sweet woman in her mid forties that would leave baked goods at his door. There was an older couple across the hall from Kim but they were out of town. Across the hall from his apartment was a young couple. He wasn’t sure who was directly above him. The apartment had been vacant for a few weeks but there had been a moving van out front earlier in the week. Across the hall from that apartment was a young man he only saw a few times. Starsky! He hoped that his place had been spared. He wondered if his partner would be able to…it suddenly dawned on him that Starsky had been sacked out on his couch.
“Starsky!” He tried to yell but with all the dust it was nothing more than a croak followed by a lot of coughing.
Crying…there was crying again. Hutch tried to clear his throat, he would have killed for a drink of water. “Hello?” He managed to get out loud enough that whoever was crying could hear him.
“Shhhhhhh!”
“Hello?” Hutch said again, “Is someone there?”
“Hello?” Came a soft reply.
“I’m Hutch, what’s your name?”
“Megan.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Nothing serious, I got myself and the kids under the bed when the shaking started.” Megan answered, “But we are stuck, the ceiling came down on top of the bed and the floor caved in. Are you hurt?”
“I didn’t make it out of bed, I was knocked out for a while.” Hutch told her, “My legs are trapped.” He wiggled his toes again or he thought he did, this time he couldn’t feel them. Panic began to set in, Hutch took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew the longer his legs were trapped the more damage was being done.
“Hutch?”
“I’m here,” he said his head was now pounding with vengeance. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep, “I think I might have a concussion and I can’t feel my toes anymore.”
“I’ll see if I can find a way down to you.” Megan said.
After the death of her husband Megan had moved with her children from the east coast. They had been in the apartment less than a week and never experienced an earthquake.
“NO! It’s too dangerous.” Hutch exclaimed.
“Mommy don’t leave us.” A little voice wailed.
“I’m not going to leave you.”
“What are your kids' names?”
“Lucy and Sam.”
“It’s going to be okay, kids.” Hutch said but he had to wonder if it would be. The city had to be in chaos; it could be anywhere from hours to days before help came. There were aftershocks to worry about which could bury them further. His thoughts went to his partner again. Had the whole building come down? Was Starsky hurt or worse?
Hutch sat up as much as he could and tried to look around. It was very dark, he could feel a chunk of ceiling across the upper part of his legs. Maybe if he could move it he could get his legs free. Hutch needed light, he had a small flashlight in the bedside table, he twisted to his right feeling for the small table. A pain shot through his hip and down his leg. He cried out at the sudden pain.
“Hutch what happened?” Megan asked. Are you alright?”
“I was trying to reach my bedside table for a flashlight, the twisting caused a pain in my hip.”
“You need to lay still, you could have a fracture or at the very least your hip could be dislocated.” Megan advised.
“What are you a doctor?”
Megan gave a little laugh, “No, but I am a nurse. I was supposed to start work today.”
“I need to get that flashlight.” Hutch persisted, he tried to move and again howled in pain.
“Please stop moving, You could do more damage, maybe permanent damage.” Megan pleaded. “Hutch?” Nothing but silence met her ears. “Hutch answer me!” She felt totally helpless, her terrified children were clinging to her and there was nothing she could do to help the man below her. Megan knew it could be hours before they were found and she was pretty sure he didn’t have hours. “HUTCH!”
“I-I’m here.” He panted in pain which was not letting up this time.
“Talk to me, you need to keep talking,”
He tried to maneuver himself to relieve the pain but nothing helped, Hutch was in agony. “I’ll try.”
“Are you married?” She asked, trying to draw him into a conversation.
Hutch huffed, “No, who would be crazy enough to marry a cop?”
“I guess I would,” Megan squeezed her eyes shut tight. She didn’t really want to talk about it, especially with her kids listening but it was too important to keep him talking.
“You are married to a cop?”
“I was, he was killed in the line of duty. That is the reason I moved the kids and I out here.”
“I’m very sorry,” Hutch grimaced partly from his pain and partly for her pain.
“It’s been a year, we are managing,” Megan took a deep breath, “I thought a fresh start would be good for us.” She gave a bitter laugh, “Now we are trapped.”
“Mommy are we going to die?” 8 year old Lucy asked through her tears.
“No sweetie, somebody will dig us out.” Megan answered her daughter. “How are you doing Sam?” There was no answer from 5 year old Sam. “Sam?”
Finally Sam said, “l’m afraid of the dark, it’s very dark and I can’t find Dino.”
Megan had to smile, the whole world had come down around them but her son was worried about the dark and his stuffed dinosaur. “You had him when we crawled under the bed, Dino is somewhere close, feel around.”
There was a sudden outburst from Sam, “Found him!”
“All's right with the world,” There was a touch of sarcasm in Megan’s voice which was lost on her kids but not on Hutch.
He smiled in spite of the pain. “It’s the little things.”
“Well right now I’m worried about getting us out of here.” Megan looked around but in the darkness there wasn’t much to see. Her eyes had become accustomed to the dark but there was so much debris and nowhere to push it to.
Hutch closed his eyes trying to wish the pain away. His head was throbbing, he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.
Starsky stood in the middle of the street in front of Hutch’s apartment building. The front was nearly untouched but the back had completely collapsed. He needed to figure a way to get to his partner and the others who could be trapped.
Kim, holding Whiskers, walked over and stood by the detective, “What are you planning?”
“I’m trying to figure that out,” Starsky responded. “You need to get somewhere safe.”
“And where might that be?” Kim asked, holding her cat close to her.
There was no place to go, “Just find somewhere you won’t be hit when the aftershocks start.”
Kim laughed, “This isn’t my first rodeo, I have lived in California all my life.”
“I’m going to go around the side of the building,” Starsky said with a flashlight in hand, “If help comes send them to me.”
“You be careful.”
Starsky nodded and started picking his way down the side of the building. It wasn’t long before he came to a huge pile of rubble. He sighed as he trained the light on the debris, the whole back of the building had slid down. He had hopes that everyone inside had not been crushed. He glanced at his watch. It was only 4:30 it had only been 30 minutes, it seemed so much longer.
“Hutch!” Starsky shouted, he waited a few seconds to listen, hearing nothing but distinct sirens, he began climbing.
Chunk by chunk Starsky moved wood, shingles and bricks. His hands were cut and bleeding but he kept going. Starsky knew time was not on his side. Hutch could be seriously hurt along with anyone else. He also knew there could be an aftershock at any moment.
After what felt like forever Starsky reached what seemed like it could be a room. He frantically dug calling out Hutch’s name, stopping every once in a while to listen for any signs of life. He moved a large chunk of wall, a hand lay limply in the dust. Starsky’s heart stopped as he stared at the hand, was it Hutch’s? He kept digging, he uncovered more of the arm, then a bare shoulder. Starsky kept digging until a face appeared. It was clear the man was dead but it wasn’t Hutch, probably the young man that lived on the third floor.
Starsky had seen plenty of dead bodies in his time on the force but nothing like this. So many emotions ran through him, he was thankful that it wasn’t Hutch. But this young man had a family that was going to grieve his death. Starsky was sorry that he didn’t even know the man's name. He wished he had something to cover the body, but all he could do was move on.
Angry at the situation Starsky heaved a large piece of ceiling, he started to pick up another piece when he thought he heard something. He held his breath and listened intently.
“Help!” The cry wasn’t loud and sounded female.
“Somebody there?” Starsky called loudly.
“Yes, please help us.”
Starsky moved another piece of ceiling to reveal a dirty frightened face staring up at him. He was overjoyed to find someone alive and it restored his hope that Hutch was still alive. He shined the flashlight in the hole he made, “Anyone else with you?”
“My husband Joe, I don’t think he is hurt but he’s trapped in the bathroom.” Starsky made the hole bigger and was able to ease himself down next to her. “I’m Penny. Aren’t you Ken’s partner?”
“Yea, I’m Dave Starsky. Let’s see if we can help your husband.”
“Where’s Ken?”
“Trapped in this mess.”
The way the ceiling had caved in it left both of them little room to maneuver, “I’m sorry,” Penny said, then pointed to the door that led to the bathroom. “Joe is in there.”
A large beam blocked the door. “Joe, are you hurt?”
“Who’s that?” Joe asked, surprised to hear an unfamiliar voice.
“Joe, it’s Ken’s partner Dave, he's going to try to get you out.” Penny said.
“Banged up a bit but nothing serious I don’t think.” Joe had been telling his wife he was fine not wanting to worry her.
Starsky looked at Penny, “Do you think you can help me move the beam?” She nodded. “Slowly, we don’t want to bring anything down on us. If I say stop, we stop.” She nodded again.
Working together carefully they were able to move the beam enough so the bathroom door could be opened. Penny turned the doorknob, she gasped when she saw her husband.
Joe was leaning on the sink, his face and T-shirt covered in blood from a head wound. “Don’t panic, it's not as bad as it looks. Head wounds bleed like crazy.”
Tears streaming down her face Penny grabbed Joe and hugged him tightly to her.
“You two need to get out of here. Go out the way I came in, I need to find Hutch.” Starsky said.
“I’ll help you,” Joe offered, then he turned to Penny, “You go on honey.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Penny cried.
“Listen, it's too dangerous for you to stay here. I’ll be alright.” Joe kissed his wife. “Now go on.”
Starsky grabbed Penny’s hand, “The guy that lives above you…”
“Danny, nice kid.”
“He didn’t make it, on your way up you are going to see his body.” Starsky warned her.
“Oh no!” She cried.
Joe and Starsky helped Penny climb out the hole, “Climb down and get away from the building.” Joe told her. “We will be out soon.”
Penny did as she was told, she avoided looking at Danny as she climbed past him. She made her way down once she was outside. Penny had just gotten to the street and spied Kim when the ground began to shake again, dropping to the ground she looked up at the apartment building just as the front half crumbled sending up a cloud of dust.
“NOOO,” she screamed and began sobbing.
As soon as the shaking subsided, Kim made her way to the crying woman. She bent down, “Penny are you alright?”
Nodding, Penny said, “But Joe stayed behind to help Dave.”
“Joe will be safe with him.” Kim assured her, as she ruffled Whiskers fur.
“Safe? Safe? The whole building has come down. Danny is already dead, and he was on the top floor.” Penny was beside herself. “Dave isn’t some super human!”
“But you and Joe were on the second floor across from Ken, there is hope.”
“Joe should have come out with me!”
“Now is that something Joe would have done?”
Penny sighed, “No, he wanted to help dig others out.”
Kim pulled Penny into her arms being careful not to smash the cat. “It’s going to be okay.”
Megan had been calling Hutch’s name until she was hoarse and got no response. She started clearing a path so they could get out from under the bed. Everytime Megan tried to dig them out Lucy would start crying and beg her mother to stop. This time was no different. Megan stopped and hugged her daughter, “Listen Lucy, Hutch needs our help, he isn’t talking to us anymore.”
“Is he going to die like daddy?” Lucy wanted to know.
Megan didn’t want to make a promise she couldn’t keep, “I hope not baby but his chances are better if we can get to him. And maybe we can find a way out. Are you with me?”
“I’m with you!”
“Me too.” Sam piped up.
Slowly the three of them began moving the rubble around and under them. Finally they were able to get out from under the bed but all that greeted them was more destruction. Megan looked around helplessly.
Hutch was only two feet of rubble below Megan and her children. He had been in and out of consciousness, he heard Megan calling his name several times but couldn’t respond. He wished he had a blanket, he was so cold. His thoughts went to Starsky, his best friend, the brother he never had. He hoped Starsky knew he loved him even though he gave him a hard time now and again. Hutch knew if Starsky was able, if he wasn’t hurt or dead he would be coming for him. “I’m trying to hang on buddy,” Hutch whispered, “l just don’t know how much longer I can.”
The building began to shake again, everything was shifting, ‘this is it.’ Hutch thought as a large slab of ceiling fell.
When the aftershock started Megan grabbed her children trying to protect them, everything under them shifted, dropping them into a void. She was afraid that they had dropped on top of Hutch since her bedroom was above his. Lucy was screaming in fear and little Sam was in tears.
Megan felt around with her feet until they met with something solid. Once she had her bearings she crouched down to see where they were and if indeed, by some miracle, they were close to Hutch. She looked around in the dim light and thought she could make out a dresser in a heap of rubble. Megan went further into what used to be a room. She looked for something to brace herself on so she wouldn’t fall. She grabbed on to the back of what she thought might be a chair then realized it was a headboard.
Megan cried out. “Come on kids.” She held up her arms to help them down. Lucy was terrified, tears making tracks on her dirty face, Sam sniffing back his tears, slipped into his mother’s arm still clinging tightly to his dinosaur.
“Hutch, can you hear me?” Megan called and carefully started removing pieces of the ceiling from the bed. Finally she saw the top of his head, then slowly began clearing his face. “Hutch.”
His face was battered and bruised and his head wound had opened back up. She ripped the bottom of her night gown off to staunch the bleeding. It was hard to tell if he was breathing with so much debris on top of him. Megan leaned down close to his mouth to listen but there was no breath, “No, not again,” she sobbed as she shoved bits of ceiling from his chest, Megan put her head on his chest to listen for a heart beat. There was a heart beat so she began rescue breathing.
Megan was instantly transported back to the night her husband died. By the time she had gotten word her husband was in the ER. She made her way down from the third floor where she had been working, the ER docs were trying to shock Phil back to life. He never regained consciousness after being shot in the head by a robbery suspect. It had been amazing he had even made it to the hospital alive.
Now she stared down into the face of a total stranger, that was the most important thing to her in that moment. She had to save Hutch.
Joe and Starsky hunkered down when the building began to shake hoping they wouldn’t get trapped. The aftershock stopped as quickly as it had begun and the two men began to dig again.
Starsky thought he heard crying, he put his hand on Joe’s shoulder, “Did you hear that? Sounded like crying.”
Joe cocked his head to listen, “I didn’t hear anything.”
“Let’s keep digging,” Starsky said.
Joe grabbed his hands, “Your hands are a mess. Let’s see if we can find something to wrap around them.”
Starsky shook his head, “l don’t care about my hands.” He said as he moved bricks.
After working several more minutes the two men had moved enough debris that they could see a way deeper into the demolished building. This time it was Joe that grabbed Starsky to stop him from working and they both heard a voice.
“Hutch?” Starsky yelled.
“We’re here!” Came a muffled reply.
“Keep talking, so we can follow your voice,” Joe said. There was no response, Megan was breathing for Hutch.
Starsky began digging like a man possessed. He knew the voice wasn’t Hutch’s but a woman and she said we. He hoped that we included his partner.
It was only a few minutes before they broke through to what used to be Hutch’s bedroom. Starsky climbed down followed by Joe. Starsky’s heart stopped when he saw what Megan was doing. Two kids clung to her as she was keeping Hutch alive.
Between breaths Megan looked over her shoulder to see them standing there, “Thank God.” About that time Hutch took a deep breath on his own, which was followed by coughing. She turned her attention back to Hutch, she put her hand on his chest, “Breath slowly. It’s going to be alright.” She moved out of the way so Starsky could talk to Hutch.
Starsky took Hutch’s hand, “I’m here buddy.”
“I knew you would come,” Hutch whispered.
“Let’s get you out of here uh? Hang in there.”
Joe, with Megan’s help, was clearing the rubble from on top of Hutch. “Careful, from what he was saying, I think his hip is out of socket or broken.” Megan advised.
Joe nodded, “We need to find something to stabilize his hips.”
“I’ll look for something.” Megan turned to Starsky, “We need to find something large enough to tie around Hutch’s hips.
Megan’s kids watched wide eyed as the adults worked. Sam approached Hutch, he tucked his prize dinosaur under the detective's arm, “Dino will make you feel better.”
“You must be Sam,” Hutch tried to smile at the little boy but the pain was too much. “Thank you.”
Lucy stood behind her brother, “Are we going to get out of here?”
“I sure hope so, Lucy.”
“Here,” Starsky was able to get the top sheet off the bed, “Use this.”
“Perfect,” Megan took the sheet. She folded it to make a large sling.
“Dave, we are going to have to lift Ken up enough to get the sheet under his hips but we have to keep him as straight as possible.” Joe instructed, he looked at Megan, “You slide the sheet under his hips.”
She nodded, then said to Hutch, “Hutch this is going to hurt but once we get you stabilized you should feel better.”
“Everybody ready?” Joe asked, getting nods, he counted, “One, two, three.”
Hutch screamed in agony as Joe and Starsky lifted him up and Megan put the sheet under him. The men quickly lay the detective back down.
“It’s not quite over Ken, we are going to have to tie the sheet tight to keep your hips immobile. Let us know when you are ready.” Joe wanted to give Hutch time for the pain to subside a little before they continued.
“Just do it!” Hutch growled.
“Okay, Dave we are going to have to pull the sheet as tight as we can and then tie it.” Joe said.
“Do you know what you are doing?” Starsky asked.
“I’m an ER resident. I have never done this before but I know what to do so that Ken will hopefully have the best outcome.” Joe answered. “And I’m sure we have a nurse with us.”
“I am,” Megan said, then went to sit by Hutch’s head. She noticed that Sam had given Hutch his stuffed animal and smiled as she looked at her son. “Are you ready?” Hutch nodded.
As Starsky and Joe began to tighten the sheet, Hutch howled in pain. Megan stroked his hair as she whispered to him suddenly he went limp.
Starsky looked at Megan, fear in his eyes, “He just passed out, keep going.”
Once they finished, Joe asked, “How are we getting him out? No way we can get him out the way we got in.”
“I guess we dig.” Starsky sighed, they were all bone tired.
The sky was starting to lighten, illuminating the damage that had been done. Kim and Penny sat on the curb across from their destroyed apartment building. Penny had all but given up hope that she would ever see her husband again. She cuddled Whiskers in her arms. Kim put her arm around the young woman, “They will be out soon.”
“The aftershocks probably buried them.” Penny said with tears in her eyes.
Flashing lights caught their attention, they could see a fire truck several blocks away. Kim got up standing in the middle of the street waving her arms.
Two more fire trucks were behind the first one. One by one they stopped, firefighters poured out of the trucks knocking on doors.
“Here!” Kim yelled, “We have people trapped.”
Several firefighters ran toward the two women. “Do you know how many?” The first man to reach them asked.
“At least three. My husband and two police detectives. Detective Starsky was out but went back in to find his partner. There is one young man dead that I know of. And there could be a woman with her young children.”
“They were toward the back of the building,” Kim piped up.
“Alright you two, stay back.”
The firefighters ran down the side of the building carrying shovels.
Slowly Starsky, Joe and Megan were making progress digging out. The kids sat close to Hutch who was still unconscious. Megan would stop to check on him, his breathing and heartbeat were normal.
Joe and Starsky were working on a big chunk of wall when it finally gave away and dim light filtered in. “We are through Hutch! It won’t be long now.”
Joe kicked out more, making a hole big enough for them to get out of but the problem was still how to get Hutch out without injuring him further.
“Time to go,” Starsky said to Megan.
“I’m not leaving Hutch.”
“I’ve got him, you need to get your kids to safety.” Starsky insisted. “Come on kids.”
“Out you go” Joe held his hand out to Megan. She reluctantly took his hand. “It will be fine, I’m staying. Just tell my wife Penny I’m okay.”
Megan nodded as she climbed out the opening then helped Sam and Lucy down the mountain of rubble. It was the first time their feet had been on solid ground in hours.
As they were making their way toward the street, the firefighters approached, and she ran to them. “There is an injured man,” Megan pointed the way she had come. “You will need a backboard to get him out.”
“You need to go too.” Starsky told Joe, “You have your wife waiting for you.”
“Ken hasn’t regained consciousness, I'm not leaving until help comes,” Joe checked Hutch’s vitals the best he could.
“How’s he doing?”
“He’s doing as well as can be expected,” Joe said but I hope help comes soon.”
About that time a light shined in the hole they had created and a face appeared. “Anybody in here?”
“Yes, we need help,” Joe called to them. “We have a severely injured man in here.”
“A backboard is on the way, stand back so we can open up the hole more,” the firefighter instructed.
“Joe, go now,” Starsky said, “We’ll be fine.” Joe nodded and ducked out the hole helped by one of the men outside. Starsky sat on the edge of the bed and took Hutch’s hand, “Hang in there buddy it’s almost over.” Hutch’s fingers curled around his partner's hand.
When Joe walked out onto the street, Penny threw herself into his arms. “I thought I had lost you.”
“Not a chance.” He smiled at her.
Starsky followed behind the firemen carrying Hutch, picking his way over the broken building. It was then he realized how much pain he was in. For the first time he looked at his hands, cut and bleeding, nails ripped to the quick. He was limping from the cuts on his feet. As they emerged onto the street and Hutch was loaded into a waiting ambulance Starsky stumbled, hurting and exhausted. It was Megan who caught him in her arms.
“You need to go to the hospital too.” Megan guided him to the ambulance.
Starsky nodded, then stopped before he climbed in. “Thank you for taking care of Hutch.” He hugged her tightly, “You saved his life.”
“Go.” She whispered.
THREE DAYS LATER
Starsky sat dozing in a chair next to Hutch’s hospital bed. Hutch, a white bandage around his head, was suffering from a severe concussion. Thankful his hip had only been out of joint and not broken but he would still be off his feet for a few weeks.
A nurse poked her head in the door, there was no recognition on his face until she spoke, “How are you feeling?”
“Megan!” Hutch knew her voice, he didn’t really remember her face.
Megan stepped into the room, “Are you up for some company?”
“Sure come on in.”
She ducked out of the room for a second and returned with Lucy and Sam, “I smuggled them in, they needed to see you.”
Hutch reached over to the bedside table where Sam’s dinosaur was sitting. He picked it up and held it out to the little boy. “Thank you for letting me borrow Dino.”
Sam came close to the bed, “You keep him, I don’t need him any more.”
Hutch patted the bed next to him, “Are you sure buddy?”
Sam leaned over and put his little arms around Hutch, “I’m sure.”
Megan watched the exchange between her son and Hutch with tears in her eyes. Sam had latched onto the toy the day his father had died, never letting it out of his sight until now.
Lucy hung back, Hutch motioned to her, slowly Lucy approached Hutch. “Are you going to be okay?”
He held his hand out to her, “I’ll be tap dancing again very soon.”
Lucy took his hand but her brow furrowed, not understanding. Megan stepped behind her daughter putting her hands on her shoulders and said, “That is Hutch’s way of saying he is going to be just fine.”
There was a knock at the door and another head popped in, “Room for one more?” It was Kim who came in carrying a large vase of flowers.
“Kim, how are you?”
“Still kicking,” Kim smiled, she spied Starsky sleeping in the chair. “Dave doing alright?”
Hutch glanced at his sleeping partner. “He’s exhausted, I can’t get him to go home and rest.”
“Does he still have a home?” Megan asked.
“Starsk was lucky just some minor damage to his place.” Hutch answered.
“Come on kids, let's see if we can find a vending machine,” Kim said, taking the children out of the room.
“Where are you staying?” Hutch asked as he waved at Sam and Lucy.
“Right now we are in a shelter, Kim is with us, she is such a nice lady.” Megan perched on the edge of the bed. “We will be moving into a new place soon, I think I’ll invite her to come with us.”
Hutch smiled at her, “You just save everybody.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” Hutch took her hand, “If it wasn’t for you I don’t think I would not have made it.”
“What am I chopped liver?”
Hutch and Megan looked over to see Starsky watching them.
“Have you been awake all this time?” Hutch asked.
Starsky just shrugged but smiled.
The end