Starsky and Hutch fanfic

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The Voice

by Callisto

The voice was gentle, scarcely above a whisper. Yet it travelled all the way down to his awareness, tugging it persistently. He wished it would stop and let him go. Some part of his mind insisted on focusing, trying to unscramble it and the struggle to do that hurt. He had floated away from all the pain. Away from the tortured breathing which had taken every ounce of self-control, away from the fire in his guts which had driven him to the floor, and away from the eyes which had pierced his...

There it was again, the voice, and then the struggle. The eyes. The eyes and the voice--

The voice stopped.

Something in him sighed.

He drifted.

________________________________________

Another sensation slowly took over and this time he understood it. Thirst. Instinctively his lips pressed together, and he felt another inward tug as the voice returned.

There, on his left. A warmth was spreading from a gentle motion, tingling the nerves back to life in a hand he had forgotten. Louder now, the voice, because it was closer. He could feel the breath of it. He knew it, he knew it. If he could just...

"-hirshty."

The pressure on his hand intensified to the point of pain, and was gone. He had heard something unidentifiable from the voice, and it jolted him. Suddenly the desire to know became overwhelming.

Something on his lips. Fingertips. Something cool and wonderful melting its way in. Then another, and another.

Ice-chips. He knew this. That was the word for this.

No.

Hutch.

Hutch was the word for this.

He opened his eyes on a gasp.

"-utch?"

"Right here, buddy, right here."

The hands around his, the eyes, the voice. They all connected in a rush. He was still in the hospital. With Hutch.

How long? He had to know--

Hutch leaned in to catch the whispered words, and filled his vision.

"Change y’mind..." He breathed in the energy to finish, "...'bout the boots?"

He blinked slowly, trying to read Hutch's hesitation. He had been on that side of the bed more than once, and he knew. Sluggish as he was, there were things he just knew. He knew that little more than adrenalin and fear were keeping his partner intact. He also knew, in that tremor of hesitation, that Hutch's mind had refused to let his body sleep, even at the bedside. He wouldn't have left Hutch either, not in the hands of strangers and chemicals. Not after what strangers and chemicals had done in the last twenty-four hours.

"No, buddy. You get to keep them."

He heard the relief and felt the smile. He struggled.

"But... how...?"

"Later, Starsk," Hutch said, his voice gentle. "We made it, buddy. Only place your going is dreamland, so go. Everything else can wait."

He lifted his chin in a 'come closer' gesture, and Hutch obliged.

"Wouldna fit ya anyway."

Said on a breath and the beginnings of a smile, he went.

The End

Notes: Thanks to Rae for showing me the POV ropes.

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