Starsky and Hutch: Too Close To Home

How We Meet

I suddenly woke up with a jerk once again. I sat in the bed rubbing my eyes thinking, how much longer will this go on. This time was the worst one and I don't know how much longer I can hide them from Angel. Angel, I looked over to her side of the bed to see that she was not there. I looked at the clock to see that it was 5am. I got up to go find her, as I walked into the living room, I saw her sitting on the couch looking at something. "Angel," I said as I sat down on the couch and put my arm around her. She didn't look up but kept looking at the book on her lap as a smile came to my face, our wedding album. She ran her fingers over every photo and then she would turn the page. She never said anything but just looked at the photos. I rubbed her arm as I looked at them with her. She stopped at one photo; she kept her fingers over it as she looked down at it. I smiled; it was a photo of us on the beach. I was holding her bridal style in my arms, she had her arms around my neck and we both had big smiles on our faces. That was my favorite photo from our wedding, besides us kissing, because she jumped into my arms without any warning. I was so thankful that the photographer did a great job at capturing the moments.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard Angel ask, "Why can't we be that happy again?" "We will be that happy very soon, Angel." "But when?" she asked as she looked at me with tears rolling down her cheeks. I brought my hand to her face to wipe the tears as I said, "Angel, very soon it will all be back to normal. Things are getting better by the day." She nodded as she laid her head on my chest and started to cry. "I'm tired, Davy." I took our wedding album off of her lap to put it on the coffee table, I then laid us both down on the couch and pulled the blanket off the back to cover us up. We snuggled close to each other as she cried herself back to sleep. I laid there thinking about her question, our wedding day, our honeymoon and then how we met. That was some meeting for sure and I'll never forget it.

I helped push the bed into the hospital as I kept saying, "Stay with me, Ken. Keep fighting." "Sir, you need to stay out here," I heard the nurse tell me. "But I'm his partner and." "And you can wait out here till we bring him out. Please go sit over there." With that she was in the emergency room as I just stood there for a moment trying to get my thoughts together. I looked down to see that I still had Ken's blood on my hands. I walked into the bathroom to wash it off. I just stood there for a moment with my head hung low as I tried to get my heart rate back to normal. I finally just walked out of the restroom, went to sit down on the couch and put my head in my hands. I then heard, "Sir, are you okay?" I rubbed my face with my hands to cover my tears as I looked up. "Yes, I'm fine thank you," I replied. I didn't even really look at who was asking because my mind was on Ken. I felt the couch dip as a hand was laid on my back. I looked over to finally see who was sitting next to me. There sat a very beautiful woman with the most loving and caring eyes I had ever seen. She had blue eyes, goldish blond, brown hair with some red that came a little below her shoulders, and the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. I then remembered that she had her hand on my back. I normally don't let someone I don't know touch me, but her touch was different. It was so soft, caring, loving and tender. It was like she knew something was really wrong and was trying to comfort me. You know what? I would let her comfort me any day.

She lightly rubbed her thumb on my back that brought me out of my thoughts. "I'm sorry," I said as I looked down at my hands. "Sorry for what," she asked and that was when I heard her voice for the first time. It was soft just like everything else about her. I wanted to smile but I didn't want her to know she had that kind of effect on me without even knowing who I was. "Ummmm for staring at you." "Don't worry about it, I don't mind." I then looked back at her to see that the smile never left her face. Man, I would kiss her right now if I knew her better. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked me. "Talk about what?" "Why are you here waiting?" "Oh, yay that. Well, my partner was shot, and it caused a car accident. He is in here right now," I said as I looked toward the doors of the emergency room. I felt her start to rub my back once again as she said, "I'm sorry to hear that but I know that your partner will be fine, he is a fighter." I turned to look at her in surprise as I asked, "Do you know my partner?" "No, I don't think so." "Then how do you know that he is a fighter?" "Well, you said that you are partners. I thought that you meant as in the police. If that is what you meant, then you have to be a fighter to go into the academy. So therefore, your partner is a fighter."

I just looked at her in surprise before I said, "You are one smart woman." "Well thank you. Can I get you anything?" "No thank you, I don't want to leave in case they come out with information about him." "I didn't ask for you to go anywhere, I asked if you wanted anything. That means I go get it and bring it back." I just smiled at her for the first time as I said, "Okay I give up but really no thank you, I'm fine." "Okay, well do you mind if I wait with you?" "No, I don't mind at all." I watched as she leaned back as I looked at the door again. "May I ask you a question sir?" "David" "David?" "That is my name, calling me sir makes me feel old," I said with a chuckle. "Okay, David it is. May I ask you a question?" "Go for it." "What is your partner's name?" "His name is Ken." I saw her nod from the corner of my eye as she said, "Ken will be just fine." I just let her words sink in and I prayed she was right. She didn't talk much after that but part of me wished that she did. Her voice calmed me down and I wasn't sure why. How could she have this much effect on me?

The next thing I remember was opening my eyes and I don't even remember falling asleep. I went to sit up and that was when I realized I had my head on someone. So, I just looked around to see that I had my head on that young woman's shoulder and then I looked down. Her hand, I'm holding her hand. When did that happen? How did I get her hand in mine? I will have to admit that her hand fit perfectly in my and I felt so much peace just being close to her. Can someone please tell me why? I didn't move but closed my eyes again not wanting to move. I haven't been comforted like this in so long that I missed it. I think I fell back to sleep when I heard a soft voice say my name. "Hmmmm" was all I could say. "David, the doctor is here." I sat up real fast that I got dizzy. I squeezed her hand as she put her other hand on my arm. "Easy," I heard her say but this time when she spoke it, she was closer to my ear. I nodded my head as I ran my hand through my hair.

I looked up at the doctor as he sat in the chair next to us. "How is he?" I asked, scared of the answer. I squeezed her hand again as he said, "He is going to make it. The bullet went through his shoulder so there was no damage. He does have a few bruised ribs from the accident but other than that he is fine." I let out a sigh that I didn't know I was holding in. "Can I see him?" "In a little bit, they are preparing him to come down to his room. I'll come get you when he is in his room." I nodded as the doctor got up to leave. I lowered my head into my hand as I heard, "That is good news, sure he will need some help and he will need some time to heal. But he is alive and will make it." I turned to look at her with a small smile before I said, "Yes you are right, thanks." "No need to thank me, I didn't do anything." I just smiled at her because she has no idea what she really has done. "Now, there is some soup in that cup on the table. Your partner will need you to be strong so please drink it." "Thank you," was all I could say. "You're welcome." she said as she went to get up. I squeezed her hand so she would look at me. I then asked, "What's your name?" "Angel," she said with a smile as she leaned down to kiss my cheek. She then walked away as I watched her. I felt like a little kid that would never wash this cheek again. But this I knew; I will need to find her and get to know her.

I was brought out of my daydream by the sound of my alarm going off in the bedroom. I went to get up when I heard, "Please don't leave me." I kissed Angel's head before I said, "Angel, I'm just going to turn off my alarm. It is time for us to get up to get ready for your appointment." "Cancel it." "Cancel what? Your appointment." I felt her nod as I asked, "Baby, why would I want to do that?" "I'm scared to go; David I'm scared to go." "Shhhhhhh baby, it will all be okay you will see." I felt her nod again as her grip got tighter on me as I heard her cry softly. I rubbed her back as I started humming to her. She calmed down some when I said, "Angel, how about we go see your parents after your appointment?" "Yes please." "Okay, we can go see them. But babe, will you let me up so I can go turn off the alarm?" I asked, trying to hide my chuckle. She sighed as she let go of me so I could get up. I then went in to turn them off as I stood by the bed for a moment. She is scared to go to the doctor and there could be a number of reasons why, but I can only think of one at the moment. But what she doesn't know is, I'm a little scared too. I'm not ready to go back to work and leave her. She is not mentally ready to be left alone and I can't leave her. My heart is breaking just thinking about it and I wish I could just cry.  But now is not the time for that. I have to be strong.