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Of all the things Starsky had expected to see on his return from his solo vacation Hutch with his arm in a sling hadn't been one of them.
"What happened?" Visions of Hutch being shot at filled his head and he had to restrain himself from grabbing hold of Hutch.
"Nothing." Hutch obviously wasn't going to make getting the answer to his question easy.
"Really?" Starsky's eyebrows shot heavenward. Then something occurred to him. "You drove here? Like that?"
"I took a cab." Hutch looked at Starsky. "Where're your bags?"
"I've only got the one. Hutch, what did you do?"
"Nothing."
"I s'pose I could ask Huggy," Starsky suggested as the two men navigated their way through the busy crowd.
"He doesn't know what happened?"
"It happened on the job?" Starsky felt his heart drop. His biggest fear was Hutch alone and vulnerable on the streets.
"Maybe if I was some wet behind the ears rookie." Hutch had read his mind as usual."
"Then what?"
"It's just a sprain." Hutch's face twisted with remembered pain.
"It hurts?"
"Not all the time."
But Starsky could see the shadows beneath Hutch's blue eyes, Hutch was clearly having trouble sleeping.
"You've got pain meds?"
"I'm not taking them," said in the tone of voice that meant Hutch could not be dissuaded from his course of action.
"Okay." Perhaps it would be best if he let the matter drop. The stubborn look Hutch wore meant he was not going to get any further information out of his partner.
"I fell off a ladder."
The admission surprised Starsky. "What were you doing up a ladder?"
"I was decorating our Christmas tree." The words came out in a mumble and for a moment Starsky thought he had misheard.
"But you---"
"Hate Christmas?" Hutch reached out to touch Starsky with his uninjured arm. "But you don't and I wanted this year to be special because... you know."
Starsky could understand why Hutch didn't want to say the words out loud. Too many ears.
"How about we go home?" he said, "and I'll show you how much I've missed you?"
Hutch nodded and smiled and Starsky reflected on just how glad he was to be home.