This story is based on the characters of the TV series Walker, Texas Rangers. They belong to CBS Productions, Kick Top Productions, etc. I have no claim to them. But the story is mine. All disclaimers apply. No copyright infringement is intended.
Dallas School for the Deaf
He walked in like he owned the place, and God knew he didn’t have that kind of money, but his kid was here, and he wanted to see him. More than that, he wanted to take him home, where his wife couldn’t get to him. He didn’t care what the courts said, Billy was his son too.
“Hi, I’m Billy’s father, and I was wondering if I could see him for a minute?”
“Umm, it looks like you’re going to have to wait in line; he’s got a visitor right now.”
“Oh really, could you tell me who it is?” If it was his wench of a wife, he needed to beat it out of there quick. He wanted his kid back, but he wasn’t going to be stupid about it either.
“Let me see, it says that Francis Gage is with him.”
Francis Gage, who’s that, he wondered.
“Well, I can come back later then. . . I guess.”
“Oh, that doesn’t look like it will be necessary, there’s Billy now. . . looks like he’s saying good-bye to Ranger Gage.”
“A ranger?!”
“Yes sir. Is that a problem?”
“No, of course not. . . hey Billy!” Gage looked up, slightly confused that someone would call out to Billy. He signed to the boy to turn around, and as he did, Billy ran to his dad and hugged him. Assuming it was okay, and looking at his watch, Gage turned towards the door with wide eyes. Syd was going to kill him if he was late again.
Ranger Headquarters
“Hey guys, sorry I’m late. . . I was. . . ”
“Save it Gage, we got a lead on that drug ring, and we’ve got to get going before the deal goes down and we aren’t there. Where were you anyway?”
“I told you I was going to see Billy today, we just kind of lost track of time. I’m sorry honey”
“It’s all right. . . this time. Let’s go.”
Warehouse District, Downtown Dallas
“Here’s your money Tommy, I kept up my part of the bargain, now are you going to keep yours?” The Hispanic turned to his assistant and took a black brief case and opened it.
“Calm down, Jose, it’s all right here.” He turned to the man behind him. As he took the brief case and was turning back to Jose, he saw a shadow under the door.
“But I think we’re going to have to curb this bargain, we have company. . . get out of here. . . now!”
“Texas Rangers.” Sydney Cooke Gage called as she kicked the door in. Surprised, and alert, she walked through the door to a seemingly empty room. Staying on guard, she checked the room carefully before moving through the door on the other side of the storage room.
CRASH!
Sydney ran through the door towards where her partner and husband had been coming through in case anyone had tried to run out the back. Looking behind her, the Dallas PD officers were bringing in the dogs to search the warehouse.
She kept running, hoping beyond hope that the crash she heard hadn’t had anything to do with Gage. Gun drawn, and eyes searching endlessly, Sydney walked stealthily between the rows of boxes. God, she thought, I hope Gage doesn’t see me in here; I just got him to stop calling me Shorty.
“What do you think now, Mr. Texas Ranger, hunh? You ain’t so tough when you’re by yourself, are you.”
Syd could hear the pain in Gage’s voice when he replied, “What, you think you got anything. . . four on one, great odds, you. . . ”
Eyes widening, Sydney didn’t know why Gage stopped talking. She hears sounds of punches landing, and feared for her husband. She couldn’t seem to point out where he was in this maze until she saw some boxes ahead of her start to fall. Stepping back out of the avalanche, she held her gun on whoever had come flying though.
Relieved that it wasn’t Gage, she slapped cuffs on him and peered around the wall in time to see him still being held by two of the biggest goons she’d ever seen. The last of Gage’s newfound problem was slightly smaller and smarter than his boss, who he’d just seen go flying from the ranger’s feet.
“Get him down on his knees. I’ll deal with him this way.” Sydney took this opportunity to announce her presence.
“Texas Rangers. Let him go.”
“Ha ha, big ole’ ranger needs to be saved by this little filly. What’s the matter Shorty, don’t wanna see this pretty boy with his face all bloodied?”
“No one calls me Shorty. . . well, almost no one.” She smiled at her husband, knowing she’d pay for that comment later, as she holstered her gun and started circling.
“You guys never learn do you?” Gage asked his captors as he spun on his knees, kicking out both men’s ankles. “The bigger you are, well, the harder. . . umph.” Both men had fallen, all right; they’d fallen directly on Gage and they weren’t getting up.
“Great, just great,” stuck as he was, he could only hope that Sydney was holding her own with Jose’s assistant. He pushed as hard as he could, but he had done a face plant into the floor and was trapped on his stomach, and couldn’t get any leverage against his heavyweight captors.
After Sydney spun and knocked out her attacker, she turned to her bruised and battered husband…and laughed. “Gage, do you need some help?”
“What does it look like, Shorty? You think I’m just lying here for my health?”
“Well maybe I should just leave you there for awhile. . . I thought I told you not to call me Shorty?”
“Yeah, Hun, but you told me not to call you Syd either, but I don’t hear you complaining about that one anymore, do I?” He smirked. “Now come on, get ‘em off me, they’re heavy you know!”
“All right, I’ll get ‘em off big shot, but you owe me dinner for it.”
“Aww, come on Syd, you don’t really want to go out again for dinner, do you?” Gage smiled hopefully.
“Oh no, you don’t get off that easy. . . home made dinner. . . by you. . . and no take out.”
“You really want toast for dinner, okay. . . Texas toast, French toast, or just plain toast?” He laughed this time.
“Grr. . . I should just leave you here to suff. . . ” she trailed off when she saw Gage’s mask of calm break for just an instant. . . he was hurting.
“Hang on, Gage, I’ll see if I can roll them off.” That one instant of seeing her love in more pain than he was letting on was enough to stop her from joking around and get down to business.
“Gage, are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, course I am, just got worked over a little. Help me up, will ya, Syd?” he asked innocently. His face was bruised and there were some minor cuts, but other than that, he looked okay.
“You’re sure you’re all right? You look horrible.”
“Gee thanks. I’m fine, just a little. . . ahh.” He clutched his side and grimaced. “Okay, so my ribs hurt a little, but really, I’m okay.”
“So you don’t need to get checked out, right. . . I don’t have to worry about it, right?”
“I’ll be okay Shorty, just need a couple aspirin and maybe, umm, some good food tonight. . . ” he said hopefully.
“I don’t think so, you. . . you aren’t weaseling out of cooking dinner that easily.” She smacked him on the arm.
“Oww. . . two seconds ago you were concerned about my well being, and now you’re beating me up. . . geez!” Gage retorted in mock pain.
“And you said you were fine. I don’t want to hear about it later, Francis.”
“I’ve asked you not to call me that, Syd.”
“And what about Shorty, or Syd. . . are those any different?”
“Yes, they are. . . umm. . . those are terms of endearment I use for you…Francis is, well, it’s. . . it’s just bad, that’s all.”
Meanwhile. . .
“Billy, I know you can’t hear me, so I don’t expect you to understand, but you can’t go back to that school. You’re going to stay with me now, and we’re going to go someplace where your mom can’t find us.”
Billy, who could read lips, tried to sign to his father that he wanted to go back to school, that he was still learning, and that they could help his dad too, like they had helped Ranger Sydney learn. He knew his dad couldn’t understand him, and he had been deaf for as long as he could remember, so he hadn’t fully developed his speech.
“Don’t you get it kiddo? I can’t understand you and your hand. . . things. I don’t get it, but we’ll work it out. Now all I gotta do is get us out of the country and away from your mom. Tommy said he’d help me with that.”
“Gage, wake up and pick up your phone. It’s been ringing off the hook for five minutes now!”
“What? Oh, sorry. . . Ranger Gage. . . ”
“What, when? I saw him today yeah.”
“Yeah, I’ll be right there. Syd, lets go.”
“Wait, where?”
“Billy disappeared from the school today, shortly after I left.”
“Yeah, okay, let’s go. . . but I’m driving.” Gage started to argue, but one very well placed jab to his ribs changed his mind.
“. . . so I left him with his dad in the hallway.” Gage signed to the head of the school.
“You did what?!? His parents are divorced and his mother has full custody. His father isn’t even supposed to come around here.”
“I didn’t know. You think Billy would leave with his dad? I’m sorry, I just didn’t know.”
“He probably doesn’t know about what goes on between his parents. As far as I know, there wasn’t any reason for Billy to be afraid of his dad, I mean, he didn’t abuse him or anything. So he may have simply assumed that his dad had come back to see him.”
“We’ll find him and get him back, I promise. It’s because of him and his friends that I got through that time, and I feel like I owe that to him at least.”
Outside the Dallas School for the Deaf
As Gage and Sydney walked out of the school, she had to ask. “Did you get a good luck at the guy?”
“No, Syd, I didn’t…he was all the way across the room, I wasn’t really paying attention, and he had some hat on, a Cowboys hat I think. It’s all my fault, Syd. He called out to Billy, if he’d really known him, he wouldn’t have done that.”
“Aww Gage, you said yourself that Billy ran to him and hugged him. You couldn’t have known that he wasn’t supposed to go see his dad. You can’t blame yourself.”
“Yeah, but if I’d checked it out, maybe he’d still be safe right now.”
“You don’t know that he isn’t safe Gage, he’s probably just fine. You heard her; there wasn’t any sign of abuse or anything.”
“Then why did Billy’s mom get full custody, hunh?”
“Well let’s go ask her, get in, I’m still driving.”
“Well that didn’t do us much, now did it? She doesn’t know where her husband is, he doesn’t have a record of any kind, and the last she knew, he was staying at a friend’s place, so we can’t get an address. Either this guy is really smart about not being found, or he’s the world’s luckiest guy.”
“Gage, calm down, we’ll find Billy, and he’ll be okay. She didn’t blame you for this, she said so herself. You’ve gotta stop beating yourself up about this.”
“I know, but I keep thinking that if only I’d looked more carefully at the guy, or asked Billy who he was or something. . . damn it, I don’t know, but he trusts me, and I gotta find him, Syd, I just have to!”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, what’s going on in here, Gage?” Walker asked from the door. He’d walked in as Gage had slammed his fist down on his desk.
The two Gages explained the situation, and Walker said he’d look into it too, and do what he could. Then, seeing Gage’s face, sent the two junior rangers home for the day.
“Sydney, hold up a second.”
“All right, Gage, I’ll meet you at the car. You can think of what you’re gonna cook for dinner tonight. But, and I’m loving this, I’m driving, so don’t even think about it. I’ll be right down.”
“All right, Syd, see you in a few.”
“Yeah, Walker?”
“I know I probably don’t have to tell you this, but keep an eye on him. Since I’ve known him, he’s tried to protect everyone he can. He doesn’t know how to fail at that, and this is going to hit him hard. It’ll probably hit him harder later on, when he’s had more time to think about it. Just watch out for him, and be there for him.”
“I will, Walker, I will.”
Warehouse district, Downtown Dallas
“Tommy, you in here? Tommy? Hello?”
“Geez, Mike what are you doing here, I told you not to come here. . . wait, who’s the kid?”
“This is Billy, my son. I know you said that if I ever needed to get out of the country for a while you could arrange it. Well, Toms, I need to get out of the country, and fast. I think a ranger knows I’ve got Billy, and I don’t wanna lose him.”
“A ranger, hunh? Boy, Mike, you sure know how to pick them. I think I can manage something for you. What’s this ranger look like?”
“Tall, blonde and blue, looks like he’d kick my ass if he wanted to. Name’s Gage, or something like that, I guess he knows Billy.”
“Ranger Gage, sounds like the guy I beat out of the warehouse earlier today. You’re right; he could kick you up and down Dallas. I’m just glad I got out of here before he caught up to me. He took care of a couple. . . umm. . . friends of mine today real easily. I think I can take care of your problem for you, in fact, I’d be glad to. . . ”
The Gage household
“Sydney, where’s the. . . uhh. . . you know. . . that spice stuff. . . what’s it called?”
“You better not be making a mess of my kitchen in there. What are you making anyway?”
“Do you really want to know? You sure you don’t want to go out for dinner. . . Syd?”
“No I do not want to go out for dinner,” she said as she walked into the kitchen to survey the damage.
To her surprise, there wasn’t any mess, and Gage was smiling that All-American smile that she’d fallen in love with the day they’d met. Instead, there was an aroma in the air of lightly spiced chicken from the oven, peas and carrots in the microwave, and rolls warming on the stovetop.
“Gage, how. . . what. . . but. . . That smells great!”
“Aww, it’s nothing, Julie taught me a while ago, and I’ve been waiting to try out her recipe.” He looked down at the floor, and Syd had to wonder what was going through his head at that instant. She slid forward and embraced him, hoping that whatever it was, she could make the hurt go away, enough so that he’d be okay.
He hugged her back, and, after kissing her forehead, rested his chin on her head. As she felt the solitary tear that escaped his façade of strength fall into her hair, she held him tighter, accidentally making him gasp as his ribs screamed at her gesture.
“Oh, Gage, I’m sorry, I forgot. Let me see those ribs of yours.”
“They’re fine Syd,” he said, pulling away carefully. “I swear, they’re just sore, I’m all right. And we don’t want the chicken burn do we?”
She looked at him skeptically, he sounded like their 4 year old, Taylor, did when he’d broken something and didn’t want mom and dad to know. Taylor was off visiting her mother and brothers for the week. Sydney didn’t, however, want to bruise his pride anymore, and figured that if they got really bad, he’d let her know.
“Okay, mister, but if. . . ”
“I know Syd, I will.”
“You’d better, now is that chicken anywhere near done?”
“Patience my love, patience. It’s almost ready. Do you want to set the table, or is that part of this deal too?” Gone was that momentary glimpse of his invincibility, replaced again with his smile.
“I’ll go set the table, and then I’m going to call mom to say hi to Tay.”
“All right, Shorty. I’ll call you when dinner’s ready. Tell the little monster I said hi, and I miss him.”
“I can do better than that,” she said a minute later with her ear to the phone, “someone wants to talk to you.” She hoped that the sound of his son could lighten Gage’s mood.
After talking to Taylor, however, Gage seemed more withdrawn and perspective than he had been, and it worried Sydney. It seemed that his cherub only reminded him more of Billy.
“Gage, honey, come watch a movie with me,” coaxed Syd, hoping to distract Gage.
“All right, what do you want to watch?”
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just see what’s on.”
He came and sat down on the corner of the couch, letting her lie up against his side, in attempt to prove that his ribs really were okay. Syd, who had ulterior motives, slowly unbuttoned his shirt and lay against his hard stomach. In the light of the room, she could see the deep bruises that he had been hiding from her, obviously not wanting her to worry.
“Gage. . . ” she sat up quickly to confront and comfort him, but his head was resting against the back of the couch. Sydney smiled, it was so like him to fall asleep that quickly when she was there. She lay back down carefully, and they woke up there the next morning.
Warehouse District
“So, Mike, are you sure you’re ready for this? Once you start, there’s no going back.”
“If it gets this ranger out of my hair and Billy’s life, then I’m all for it. So what’s the plan?”
“Well, I’ll bring you across the border after we deal with this Gage feller, and then that’s it, you’re on your own. Whatever you do after that is up to you, and we’re even. None of this ever happened, and I’m one of Billy’s uncles if he ever identifies me. Understood?”
“Yeah, sure Tommy, and you want nothing else in return, right? There isn’t going to be something held over my head after right?”
“No, I’m returning you a favor, and this ranger problem is free of charge. He’s messing with my business, and I want him and his partner out of it. If this works, they’ll both be too preoccupied with things to bother me and my operation.”
Headquarters
“Well, Gage, you look a little better today than you did. Feeling any better?”
“Yeah, Trivette, I feel fine, thanks. . . What, Syd?”
“Nothing, nothing at all,” he didn’t know, of course, that she’d seen his ribs, and she didn’t want to bring him down any further.
“Well, Walker wants you to catch up on your paperwork today. . . I think that he wants to know if you still have a desk under there or if it’s all files.”
“All right, all right, I get the point already. You don’t want to help, do you Shorty?”
“Not on your life, Francis. . . this is your mess, and you get to be stuck here cleaning it up.”
“Aww, all right, you go have fun. . . or something like that.”
“Fine then, maybe I will!” They both laughed, knowing that at one point they really did sound like that.
“Well, Sydney, you’re gonna get your wish to give Gage some peace and quiet. Seems ole Tommy is up to it again. Maybe we’ll get him today.”
“Where’s Walker today?”
“Angela had a doctor’s appointment and Alex is in court. He’ll be in later to keep you company Gage, don’t worry.” They walked out the door laughing.
Gage out on his headphones and sat down to tackle the mountain that was his desk and back reports that had to be finished. With his back to the door, he didn’t hear the deliveryman come in, and only stood to intercept the tire iron aimed at his head when his danger sense kicked in. Turning, he deflected the iron, only to have it catch him in the ribs.
As he doubled over, he tried to catch his attacker by surprise, and looked up into Tommy’s eyes. That was the last thing he saw as the tire iron met with its original target, and Gage slumped down in back of his desk wondering if Syd was okay as blackness engulfed him.
“Sydney, something’s wrong here, there hasn’t been anyone in this place for awhile by the looks of it.” Trivette called her attention to the dust that had settled over anything.
“Yeah, I know. I wonder where that tip came from that it was going down today?”
“It was an anonymous tip. We’d better get back to headquarters before Gage gets lost in that paperwork we left him.” He laughed as he could picture what Gage was trying to do to get through all the files.
“All right, hope he hasn’t found the files that I didn’t finish that I stuck on his desk. You think he’ll realize it?”
“Sydney!”
“What?”
“Hey Gage, sorry I’m late, Angela needed some booster before school starts, and she wasn’t exactly happy about. . . Gage?” Walker had finally looked up from the file he’d been handed on his way up and noticed that the junior partner who he had agreed to put on desk duty for a few days was nowhere to be found.
“Hey, Walker, how was the doctor’s appointment? Walker…Walker? Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Isn’t Gage with you,” he asked as he turned and saw only Sydney and Trivette.
“No, he was supposed to be finishing his files today. That’s what you told us to tell him, isn’t it?” Sydney’s eyes betrayed the calm she was trying to portray.
“Yes, so I’m sure he just went to get a drink or something. He’ll be back in a minute. I haven’t been here that long.”
“Walker, look at this…there’s blood or something on these files,” Trivette whispered so that Sydney wouldn’t hear, or so they hoped.
“What? Blood! Walker, he’s hurt. . . where is he, Walker?” Sydney’s knees started to buckle and she collapsed into her chair before she fell.
“Sydney, he’ll be all right, you have to believe that.”
“But what if he’s not this time? They got him inside headquarters, Walker. . . he was surrounded by police. . . he should have been safe,” she paused to recompose herself. “I know he’ll be okay, I’m sorry.”
“Sydney, whoever did this was very good, but they wouldn’t have gone to all of this trouble if all they’d wanted to do was kill him. He’ll be all right, for now, so we need to concentrate on finding him. All right?”
Route 75
Gage fought to overcome the blackness that had engulfed him for so long now. When he finally opened his eyes, it was only to stare into more blackness. His first thought was that he was blind, but as he shook his head to clear it, he felt the cloth brushing across his nose.
“Well, Ranger, welcome back. I do hope your head doesn’t hurt too badly,” someone laughed as the van bumped along, heading north out of Dallas.
“What do you want?” He thought it was a reasonable question to ask. Apparently he was wrong when a shoe caught him in the ribs rather awkwardly. Gage thought he hears someone squeak and assumed that there was a young boy with them from the sound of that voice…if you could call it that. There was something oddly familiar about it though.
“All in good time, Ranger Gage, but until then, I would advise you to keep your mouth shut,” said another voice from somewhere in front of him. “Billy, stay here, keep your seatbelt on.”
“Billy?” Gage thought. “No way. . . why does Tommy have Billy?” He knew it would do no good to call out to Billy, but when he felt the trembling little boy push up next to him, he figured that Tommy and Billy’s dad were up to something together. His only concerns were to get the boy out of there.
He reached around to the front of Billy and signed that he was okay and to go back and put his seatbelt on as he felt himself succumbing to the blackness once more.
A river somewhere north of Dallas
“Get up, get out here!” Tommy yelled to Gage, who stumbled out of the van with his hands now tied behind his back. Tommy removed the hood that had been pulled over Gage’s head, and smiled as he grimaced at the bright sunlight. The blood on the side of Gage’s head and the swelling from the blow had completely covered his left eye, but he could see that Billy looked to be all right.
“Billy,” he said slowly, seeing that the boy was looking at him, “are you all right?”
“He can’t here you, dumb ass, why do you bother asking. . . ” Mike was surprised when Billy responded to Gage and the ranger smiled. . . he understood. “How do you do that?”
“What, I listen to him, that’s all.”
“Mike, let’s go, don’t talk to him, he’ll just confuse you. Let’s get this over and done with already.”
“Yeah, no problem.” He jabbed the gun into Gage’s back and told him to get moving.
“Where are we going, what’s going on?” Gage asked, not taking his eyes off the scared child walking in front of him.
“Just shut up back there, all right, you’ll know soon enough!”
They hiked for over an hour, the pain in Gage’s ribs and head escalating with each step. Every time he slowed or fell, as happened often enough, Tommy doubled back and took out the delay on Gage again and again. Billy looked on with tears in his eyes, too young and afraid to help his friend.
“God, Trivette, what’s wrong with this picture? There aren’t any prints, nothing to suggest that anything happened here besides Gage’s blood. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“I know, Walker, whoever did this was good. No one remembers seeing anyone unusual walking in here, and no one saw Gage step out.”
“Guys, I just talked to the front desk, a delivery guy came by yesterday with a package for Gage, it’s a long shot, but what do you want to bet that that is how they got in here?”
“That’s possible Sydney. Didn’t you say that there was a package from Julie on Gage’s desk? Call her and see if she sent him anything, and I’ll open it.”
“All right, I’ll get her number from Gage’s desk, she shouldn’t be on assignment, she hasn’t called recently to tell Gage she was going anywhere. I should tell her about Gage, she should know.”
After she called and confirmed that the package wasn’t from her, she let Walker and Trivette know that Julie was coming down. She hoped that they’d have some more news for Julie when she got there.
After Sydney had left to meet Julie, Walker and Trivette looked down into the package that had been left for Gage. Inside was only a note that asked if the Rangers had ever gone whitewater rafting because Gage was going to get a crash course in how to navigate the river.
“So that narrows it down a whole lot as to where Gage is,” Trivette replied sarcastically.
“Tell me about it, there are countless places that they could have gone.”
The River
“We’ll camp here tonight, and get to the river in the morning.” Tommy told Mike as they tied Gage to a tree far from the fire and their tents.
“I’d argue with you, but Billy’s falling asleep, and he’s hungry as anything.”
Gage’s head dropped to his chest in defeat as he knew that there was nothing he could do tonight. He was in for a long night, he knew, as the wind was picking up and it was getting cold. Sitting against the tree, he tried to wiggle free of the ropes, but all he managed was to make his wrists bleed. He settled down to sleep, hoping that Sydney wasn’t too worried and that Billy was all right for the night.
The next morning. . .
“Wake up, already. . . c’mon, get up. . . uhh, Tommy. . . something’s wrong I think.”
“Just kick him a few times, and if that doesn’t work, put a bullet near his head. . . that’ll do the trick.”
Gage had passed out sometime around 2 a.m. and hadn’t responded to Mike’s threats for about ten minutes when he heard the gun go off, splintering pieces of wood above his head. He jumped, and heard Tommy’s “I told you so” remark to Mike. He stood, hoping to find his hands untied for the moment, but Mike wasn’t dumb, and had already retied Gage’s hands behind his back.
They hiked until almost noon when Billy stumbled over a rock and sat down crying. When Mike had been unable to comfort him, Tommy untied Gage and told him to shut the kid up. He told him that if he tried anything, the kid would get it.
“Billy,” Gage signed, knowing the boy wasn’t as hurt as he let on, “what’s wrong?”
“I saw them talking last night, Ranger Gage. I’m scared.”
“It’s going to be all right, kiddo, I won’t let them hurt you. Can you stop crying so that I can think of a way out of this?”
“I guess so.”
“Thataboy. . . we’ll get out of this. . .” somehow, Gage thought.
Tommy retied Gage’s hands while Mike trained the gun on him, and they pressed forward. Late in the afternoon, they reached a drop off point in the river, where a raft was docked and abandoned.
“End of the line, Ranger, it’s been a pleasure.” Without warning, Tommy cocked the gun and shot Gage in the chest. Feeling himself falling into the water, Gage could only hope that Billy had been turned away. As the cold from the rushing water overtook him, Gage didn’t hear the splash of another diving into the water after him, trying to save him.
“Billy, no!” Mike yelled as his son jumped in the river after Gage. Tommy had to hold Mike back, telling him that it was no use; the current had already taken them both.
Billy had always considered himself a strong swimmer, but nothing prepared the 11 year old for the current that he had jumped into. All he could do was keep his feet downstream and try to keep his head above the waves. As he was pulled downstream, his smaller body was propelled faster, and he soon caught up to the unconscious ranger. He held on with all his might and prayed to God to let them both survive.
“Sydney, why don’t you go on home? It’s getting late anyway, and you look like you could use some rest.”
“I can’t sleep when I’m there anyway, Walker, it’s not worth it. I think I’m going to call Julie and see if she wants to go to CD’s for dinner though. And Tay’s supposed to be coming home tomorrow…God, Walker, what am I going to tell him?”
“Tell him that his dad is working on a case and will be home as soon as he can. You don’t have to tell him yet that Gage is missing. If you and Julie want, why don’t you come to the ranch tonight? It’ll be a place to sleep, and it will get you two away from your house. Then you can pick up Taylor tomorrow and spend the day with him.”
“Walker, we couldn’t impose. Julie and I will be fine at home.”
“I insist, you look like you haven’t slept since Gage disappeared, and from what I saw of Julie last night, I don’t think she has either.” Sydney continued to argue until Alex came down and agreed with Walker.
“I’m heading home now, Sydney, so why don’t you go pick up Julie and come on over.” Alex said assertively, leaving no room to argue.
“All right, Alex, Julie and I will meet you there in an hour or so,” Sydney replied, defeated. She walked out of Company B and down the stairs, thinking that she wasn’t going to sleep no matter where she was; not as long as Gage wasn’t there to hold her close.
“I know, Julie, but you’ve tried to argue with them before, and you know how well that works.”
“Yeah, you’re right, I just get the feeling that if we leave, Gage may try to call here.” Julie was close to tears, but knew that she had to stay strong for Sydney. She turned to her room to pack some things for the night, missing the unshed tears in Sydney’s eyes as well. Both women were worried beyond belief for Gage, but neither was willing to break down in front of the other. . . until then.
Sydney walked into her room and opened the closet to get her bag. As she bent down, her eyes stopped on Gage’s shoes. Funny, she thought, a little thing like a person’s shoes were enough to shatter the barrier that seemed so strong for everything else. It was there that Julie found her a couple minutes later, and as she reached down to comfort her sister-in-law, the tears she had held in as well finally spilled.
“I can’t believe he’s not here right now, I just keep seeing him hurt somewhere and I can’t do anything to stop it. He’s my little brother, Sydney, and I can’t save him this time, I can’t protect him.”
“I know what you mean. In the field, I’m always there to watch his back, and he watches mine, but there’s no way to help him right now, I don’t even know where to look. All we know is that he’s near a river somewhere, and it’s a river that you can’t raft on. There’s a million of those in Texas. . . if they’re even still in Texas.”
“He was always there to protect me, in foster care, and after, I just wish I could return the favor to him now. Now, when it is this important. But if I know anything about Gage, honey, it’s that he can take care of himself. We both have to believe that he’s all right, and we have to pray.”
The Walker Ranch
“Walker, do you think that it’s possible that Gage is dead? I mean, that note, and it’s been a couple days now. . . you don’t think. . . ?”
“No, Alex, I don’t think that. . . I can’t think that. . . for Sydney’s sake, he’d better still be alive,” Walker stumbled through, betraying his calm exterior as well as his fears for his junior ranger.
“Well, Julie and Sydney should be here soon, and you’d better have a better answer to that question to that. Now, do you think Gage is still alive?”
“Yeah, I sure do, Alex. . . I sure do.” He looked down and then up at his wife, “Is that any better?”
Despite the fact that his question had such grave meaning behind it, Alex had to laugh. “Yeah, Cowboy, that’s better.”
As they said that, Walker heard a car coming up the driveway. They went out to meet Sydney and Julie, and though Walker missed it, Alex could tell that the two had only recently dried their tears.
“Hey Julie, Sydney, how are you two holding up?” Walker asked, making Alex want to elbow him.
“We’re okay, Walker, I think we both just need a good night’s sleep right about now. Thank you for letting us stay here for the night.” Sydney replied, trying to mask the sadness that was emanating from the two women.
“You can stay as long as you need, don’t worry about it. If you’ll excuse me, a certain 5-year old of mine needs to be picked up. I’ll be back in a little while, make yourselves comfortable, please.”
“Walker. . . ?” Sydney got his attention meekly.
“Yeah?”
“He’s going to be okay, right. I mean, we’re going to find him soon aren’t we?”
“Yeah, Sydney, he sure is.” Walker turned to his Ram before he said anything else to betray his unsure feelings on the matter. He wanted Gage to be alive, but he couldn’t be sure; and there was no way to find out. He spent the entire ride to the HOPE Center praying to God that he’d be able to find Gage alive, for Sydney and Julie’s sakes.
HOPE Center
“Daddy, daddy, I missed you!” Angela yelled as she jumped into her father’s waiting arms. She kissed him, and laughed when he turned her upside down and then tossed her around to his back to make his way out to the truck.
“We’re going to have company tonight, sweetie. You remember Sydney, right?”
“Of course, daddy. Why’s she gonna be here?”
“Well, since Gage is on a case, she and Gage’s sister, Julie, are going to keep us company for a little while.”
“Until Uncle Gage comes home?”
“Something like that honey, something like that.” Walker wished that he could end the conversation, it was something that he didn’t want to talk about, but his young imp was full of questions today.
“Is little Taylor going to be there, daddy?”
“Not tonight, sweetheart, Taylor’s still at his grandma’s house until tomorrow. Maybe you can see him then.”
“Cool. Can we go riding after dinner, Daddy. . . PLEASE, please, please, pretty please?”
“I think we can convince Mommy to let us out for a short ride. Would it be okay if we asked Sydney and Julie to come too?” Walker pried, knowing that going riding may take all their minds off of Gage for at least a little while.
“Well, okay, I guess so.” Angela smiled at the thought of going for a night ride with her “rough and tough” dad, as her mom so often joked.
“Tommy, my son just dove into the river after that ranger, and you stopped me? How could you?” The distraught and very upset Mike ranted as he paced between two old trees.
“Mike, think about it. There’s nothing you can do for now. You’d never catch up to him, and you’d probably just end up getting yourself killed in the process. Now the rapids here pan out about a mile down, if, and I stress if, they make it, that’s where your son will be able to pull that ranger’s body out, and that’s where we’ll find him. So let’s go.”
“Do you think he’ll make it, Tommy?”
“Honestly, Mike, no, I don’t. But there is a possibility, and we have to make sure that the ranger’s dead, or we’re going to have some major problems ahead of us.”
“Well let’s go then. ‘Cuz if that ranger ain’t dead, I’m gonna kill him myself for involving Billy in this!”
“Uh, Mike. . . never mind.” Tommy knew that it wasn’t that ranger Gage, or whatever it was, who was responsible for the boy being there, but if that anger was turned towards the ranger and not him, then all the power to Mike.
Walker Ranch
“So, Sydney, how about it?” Walker asked as he let his darling convince mom that even though it was a school night, a short ride on Amigo with dad was okay. Walker knew, somehow, that Angela would have an easier time convincing Alex than he would.
“I guess so, Walker. Yeah, I think it might help us both out a little. Let me change and get Julie and we’ll meet you and Angela down by the barn.”
“That is, if she can convince Alex to let her go with us.” Walker smiled and turned to catch his ecstatic five-year old as she jumped for his back.
“Daddy, daddy, daddy, mom said I can go. . . if she can go too. I told her that it was ‘otay’ with me.”
“That’s ‘okay’ sweetie, and I think that’s fine. Go get your boots.”
The ride went smoothly, and as Walker expected, both took Julie and Sydney’s mind off of Gage as well as tired them both out. Within minutes of getting back both women and one very happy little girl were sleeping.
Later that evening. . .
The phone rang, rather late for the Walker household, late enough that Walker jumped to answer it before it woke anyone else. He’d still been up thinking about. . . what else, Gage.
“Hello? Do you know what time it is, Trivette? What do you want?”
“Yes, I know that you had surveillance set up on Jose Manuel. What about it?”
“Okay, so you caught him with a lot of heroin. Why exactly are you calling me this late?”
“What? Wait, say that again. Slowly, Trivette, I can’t understand you.”
“I’ll be right down. Yes, just let me tell Alex where I’m going. I’ll meet you at headquarters as soon as I can.”
“So where is he?”
“Jose said that he’s supposed to meet Tommy and finish this deal that Gage and Sydney broke up last week at this river. . . here. It’s worth a look isn’t it?”
“You bet it is, and you aren’t going without us.” Sydney stepped out from behind the open door with Julie right behind.
“Don’t you think it would be better if. . . ”
“Walker, give it up,” it was Trivette speaking, “Do you honestly think you’re going to win with these two? Look at them.”
“Thank you Trivette. Walker?”
“All right, you can come. If…when we find him, he’s going to want to know that you’re all right, so you may as well be there. But you will stay in. . . oh never mind, it’s no use, and I don’t want to write you up for disobeying an order. We’ll get a chopper in the morning and get down there to see what’s going on.”
“Tomorrow? What if he’s hurt? Why can’t we go now?” Julie was so close to getting her kid brother back, and now Walker was going to wait another six hours at least.
“Julie, Walker and Trivette can’t get a chopper until tomorrow morning, and it would take us longer to get there by car than it would to go home, get a good night’s sleep, and fly out tomorrow morning. I want to find him too, but we’re going to be trekking tomorrow to find him, and we need rest to do that.”
Sydney was supporting almost all of Julie’s weight as she had nearly collapsed from having to wait even longer. Walker and Trivette both stepped forward and helped them into chairs. Walker smiled, knowing that Sydney was out of her ‘oh my God, my husband’s missing’ and back into ‘Texas Ranger’ mode.
“All right, Trivette, we’ll meet you here at six tomorrow morning. Be ready for. . . anything I guess. We may be hiking, rafting, who knows at this point. I’m going to get them home. I’ll leave my truck here for the night. Neither of them is up for driving again.”
“All right, I’ll see you three tomorrow.”
“So you know where he is?” Alex asked as Walker finally joined her in bed.
“We don’t know for sure, but it’s the biggest lead we’ve had so far.”
“Walker, Sydney was supposed to pick up Taylor tomorrow, remember? If she’s with you, what’s going to happen to him? Her mother is going to Chicago, and can’t take him.”
“I think we all forgot about that. Feel like taking a trip to Austin?”
“I think I can manage that. Let Sydney know in the morning, and have her call her mother, okay?”
“I think I can manage that. I love you.”
“I love you too, Cowboy. Now, you’re going to be out in the woods with two women for, probably, the next couple of days. How about you prove to me that. . .”
At that instant, Angela did something that she’d been doing since the day they’d brought her home; she stole the attention away from her parents’ intimate moment.
“Mommy, Daddy!”
“Right on cue, of course. Coming Angela!”
Running into her room, they found Angela sitting straight up in bed, clutching the teddy bear that Gage had given her for her birthday, crying.
“What’s the matter, honey?” The two concerned parents sat on either side of Angela and hugged her.
“I had a bad dream about Uncle Gage. Is he all right?”
“He’s fine, sweetie. Daddy and Sydney, and Julie are going to see him tomorrow. Why?”
“I had a dream that he was all wet, and he was wearing a light blue shirt, but it was all red in the front. It looked scary.”
Alex looked up at Walker and then the ceiling and muttered something about being Cherokee, and her father’s daughter.
“I’m sure he’s all right, sweetie.”
“Can I sleep with you tonight, daddy?”
“Well. . . I have to get up really early to go see Gage, but I guess that would be okay.” He picked her up and brought her back to their room. She was, of course, asleep by the time he got there.
Tommy and Mike had made it about half way to the calm in the river before darkness descended upon them and they made camp for the night. Mike was upset at this move, but the loud cries of wildlife in the woods around them changed his mind rather quickly. He wanted his son back, safe in his arms, but he did not want to tangle with a mountain lion or whatever else, to do it. All he could do was pray that his son was all right, and not too cold or hurt.
Ranger helo-pad
“Sydney, Alex said that she would go and pick up Taylor for you as long as you called your mother to let her know she was coming.”
“Oh my God, Walker, I forgot all about him coming home today, let me call her right now.” Slightly embarrassed, Sydney called her mother to let her know why she wasn’t picking up Taylor. Her mother was, of course, sympathetic and understanding, and welcomed the chance to see Alex again.
The three concerned rangers kept silent on their ride to the river where, hopefully, this nightmare would end. There was one who was thinking of his wife and child, and how much they needed him to return quickly. There was another who was thinking of the women he loved at home, and of the life they had only begun to share. Sydney was thinking of young Taylor, already a spitting image of his father, and of how much he needed to be raised by both of his parents. All three were, of course, thinking of and praying for their missing friend, partner, and husband.
Billy was battered and bruised when he finally pulled himself and Gage out of the river. Collapsing near the water’s edge, he turned to the ranger and pulled him a little further up on the bank. Gage’s shirt was torn and blood stained and more blood was pouring out of the hole in his chest. Billy, unsure of what he could really do to help, pulled off his shirt and pushed hard against the damage that his father’s friend had done. Gage had hit his head somewhere on the trip downstream, and blood was slowly seeping from a gash on the back of his head.
“I wish I knew how to help you, ranger,” Billy thought as he lay his exhausted head down near Gage’s head. He was shocked not to feel anything coming out of the man’s mouth. Fearing that his friend was dead, Billy got up, knelt next to the body, and prayed. When that didn’t seem to produce any sudden miracles, the boy finally broke down over all the events that he had been a part of in the past few days.
Overcome with grief and pain, Billy pounded on Gage’s chest in anger. Finally exhausted, he lay his head down on Gage’s chest and cried. His friend was gone. It was all his father’s fault, he concluded. Again, he sat up and pounded on Gage, thinking that he was a ranger, he was supposed to be invincible.
For the first time in his life, Billy was truly angry. Still pounding on Gage’s chest, he thought, “You’re the ranger, the hero. You were supposed to rescue me, not the other way around! Please, God, bring him back for me and Sydney.”
As his head dropped again, he felt Gage turn over and spit up the water that had invaded his lungs. Gage’s hand reached for his chest, and he moaned as he tried to sit up and found he was too weak and dizzy.
He tapped Billy’s shoulder, and smiled slightly to let the boy know he was okay, and signed to him to help him the rest of the way out of the water and over to the trees. It had been only minutes from the time he’d sunk back down that he heard rustling in the bushes behind him. Afraid of who, or what, was out in the woods, he motioned for Billy to be silent.
“Walker, we’re never going to find Gage out here. It’s hopeless.” Sydney cried out as they had been searching nonstop since the morning.
“Have faith, Sydney, we’ll find him, and he’ll be okay.”
Regardless of Gage’s precautions, Tommy and Mike made their way out of the brush and trained guns on him.
“Well, well, well. Lookie what we have here. Look’s like it’s harder to kill a Texas Ranger than we thought. I guess we’ll have to remedy that situation, now won’t we?”
“Tommy, at least let him take Billy out of here first. Please?”
“Yeah, Tommy, I don’t want him to see this. Gimme a minute would you?”
“Yeah, Mike, whatever, just make it quick.”
Young Billy stepped in front of Gage as if to protect him. Gage, looking down and then back at the boy, tapped him and pleaded with him to go with his father. Finally, Mike grabbed the boy and lifted him out of the way.
Tommy looked down the barrel of his gun at the already injured ranger, and thought he’d make him suffer for the trouble he’d caused. Tucking his gun in his pants, he placed several very accurate kicks to Gage’s ribs. As the helpless ranger curled on the ground, Tommy moved on and took his anger out on Gage’s head, and finally, stomped down on his prey’s wrist. He stepped back and laughed.
“Not so much of a pretty boy now, are you ranger? Looks like your luck has finally run out.” He pulled out his gun again, and was set to finish the deed when he was knocked to the ground. Bewildered, he looked up into the very angry eyes of Walker. Just out of his line of vision, Tommy saw Sydney run to her husband’s aide, and saw Trivette holding a very defeated Mike. Billy was already at Gage’s side.
After Walker subdued Tommy, Sydney shoved her senior out of the way and continued to beat Tommy as only a woman could. As she had him in a chokehold, Walker stepped in. He could do nothing to let her go, and it was only as Gage called out weakly to her that she let go and allowed Walker to take over again.
“Hey, tough guy, I missed you.” She said with tears in her eyes, surveying the damage that her husband had been put through.
“Hey, Shorty,” he smiled back, and then, as another pain wracked his chest, he looked up into her eyes, “Syd, Sydney, I love you. Tell Taylor that I’m sorry. . . ahh.”
“You tell him yourself when you see him.” She couldn’t lose him now, not after they’d come this far to find him.
“I wanted to be a. . . good father to him. . . and to be there for him. . . but I guess my fears are coming true.” With that, Gage’s eyes rolled back into his head, and the blackness overtook him again. Sydney was sobbing as Trivette came over to be with her. Walker joined them and was the first to think to feel for a pulse.
“We’ve got to get him to that clearing where the chopper is waiting. He still has a pulse, but maybe not for long. . . Let’s go. . . Gage, you’d better hold on buddy. . . you’d better.”
Ranger Chopper, on Route to St. Matthew’s
The three Rangers again sat in silence, though thoughts of Gage and other loved ones had turned to unspoken fears for his life. Sydney was only too glad that Julie had been called to Austin on business late last night, and the “workaholic” that Gage called her had surfaced. Sydney promised she’d call with any news, but she knew that her husband wouldn’t want his big sister, whom he’d always protect, to see him like that. Tears that had been falling since they’d found him intensified and Trivette protectively put his arm around her shoulders to show his support.
“He’s gonna be okay, Sydney, you know that as well as I do,” the tone of his voice confirmed that he feared for the young Ranger as well.
“I. . . I know he is. . . he has to be.”
“He’ll be fine, Ranger Cooke, I know he will.” Sydney looked up at Billy as he signed his statement again. He seemed overly confident that Gage would make it. Having nothing else, she held firmly to this boy’s faith in her husband’s health.
“Thank you Billy. . . thank you.”
“Rangers, we’ll be landing at St. Matthew’s momentarily. The Medi-Vac radioed to say that Ranger Gage was taken directly to surgery when he got there, so you can go right to that floor. . . they’re waiting for you.”
Something about the way the pilot had said that had chilled Sydney to the bone, but she kept a brave face on for Billy. She saw the boy shiver, and remembered that he too had been in the water as long as Gage had. She reached behind her for another blanket and wrapped him in it as the chopper came to an abrupt jolt on the landing pad. Emergency attendings rushed out and rushed the young hero down to check him out. . . much to his own silent protests.
One of the doctors knew sign language and calmed Billy down, telling him that as soon as they knew he was all right, the doctor would personally make sure that Billy got up to the Rangers.
Surgery Waiting Area, St. Matthews
“What is taking so long?” Sydney asked for the tenth time as she again paced the length of the room. “He’s gotta be okay, he just has to.”
“And he will, sweetie. . . he will.” Sydney’s mother said as she turned the corner and embraced her daughter. “Alex called me when she heard. She’s got Taylor at the ranch like planned, and she’s going to bring him by to see you tomorrow. He really missed you two.”
“Thanks again, Mom.”
Hours Later
“What could be taking this long? He’s. . . ” Sydney’s voice cracked as the ER attending turned the corner with Billy and his mother. Both were half-smiling. It had been a rough week on the two of them, and being reunited after so long was only bittersweet when the details of Billy’s rescue were compared. Ranger Gage had possibly given his life in the safe return of the boy.
“Billy,” Sydney signed, “are you okay?”
His mother answered so that all could know, “Besides being cold and sore, he’s all right. That river only bumped him a little, nothing worse.”
“And we all know it could have been.” Trivette remarked. “The river they were in, Walker, was the same one Alex took you to that time for some R & R, remember?”
“Boy, do I ever.” The conversation would have progressed had Gage’s doctor not come around the hall.
“Are you all here with Francis Gage?” He asked; though when the rangers looked up, saw to be a moot question. This was the same surgeon who’d worked on Gage after the bear attacks, and many other times.
“Yes, how is he?”
“Only as well as can be expected, I’m afraid. Besides the gunshot to the chest, Ranger Gage has multiple breaks and contusions, several internal injuries, and a skull fracture. To make matters worse, he came in severely hypothermic, and that has made it hard for us to keep him in surgery. We’ve lost him twice already, and we’re still making repairs. I wish I had better news for you. . . Rangers, it doesn’t look promising. If I didn’t know who I was working on, I’d think I was looking at a miracle that he’s made it this far. My suggestions to you now would be to pray.”
As the doctor had commented about ‘worse matters’ Sydney’s knees had given and Walker eased her into the nearest chair. Billy left with his mother to find the hospital chapel, as Trivette and Mrs. Cooke had moved to Sydney to comfort her. Walker stood and asked Sydney if she knew Julie’s cell number so he could call her. She weakly nodded yes, and recited it for him. He went off to use the hospital’s phone to let her know what was going on.
Operating Room 3
“It’s no use, Doc, he’s too far gone. We should call it.”
“No, not this guy, give him what he needs, time, he’ll pull through this.”
“Whatever you say, but his body temps still only 91, and we can’t continue until he stabilizes.”
“So you do whatever you can to get his temp up. He only needs 3 degrees to stabilize, and he’s holding his own right now. I won’t lose this one. . . not today.”
Meanwhile
“God, I know you can’t hear me, but I was wondering, if it isn’t too much trouble, if you could possibly. . . maybe. . . make Ranger Gage all right? Ranger Cooke needs him, and he has a little boy too, ‘littler’ than me, and he needs a good dad to grow up with. Like mine was when I was younger. Anyway, if it wouldn’t take too much out of you, if you could at least give him a fighting chance, he’ll do the rest; I know it.” Billy finished signing his desperate prayer so that his mom would know how he felt too.
“See, I told you he’d do it. Body temp’s 95 degrees, let’s finish up, shall we. We’ve already lost him twice down here, I’m not looking for a third.”
“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it. He was so far gone. Heart rate’s steady, BP’s coming up, body temp holding steady at 95, sats are good. Looks like his friends’ prayers were heard.”
“Yeah, now you. . . close that bleeder and get to work over here. I don’t want to miss anything. . . not a thing, you understand me? It’s more important with him than it ever has been. I’ll go talk to the family.”
“I thought his charts said there was no blood family here.”
“No, he has a much more important family waiting on him out there. And his wife is here too.”
Surgery Waiting Area
“Mrs. Gage? Are you alone here?”
“Uhh, yeah, for now. Walker went back to headquarters, something about a prison van being hit. Trivette and my mother went for coffee. Is something wrong?”
“Far from it, ma’am. I just completed surgery on your husband. He isn’t out of the woods yet, but if all goes well, he’s going to be just fine. It was pretty touch and go for awhile, but whatever prayers you and your friends offered up, He must have heard them. They’re moving him to a room now; I’ll let you know when you can see him.”
“Thank you. . . thank you for everything.” Sydney allowed the first half-smile to cross her lips since she had found that her husband was missing. Gage was coming back to her, finally.
Trivette and Mrs. Cooke came back to Sydney and their spirits were uplifted by the simple sight of Sydney’s smile. They knew that the only thing that could make her smile was good news about Gage.
“He’s gonna be okay, isn’t he, Sydney?” Trivette asked, just to make sure.
“He’s not out of the woods yet,” Sydney quoted the surgeon, “but yes, he’s gonna be okay.”
“That’s great Sydney, that’s really good.” All turned as Julie joined the relief session.
“Julie! We found him, and. . . and. . . ” Relief after her husband’s scare washed over her finally, and the two just hugged, words no longer needed.
“Mrs. Gage? Your husband’s in his room, I can take you there now.”
“Thank you. Coming Miss Gage?” Sydney asked her sister-in-law, a slight sense of humor also resurfacing.
“Wouldn’t miss it. Not for anything.”
ICU, Gage’s Room
“My God, he’s still so pale though.”
“Well, the surgeon did just tell us that he had 5 broken ribs which punctured his lung. And I guess that thick skull of his wasn’t quite as hard as we thought it was. I just wish that cast on his arm didn’t look so foreboding. It’s just so big.”
“I guess they need it because of his elbow, but you’re right, it looks enormous.” The two women, who had done some serious begging and pleading to be allowed to stay in his room together, for as long as they needed.
Gage lay on the hard ICU bed, ventilator busy reinflating his lung, drainage tubes keeping his abdominal cavity clear, and IV’s making sure he didn’t dehydrate during his stay.
What Walker hadn’t let Sydney know was that the prison van that had been hit was the same one that was transporting both Tommy and Mike to Huntsville. All of the other prisoners had been rounded up, the guards dead, but Tommy and Mike had either had help, or they’d been very successful at eluding capture.
Walker was hard at work trying to figure out where they could have gone, but odds were that the two convicts were halfway to Mexico by this time. He didn’t hear the phone ring the first three times, and only heard it on the fourth when another Ranger who’d been walking by heard it.
“Walker.”
“That’s great, Trivette”
“Yes, I’ll be down shortly.”
After he’d hung up, he’d made a quick call to Alex to let her know the good news, and left to take her love to the Gages.
Both Sydney and Julie had kept vigil at Gage’s bedside, waiting, hoping, and praying that they’d see those blue eyes staring up at them soon. The doctor had said that he was still fighting, but this was one battle that both women hoped would be over with soon. Sydney knew that the longer Gage was out, the less of a chance there was that she’d get to fall into his deep blue eyes again.
“How is he, Sydney?” Walker asked as he stepped into the room.
“He isn’t any worse, but he isn’t awake yet either. He’s got to wake up Walker, he just has to.”
“I know. He will. Why don’t you and Julie go and get some coffee and I’ll stay here with him.”
“I don’t know, I mean, I want to be here in case he wakes up, and I know Julie does too.”
“It’s just downstairs, Sydney, and I know that neither of you have seen the outside of this place since he was brought in. Just go down for a few minutes, and then come back. You both need the break. He’ll be right here for you when you get back.”
“All right, but only for a few minutes.” The two wandered down to the elevator and didn’t hear the call for code blue as the doors closed.
St. Matthew’s Hospital
“Hello, can you tell me what room number Francis Gage is in, please?”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, we can only release that information to family. Are you family?” the receptionist asked sarcastically.
“I’m not, you’re right,” Alex returned the sarcasm, “but you see this little boy right here? He hasn’t seen his father or his mother in over a week now, and we would really appreciate it if you didn’t make him wait any longer.”
“Well!”
“Alex, it’s this way.” Jimmy came around the corner and Taylor went running to his uncle. “Hey there, sport. Your mom’s downstairs, you wanna come with me to see her?” The look he gave to Alex let her know that something was wrong.
“Yeah, yeah, Mommy, Mommy!” The little boy wasn’t hard to please. “He’s in the third room on the left, and Walker’s there too.”
“Thanks Jimmy. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
“Yeah, c’mon Taylor, let’s go find your mom.” He picked up the little boy and headed towards the elevator. He knew that Taylor shouldn’t see his father just yet, and needed to know what was going on with Gage beforehand.
Alex walked down the hall to find her husband pacing outside Gage’s room. One look at him told her that something was wrong, and she simply went to Walker and hugged him.
“I sent Julie and Sydney down for some coffee to get them out of his room for awhile. They left, and everything just went crazy. All the monitors went off and everyone started running in, and they haven’t come out yet. Alex, if something happens, how am I going to tell Sydney? How can I tell her and Julie that. . . that. . . ”
“He’ll be okay, honey, you’ll see. He always comes through. Nothing’s going to be different this time.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Cafeteria, St. Matthew’s
“Mommy, Mommy I missed you!” Taylor jumped into his mother’s lap and into her protective embrace at the same time. The tears that had been welling up in the corners of her eyes broke as her little angel hugged her back. Trivette reached the table that the women had been sitting at, coffees only half-drunk in front of them. He tried to conceal the concern for Gage, but Sydney picked up on it instantly.
“What’s wrong? Is it. . . ” she looked down at her boy, his blue eyes shining as he looked from her to his uncle and then over to his aunt.
“Yes, I’m afraid it is. Umm, I wasn’t there, but when I saw Walker, he said to come and get you two, and then I saw Alex and Taylor.”
“Is he. . . ?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. Walker didn’t say anything, but I know he wasn’t awake, that’s all.”
“Daddy?” Taylor was only starting to comprehend that his father wasn’t okay.
“Uhh, yes sweetie. Daddy got hurt this week, and the doctors are helping him.” Taylor pursed his lips and looked up at his mother as only a Gage could, disbelieving that this was all, but not really able to understand how badly his father was hurt.
“I can kiss Daddy’s boo boo better, then he can come home and play with me.” The innocent words served to break Julie’s barrier and Trivette had to look at the ground to keep his own eyes dry.
Sydney, tears still threatening to soak Taylor’s beach blond hair, forced a smile and hugged her son even tighter.
“Let’s go upstairs then, shall we. We’ll see how Daddy’s doing. Is that okay, Tiger?”
“Yup. Sounds good. I wanna tell Daddy everything I did this week. I had fun with grandma.” Smiling, he jumped up and took his mom’s hand, leading her to the elevator.
Upstairs, Gage’s room
“It’s been too long, Doc. . . Doc, he’s asystole. You have to call it.”
“No, I won’t, not yet. Come on ranger, you’ve got too many people counting on you to quit now.” The monitor toned on for another few seconds as the paddles charged, but after the sixth shock, Gage fought back and the monitors registered a faint and weak heartbeat.
“I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes. It’s like he heard you.”
“He doesn’t know how to quit, this one. You should have seen him the last time he was in here, I’ve never seen a man fight so hard to not quit.”
At that moment, a blur of motion rushed past the two doctors and jumped into Gage’s bed.
“Daddy, Daddy, wake up, I missed you.”
“You’re Gage’s son?”
“Un-hunh, that’s me. What’s going on with him?” He pulled another Gage look as the two men searched for an answer to his question.
“Taylor. Don’t do that. You know what Daddy would say.”
Taylor looked at Gage, and down at the ground.
“What would he say, Taylor James?”
“He’d say that I wasn’t ‘posed to run away from you, no matter what, ‘cuz. . . ‘cuz bad people could get me. But I saw Uncle Walker, and I thought. . . I thought. . . ” trying to change the subject off of himself, he looked down at Gage again. “How long is Daddy going to sleep for, Mommy? How long?”
“Well, he was hurt pretty badly, Taylor, so it may be awhile.”
“What happened?”
“He was saving a little boy like you. Well, he’s older than you. Do you remember Billy?” Taylor bit his lower lip and looked at the ceiling, trying to remember.
“No, who is he?”
“He’s Daddy’s friend from the Deaf School.”
“Why did Daddy hafta save ‘im?”
“Someone took him away from his Mommy without her knowing about it.”
“Was it a bad person?”
“Yes, Taylor, it was. He hurt your Daddy and the little boy.”
“Oh. Is he why I’m not ‘posed to run away from you?”
“Yes, Taylor, him and people like him.”
“Okay, Mommy, I promise not to do it again.”
“Good boy. Now let’s give Daddy some time to rest, and we’ll come back later to see him, okay?”
“No. Daddy’s gonna wake up soon, and I want to see him, not his eyelids!” Taylor crossed his arms over his chest like his father did, and clenched his teeth. His baby blue eyes trained on Sydney and she knew that the Gage stubbornness had definitely manifested itself in her son.
“Okay, Taylor, we can stay for a little while, but we do have to go home sometime.” The only response she got for her trouble was a smile and his little tongue sticking out, knowing all to well that he had won another contest.
Walker came in to let Sydney know that he was heading home, and that he’d check in with her later on. He was planning on stopping at the office first to check if there was anything about Mike and Tommy, but he doubted there would be anything, but he wanted to be sure. He had placed a guard discretely outside of Gage’s room, making sure he was a plain-clothes guard that Sydney wouldn’t recognize. She needed to concentrate on her husband and son, and not finding Mike and Tommy. He hoped, however, that this wouldn’t backfire on him.
“How is he, Walker?” Alex had just finished getting Angela’s meal, and the precocious child had run out back to play with her colt.
“Not so good, but better than when he crashed today, man Alex, we almost lost him. Sydney and Taylor are still with him, but no one knows if he’ll even make it through the night. He is breathing on his own, though, so he is off the respirator.”
“Oh, Walker. That’s going to be so hard on that little boy if his dad. . . ” she stopped and shuddered before continuing. “He won’t do that to his son, Walker. Gage doesn’t know how to fail, and he promised that little boy the day he was born that he would raise him, and that he wouldn’t leave Taylor or Sydney for a long time. That little boy only just turned 4, Walker, that isn’t a long time. Gage doesn’t know how to quit, and he won’t quit on his little boy. You know that.”
“Yeah, I sure do. You’re right, honey. Now what smells so good?”
St. Matthew’s
“Taylor? Hey, Tay, it’s time to go home. We’ll come back in the morning to see your Daddy.”
“Just a little longer, Mommy. Daddy’s gonna wake up soon, I know it. . .puh-leease?” His lower lip quivered just slightly, giving him the appearance of an adorable pout that could melt any heart.
“Tay, he’s probably not going to wake up for a while, but we can stay just a little longer, as long as you promise to sit in that chair and try to sleep.”
“O-tay. But you’ll see; Daddy’s going to wake up in just a little while. He’s just tired right now.” He sat down in the chair, biting his lip and waiting. Sydney couldn’t help but notice the faith in her husband’s health was strong in her child, the same as Billy had.
Later
Taylor sat in his chair, watching his parents sleep. They didn’t move often, and Taylor could only sit still for so long. Biting his lower lip and watching his mother intently, he slipped off the chair and wandered over to the window. There wasn’t much to see, just the vast parking lot, so he ambled back over to the bed. He climbed up next to Gage, careful of the wires and tubes that were sticking out of his father.
“So, guess what Daddy?” He didn’t expect a response, but still wrinkled up his nose as his father slept on. “Anyway, I had fun at Grandma’s, but I missed you and Mommy last week. I know you were helping somebody, so it’s o-tay.”
Gage slept on, oblivious to his boy’s ramblings. Taylor droned on for a while longer, but noticed that Gage still didn’t make a sign that he’d heard anything.
“Daddy, it’s time to get up now. You gotta wake up so you can come home and play with me.” The little boy’s face fell, and he climbed off the bed. With his back to Gage, he almost didn’t hear it.
“Hey there, Sport. I missed you.” His voice was scratchy and quiet, but unmistakably, it was there. Taylor spun around and pounced on his father’s bed.
“DADDY! I tole Mommy that you’d wake up tonight. I missed you too.”
The next morning
She must have dozed off in the chair opposite Taylor, because when she opened her eyes again, sunlight was streaming from the window, and her husband was sitting up in bed, laughing with Taylor about something. Taylor noticed her first.
“See, Mommy, I tole you so. Daddy woke up just a little while after you fell asleep.”
“G-G-Gage? You’re okay? I mean. . . ” She stumbled, searching for words that wouldn’t come.
“Yes, honey I’m okay.” He smiled the smile that she had fallen in love with, and she leaned forward to take his hand in hers.
“It was so cool, Mommy. I got bored sitting here, so I started talking to Daddy. . . but I stayed in the chair like you tole me too. Then I tole Daddy to wake up and he did.”
Sydney smiled as the Walker’s and Trivette’s walked in. Everything was going to be okay. She believed that now, affirming what the faith of the two children had tried to tell her hours and days before.
