Walker, Texas Ranger
Old Friends Die Hard
CHAPTER 1
"Okay, anyway, we were in this fight after the football game, right, and I hit the guy over the head with a chair! It was great, I was drunk off my ass!" Trivette was a little drunk at the moment as well. Cordell Walker listened halfway as his best friend babbled on. He hadn't gotten alot of sleep lately, nor had his friend. They had just gotten over a drug bust on the south side where they had been working under cover for over 2 months. They had finally busted one of the biggest drug dealers in Dallas, but not without exhaustion. Now, they could celebrate.
"So this guy about 7 and a half feet tall comes up to me and starts pushing me! Can you believe this guy? I kicked his ass too." Then Trivette passed out.
CD stared at Walker. "You wanna take him home or should we just wake him up and let him drive?" CD flashed a wink and a smile towards Walker. "I don't think it'll be too much trouble to take him home, besides I'm so tired I can't think straight. Night CD."
Walker half carried his friend outside to his Dodge Ram. "Damn you Trivette."
"What? Where the hell are taking me, I'm not done yet!"
"Jimmy! What is wrong with you? I don't wanna have to get up at 3 A.M. and take you to the hospital for alcohol poisoning. I know you only drink like this when something is wrong so come out with it now and save yourself the trouble."
Jimmy Trivette stared at Walker with watery, bloodshot eyes. Walker could see pain there, he could also see fear.
"Nothing is wrong. I'm just not done....... celebrating. I need to go home, let me out." There was a very small struggle as Jimmy lost his strength and passed out again in the Dodge. Walker made his way to the drivers side of the silver truck and took out his keys. As he looked up from the opposite side of the truck he could see a dark figure walking down the sidewalk. Bad vibes. Very bad vibes.
Walker heard a noise and looked back to Jimmy who had opened the door and was losing the fight to trying to walk. "Dammit Trivette get back in the truck! You're not driving."
"I have to drive my car home! I can't leave her here! I can't leave her!"
Walker had a feeling he was talking about more or other than the car.
The figure of the man stopped in front of the truck and watched for a moment.
"Would you like my help Ranger Walker?" Walker could make out a grin as the man pulled a hood away from his face.
"Arkin!"
"That's right. They let me out, they couldn't find anything. Guess I'm innocent. You know the way it goes."
Jimmy's deep eyes looked up and saw the man in front of him.
"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU BASTARD!!!"
This sudden outburst took Walker off guard and Jimmy leapt towards the man. Then Walker saw the syringe in the mans hand.
"What the....." Was all Walker could say before he saw the needle go into Trivette's neck.
"What the hell are you doing!" Walker started chasing Arkin as he ran from the sidewalk into the alley way. Then he remembered.
"Trivette!"
Jimmy was lying on the ground shaking uncontrollably.
"CD! CD call an ambulance NOW!"
CD had come out of the bar when he had heard Jimmy screaming. "Walker what happ....."
"Go CD! Now!"
Walker took Trivette's shoulders and turned him on his stomach when he started vomiting. The sirens came closer but not as fast as they should have.
"Walker, what happened? I just heard Jimmy yelling then He was on the ground having caesars!"
"It was Arkin."
"Arkin? Arkin. That guy you busted last month for the drug smuggling or something. He's a doctor of some kind right?"
"Yeah. He was stealing experimental drugs from the hospital and selling them to the highest bidder."
"Why the hell did he attack Jimmy?"
"He didn't, Jimmy attacked him. He stuck Jimmy with this needle," Walker picked the syringe off the sidewalk, " I'm thinking it's probably one of the experimental drugs Arkin was stealing."
The ambulance finally arrived and carried Trivette and Walker to the hospital. The tests were slow and Trivette had still not ceased with his caesars.
"Can't you do something to make them stop?" Walker asked the doctor.
"We've tried we're still not sure what was in his system. The drug plus the alcohol. We're not sure what's going on. His blood pressure is the highest I've ever seen. His skin is ice cold but he has a fever of 104.3. We need to do more tests to try and find out what that drug was."
About ten minutes later Alex and CD showed up.
"Have they found Arkin?"
"No. He just disappeared. No sign of him."
Alex spoke up, "Maybe you should go home and get a little rest Walker. You look horrible."
"I don't feel so good either but I'm not leaving Jimmy here like this. What if I'm at home and he..........."
"That's not going to happen Walker. They'll find a way to help him."
The three of them jumped as a code blue came out over the loud speaker and doctors raced into Jimmy's room.
"What's happening? What's going on?"
A nurse held the three back as the room filled. "His blood pressure is too high and he's stopped breathing. That's all I can tell you right now. Please step out of the room." The nurse shut the door in their faces.
"Dammit!" Walker shouted.
"Calm down Walker." CD said. Alex was crying.
"How am I supposed to calm down when he's in there dying! My best friend in the world is dying!"
The three jumped again as the door slammed behind a doctor that was coming out of the room.
"Doctor! What's happening? Is he okay?"
The doctor looked up with sad eyes. "He's breathing again but his blood pressure is still sky rocketing. His blood is also very thin. We're not sure how long or if he's going to live." A gasp came from Alex. "We're putting him in a confined room. Nothing sharp. If he were to get cut, even on the arm or leg, he could bleed to death in minutes. We'll keep you updated."
"Can we see him? Is he conscious?"
"I guess you can see him but I wouldn't advise you get too close. We still have no idea what drug he was induced to. He's still unconscious but he can probably hear you. He's mumbling things. Talk to him. He needs all the comfort he can get."
The doctor slowly turned and walked down the hall. Walker poked his head into the room and nearly gasped at the horrible sight. Tubes were poking out everywhere. IVs were hanging all around. Trivette had stopped the caesars but he was shivering.
A groan came from the frail figure on the bed. "Walker." A barely whispered word. "Whereami..... wha happend tomi. I'm so cold. She left me Walker. She went away. She took my life. She took my world. She took everything."
"Calm down Trivette. Who are you talking about?" Trivette had never talked about his personal life. Walker knew of no love of Jimmy's.
"It wasn't her fault. It wasn't. He took her away. He killed her. She's dead. Sara's dead. He took her. She's gone. I loved her. I love her." And then, once again, Trivette was gone. Gone again into his world of darkness. He couldn't hear, he couldn't see. But he could imagine and he could think. He always saw her face. He always saw her tears. The tears he had caused. He had killed her.
CHAPTER 2
"So did you get him? Did you give him the drug?"
"Of course I did! But get this, HE attacked ME! Can you believe this guy? He was already drunk anyway. That was the easiest 10 grand I ever made." Arkin smiled a sinister smile. "I don't see why we just didn't give the drug to Walker though. Why give it to his little asshole friend?"
"Because we want him to suffer, what better way then to make his best friend suffer before we kill him?"
Arkin's smiled widened. "I enjoyed it though, I have a personal vendetta with Trivette."
"What happened? He kill your brother or something?" The man smiled. Arkin's smile quickly faded.
"He killed my daughter."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to wake up." Walker forced a smile to his sickly looking friend. Trivette had gotten through the first night and nothing was looking better. Jimmy was shivering, his fever hadn't gone down and they couldn't give him any medicine for fear that it would cause a reaction to the drug he was given.
"W-w-w-w-walker? W-what happened t-to me? I c-can't remember anyth-thing. I'm so t-tired." Trivette's eyes suddenly widened. "Arkin! He did this! He did this to me."
"Yes, Arkin did it. But we still haven't figured out why. He had just gotten off. Why would he....."
"I'm not talking about that. I deserved it. I killed...." Trivette got a pained expression on his face.
"Who? Who did you kill?" Walker was not only nervous but scared.
"I killed her Walker. I killed the only one I ever loved. She died." Trivette's breathing slowed, dramatically.
"Jimmy? Jimmy wake up!!! Jimmy!" Walker was becoming frantic.
Jimmy struggled to open his eyes. "Arkin's . . . . daughter." With that Trivette was gone once again. The monitor flat-lined.
Walker was pushed out of the room by doctors and nurses. He was numb. Jimmy couldn't die today. Jimmy wasn't supposed to die first. Arkin's daughter? Sara. I remember something about Sara. That was his daughter. A Sara died about a month ago, committed suicide. Why would Trivette be this concerned?
"Walker! What happened?" Walker turned his saddened eyes towards Alex and CD. "He flat-lined."
Doctors started coming back out of Trivette's room. "We got him back! We got him back." Relieved looks came from all around.
"Jimmy's a fighter. I knew he wouldn't leave." CD wiped a tear off his chin.
"We got him back this time. I'm sorry to bring your hopes back down but the drug is staying in his system. As long as it's there he has a great chance of dying. If he flat-lines again, we won't get him back."
Walker started walking down the hall towards the exit.
"Where are you going?" Alex asked with a concerned look.
"I'm going to find Arkin."
Chapter 3
Walker was like a moving mountain as he made his way out of the hospital and down to his truck.
"Walker!"
"WHAT!"
Alex stopped and stared at him for hours it seemed. "Walker you can't do this. Don't do it out of revenge anyway. You're going to get yourself killed! We've already had one...." Alex's voice faded out as she wiped the tears off of her cheeks.
Walker closed the distance between him and his friend. "Listen Alex. I have to do this. If not for Jimmy then for myself. I can't let him die for nothing. I can't let him die at all."
Walker turned and continued on his way out of the hospital. Alex turned the opposite way and went back to James Trivette's room.
"How's he doing CD?"
"You know as much as I do hun. I don't wanna leave him here tonight so why don't you go home and get some rest?"
"Okay CD. I gotta work on some papers anyway. Maybe it'll get my mind off things."
The two embraced in a hug then parted.
Walker sped down the road on his way back to the police station. He needed some comfort and that was the only place he could think of to go. Besides, he had to do some checking up on the Arkin guy. "Try to remember Walker." He said to himself. Arkin. What was his first name. Started with an A. Hmm. Aaron? No. Alex. Huh-uh. Adam. Adam! That was it. Adam Arkin. Okay. "Jimmy could you...." People walking through the office stopped to look at him. Some looked with sympathy, some looked with understanding. Walker just wanted to leave.
"RRIIIINNNNGGGG........ RRIIIINNNNGGGG"
"Hello?"
"Hello Ranger Walker. How's your friend?" The husky voice laughed.
"Who the hell is this?"
"You don't know who I am? After all we've been through too. You upset me Cordell. You really do. But that doesn't matter now."
"I know your voice," Walker tried to contain his rage, "I know you. Arkin. I will find you and I WILL kill you for what you've done. I promise you that."
"Well, guess what Walker! I'm going to make it easy for you, I'll tell you where I'm gonna be! Won't this be fun."
"Where." It was more of a demand than a question.
"Let's not get an attitude now. We wouldn't want to upset your little friend now would we? I can see him shaking right now. Maybe if I give him another dose....."
"Arkin! If you touch him I swear to GOD I will kill you!"
"I'll be waitin for you, in the hospital basement. I'll be there for 25 minutes starting now. But it's either me or......."
Walker threw the phone as he raced out the door. It usually took 15 minutes to get to the hospital from the station. It took Walker 5. Walker made his way down to the basement. Ignoring the elevator he dashed down the stairs and burst into the room.
"Good afternoon Cordell! How ya doin? I didn't expect you to be here so soon. Have you checked your friend yet. I hear he's not doing so well." Arkin sighed. "Heard he might not make it through the rest of the day, especially since the Castres have started again." Arkin started to smile but before he could get his lips parted Walker took him down. Driven by rage and hatred, it was painful to contain himself and not kill Arkin right then.
In a whispered tone, "If you don't want you stupid little insignificant friend to die then you had better get the hell off me! I have an anecdote!"
"Give it to me!"
"Now why would I do that? It's right here actually." Arkin pulled a syringe full of purple liquid out of his coat. "Here's what you need, or rather what Jimmy needs. But I think I may just keep it for myself."
"Why are you doing this Arkin. Why didn't you just come after me."
Arkin's mischievous smile left him. Hatred burned in his eyes and even the great Cordell Walker flinched. "He killed my Sara. He killed the only daughter I had!"
"Your daughter committed suicide Arkin! It wasn't Jimmy's fault."
"You don't know then do you?" Arkin looked slightly surprised. "But I guess he's such a coward he wouldn't tell you. He and my daughter were in love, Ranger Walker. My daughter loved no one else but he, and we thought he only to love her. One night," A gleam came to Arkin's eyes, "he informed her that they could no longer be together. He said he was committed to his job, and, because she was MY daughter, they could not be together. She killed herself because of that man!!!" Arkin didn't bother to wipe the tears off of his cheeks. "That bastard killed my Sara. And he, as well as you, will pay for it."
The rest happened in slow motion. Arkin went for the gun in his jacket, Walker went for the gun at his belt. The guns fired, and Arkin fell to the floor, as well did the anecdote. They both shattered. A gurgled name came from Arkins mouth as blood gathered on the floor around him. "Sara." And then he was gone.
Chapter 4
"How's he doin?"
"They don't think he's going to make it."
"Does Walker know? Have you seen him?"
"Yeah, I told him. He's in there now."
Alex and CD stood outside of the young rangers room and spoke in sorrow. Spoke as if I were already dead. But I'm not dead! I can hear them. I could see them too, if they were in the room. I have my eyes open. What do they mean I'm not going to make it. I'm fine. I don't feel anything. Hey Walker! Hmm. Why can't I talk? They must have me on a drug or something. I wonder what's wrong. It's gotta be pretty darn bad for Walker to be crying. If I could move I would comfort him. Maybe they had to restrain me. Yeah, I remember Arkin putting that thing in my neck. I know I've been in the hospital. Sara! I told Walker about Sara. I hope he understands. I don't blame Arkin for being mad. I did kill her. I couldn't have been with her. If I had the chance I'd stay with her forever. Walker? Hey, come back! I'll be okay in a minute. I just need to get some strength or something. Stop! Where are you guys taking me? Wheeling me somewhere. Probably to do a C.A.T. scan or something. Hey Alex, CD. You guys okay? Everybody's cryin. Wonder why. I'm getting really tired. Maybe I just need to sleep for a while. Yeah. I'll just close my eyes and go to sleep. . . . . Why can't I close my eyes? I'm dead aren't I. But if I were dead, why am I still here. I don't want to die! I have to tell Walker about Sara! Wait, please don't pull that sheet over my head. I'm not dead!!! I'm okay! I'm not dead. I can't be dead. . . . . Sara? Is that you? I love you so much. Can I please just hold you for a while. I love you. . . . . . . . I love you.
Chapter 5
Walker slowly walked out of the room and watched his best friend in the world being wheeled down the hall-way. He had died while Walker was in the room with him. Walker had been holding his hand. He watched him take his last breath, and then let it out. Not taking another. He couldn't bare it anymore. He had to leave.
"Walker?"
Cordell Walker ignored the voice of his fiancee and kept walking.
"Cordell. Please come back."
Walker turned and looked at his friends. He knew he wasn't alone. It should have been him. Nothing is ever going to be the same. Not without Jimmy.
The tears flowed anew. Nothing is the same. He's gone.
Walker dropped to his knees in the middle of the hospital and sobbed. He had never cried before. What was wrong with him. Jimmy was gone. That's what's wrong.
"I will find Arkins accomplice. I know he can't be alone in this." Rage flared up and Walker jumped to his feet. After he found them, then he could leave. Maybe retire. Go away for a very long.......
"Wait! Wait, wait, stop, hold on!!!" Trivette looked up from the paper he was reading. "I die? Why do I die? I never did anything to you!"
"Sorry! That's just the way it turned out. I thought it was a good ending." Sara turned her nose up. "I'm getting it published! It's not all the way finished yet, but when I get it finished it will be a #1 best-seller." A smug smile stayed with Sara as she watched Jimmy's pout face.
"Walker."
"Yeah?"
"Have you read this stuff?"
"Yeah."
"What did you think of it?"
"Actually Jimmy, I kinda liked it. Thought it was pretty good."
"I die in it!"
"Oh yeah. Except for that." Walker looked up from his desk with a huge smile on his face. "Other than that it was pretty good. You know."
"And why am I in love with you?"
Sara blushed. "Well, uh, you see, I had to get my name in there somewhere, yeah, but a little part, not a big part! Understand? And, uh, that was the, uh, only place I could think of." Sara smiled, although trying to hide her blushing face.
Walker let out a laugh from across the room.
"What's so funny?"
"Jimmy, If you don't know, I"m not telling."
Sara Walked towards the door and exchanged a smile with Walker, and a wink at Jimmy.
"Bye All!" She swayed through the door.
"So what do you think?"
"I think she's in love."
"In love! With who?"
All Walker could do was smile.