Latimier Chapter 5- by Lorrie Ellis
Email: lorrieann@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: The following story is based on the characters of the TV Series
"Walker, Texas Ranger". The characters belong to CBS Productions, Top Kick
Productions, Washo Brother's Entertainment, etc, but the story is ours. ALL
DISCLAIMERS APPLY. (No copyright infringement is intended.)
Sydney trailed behind Walker, the events of the past few days finally catching up to her. "Sydney, are you OK?" She faintly heard Walker call out. "Walker?" She questioned.
Walker reached his friend just before she hit the ground. He held her in his arms, cradling her head. "Sydney. Sydney, you have to wake up. We have to check on Trivette."
******* Jimmy opened his eyes to find himself laying flat on his back in a pool of cool gray mud. He looked up and thanked God that the fall hadn't been more than ten feet or so. "What do you know, he was telling the truth." His thoughts went back to Daniel. "I wonder where they are now?"
He pulled himself to his feet and began to search for a way out of the pit.
******* Sydney's eyes opened and her arms flogged Walker's chest. "Get away! Get away from me!" She screamed.
"Sydney! Sydney, it's Walker!" He shouted as he shook her slightly and stared into her eyes, waiting for her to recover from her daze and recognize him.
"Walker?" She questioned. "Oh God Walker, Gage. Gage is dead." She began to cry.
Walker held her close. "Shh. Sydney, he's not dead. We just talked about this a little while ago, remember?"
Sydney continued to cry. "I don't know what's real anymore Walker." She whispered, trying to bring herself under control.
Walker helped her to her feet. "Let's find Trivette and then I'll take you to Gage."
Sydney nodded and allowed Walker to help her to her feet. She leaned on him slightly as they made their way to the pit where earlier they had both seen Trivette disappear into.
"Trivette!" Walker called out as they neared the edge of the pit.
"Down here Walker! I'm alright."
Walker smiled. "We'll have you out in a minute." He shouted as he scanned the area for a rope or something to help pull his partner to safety.
"Walker, it's not that deep. If you lean over the edge, I can probably reach you." Trivette shouted back.
Walker dropped to the ground on his stomach. Leaning over the edge, he shined he called down into the pit. "You sure you're OK?" He asked as the moonlight hit Trivette's form.
"I think I sprained my ankle, but other than that, I'm fine." Trivette reached up and grabbed Walker's outstretched hand, climbing as Walker pulled at his arms. When he reached the edge of the pit, Walker and Sydney helped him stand.
"Thanks guys!" Trivette exclaimed, but as he put his weight on his twisted ankle, a pain shot through his leg. "Agh! This isn't going to work." Sydney positioned herself under his arm and let him lean on her.
As the three Rangers contemplated getting off of the ridge, the rest of Latimier's men started through the woods towards them. "Take cover!" Walker shouted.
Sydney helped Trivette to a nearby large rock and pulled her gun from her waistband. "Where's your gun?" She asked.
"I only have my back-up. It's on my ankle." Trivette responded. Sydney pulled the small gun from Trivette's ankle holster and handed it to him. "Cover me." She whispered before peeking from behind the tree and firing three shots towards the approaching men.
Walker pulled his back-up weapon and quietly watched as one of the men approached his hiding place. He quickly shoved the gun into his waistband and waited until the man's back was facing him. He then wrapped his arm around the man's neck and squeezed until he dropped to the ground, quietly.
One of the other men began to fire wildly towards Sydney's position. She put her back against a tree and waited until the firing stopped briefly, taking that moment to return fire. She heard a loud yell as her bullet found its mark and the man dropped to the ground.
Trivette was still behind the rock and had been taking fire from yet another man. The firing suddenly stopped and Trivette cautiously peeked around from the rock and fired towards the trees. "Don't shoot!" A call came out. "I give up!"
"Throw out your gun and come out of the trees with your hands up!" Trivette called out. Seconds later, a man began to emerge from the trees.
Walker dunked out from his hiding place and pulled the man behind into the grove of trees he had been using as cover. "How may more are there?" He asked.
"That's it! There was just me, David and Ken. Ed and Mike left for town about an hour ago."
"That must have been the two that brought me and Trivette in." Walker roughly grabbed the man's collar and started towards Trivette's position. "You had better be telling the truth."
When Sydney saw Walker began to move, she started towards the rock as well. "Is that the last of them?" She asked.
Walker nodded. "Looks like it." He shoved the man against a tree and pulled his handcuffs from his belt. "Hug the tree." He ordered. Once the man's arms were around the tree, Walker cuffed them together. "We need to get back to the truck and call this in. I want Search and Rescue up here to see if they can find Latimier's body."
The three Rangers carefully made their way down the ravine and to Walker's RAM where Walker called in the incident. As he finished his call, he noticed Sydney leaned against the fender of the truck, her head lowered. "Sydney? Are you sure you not hurt?"
She looked up at him. "I'm tired, I'm sore and all I really want to do is see Gage and make sure he's OK."
Walker nodded as a smile came to his lips. "I want you and Trivette to both be checked out anyway." He picked up the radio again and called for a helicopter.
********
Dr. Shayler entered Gage's room and was somewhat surprised to find him awake. "How are you feeling Mr. Gage?" She asked.
Gage slowly turned his head towards her. "Tired." He whispered hoarsely.
The doctor nodded. "That's certainly to be expected after all you've been through. I have your test results back and I can tell you that you are definitely one very lucky man. It looks like your heart sustained no permanent damage from the morphine and as far as I can tell, there's no permanent brain damage from the cardiac arrest either, which is amazing in itself since you were clinically dead for almost ten minutes."
Gage stared at her blankly. "What?"
"You don't remember any of it, do you?" She patted his leg as she took a seat next to the bed. "Dr. Martin gave you an injection of morphine."
"I can't take morphine. It's in my chart." Gage mumbled.
Dr. Shayler nodded. "I know and Dr. Martin knew as well. He was trying to kill you and would have succeeded, but he had a change of heart for some reason and let Ranger Walker know what he had done."
Gage winced as a wave of pain racked his body. "Syd?"
Dr. Shayler reached for Gage's wrist and took his pulse. "I'm sorry. I don't anything about your partner except that Rangers Walker and Trivette left last night to meet the person holding her." Gage nodded as his eyes began to close. "You need to rest. I'll check in on you a little later." She remained quietly by his bed until Gage was asleep.
*******
The Emergency Room was abuzz as Sydney was wheeled in on a gurney, followed closely by Trivette. "Two Texas Rangers." The EMT announced. "The man has a badly sprained or broken ankle and the woman has been held captive up in the hills. She's dehydrated and bruised up a bit, but she's not complaining of any other injuries."
"We'll take it from here." A doctor replied as Trivette was wheeled into one examination area and Sydney another.
"You have another Ranger here in the hospital." Trivette said as the nurse began to clean him up. "Francis Gage. We need to know how he is."
"We'll check on that for you in a few minutes. Right now, we need to get you cleaned up and see how badly you're hurt." The nurse replied.
Sydney had begun to put up a fight as the nurse's tried to examine her. "Wait! I'm not hurt!" One of the nurses began to cut away her blouse. "You don't have to do that! I'm not injured! I need to know where my partner is. I'm looked for Francis Gage!"
"Ranger Cooke, you're dehydrated and you look like hell. We're going to check you over and that's that. We can do it the easy way or the hard way, the choice is up to you, but if you don't calm down, I will get someone down here with restraints. Now which is it going to be?" The older nurse stared at her sternly.
Tears were beginning to form in Sydney's eyes. "You don't understand. They tried to kill him here in the hospital and made me watch a video of his death, and then when Walker and Trivette showed up in the hills, they told me that he wasn't really dead. I need to know that he's OK. Please!" She held fast to the nurse's arm, her eyes pleading for some compassion. "If you promise that you'll behave and be still while the team finishes examining you, I'll check with admissions and see what I can find out."
Sydney nodded. "Thank you." The nurse nodded and stepped out of the small room, leaving Sydney with three other nurses.
A young doctor began to examine Sydney for further injuries and when he was satisfied that there were none, he turned to one of the nurses. "She's going to be here for at least 24 hours until we get her re-hydrated. Call up and get her a room."
"Yes doctor."
The doctor returned his focus to Sydney. "We're going to get you into a room and get you re-hydrated. I'll have Dr. Shayler check in on you once you're settled."
"Thank you." Sydney replied. "Doctor, the nurse that was with me when I first came in, she was going to check on the status of my partner."
"You mean Becky. She's around here somewhere. I'll see if I can find her before they take you upstairs."
Just before Sydney was to be moved upstairs, Becky came into her room. "He's in ICU and he's stable. That's all I could find out."
Sydney's eyes filled with hope. "But he's alive. You're sure he's alive?"
Becky smiled as the orderlies came in to move Sydney. "I'm very sure he's alive."
While Sydney was being settled into a room, the floor nurse saw Dr. Shayler walking towards the elevators. "Dr. Shayler, wait! They just brought up another patient and she's been assigned to you."
Dr. Shayler sighed as she looked at her watch. "It's almost 9:00 a.m. My shift ended at 7:00. I was hoping to go up to ICU and check on another patient and then head out." She said as she walked with the nurse towards Sydney's room. "What have we got?"
"A female Texas Ranger, Sydney Cooke." The nurse said as she flipped through Sydney's chart.
Dr. Shayler's pace quickened. "How is she?" She asked as they stopped outside her door.
"Looks like she's just badly dehydrated. ER sent her up about thirty minutes ago for 24 hour observation."
Dr. Shayler opened the door. "Thanks Karen. I'll take it from here."
Sydney's eyes focused on the door as Dr. Shayler entered. "Ranger Cooke. I'm Dr. Shayler and I think that you may be just what the doctor ordered for another of my patients."
Looking up at her, from the bed, Sydney had a puzzled look on her face, unsure of what the doctor was trying to say.
"I'm also Ranger Gage's doctor." She smiled, clearing up the confusion immediately.
Sydney's eyes lit up at the mention of Gage's name. "Where is he? Is he OK? Can I see him?"
Dr. Shayler smiled as she pulled a chair next to Sydney's bedside. "Calm down. He's in Cardiac ICU. He's stable and yes, I think a visit from you may be exactly what he needs." The doctor paused. "I don't know if you know what he's been through in the past twelve hours, but that partner of yours is very lucky to be alive."
Sydney nodded. "I know. I was held captive by the man that orchestrated all of this. He managed to tape what went on in Gage's hospital room, after Dr. Martin gave him the injection of morphine. I had to watch it over and over again until I admitted that Gage was really dead and then when Walker and Trivette showed up and told me that he was still alive . . . I was almost afraid to believe them . . . I . . . "She began to cry.
Dr. Shayler put her arm around Sydney's shoulders and held her. "Shh. He should have died. He was clinically dead for about ten minutes and according to the test results that I got back a few hours ago, there's no brain damage and no damage to his heart. He's very weak right now and he needs plenty of rest, but he's one hell of a fighter." She released her hold on Sydney and returned to her chair.
"Which brings me to my next point. When I saw him at six this morning, just before he fell asleep again, he asked for you. I can't think of a stronger medication than for him to find you at his bedside when he wakes up again." The doctor smiled as she watched Sydney's face light up.
"Really?" She asked excitedly.
"Seems this might be the best medicine for you as well." She stood and pulled her stethoscope to her ears. "Let me just get a reading on your vitals and get a wheelchair in here and we'll get you upstairs."
*******
Walker stood next to the local sheriff as Search and Rescue began combing the pit, looking for Latimier's body. Finally the two man team emerged from the depths of the pit. One of the men shook his head. "There's no one down there. It's a good 40 foot drop and I can't imagine how anyone would possibly survive it, let alone get back out without some serious help, but there's no body down there. We've searched the entire floor of the pit."
"Thanks John." The Sheriff called out. "You too Bob."
"No problem Sheriff."
The Sheriff turned to Walker. "What do you think Ranger Walker?"
Walker shook his head. "I don't know what to think. That lunatic is still out there and you can bet he'll be back."
******
Dr. Shayler wheeled Sydney along the corridor quietly and started to push back the door to the Cardiac ICU when Sydney stopped her. "Do I look presentable?" She asked.
Dr. Shayler laughed. "You look beautiful and I'm sure it wouldn't really matter to Ranger Gage. By the way, I don't know when you last saw him, but he's very battered and bruised. His face is black and blue, his lip is cut, oh and he is being treated for a severe concussion. Dr. Martin had inserted a shunt at the base of his skull to relieve a pressure build up, but he's doing quite well and if the pressure remains normal, we'll remove that in a couple of days, just be aware that it's there and don't bump it.
Sydney nodded, afraid to speak. She could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes as the doctor pushed her towards Gage's bedside.
Even after Dr. Shayler had explained Gage's appearance, she still wasn't quite prepared for the sight before her. His cheeks were deep purple and even though the greenish-yellow bruises on his chin were healing, she would still see them. His left arm was in a cast and both of his eyes were black. He looked like hell.
The doctor checked his vitals and reset one of the monitors before turning to leave. "Are you OK?" She asked as she turned to Sydney. Sydney nodded and watched as the doctor left the room.
Sydney slowly reached for Gage's hand and her spirit felt renewed at the warmth of the touch of his skin. "You really are alive." She whispered as she brought his hand to her lips and gently kissed it.
Gage's eyes slowly began to open and when he saw Sydney's face, a wave of relief spread through him. "Syd?" He said her name quietly.
"Shh. The doctor said you needed to rest." She whispered.
Gage stared at her face and then his eyes went to the IV tube running into her arm. "He hurt you." It was more of a statement that a question.
Sydney shook her head as she followed his eyes to the IV. "No, I'm just a little dehydrated." Gage continued to stare at her face and Sydney was sure that he could see the deep hurt in her heart that had been inflicted by Latimier's cruelty. "I promise I'll tell you everything when you're better, OK?" She forced a smile to her face.
Gage nodded. "Tired." He whispered.
She watched him struggle to keep his eyes opened and reached her hand to his battered face. "Shh. You sleep now. I promise I'm not going anywhere."
"This isn't just a dream, is it?" Gage mumbled.
"No honey, this isn't a dream. I'm really here and I'll always be here Gage." She watched him drift off to sleep. "I love you." She whispered.
********
Two days later, Gage's condition had been upgraded and he had been moved to a private room on the third floor. And although Sydney had been released, she refused to leave the hospital until she knew for certain that Gage was going to be OK.
Alex and Walker met up with Erica and Jimmy in the hallway, just a few doors away from Gage's room. "Do you think we can pry Sydney away from him for a while? She really needs to get some rest." Alex asked.
"I don't know. I don't think she's too likely to leave him until she's satisfied that he's OK." Jimmy replied.
Jimmy and Walker urged their wives to go on ahead of them while they lingered behind to talk. "So, what is it that you're not telling me?" Trivette asked.
"Search and Rescue didn't find Latimier's body."
"You said he fell into the pit. Walker, he couldn't have climbed out. I had a hard enough time getting out of a shallow pit. You said the one he fell into was every bit of 40 feet."
Walker nodded. "It was, but they couldn't find a body."
"So what now? You know he'll come after Gage and Sydney again." Trivette stated.
"I know and I really wish I didn't have to tell them that. They've been through so much with this case."
Trivette stopped Walker before they reached Gage's room. "Why don't we at least wait until Gage is released? I don't think Sydney's going anywhere until then and we can keep a guard on the hall here."
"That's a good idea Trivette. Once they're back home, I can keep a guard outside of their apartments at least until their medical leave is up and they've returned to work."
"I think the idea here is to make sure they're both well enough to defend themselves before releasing the 24 hour guard."
Walker nodded. "I just don't know if they'll see it that way." He looked at the door to Gage's room. "We had better get in there."
They entered the room to find Gage sitting up in bed, still very bruised, but not nearly as tired as he had been. "Hey guys!" He greeted them with a smile.
Walker stepped next to the bed and gave the junior Ranger a hug. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Yeah, me too. I'm still pretty sore and a little tired, but I'm getting there."
Trivette took his turn, greeting Gage with a hug as well. "You just make sure you take it easy and don't try to get back to work too soon."
Gage smiled slightly. "Well, that's not too likely to happen as long as Nurse Cooke here is looking out for me."
Sydney opened her mouth slightly. "Ah, that's something I've been meaning to talk to you about Walker. I was hoping that I could take my medical leave with Gage. His doctor had already told us that once he's released, at least for the first week, she wants someone with him 24/7. If I can't be with him, he'll have to be admitted to a nursing home until he recuperates and . . ."
Walker held up his hand, trying to get a word in edgewise. "You can have the time Sydney."
"You're sure? I know I'll be leaving you short-handed with Gage out too, but . . ."
Alex cleared her throat. "Sydney, you had better quit while you're ahead." She laughed.
"Thanks Walker." Sydney replied.
Gage yawned, a cue that everyone took as a sign telling them it was time to leave. "Take care of him Sydney." Trivette said as he closed the door behind them after everyone had said their goodbyes.
Alex elbowed Walker when they were in the hall. "What's wrong? I was getting ready to ask her to come home with us and at least get a shower and a goodnights sleep."
"They didn't find Latimier's body. We can keep a guard posted on the hall here and not have to tell Sydney and Gage what's going on yet. If I send a guard home with her, or even to our house, she'll know something's up. I just want both of them to have a little time to heal before we have to clue them in on Latimier."
"He's still alive?" Erica asked, overhearing Walker's conversation.
"All we know is that Search and Rescue couldn't find a body."
"Where does all of this end, Walker?" Alex asked.
Walker hit the button for the elevator. "We're not giving up." He said with a set look.
*******
Three days later, Sydney wheeled Gage across the lobby and out to her waiting car. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" She asked as the nurse helped Gage into the passenger side.
"My head's still a little sore from having that tube yanked out this morning, but yeah, I'm sure I'm ready to go home."
She pulled the car into gear and they started out for Gage's apartment. "Just let me know if you're getting dizzy, OK?"
Gage smiled and patted her leg. "I'm fine Syd. And you know you don't have to do this. I appreciate you volunteering to stay with me for the next week, but I don't really need a nursemaid."
"You don't want me stay?" She asked, her feelings slightly hurt.
Gage shook his head. "No, I mean yes I want you to stay. I just meant that I don't want you to feel like you have to."
"I want to." She stressed the word 'want' as she spoke.
"Good. I want you to, but only if you want to."
Sydney smiled. "I think we've established that." She pulled into the parking lot of Gage's apartment complex. "Do you think Walker and Trivette are acting a little strange?"
Gage looked around, noticing one unmarked police car sitting across the street and another in the parking lot, beneath his apartment. "Yes and I feel sure they've had something to do with all of this extra security around here, the question is why."
Sydney took note of the two police cars as well. "Let's get you inside, then I'll call Walker and get to the bottom of this."
She helped Gage ease out of the car and waited patiently as he slowly climbed the stairs. He leaned against the wall as Sydney unlocked the door and then helped him inside. "Come on, have a seat. I know you're tired."
He let her lead him to the couch and he practically fell into it. "I sure hope I build my strength back soon. I know I shouldn't be this tired from climbing two flights of stairs."
Sydney sat down in front of him. "Gage, you almost died in the hospital. Your heart stopped and you stopped breathing. They were lucky that they were able to bring you back."
He nodded. "I know Syd and I am thankful that I didn't die, but I just hate being so . . ."
"So what?" She asked.
"Weak. Vulnerable. I don't know. I felt like this when I was a kid." He smiled slightly. "I used to get beat up most everyday when I first started school. There was this bully that rode our bus and he had it in for me from day one. My dad finally told me that I had to learn to stand up for myself and he enrolled me in my first martial arts class when I was six."
"What happened?"
"Well, I ended up punching the guy and broke his nose. He didn't bother me anymore, but I got suspended for fighting." He laughed slightly. "I don't know who my mom was more upset with, me or my dad."
Sydney smiled. "That's a nice memory."
The smile faded from Gage's face. "Yeah. One of the few nice ones I have of my childhood."
"Come on. Let's get you into bed."
Gage lifted his eyebrows. "Are you going to join me?"
"Gage, you couldn't handle that right now."
He laughed again. "You're probably right." Sydney helped him into the bedroom and out of his shirt. "Can you handle the rest?"
"What exactly are you offering Syd?"
She shook her head again. "I only meant that with your arm in a cast, it's not going to be too easy to get out of those pants."
"I'm a big boy, I think I can take care of it from here." He began to unzip his pants with his right hand and managed to work them off as Sydney returned to the living room to call Walker.
"Walker." He answered the phone.
"Walker, it's Sydney. Gage and I both spotted the unmarked cars when we pulled into the parking lot. Care to tell us what's going on?"
Walker sighed. "Latimier's body wasn't recovered from the pit."
Sydney began to shake. "You mean he's still out there!"
"Sydney, this is exactly why I didn't tell you and Gage before you left the hospital. Listen, I'm on my way over."
"No, you don't have to. It's getting late and I know you want to spend some time with your family. We'll be fine here."
"You're sure?" Walker asked.
Sydney nodded. "Gage is asleep right now and I really don't want to tell him what's going on yet. How long can you maintain the 24 hour guard?"
"At least for two weeks. Hopefully, we'll have Latimier in custody by then."
"I'm sure you will and Walker thanks again." Sydney hung up the phone and quietly opened the door to check on Gage.
She could hear him breathing before she entered the room, but opened the door just enough for the light from the hallway to eliminate the headboard. She could see his face and watched for a moment as he changed positions. Quietly closing the door, she pulled blankets and a pillow from the hallway closet and converted the couch into a bed for herself.
When sleep finally came for her, it was filled with horrible scenes of Latimier's face and voices that only promised despair and pain. She woke to find herself in a pool of sweat. Her throat and mouth dry. She got up and filled a glass with water, but before returning to the couch, she checked on Gage once again, just to find him sleeping comfortably.
It took hours for her to finally doze off again and this sleep too was plagued with frightening scenes of Latimier. A loud crash from the kitchen woke her and she instinctively grabbed her gun from the side table, pointing it towards the kitchen.
"Easy Syd! It's me!" Gage shouted out as he saw the gun pointed at his chest.
Sydney quickly laid down the gun and ran to Gage's side. "Gage! What are you doing out of bed?"
"I was hungry." He looked at the crumpled mess of blankets on the couch. "What's going on out here?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't sleep. Guess when I finally dozed off, I was pretty restless."
He put his arm around her and let her help him to the living room. "Why don't you just tell me what's really going on? You and I have always leveled with each other, haven't we?"
She nodded. "Gage, Latimier is still on the loose."
Gage stared at her with his mouth opened for a minute. "I thought he fell into one of those deep pits you were telling me about."
"He did, but Walker said that Search and Rescue didn't recover his body."
Fear began to grip Gage. "So, you're telling me that he's still out there. Still coming after you and me and we have no idea where or when?"
Sydney nodded again. "Gage, I didn't want to say anything until you were a little stronger, but now that you know . . ."
"That's why the cars are downstairs, right?"
"Yeah. We have them for at least two weeks, 24/7, but after that . . ."
Gage shook off the feelings that were taking over him and put his arm around Sydney. "Hey, you know what. We've been in worse spots than this before. We'll find him Syd. We'll find him before he finds us."
"I know." She smiled. "I know we will. Come on; let's get you back in bed." She helped him to his feet and back into the bedroom where she ended up spending the night, laying next to him, wrapped in his arms.
THE END
I'm leaving this open for another story. Let me know what you think!
Sydney trailed behind Walker, the events of the past few days finally catching up to her. "Sydney, are you OK?" She faintly heard Walker call out. "Walker?" She questioned.
Walker reached his friend just before she hit the ground. He held her in his arms, cradling her head. "Sydney. Sydney, you have to wake up. We have to check on Trivette."
******* Jimmy opened his eyes to find himself laying flat on his back in a pool of cool gray mud. He looked up and thanked God that the fall hadn't been more than ten feet or so. "What do you know, he was telling the truth." His thoughts went back to Daniel. "I wonder where they are now?"
He pulled himself to his feet and began to search for a way out of the pit.
******* Sydney's eyes opened and her arms flogged Walker's chest. "Get away! Get away from me!" She screamed.
"Sydney! Sydney, it's Walker!" He shouted as he shook her slightly and stared into her eyes, waiting for her to recover from her daze and recognize him.
"Walker?" She questioned. "Oh God Walker, Gage. Gage is dead." She began to cry.
Walker held her close. "Shh. Sydney, he's not dead. We just talked about this a little while ago, remember?"
Sydney continued to cry. "I don't know what's real anymore Walker." She whispered, trying to bring herself under control.
Walker helped her to her feet. "Let's find Trivette and then I'll take you to Gage."
Sydney nodded and allowed Walker to help her to her feet. She leaned on him slightly as they made their way to the pit where earlier they had both seen Trivette disappear into.
"Trivette!" Walker called out as they neared the edge of the pit.
"Down here Walker! I'm alright."
Walker smiled. "We'll have you out in a minute." He shouted as he scanned the area for a rope or something to help pull his partner to safety.
"Walker, it's not that deep. If you lean over the edge, I can probably reach you." Trivette shouted back.
Walker dropped to the ground on his stomach. Leaning over the edge, he shined he called down into the pit. "You sure you're OK?" He asked as the moonlight hit Trivette's form.
"I think I sprained my ankle, but other than that, I'm fine." Trivette reached up and grabbed Walker's outstretched hand, climbing as Walker pulled at his arms. When he reached the edge of the pit, Walker and Sydney helped him stand.
"Thanks guys!" Trivette exclaimed, but as he put his weight on his twisted ankle, a pain shot through his leg. "Agh! This isn't going to work." Sydney positioned herself under his arm and let him lean on her.
As the three Rangers contemplated getting off of the ridge, the rest of Latimier's men started through the woods towards them. "Take cover!" Walker shouted.
Sydney helped Trivette to a nearby large rock and pulled her gun from her waistband. "Where's your gun?" She asked.
"I only have my back-up. It's on my ankle." Trivette responded. Sydney pulled the small gun from Trivette's ankle holster and handed it to him. "Cover me." She whispered before peeking from behind the tree and firing three shots towards the approaching men.
Walker pulled his back-up weapon and quietly watched as one of the men approached his hiding place. He quickly shoved the gun into his waistband and waited until the man's back was facing him. He then wrapped his arm around the man's neck and squeezed until he dropped to the ground, quietly.
One of the other men began to fire wildly towards Sydney's position. She put her back against a tree and waited until the firing stopped briefly, taking that moment to return fire. She heard a loud yell as her bullet found its mark and the man dropped to the ground.
Trivette was still behind the rock and had been taking fire from yet another man. The firing suddenly stopped and Trivette cautiously peeked around from the rock and fired towards the trees. "Don't shoot!" A call came out. "I give up!"
"Throw out your gun and come out of the trees with your hands up!" Trivette called out. Seconds later, a man began to emerge from the trees.
Walker dunked out from his hiding place and pulled the man behind into the grove of trees he had been using as cover. "How may more are there?" He asked.
"That's it! There was just me, David and Ken. Ed and Mike left for town about an hour ago."
"That must have been the two that brought me and Trivette in." Walker roughly grabbed the man's collar and started towards Trivette's position. "You had better be telling the truth."
When Sydney saw Walker began to move, she started towards the rock as well. "Is that the last of them?" She asked.
Walker nodded. "Looks like it." He shoved the man against a tree and pulled his handcuffs from his belt. "Hug the tree." He ordered. Once the man's arms were around the tree, Walker cuffed them together. "We need to get back to the truck and call this in. I want Search and Rescue up here to see if they can find Latimier's body."
The three Rangers carefully made their way down the ravine and to Walker's RAM where Walker called in the incident. As he finished his call, he noticed Sydney leaned against the fender of the truck, her head lowered. "Sydney? Are you sure you not hurt?"
She looked up at him. "I'm tired, I'm sore and all I really want to do is see Gage and make sure he's OK."
Walker nodded as a smile came to his lips. "I want you and Trivette to both be checked out anyway." He picked up the radio again and called for a helicopter.
********
Dr. Shayler entered Gage's room and was somewhat surprised to find him awake. "How are you feeling Mr. Gage?" She asked.
Gage slowly turned his head towards her. "Tired." He whispered hoarsely.
The doctor nodded. "That's certainly to be expected after all you've been through. I have your test results back and I can tell you that you are definitely one very lucky man. It looks like your heart sustained no permanent damage from the morphine and as far as I can tell, there's no permanent brain damage from the cardiac arrest either, which is amazing in itself since you were clinically dead for almost ten minutes."
Gage stared at her blankly. "What?"
"You don't remember any of it, do you?" She patted his leg as she took a seat next to the bed. "Dr. Martin gave you an injection of morphine."
"I can't take morphine. It's in my chart." Gage mumbled.
Dr. Shayler nodded. "I know and Dr. Martin knew as well. He was trying to kill you and would have succeeded, but he had a change of heart for some reason and let Ranger Walker know what he had done."
Gage winced as a wave of pain racked his body. "Syd?"
Dr. Shayler reached for Gage's wrist and took his pulse. "I'm sorry. I don't anything about your partner except that Rangers Walker and Trivette left last night to meet the person holding her." Gage nodded as his eyes began to close. "You need to rest. I'll check in on you a little later." She remained quietly by his bed until Gage was asleep.
*******
The Emergency Room was abuzz as Sydney was wheeled in on a gurney, followed closely by Trivette. "Two Texas Rangers." The EMT announced. "The man has a badly sprained or broken ankle and the woman has been held captive up in the hills. She's dehydrated and bruised up a bit, but she's not complaining of any other injuries."
"We'll take it from here." A doctor replied as Trivette was wheeled into one examination area and Sydney another.
"You have another Ranger here in the hospital." Trivette said as the nurse began to clean him up. "Francis Gage. We need to know how he is."
"We'll check on that for you in a few minutes. Right now, we need to get you cleaned up and see how badly you're hurt." The nurse replied.
Sydney had begun to put up a fight as the nurse's tried to examine her. "Wait! I'm not hurt!" One of the nurses began to cut away her blouse. "You don't have to do that! I'm not injured! I need to know where my partner is. I'm looked for Francis Gage!"
"Ranger Cooke, you're dehydrated and you look like hell. We're going to check you over and that's that. We can do it the easy way or the hard way, the choice is up to you, but if you don't calm down, I will get someone down here with restraints. Now which is it going to be?" The older nurse stared at her sternly.
Tears were beginning to form in Sydney's eyes. "You don't understand. They tried to kill him here in the hospital and made me watch a video of his death, and then when Walker and Trivette showed up in the hills, they told me that he wasn't really dead. I need to know that he's OK. Please!" She held fast to the nurse's arm, her eyes pleading for some compassion. "If you promise that you'll behave and be still while the team finishes examining you, I'll check with admissions and see what I can find out."
Sydney nodded. "Thank you." The nurse nodded and stepped out of the small room, leaving Sydney with three other nurses.
A young doctor began to examine Sydney for further injuries and when he was satisfied that there were none, he turned to one of the nurses. "She's going to be here for at least 24 hours until we get her re-hydrated. Call up and get her a room."
"Yes doctor."
The doctor returned his focus to Sydney. "We're going to get you into a room and get you re-hydrated. I'll have Dr. Shayler check in on you once you're settled."
"Thank you." Sydney replied. "Doctor, the nurse that was with me when I first came in, she was going to check on the status of my partner."
"You mean Becky. She's around here somewhere. I'll see if I can find her before they take you upstairs."
Just before Sydney was to be moved upstairs, Becky came into her room. "He's in ICU and he's stable. That's all I could find out."
Sydney's eyes filled with hope. "But he's alive. You're sure he's alive?"
Becky smiled as the orderlies came in to move Sydney. "I'm very sure he's alive."
While Sydney was being settled into a room, the floor nurse saw Dr. Shayler walking towards the elevators. "Dr. Shayler, wait! They just brought up another patient and she's been assigned to you."
Dr. Shayler sighed as she looked at her watch. "It's almost 9:00 a.m. My shift ended at 7:00. I was hoping to go up to ICU and check on another patient and then head out." She said as she walked with the nurse towards Sydney's room. "What have we got?"
"A female Texas Ranger, Sydney Cooke." The nurse said as she flipped through Sydney's chart.
Dr. Shayler's pace quickened. "How is she?" She asked as they stopped outside her door.
"Looks like she's just badly dehydrated. ER sent her up about thirty minutes ago for 24 hour observation."
Dr. Shayler opened the door. "Thanks Karen. I'll take it from here."
Sydney's eyes focused on the door as Dr. Shayler entered. "Ranger Cooke. I'm Dr. Shayler and I think that you may be just what the doctor ordered for another of my patients."
Looking up at her, from the bed, Sydney had a puzzled look on her face, unsure of what the doctor was trying to say.
"I'm also Ranger Gage's doctor." She smiled, clearing up the confusion immediately.
Sydney's eyes lit up at the mention of Gage's name. "Where is he? Is he OK? Can I see him?"
Dr. Shayler smiled as she pulled a chair next to Sydney's bedside. "Calm down. He's in Cardiac ICU. He's stable and yes, I think a visit from you may be exactly what he needs." The doctor paused. "I don't know if you know what he's been through in the past twelve hours, but that partner of yours is very lucky to be alive."
Sydney nodded. "I know. I was held captive by the man that orchestrated all of this. He managed to tape what went on in Gage's hospital room, after Dr. Martin gave him the injection of morphine. I had to watch it over and over again until I admitted that Gage was really dead and then when Walker and Trivette showed up and told me that he was still alive . . . I was almost afraid to believe them . . . I . . . "She began to cry.
Dr. Shayler put her arm around Sydney's shoulders and held her. "Shh. He should have died. He was clinically dead for about ten minutes and according to the test results that I got back a few hours ago, there's no brain damage and no damage to his heart. He's very weak right now and he needs plenty of rest, but he's one hell of a fighter." She released her hold on Sydney and returned to her chair.
"Which brings me to my next point. When I saw him at six this morning, just before he fell asleep again, he asked for you. I can't think of a stronger medication than for him to find you at his bedside when he wakes up again." The doctor smiled as she watched Sydney's face light up.
"Really?" She asked excitedly.
"Seems this might be the best medicine for you as well." She stood and pulled her stethoscope to her ears. "Let me just get a reading on your vitals and get a wheelchair in here and we'll get you upstairs."
*******
Walker stood next to the local sheriff as Search and Rescue began combing the pit, looking for Latimier's body. Finally the two man team emerged from the depths of the pit. One of the men shook his head. "There's no one down there. It's a good 40 foot drop and I can't imagine how anyone would possibly survive it, let alone get back out without some serious help, but there's no body down there. We've searched the entire floor of the pit."
"Thanks John." The Sheriff called out. "You too Bob."
"No problem Sheriff."
The Sheriff turned to Walker. "What do you think Ranger Walker?"
Walker shook his head. "I don't know what to think. That lunatic is still out there and you can bet he'll be back."
******
Dr. Shayler wheeled Sydney along the corridor quietly and started to push back the door to the Cardiac ICU when Sydney stopped her. "Do I look presentable?" She asked.
Dr. Shayler laughed. "You look beautiful and I'm sure it wouldn't really matter to Ranger Gage. By the way, I don't know when you last saw him, but he's very battered and bruised. His face is black and blue, his lip is cut, oh and he is being treated for a severe concussion. Dr. Martin had inserted a shunt at the base of his skull to relieve a pressure build up, but he's doing quite well and if the pressure remains normal, we'll remove that in a couple of days, just be aware that it's there and don't bump it.
Sydney nodded, afraid to speak. She could already feel the tears welling up in her eyes as the doctor pushed her towards Gage's bedside.
Even after Dr. Shayler had explained Gage's appearance, she still wasn't quite prepared for the sight before her. His cheeks were deep purple and even though the greenish-yellow bruises on his chin were healing, she would still see them. His left arm was in a cast and both of his eyes were black. He looked like hell.
The doctor checked his vitals and reset one of the monitors before turning to leave. "Are you OK?" She asked as she turned to Sydney. Sydney nodded and watched as the doctor left the room.
Sydney slowly reached for Gage's hand and her spirit felt renewed at the warmth of the touch of his skin. "You really are alive." She whispered as she brought his hand to her lips and gently kissed it.
Gage's eyes slowly began to open and when he saw Sydney's face, a wave of relief spread through him. "Syd?" He said her name quietly.
"Shh. The doctor said you needed to rest." She whispered.
Gage stared at her face and then his eyes went to the IV tube running into her arm. "He hurt you." It was more of a statement that a question.
Sydney shook her head as she followed his eyes to the IV. "No, I'm just a little dehydrated." Gage continued to stare at her face and Sydney was sure that he could see the deep hurt in her heart that had been inflicted by Latimier's cruelty. "I promise I'll tell you everything when you're better, OK?" She forced a smile to her face.
Gage nodded. "Tired." He whispered.
She watched him struggle to keep his eyes opened and reached her hand to his battered face. "Shh. You sleep now. I promise I'm not going anywhere."
"This isn't just a dream, is it?" Gage mumbled.
"No honey, this isn't a dream. I'm really here and I'll always be here Gage." She watched him drift off to sleep. "I love you." She whispered.
********
Two days later, Gage's condition had been upgraded and he had been moved to a private room on the third floor. And although Sydney had been released, she refused to leave the hospital until she knew for certain that Gage was going to be OK.
Alex and Walker met up with Erica and Jimmy in the hallway, just a few doors away from Gage's room. "Do you think we can pry Sydney away from him for a while? She really needs to get some rest." Alex asked.
"I don't know. I don't think she's too likely to leave him until she's satisfied that he's OK." Jimmy replied.
Jimmy and Walker urged their wives to go on ahead of them while they lingered behind to talk. "So, what is it that you're not telling me?" Trivette asked.
"Search and Rescue didn't find Latimier's body."
"You said he fell into the pit. Walker, he couldn't have climbed out. I had a hard enough time getting out of a shallow pit. You said the one he fell into was every bit of 40 feet."
Walker nodded. "It was, but they couldn't find a body."
"So what now? You know he'll come after Gage and Sydney again." Trivette stated.
"I know and I really wish I didn't have to tell them that. They've been through so much with this case."
Trivette stopped Walker before they reached Gage's room. "Why don't we at least wait until Gage is released? I don't think Sydney's going anywhere until then and we can keep a guard on the hall here."
"That's a good idea Trivette. Once they're back home, I can keep a guard outside of their apartments at least until their medical leave is up and they've returned to work."
"I think the idea here is to make sure they're both well enough to defend themselves before releasing the 24 hour guard."
Walker nodded. "I just don't know if they'll see it that way." He looked at the door to Gage's room. "We had better get in there."
They entered the room to find Gage sitting up in bed, still very bruised, but not nearly as tired as he had been. "Hey guys!" He greeted them with a smile.
Walker stepped next to the bed and gave the junior Ranger a hug. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Yeah, me too. I'm still pretty sore and a little tired, but I'm getting there."
Trivette took his turn, greeting Gage with a hug as well. "You just make sure you take it easy and don't try to get back to work too soon."
Gage smiled slightly. "Well, that's not too likely to happen as long as Nurse Cooke here is looking out for me."
Sydney opened her mouth slightly. "Ah, that's something I've been meaning to talk to you about Walker. I was hoping that I could take my medical leave with Gage. His doctor had already told us that once he's released, at least for the first week, she wants someone with him 24/7. If I can't be with him, he'll have to be admitted to a nursing home until he recuperates and . . ."
Walker held up his hand, trying to get a word in edgewise. "You can have the time Sydney."
"You're sure? I know I'll be leaving you short-handed with Gage out too, but . . ."
Alex cleared her throat. "Sydney, you had better quit while you're ahead." She laughed.
"Thanks Walker." Sydney replied.
Gage yawned, a cue that everyone took as a sign telling them it was time to leave. "Take care of him Sydney." Trivette said as he closed the door behind them after everyone had said their goodbyes.
Alex elbowed Walker when they were in the hall. "What's wrong? I was getting ready to ask her to come home with us and at least get a shower and a goodnights sleep."
"They didn't find Latimier's body. We can keep a guard posted on the hall here and not have to tell Sydney and Gage what's going on yet. If I send a guard home with her, or even to our house, she'll know something's up. I just want both of them to have a little time to heal before we have to clue them in on Latimier."
"He's still alive?" Erica asked, overhearing Walker's conversation.
"All we know is that Search and Rescue couldn't find a body."
"Where does all of this end, Walker?" Alex asked.
Walker hit the button for the elevator. "We're not giving up." He said with a set look.
*******
Three days later, Sydney wheeled Gage across the lobby and out to her waiting car. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" She asked as the nurse helped Gage into the passenger side.
"My head's still a little sore from having that tube yanked out this morning, but yeah, I'm sure I'm ready to go home."
She pulled the car into gear and they started out for Gage's apartment. "Just let me know if you're getting dizzy, OK?"
Gage smiled and patted her leg. "I'm fine Syd. And you know you don't have to do this. I appreciate you volunteering to stay with me for the next week, but I don't really need a nursemaid."
"You don't want me stay?" She asked, her feelings slightly hurt.
Gage shook his head. "No, I mean yes I want you to stay. I just meant that I don't want you to feel like you have to."
"I want to." She stressed the word 'want' as she spoke.
"Good. I want you to, but only if you want to."
Sydney smiled. "I think we've established that." She pulled into the parking lot of Gage's apartment complex. "Do you think Walker and Trivette are acting a little strange?"
Gage looked around, noticing one unmarked police car sitting across the street and another in the parking lot, beneath his apartment. "Yes and I feel sure they've had something to do with all of this extra security around here, the question is why."
Sydney took note of the two police cars as well. "Let's get you inside, then I'll call Walker and get to the bottom of this."
She helped Gage ease out of the car and waited patiently as he slowly climbed the stairs. He leaned against the wall as Sydney unlocked the door and then helped him inside. "Come on, have a seat. I know you're tired."
He let her lead him to the couch and he practically fell into it. "I sure hope I build my strength back soon. I know I shouldn't be this tired from climbing two flights of stairs."
Sydney sat down in front of him. "Gage, you almost died in the hospital. Your heart stopped and you stopped breathing. They were lucky that they were able to bring you back."
He nodded. "I know Syd and I am thankful that I didn't die, but I just hate being so . . ."
"So what?" She asked.
"Weak. Vulnerable. I don't know. I felt like this when I was a kid." He smiled slightly. "I used to get beat up most everyday when I first started school. There was this bully that rode our bus and he had it in for me from day one. My dad finally told me that I had to learn to stand up for myself and he enrolled me in my first martial arts class when I was six."
"What happened?"
"Well, I ended up punching the guy and broke his nose. He didn't bother me anymore, but I got suspended for fighting." He laughed slightly. "I don't know who my mom was more upset with, me or my dad."
Sydney smiled. "That's a nice memory."
The smile faded from Gage's face. "Yeah. One of the few nice ones I have of my childhood."
"Come on. Let's get you into bed."
Gage lifted his eyebrows. "Are you going to join me?"
"Gage, you couldn't handle that right now."
He laughed again. "You're probably right." Sydney helped him into the bedroom and out of his shirt. "Can you handle the rest?"
"What exactly are you offering Syd?"
She shook her head again. "I only meant that with your arm in a cast, it's not going to be too easy to get out of those pants."
"I'm a big boy, I think I can take care of it from here." He began to unzip his pants with his right hand and managed to work them off as Sydney returned to the living room to call Walker.
"Walker." He answered the phone.
"Walker, it's Sydney. Gage and I both spotted the unmarked cars when we pulled into the parking lot. Care to tell us what's going on?"
Walker sighed. "Latimier's body wasn't recovered from the pit."
Sydney began to shake. "You mean he's still out there!"
"Sydney, this is exactly why I didn't tell you and Gage before you left the hospital. Listen, I'm on my way over."
"No, you don't have to. It's getting late and I know you want to spend some time with your family. We'll be fine here."
"You're sure?" Walker asked.
Sydney nodded. "Gage is asleep right now and I really don't want to tell him what's going on yet. How long can you maintain the 24 hour guard?"
"At least for two weeks. Hopefully, we'll have Latimier in custody by then."
"I'm sure you will and Walker thanks again." Sydney hung up the phone and quietly opened the door to check on Gage.
She could hear him breathing before she entered the room, but opened the door just enough for the light from the hallway to eliminate the headboard. She could see his face and watched for a moment as he changed positions. Quietly closing the door, she pulled blankets and a pillow from the hallway closet and converted the couch into a bed for herself.
When sleep finally came for her, it was filled with horrible scenes of Latimier's face and voices that only promised despair and pain. She woke to find herself in a pool of sweat. Her throat and mouth dry. She got up and filled a glass with water, but before returning to the couch, she checked on Gage once again, just to find him sleeping comfortably.
It took hours for her to finally doze off again and this sleep too was plagued with frightening scenes of Latimier. A loud crash from the kitchen woke her and she instinctively grabbed her gun from the side table, pointing it towards the kitchen.
"Easy Syd! It's me!" Gage shouted out as he saw the gun pointed at his chest.
Sydney quickly laid down the gun and ran to Gage's side. "Gage! What are you doing out of bed?"
"I was hungry." He looked at the crumpled mess of blankets on the couch. "What's going on out here?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I couldn't sleep. Guess when I finally dozed off, I was pretty restless."
He put his arm around her and let her help him to the living room. "Why don't you just tell me what's really going on? You and I have always leveled with each other, haven't we?"
She nodded. "Gage, Latimier is still on the loose."
Gage stared at her with his mouth opened for a minute. "I thought he fell into one of those deep pits you were telling me about."
"He did, but Walker said that Search and Rescue didn't recover his body."
Fear began to grip Gage. "So, you're telling me that he's still out there. Still coming after you and me and we have no idea where or when?"
Sydney nodded again. "Gage, I didn't want to say anything until you were a little stronger, but now that you know . . ."
"That's why the cars are downstairs, right?"
"Yeah. We have them for at least two weeks, 24/7, but after that . . ."
Gage shook off the feelings that were taking over him and put his arm around Sydney. "Hey, you know what. We've been in worse spots than this before. We'll find him Syd. We'll find him before he finds us."
"I know." She smiled. "I know we will. Come on; let's get you back in bed." She helped him to his feet and back into the bedroom where she ended up spending the night, laying next to him, wrapped in his arms.
THE END
I'm leaving this open for another story. Let me know what you think!