Disclaimer: The characters of, "Sons of Thunder" and "Walker Texas Ranger", are owned by Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, CBS and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

Chapter 13: St. Matthews Hospital

Walker and Trivette were at St. Matthews Hospital standing in one of the waiting rooms when Kim and Butch came running over to them. "How are they?" Kim asked breathlessly.

"They've been beaten, but they are alive. The doctor is checking them out now." Trivette answered and motioned for Kim to take a seat, which she did.

"How long is it going to be?" Butch asked anxiously.

"We don't know." Walker said as he shook his head. "The doctors are checking the boys out thoroughly, so it's going to take some time."

Butch nodded his head and sat down next to Kim. "Those boys will be all right. They're fighters." Butch said firmly.

Hunter and Kendra came into the waiting room. Hunter had taken the stubborn Kendra to get her lip stitched up.

"That looks like it hurts. You all right?" Butch asked once he saw the lip and its four stitches.

"Oh yeah. Have you heard anything about the guys?" Kendra asked barely moving her lips and looking as though she was practicing to be a ventriloquist. Butch just shook his head.

"Well, her lip probably hurts even more than it did before since Kendra couldn't stop squirming when the doctor was stitching her up." Hunter joked and Kendra glared at him and then she elbowed him playfully in the stomach.

A woman with blond hair in her late forties to early fifties stepped out of the elevator, saw some familiar faces and walked over to the group. "Walker, how is Trent? How is Carlos?" She asked as she stood before him.

"We haven't heard from the doctor yet, but they are going to be just fine, Katie." Walker said reassuringly as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Katie nodded her head and looked at Kendra and Hunter.

"I'm Hunter Prescott." He said as she held out her hand, which Katie accepted and they shook hands. "This is Kendra Stone." He introduced as he removed his hand and waved it toward Kendra.

"I'm Katie Malloy. It's a pleasure to meet you both." Katie said as she shook Kendra's hand.

"Same here." Kendra replied without moving her lips.

A red-haired woman in her early mid–to-late thirties and wearing a white lab coat walked up to the group. "Hello, I am Dr. Hazel O'Connell. Are you relatives of Trent Malloy or Carlos Sandoval?"

"Both." Kendra replied as Dr. O'Connell observed her stitched up lip.

"I see. All right. They each have a couple of broken ribs, many bruises and cuts. Carlos has a minor infection, but we have already started the antibiotics for it and it appears to already be working. They are also a little dehydrated, but we have them on an IV for that. Basically, they are going to be just fine."

"Are either of them awake yet?" Katie asked.

Dr. O'Connell shook her head. "They haven't woken up yet and they have been given pain medication that tends to make them sleep. Don't worry. Mr. Malloy and Mr. Sandoval should wake up in a few hours." Dr. O'Connell looked at her watch. "Do any of you have any more questions?" Everyone either shook their head or said no. Dr. O'Connell told them that she would be back later and she left.

"Well, I'm going to sit right here and wait for them to wake up." Katie said firmly and sat down.

"Kendra and I can get you guys some coffee and something to eat." Hunter offered and once he got their orders, he and Kendra headed off.

Trent groaned as he opened his eyes. He was blinded by a light above him for just a moment. He realized he wasn't in the warehouse, but was in a hospital bed. As he looked around, he saw that Carlos was in the other hospital bed in the room and was still asleep. Also, in the room were three vases of flowers, several cards and there was a basket in between the two beds. Trent sat up with some difficulty, that he figured was some fractured or broken, and on closer inspection, he saw what was in the basket and smiled.

"Well, look who is awake." A dark-haired nurse with a narrow face said as she walked into the room.

"Hello." Trent said in greeting.

"Hello, yourself. You and your friend over there have a large group of people waiting for you guys to wake up." The nurse said as she checked the monitors.

"Hey." Carlos said groggily as his eyes opened. "Trent? You there?"

"Yeah, I'm here. We are in the hospital." Trent said watching as Carlos scanned the room.

"You are in St. Matthews Hospital." The nurse clarified. "Now I'll go tell Dr. O'Connell that both of you are awake." When the nurse left, Carlos tried to sit up but ended up wincing in pain.

"You all right?" Trent asked with concern for his friend.

"Yeah. I'm okay. How about you?" Carlos said shifting around so he could look at Trent.

"I'm fine." Trent replied and pointed at the basket. "Kendra's been here."

Before Carlos could ask what was in the basket a woman wearing a lab coat walked into the room.

"Hello, I'm Dr. O'Connell. Nurse Smith told me that you two were awake. I'll examine you both and then I'll let your family and friends come in, okay?"

Dr. O'Connell examined the two men and then she told them about their injuries. Once she had left, Katie came into the room and hugged Trent gently so as not to cause him any pain.

"Are you all right, honey?" Katie asked holding her son's chin in her hand and studied the bruises and cuts on his face.

"Yes, mom, I'm fine." Trent replied and Katie nodded her head.

"Carlos, are you all right." Katie asked as she went to check on him.

"Yes, Mrs. Malloy, I'm all right." Carlos answered still a little groggy.

"You can call me Katie." Katie reminded him as she adjusted his pillows.

"Hey, you boys finally decided to wake up." Butch said as he, Kim, Walker, and Trivette walked into the room.

"Hey." Trent and Carlos said in unison.

"How are you guys feeling?" Kim asked as she went to stand in between the two of them.

"We're fine, Kim." Trent answered and gave her a reassuring smile.

"We were worried about you two." Walked said taking off his cowboy hat and held it in his hands.

"Hey. You guys shouldn't have worried about us. We've both been in some tough situations before." Carlos said as he sat up a little straighter.

"Yeah, I can believe that, but I think this time is the winner." Kendra remarked as she entered the room carrying a vase of flowers. She found a spot for the vase and looked at the boys. "Those are from the Jones family."

Trent's eyes narrowed as he zoned in on Kendra's lip. "Kendra, what happened to your lip?"

"I'll tell you after you guys fill us in." Kendra said as took a seat in one of the chairs.

"Carlos and I went to speak with Miller. We showed him the pictures that we had taken from our stakeouts. Once we were done with Miller, we decided to follow him since we believed he was in league with the thieves because of what Kim had found out."

"We followed Miller to the warehouse that we had followed the thieves to." Carlos continued where Trent had left off. "We got jumped by four guys and we were doing all right, until some other guys came with rifles."

"They knocked us out and when we woke up, we were in a warehouse and tied up." Trent said his voice calm but his eyes revealed what he was feeling.

"The guy calling the shots told us that we were going to be punished. I asked what we were being punished for but didn't answer." Carlos said angrily and everyone knew without being told what the man had done to Carlos for asking.

"Kim and I found out that with the pictures you guys had taken, that the man's name is Kenny Slade but later on we discovered his name was really Kenny Blade. You put his older brother Toby Blade in jail." Trivette informed them.

"Yeah, I remember him." Trent said as he recalled the man.

"Then we woke up here." Carlos finished, not having to mention to their friends about the beatings that he and Trent had endured.

Then Kendra began to fill them in about what had occurred since the boys had been missing. Kendra had tried not to mention the fact that she had been shot, but Butch had brought it up. Kendra told them about her and Butch visiting Miller and that Hunter and Gage had heard about them missing and had called in Walker and Trivette, not knowing that they knew the two PIs.

Then Kim and Jimmy told them what they and Sydney had discovered. Then, Kendra told them what Hunter's friend at the Rage Roadhouse had said about a warehouse that Blade had owned and that they had discovered Carlos' Durango. Before they could head back to the Rage Roadhouse, they had been discovered. Kendra told them how she got her split lip and Walker filled them in with the rest of it.

"Thank you all for saving our skins." Carlos said.

"No thanks needed. You both would have done the same for any of us." Butch said.

"Well, we should leave you two to get some rest." Katie said as she rose and began ushering the other visitors toward the door.

"Hey, thank you all for the flowers, cards, and thanks Kendra for the basket." Trent said with a grin.

"No problem. It'll keep you both busy." Kendra said as she returned his grin or at least tried to because grinning made her stitches stretch which caused some discomfort.

Once everyone had said his or her goodbyes, Carlos looked in the basket. "She got us comic books?"

"Yup." Trent replied as he carefully leaned over and pulled one out.

guardianM3: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. There is still one more chapter to go.