Gage slowly made his way down the hall till he got to the large, private family waiting room. Here, he could see family of Walker and Porter who was still waiting on news about their loved ones. As he stepped in, a very tall, stocky doctor came in after him. Though Gage knew him not to be Walker's doctor it still got his heart to flutter. What if they sent another doctor here since Nguyen couldn't? What if something had happened to Walker while in surgery?

"Porter family and friends?" The doctor asked as he looked around the room and Gage's heart quickly relaxed. "Is it okay to talk in front of the other families?"

"Of course, no problem." Said Jennifer as she glanced at her oldest son, Travis. "It's okay, right?" When Travis gave a slow nod she took a deep breath then smiled. "How is Sam?"

The doctor gave them all a warm smile. "The surgery went great. We stopped the bleeding in his chest and fixed his cracked eye orbit. We also wired his jaw shut and fixed his broken nose. He has some slight bruising on his liver and right lung, so we are going to keep a close eye on him." He slowly stood up. "Right now only family can visit him. Follow me, he's in the post-op recovery room."

As the Porter family left, Alex began to cry once again at the realization of Walker's condition. He had been shot then beaten, which put his body in severe shock. She checked her watch to see that seven hours had passed since the last update. Wonder how things were going in surgery? What if something had gone horribly wrong? If something did happen surely she would have been told about it.

Gage rubbed his face and Alex could see he was on the verge of collapse. "Well, we now have a reliable eye witness. He told us everything he could." He leaned his elbows against his knees then put his face in his hands. "Where did Sydney go?"

Trivette gave Gage a cup of lukewarm coffee. "She went with Erica to get a quick bite to eat." He sighed heavily then stretched. "Should check on little Marcus." He glanced up and sat straighter as Nguyen came walking into the room. "Doctor?"

Nguyen nodded then sat down across from Alex with a paper hat in his hands. "I'm not going to lie to you, the surgery didn't go as easily as planned." He took a deep breath then looked Alex right in the eyes. "His right lung collapsed which put a lot of strain on his heart. He went into cardio arrest and we nearly lost him."

Alex began to cry at this news. "Is he going to be okay?"

"It's going to be tough going for awhile, but the removal of his kidney did go smoothly." He gave Alex a comforting smile. "He's a fighter, with some hard work and perseverance he should make it through this just fine."

She slowly nodded, slightly comforted at the doctor's words. "And what about his other injuries? His broken bones?"

"We have wrapped his chest to keep his ribs in line and set the broken fingers in his left hand. As for his nose, we set that, but I fear it may need surgery later on. We'll see how it heals first. For his jaw, right now we can't wire it because of the breathing tube from surgery. In three days, we will insert a tracheotomy tube in his neck. That way we can repair his jaw and wire it shut."

"Thank you so much doctor." Alex wiped her eyes with a tissue, her hands shaking as she did so. "When can we see him?"

Nguyen slowly stood to his feet. "He is being transported to post-op recovery right now. Probably in about ten minutes. A nurse will come down and get you and another family member or friend to escort you to his bed."

Ten minutes later Alex found herself walking down a large corridor where she could see officers and Texas Rangers milling around for any news on their friends. She slowly nodded at the men and women as the nurse led them to a large room with curtains which blocked any view of the beds. Here she could see Jennifer and Travis standing by a bed where a pale man laid, his body covered in bandages and bruises. Alex swallowed hard as the nurse stopped at the last curtain, one away from Porter's.

"He's still out of it from surgery, but he should start waking up in a few days." She gently pulled the curtain back to reveal the bed that lay hidden behind it. "You can spend about thirty minutes with him. He will remain here till later tonight."

Alex nodded then took a look at her husband and nearly broke down right then and there. Walker didn't look like himself at all and in fact, his face was so swollen it took a few seconds to see distinct facial features that called out to her that this was indeed her husband. Bruises, some of them a deep, nasty purple and green color covered most of his face and torso. She could see the surgery site which traced the entire length of his chest, clear down to his belly button only broken up by the white bandages around his ribs.

Trivette wiped his clammy hands on his pant legs then sat down on one of the available chairs. "Hey, buddy." He took hold of Walker's right hand and showed Alex deep cuts in his wrists. "Reports said he had zip ties around his hands and ankles."

"He looks so terrible, Jimmy." Alex wiped her face and shook her head. "Hang in there, Cowboy. Everything will be all right."

She leaned over and gave Walker a gentle kiss on the forehead. This close to him she could see several small cuts all over his face, the worse one being right under his left eye. Very gently she ran her hand through his hair and noticed it was still caked with small amounts of blood. Why did he have to suffer so long till help arrived? Was he fully coherent during that time? Officers on the scene had told her that he was in shock by the time the paramedics had come, which meant he was very close to death.

"He'll pull through this just fine." Trivette's voice wavered slightly and he cleared his throat. "You heard Doctor Nguyen, he's a fighter."

Alex slowly nodded. "You're right." She gave Walker another kiss on the forehead then sat down next to him. Both her hands clasped around his right as tears came to her eyes. "Keep fighting, Walker. Stay with us."

Later That Night

The room was silent except for the machines that gave life to Walker as he laid on a bed recovering from a grueling eight hour surgery. Alex sat by her husband's side, her hands clasped firmly around his right as she stared at his swollen face. She couldn't believe she had almost lost her husband and was thankful for the doctors that kept him alive. Hopefully this will be the last major physical hurdle he had to face.

She slowly rubbed his thumbnail then lifted his hand up to give it a kiss. "Walker, please keep fighting. You've made it so far, I know you'll pull through this." She gently rubbed his arm, unsure if this was hurting him or not. All over his upper-body there was several bruises, some appeared to be rather painful. Then, her attention gazed upon deep cuts in his wrists made by the zip ties holding them together. "How long did you fight, Walker? How long did you suffer before help arrived?"

Walker remained still, his chest slowly rising up and down thanks to the trachea tube in his mouth which was giving his body life giving oxygen. Because his lungs were very weak, he was put on assisted breathing till he grew strong enough to breath on his own. Unfortunately this meant that his jaw will remain broken till they surgically put a tube in his throat three days from now. Until then he will be in a lot of pain once he wakes up.

"Hey, Alex." Came Gage's weary voice from behind her. "How is he?"

Alex shrugged. "Nothing has changed in the last hour." She turned and gave her friend a smile. "But that's good."

Gage slowly sat down next to her, his head bowed so she couldn't see his face. "I should have stopped him from going. I'm Field Captain, technically I was in charge." He laced his hands then exhaled a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Alex. I should have…"

"It wasn't your fault." Alex took her friend's hand into hers and gave it a squeeze. "Don't ever blame yourself for what had happened. It's nobody's fault."

He nodded. "So I keep hearing." He glanced at Alex then at Walker. "I was promoted today. Headquarters Captain till either Walker recovers or they find somebody else." He shook his head. "I'm not sure if I can handle the pressure."

"You'll do fine, Gage. I have faith in you." Alex patted his hand then turned her attention back to Walker. "You'll do a great job. Walker will be so proud of you." Walker's hand slightly moved which got both of them to snap their attention to his swollen face. Because of severe bruising, Walker most likely couldn't open either of his eyes which will make it difficult to know if he was awake or not. "Walker, are you awake?"

Nguyen walked into the room with two interns at his side. "I saw on his monitors that his heart rate is up." He began to check Walker's vitals then shook his head. "He's already trying to fight the anesthesia." As though to respond to the statement Walker began to move around a bit more which got a worried look on Nguyen's face. "Mr. Walker, if you can hear me you're in the hospital. I'm Doctor Nguyen, I'm here to help you."

Alex quickly got up so she could be directly by Walker's head. "Walker, it's Alex. You need to calm down. You'll hurt yourself more if you thrash around." She reached down, took hold of his right hand and gave it a good squeeze. This seemed to calm him down and her husband's body visibly relaxed. "That's it, Cowboy. Don't you worry, you're in good hands."

Gage stepped to her side as Nguyen put something into Walker's IV. "What did you just give him?"

"A sedative. He's not even suppose to be waking up yet, so unfortunately he might be in a great deal of pain." He took another syringe injected this one into the IV as well then began to eye the monitors by Walker's bed. "Heart rate is going down. He should be falling back to sleep."

Gage nodded his head as he looked down at the man who he considered almost to be like a fatherly role model. How could he have put Walker in such a dangerous position? Was he really ready to handle the responsibilities of a Captain? He should have fought with Walker, told him it was just too dangerous to get anywhere near the riot.

He felt somebody rubbing his shoulders and knew without looking that it was his wife, Sydney. It has been a great five years of marriage and they were now expecting their first child. Because of this, Sydney had put in for early retirement and will be leaving the Rangers for good in three years. As for Gage, he had taken up the Field Captain position knowing that he will no longer be called to do the more riskier calls. And if he was, like the riot he was to be in the background commanding the action. Man, did he ever screw up with the riot. He should have done something to find Walker sooner. Why did he wait for the National Guard? Why didn't he send a team out to search for the missing men?

Sydney gently squeezed his shoulders then patted his arm. "Everybody made it out of surgery just fine. Honey, all of this wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, I just wish I could believe that Syd." Gage took one more look at Walker then patted his friend's hand. "Hang in there, boss."

XXXX

Trivette gradually made his way into Walker's room, his mind and body completely worn out from the days events. Soon, he will have to get some sleep or else he wouldn't be able to truly function. But right now he was just happy to see that his friend was in a regular room in the ICU ward which allowed more privacy. Once in, he slowly closed the door behind him then made his way to Walker's bedside where Gage, Sydney and Alex sat. He shook the two formers hands then hugged the latter in a big, friendly embrace.

He took a look at Walker who laid with his upper body at an up angle with a breathing tube going through his cracked and slightly bleeding lips. There was a slight wheeze which could be caused by Walker's broken nose. Wonder how long he'll be out for?

He gently took hold of Walker's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Hey, Walker. Keep fighting, you'll pull through this just fine." His voice slightly cracked with emotion and cleared his throat. "Don't worry, Alex. He'll make it."

Alex nodded as she wiped her eyes. "I know. He's fighting so hard." She turned her attention back to her husband. "Where's Erica?"

"She went to check on little Marcus." Trivette stretched as he sat down. "He's staying with a friend of ours."

"Good. I think Walker's sleeping pretty good right now, so if anybody wants to go and get some rest, you can." Alex's voice was shaky, but she held her emotions in check. "I'll be hear as long as I can be."

"Do you want me to go get Angela?" Asked Trivette as he gave Alex another friendly hug.

"If you don't mind. She needs to see her father. Maybe it'll help him in his recovery for her to be here."

Trivette's eyes gazed upon Walker once more. "It'll definitely help him." He pulled back to look Alex in the eyes. "Be strong. He's going to pull through this just fine. I'll pick up Angela and I'll be back in about an hour. Want me to pick up anything for you while I'm out?"

"Just some coffee." Alex gave everybody hugs. "Thanks so much for being here. I'll let you all know if anything changes."

XXXX

An hour later Angela found herself walking down the wide hallways of the hospital, her young mind trying to take everything in. Though it has only been little over a day since her father was injured, it seemed much longer to her. How will he look like? Will he be awake? Her mother hasn't told her what her father's condition really was, saying she would explain everything once Angela arrived to his room.

Next to her Uncle Jimmy walked with his hand on her shoulder. "Just a little bit to go." His voice told Angela he was smiling. "I really like the balloon you picked out."

"Yeah, I hope dad likes it as well." She glanced up at the shiny balloon then back at the hallway before her. "Why is it all over the news, Uncle Jimmy?"

"It's a big case, one of the biggest in Texas history." The man next to her took a deep breath then shook his head. "You'll learn in time what happened to your father." He stopped at a door with a police officer sitting in front of it. Here he took out a badge and showed it to the policeman who allowed them in with a nod. "Alex, I got Angela." He said as he opened the door. "Go on in."

Angela swallowed hard then made her way across the large room to the bed that laid in the middle. Her mother stood up, gave her a hug then looked down and into her eyes.

"Angela, your father is in really bad shape, but he is fighting. He has bruises all over his body and stitches on his chest." Her mother led her to dad's bed, her hand slowly rubbing her back. "He's sleeping right now and won't wake up until another day or two."

Her eyes fell upon the man in the bed and Angela began to cry. Here was a man who she always saw as invincible attached to many tubes and wires with bruises all over his body. She wiped her face with her jacket sleeve then took hold of her dad's hand which was very cold to the touch.

"Hey dad, it's me Angela." Her voice was so quiet she barely could hear herself. "I love you so much." She glanced at her father's face to see that it was so swollen she could barely recognize him. "Why did this have to happen to dad?"

She could hear her mother sigh heavily as she sat down next to her. "Some bad men did this to dad because he's a Texas Ranger. But your dad is a fighter, he'll pull through this."

Angela wrapped her arms around her mother. "I hope so." She took a deep breath then put the balloon on the table next to her. "That's for you, dad."

"It's cute, Angie." Her mother kissed her on the top of the head. "He'll love it."