Christmas Day

Later the next day Walker sat in the passenger seat of his truck, rather tired and ready to doze off. He had a good two hour nap after the present opening earlier this morning, unfortunately he was still tired. He couldn't believe how tired he always was and wondered if it was something to worry about it. Maybe not, he was after all in a deep coma for some time and just came home from the hospital not too many days ago. Things will get better, he just had to be patient.

"Honey, wake up. We're at C.D.'s."

He took a deep breath then pulled his head up to see that they had indeed parked in the lot next to the bar. When did he fall asleep? Alex smiled at him then leaned over to gently clean the drool from his chin. Embarrassed he took the towel from her hands to finish the job. Because of the wires, his mouth was always slightly open which meant he constantly drooled, especially when asleep. It was humiliating.

He shoved the towel in his back pocket then opened the door, the cold Texas wind hitting him in the face. He slightly shivered then pulled his coat tighter to his body. It hasn't gotten this cold in Dallas in awhile, just wish it snowed so he could see a white Christmas, a rarity in the south.

"Let's go daddy!" Angela tugged at his coat sleeve as she ran towards the front entrance. "Everybody is waiting!"

Inside the busy bar, Clyde Brookdale sipped at his beer, his accomplice sitting right across from him. It was rather risky for both of them to be here, but he just had to see the Ranger himself. Last time he had seen Ranger Walker was when he was taking a rock and bashing his skull in. He had heard in the news that he had done some damage and should have been put in jail, but thanks to Vinnie Marcellinio, his employer he was out on bond.

"We shouldn't be here. There's cops everywhere." Hissed Johnny Harris as he shakily put a beer to his lips. "What if one of those Marines come back? I'm still hurting when I got…"

"They won't be here tonight." He glanced over his shoulder as the door opened and in walked Ranger Walker. He almost smiled at how sickly the man really looked. Walker was skinny, barely could walk and had a shaved head which showed off several scars. He shook his head as he sipped at his beer. "Those stupid Marines, if they didn't get in my way Walker would be dead or still in a coma."

Johnny hid his face with his menu. "You know this is a function for only family and friends. Somebody will see us here."

"I know. We're leaving, just wanted to see him in person." He took out his wallet, threw out two twenties then stood up. "I got my bond paid for for a reason, J. I've been assigned by Vinnie to finish my job." He chugged down the last of his beer, wiped his mouth then patted Johnny on the shoulder. "Five hundred thousand dollars, my friend. Five hundred thousand."

"Yeah, that will help out quite a bit. Hopefully you have a plan." His voice faded off as they headed straight towards the Walkers. "This is suicide." He hissed.

Clyde raised his hand to silence Johnny then gently bummed into Walker which nearly made the once strong man fall into his wife. "Excuse me, I'm sorry."

Walker smiled as best he could. "It's okay." He glanced behind him to see the men leaving together. "Let's go find a place to sit down."

Once seated he placed his shake and water thermos on the table then helped Angela into the booth. Trivette spotted him and made a bee line straight towards him, a few glasses of eggnog in his hands. He handed Walker a glass then sat down next to Alex.

"Merry Christmas! Non-Alcoholic eggnog for Walker." He toasted his glass then shouted at Gage and Sydney. "Merry Christmas, guys!"

Gage motioned for Walker to scoot to the wall then sat down heavily. "Glad you're with us Walker for the holidays!" His voice faded as he heard a glass drop then turned towards his friend as Angela began to pull on his shirt. "Walker, are you okay?"

"Get him down on the floor!" Trivette quickly got up and with Gage's help they laid Walker on the tile. By this time Walker's limbs began to spasm ever so slightly, which brought attention to him. "He's okay. Just get back to what you all are doing."

Alex quickly made her way to Walker's head where she cradled it in her lap. "Hang in there Walker, it'll be over shortly." It always tore at her heart when he suffered a seizure, it was just so hard to watch her husband shake and grunt like this. "It's okay, just a little longer."

Walker's whole body tensed up as his limbs locked and his hands began to flex. Trivette kept time on his wrist watch as Gage got Walker's water thermos from the table. Most the time after a seizure Walker would have a brief moment of clarity, ask for water then he would fall into a deep sleep. It's a shame this had to happen now.

Trivette shook his head. "This is the longest one yet." He sighed in relief as Walker visibly relaxed. "I wish he didn't suffer these type of seizures. Why couldn't he have the ones where he spaces out or a limb tenses up?" He glanced up at Gage who had sat next to Walker's head. "Is he awake?"

Gage shook his head. "He's asleep. Help me get him into the booth."

His head ached as he came to which was usually a sign that he had a seizure. As he gradually opened his eyes he wasn't quite sure where he was at and it took him several minutes to finally focus on his surroundings. He was laying in a booth, on his back with his right arm over his face. All around him he heard laughter and voices, but one in particular stood out.

"You're finally awake." It was Alex, she was sitting on the ground next to his head. She rubbed the fuzz on his temple with a smile. "You've been out for nearly two hours."

Very slowly he sat up, grabbing his head as he did. "Where is everybody?"

She got up then sat down next to him in the booth. "Gage and Trivette are drinking it up at the at bar. As for Sydney, she and Erica are chatting it up, Angela, she's asleep in the booth next to you."

He glanced over to see his daughter sound asleep with a jacket over her. His poor daughter, wonder what she thought about his seizures. Wonder what everybody thought about them? It was definitely something new to deal with on a daily basis, but at least he was alive. At least he will see his daughter graduate high school, college, then hopefully walk her down the aisle. Just the latter nearly brought a tear to his eyes.

"Hey, you're awake!" Trivette came walking up to him with a glass of eggnog. "Since you spilt your other one."

"I did?" Walker took the glass from Trivette then slowly took a sip, the flavor a welcome taste after all the shakes and blended foods. He raised the glass high into the air. "To the future." He began to laugh at the corniness of what he just said and so did Trivette.

"You were never good with words." Trivette chuckled as he gave Walker a huge hug. "Glad to have you here. Don't give us a scare like that again."