Sorry this has taken so long to update. Hope this chapter makes you all excited and waiting for the next one. Let me know. Thank you moviemom44 and nee-nee NIA. The advise helped.
Alex watched as Trivette and Erica shared their embrace with tears in her eyes. As hard as she tried to reassure herself that her husband and her friends were going to be fine, doubt still assailed her. Lost in thought she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Alex"
"WALKER!" she said with tears in her eyes. Walker pulled Alex and the still sleeping child into his arms.
Trivette reluctantly pulled away from Erica. "Any word on Gage or Sydney?" he asked his partner.
Walker, still in Alex's embrace, said, "I spoke with Dr. Morrison. Gage has a concussion, smoke inhalation, broken ribs and second degree burns on his back." Talking about the burns made his wrapped hands tingle. "Sydney has smoke inhalation and a few bumps and bruises. They were lucky."
Trivette glanced at the TV in the waiting room when the picture of the fiery cabin flashed across it.
"...Two Texas Rangers have been transported to St. Matthews Methodist hospital with injuries resulting from a fire that investigators are calling the work of an arsonist. We will have more details on the Rangers and the fire as we get more information," the reporter said as they broke to the weather.
Trivette took a deep breath. "What do we do now? He's still out there." Erica pulled him closer as the thought of him getting hurt scared her.
Walker hated moments like this. He wanted to get back out there and bring the bad guy to justice, but he couldn't leave his friends, he was exhausted both mentally and physically. He needed a shower and a couple hours sleep. He looked at his friends, then at Alex. "Why don't you two go home, get a shower and some rest. Alex and I will stay here," he said, rubbing a hand over the sleeping Angela's hair.
"I'll take Angela to the HOPE center daycare." Alex said smiling up at Walker.
...
Gage sat up in the hospital bed. His ribs ached and the burns on his back tingled and hurt. He wanted to know how Sydney was. Nobody seemed to want to tell him anything. He leaned his head back on the hard hospital pillow and closed his eyes. He needed to relax; his body needed rest. Flames crawled up the wall. Smoke surrounded him, burning his eyes and making his throat hurt. "SYD!" he called her name. Why wasn't she answering? What would he do with out her? "SYDNEY!" he called out when he saw her tied to the chair. The heat was getting unbearable, but he wasn't leaving this inferno with out her. The beam above them creaked and a whirlwind of ashes and flames fell around him...
Gage sat up and shook the dream out of his head. He took a deep breath and ran a hand down his face just as he heard a knock on the door.
"Gage, how ya feelin'?" Walker's frown told Gage he'd noticed the visible signs of the nightmare Gage had just woken from.
Gage forced a smile. "I feel like a burning beam feel on me," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
Walker walked to the young Ranger's bedside and pulled the chair closer before sitting down. "Well at least you don't feel like a truck hit you." His Cherokee intuition picked up on Gage's uneasiness. "You wanna talk about it?" he asked his friend.
Gage took a deep breath, his blue eyes full of worry and concern. He looked to his boss for answers. "Is Sydney okay?"
Walker nodded. "Smoke inhalation and a few bumps and bruises. I think she's waiting on discharge papers," Walker said.
Gage exhaled the breath he had been holding. All the pain he was in was worth it knowng she was alright. Knowing she was alright didn't lessen the pain he was in, but it definitely made it easier to bear. He couldn't lose her. Not now, not after that night they spent in each other's arms. He had known at that moment he loved her. The sound of her voice, the passionate look in her brown eyes when she had kissed him. Without hesitation or regret he had said "I love you" and watched a smile appear on her lips. She hadn't said the words back to him, but her touch on his skin told him.
He tried to focus on Walker to get his mind off of Sydney. "The Doc said he wanted to keep me overnight for observation," he said, before focusing on a different subject. "Did they catch Michael?"
Walker shook his head. "By the time we got there, he was gone and the cabin was fully engulfed." Walker laid his hat on the table and Gage noticed the wrappings on his hands. He felt guilty his boss had been hurt. "Oh man, Walker, I'm sorry about your hands. I mean…"
Walker stopped him in mid sentence. "Don't worry about it. Focus on getting better so we can focus on catching Michael and getting him off the streets."
Gage nodded. "How do you plan on doing that?" he asked his boss.
"Well, I was thinkin'..." Walker said leaning a little closer to his friend...
...
Sydney pushed a stray tendril of hair out of her eyes as she flipped through the channels on the hospital room TV. A fiery orange glow spread across the screen as the TV news reporter spoke. "...Firefighters are still on the scene of the blaze that sent two Texas Rangers to the hospital. A source at Ranger headquarters says Texas Rangers Francis Gage and Sydney Cook are recovering at St. Matthews Methodist Hospital..." the reporters voice got lost in the emotions that Sydney was feeling. She wiped a tear off her cheek at the realization of how close she had come to dying in that fire. She didn't remember getting out of the fire, which could only mean Gage had helped her out. Gage. Her mind wandered to the last few months and the changes in their relationship. She had so many feelings for the man with the blue eyes that had captured her heart. He had told her he loved her, but she couldn't say it back to him that night. She knew she cared about the man, but sitting in that hospital bed made her realize she did love him. She had said so once, out loud, right after the surgery that had restored Gage's hearing, but he was still waking up from the anesthesia at the time and he had never said whether or not he had heard her. So, in her mind, it really didn't count. Emotions ran down her cheek as Alex knocked on the door and peeked her head in.
"You want some company?" Alex asked.
Sydney nodded. Alex walked to the bedside and grabbed Sydney's hand. Seeing her friend's tears, she asked "Are you okay?"
Sydney faked a smile and looked up at her friend. "Just thinkin'," she said.
Alex smiled. "Thinking about a certain blue-eyed Ranger?"
Sydney smiled a real smile. "Yeah. Is he okay?"
Alex patted the back of Sydney's hand. "He has a concussion and burns on his back. The doctor wants to keep him here overnight."
Sydney nodded and leaned her head back. She was exhausted, but she didn't want to close her eyes. When she had closed them earlier all she saw were flames and smoke.
Alex saw the storm of mixed emotions in Sydney's eyes. "You wanna talk about it?" she asked.
Sydney did want to talk, but didn't know if she could. The one person she could always talk to wasn't there and it was her fault he was hurt. The realization of it being her fault hit her hard. "Oh, Alex, he's gonna hate me," she cried.
Alex looked at her confused "Gage?! Why would he hate you?"
"It's my fault he's hurt. He came into the cabin to save me," she said between sobs.
Alex handed her a tissue. "He did it because he loves you. It's obvious to everyone that he does. He's not gonna blame you for anything. He's gonna be worried about you until he sees you."
Sydney thought about what Alex said. She had rarely seen Gage angry. Sydney looked up at Alex. Changing the subject she asked, "Did they catch Michael?"
Alex shook her head. "No, he got away before Walker and Trivette got there."
Sydney knew Michael was dangerous. "He needs to be caught before he hurts anyone else."
Alex smiled. " I think Walker has a plan to do that."
Syd stood outside Gage's room and listened to his voice as the nurse spoke with him. She smiled before walking in the room.
Gage's blue eyes lit up and the weight of a thousand pounds seemed to be lifted from his chest when he saw her.
"Hey, Shorty…" He tried to continue, but the nurse had other ideas.
"Put this under your tongue," the nurse said, sliding the thermometer in his mouth.
Gage winked at Sydney, pointed at her and signed "you look better."
Sydney smiled at him and cherished this bond they had. She remembered him losing his hearing and the days spent learning American Sign Language. She raised her hands, pointed to him and signed, "You sound better."
Stepping closer to him, she grabbed his hand.
"You ok?" she asked aloud.
Gage nodded. "Better now..." he signed. "...That you're here," he finished aloud, as the nurse removed the pesky thermometer.
Sydney felt her cheeks turn red as she smiled at him. The nurse wrapped the blood pressure cuff around his arm as he looked up at Sydney.
"Red looks good on you." His smile was all she needed at that moment. She wanted to tell him how she felt, but didn't want to just blurt it out in front of the nurse. She released his hand and signed "I love you" before leaning forward and placing a tender kiss on his lips.
Gage liked...no loved, the feel of her kiss on his lips. He didn't want to pull away from her, but he did. He reached up and touched her cheek, his blue eyes looking deep into hers. "I love you, too." They smiled at each other and never noticed the nurse leave the room.
A/N: Now to catch Michael. Will he strike again? Will he come after Gage and Sydney?
