The dozen teenagers rushed at Walker with all their weapons raised and before he realized it Walker was fighting for his life. He flipped some teens, slammed his fists into others and on occasion kicked a few. Unfortunately some did land hits on his body, mainly on his arms, legs and back. One finally managed to land a hit to his lower back, hard enough to take him down in pain. He gritted his teeth as he was violently pulled to the ground by several hands gripping his arms.

A fist slammed into his face, breaking his nose and causing blood to run down his throat. He fought with all he had against the arms that were holding him down and kicked out his legs and got a satisfied grunt as his left foot connected with some part of a teenager's body. He kicked out again, this time his legs was grabbed by the teens, which made him completely immobile.

"My friends will be here any minute. And trust me, they won't treat you…" Walker was interrupted by a ferocious hit to his abdomen which made him suck in air. He willed his body to tighten his abs just in time to receive three more hits. "You need to stop this…"

"Enough!" The teen in charge took a short club out from under his baggy shirt then raised it above his head. "I don't want anymore talkin from ya!"

Déjà vu suddenly hit Walker's mind and he knew there was no way of stopping the teen from slamming the club into his face. The kid swung down, slamming the club directly into Walker's weakened right eye and he could actually hear the orbit crack. He let out a grunt of pain and fought harder against the teens holding him down.

"From the papers I heard ya have a head injury!" The teen laughed at Walker as he raised the club again. "I'm goin to make sure ya don't come back!"

Before the kid could swing the club down a male voice shouted from somewhere behind them which made all the gang members scatter like roaches under a light. Walker breathed a deep sigh of relief, coughing as the air caught in his lungs. He was in excruciating pain thanks to the hits to his stomach and the blow to his eye, but that meant he was very much alive. He let out a groan as his hand went to the right side of his face to feel a gooey mess where his eye orbit use to be.

"Walker!" Came Trivette's voice as he appeared above him. "Hang on! Billings call 911!"

"Trivette…" Walker's voice was slurred from all the blood that had pooled into his mouth. He began to try and spit it out, unfortunately that just caused it to run down his throat and into his lungs. Very slowly he tried to sit up, but found the pain had taken over his entire body. "Trivette…help me…get up."

Trivette quickly shook his head and gently pressed Walker down. "No, just stay still, let me help you roll to your side." Very slowly he rolled his friend to his side which helped him spit out the fluids that had collected inside his mouth. "That's it. Just keep still, help is on the way."

His friend coughed violently once more as his hand went to his abdomen. Must have some eternal bleeding, thought Trivette as he cringed at all the blood. What worried him the most was Walker's right eye socket which was now just a bloody mess. He felt guilty as a wave of gratefulness watched over him. At least it was the right, if it was Walker's left he might be blind for the rest of his life. He looked up as Billings approached with a t-shirt in his hands.

He handed the shirt to Trivette as he squatted down to get a better look at Walker. "Hey, buddy. Hang in there, help is on its way."

"This is going to hurt." Trivette gently pressed the shirt to Walker's crushed eye orbit and got a loud wince as he did so. "I gotta slow the bleeding down." Walker groaned as his hand went to bat Trivette's away from his eye. "Billings, how far away is the ambulance?"

Billings took hold of Walker's hand to stop him from moving it then sighed heavily. "Five to ten minutes." He glanced down at his friend's right hand to see the index and thumb appeared to be broken. "At least he's awake and alert. That's always a good sign." Walker actually tried to laugh at this comment, but it quickly turned to a moan of pain.

Walker grabbed his stomach and without much warning threw up blood all over Billings' cowboy boots. "Sorry…my stomach."

"It's okay buddy." Billings patted Walker's shoulder. "I didn't like these boots anyway."

Trivette patted his friend's shoulder, worried that he could bleed to death before the medics arrived. The vomiting was a really bad sign, it showed Walker had severe eternal injuries that needed to be taken care of soon. On top of that, there was the eye orbit which kept bleeding which quickly soaked the shirt. Man, how does things like this keep happening to Walker? He patted his friend's shoulder as he coughed once again to get the blood out of his mouth.

After six excruciatingly long minutes an ambulance finally pulled into the parking lot and parked by Walker's rental car. A paramedic team quickly ran up to them, one instantly kneeling and checking Walker's vitals. His trained eyes instantly spotted the necklace around Walker's neck and instead of ignoring it as though it was just a piece of jewelry he actually pulled it out from underneath his shirt. After he read the information it seemed his attitude quickly switched in to a higher gear as he shone a light into Walker's remaining eye.

He took a glance at Trivette then gave him a smile. "Your friend is in good hands."

A Block Away

Inside the truck, Williamson sat in the driver's seat furious at what had just happened to Walker. He had been trailing the Rangers, so he had no idea what had happened to his mark till it was too late. When Marcellinio finds out about what had happened, he will suffer greatly for it. He rubbed his face then grabbed his cell phone from the cup holder on the dashboard. He quickly dialed Marcellinio's number then waited patiently for the man to pick up.

"Smokes, this better be important. I was in the middle of something."

"It is." He turned his attention back to all the activity taking place at the middle school. "Walker got himself into some trouble. Apparently he has a Kickstart program where it's not welcomed and the neighboring gang beat him up."

Marcellinio cursed. "How did you let this happen? I thought you were watching him!"

"I can only be at one place, at one time." Williamson quickly ducked as the ambulance and Ranger Trivette drove by his pickup. This made him curse, realizing the Rangers now saw his truck twice in one day. That meant he will have to dump it and get himself a new vehicle. "Listen, I'll make my first move on him when he leaves the hospital."

"That's really getting close to the deadline, you know that!"

"Listen, he's going to be in the hospital now for a good week or two." Williamson rubbed his face as his mind began to think on how he could possibly get to Walker now. "Did you want him even if he's not fully healed from his wounds?"

"Would be easier to break him…" Marcellinio's voice trailed off in thought. "Wait till he comes home, then figure out the best time to make your move."

Williamson nodded. "Got it. I'll keep in touch."

Methodist Hospital

The doctors with the team of paramedics pushed his stretcher through the halls of the hospital, the lights above Walker going by in a fast blur. He couldn't move to see what was happening all thanks to the straps holding him down and the Styrofoam braces on each side of his head. He did know that the paramedics had wrapped his head with gauze which blocked some of the vision out of his left eye. They had also cut his shirt off, which always irritated him. He's been through several shirts and jeans because of his many trips to the hospital.

A young doctor appeared in his line of sight as the stretcher came to a stop. "Has he had any seizures?" When the paramedics said no, he nodded with a smile. "That's really good." He shone a bright light into Walker's left eye which made him squint. "No sign of a concussion. Other then your right eye, you should be okay."

Walker grimaced as somebody gently pressed on his stomach. "How long will I have to stay here?"

"Depends on what we see in x-rays and CT scans. But, if everything goes well, a week tops. Would like to monitor your epilepsy for any sign of changes." Walker could feel as nurses put an iv into his right arm and the pain in his face slowly ebbed away. "Just relax, everything will be all right. We're going to start prepping you for surgery."

Alex ran through the hospital, her heart racing so much she didn't know if it would jump out of her chest. As she made her way through the familiar halls her mind couldn't believe her husband was here once again. How could this possibly be happening to Walker? How many more hits to the head could he take before something more serious will happen?

As she stepped into the waiting room she was met by Trivette who attempted to give her a hug, but realized his shirt was caked in Walker's blood. He saw Alex's expression then quickly shook his head with a thin smile.

"It's okay, Alex." He glanced down at his shirt then helped her to sit down. "It looks worse then what it really is."

Billings nodded his head in agreement. "He's awake and coherent. Plus, as far as we know, he hasn't had a seizure yet. That's a really good sign." He glanced up as Doctor Miller came walking into the room. "Miller, glad to see you in charge."

Miller smiled at the people who he had grown to like as dear friends. "Walker is going to be just fine." He saw everybody, especially Alex breath a deep sigh of relief. "His nose is fractured, which only needs some minor surgery to fix. Also his index and thumb are broken on his right hand. As for his eye, I'm afraid one of the metal implants that we had put in several years ago, shifted during the hit and punctured the eye itself. We will be removing the eye, so as not to cause any infection then try our best to reshape the orbit."

"What about him vomiting up blood? He was complaining about his stomach." Asked Trivette, the worry obvious in his voice.

"We've done several tests and see nothing wrong. More than likely the blood that he threw up was inside his lungs. Probably caused by blood from his broken nose. However, he does have several bruises and that will leave him rather sore for two to three weeks."

Alex wiped away the tears that began to stream down her face. "When can we see him?"

Miller checked his watch. "He's going into surgery, right now. I say about two, maybe three hours." He smiled once again at the friends then nodded his head. "He's doing really good, don't worry. Other than his eye, he shouldn't have any other permanent injuries."

Operating Room

This is the second time Doctor Bowen has operated on this gentleman and he was glad to see his handy work had mostly stayed fully intact from the hit. However, he did cringe at the sight of the metal implant which had pierced cleanly through the eye. He grabbed what he needed from the tray to his left then began the delicate procedure of removing the piece of metal.

"Sarah, dab the blood away as I pull." With patience only a surgeon will have, he slowly got the piece of hardware out and quickly put the implant in a piece of cloth which was held out by one of the many nurses in the room. "How's his vitals?"

After he got the information that he needed he took a deep breath then began to work on the eye itself. With the help from a pair of special magnifying glasses he was able to see the tiny nerves and vessels he needed to cut to get the eye free. He could see previous scarring from the last surgeries on the cornea, which had altered the man's vision. Well, the man didn't have to worry about that now, and in fact this surgery may help take away some pressure.

As he began the ever so delicate surgery he noticed movement out of the corner of his right eye. "Howard, what's going on?"

"His heart rate is slightly spiked." Alarms began to ring. "He's having a seizure!"

Bowen cursed as the patient began to go into a grand mal seizure. "Make sure he doesn't pull anything out!" He quickly took his hands away from the eye socket so as not to accidentally cut something vital as the man thrashed around. "Keep an eye on his vitals, this just might be an epileptic attack. Most likely nothing to do with the recent head trauma." Within seconds the man's body began to relax and his vitals eventually returned to normal. "According to Doctor Hayden, he rarely has grand mal seizures. We should be good, keep going with the surgery."

An Hour Later

After he fought in the Olympics two years ago and loss graciously to Korea, John decided to retire from Taekwondo competition to focus on a career as a paramedic. For the last few years he's been studying and studying to hopefully take the final test six months from now. Thanks to his Marine medic training classes came easy for him and he has high hopes that he will one day help save lives as a paramedic.

However, not a minute ago he was torn from his CPR class after he got a call from Mike telling him dad was once again in the hospital. This really worried him and knew that he had to get to the hospital as quickly as he could. According to Mike their dad was attacked by a gang wanting him to leave their turf. He said dad was okay, but John wanted to see for himself.

He took his keys out of his pants pocket and made his way across the parking lot. As he approached his little sports car, he spotted a man in sunglasses and a baseball cap leaning against it. Curious he was about to greet the man when he got that weird, bad feeling. He didn't like this situation at all. What did that man want?

The man pushed himself off the car then smiled at John. "You look just like him."

John gripped his keys in a way he could use them as a weapon if he had to. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Wanted to see you in person." The man shrugged then took a step towards John who raised his hands in defense. "I'm not going to harm you."

"Then why are you here!"

The man sighed heavily as he stuck his hands in his jean's front pockets. "I'm here to give your family a warning. Marcellinio is after your father. He wants him dead."

"I know that." John didn't allow for himself to relax, instead his mind went straight to fight mode. "Why are you warning us? Are you the man that has been leaving the messages for my father?"

He nodded and John could see a grimace cross his face. "Yes. Believe me, I've been thinking it through." His hand suddenly pulled out his cell phone then he let out a curse. "Listen, they were going to send somebody here, to beat you up. Another message to give to Walker. But I told them I would take care of you myself, a way to repay my boss for a mistake a made earlier today." He shoved the phone back in his pocket then rotated his neck. "I've talked too much, you'll recognize me now."

John got rather confused, especially when the man walked away and got into a car parked not too far from his. Quickly he ran up to the driver's side window and began to pound on the glass. The man took one look at him, shook his head then drove off leaving John standing alone in the parking lot, his mind trying to catch up to what had just happened. Who was that guy?

He stood there for several minutes till his brain finally caught up to what had just happened. That man had come here to beat him up, how bad, he will never know. Just the thought however did bring chills down his spine. Now, more then ever he needed to see his dad. He had to make sure for himself that his dad and his brother are safe.

Methodist Hospital an Hour Later

An hour has gone by since John arrived to the hospital and Alex couldn't help but to think he was hiding something. He has that same look in his eyes that Walker does when something terrible has happened. Not only that, he also has a unique quietness about him, just like his father when in deep thought. It was rather eerie to see Walker's sons have so much in common with their father after so many years of being apart. Made her wonder how Ray and Angela would act as they got older. Would they take after her and Walker as much as John and Michael did?

A hand gently fell upon her shoulder and she looked up to see Trivette holding a cup of coffee in his hands. He offered it to her, but she slowly shook her head. She was tired and mentally worn out from the days events, but right now coffee will only make her jittery.

"Any minute now, we should get word on Walker." He rubbed his face then took a sip of the coffee. "Can't believe this happened to him. How much more can he endure?"

"I don't know, Jimmy." She took a deep, shaky breath. "John knows something."

Trivette turned to her curious. "What do you mean?"

"He's just like his father." She smiled at this then glanced up as Miller walked into the room with a doctor they haven't seen before. "Doctors, please tell me good news."

The strange doctor nodded his head as he sat down in front of Alex. "We have only good news." He smiled as he pulled off his paper hat he wore during surgery. "The surgery to his eye was a success. We managed to remove the damaged eye without much problem and fix the orbit as best as we could. To help the healing process along we have sewn his eyelids shut and hopefully within a few months we can see if the orbit can handle a glass eye." He nodded his head. "We also did some surgery on his nose just to help him breath easier once it heals."

"What about his fingers, doc?" Asked Trivette.

"His thumb and index finger has a cast on them, which will be removed in a week to be replaced by splints." His face turned rather serious as he looked at Alex. "While operating on his eye, he suffered a grad-mal seizure. We took him to CT scans and saw nothing out of the ordinary. I believe it was an attack, caused by his epilepsy, nothing to do with the injuries he suffered."

Alex shakily wiped a tear from her eye. "He's going to be okay, right?"

"As far as we can tell, yes. He's getting moved to recovery as we speak and you can see him in twenty minutes. His face will be swollen and rather bruised from surgery, so it may look really bad, but believe me it's not. On top of that, he has several bruises all over his arms, legs, chest and back which will leave him sore for several weeks." He slowly stood up with a smile. "Doctor Miller, here will show you the way to the recovery ward's family and friend's room."

It was another long thirty minutes till Alex was finally allowed to see her husband. As she stepped into the recovery ward, memories from five years ago flashed before her. It took all she had left in her to not break down into tears at that very moment. Is her mind strong enough to see her husband in his current condition?

Miller led them down a row of curtains till they came upon the last one. Here he slowly pulled the curtain open and waved for Trivette, Alex and the brothers to step forward. Once Alex's eyes fell upon her husband, her hand went to her mouth as tears ran down her face. Michael quickly turned around and gave her a big hug, allowing her to cry into his shoulders.

Walker laid on a bed with a breathing tube coming out of his mouth from surgery. His right eye was covered in a thick bandage which wrapped around his entire head. She could see the swelling that the doctor had told her about, as well as the bruising which seemed to cover the entire right side of his face. Then there was his nose which was also swollen and bruised, with a few stitches that ran across the bridge.

She wiped her face and slowly sat down by his side. "Oh, Walker." She took hold of his right hand, making sure she didn't squeeze too hard. "Why does this keep happening to you?" Her eyes fell upon his arm where she could clearly see handprint bruises. "At least you fought back this time. That's good to know."

John stepped up to her side then gently patted his dad on the shoulder. "You keep fighting, dad, this is just a small hurdle." He sighed heavily and shook his head as he took a deep breath. "You'll be just fine. No worries."

The first thing that greeted Walker as he awoke from unconsciousness was the indescribable pain on the right side of his face. Then, there was the pain that ran across his face and some pressure which seemed to have settled in his stomach. He knew exactly what had happened to him and he began to wonder if he did loose his right eye. By the feel of it, he most definitely did.

"Walker, if you're awake, it's Doctor Bowen, I operated on your face." Came a voice through the fog in his mind. "You're going to be feeling quite a bit of pain, but the morphine should start kicking in."

He felt something being gently pulled away from his left eye and as it did he slowly opened his eyelids. His vision was rather blurry and all he could see in front of him was fuzzy ceiling tiles. Very gradually he turned his head to the right to see Alex smiling at him and he lifted his right hand to her. That was when he felt the weight of a cast on his hand.

She gently pushed his hand down. "Hey, cowboy." He tried to talk, but quickly realized he had a tube down his throat. "Ssshhh, it's okay. Just relax and go back to sleep. You're going to be okay." She patted his arm then leaned up and over to give him a kiss on his forehead. "I'll be here for you. Don't worry."