One Day Later

The ranch house was quiet except for the sound of cartoons being played on the television in the living room. Alex was upstairs in the bedroom packing a bag for Walker since he will remain at the hospital for several days so the doctor's could monitor his epilepsy. She sighed heavily as she threw in a few t-shirts, her mind still trying to figure out how Walker always ended up in situations like this. As long as she has known him, he has always got himself hurt either by gunshots or from a bad beating.

After she packed his bag she grabbed another one for herself. She will stay with Walker for at least three days, the kids will stay at Barbara's, Katie's mother. Angela should enjoy it there since her and Katie are best friends, but Ray may not. There was no one there to really keep him company, except for the family's dogs. And her poor son might be sick, which made Alex feel horrible for leaving him with Barbara.

She sighed heavily then carried the bags out of the room and down the stairs. As she placed them by the door her motherly instinct suddenly kicked in. Swiftly she looked around the living room to see that Angela was no where in sight.

"Ray, where is your sister?"

Ray turned his head away from the television screen and shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, mommy. But she's mad."

"Mad?" Alex's eyes snapped open in realization. "Oh, no."

Quickly she ran out of the house and went to where Angela thought was her secret hiding place. However, Walker came upon it a few years ago while cleaning out the barn, so it wasn't all that secret anymore. He didn't say anything to Angela and left her "secret spot" untouched. Guess to allow his daughter to stew, just like he tended to do when in deep thought.

As she stepped into the barn, the strong smell of hay and horses quickly took over her senses. Walker loved horses and it scared her to death each time he rode one without telling her first. She pushed the thought aside as she quickly and quietly made her way down the stalls till she got to the very back. By a door that led out to the pasture sat an unused office. The room sat vacant for several years after Walker stopped selling cattle.

Alex stopped at the wooden door then took a deep breath. She knew she was invading her daughter's privacy, but something was troubling the eight year old. Very slowly she opened the door and spotted her daughter sitting on a shelf, her eyes gazing out the window and to the pasture before her. She slowly turned her head to Alex then glanced down at her bent knees. It appeared she had been crying, her green eyes were puffy and her cheeks flushed.

"Oh, sweetie." Alex stepped into the small room and closed the door behind her. "What's wrong Angela? Is it dad?"

Her daughter began to play with a zipper on the side of her jeans as she slowly nodded her head. "Mom, why does this keep happening to dad? Katie's dad doesn't shake or get injured like dad does. Why is dad different?"

Alex went up to her daughter and gently hugged her shoulders. "Sweetie, remember what I told you about dad a few years ago?"

Angela shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so. You said, he has epilepsy. But, why can't we fix him?" Her eyes didn't waver from the zipper she was playing with. "I want dad to be normal."

"Dad is normal, sweetie." Alex took a deep breath as she tried her hardest not to cry. Her hands began to play with her daughters long, blonde hair; twirling it with one and brushing it with the other. "Why don't we go see dad before I take you to Katie's. How does that sound?"

"No, I don't want to see dad." Her daughter's voice showed her anger. "I don't want to see him in the hospital. I want him to come home."

This reply nearly ripped Alex's heart out of her chest and it took all she had not to cry. She slowly nodded her head, knowing she couldn't force her daughter to go. What kind of mother would she be if she didn't let her children make their own decisions? However, a part of her wanted to snatch Angela up, carry her to the car and drive her to the hospital.

She slowly nodded her head as she took a deep shaky breath. "Are you sure? He really wants to see you and Ray. It'll help him heal…"

"That's what you said the last few times." Angela wiped her eyes with her forearm then turned to the window. "No matter how many times I see him, he's not going to get better."

Alex was taken aback at her daughter's mature answers and she had to wonder if her daughter had grown up too soon all thanks to what had happened five years ago. She patted Angela on the shoulder then moved just enough to get a good look at her daughter.

"Physically, he may not get better, but you coming to see him will help him out more than you can ever imagine. Remember when you fell off Humphrey and broke your arm?" Her daughter nodded. "I bet you felt crummy then, didn't you." Angela nodded again. "Dad is feeling ten times worse right now. He needs to see you two to keep him strong."

Angela took a deep breath then moved her legs till they were dangling off the shelf. Her head was bowed, so Alex couldn't see her face, but she did see the tears drop onto her jeans. It took several agonizing minutes till Angela looked up and nodded her head. Her eyes were swollen and puffy, her cheeks streaked with tears.

"This will be the last time right? I don't want dad in the hospital anymore."

"Unfortunately, I can't guarantee that." She gave her daughter a big hug. "But it'll definitely be the last for awhile." She squeezed Angela once more then pulled back. "Come on, Ray's been in the house alone. Who knows what kind of trouble he's been up to." She smiled then patted Angela on the back. "Let's pick some wildflowers for dad."

Methodist Hospital

It seemed that pain has become a permanent part of his life, or at least for most of it. Walker tried to move, but found that his entire body hurt. He slowly opened his good eye to see he had somehow managed to roll onto his side while he slept. This caused the oxygen tube and the wires attached to pads on his chest to get tangled. Slowly he managed to roll onto his back as his left hand kept the tubes and wires in place.

"Hey, dad." John appeared above him with a smile. "Here, let me help you." His son untangled the tubes and wires then gently patted his shoulder. "You've been out for ten hours. Started to get worried about you. How's the pain?"

Walker slowly nodded his head. "It's tolerable." He smiled up at John who had sat back down beside him. "Don't you have some studying to do?"

John laughed. "That I do." He lifted up what appeared to be a thick textbook. Then he lifted up Walker's workbook. "Once you start feeling better, need to start on the exercises." He flipped the book open with a shake of his head. "I see you have done only a few of the exercises. Terry will be rather upset about that."

"I'll get to them eventually." A sharp pain in his stomach almost made him wince. His left hand instinctively went to see what was wrong and he gently began to rub his sore stomach muscles. "Heard Mike finally got sniper."

"Yeah, he's pretty excited. Unfortunately, duty called and he's someplace in Irving right now helping out the PD." He took hold of Walker's hand then sighed heavily. "Jimmy, Gage and Billings are looking for the kids who did this to you. So far, no leads."

Walker shook his head. "They need to stop. The kids aren't important right now. Marcellinio is."

"But they could have killed you, dad." John turned as somebody walked into the room and he quickly stood up to give Alex a hug who was holding Ray in her arms. "Still not feeling good, huh?" Very carefully he took Ray from her then cradled him as he slept. "I'll sit outside with him. May not be good for dad to be around somebody that's sick right now."

Alex nodded and patted John's shoulder. "Thank you." Angela appeared at her side, her head bowed so Walker couldn't get a look at his daughter's face. "How you feeling, Walker?"

"Better now that you two are here." He smiled at his daughter who stayed rooted by Alex's side. "Come here and give dad a hug."

Angela began to play with one of the flowers she was holding in her hands. "But, wouldn't I hurt you dad?"

Walker gathered all the strength he had left in his body then slowly pushed himself to a sitting position. This left him in even more pain and much weaker, but he couldn't let his young daughter see this. She needed to see a strong man, capable of handling anything that came his way. He patted the bed with his left hand and she slowly made her way around the bed to his good side. Here she pulled herself up on the mattress then handed Walker some wildflowers.

"Thank you, sweetie." He would have sniffed them, however all he could smell was the medicine, blood and gauze that filled his nose. He faked smelling them anyway, wishing he could actually smell the beautiful scent coming from them. "They're beautiful."

Angela took a good look at her father's face, anger swelling up in her young heart. Ever since she was just two years old, her father has been in and out of hospitals numerous times. Most of the time it was to take what he calls a CT scan of his brain to make sure he was still healthy. Today though, he was here once again because he had been hurt.

Her father had a thick bandage on his right eye which wrapped around his entire head. His nose was purple and really swollen with bloody gauze sticking out of it. She knew by her mother that her dad will no longer have his eye and will have to wear a patch for now on. Part of her did admire her father for how he didn't let anything get him down, not even the seizures. But she just wished he was like any other dad and that he didn't shake all the time.

"Hey, Angela. Is everything okay?" Came her dad's voice as he gently rubbed her back.

She shrugged her shoulders then slowly nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"How's school going for you?"

Angela sighed heavily as she began to play with the corner of the bed sheet. "It's okay. Had a math test today. Think I did okay." She tore her attention away from her father then shook her head. "How long will you be here?"

Her father gently rubbed her back. "Just a few days, then I'll be able to go home."

"But I want you home now!" Angela jumped off the bed as tears streamed down her face. "I just wish you were like everybody else!" With this she ran out of the room.

Outside in the hallway John sat on a chair with Ray curled in his arms sound asleep. He gently stroked the boy's hair, his heart aching as he felt the slight warmth on his forehead. His half-brother was coming down with a fever which meant his body was battling something pretty awful. He shifted Ray in his arms to get the boy's head on his right shoulder. As he did this he saw movement out of his left eye and turned to see Angela running out of the room.

He tried to get up, but was gently pushed down by Alex who had exited the room. She gave John a weak smile then went after her daughter. Curious he leaned forward just enough to get a glance down the hallway and as he did he saw Trivette and Billings making their way towards him. Very slowly he stood to his feet, which stirred Ray enough to get a cry from him.

"Ssshhh…It's okay, just go back to sleep." He rubbed his hand up and down Ray's back as he approached Trivette. "Can you watch him real quick? Angela just ran out of dad's room, I need to go check up on him."

Trivette took Ray into his arms then got the young boy comfortable. "What happened?"

John shrugged. "Not sure, I'm about to find out though." As he stepped into his father's room he slowly closed the door behind him. He then turned to his dad to see him looking at him, his good eye showing his sadness. "Hey, dad. What's going on?"

His father gave him a shrug then tried to reach out for a glass of water, but the slightest movement seemed to have caused him pain. He abruptly stopped then slowly extended his arm till he got the glass of water from the side table. John quickly made his way to his dad's side where he tried to help, but his father just waved him off.

"I'm okay." His father's green eye betrayed him and John could see the pain hidden inside. "Where's Ray?"

"He's with Trivette right now. Don't worry." John pulled a chair closer to the bed then sat down, gently taking his father's injured hand into his. "What happened?"

His father shook his head as he tried to get up and out of bed. "I need to see Angela."

"Hey, dad slow down." John quickly stood up to try to stop his father from moving around too much. He gently pushed down on his father's shoulders which got a grunt from the older man. "Dad, you shouldn't be moving around like this. You might pull something…"

"I'm fine." But Walker felt every bruise on his body as he tried to get up from the hospital bed. After several agonizing minutes he finally had his legs swung over the side and with John's reluctant help he managed to get to his feet. The strain in his legs almost proved too much even for him, but he had to push that aside so he can see Angela. "Is there a wheelchair?"

John quickly looked around the room and shook his head. "No. Listen, you really shouldn't be moving around so soon after being admitted."

The door opened and in walked Doctor Miller with an exasperated look on his face. "Walker, please lay back down." When Walker didn't he shook his head as a nurse came into the room. "Please, don't make me drug you. Just lay back down."

Walker slowly sat back down onto the bed then shook his head. "I need to talk to Angela."

"Just try to relax." John gently took hold of his father's legs then moved them till they were back on the bed. Then on training alone he began to check his father's nose and eye to make sure he was okay. "Don't worry, Angela is going to be just fine." He stepped out of the way as Miller approached his father's side. "Is that necessary?"

Miller nodded. "Yes, for his safety." He injected a syringe of fluid into Walker's iv then patted the man's shoulder. "You should start feeling drowsy in a few short minutes."

As his father drifted to sleep, Miller shook his head then began to study the bandage over Walker's right eye. "Luckily the gauze is on rather tightly." He turned to John then slowly began to unwrap the bandage from Walker's head. "You can leave if you want. I'm going to let this breathe for a little bit, it might be a little hard to look at."

John didn't waiver from his spot instead he continued to watch as Miller unwrapped his father's head then gently pull the large piece of gauze away from the eye. He then cleaned it which got his father to move his head slightly in his sleep. This provided John a quick view of the surgery site and what he saw shouldn't have surprised him, but it did.

Thick, black stitches ran across his father's eyelid, sewing them shut. Another thick line of stitches ran down to his ear, probably from where the surgeons had to go in and operate. Just another scar to add to the many that traced his head. He sat down once again and took his father's hand into his.

"Everything will be okay." He watched as Miller left the room and Michael came walking in. "Mike, glad you can make it."

Michael sighed heavily as he sat in the chair next to John. "It was a false alarm. How is he holding up? It looks rather painful."

"It is, but he's doing okay, considering." John took a deep breath. "Angela ran out of the room. I'm thinking it might have hurt him emotionally." He shook his head. "The poor girl, she never really got to know her father before all of this happened."