This story is set around 1986. Eric and Donna had divorced leaving Eric broken and unsure of his future. Jackie had experienced some life altering events that broke her - leaving her afraid of the future. How can two broken souls help each other mend minds and hearts?

The story begins:

February 1986

Eric Forman drove his little Honda towards his tiny apartment as fast as he could despite the pouring rain. His windshield wipers flapped back and forth miserably, the rubber from one wiper sticking to the glass like a broken arm. A garbage truck turned left in front of him, spraying gray water from the street against his windshield. Great, just great – and I go and leave my umbrella at home. He blew the hair from his forehead and tried to pass the old woman in the Cadillac who was barely driving the speed limit.

He bravely sped through the yellow light narrowly missing the garbage cans that stood sentry at the driveway of his small apartment complex. As luck would have it, the only available parking space was at the other end and he would have to run through the rain or wait it out.

Eric turned off the engine and the broken rubber from the wiper looked like a dead snake on his window. After waiting ten minutes and freezing in the car, Eric sighed, grabbed his briefcase and bolted for his apartment.

Now, he was soaking wet, tired and hungry. He peeled off the wet jacket and threw his briefcase on the sofa. The contents of the freezer revealed five Banquet fried chicken TV dinners. Man was I craving chicken or what? He peeled the plastic from the frozen chicken pieces and popped the tray in the microwave.

A quick glance at the answering machine revealed no messages. The microwave dinged and he carried his dinner to the coffee table and clicked on the television. He watched some local news and waited for the primetime television to start. Usually Friday nights were good. The A-Team followed by Miami Vice was a guaranteed action packed evening.

Thus began the evening of a lonely divorced man.

*

"Thank you and remember that Jackie's Garden has special Easter bouquets!" Jackie followed her last customer out the door and locked it. The rain was pouring now and the air had chilled significantly since lunchtime. She turned the little OPEN sign around to CLOSED and sighed. With Valentine's Day gone, the florist business was a little slow but that was good. She could devote more time to ordering vases, candelabra and other accessories for the upcoming Mother's Day, weddings and school proms.

Jackie Burkhart hit the wall switch shutting off the store front lights and headed for the back to tally up the register receipts. She pulled the tray out of the cash register and disappeared through the semi-concealed door that led to her apartment. She kicked the door shut with her foot and locked it. Looking around her surroundings she smiled. She was safe and it was warm and she made it through another day.

Thus began the healing of a broken lonely woman.

*

March 1986

Eric had been out of work for two weeks. The substitute job at the Kenosha high school was over as soon as Mr. Accident's broken leg was set and casted and he returned to work.

Eric was used to interruptions in his work schedule these days. He proclaimed himself a professional substitute since 1982 when Donna got the copy editor job for a Milwaukee newspaper. Her income was substantially more than his, so Eric opted to look for work as a substitute teacher. That little move to Milwaukee was when the marriage started to get a little bumpy - a small ripple in the pond of his wedded bliss that would result in a divorce two years later.

Point Place Elementary school had an opening for a History teacher. Eric's background was in mathematics, but he gratefully took the 3 month position. The Principal hinted that the job may extend until the end of the school year in June. Eric had been mentally counting how much longer he could live on ramen noodles and Kool-Aid. This job was a blessing.

Also working in Point Place meant possibly a homemade meal or two with his parents. The divorce was complex for the Forman's. Red Forman thought Eric never should have married in the first place and while Kitty didn't exactly love Donna; the divorce was like a failure in the family. Still, when Eric moved back home from Chicago in 1984, his parents provided him a haven until he was back on his feet.

Donna stayed in Chicago as a radio newscaster. Her previous experience as Hot Donna, combined with her job as a sports columnist in St. Louis guaranteed her a successful position.

It was the move to St. Louis in 1983 when the marriage went kaput.

*

Jackie checked her answering machine and found several flower orders as well as a reminder from Kitty Forman not to forget her Candy Striper duty on Saturday. Jackie smiled; it was so like Mrs. Forman to check up on her.

Kitty was with Jackie when Jack Burkhart died in prison of a heart attack in 1983. Red and Kitty drove her to the attorney's office where Jackie was the recipient of $100,000 from a will drawn up by a grandmother she never met. The will covered Jack Burkhart and any subsequent offspring…Jackie cried on Red's shoulder when she learned that she was never really anyone's daughter – just some little insignificant leftover to be dealt should something happen to the golden Burkhart son.

Jackie used the money to buy a flower shop near the edge of town which had an apartment in the back. She spent half the inheritance getting the shop on its feet, Kitty helping her with flower choices and gardening techniques. Night classes on flower arranging helped her little shop create a steady stream of customers.

Kitty saved Jackie from a stream of abusive relationships and had a friend at the hospital that patched up Jackie's black eye which put her on the road to therapy.

It was that intervention by Kitty Forman that saved Jackie's life in 1983.

*

"Aiiy Eric, you are too flabby to play basketball." Fez complained.

Eric looked at his body, he wasn't flabby. "What are you talking about man? I'm not fat."

"You can't play. What's the word for someone who is out of shape?"

"Out of shape." Eric confirmed.

"That's what I said. Anyhow, you're it. Let's just play horse." Fez threw the basketball at Eric who caught in the gut with an "Ooof!" Fez was right; Eric hadn't played any kind of sport in years. He dribbled the ball and took a position and aimed at the basket. The ball sailed threw the air, hit the rim and shot off to the back of the gym.

"Let me have the "H" and I'll get better!" Eric hollered after Fez who ran to retrieve the ball. Fez shook his head sadly. Fez came back chucking the ball at the hoop and it went right in. "That's "H" for the foreign guy!"

They played the game for another half hour or as Fez put it until Eric got to HOR which Fez thought was funny. "You got a whore Eric. I'm glad we played!"

Eric grinned and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Hey, we should do this more often." Fez admonished, "We would if you called your friends more often. You know, Donna left you…we didn't."

Eric shook his head sadly. "You're right; I've been a horrible friend. I think I've finally accepted that this is how it is. This is my life and I need to do something with it instead of wallowing in the past."

"What is wallow? It sounds like marshmallow – can I eat it?"

Eric laughed, "No, it means stumbling like I've doing, living in the past. Do you still keep up with Kelso?"

Fez sat on the bleacher next to Eric. "Yeah, he and Brooke still live in Chicago, Betsy's in second grade I think. He still works in some kind of security job."

"Yeah, I'd go to Chicago but I've already lived there." Eric laughed ruefully. Fez frowned and then said, "Oh….that's where Donna's on the radio. You don't have to turn on the station you know."

A dawning realization crossed his face, "Fez, you are absolutely right. I don't have to listen to the radio. I don't have to do anything I don't want to do anymore. You are a good friend."

Fez smiled. "Aiiy, I've told you that! Let's go to the stripper bar, I'm thirsty."

"I'm not that thirsty."

"Okay, the diner and we'll get soda."

Eric smiled. Today his life was starting. It was all thanks to Fez.

*

Jackie liked to wear pink scrubs when she performed her candy striper duties. The green material that the staff wore was ugly so she had her own scrubs made. It was her only vice and her counselor approved of Jackie always making decisions for Jackie. She was working the front desk today. She directed visitors to Maternity or looked up which floor a patient was on. She always had a smile for a sad face and liked being nice to people.

After the intervention by Kitty, Dr. Palmer helped Jackie realize that she had daddy issues that needed to be resolved. Growing up with an emotionally unavailable father only kindled her desire to get involved with unemotional men, like one Steven Hyde and the success of bad boys that continued to hurt her. Dr. Palmer explained that girls like Jackie chase the unobtainable and hope that if they stick around long enough, maybe that boy will give them the love they didn't get at home. Her promiscuous mother didn't help form a picture of a loving family either.

Kitty recognized Jackie's craving to feel validated and treated her like she would a daughter. She never cut Jackie any slack – if she missed a therapy session, Kitty would drive to the flower shop and wait for Jackie to lock up and they would go together. It took many months for Jackie to willingly start working on her own problems. The months also formed a bond between the two women.

Jackie smiled at the young boy with the broken arm holding his trophy. Today her life was starting. It was all thanks to Kitty.

*