Chapter One

Eric opened his eyes and stared up at the ceiling. The sound of monitors and machines filled the silent room.

How long had he been asleep for?

He felt someone squeeze his hand lightly and he looked over beside him, seeing Kitty holding on for dear life. "Sweetie..." She whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. Eric didn't say anything, no words came to his head at the moment, and he looked over at the hospital room door and saw Red standing there, as white as a ghost.

Eric lay silent for a few minutes until he finally said something, "Is...Is dad okay?"

Kitty burst out crying and Red let out a big sigh, "Thank God..." He walked over to the side of the bed and Kitty kissed Eric's cheek. "We thought we were going to lose you!" She whispered, stroking her son's hair away from his face.

Eric closed his eyes, feeling slight burning in his stomach where Hyde shot fire. "Where's...where's Hyde?"

Red clenched his jaw and took a chair on the other side of the bed, grabbing Eric's other hand. "Don't worry about that idiot. I took care of it...we're just thankful you're okay."

Eric noticed Kitty was in her nurse uniform, meaning she must have been on shift. "M-Mom..."

"Yes honey?" Kitty said, looking eager to take care of his every need.

"I need medicine. My stomach hurts real bad..." Eric touched his stomach lightly and flinched, feeling the dozens of stitches.

"How long was I out for?" He asked, looking at his parents. Red sighed and looked at him. "You were put into a drug-induced coma because of how many surgeries you needed...it was best to have you asleep. You were...you were gone from the world for two straight weeks."

Kitty wiped her tears after she gave him a small dose of morphine, sitting back down. "Today was the first real sign of you responding..."

Eric closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Mom, dad...I'm okay now..."

"You better be," Red mumbled, looking down at his lap.

"Please tell me...what happened to Hyde?" Eric opened his eyes, pleading. "I really want to know. He's my best friend!"

Kitty stood up, turning towards the door. "Well...he's in this very hospital, he's been here since you got admitted."

Eric looked alarmed. "He got...is he hurt? Is he okay?"

"He's not hurt...but he's definitely not okay. I've went to the psych ward a few times to check on him because well, you know, I love him just like he was my son...but he's different now."

Red glared a little, tapping his fingers on his knee. "It's that parenting his parents gave him, turned him into a psychotic drug-addict!"

"He's going through a with-drawl right now...the nurse said he's been mumbling about taking hits for a week now."

Eric looked at Kitty, and then at Red. "Hyde's in...a mental institution? He's crazy but not...not that crazy!"

"Crazy enough to shoot you in the stomach..." Red whispered.

"But why would he even try to do that?"

"If you want to know...ask him later..."

The cafeteria was cold and damp; at least to Hyde anyway. The food tasted like shit, and his table superiors were nothing close to superior at all, they just labeled themselves.

"Damn hippy!" The old patient that lived across from Hyde shouted from his table, grabbing his plastic spoon and throwing it at him. Hyde glared and gripped his plate, starting to shake.

"I'm not...a hippy..." He said under his breath, slowly taking his seat at his table.

He sat with losers, people who were definitely considered hippies. He didn't want to be social, all he wanted to do was go back to his room and hide forever. Probably even die.

A nurse came up to him and smile softly. "How are you doing today, Stephen..."

Hyde glanced at her and then looked at his food, mumbling something barely audible.

"I'm sorry?" The nurse said, drawing her eyebrows together with concern.

Hyde mumbled again, shaking his head and stabbing his fork into his food, his knee shaking terribly. The nurse poked again, this time saying: "Can you speak up, Stephen, I can hardly hear a word you're saying..." "I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Hyde exploded, his body trembling with anger. Nurses ran up and Hyde stood up quickly. "I'M FINE!" The nurses stopped but kept their guard up, Hyde took fast, deep breaths and started to pace. "I need to think...I need to go to my room..." He walked out of the cafeteria and down the hall. He saw the security gate that led out to the rest of the hospital and he walked up to the door, touching it. It was locked, of course, no way he could get out without a nurse's help.

Hyde pressed his forehead against the plexi-glass window and closed his eyes. "Let me out..." He mumbled, putting his head in his hands. He was a mess, and looked like
one too. He probably looked like some nut case the government would want to get their hands on, because right now he felt like the only one in the world who would just
go and shoot their best friend...trying to kill them, because of something they had that he so desperately wanted.

Damn it...

He pulled away from the door and walked towards his room, starting to feel real awful. He'd been in the psych ward for two weeks and hadn't felt any ounce of guilt, until today.

Red had been furious, about to kill him, Hyde now wondered what was going on with Eric and his parents...and if Eric was even okay.

"Damn it..." He whispered to himself, pressing the palms of his hands into his eyes. "Daaaaamn iiiiiit Stephen!" He shouted to himself, going into his room and slamming the door shut.

He paused and opened the door again, and then slammed it over and over again, letting go of the handle and flopping down on his bed. "What the fuck is wrong with me? Going and shooting my best friend! I'm not crazy...I know I'm not..." The same nurse that spoke to him earlier walked in, slowly closing the door behind her. "Stephen...are you calm now?"

"I'm never calm..." Hyde mumbled, picking at the wall beside him.

"We're going to give you something to help you relax...it's been a bit of a day today." She explained, pulling a needle from her little kit she had with her. Hyde glanced at her and sighed. "Shoot me up...please," He held his arm out and closed his eyes. He wanted an escape, from everything, all of this craziness that he was surrounded by.

The nurse stuck the needle into his arm and injected the medicine, and then left, lowering the lights.

Hyde sat up and stared at the wall, sighing. "I'm tired...I need to get out of here..." Then he got an idea. He stumbled up and walked out of his room. "Hey! Nurse lady!" He shouted, gripping the door frame. "I want to see Mrs. Foreman...is she here?"