Wow! Thanks for all your reviews! You guys are just awesome!! And a big thanks to luvcali, gah-linda and heatherlea who have been my constant sounding boards on this one. Drinks are on me, girls ;)
To those wonderful Eric and Donna fans who are feeling a little sad right now, I'm sorry. I don't hate Eric or Donna. Nor do all Jackie/Hyde fans. I love them, too. Before you start getting too worked-up just wait for the story to explain things to you. The point of this story is to explore what would've happened to all the characters in an extremely, extremely horrible situation. Then, if you still don't like Eric and Donna in this story, I guess, maybe this isn't the story for you.
I own nothing. Just borrowing.
Some language in this chapter.
Chapter 3
Point Place High School
1977
Jackie leaned into her open locker trying to get a better look at the mirror hanging on the door. Taking the time she was supposed to be using to switch classes she carefully reapplied her lipstick.
A loud bang against the locker next to her startled her and she turned to see Hyde standing next to her with a mischievous grin spread across his face. Kelso walked up behind him and took his place on the other side of Jackie.
"What are you doin' right now?" Hyde asked.
"I'm getting ready for Spanish which is what you two idiots should be doing, too."
"No uh-uh," Kelso shook his head, furiously, "Mrs. Richards is sick today and there's a sub."
"And guess who stole the attendance sheet?" Hyde asked, holding up said sheet, proudly.
Jackie looked back and forth between the two guys. She was hesitating slightly, but Hyde knew one small push would send her over to the dark side with them.
"That sub will never even know we're gone," Hyde added as Kelso nodded in agreement.
"Fine," Jackie said, with a defeated sigh. Secretly, she was thrilled to spend an hour goofing off with Hyde and Kelso. But she didn't want them to know that.
"Kick ass! I love skippin' class!" Kelso yelled, his fist pumping triumphantly in the air.
"What did you morons have in mind?" Jackie asked Hyde, her eyebrow arched in suspicion.
"How about a field trip to the parking lot?" was Hyde's response.
The trio of rule breakers looked at each other and smiles spread slowly across their knowing faces.
Five minutes later they were gathered in Hyde's El Camino, Jackie squished between the two guys and smoke as thick as the lunchroom chili circling the air.
"Dónde está Esteban, Miguel y ... y ...?" Kelso paused, trying to remember how in the hell to say Jackie in Spanish.
"Yackie." Hyde finished with a nod
"Yackie?" Jackie looked at him. "Where the hell did you get Yackie?"
"I don't know, man. That's what Fez calls you."
Jackie burst out laughing spraying Hyde with tiny droplets of spit.
"Nice, Jackie. Real classy," Hyde said, taking off his glasses to clean them.
She stuck her tongue out at him and then proceeded to grab the glasses from Hyde's hands and put them on her own face. Kelso laughed and pointed at Hyde who was trying to do his best to look pissed at Jackie.
"Dude, she looks hot in your sunglasses." Kelso grinned, his mouth hanging open like a puppy dog.
A less stoned Hyde would've been able to deny that Jackie did look incredibly sexy. But this Hyde couldn't.
"Yeah. You do look pretty smokin' in my shades."
Jackie's smile widened to mega-watt proportions. "Does that mean I get to keep 'em?" she asked Hyde, excitedly.
Hyde pretended to give the ridiculous question a moment's thought. "Ummmm ... NO!" He reached out and grabbed the shades from the pouting brunette's face.
"You guys, all this Spanish talk is really making me hungry for a burrito. Ooh ... or tacos."
Hyde added, "Or nachos, man. I love nachos. That's a sweet word to say, too. Naaaachos. I'm gonna say it like that, now. It sounds better."
Jackie looked back and forth between her two friends, each lost in their own munchie dreams.
"I've got Oreos in my purse," she declared with a grin.
"Hand 'em over!"
"Purses rock!"
Jackie reached down in between her feet and fished out a baggie full of tasty chocolate cookies. She handed one to her scruffy friend and then, one to her man pretty friend, saving one, of course, for herself.
Jackie opened hers up and began eating the cream out of the middle. Hyde shoved the entire thing in his mouth in one bite. And Kelso, began eating around the edges in a circular motion like he was eating an ear of corn.
The three sat in silence, the only sound the crunching of cookies.
"Dónde está la leche?"
"Thanks a lot, Kelso. Now I want milk."
"Hyde? Kelso? Jesus Christ, somebody answer!"
The sound of Eric's voice brought Hyde out of his memories of the past and back into the horror that was his future.
'What have I done?'
"Kelso? Hyde? If you guys can hear us, answer!"
But Hyde couldn't. He couldn't say anything. What was there to say. Nothing could explain the trauma he had just witnessed. So, instead of calling out to Eric and Donna, Hyde sat in the grass motionless and silent, still clutching Kelso's hand.
'What have I done?'
"Kelso? Hyde?"
The cries were getting louder now. The crunching of sticks and the snap of weeds became more distinct. Hyde knew Eric and Donna were close, which meant these were his final moments with Kelso. He let go of his friend's hand and reached up to gently close Kelso's eyes.
'What have I done?'
He tried to pick off some of the leaves and grass that seemed to be stuck to every inch of Kelso's body. It seemed to Hyde a trite and insignificant gesture, but it was the only thing he could think to do.
'I killed him.'
He almost wished for Eric and Donna's presence so he wouldn't have to be alone with his own thoughts. Staring down at Kelso, Hyde could think of no way to say goodbye. There hadn't yet been a word invented that expressed how he felt. And even if there was a word, Hyde knew he would never be able to get it out of his mouth. His throat seemed frozen. He couldn't swallow, he couldn't breathe and the tightness began to travel down towards his chest and up towards his head. He felt like he was suffocating and exploding at the same time.
So, Hyde did the only thing he could think of.He reached out and, ever so slightly, frogged Kelso on the arm.
'Bye, man.'
And with that, Hyde pushed himself off of the ground and turned away from Kelso. His arm was throbbing and his head started to pound as he walked, unsteadily, towards Jackie. When he reached her, he knelt back down in the mud and the thick grass, then he lifted Jackie's head off of the ground, setting it in his lap. For the second time in a matter of minutes Hyde found himself asking God for something. This time, it was for help.
He had no idea if the passer-by had called an ambulance. He had no idea if anyone was coming to help them. And for the first time in his life, Hyde wanted nothing more than to lay down in the grass, curl up next to Jackie and just give up.
'I killed him.'
He had nothing left in him. No strength, no hope, nothing but desperation. He stared down at Jackie's head in his lap and put his hand back on her gash. He was able to drown out the sound of Eric and Donna's cries and, in his mind, when he looked at Jackie she was awake - smiling as she looked at him over her shoulder, her lips parted, tempting him to kiss them.
"Steven ..." she called out to him, with a grin spreading across her face.
"Steven ..." her voice was more impatient this time.
She tilted her head as if she couldn't understand why he wasn't coming to her. Her bottom lip stuck out in a wounded pout and she began to back away from him. Hyde watched, unable to stop her, as she moved further and further away from him.
"You can't give up on me, Steven. I need you, baby. I need you."
She was so far away now he could no longer make out her features. And as she blurred out of focus he heard her call to him again.
"Do something, Steven. You've got to do something."
Hyde shook his head and spoke out loud to no one, "What the hell am I doing?"
If he sat in the weeds feeling sorry for himself Jackie's fate would be the same as Kelso's. He had to get her out of here, and that meant getting help. If he called to Eric and Donna, they could go for help. He mentally slapped himself for his moment of weakness and he put all thoughts of guilt in the back of his mind. He'd deal with them later.
"Forman, over here!"
He didn't even recognize his own voice. It sounded so shaky and unsteady, not his usual detached and disinterested tone.
"Forman!" he called out again.
The moonless sky made it difficult to see ten feet in front of him but the headlights from the two vehicles gave some light and eventually, Hyde was able to spot Eric and Donna making their way down the hill towards the sound of Hyde's voice. He watched as Eric cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, "Hyde?"
"Forman, you've gotta go for help! Now!"
Eric and Donna were finally close enough that Hyde could see the frantic expressions on their faces. Donna spotted Jackie and Hyde on the ground and immediately, she ran to join them.
"Oh my God! Jackie!"
Donna was running full speed now and when she reached Hyde she knelt down next to him. Hyde watched as Eric could only stop and stare at Jackie, his face frozen in complete shock. Donna started to sob as she grabbed at Jackie's arm, like she was trying to find a pulse. Eric made his way towards them. The combination of Donna's frenetic movements and Eric's lumbering crawl made Hyde's head spin. It was as if the world was moving in slow motion and super-sonic speed at the same time. Donna turned her gaze to Hyde and he could see the tears pouring down her face. He had never seen Donna cry.
Donna gasped and covered her quivering lips with her hand. She turned to Hyde to ask, "What happened? I don't understand what happened?"
Hyde didn't have an answer for her. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know how, in a matter of minutes, he had gone from kissing Jackie in his driveway to kneeling over his friend's body.
Eric's voice came out, croaked and dry, "Where's Kelso?"
"Forman, I need you to listen to me. You have to go call an ambulance. Jackie needs to get to the hospital."
Realizing Hyde had avoided answering his question, Eric set out to find his own answers. Without waiting for another word from Hyde, Eric started looking around for any sign of Kelso. Hyde, knowing what Eric would find, tried to stop him.
"Forman, don't, man ..."
But it was as if Eric couldn't hear him, he started to wander, heading towards Kelso's van.
"Forman, we need to get an ambulance here!" Hyde shouted after him.
Hyde's voice faded away as Eric approached Kelso's van. He couldn't believe the damage that had been done to it. It was smashed and beaten like it was made of clay, instead of steel.
Eric knelt down next to the van and tried to look through one of the shattered windows, the shards of glass were still falling and Eric sliced his palm open as he leaned in for a closer look.
"Shit!" Eric pulled his hand back in pain and stood back up. He took off in a sprint back to Hyde and Donna. They needed to look for Kelso.
"Hyde, we've got to find Kelso. Donna can stay with Jackie."
"Forman," Hyde began, quietly. But Eric was gone again, weaving his way through the trees.
"Forman," he called out again as he laid Jackie's head down into Donna's waiting hands and stood up.
Hyde followed Eric, he watched as the skinny man tripped over branches and stumps, never slowing down in his pursuit of Kelso. Hyde felt the tightening come back to his chest. He couldn't watch Eric keep going like this. He couldn't let him keep hoping.
"Eric."
And just like that, hearing Hyde use his first name, Eric stopped. Hyde paused and glanced over to Donna who held onto Jackie and squinted in the darkness trying to see where Hyde and Eric had gone. Eric turned, painfully slowly, to face Hyde.
"It's too late."
Eric shook his head, over and over, completely in denial. "No. It's not too late, we have to find him, we have to help him."
He blew past Hyde and took off back towards Kelso's van. Donna watched her boyfriend run by her and then she looked to Hyde. Her face told him she needed an explanation, but instead of telling her anything Hyde simply knelt down in the grass next to her.
"Kelso? Kelso?" Eric called, futilely, into the air.
Donna and Hyde watched from their position at Jackie's side. Donna finally turned to Hyde and grabbed onto his tee shirt, pulling him towards her with a jerk.
"Where's Kelso, Hyde?"
Hyde just wanted it to be over. He couldn't watch his friends search blindly hoping to find Kelso. But before he could tell Donna where Kelso lay he heard Eric's broken cry.
"Oh, Jesus ... Kelso!"
Donna released Hyde's shirt and jumped up out of the grass, forgetting she held Jackie's head in her lap. Hyde lurched forward, catching Jackie before she clunked back down onto the ground. Donna began a sprint towards the sound of Eric's voice. Hyde watched as her pace slowed, and then stopped. He saw her shoulders hunch forward and her hands fly up to her face.
Hyde could hear her screaming, he could hear a sob coming out of her mouth. Eric's voice intertwined with Donna's and the two swirled together through the air and raced towards Hyde's brain, slamming against it.
He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sounds of his friends' screams. But, the second his eyes closed, Kelso's broken face appeared. Hyde opened his eyes back up, looked down at Jackie and gently moved her head out of his lap.
Without even thinking, he began heading towards Eric and Donna. His body moved against the will of his brain. In his mind, he knew that Eric and Donna would unleash their blame on him, he knew he should stay back, give them their space to cope. But he just couldn't.
Donna turned away from Kelso and threw herself into Eric's arms. Instead of clutching his girlfriend, Eric stood, numb, his hands dangling at his sides. Hyde continued his march towards his friends, though neither had yet noticed him approaching. He checked over his shoulder wondering how much longer Jackie could afford to go without medical help. For a moment, he considered running up the hill, away from it all in search of a phone. But that thought was interrupted by Donna's screams.
"Jesus, Hyde," she yelled out between sobs, "did you even bother to see if Kelso was still alive? Maybe you could've helped him."
Donna stood, staring at Hyde, waiting for an answer. Hyde opened his mouth to speak, and then shut it just as quickly. If he protested Donna's accusations he would have to tell them that he witnessed Kelso's final moments, and that was something he would never burden another soul with. In Hyde's mind it was better to let Eric and Donna think he was a monster than for them to know how much Kelso suffered before he died.
His plan worked and Eric and Donna were left to believe that Hyde was so callous, he had simply ignored Kelso in favor of taking care of Jackie. Hyde watched as Donna's face grew harder, and Eric's face seemed to age before his eyes.
"You didn't, did you," Eric whispered, stunned. Hyde just stared into the distance, his face blank and emotionless.
Eric shook his head at what he assumed to be Hyde's indifference. "You heartless son of a bitch."
Hyde could've told the truth, but it wouldn't have brought Kelso back, and it wouldn't heal Jackie. So, he took the insults and he took the hateful glares, because, in his mind, he deserved it. Everything was his fault and the fact that he had tried to save Kelso wouldn't change that.
Eric glared at Hyde with complete disgust and the guilt that Hyde had managed to shove into the deepest corners of his mind came out again, in full force.
'I killed him.' The thought ran through Hyde's mind, repeating itself, incessantly.
Eric felt as if he was stuck in limbo, he couldn't go up, he couldn't go down. He couldn't do anything but just exist. But Donna was headed towards Hyde before she even realized what she was doing. When she reached him, she looked into his eyes and waited for some sort of emotion to cross his face, something that would tell Donna he was feeling pain. But she saw nothing. Hyde had too many years of Zen under his belt to let Donna see anything resembling hurt. The anger inside Donna took over and she raised her hand to her friend's bruised face and slapped him as hard as she could.
Having Donna hit him didn't even phase Hyde. It was what he had coming. All of it. The hatred that spilled from Eric and Donna's eyes, the pain that now pulsed through his whole body, even Jackie's injuries. Maybe this was the universe's way of punishing Hyde. He had killed his friend, now Jackie was the price he had to pay.
He sunk deeper and deeper into the self-loathing that had taken a hold of him while he held onto Jackie. But this time, it wasn't Jackie that pulled him back from the edge - it was the sound of sirens.
He snapped to attention and looked up the hill towards the road. He could see the flashing lights and he heard the sound of cars. The loud wail of the ambulances was all it took to bring Hyde back. He turned his back on Donna and Eric as they began shouting for help. He started to run back to Jackie, but he'd never felt so uncoordinated in his life. It seemed like the connection between his feet and brain had been severed and it wasn't long before Hyde tripped on a piece of one of the cars and went down, hard. He broke his fall with his right arm and didn't even bother wasting time trying to stand up. He simply pushed himself up to his knees and shuffled his way through the grass, encountering rocks, sticks, glass, as he crawled towards Jackie. He had never been so sore in his life. Everything throbbed, all his muscles ached, his arm sent shocks through his body. But he kept going.
Behind him he could hear people coming down the hill and when he turned to look he could see two flashlights. One of the men spotted Eric and Donna waving at them and headed in their direction. The other paramedic was heading towards Jackie. Hyde pulled himself up using a tree and made it the last few steps just as the paramedic reached Jackie. The man set down a large medical bag and began working on Jackie with a dizzying speed.
"How long has she been out?" the paramedic asked Hyde with urgency.
"I don't know, I guess about fifteen minutes," Hyde answered as quickly as he could.
"Did you try and stop the bleeding?" the man looked at Hyde, waiting for an answer.
"Yeah, but obviously it didn't work very well, did it. Look, can we do the questions later, just help her, dammit!"
"Your arm looks like it's broken." The paramedic pointed to the useless limb hanging at Hyde's side.
"Yeah, well, her head's cracked open so she wins. Forget about my fucking arm."
"Did you keep her airway clear?"
Hyde couldn't believe what was happening. Jackie was laying on the ground, bleeding and this jackass was giving him a pop quiz on first aid.
"Look, I'm not a God damn doctor, I don't know what I did. Why are we still sitting here?"
"I'm waiting for someone to bring a backboard down," the man responded, "we have to be careful in case she has a neck injury. You didn't move her, did you?"
Hyde shook his head in disbelief, frustrated at the time that was being wasted. "What? Of course I moved her, do you think she levitated here?"
"Steven?"
As soon as he heard the barely audible whisper he crouched back down on the ground and leaned over Jackie. She was awake.
"Steven?"
"Yeah, doll, I'm right here." he answered her.
The paramedic moved himself closer to Jackie's head and took out a small pen light, shining it in her eyes as he pulled her lids up. Hyde tried to give the man room to work, without being too far away from Jackie. When the paramedic began examining Jackie's wound her eyes would flutter open and then close again and Hyde could tell she wasn't focusing on anything. In fact, it seemed she wasn't even really awake, more like dreaming.
"Steven?" It was the same question. He touched her face trying to carefully pick glass out of her perfect skin.
"Jackie ..."
"It's no use," the paramedic said, never stopping his examination, "she's just going to keep saying the same thing over and over again. She has no idea you're here, she has no idea she's here."
Hyde sat back on his heels letting that thought sink in. If Jackie had no idea what had taken place, that meant someone would have to tell her. And Hyde would have to be that someone. 'God,' he thought as he dropped his head to his chest, 'how do I tell her what happened?'
He didn't have any time to dwell on that question because in an instant two more paramedics were next to him, holding a long backboard. The older of the two shoved Hyde out of the way and all three began to work on Jackie.
The first paramedic looked to the others, "You need help with the other victim?"
One of the new paramedics shook his head. "Nope. D.O.A."
It sounded so callous to Hyde. They were describing his friend as if he were nothing. He was dead, so to them he no longer mattered. Everything he had been as a person no longer meant anything to these men.
The older of the new arrivals turned to Hyde while he continued his careful work on Jackie. "You look pretty beat up. You need anything?"
Hyde looked at the man, "Yeah. I need you to take care of her."
The paramedic nodded, understanding.
"Did you know the other victim?" the first paramedic asked.
Hyde could feel his fist clenching up like it automatically did when his blood began to boil. "The other victim," he said through pursed lips, "has a name. His name is Michael Kelso."
The paramedic looked somewhat taken aback at Hyde's tone. Hyde backed away and tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath, his temper had had enough of a workout today. Having finished strapping Jackie's tiny body down, the three men positioned themselves one on each side and one at Jackie's head as they prepared to lift her off the ground, and Hyde was forced to watch as three strangers carried his tiny and broken girlfriend up the side of a hill.
Hyde followed closely behind, slipping with almost every step and never noticing that several police officers were gathered around Eric, Donna and Kelso.
Jackie's stretcher smashed through the doors of the emergency room, pushed by two of the paramedics. Hyde followed closely behind, his arm now in a temporary sling. He watched as doctors and nurses walked towards them. The paramedics relayed Jackie's condition in words Hyde couldn't understand. Not because they were medical jargon, but because his brain had simply stopped processing.
He followed, blindly, behind Jackie, staring as they parked her stretcher in a curtained room. His eyes left her for a moment as he scanned the ER looking for the only familiar face he would know - Mrs. Forman.
"You're going to have to wait outside."
He turned to the sound of the voice and saw a nurse standing in front of him, trying to shove him behind one of the curtains so she could close it. Hyde stood, unmoving, and shook his head.
"I can't leave her."
His words were not enough and the nurse continued to try and push him away.
"I'm sorry, but ..."
Hyde cut her off before she could give her bullshit reason. If asking nicely wouldn't get him anywhere, maybe lying would.
"I'm Kitty Forman's son, you've gotta let me stay."
The nurse looked at him, "Eric? You're Eric?"
'Damn.'
Hyde hadn't counted on being called on his lie. What did he say, that he wasn't really Kitty's son but that she had raised him and watched over him and he lived in their house and ate their food and was treated the same as Laurie and Eric. Continuing to lie would be a hell of a lot faster.
"No. I'm Steven," he continued, quickly and pointed towards Jackie, "If she wakes up she's gonna be terrified."
The nurse looked Hyde up and down, her eyes finally resting on his arm. "Look," she sighed, "I'll call your mom and have her come down." Hyde nodded, waiting for the nurse to step aside, but she didn't move. "I'm going to get someone to take care of your arm, and we'll put you in the room right next-door to your girlfriend."
Hyde glanced over the nurse's shoulder at Jackie. She looked so small in the big bed, surrounded by machines and people in white. Next-door was better than nothing. He gave the nurse a nod and took a small step backwards. And with that, the curtain was pulled shut.
Jackie was out of his sight.
Eric watched as the various police officers surveyed the scene of the accident, photographing, measuring, taking notes - it all seemed too analytical, too simple. The man in charge - Detective Williams, was standing with Donna, questioning her. Eric couldn't focus on questions. His focus was devoted entirely to a white sheet on the ground under that covered his friend.
If life were fair, Eric would wake up in his bed covered in Spider Man sheets. He'd shake his head, wondering what was in the pot he had smoked last night that caused such a freaky dream. Then, he would go downstairs to his basement to find Hyde sitting on the couch watching "Happy Days".
"Man, you won't believe the messed up dream I had," Eric would say.
Then Hyde would roll his eyes and call Eric a moron or some equally lame nickname and tell him he wasn't interested in another dream about Princess Leia. Minutes would pass in which the two did nothing but debate who was dorkier - Potsie or Ralph Malph. Eventually, Fez would shuffle in, his hands full of jelly beans and smelling like a mixture of the inside of a piñata and High Karate cologne. Donna and Jackie would follow. Jackie going on and on about how Donna needed to wear less flannel if she ever wanted to lead a productive life. Donna would call Jackie a Munchkin and tell her to return to Oz where her fellow Munchkins were surely missing her. Then, finally, Kelso would enter. His eyes would be wide and bugged-out because he had just seen a cat chasing a dog, which surely went against the laws of physics. They would all settle in on their respective chairs or seats. Maybe they'd have a pop, maybe a card game would start. The day would go on, and Eric would forget about his nightmare.
"Eric!"
It was Donna, staring at him, waiting for something. Detective Williams was furiously writing now, barely glancing up.
"Eric, he's talking to you."
"Sorry," Eric mumbled in response.
The detective finally looked at Eric. "I was asking about the fight in your driveway. How did it start?"
Eric tried to remember back that far, even though it had been less than an hour ago. It felt like something he had watched in a movie. "Um ... I don't know, it was just stupid."
Donna watched Eric babble and she cut in, too frustrated to wait for her boyfriend to narrate the evening's events in slow motion. "It was over a girl. That's why they started fighting."
"And the girl was Mr. Hyde's girlfriend?" Detective Williams asked.
"Yeah," Eric answered flatly. Ironic that it sounded like such a simple detail, when it had in fact, been the cause of everything. "Yeah, she's his girlfriend. Jackie Burkhart."
"Burkhart?" the cop looked up from his notes, obviously recognizing the name. "You mean Jack Burkhart's daughter?"
"Yeah," Eric agreed, not understanding where the cop was going with this.
"Isn't she like ... fifteen?"
Instantly, what the cop was asking clicked in Donna's mind. "She's sixteen." she answered, quickly.
Confirming Donna's suspicions were correct, the officer continued. "And this Hyde guy's eighteen?"
"He's eighteen." Eric nodded.
Detective Williams began writing, furiously in his pad. His questions continued, "Who instigated the fight? Mr. Hyde or Mr. Kelso?"
Eric wasn't sure who the question was directed at, but Donna answered before he did.
"Hyde. He started it."
Donna had never felt a lie so easily escape her lips. She didn't know why she did it, nor did she think about the repercussions for Hyde that her lie could cause. She just kept seeing Hyde's cold, detached stare before she slapped him and the words continued to pour out of her mouth.
"He just attacked Kelso, he wouldn't stop beating him," she continued all the while feeling Eric's eyes on her, "Kelso finally got away, he got in his van and he took off, but Hyde followed him."
Eric stared at Donna, too stunned to talk. He couldn't believe what was happening. His brain was shouting at him to stop it, to tell the truth. But his heart kept drawing him back to that sheet on the ground. So he stood silent. A reluctant accomplice.
"What about the girl? How did she get injured?"
Eric looked to Donna, wondering what she would say next.
"I don't know," Donna shook her head, "it must have happened in the accident. She was fine when she left."
Eric felt his stomach churning. In mere seconds Donna had managed to absolve Kelso, blame Hyde, and take away the incident that prompted Hyde's actions - Kelso hurting Jackie.
"Detective?" one of the other police officers shouted towards Detective Williams. He excused himself from Donna and Eric and started off towards the other officers.
Eric watched until the cop was out of earshot, then he turned to Donna and grabbed her by the wrist. "What are you doing?"
Donna let Eric's grasp keep her still for a few seconds. Then, as if his touch were burning her, she yanked her arm away from Eric. "What are you talking about?"
Eric let out a bitter laugh and stepped towards her again. "You're lying. That's not what happened, it was Kelso that started the whole thing."
Donna's eyes lit up and she pointed a finger in Eric's face. "Kelso may have thrown the first punch but it was Hyde that started this. He started this whole damn thing when he started fucking Jackie." She sounded so hurt, so bitter and angry. She didn't sound like the girl Eric had known almost his whole life. "Besides, why does it matter who hit first? I think Kelso's paid his price, don't you."
The last question hit Eric hard. What she was saying started to make sense, it had been Hyde's fault. All of it. Hyde had chosen to get involved with Jackie, when he knew how things would turn out. Hyde had chosen to ignore Eric's repeated pleas to tell Kelso what was going on. Hyde had beaten Kelso, provoked or not. And who was Eric to punish Kelso. His friend's memory deserved more than that. His friend deserved some kind of justice.
Eric glanced back at Donna. She was so beautiful, even with blood and dirt on her face and tears running down her cheeks. She was the most important person in his life and he couldn't lose her. But he didn't want to lose Hyde either.
"No, Donna," Eric shook his head and looked right into Donna's eyes, praying he could get through to her, "I can't do it. I won't do it."
Instead of looking hurt or saddened by Eric's comments Donna only looked angrier. She crossed over to the sheet that had so distracted Eric and she yanked it off of Kelso.
"Tell Kelso you can't do it. Go on, Eric, tell him it's his fault."
Eric tried not to look, he knew if he looked at Kelso he would give in to Donna.
"C'mon, Eric. Tell him!"
She was egging him on, daring him to defy her, and he fell for it. His eyes traveled back to Kelso.
If life were fair, Eric wouldn't have to choose between Hyde and Kelso. But life wasn't fair and a choice had to be made.
Eric's thoughts were interrupted by two men walking down the hill towards he and Donna and Kelso. The men were carrying a stretcher as they wound their way down the hill. Donna backed up and a sob fell out of her mouth, like she had been hit in the gut. One of the men knelt down and tossed the white sheet back over Kelso's face.
Eric could feel his own tears building in his eyes and Donna grabbing his hand. She turned away from Kelso, unable to watch as he was attached to the stretcher. Eric wrapped his arms around his girlfriend as she sobbed. Her hair stuck to his wet face and she shook in his arms. The men lifted Kelso off the ground and headed away.
"Bye, man." Eric whispered as he watched his friend go.
He had made his choice.