Story note: This chapter might be slightly confusing. There are two Hyde's in the hospital room—a comatose Hyde and the invisible Hyde with Jimmy Page who are 'reflecting on his life.' So anytime Hyde says or does anything, it's the invisible Hyde (comatose Hyde can't do much of anything…I mean, he is in a coma). Whenever someone other than Jimmy interacts with Hyde (such as nurses, Red, Kitty, the rest of the gang), it's the comatose Hyde. Good God, I hope I didn't confuse you all. Anyways, I hope you understand this, and if you don't, I'm an incredibly crappy writer

::::Chapter 3::::

Hyde and Jimmy stood in the hospital room of the ER, the sounds of hospital equipment echoing around them. Hyde watched from afar as his own badly beaten and bruised body struggled for life and a nurse came in to take his vitals. "I look like crap," he said sadly as he stood over his own comatose body and studied the newly formed plaster casts on his right arm, left leg, and right ankle. A gauze bandage was wrapped around his head to conceal the gash in his forehead—a wound caused by his body being thrown through the windshield of his car. Large dark bruises had formed on his face under his eyes. A large tube of a ventilator ran through his mouth, giving him the much needed breaths of air. "I can't even breathe for myself?"

"Eh, mate. It ain't so bad," Jimmy replied, lighting up another cigarette.

"Should you be smoking in here?"

"Hyde, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, we aren't here," Jimmy replied as he walked up behind the nurse. "Would you like to see my guitar?" he asked her, blowing smoke towards her as she, ignorant to his presence, tapped the IV bag before turning to leave. He smiled. "I always like to have fun with that."

"What are we doing in this hospital anyway?" asked Hyde. "I mean, I'm already here," he said, motioning towards his unconscious body lying on the bed before him. "Sort of anyways… But how is this 'reflecting on my life'? Looks more like I'm reflecting on my own death."

"You'll see," Jimmy replied as he put out his cigarette on the bottom of his snakeskin boot.

::::

A couple of hours had passed since the gang had showed up to the hospital. Every minute spent waiting to hear more on Hyde's condition was a minute of torture. Fez had fallen asleep, resting his head on Kelso's arm, who was also sleeping. Jackie had finally settled down somewhat, not saying much of anything to anyone. Eric and Donna held hands, waiting for Kitty to return with more updates on Hyde. As far as they knew, Hyde was in a coma, had several broken bones, and was breathing by means of a ventilator. As for whether he would pull through or not, they did not know. Red, being the only one that knew the doctor's grim outlook on Hyde's condition, looked the most troubled of all. He sat nervously in the seat across from Eric, getting up to pace about the room every fifteen minutes.

Finally, just as the sun had begun to rise, Kitty returned to the waiting room.

"He seems to be in stable yet critical condition right now. The doctors said it would be okay for everyone to see him as long as it's not all at once," she said with a slight, fake smile.

"Well, Jackie should go first," Donna piped up. But when she looked to the petite brunette, Jackie had curled herself up into a ball and was sleeping peacefully, the tear stains on her cheeks plain to see. "Jackie?"

"Maybe Red should go first," Eric suggested as he glanced at the slumbering girl, knowing it'd be best if she got some rest after such a stressful night. "We can wake Jackie up later."

Red nodded, following his wife to Hyde's room. He didn't know what to expect, but what he saw distressed him immeasurably—Hyde's seemingly lifeless body struggling to stay alive.

::::

Hyde looked up as he heard the door open and two people enter the room—Red and Kitty.

"Red?" he asked as he passed Hyde without acknowledging him.

"Parents?" Jimmy asked him as he took a closer look at Kitty's can. "Not bad."

"Not exactly," Hyde replied as he watched the couple stand at the end of the hospital bed where his unresponsive body lie.

"They tell us that sometimes the patients can still hear you when they're in a coma," Kitty said, urging her husband to give words of comfort.

"Lady, you have no idea," Jimmy said loudly.

Red cleared his throat. "Steven…Uhh…" Kitty gestured to him encouragingly. "I… I told you you should always wear your safety belt!"

"Oh Red!" Kitty exclaimed. "I meant say something comforting, not threaten the boy. For God sakes, he's in the hospital."

Hyde smirked. "That's Red for ya."

Kitty gently took the unconscious Hyde's limp hand to hold it. "Steven, what he meant to say is that we hope you feel better soon," she said. "Well you've got the best darn tootin' doctors in all of Wisconsin!"

"That's not saying much," muttered Hyde as he watched.

"And…" added Kitty. "We love you Steven." She placed a gentle kiss on Hyde's cheek.

"Steven," Red offered. "You're tough; I know you'll pull through." He forced a small smile, deciding it wouldn't hurt to be a little un-Red-like for Hyde's sake. "You know, I've never said this, but you're like the son I've never had."

Hyde watched Kitty and Red speak to his unconscious self as he smiled a little, feeling a little stupid that their words meant so much to him. What did Hyde care? He never needed anyone before. The moment he started relying too much on one person, he knew he would be setting himself up for a disappointment. He had had too many letdowns in the past to believe otherwise.

"Now Red Forman," Kitty said as she put her hands on her hips, "you have a son."

"Yes. And Steven's not at all like him. Like I said, he's tough." He smiled. "Can't really say the same for Eric."

"I'll second that," piped up Hyde.

"Seems like a nice bloke," Jimmy said as he watched. "The bird's not too shabby either."

"Yeah, man," Hyde replied. "I guess if it weren't for Forman's parents, I'd probably be living in a cardboard box out back the Fatso Burger and eating leftovers out of the dumpster." He thought for a moment. "Or in prison."

They've certainly done a lot more for me than my own parents ever have, he added in thought. Remembering back to the day his mother left him made him cringe in anger. "Hyde, I know I'm your mother, but I'm leaving you." Those were her exact words when she called him to tell him that she wouldn't be back. And the fact that his father and mother left together, forcing him to live with the Forman's once again, made him all the more irritated. He'd been dumped once by his own mother; and twice by his father. But it was different with the Formans; they were always there for him. Hell, they didn't even force him out when he had turned 18 like he had expected them to.

But Hyde knew well that the Formans were there for him even before that, convincing him to stay in Point Place instead of dropping out of school and going to New York with that punk-rocker, Chrissy. Not to mention all the times when he was younger and his mother was either too poor or too lazy to feed him. And, although he never talked about it much, Eric's house was his refuge from his abusive father before the good-for-nothing man finally walked out of his life. Yes, he never really mentioned to the Formans the beatings he received at home when he was younger—just made a few jokes here and there as if it weren't a big deal. Of course, he would never admit that it was.

Hyde never let on how much he really did need them; how much he appreciated everything they had done for him. And he knew too well that he probably never would, although he did treat Red and Mrs. Forman with the utmost respect. Mrs. Forman never yelled; Red never hit. To him, they were the closest thing he ever did have to real parents.

To Be Continued…

Okay, it was never mentioned on the show that Hyde's father beat him. This is an assumption I came to (or maybe just something I just made up myself). In the episode where Hyde is living with the Formans, he says that syrup was a privilege at his house, "like pillowcases and not getting hit." I decided to read into that a little too much. =)