"Oh Steven, honey," Kitty said softly as she dabbed some foul-smelling liquid on the mess that was his forehead. Parts of his hair nearest to his forehead was sticky with drying blood and Kitty's hands worked steadily even though her heart was heavy.

Donna had driven them both to the hospital in his Camino, perhaps doing the only sensible thing that she had been doing ever since Eric got back, by insisting that Hyde get the bloody gash checked out.

Maybe because she had had more time to digest the news, or maybe because of the near-catatonic state that Hyde was in, but she had somehow found it in her to get ahold of herself now.

She sniffled loudly, folding her arms across her middle and alternating between staring at Kitty attend to Hyde, and staring at the floor and wishing it would open and just swallow her whole.

"This might sting, sweetie," Kitty told Hyde gently, holding a needle to the skin on his forehead to administer an anaesthetic before she could sew up the gash. He barely reacted, blue eyes fixed somewhere on the trays of syringes and drawers of bandages behind Kitty. His Ray-Bans had broke in two places, adding to a seemingly never-ending list of things that he had broken or lost recently.

Kitty jabbed him in three spots along the two inch wound and if not for the reflexive jerk and scowl that he sent her way when the needle went in, she would have sent for another doctor to reconfirm that he didn't have a concussion and/or brain damage.

They didn't say, and Kitty didn't have to ask, to guess at what must have gone down to warrant Donna and Hyde's appearance at the hospital that she worked at, and she wondered and worried about her son and Jackie.

The needle went in and then back out, almost rhythmically, and save for the quiet tick tick tick of the clock, silence reigned in the sterility of the room.

"There, all done," Kitty murmured about twenty minutes later, peeling off her gloves and washing her hands in the sink. "What about you, honey?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at Donna, "Do you need checking over?"

"No, Mrs. Forman. Thanks."

"Okay then," she replied, pulling out paper napkins from the dispenser and drying her hands before placing them on her hips. She looked and them quietly, weighing what to say, but then the overhead PA system beeped, and they looked at her as she was paged to another wing at the hospital. She sighed.

"I gotta go, kids," she said, with heavy glances at the both of them. "But... know that I love you both as much as I love Eric and Jackie." She paused as they both flinched at the mention of those respective names, and belligerent expressions came over their faces. Kitty held up a hand before they could say anything.

"The four of you, you grew up together," she said gently. "But. That doesn't mean that either of you owe each other anything if you've managed to find with someone... what I've witnessed between the both of them."

There was a strangled sound and Hyde's eyes flashed fire and Donna's eyebrows came down fiercely in an ugly frown.

Kitty exhaled heavily, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers. When she opened her eyes, she glanced at the two of them matter-of-factly.

"Eric and Jackie, they didn't need to spare your feelings, but they did. They found each other when the both of you had long since abandoned them for 'greener' pastures." Her hands came to rest on her hips and she gave them both heartfelt looks. "I understand that the both of you are hurt. But, they care for you both, so I suggest you decide how much you value them in your life before you lose them completely."

Hyde scoffed once, and then again, louder this time. Donna followed suit with a mirthless laugh of her own, and her folded arms tightened.

Kitty raised her eyebrows, but didn't acknowledge either of their reactions. "I'm only going to say this once: Stop being so self-involved. It's not about you, so realize that they've both long since left you behind. Take your heads out of your…your asses, and see that."

She walked over to the door, pulling it open, then spoke without looking at them, more sad than upset. "Steven, you're having a baby with Sam. A new family. Your family."

She turned around to look at him then, but she might as well be speaking to stone; he gave no indication that he heard her. She sighed.

"Donna," she tried, and her features softened as she took in the red hair for the first time, and remembered the girl who had made her son so happy once before. "Donna," she said again, gently, "Randy… he loves you. He's a good boy, it isn't too late to mend things before they become irreparable."

Donna looked away and fixed her gaze on the floor.

Kitty sighed again just as the PA system blared, paging her once again. She turned and closed the door behind her, leaving them both alone in the room with a soft click.

It was maybe a minute, or it could be a hundred, but the silence in the hospital treatment room was suddenly broken when a tray holding several instruments crashed against one of the stark white walls.

Donna jumped in shock, eyes wide as she watched Hyde leap off the gurney and grabbed a packet of empty syringes and hurled that against the wall too.

"What the hell, Hyde!"

He ignored her, turning around and sent his fist at the wall. It slammed hard against concrete and Hyde howled, cradling his hand to his chest. He glared at the wall and let a foot fly at it instead, leaving a boot print on the pristine white of the paint. It seemed to satisfy him somehow, and soon, the bottom half of the wall was covered with boot prints.

"Stop it! Jeeze, c'mon, you can't—,"

He whirled around and glared at her, pointing a finger half and inch away from her face. "Don't tell me what I can and can't do," he snarled. The finger dropped and curled into a fist at his side. "If fucking Forman can take my girl, I can do anything I want."

Donna stared at him wordlessly as he slammed both fists down on the gurney, shoulders heaving.

"He didn't take her," she said quietly after awhile, still staring at Hyde with her arms crossed, "Jackie stole him." And then more viciously, "She seduced him."

Hyde turned to her with a disbelieving look, taking in her short skirt, low top, and newly dyed hair. "Seriously, Donna?"

A slight tinge of red stole across her cheeks and forehead, and her chin came up defensively. "It's not like that between Eric and me."

He snorted. "Sure, Donna."

Her nostrils flared. "What do you mean."

He didn't bother to answer.

She wouldn't let it go. "What Eric and I have is real."

Hyde sniggered. "For fuck's sake Donna. You used him like a call boy," a pause, "friend. Call boyfriend." He cackled again.

She shoved him.

He glared at her.

"Whatever, Donna. Your head turned the moment Randy walked through the door. And let's not forget Kelso's brother. And then Eric came back again, only this time he's Eric 2.0 and you dropped Randy like a hot brick."

Tears pricked her eyes. "It's not like that," she hissed at him.

Hyde shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat." He eyed her, "I think the only reason why you hung on to him like you're doing is because he dumped you first this time."

Her eyes flashed fire. "Go to hell, Hyde," she spat viciously at him through her teeth.

A bleak look crossed his face, and then an emptiness as it entered his eyes. "Already there, Big D."