AN: Wow! The response to the last chapter just blew me away. It makes me so happy to see people enjoying this so much. The next few chapters will be pretty angsty, but I don't intend to keep it that way. Just bear with me. But, if you're like me, angsty is okay as long as some good stuff comes afterwards.

Chapter 3: Nothing's Wrong

The pounding in Jackie's head mimicked her heart's fast rhythm and steady acceleration. Walking down this hospital corridor had to be the scariest thing she had ever experienced. She wasn't sure of the man that she would encounter when she walked into Steven's room, but she was certain she'd be more than uncomfortable with him. She just couldn't grasp the concept of not remembering two years of a life that he had lived. How could banging one's head do that to someone?

While everyone was waiting for Red and Kitty to return, Jackie thought of all the possibilities of the Steven she could meet. 1978 had been a long year for the two of them in their relationship with many ups and downs. She really wasn't sure which of those moments she hoped he remembered last. It he remembered a down moment, such as after he cheated on her with the nurse, her distance from him would be totally understandable. He might not know that the real reason was because he ripped her heart right out of her chest and stomped it until it was a bloody mess on the ground by marrying someone else, but at least she wouldn't have to deal with what it would be like if he remembered a happy time when they were together and in love. She was sure if that happened, she'd have a nervous breakdown right there in his room.

When Red and Kitty told her that he had asked to see her, Jackie felt that karma must have really had it in for her. She had to endure so much over the past year when it came to her and Steven. She hated that he pretended that nothing was ever between them and that what he did to her wasn't wrong at all, but for him to literally forget all of those things… She couldn't even begin to address what her reaction would be.

Jackie stood in front of Hyde's hospital room door and stared up at the numbers nailed to the wood. She sighed to herself. Steven Hyde would always be the cross she'd have to bear. Too bad she'd never be seen as a martyr for it.

Jackie gripped the cool doorknob in her hands, its temperature shocking the nerve endings of her fingers. Her entire body was boiling underneath her skin, and the juxtaposition of the hospital's cold atmosphere reminded her of how out of place she was in this world. She turned the knob, and took the plunge.

Hyde waited patiently for his girlfriend to come see him. He knew Jackie, and right now she was probably livid with the news that he was okay. Any minute now she'd storm into his room and plant kisses all over his face telling him how happy she was that he was okay. It was almost funny that he sat there thinking of how Jackie was doing with this situation and not really worrying too much about his own confusion. He guessed it just had to do with his typical way of pushing troubling circumstances to the side.

Hyde began to think really hard about the last thing he could remember. It was still a little unbelievable that it was 1980. He saw Red's paper, but his mind still insisted that everyone was wrong. How could someone live for two years with no recollection of what really happened? Hyde thought really hard of the most recent images stored in his memory. Eric and Donna were engaged and planning for a wedding. Eric was trying his best to get out of shopping with Donna, and he even pulled the oldest trick in the book by pretending to have really bad tastes. And then…

Nothing. Hyde couldn't remember anything after that. As far as he was concerned, all of that happened yesterday before he got drunk and crashed his car.

Hyde's dream just before he woke up weaved its way into his mind again. Who was that person exactly? Hyde didn't really believe much in an afterlife where everyone floated on clouds and had halos of gold, but the only thing he could associate the beauty and purity with was an angel.

Hyde was shaken by the doorknob of his hospital room turning. Excitement billowed in his stomach as he carefully watched for Jackie's image to appear in the doorframe. He was certain that this whole mess that he found himself in would be alleviated by her. So, it came as a huge surprise to him when Jackie entered with the saddest face he had ever seen clouding her features. He noticed that she looked a little different from what he remembered. She looked older and more mature, but mostly more beautiful that he could ever imagine she'd be. A smile would have made his doll complete, but he was greeted with none.

Jackie looked up at her ex boyfriend who sat earnestly on his hospital bed. She could tell he was a little disappointed with the frown she walked in with, and she now could safely assume that he still thought they were together. The possibilities of what could become of this encounter suddenly sky rocketed.

"Hey." He finally said, trying his best to get her to say something instead of staring at the ground. Anything might clue him in to what was the matter with her.

"Hi." She answered back. Jackie stood in the middle of his room, a few feet away from his bed. Hyde really didn't like the distance, so, he gestured for her to stand next to him. The scared expression on her faced squeezed his heart like a vice grip. But, she complied with his advance and walked around the bed to stand next to him.

"So, apparently I have some memory loss." Hyde chuckled as he glanced up at her. She wasn't even smiling. "I guess I must have really messed up this time."

Jackie tried her best to figure out what to say to him. She noticed the slight nervousness in his voice that only she seemed to have the ability to pick up on. He was really scared right now but trying his best to hide it. Jackie's heart sunk further into her chest.

"So, how is the El Camino?" Hyde asked, wondering if getting off the subject of his memory loss would get her to start talking.

"Um, I'm not sure." Jackie answered, her voice shaking. "I haven't seen it yet, but one of the nurses told us that the police say it's totaled."

Hyde sighed and closed his eyes. "Well that sucks."

Jackie only nodded as a reply.

Hyde eyed her with concern. He had a feeling that there was something going on that he should know about. Jackie didn't seem like she was going to put any assertive effort into their conversation. The Jackie he remembered would be talking his ear off right now. This wasn't the same girl.

Hyde decided to do exactly what he wanted to do since she walked through the door. He snaked his left arm around her waist, drawing her body in closer to his. Jackie tensed under his touch, but allowed herself to be pulled down to sit on the bed beside him. A strange mix of nervous tension and comfortable relaxation conflicted in Jackie's body. She hadn't been this close to him in so long, and despite that her brain was screaming at her to back away, her body yearned to let this closeness continue for just a few more dangerous moments.

"Look, I know that this whole thing is really weird and confusing right now. Don't tell anyone but, I'm seriously freaking out about it." Hyde said so low to her that Jackie could have sworn he was whispering.

Jackie looked up to find Hyde's uncovered eyes searching her for some kind of answers. The warmth in the cool waters shocked the starving need in Jackie that always existed just for him. This was not the same man that just yesterday burned her because her boyfriend said he wouldn't mind being a woman for a day, as long as he could still receive some lady loving. This man was someone that she hadn't seen for a long time and only dreamed about meeting again. Jackie felt her pulse quicken and the electricity traveling between their bodies surge through her heart. Suddenly, her memory seemed foggy as well.

"So," He asked through a heavy voice. "Are we okay?"

"Yeah." Jackie answered without even thinking.

Hyde wrapped his arm around her tighter and slowly moved his face towards hers. Jackie was positive he was about to kiss her, but she just couldn't find the will power to stop him. She had missed him so much. Before Jackie's brain could argue with her heart's thirsty desires, Hyde captured her parted lips with his own, thriving in the familiarity of the kiss. The muscles of Jackie's back had been stiff against his arm the entire time, but as soon as the warmth of his mouth made contact with hers, he felt her release the tension she was holding and relax into his touch. The love that always burned her chest from the inside out when Steven kissed her tingled painfully at the center of her chest, reminding her how bitter sweet this moment was. She touched the left side of his face and took control of the kiss, getting her own say in this moment that they shared. But her conscious decision to kiss him back reminded her why her body had been craving this kiss to begin with.

Jackie quickly broke away and avoided Hyde's sleepy but concerned stare. She stood up and walked out of his hold, stumbling out of the room with barely a goodbye. Hyde was more confused than ever.

Jackie ran as fast as she could down the hospital hall, hoping that the harder she ran, the more she'd forget about what just happened. She had let herself slip again.

Jackie ran straight passed everyone in the waiting room who immediately stood up as she came in. She made it to the women's bathroom and pushed on the heavy door. Once inside, she stormed into the furthest stall from the door, locking it behind her as soon as she was in. Violent sobs racked her body as she stabilized herself against the wall, sliding downwards to ease the weight on her now wobbly legs.

Just like always, the only person to go after her was Fez.

Hyde rested his body against the pillows of his hospital bed. He really had no idea what was up with Jackie. He had no idea why kissing her was so wrong, and if it was, why would she kiss him back just to run away soon after. Something was definitely wrong between them despite what she said. He was going to need some answers about what happened during these two years. Hyde figured that the next people to visit him would be the rest of his friends. He didn't want to ask them though what was up with Jackie. Some unnamable force told him that he had to hear it from her and only her.

With a quick opening of his door, Hyde watched as Eric and Donna walked into his hospital room. Well, what appeared to be Eric and Donna.

"Whoa!" Hyde said. "What the hell did you do to your hair?"

Eric turned his head to Donna who just returned Hyde's question with a strange look. She then suddenly realized that Hyde probably didn't remember that she died her hair blonde a while ago. She grabbed a clump of it in her hand and looked at the pale strands that once used to be a brilliant shade of red.

"It's been dyed for a while, Hyde."

Donna felt like she was about to vomit when she saw the confusion cross across Hyde's eyes. She shouldn't have ever said those things to him. Even though she hated thinking of it, Donna knew that it was because of her words that made him go out that night to drink. It was because of her words that made him forget everything.

"Look man." Eric said as he made his way closer to his friend's bed. "We're really sorry about you losing your memory." Eric hung his head low, too ashamed to look at his friend and part of his was afraid of just how different he'd be if he looked hard enough. "That just really sucks man."

Hyde felt the sharp grips of sorrow cling to his chest. He hated people feeling sorry for him, and he really hated it when he couldn't help but agree with them.

"Everything's fine Foreman. You guys just need to tell me everything that I've missed out on, and things will be okay."

Eric looked over to Donna who didn't look up to meet his glance. Eric turned back to Hyde, biting his lip. "I don't think it's going to be that easy, Hyde."

Hyde heard him loud and clear but chose to ignore his words. "So, if I tell you guys the last thing I remember, will you fill in the rest?"

Eric nodded solemnly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"I remember you guys planning your wedding." Hyde looked over to Donna who still hadn't had the ability to look him in the eye yet. "And Foreman picked out the deer foot fork to get out of shopping."

Donna met Hyde's stare, seeing the teasing grin the played on his features. Her stomach did a cartwheel, making her even more nauseous.

"So…" Hyde prodded, holding his hands out.

"So, what?" Donna asked.

"So how was the wedding?"

This time Donna met Eric's gaze. Hyde watched as they stared at each other, both shooting uncomfortable glances. This confusion was really starting to tick Hyde off.

"What's the matter?"

Eric rubbed his hands together preparing to start explaining. "Well, Donna and I sort of didn't get married."

Hyde furrowed his eyebrow. "How do you sort of not get married?"

"Well, Donna bought this trailer, and I thought I was holding her back from living her dreams, so I didn't show up for the practice rehearsal." Eric explained, guilt smothering his words to a low monotone.

Hyde looked over at Donna who he could tell was trying her best not to show she was sad about the issue. The hope that he always had for his two best friends died a little inside. What the hell happened to them?

"So… are you guys still together?"

"Yeah. We're still together." Eric answered.

The door to Hyde's room opened revealing Dr. Cook and another man close behind him. He wasn't wearing a white jacket like Dr. Cook, in fact, it looked like he just woke up.

"Excuse us for a second." Dr. Cook said as he walked passed Eric and Donna. "Steven, this is Dr. Hedburg. He's a neurologist, and he's going to do some CAT scans on your brain so we can figure out more about your memory loss. We'd like to get started right away."

Eric and Donna said their goodbyes to their friend, a little too glad to be leaving. The experience was probably one of the most uncomfortable moments they have ever had with him. They barely ever talked about what happened with their failed attempt at marrying one another much less explain it to someone. The disappointed look that was marked all over Hyde's face was what really got to them though. It reflected what they had been feeling for two years.

Dr. Cook and Dr. Hedburg looked at picture after picture of their unique patient's brain. It looked like any normal brain should and that was the problem.

"Should we run anymore tests?" Dr. Cook asked the specialist and his personal friend.

"No." Dr. Hedburg shook his head. "There's nothing more any other test will tell us than this will."

Both of them paused, double checking all the scans once more, hoping to find something.

"So what do we do now?" Dr. Cook asked, tearing himself away from his only hope at helping his patient.

"Suggest he see a psychiatrist." Dr. Hedburg gathered his belongings. His job here was done. "It's the only doctor that can help him now."

AN2: Reviews might not be my passion or motive to write, but they do make posting worth while!