Previously…

… At this moment, Eric came in through the side door. Hearing their shouts and screams, he instantly became alarmed. He raced to Hyde's bedroom just in time to find Hyde on top Kelso, the blanket in between them, banging Kelso's head into the cement floor.

"STOP!" he shouted, running over to Hyde. He attempted to pull Hyde back but as he did, Hyde threw the arm Eric was clutching up and back to get him off. This, in turn, caused Eric to fall back, skidding into the concrete wall. The back of his head collided with it rather hard and the instant it did, he blacked out. His head slumped forward, and he sat there motionless.

Panic and alarm now washing over Hyde, he turned back just in time to catch the sight of Eric's limp body against the wall. He quickly jumped from Kelso, running over to his best friend.

Jackie, now wrapped in Hyde's bed sheets, rushed over to Eric as well. Kelso sat up slightly, rubbing the back of his head in a sleepy daze.

"Eric?" Hyde let out in a feeble voice he never heard before; it was so unlike his own, so alien, and it scared him tremendously. However, what terrified him even more was the fact that Eric wasn't breathing.

---

Chapter Two
Don't Let Him Die

Don't just sit there staring at him! Do something!

Thought after thought pushed its way through Hyde's mind. What should he do, he didn't know. Suddenly, he took Eric's head, both hands on either side of his face. Placing one on his chin, he held his head up while he opened his eyes with the other.

Eric's eyes were rolled back inside his head.

He still wasn't breathing.

Hyde let go of his head, and it fell back down. "Wake up." He said, shaking him. As if that did any good. On the wall, Hyde finally noticed drops of blood smeared where Eric's head had collided with it. His hair was also matted with blood.

What if he's dead?! What if he's dead?! Please don't be dead!

This seemed like a bad nightmare.

"Someone call nine-one-one!" he finally shouted out.

Neither of the two moved and Hyde shrieked out again. Frightened, Jackie jumped up and raced out of Hyde's room, darting for the phone.

"Eric, please. Wake up." he begged, now leaning on him. "I'm so sorry. Just please wake up." He grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly in his, resting his head on Eric's chest. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. I'd do anything for you to just wake up."

Do you get enjoyment out of seeing me like this?

Eric stirred slightly but didn't wake. Hyde felt a tiny, gentle squeeze from Eric's hand as he continued to clutch it tightly in his own. Instantly, relief swept over him; it was that tiny squeeze of the hand that let him know he was still holding on, that everything might be alright.

Hyde took his head from Eric's chest and stared at him.

Eric's chest began to expand and contract slightly as air began to flow through his lungs once more.

---

"I just don't understand." Mrs. Forman said, distraught. "How did this happen?"

Fez was just as in the dark about everything as Mrs. Forman was since he had not been there and no one got a chance to tell him, not that any of them really wanted to talk about it either.

She sat with Hyde, Kelso, Jackie and Fez in the waiting room of the Hospital she worked at. Kelso quickly turned to Hyde, sneering at him at the sound of Kitty's question. Taking everything out of him, Hyde tried to restrain himself from running to the other side of the waiting room and thrashing Kelso into oblivion.

"We're really sorry, Mrs. Forman." He said instead. "We were fooling around—"

—On this note, he turned to look at Jackie who was sitting next to Michael across the room.

"—And I guess we got a little too rough."

"Why haven't they said anything?!" Kitty asked no one in particular, becoming even more frantic. "It's been an hour and a half already. I feel like we should know something!" She got up and began pacing the length of the room.

Hyde was feeling anxious and restless too. Why hadn't any of the doctors come out yet? How could they just leave them, his family, his friends, waiting out here with no more information than what they already knew? After an hour and a half, you would think they would know something by then, and you would think they would at least be considerate enough to inform the people who sat around worrying themselves to death over whether or not he was okay.

That's it. He couldn't take this any longer. If it were up to him, he'd barge right in there this instant and demand to know what was going on.

However, he knew that would probably get him kicked out. So instead, he jumped up in a state of dread and headed for the nearest exit. He needed a cigarette…badly. As he left, he pulled out the carton of cheap Pall Mall from the breast pocket of his shirt; unfortunately, it was all he could afford. He then leaned his back against the wall of the hospital beside the door, taking out the very last cigarette and tossing the now empty carton aside where it landed on the ground.

Hyde sighed, placing his ciggy in his mouth; he reached back inside his breast pocket and pulled out his lighter. It was black and had a picture of a naked woman on its front. He covered his cigarette slightly as he gave a quick flick of his lighter. It didn't work and he hastily tried again.

The second time was the charm and he lit it. Taking a puff, he sucked in deep. The tip if the cigarette turned red and burned; a good inch of ashes stuck out as he grasped the cigarette in between his pointer and middle finger. He took it from his mouth, flicking it slightly so the ashes would fall, and stored his lighter back inside his pocket where he always kept it, blowing smoke out through his nostrils.

He kept it there for good luck, he supposed. It was Eric who had giving him the lighter and it was his favorite by far.

His back still resting against the side of the building, Hyde looked up at the sky. It was already night and only a few first-stars-of-the-night could be seen. He took another puff, continuing to watch the dark, cloudy sky.

He could suddenly hear the words Eric spoke every time he caught Hyde smoking.

Don't you know that's bad for you? he'd say.

Right, because marijuana is so much better for you, Hyde would respond back sarcastically.

A smile spread on his face.

He had been thinking about Eric a lot lately, even before the accident. Whenever he did, it made him feel warm inside, safe even. Yet, he wasn't exactly sure why. These weren't feelings you were supposed to have about your best friend. And your best guy friend at that.

No, he told himself aloud as he took another puff of his cigarette and shifted his back against the wall slightly. He didn't know how to explain the strange thoughts he'd been having lately but they weren't real.

"Steven, honey." came Mrs. Forman's voice, starling him out of his naughty thoughts. He quickly pulled the cigarette from his mouth and hid it at his side farthest from her before she could see it. He held in the smoke as best as he could. Kitty was standing in the automatic sliding door, looking older than ever. "They have the results, honey. It's not good but he should be fine in no time they said. Good news is: Eric is awake and he's asking for you."

She hurried back inside, thankfully not noticing the smoke rising from the cigarette that still burned at Hyde's side. Unable to hold it in any longer, he hastily let out his breath and smoke flew out.

He flicked his cigarette with his middle finger and turned to head back inside, not bothering to see where it landed.

---

Hyde slowly entered Eric's hospital room and the doctor closed the door behind him. He didn't look over at the sound of the door being closed, didn't even acknowledge the fact that Hyde was even in the room.

The doctor had told him Eric suffered from a fractured skull. He told him not to push him if he didn't quite remember something; it would take some time for him to recover but he was actually very lucky it didn't turn out to be worse. He said that he could have had inflammation of the brain, which would have been nearly, if not, fatal.

Hyde continued to stare over at Eric who still didn't take notice of his presence; his head was facing toward the window and Hyde could see his chest rise and fall with tiny breaths.

He was hesitant at first but started for his best friend after a few seconds. As he reached the bed, he slowly sat down in the chair next to it. Eric's head still faced the window to his right and even as Hyde sat down in the chair to his left, he didn't turn to acknowledge him.

Hyde's hand slowly rose up, hovering over Eric's hand; he wanted to take it in his but honestly… he was scared. Finally, he let it fall and gently rested it on the top of Eric's.

Eric turned his hand over, his palm now touching Hyde's.

As if recognizing him by his touch, he called his name in a very frail voice.

"I'm here." Hyde whispered back.

Eric's hand grew tighter around Hyde's. He finally turned to face him. Eric's eyes were opened only partly, just enough to get an idea of what was around him.

"How…how are you feeling?"

Eric didn't respond right away.

"My…my head…" he broke off. "My head…is…killing me." He was starting to feel dizzy again and his vision was blurring by the second. "I…just…want…to die."

The imaginary gun went off, firing straight at Hyde's heart; it shattered it in two. He hated to see him like this, lying in a hospital bed, knowing he was the reason he was here, knowing everything was his fault. However, the fact that Eric had just said those five words made him even more depressed. He could have died because of him, but he didn't and now he was suffering because of him, in constant pain and agony. But then again, so was Hyde.

Tears found their way into Hyde's eyes, something that had never happened to him before. With his free hand, he hastily pressed his shades closer to his face.

"I'm so sorry." he choked.

But Eric didn't respond. His eyes had now closed all the way; he seemed to be falling asleep again as if it was suddenly okay because Hyde was here.

His hand still holding Eric's, Hyde suddenly clutched it with his other hand as well.

He couldn't hold back his tears anymore and they escaped from his eyes, rolling out from underneath his shades. His forehead suddenly fell onto both his hands that now enfolded around Eric's ice-cold one.

---