Author's Note: Hello all! Finally I get to writing this chapter. Now, usually I don't do the short scenes, but as these chapters are shorter, then these will have shorter breaks. It's not that I'm not putting a lot of detail, it's just that I'm writing the first few. They'll get longer as the story progresses. Hope you're all enjoying!

Just want to say thank you all for your kind reviews. I'm really glad you liked the first chapter. Special thanks to my BETA, Carol (AKA twiniitowers) you're the reason why I even wrote this story, so thank you. *hug*

Love,

Angie

Lazily, Eric's eyes fluttered open the next morning. Thankfully, the curtains were drawn, otherwise he'd be blinded. And that wouldn't help the painful headache throbbing fiercely against his skull.

As he became more aware of his surroundings, an odd sense ran through him. Like he was being watched, well, more like stalked. It made Eric's stomach squirm and his mind to race crazily.

"What the hell?" Eric jumped when hearing the gruff voice practically shout in his ear. He hadn't been aware of being so close to Hyde. When he fell asleep, he had been teetering on the edge of the bed, and now he was smack dab in the center. And that meant-

Eric felt a shove or kick, yet he found himself flying across the room. Until he landed with a thud on the carpeted floor of his bedroom.

"What was that for?" Eric cried angrily as he glared toward a wide eyed Hyde.

"You were cuddling me." Eric shook his head furiously as he slowly situated into a sitting position. So much for Hyde having the flu.

"No, I wasn't! Besides, I wasn't the one who made sure I stayed in the bed last night!" Eric counter attacked, knowing Hyde didn't have his glasses on and wouldn't be able to come back with a good rebuttal.

"Well, I didn't wake up with a pitched tent, now did I?" Okay, Eric had been wrong. He couldn't ignore Hyde's smug smirk as he realized he had won this "argument," or the deep flush that crept onto his cheeks.

"That... not... every..." Eric gave one last feeble attempt at a fight, yet couldn't form the right words to make a complete and comprehensible sentence. "I'm a man!" Hyde scoffed and shook his head as he curled up his legs. Eric hung his head as he heard the older boy's quiet chuckles.

The blush that had formed on his face had started to drain as he remained seated on the floor. He watched as Hyde just sat on the bed, not moving at all. He wasn't sure if he should say something, or get up and leave. He didn't want to get up and show his morning glory, yet the silence in the room was almost unbearable.

"Ooh... if Donna knew her scrawny little neighbor boy got off thinking about the bad boy, there would be-"

"I am not scrawny!" Eric cried, Hyde only laughed as Eric defended the minor insult of Hyde's sentence. His amused smirk and slightly lifted eyebrows made Eric more than slightly uncomfortable. "And you don't get me off!" He added angrily, after realizing he hadn't backed up the homosexual reference in Hyde's joking remark; only Eric didn't find it all that funny.

"Whatever man, I am not going to sit in a room with a questionable sexuality-induced boner. I smell bacon, and I am starving." Hyde bounced off the bed and headed toward the door.

"Hey Hyde, wait!" Eric called. After watching him this morning, he was curious. The curly-haired teen turned slowly to face him, as if he was stalling him from a life threatening situation. "What was up with you last night? You could barely walk and now-"

"I was tired, and I got sleep." Eric was stunned by his icy, blunt tone. Hyde was usually nonchalant or apathetic with his responses, but this time he almost seemed angry. Eric was almost scared that he asked the question. The harshness from him was something so peculiar to Eric. Guarded and apathetic, yes. Bitter? Never. By the time Eric opened his eyes, however, Hyde was out of sight.

Eric sighed and shook his head. He was sick of Hyde's bipolar attitude towards everything and everyone. From life, to whatever is or isn't going on with him, to... last night. First he had been sarcastic, then vulnerable and sort of frightened. And now he got to deal with the snarky '"zen;" whatever that was. He'd rather have Hyde be brutally honest than secretive and, quite frankly, two-faced. Especially with him, of all people.

The seventeen year old sighed as he slowly stood up. While he was worried and annoyed to no end about his best friend, he had a bigger, persistent issue to deal with at the moment.

The hot water spraying from the shower felt like warm rain on Eric's back. He had long forgotten about the shampoo that was still lathered in his hair.

Eric's forehead rested against the wall of the shower as he bit down on his lip. He had two ways to deal with his problem; freezing cold shower or to get himself off, and he chose the latter option.

As Eric worked his pleasuring magic, all thoughts were turned to Donna. He thought of her fingers running down his body, his stomach, passed his waist to the pride and joy he called his manhood. Her soft lips taking him in her hot mouth, slowly at first as she lightly scratched the skin. He inwardly groaned as he imagined her working faster at pleasing him, sucking and licking and looking up at him with those piercing blue eyes.

'Wait a second, Donna's eyes are brown,' he thought, his stomach squirming (for multiple reasons.) Yet right now he didn't care about what color the eyes were as long as it got done.

Eric closed his own eyes once more and continued with his day dream. Yet as he continued to fuel his lust-filed fantasy, his imagination took a turn for the probable worse. It was as if he had just consumed some mushroom or other hallucinogen; his mind was slowly creeping into the hidden secrets, causing the image of the red-haired beauty to slowly eradicate within the air.

Those all too familiar blue eyes locked with his as the moist mouth took him in expertly once more. Except he wasn't in a shower, he was in a dark room, attempting to stay as silent as possible. And the straight red locks turned into curly, dark blonde hair. And the nails scratching down his legs and sides were much shorter and jagged, and dug into his skin harder.

"Shh..." he could almost hear the whisper, feel the vibration on his most sensitive part of his body. And he bit down on his lip to stifle a loud moan in hopes that no one would hear.

As the white-hot climax began to overtake him, an all too familiar voice called out his name, over and over. And the intensity was too much for him to handle; Eric's legs buckled as his nerves screamed what he couldn't.

Eric gasped in shock from the most erotic fantasy he ever had. His lungs gasped for air with every pant, and every ounce of him seemed to burst, from his nerves to his blood, and his body. It was hot, it was incredible, it was-

"Forman, c'mon you've been in there for thirty-five minutes and I really have to pee!"

His eyes widened as the same voice from his imagination angrily barked at him.

"H-hold on... I'll be out in a minute!" Eric called, his voice caught in his throat as he attempted to speak.

After quickly rinsing his body and hair from the long-forgotten shampoo, Eric turned off the warm shower and quickly hopped out of the tub.

As he dried his body with his mint-green fluffy towel, Eric still felt his body sparking from the disgustingly mind-blowing orgasm he just had. With a hitched breath, Eric shook his head and forced himself to block out the haunting thoughts.

Eric's fingers trembled as he quickly pulled his boxers and jeans onto his pallid yet normal-Wisconsin-guy legs. He rolled his eyes as Hyde continued to knock on the bathroom door.

'So much for that,' Eric thought, wriggling into his gray long sleeved shirt. After quickly combing his hair with his fingers, Eric took a deep breath. 'Gotta face the world sometime...' he told himself, turning away from the looming reflection that glared at him from the mirror.

Opening the door, he met Hyde's blank stare and quickly looked away. He quickly brushed passed the stocky teen and started toward the stairs without a word, yet the sense of being watched stopped him. Turning, he found the same icy blue eyes that he had just been fantasizing about, and he felt his stomach twist.

Hyde opened his mouth as if he were going to say something, yet stopped himself. Eric's eyes hurried to look at the carpeted floor, anywhere but at his best friend. God, he couldn't do this. This wasn't right.

Though the older teen appeared to be in the midst of an inner battle, Eric watched as his jaw clenched and unclenched. Finally, he scoffed and turned on the bathroom light.

"Thanks, man," he mumbled, then shut the door, leaving Eric to stair at the painted door in confusion.

'What the hell was that?' Eric asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to comprehend what just happened. Never before had his friend been so confusing as he was right now; not even when he took up the hobby of being mute for a month, not that anyone noticed. Eric didn't understand what he just saw; that was the vulnerable side he saw last night. He was sick of these two versions of his best friend, he just didn't get it. And a part of him didn't want to.

Without another thought, Eric took off down the stairs. Now that he had calmed one of his growing boy needs, the other was taking over. The grumbling in his stomach was probably as loud as his footsteps as he clambered down the stairs quickly. Though he had eaten a mere ten hours ago, he was famished.

Eric stepped into the kitchen and found his mom sipping a cup of coffee at the table. As his bare feet padded against the linoleum, she looked up and smiled happily.

"Good morning, sweetie! Did you sleep well?" Eric held back a sarcastic laugh. Honestly, he slept great until he woke up and was literally kicked in the ass and kicked out of his bed at the same time. He didn't want to think or even know about what happened before he woke up; he had enough problems centered around Hyde fully conscious.

"Yeah," he mumbled, sitting at his normal seat around the kitchen table. Immediately and in routine, Kitty set down his breakfast plate full of cheesy scrambled eggs, toast, and of course, bacon. He smiled and thanked his mom quietly before digging in to his steaming food.

"I'm glad, did you make sure Steven got enough sleep?" Eric nodded slowly, then bit down extra hard on the crispy bacon strip he had just put in his mouth. Could he have one moment in the day where nothing was focused around Steven Hyde? "Good, now I got a call this morning about your inhaler-"

"Mom, I don't need it any-"

"You don't know that! You never know when you could have an asthma attack. Remember when the little neighbor boy down the street had to be taken to the ER because he had an asthma attack and no inhaler!" Kitty lectured, causing her son to stare at her skeptically.

"I thought he fell out of a tree." Eric countered, causing his mother to sigh in frustration. After sending him a motherly glare, she sat down next to her son, with her cup of coffee.

"That's besides the point, I don't want my baby to end up going to the hospital because he didn't listen to his mother. You're going in to the respiratory therapist to renew your test, then you'll be getting your inhaler." Eric groaned and rolled his eyes in aggravation. He hadn't had an attack since he was twelve and even then it wasn't bad. He didn't understand the point of the yearly check-up.

"Fine," he grumbled, "but I want ice cream when we're done." Eric knew that sounded so baby-like yet it was tradition. Whenever he went to the doctor his mom would get him ice cream because he was good; they'd been doing it since he was three.

"Okay! We'll have to wait for Steven's appointment, but he can go with..." she trailed off suddenly. Eric watched as his mother's face paled slightly and her eyes had the shine of surprise. Her habitual nervous laugh filled the room, and Eric knew she had slipped.

"Hyde has an appointment too? Why?" He asked, Kitty laughed and shook her head causing Eric's curiosity to rise even more. "Is that why he stayed the night?" Kitty laughed even more, knowing what her answer was even though her words were about disagree with her stressed giggle.

"No honey, now... you just eat your breakfast. We have to be there by nine forty-five."

Eric grimaced when hearing his mother's diverging sentence; he knew all he needed to know right now. There was a reason Hyde had stayed at their house. There was something wrong with him. But what was so wrong about him knowing? Why couldn't his mom just tell him? She didn't have to lie to him, she was easier to read than "See Spot Run."

Yet he did as he was told and dropped the subject. But suddenly, Eric didn't seem to have as much of an appetite as he thought. In fact, the thought of taking another bite of the scrambled eggs or the cinnamon toast made him feel almost nauseous. He slowly pushed the chunk of egg half eaten from his fork around the plate. As it danced, the silverware caused a soft, constant screech on the glass plate.

It was then that he realized what the cause of his lack of appetite was. And knowing the cause made him feel so much worse. Now that there was definitely something wrong with his best friend, it caused his stomach to twist and contort with worry. He shouldn't care this much, why did he care so much?

"Mom?" Eric asked in a whisper. His mother looked at him, just like her, Eric was easy to read.

"Yes, Eric?" She replied with question. As Eric caught his mom's gaze, he could see her eyes focus as she formed an answer to his unheard question in her mind.

"Why is he going with?" He heard Kitty sigh deeply, and her usual smile fade as she was faced with such a question. An inquiry in which she couldn't answer; it wasn't her question to disclose.

"Same reason as you," was all Eric's mother said. The seventeen year old sighed in frustration and ran his hand through his hair. But there was more to that answer, his mom was wrong and she knew it. Because Hyde didn't have asthma.

Eric sat on the clinic room's medical bed, his feet dangling off the edge as he anxiously awaited the conclusion of his appointment. It was a waste of time; all he gained was another prescription in the medicine cabinet. And another worry for his mom, yet she felt it was necessary for his health.

Eric watched Dr. Rogers, the respiratory therapist, scribble on his Rx notepad. He'd take the damn paper and give it to his mom like the good boy he was. Even though he'd fight his instincts that screamed "save the money!"

"Okay, Eric, you'll take three puffs from this prescription as needed. your symptoms have decreased since your last visit..." Eric held back the scoff and refrained from rolling his eyes. He could have told him that and saved an hour of each of their lives. "-glad to see you're doing so well. I'll see you next year then."

The first time throughout the appointment, Eric smiled. He slid off the bed in the clinic room and gave a curt nod.

"Okay, thanks," it was good to know all of his circle time hadn't messed up his breathing. In fact, he could say it helped him breathe deeper; yet the doctor wouldn't go for that.

Eric took the written prescription and folded it in his pocket. He walked out of the room without saying another word to Dr. Rogers. 'Good riddance,' he thought.

He hated hospitals; the thought of standing in a place with so many people on the verge of death nerved him. He hated thinking about dying, yet every time he stepped foot in any medical facility he was beyond paranoid of catching a terminal disease. Or any disease for that matter.

With his eyes low, he walked down the white-on-white hallway. The bright lights and strong scent of sterilized rooms, chemicals and medicine reminded him that much more of his location. He hated the smell in hospitals, and every step closer to the exit grew faster. Only he couldn't leave without his mom.

He knew his mom had the day off today; that was most likely the main reason he was in today. With that in mind, he continued straight down the hall that would lead to the door of the waiting room. He kept his eyes averted forward; looking at the closed doors on either side of him would remind him that there is a patient in there.

Eric felt a heavy sigh of relief exhale from his lungs as he reached the door to the waiting room. He could hear the nurses talking and going over charts and other nurse-stuff; stuff he didn't want to listen to. He heard enough from his mom. He turned the handle to the door, and excitedly pushed it open.

His eyes fell on two children playing with the only toy the hospital provided for the children with family members who had scheduled appointments. There were six adults, varying age and gender, reading the health and home magazines that the Point Place medical center provided. Yet as he looked at the six adults; none of them were short, with springy blonde hair. His mom wasn't here.

Eric felt a groan of frustration growl at his throat and he slowly turned around. Back to the nurses station, where the nurses would gossip about patients and doctors. The seventeen-year-old dragged himself unwillingly to the front counter and leaned on the painted top.

He had made eye contact with a nurse in her mid-thirties, bringing him to their attention. Eric saw the look of annoyance on the younger nurse's face as she quickly shuffled to the front desk in her white cotton uniform.

"Hi, do you have an appointment scheduled for-?"

"I'm looking for Kitty Forman, I'm her son and she was supposed to be in here, but she's not and..." Eric trailed off, suddenly realizing how immature he sounded. By the amused look on the olive-skinned nurse, Eric knew she heard it, too.

"I'll ask Betty... hold on," she drawled, turning around and walking back to the small pack of nurses. Eric felt his scowl deepen even more, and turned his head to watch the children playing sliding toy. He had known that was the only toy donation to the center itself rather than the terminally ill children because it had been his.

As Eric watched the two young boys play and laugh quietly with each other, his lips raised slightly. He remembered when he was four; Donna and Hyde would always come over to his house after pre-school, and the three of them would play with that very same toy. Granted it wasn't something the older two were interested; they'd prefer playing Cowboys and Indians, tag, or just to wrestle. But sometimes they would just sit on the floor in his room and play with that toy for hours; somehow it was extremely entertaining.

Even though it was a really dumb toy, he knew that, it had still been important to their friendship. They had been the three peas in a pod, The Three Musketeers. That toy and Donna's big wheel were the key components to how they became close. And even if it wasn't in his possession anymore and thirteen years had passed, he could still see himself sitting there, nearly three feet shorter with his closest friends, sharing their secrets and laughing at the stupidest things. He was glad to see that the toy was still being used for that same purpose.

"Eric?" A more familiar voice called. The boy, lost in his thoughts, shook his head and quickly turned around, smiling softly. He met the face of one of his mother's friends who had even been at the house a couple of times, Nurse Johns; A.K.A Betty. "Your mom's not working today, so I don't know-"

"I know, yeah... she brought me in to an appointment today and, well I didn't want to leave without her." Eric had changed his words to make him sound more like a slightly independent seventeen-year-old man rather than a ten-year-old mama's boy. Betty clucked her tongue and quickly skimmed through her paperwork.

"If she came with you, then she'd be in here, hon..." Betty told him. Eric held back his retort; he was sick of the obvious being thrown at him like he couldn't get it himself. "Unless she had something else to do, because-"

"Wait!" Eric exclaimed, "Uh... my friend came in with us today; she might be with him." Betty smiled sweetly at him and nodded, starting to look at the sign in sheet on the front counter top. This was special treatment he got for having a nurse as a mom; he got a tiny bit of access to medical records; or at least where she was. "His name is Steven Hyde," Betty glanced up at him momentarily, making sure that was all he had to say. Then her eyes quickly scanned over the various signatures and time slots.

"They're in Room 302, they just went back about twenty minutes ago so I'd wait at least a half hour before going in." Eric furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"But 302 is..." Eric was piecing this sudden information in his mind. He couldn't finish his sentence in front of her. "Thanks..." he trailed off, quickly running through the waiting room, past the doors that led to the exit.

He didn't get it. What was Hyde in for... and why was he all the way in the three-hundred rooms? Those rooms were high care. For people with cancer, or tuberculosis, or some other illness that could be fatal. Hyde was fine. Wasn't he?

The fact that Eric had to question his usual assurance made him feel sick. The run from the doctor's office to the hospital was short; they were practically attached. Yet Eric still pushed himself to run faster than he did in his physical education class.

He had to figure out what was going on. Hyde probably just ended up having STAPH or mono or some other disease they didn't want near the normal patients. He couldn't have cancer, he was too young to even have lung cancer; he didn't smoke that much. And he never even saw other signs of chemo; he definitely had a full head of hair.

Eric pushed open the doors to the much busier hospital end. An ambulance had pulled in, sirens wailing loudly as he shut the door; God he couldn't think about it right now. He held his breath as the overpowering stench of chemicals and sterilized everything filled his lungs.

He skidded to a halt on the marble floor when nearing the elevator; yet thought better. The hospital was known for having the slowest elevators in the entire area of Wisconsin. By the time he got up to the third floor Hyde would be as fit as a fiddle and trying to steal some Demerol. Unless he already did that.

Eric zipped to the other end of the hallway, where a staircase zig-zagged up to the fifth floor of the rather large hospital. He bolted up the stairs, taking two at a time in hopes to catch his friend. It was time to find out what was going on. Even his mother knew what Hyde had, or didn't have.

'Who said he had anything?' Eric thought, reassuring himself as his breathing grew heavier. Now he was running furiously up every stair. They were just trying to mess with him. The hospital probably didn't have any other clinic rooms open and the only place they could put Hyde was in one of the high-care rooms. In fact, Eric himself was the only person to say his best friend "had something." He was only thinking of the worst.

Eric ignored the slight pressure he felt on his chest as he reached the top floor. 'So much for the pot helping...' Eric thought with a smirk, continuing his ceaseless running down the quiet halls of the third floor. There was practically no one up there; so why was Hyde?

Eric slowed, hoping to silence his loud footsteps that pounded heavily against the marble floors with every step he took. His eyes scanned the numbers outside of the rooms. 314, 312, 310, 308... An uncomfortable twisting in his stomach caused him to feel nauseous as he neared room 302. Eric didn't know what to expect when he looked in the window, or walked in... he didn't want to see what was going on. This was Hyde, the strongest one of his friends. He couldn't see him in a time of weakness. He could just wait in the waiting room, he didn't want to...

Eric's breath hitched to a halt as he heard the faint sound of heart monitor beating normally. The sound seemed to terrify him although it should do the opposite. He could hear muffled voices as he slowed to a stop outside of the door. It was unfamiliar to the Eric, so it must have been a doctor or nurse.

Timidly, Eric poked his head in front of the window, in hopes to see who was in the room, and what was going on. His eyes immediately caught sight of his mother sitting on a chair... holding a hand connected to an IV. So that's where she was. With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, his eyes traveled up the IV, to the pale forearm, passed the sleeve of one of those hospital gowns, to the mess of curly hair that proved to him what he didn't want to grasp.

'That's really Hyde...' Eric thought, feeling a cold shiver creep down his spine. He stared hard at the teenager who had been his friend since preschool, his "hired gun," the guy who helped him with everything; and saw the helplessness written on his vulnerable face. That wasn't Hyde in there; Hyde had that stupid zen. He knew that was just a strong facade, yet he hadn't been prepared to see, well... this.

Eric felt his heart drop as Hyde quickly turned away from the doctor who was sitting close to the bed, reading the charts on his clipboard aloud. His gaze followed his friend's, and watched as his hand raised, rubbing his face.

"I can't," those were the first words the eavesdropper could actually hear. Hyde sounded so angry, so... tired. "I don't want to do this anymore."

So this had been going on for awhile. How long? As Eric asked himself this question, he had a strong feeling that he didn't want to know the answer to his question.

"Steven, you have to!" Eric's mother cried tearfully, "you can, I believe in you. I'm here for you. I know it hurts and I know you hate what the medicines do... but they could-"

"They could help, Mrs. Forman! Exactly! Where's the guarantee? I don't want to keep wasting myself away with these meds. There's no point in fighting anymore. I'm tired."

Eric's throat felt unbelievably tight as he heard the conversation between his best friend and his mom. So... Hyde had cancer? Eric's legs felt like rubber as he ran this idea through his head. That had to be it. Cancer was "the wasting disease." Chemotherapy made people sick, made them weak, and there was no guarantee he would live.

'But he has to!' Eric protested his thoughts, leaning against the wall as he began to process this news. His best friend was dying from cancer. Why hadn't he told him? A whole new feeling of anger and resentment filled Eric's heart, replacing the fear and worry. Hyde didn't trust him enough. He wouldn't tell his own best friend that he had a terminal illness? Were they even friends? Why couldn't he trust him? To even question their friendship hurt Eric more than what he was watching.

"Steven, these are common emotions through this process. But Nurse Forman tells me you're a fighter, and I can tell. You've been here for years now, and still standing. This is the best treatment so far." The doctor tried to sway his patient to the logical side once more. Yet as Eric looked at Hyde, he saw the stubborn scowl that he knew too well. He wouldn't budge; and it seemed the doctor knew this.

The man sighed heavily and set down his clip board, and stared Hyde straight in the eye. "I know what it's like, I do. I lost someone to this very same disease; I did all I could to save them. I've seen the hopelessness and feeling of wanting to give up. But you have to stay strong, there's still hope." He heard Hyde scoff at the doctor's words, yet his dull blue eyes showed that he took the words to heart. Eric sighed, his own frown lessening; Hyde couldn't hide.

"Besides, even if you wished to discontinue this treatment, I wouldn't be allowed to. You're still a minor, under your mother's care and-"

"Edna? What the hell does she have to do with this? She doesn't care about me!" Eric's eyes widened, watching Hyde's fury explode in the tiny hospital room. " She got me into this mess! She shouldn't have an-"

"Steven, she's your mother. and she requested you continue treatment until-"

"I die?"

So there was the elephant in the room. The shouting from Hyde and the calm replies from his doctor silenced. Once more the only sound that loomed throughout the hallway was Hyde's heart rate. Eric studied the doctor's face, as well as his mom's. He waited for one of them to quickly reassure Hyde that he was going to be fine; reassure him that Hyde was going to be okay. Yet the two adults were quiet as they gazed sadly at the time bomb in the form of a teen.

"Steven, sweetie... that's not..." Kitty attempted, yet trailed off; unsure of what to say. Eric had been clinging to her words, waiting for the very same reassurance Hyde was looking for. Yet he felt his own dejection when watching the tired boy on the bed slowly hand his head.

Eric bit back his lip, feeling a sting in his eyes as his mom sat on the bed, next to the curled teen, and wrapped her arm around him. His body trembled, realizing for the first time how human his best friend was, as he watched the softened boy rest his head on the woman's shoulder; searching for comfort. Hyde's eyes were closed and he seemed almost still.

"Fine..." Hyde's quiet and shaky voice filled his ears. The doctor and Kitty seemed to sigh with relief when hearing his surrender. "I'll continue the damn treatment..." Kitty laughed happily as she squeezed Hyde's shoulder. The doctor even seemed to be happy to hear this news.

"I'm glad to hear it," the older man began. "Now, with your next appointment, we'll first issue the scans to get them over with. Once that's completed, we will continue the Interferon and steroids, and see..."

Eric's eyes widened in shock and his body seemed to freeze in horror. Yet no matter how terrified he was he couldn't unlock the gaze he had as the teen in the room slowly looked up from the hard stare focusing on his hands. And looked straight at him with dead eyes.

A look of defeat crossed Hyde's face while the color drained from Eric's. His whole body seemed to be glued as Hyde's cold gaze locked him.

"Dr. Gallagher?" Hyde interrupted his doctor with a flat tone. "I'd really like it if you told him to stay out of my business." He growled, still glaring at Eric with more than a look of anger in his blue pools and face. Both doctor and nurse turned to the door and found Eric just standing outside of the window.

Finally, the blood seemed to rush to Eric's legs. Without a second to think or for Dr. Gallagher and Kitty Forman to realize what just happened, Eric bolted down the hall. Finally the tears could fall.