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Warning: Language

For Her Sake

Chapter 15 – A Big Mistake

Shouldn't Have Left Her Alone

The Vineyard

Donna looked at Eric. "It's been twenty minutes. And they're still not here." She watched as a waiter carried a plate of food…delicious looking food…to another table. "I'm starving."

The others nodded and murmured agreement, and Donna stood up. She took hold of Eric's arm. "Come on. Let's go see what the hold up is."

Eric made a face. "They're probably fooling around in the Cruiser." He squirmed, "Oh, god, there's that mental image again!"

Fez stood up, grinning. Eager, of course, to see some hot car action, even if it was his ex-girlfriend with another man. "I will come with you, Donna!"

Donna elbowed Eric. "Enough with your mental images, Eric. And you." She pointed at Fez. "You sit back down and make sure Kelso doesn't set anything on fire with the candle." She started to pull Eric away, then returned to the table. "On second thought…" She grabbed the candle from the center of the table. "I'll just take this with me."

They left the restaurant, Eric complaining about the possibility of finding Jackie and Hyde naked in the Cruiser, Donna trying to keep her patience. Difficult, considering her stomach was beginning to ache for food, even a lousy breadstick. But as they reached the car, both of them slowed. Eric's complaints cut off mid-word. Donna forgot she'd ever been hungry. In front of the car, lying in a heap on the ground was Jackie. She wasn't moving.

Donna struggled to speak, but managed a few words. "Eric, go call 911."

The candleholder she'd grabbed slipped from her hands. She didn't feel it. Didn't hear the shattering glass.

She ran to her best friend, immediately falling to her knees on the carpet and not giving a damn if she tore holes in her pantyhose or not. Tears filled her eyes. "Jackie?" Blood at her lips, her nose. Her eye was already swelling and turning purple and black. Angry red marks on her cheeks that would turn into ugly bruises. Donna looked down at the rest of her body, noticed a dusting of dirt on Jackie's back shirt that looked like a footprint. "Oh god…god…" She took Jackie's shoulders and shook lightly. "Jackie, Jackie, wake up!" She looked over her shoulder where she'd just come from. "God, hurry, Eric." And back at Jackie. "Jackie, please! God, just wake up!"

And to Donna's relief, Jackie began to move. A choking sound, half-moan, half-stifled scream, sounded from her parted lips. Donna smiled, nodding frantically, still holding Jackie's shoulders. "That's it, midget. Just hang on. We're gonna get you help. Just…" She swallowed. "Just hang on." She closed her eyes, her mind racing.

They shouldn't have left her alone. Hyde had been right.

And she suspected that he was going to kill each and every one of them for this.

Three Days

The outskirts of Point Place was little but fields dotted with a few trees. Here and there, there was an out of place looking building, a gas station or a rundown motel. Not that Hyde could see any of it because of the fallen night. Though even if it had been daytime, he wouldn't have seen any of it. He hardly saw the road in front of him. Hardly saw the steering wheel he held and maneuvered.

Three days. He had three fucking days.

He'd changed his normal radio station. Zeppelin and Aerosmith were, possibly for the first time in his life, giving him a headache. Correction. Making his existing headache even worse. He'd found a lighter station. Sinatry. Dino. Sammy. Might as well be the Rat Pack station.

Softly, I will leave you softly

For my heart would break

If you should wake and see me go

He smiled a bit, in spite of the wrenching in his gut. Frank. He was a fan. His grandmother had always listened to Frank. He had hazy memories of dancing with her to his records, the one she'd play endlessly, standing on her feet and clinging to her hands. Possibly the only good memory he had of his childhood.

Jackie knew. He'd told her.

So I leave you softly

Long before you miss me

Long before your arms can beg me stay

For one more hour

Or one more day

After all the years

He'd been with Jackie for the good part of three years. Much longer, it seemed, probably because of the intensity of it. And, he noted with a slight jerk of his head, a tiny ripple in his heart, they'd both felt something much longer than that.

I can't bear the tears to fall

So softly as I leave you there

Good old Frank. Golden voice.

He noticed a road sign. "Madison, 15 miles", and groaned. He'd gone way too far. He slowed, glanced in his rear view mirror, saw no one. Looked ahead of him, no headlights. He flipped a U-turn and headed back to Point Place.

Three days. Three fucking days.

There's a Little Bit of a Problem

When he arrived home, he was numb. Didn't feel his legs, didn't feel anything. He walked to the sliding glass door that led to the kitchen on pure rote.

"Steven! You're home!"

He looked at Mrs. Forman, who stood over near the phone. She was on it, and was muttering something into it. She looked pale, and he wondered briefly if Prohibition had just been reinstated.

"Steven, honey, there's a little bit of a problem." She tried to smile, but couldn't quite manage it.

He nodded. Yep. Prohibition had definitely been reinstated.

"Jackie's in the hospital. She's…" Mrs. Forman's voice cracked, and her eyes began to shine. "She's been mugged and be…be…beaten."

Jackie. Jackie. Mugged. Beaten. Jackie mugged. Jackie beaten.

His eyes closed, then opened.

He was supposed to meet her at the Vineyard. Hadn't remembered after the talk with Jack.

His heart stopped. Breath stopped. Time stopped.

"Steven?"

He didn't answer. Couldn't talk. He turned and ran out the door he'd just come through, ignoring Mrs. Forman's cries of his name.

Jackie. Jackie.

"Jackie," he mumbled as he started the Camino.

Jackie.

Is She Okay?

He nearly took the emergency room door off its hinges as he entered. And he didn't give a damn. What did a door matter? What did anything matter? He walked quickly down the hall, his eyes skimming both sides of the way, and within moments he saw his so-called friends. Okay, Hyde, we'll stay with her. Sure, Hyde, we won't leave her alone.

Part of him knew it wasn't fair to be angry. They had no idea of what he was aware of with every breath.

But it also wasn't fair for Jackie to be lying somewhere and hurt.

He pushed Forman fairly hard, enough to make the kid gasp, when he reached them. "You left her alone."

The others turned to him, all of them looking pale, nervous, upset. He glared at each of them in turn. "You fucking left her ALONE!"

He moved to push Forman again, when Donna stepped in between them. Figured. Forman's woman had to protect him. She met his eyes with defiance, and he crossed his arms over his rapidly rising and falling chest. So fucking hard to breathe.

And he wanted to kill. Someone. Jack. Anyone. Forman. Donna. Kelso. Fez. Anyone.

Donna did her best to keep her voice even. "How were we supposed to know this would happen, Hyde?"

"Because I told you…"

"How did you know, Hyde? How did you know that something was going to happen to her?"

The others were dead quiet, and Hyde stood, shocked into silence. Things around him, the white walls, the noises of voices and machines, everything blurred. And again, the sickness in his gut begged him to blurt it all out, the whole story, from Vegas to now.

"Excuse me, but is there a Steven Hyde here?"

A nurse stood next to Donna, speaking to the group gathered in a circle.

Hyde slowly nodded. "That's…I'm Steven Hyde."

"Miss Burkhart is asking for you."

He nodded again, looking at the nurse and not seeing her. Seeing Jackie's face. Wondering if she'd look like she had when he'd kissed her goodbye…knowing that she wouldn't. "Is she okay?" He sounded detached.

Felt anything but.

"She's fine. She has a concussion, pretty nasty, some cuts and bruises and a couple broken ribs, but she's going to be just fine."

"She wasn't…was she?" Donna looked won at the ground, hoping the nurse understood her.

"No. She wasn't raped."

The others breathed a sigh of relief. Hyde didn't breathe, but he followed the nurse into the small room they all stood in front of.

There she was, his tiny little doll, his kitten, laying in a hospital bed. He winced as he moved closer to the apparently sleeping girl. One eye was puffy, nearly black. Bruises made- up her cheeks the way only her precious cosmetics should. And for some reason, that thought nearly buckled his knees. He had to grab the table next to her in order to stay on his feet. Cuts on her lip, dried blood on her nose. A long scratch, scabbed over, running down the side of her beautiful face.

"Do I look horrible?" She spoke slowly, awkwardly, as if almost too tired to manage even those few words.

He did his best to smile and stepped closer. He took her hand, surprisingly undamaged. He wondered if she'd had time to fight back. Her eyes opened, and they were red. The one circled by black was blood red. Don't react, man. Don't let her see it. "You look beautiful." No lie. She was breathing. And that was beautiful.

She smiled. "Liar." She squeezed his hand. God, he was here. With her. She felt so groggy, her bones ached, her flesh trembled uncontrollably under the skin, but he was here, and some how it was better. "My father's here."

He stared at her. "What?"

"He wants me to come home with him."

Hyde closed his eyes. She couldn't go home with Jack. Too risky. Sure, he had three days, but he didn't trust Jack as far as…anything. He just didn't trust him.

Jackie watched her boyfriend's face pale. "I'm not, Steven. I told him that I wanted to go home to my own apartment." She smiled slightly, though it pulled at the cut on her lip and hurt. "Will you come home with me?"

Hyde nodded, his stomach relaxing slightly. Only slightly. Because who the hell knew what Jack would do in response to this. "Course I will, baby." He leaned down to kiss her, but held up. "I don't wanna hurt you."

Jackie reached up to him. "It won't hurt me," she whispered. "Please, Steven, I need to…" Tears filled her eyes, but retreated once his lips gently, with hardly the touch of a feather, pressed against hers.

Funny how such a careful, light touch could make her feel better.

The nurse cleared her throat at the door. "I need to check on Jackie once more before we get her ready for release."

Hyde nodded, never taking his eyes off Jackie. "I'll be right outside, okay?"

She nodded, so tired. "Kay, Puddin' Pop."

He leaned down again, kissed her bruised forehead. "I love you."

The whisper against her skin tickled, the emotion of it made her shiver, and she smiled, her eyes closing against her will. "Love you too, Steven."

As he left the room, he came face to face with Jack.

Eye to eye. The man wasn't much taller than him. Jackie had inherited his short genes.

Hyde's gut tore, his fists clenched into weapons he longed to use against this asshole. Instead, he smirked and brushed passed Jackie's alleged father, making sure that his shoulder bumped the suit's shoulder.

He mumbled something to Donna about going to have a cigarette and stalked out of the hospital. No amount of nicotine would erase his guilt. Nothing would. Nothing ever would. His doll looked like death warmed over because of him.

Three fucking days.

And now he really had no choice.

Remember What He Did?

She wasn't up for a heavy discussion, yet her father insisted on having one. "Daddy, please," she said weakly, shifting in her bed and wishing she hadn't. They'd wrapped her rips, and that helped, but she still felt sore. Achingly so. "Please don't tell me that I need to break up with Steven again. I don't want to hear it."

Her father paced the small room. "Jackie, you have to hear it." He turned to her and pointed at her, gesturing at the bed. "Look at you! This is what being with him has done to you!"

She frowned and glared. "Daddy, Steven didn't do this to me! Some random guy did! And I hate you for suggesting otherwise!" She wished she had the strength to sit fully up and flail her arms, even to hit at her father. She'd never been a defiant child, but right now, she wished she could be.

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes. His daughter was too damn stubborn. Like her mother. Nice. Just what he wanted for his daughter, for her to be a drunken tramp. No. He wouldn't let that happen. He moved to the bed and took Jackie's hand, catching it in his own even as she tried to pull away. "Listen to me, Jackie. Don't you remember what he did? He broke your heart. He almost drove you to suicide…twice!"

Jackie would have gasped indignantly had she been able to. Instead, tears flooded her eyes, and she closed her eyes, unable to look at her father's face. Unable to bear the sight of it. Nausea reigned supreme in her middle. "You promised you'd never talk about that again." Memories of careless words, therapy appointments, staring at a knife as if it were her only salvation, a bottle of pills becoming her dream come true…Vomit rose in her throat. Somehow she managed to keep it back.

"I'm sorry, Jackie, I know it's not something you like remembering, but it's not something I like remembering, either. And I'm afraid that if you stay with him, you're going to end up right back in that place."

She shook her head and looked away. Her father thought he knew everything. Her father thought she hadn't considered this.

Her father hadn't been there that night. Hadn't seen the way Steven looked at her, hadn't felt his touch. Her father would never understand that Steven's love was something that could burn her to ashes, but something she needed for life. Something that lifted her to the heavens.

"Things have changed, Daddy. He's changed, and I've changed. He loves me. And if you can't accept that, then you can't accept me."

Her father muttered something that sounded conciliatory, but she ignored him. Her eyes closed.

All she wanted was Steven.

You Did This?

Hyde threw his cigarette down in frustration and glared daggers at the man approaching him. "Damn it, Mackey, are you fucking following me now?"

Mackey smiled coldly. "What's the matter, Hyde? Hey, I heard your little chick had a bit of an accident."

Hyde stared at him, confusion and anger stirring in his toes. "You…" He furrowed his brow. This was not what he'd thought happened. "You did this?" He took a step closer, his fists tightening. "Answer me, asshole. Did you have anything to do with what happened to Jackie?"

Mackey raised his hands and backed away, with a chuckle. "Hey, I ain't saying that, man." He lowered his hands, and his smile fell. He stared at Hyde. "But you might wanna rethink your choices. You know." He smiled again. "Just in case there's a next time." He turned walked away, calling over his shoulder. "Hope your chick gets better soon, Hyde, my man."

Hyde stood there, unable to move. Unfortunately, still able to think.

Maybe it hadn't been Jack's thugs. Maybe it had been Mackey's.

His mistakes were coming back to haunt him, but not directly. Through Jackie. She was paying his debts. And she had no idea. No idea at all.

His eyes closed.

Everything and anything he did was going to hurt her.

A pain the temperature of the center of the sun spread through his body.

He loved her. So damn much. But maybe…

Maybe it was just a big mistake. Maybe they were just a big mistake.

Song Credit – Softly, As I Leave You - Words & Music by Hal Shaper & A. de Vita
(as recorded by Frank Sinatra)