I have no excuses for the lateness of this chapter. There are a lot of reasons for the hiatus, but I won't get into them here.
There are only two more chapters left including this one, so this one is pretty long. I hope that makes up for not updating. I'm starting to set up the sequel, However, I'm going to be swamped with school this semester as I'm writing my BA Thesis along with other things. So I don't know what my updating schedule is going to be like. Reviews might help the writing process though. Hint hint.
I own nothing, except for Abraham the Gnome, who is probably one of my favorite OC's ever. This won't be the last time you see him.
Princes.
Not! Eric looked down at the body of his charge and wept. He had become fond of the girl, and had been more than just a little sympathetic with her plight. She had gone through a horrible ordeal, both in this world and the one she had come from. His duties had been simple. He was to help her forgive the world that had betrayed her, and to aid her on her journey back. He had failed on both accounts.
Knowing there was nothing more he could do for her, he left the castle in search of someone he could.
Any minute now, Hyde was going to wake up and find that this was all just a horrible dream. He'd be back in the basement with his arms around Jackie and he'd kiss her head to wake her up and they'd go upstairs and have breakfast and everything would be as it should be.
But life isn't a fairy tale and this was no dream.
"Time of death, 1:03 PM."
Hyde turned to walk out the door. He had to at least get out of the room. He couldn't be in the same room with her if she was dead. It just wasn't possible.
"No." The word was spoken with force, causing everyone in the room to pause. Hyde gripped the doorframe at the sound of Red's voice. Not even a minute later, Red was speaking again.
"Listen here Burkhart, You're one of the bravest soldiers I've ever known on or off the battlefield, you've fought a hard battle these last few months and a good soldier doesn't just lie down and die when the going gets tough, so that nurse is going to charge those paddle things again and your heart is going to start beating again, do you understand me?" He yelled the last few lines at Jackie.
Red then looked at the nurse holding the defibrillator paddles. "Charge."
The nurse looked panicked over at the doctor.
"You heard the man."
"Please work, please work, please work." Fez prayed beside Hyde.
Hyde stared out the door, listening as the nurse yelled that the defibrillator was charging. He looked out the window of the ICU as a man and a pregnant woman walked past. That was supposed to be them. She was supposed to wake up, and he was going to get her back, and they'd get married and have kids, just like she had wanted. He hated the couple walking past them, just on principle.
And then he heard it.
"We have a heart beat!"
"We've got a heart beat!" A nurse exclaimed.
She was alive. She was alive and it was all Red Forman's doing. Donna decided right then and there that the man was officially her hero. She was going to get that man a fruit basket or something. What does one get for the man who scared a medical staff into saving their best friend's life? Donna looked over at Hyde. His eyes were bright and he was biting his lip. He wasn't the only one. Both Kelso and Fez had tears streaming down their faces, as did Kitty and her father. Red wasn't crying but he was smiling proudly. Donna turned around expecting to see Eric in the arms of his new fiancé, but instead she found him alone.
"She's alive." Donna spoke, as though saying the words made the truth more real.
Eric smiled at her. "She's alive."
All around her were shouts of celebration, hugs, but Donna still felt numb. She couldn't, wouldn't celebrate until Jackie woke up.
"You all need to leave." The command was given by the same nurse who had tried to kick them out before.
"What Nurse Margaret means is that we need examine Jackie." The doctor told them. "Go have some lunch in the cafeteria; someone will come find you when we're done."
The gang, knowing they had no choice, left Jackie's room and as soon as the last person was out, the door closed and the window shades were drawn.
"So what do we do?" Kelso asked.
"It'll be at least an hour before they're ready to let us in again." Kitty told Kelso and the rest of Jackie's friends.
"I'm gonna go back to the hotel." Eric stated. "Jazz and I will be back later."
Hyde and Donna gave each other a look. "Jazz?" Hyde mouthed from behind Eric. Donna shrugged in response indicating she thought it was a dumb nickname too.
"Jazz?" Kelso asked, "That's what you call her, Jazz?"
"What?" Eric asked defensively, "It's short for Jasmine."
"It's…" Kitty started to say 'nice' but Red, Hyde and Kelso interrupted her before she could,
"It's dumb."
"Hey." Fez held up his hand to defend Eric, "It's not so bad."
"Thank you." Eric said.
"At least he doesn't call her 'Mine.'" Fez finished.
"Hey!" Eric exclaimed, "Actually, that's not a bad idea."
Hyde shook his head. "I'm gonna go, I'll see you cats later." The gang watched as he walked through the ICU doors.
"Yeah, I'll see you all later." Eric kissed his mother on the cheek and followed Hyde out.
Kitty looked at Red, "Red, go talk to Steven."
Red looked back at his wife, "Why do you always make me go talk to Steven? He has a father you know, you should get W.B to talk to him."
Kitty smiled, "You're closer." She patted Red on the shoulder. "Now go."
Red frowned but did as his wife ordered; because he had learned long ago that it was useless arguing with her when it came to things like this.
While Red and Kitty were arguing, Donna, Fez and Kelso snuck out of the ICU and started to wander the halls of the hospital aimlessly.
"Where do you think Hyde went?" Fez asked after a long period of silence.
Part of Donna still wanted to say, 'Who cares, or even accuse him of running off again, but she knew better now, so instead she said, "He probably went to have a smoke."
"I thought he quit." Kelso was surprised.
"He started again." Donna answered with a shrug. It was better than drinking anyway.
The three of them continued to walk through the halls; passing by various patients' rooms and doctor offices, until eventually they reached the new born nursery. The three stood outside the nursery window and looked into the room.
"Can you imagine if Jackie and Hyde had a kid?" Fez asked the other two.
Donna grinned, "Just what the world needs, a curly haired law breaking loudmouth midget."
The others grimaced at the thought, but then Fez shook his head.
"I think their baby would be beautiful." He stated.
"No, Jackie and my baby would be beautiful." Kelso argued. "Hot people always make hot babies, just look at Betsy."
Donna shook her head, "You and Jackie having a baby, now that's a scary thought."
Kelso grinned at the redhead, "It almost happened you know."
"But it didn't."
"Almost!" He yelled spastically.
"Not even almost, her period was late, that's nowhere near almost!" Donna yelled back.
"Would you two stop yelling?" Fez asked loudly, "You're disrupting the babies!"
Donna and Kelso had the courtesy to look sheepish.
"Sorry." They both muttered.
Not Eric! ran though the woods yelling for a healer.
"I need a healer, please!" He was greeted with headshakes and shrugs. "Please, a healer, a doctor… a vet! Anyone!"
"I'm a doctor."
Not! Eric didn't know where the voice was coming from, and it sounded small, like a child who had smoked his father's tobacco.
"Anyone, please, I need help!"
"I'm a doctor." The voice repeated.
"Please, doesn't anyone know where I can find a healer?"
Not! Eric then felt a tug on his trousers. He looked down and saw a little man who barely came up to his knee. He was thin, with bushy eyebrows, bubbly cheeks and a thin pointed nose. On his head was a red pointed cap.
"You're the one who has been yelling?" Not! Eric asked, somewhat embarrassed.
The Gnome nodded. "Just think, all that time you've wasted ignoring me."
Not! Eric scowled both at the Gnome and himself, "How do I know you're really a doctor?"
"I happened to have studied under Bulrub the Great." The Gnome said somewhat haughtily.
"Who?" Not! Eric asked confused. He had never heard of Bulrub the Great. Come to think of it, he had never heard of anyone named Bulrub.
"Don't tell me you've never heard of Bulrub the Great!" The Gnome replied, surprised at Not! Eric's ignorance.
Not! Eric shrugged and shook his head. "Sorry, can't say I have."
"He's only the most esteemed healer in the entire kingdom." The Gnome paused for a minute before continuing.
"Well, except for in the western hills, but you know how they are."
Not! Eric, who had never been to the western hills, had no idea how its inhabitants were, but he decided to take the Gnome's word for it. Besides, they were wasting valuable time.
"So you can help me then?" He asked hopefully.
"That all depends, first, what do you need helping with, and second, how much you got?" The Gnome said.
Not! Eric decided to answer the second question first, as he knew that gnomes, by reputation, were greedy and would need to be bartered with, no matter what the situation. The only trouble was he didn't have any coin on him, nor did he think Jackie carried around anything of value (to a Gnome) in her knapsack. He guessed, however, that the Gnome would be sure to find something of value in the castle.
"You can have whatever you desire from the castle." Not! Eric started to walk away, gesturing the Gnome to follow him.
"No tricks?" The Gnome asked, following Not! Eric.
"None." Not! Eric replied, smiling.
Donna, Kelso and Fez were on their way to the cafeteria when Kitty came rushing towards them.
"Oh there you three are!" She exclaimed.
"Can we go back upstairs?" Donna asked instantly.
Kitty shook her head, "No, I don't know what's taking so long." She admitted, "But I'm sure everything is fine." She tried to reassure Donna and the boys.
"So what's up Mrs. F?" Kelso asked flirtatiously.
"Red and Steven still haven't come back, and I'm starting to get worried."
"Hyde probably just went to the record store to check on Leo." Donna reassured Kitty.
"We can go look for them." Fez said, indicating him and Kelso.
Kelso nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I need to drive back to Chicago in a couple hours anyway; I'll just ride back with Fez and pick up my car."
Kitty beamed at the boys, "Thank you both." She gave them and Donna hugs.
"I'm not going anywhere Mrs. Forman." Donna told her.
Kitty smiled, "I know, but you looked like you could use a hug dear."
The two women watched Fez and Kelso walk off and sighed together.
"I feel like I've watched you all grow up." Kitty said almost to herself.
"You've been great to us." Donna replied, thinking of all the times Kitty was there just for a talk whenever things weren't going so well at home.
Kitty smiled and put her hand on Donna's arm. "You two," indicating her and Jackie, "Are like daughters to me."
Not! Eric watched helplessly as the Gnome examined Jackie. The gnome, who at his tallest was only two feet high, lifted Jackie's arms up and then let them fall back to the floor.
"Well this is a classic case of poisoning if I've ever seen it."
Not! Eric cursed inside his head. "Is there anything you can do?"
The gnome proceeded to open up Jackie's eyelids. "Well, there's good news and there's bad news, the good news is that she's not dead."
"She's not?" Not! Eric repeated the gnome's words. "Are you sure?"
"Fairly sure." The gnome responded, "But don't go celebrating just yet, there's still the bad news."
"Which is?"
"This ain't no ordinary poisoning…this is a strong enchantment, even if she's not dead, she'll probably never wake up." The Gnome stopped for a moment, as if he were considering something.
"I don't suppose you've tried kissing her have you?"
"I would never!" Not! Eric exclaimed, taken aback by the gnome's accusation, but the gnome merely held up his hand.
"I only ask because it's usually the common cure for such things." The Gnome told him. "If you can't kiss her, I advise you find someone who can." With one more look at Jackie, he turned back to her worried sidekick. "The sooner the better."
Hyde was on his second cigarette when Red found him. Instead of yelling at him, Red simply sat down on the bench next to him.
"Did I ever tell you about the time I nearly got blown up in Korea?"
Hyde sighed, flicked his cigarette out of his hand and leaned back on the bench to listen to Red's story.
"No, I don't think you have."
Red nodded, "We were in a ditch, waiting for the right moment to ambush the enemy when a grenade came flying overhead, and landed right at my feet."
"Shit." Hyde stated.
Red continued on as though he hadn't heard Hyde. "And I knew that I had a little less than fifteen seconds to make my peace with God and face death like a man, but you know what I thought about instead? Kitty's smile." Red paused for a minute, as though considering whether he wanted to tell the rest of the story.
"So what happened did you or someone else throw the grenade back?"
Red laughed, "No, we were going to, but the grenade turned out to be a dud." He looked over at Hyde who had put his head in his hands.
"You got lucky today, Steven."
"Only because of you." Hyde spoke softly.
Red shrugged, "I meant what I said in there you know, she is a good soldier. She's strong, determined, and intelligent. And I've seen her bring you boys to your knees without blinking an eye." Red laughed to himself, as though remembering a not so distant memory.
"Still, thanks." Hyde said gratefully.
Red stood up, "Come on, let's go back in."
Donna sat in the nearly empty lunch room her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee when Fez sat down across from her.
"Can we go back in yet?" She asked, not looking at him.
Fez sighed, "No, Miss Kitty said they're still examining Jacqueline."
Donna nodded and looked around, "Did Kelso leave?"
"Yeah, but he said he'll be back tomorrow night." He paused and looked at Donna carefully, "Eric's flight leaves tomorrow morning."
Donna closed her eyes and tried to center herself, "That's fine."
Fez smiled knowingly, "You don't mean that."
Donna looked Fez in his dark eyes, "Yes, I do." And for the first time in nearly a year, she meant it.
"Well, Hyde and Red are back." He said, changing the subject.
Donna raised her eyebrow, "Oh, did you find them?"
Fez shook his head, "No… we kind of forgot to look."
"So what did you two end up doing?" Donna asked laughing.
"We went to the Hub." Fez answered. "I tried to convince one of those whores that went to school with Jackie that I'm a prince but no go."
"Oh, did you bring anything back?" She asked eagerly, ignoring Fez's failed pick up attempt.
"Sorry." Fez said, "I only had enough money for fries."
Donna nodded as she got up from her chair, "Let's go find Hyde."
"You should find a prince to kiss her." The gnome advised.
"A prince?"
"Yeah, you know the male version of a princess? Son of a King and Queen? Typically handsome and can ride a horse?"
"I know what a Prince is!" Not! Eric shouted.
The Gnome backed up slightly. "Well, find one and get him to kiss her that should take care of her ailment."
It took all Not! Eric had not to roll his eyes. "Do you know any princes?"
"Me?" The Gnome asked, "No, not personally." Seeing the glare on Not! Eric's face, the Gnome quickly began to explain. "I'm told that a few of them like to hang out a Old Quigley's, don't know why though, his onion soup tastes like dirty socks."
Not! Eric decided to ignore the Gnome's critique of the famed hunter's soup and rubbed his eyes. He knew instinctively that it wouldn't be enough to find just any old prince off the street. It would have to be Jackie's prince, and he was locked up in some dungeon somewhere.
"Wait!" Not! Eric exclaimed, "Where's the nearest castle?"
The Gnome was visibly taken aback, "Uh that would be Rosengale, five miles thataway." The Gnome pointed east.
"Who lives there?" Not! Eric pressed.
"King Hendrich and his wife, but they don't have any sons." The Gnome answered.
"I have to go… you stay here with her!" Not! Eric ordered the Gnome before running out of the tower room. The Gnome simply stood beside Jackie and scratched his chin.
"Yeah, I'll stay here with the dead girl, that's really how I wanted to spend my day."
Being friends with someone so accident prone as Kelso had made Hyde think he was used to hospitals. However, even with Kelso's worst injuries, he was never there for more than a couple hours at most. Even when he had his own fall of the water tower, he had gone home that morning. When Red had his heart attack, he stayed in the hospital for two days and then was sent home.
This was the longest anyone Hyde had ever known was in the hospital. This was the longest Hyde had ever spent in the hospital in a row. Apart from Red, he had never worried about the fate of his friends when they were admitted here.
All he wanted was to go back into her room and see for himself that she was alright. To see that she was breathing, to touch her skin and make sure she was still warm. He needed proof that she was still alive.
"Do you have any fives?" Fez asked, interrupting Hyde's inner monologue.
"Go fish."
He briefly looked at his cards, "Donna, do you have any threes?"
Donna handed him a couple cards and drew two more out of the remaining deck.
"Fez, do you have any fives?" She asked coyly.
"Son of a bitch." Fez mumbled as he gave his cards over to Donna. "I hate this game."
Hyde shook his head and went back to staring at the door to Jackie's room.
"You know, it's not going to magically open if you keep staring at it." Donna said to him.
"I just want to know what's taking so long." He said defensively. "Aren't you worried?"
"No." Donna said with a shrug. "I figured the worst has already happened right? Jackie's strong, Hyde. She'll make it through this."
While Donna's little speech did nothing to ease Hyde's concerns, it did go a long way to repairing his faith in her. Her actions had been just as costly as his, she had been kicked down just as much as he had, and yet here she was, showing her faith in Jackie. Hyde only hoped his own redemption would be as clear.
There was a foul odor coming from Rosengale when Eric arrived at the castle's massive black gate. The moat around the keep was black with moss and seaweed, overgrown weeds and thorns crept up the granite castle. Parts of it were black from smoke and fire. As he made his way into the castle itself, he heard a loud wispy noise, almost like a creaking water pipe in an old house. As he went further and further into the castle itself, the stench became even fouler to his senses, almost blinding him. He heard a crack underneath his feet and when he looked down he saw he had stepped on a bone.
It didn't take an expert to tell that it was human.
As Not! Eric quickly whipped himself around to look at his surroundings; he noticed the floor was covered in skulls and bones, some still dripping with flesh, others in more advanced stages of rot and decay. He stuck his hand over his mouth to keep from gagging.
"You know, when I signed on for this job, no where did they say that it would involve this." He said gesturing around him. Carefully he picked up a sword from the body of a dead goblin and continued on.
"I say we tie his arm off and make it into jelly." A hissing voice said from behind the wall Not! Eric was standing. He gripped the sword tightly with both hands as another voice appeared.
"And I say we cut off his legs, won't try to run anymore now would he?" There was laughter from both creatures.
"Makes you wonder don't it?" The first said, "Bout how sorry he must feel?"
"Bet he regrets trying to escape now." The second one snorted when he laughed.
"Bet he regrets a lot of things." The first one replied.
Not! Eric closed his eyes and prayed to God for guidance as he felt himself disappearing except for the sword which now looked to be floating on its own accord, and ran towards the trolls swiping at them with the blade. The trolls were so shocked that they were caught off guard, making it easier for Not! Eric to knock them out. He grabbed a set of keys from the troll's belt and ran down the stairs towards the dungeon.
The Gnome moved Jackie to the bed, placing a white rose between her hands so that she looked like the part of an enchanted princess.
"I was told by my father long ago that there once was a beautiful maiden who gave her love to a prince though she was betrothed to another. For this crime she was banished from her lands, sent into the woods to fend for herself. Some say she still walks here and there, cloaked in a black hood. They say she was cursed to live forever, neither able to sleep nor eat or feel anything other than cold. I'm not sure which curse is worse, hers or yours."
"The boy will bring you your prince."
Not! Eric returned to flesh as he entered the dungeons. The ground was wet and soggy beneath his feet, the odor putrid like rotten fish and fresh blood.
"Are you Prince Steven?" He asked the one prisoner chained to the stone wall.
The man looked up, bloodied and barely recognizable underneath the bruises.
"Who'reyou?" The prince asked, slurring the words together.
"I'm a friend of Jackie's; I've come to rescue you."
The prince's eyes went wide at Jackie's name. Not! Eric could almost call it hope but the prince shook his head in defeat.
"No use." He muttered, "Only she can rescue me."
"Who is she?" Not! Eric had a feeling he already knew the answer, but prayed he was wrong.
"Who'doyouthink?" The prince slurred condescendingly.
"One of these has to work." Not! Eric argued holding up the set of keys he had attained from the troll.
"You look familiar." The prince stated, "Do I know you?"
Not! Eric bit back his smile. "Do you?" He tried another key.
"I suppose not." The prince said looking around, "So tell me, friend of Jackie's, how did I end up here?"
And with those words, the chains broke from the wall and the prince was set free from his bonds.
In a small chair in a hospital waiting room, Steven Hyde slept. As he dozed, he dreamt of a beautiful girl with raven locks.
"We were so close." She said her voice sounded like it was coming from a mile away.
"You should have known better." He told her, holding her hands close to him.
Jackie shook her head. "No, you should have known better. I would have gone to the ends of the earth with you. All I wanted was for us to be together."
Hyde put his chin on her head. "Me too."
The prince stood at the bedside of the princess, staring down at her sleeping form. A grey shadow had crept across her skin, yet she seemed to glow luminously from within. He bent down to graze his lips across hers.
"I can't." He told Not! Eric and the Gnome as he stood back up. "I can't kiss her."
Not! Eric blinked twice, "What do you mean, you can't kiss her?"
"Maybe he doesn't know how." The Gnome suggested, "It's really easy, you just press your lips to hers!"
The Prince simply shook his head, "You don't understand."
Not! Eric and the Gnome shared a look between themselves.
"Explain it to us then." Not! Eric replied, clinching his teeth together.
"I don't deserve to kiss her." The prince put his head down.
The gnome, who had been looking at Not! Eric the entire time wisely backed up when he saw Jackie's sidekick's face become a deep shade of red.
"You're telling me that you won't kiss her because you don't deserve to?" Not! Eric asked slowly. The Prince simply kept his head down, but nodded once.
This was the wrong thing to do.
"Who gives a crap about what you deserve?" Not Eric yelled, "This isn't about you and what you deserve, it's about her! Do you know what she's been through? I told her to forget about you and just work on getting back home, but instead she set out looking for you! So forgive me if I don't give a rat's ass about what you deserve! The only reason I found you was so that you could kiss her and wake her up!"
"I didn't know." The prince said softly.
Not! Eric sighed, "You never do."
One by one the hospital staff made their way out of Jackie's room, until at last the doctor came over to her make shift family.
"We have determined that Jackie will be alright, but we are worried that too much stress will cause her body to shut down again, and if that happens, I'm afraid there will be little we can do for her."
"So what does this mean?" Kitty asked. "Can we still see her?"
"You can." He smiled, "But one at a time, and use soft voices if you can."
Hyde, Donna, Fez and the Formans nodded one by one.
"Hyde?" Donna asked, "You want to go first?"
Hyde nodded at the red head. "Yeah." He broke away from the group and walked towards Jackie's room, as he entered, he turned around briefly to see Donna and Kitty smiling reassuringly at him. Fez was giving him thumbs up and Red simply nodded.
Hyde closed the door behind him and turned to meet his fate.