A/N: Well, it's summer again! I've got a lot of assigned reading this summer, but still a lot of spare time left over, so it looks like I'll have a lot more time to work on this again. Yay! Sorry to leave you hanging for so long. It was about this time last year that I started this fic, which is so weird to me. I'm planning to wrap it up by the end of the summer, while I have enough free time to write so that there aren't massive wait times. Thanks so much for sticking with me! Hope you like the chapter!

As the hallway was suddenly filled with a loud din, nurse Kitty turned her head to see what all the commotion was about. A team of doctors was pushing a stretcher towards the operating room, trading quickly-spoken comments between each other as they went. It was a pretty typical occasion in the hospital. Kitty silently made a little prayer for all to work out in the poor patient's favor, then looked back down at the patient she had been dealing with. He was a portly man, a few years younger than herself, who had been brought in for burn wounds.

"Well, Mr. Davis," Kitty said, "I'll let Dr. Jacobs know about the bandages. You let me know if they're bothering you again, alright? I know they're pesky, but just try to leave them alone. We want that arm of yours to heal up as quickly as possible!"

The man nodded sheepishly. "I will. Sorry to bother you."

"Oh, you're not bothering anyone, dear."

"Thank you, nurse."

"My pleasure! You let me know how your visit with your daughter goes."

Mr. Davis simply smiled. He was a very quiet man, but Kitty was fond of him. She was fond of almost all of her patients. One of the joys of nursing was getting to form bonds with people, frequently during periods of their lives when they really needed the support. She waved at various other patients as she made her way back to the nurses' station, where she was met with a surprise.

"Steven!"

Her pseudo-son turned his head at the sound of his name, and smiled as they caught each other's eyes. "Hey, Mrs. Forman. How're you doing?"

"Oh, I'm just fine." Unlike the last time she saw him, he was no longer sporting a sling, and was now back on crutches. He must of just had an appointment with his doctor, which meant his shoulder and ribs had healed by now. "Well, look at you! You look like you're doing well yourself, Mr.!"

"Yeah. Back to square one." But his smile betrayed his enthusiasm.

"Oh, you've come a long way."

"Eh. Couple more weeks as Tiny Tim, then-"

"Then you'll be back home!"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. That too."

"That too? What else is going to happen?"

"Nothin'. It'll just be cool."

Kitty didn't buy for a second that that was all he was thinking. "Uh huh."

He nodded for a minute, aware that she was suspicious. "Well, it was good seeing you, Mrs. Forman." He started to hobble off.

"Now, wait just a minute, Steven! Do you have to rush off so soon?"

"Aren't you working?" He was right, but it didn't mean he had to practically run away with hardly a goodbye. What was he up to? "It's just...well, WB's kind of waiting for me." Oh.

"I've been meaning to ask you, do you like it there? It must be fun getting to know your real father, living in that big, glamorous house."

He sighed a bit. "Mrs. Forman, we've been over this. At least twice a week since I moved out."

"Temporarily!"

"Yeah. Temporarily moved out." Ever since her second son had moved out of her house, Kitty had made it a priority to call him regularly and see how he was getting along. He always insted that he was fine, and even though she was happy that he was happy, it hurt a little bit to see him recovering with his real parent. "Hey. We'll get lunch together soon, okay?"

"That would be lovely."

"Sweet. Now don't go worrying too much about me, alright?" He looked towards the exit. "I'd hug you, but my arms are kind of preoccupied."

She smiled at the sentiment. "Go on now, at least one of us better step outside this hospital today and get some fresh air."

"Catch you later, Mrs. F."

"Bye, honey." She watched as he left, trying to regain the hang of crutches. He was proficient enough, but there was slight hesitancy and uncertainty that reminded her of a spindly baby giraffe - not that she'd ever say that to Steven. She reminded herself that there were only a few weeks left until she had her boy back at home, completing the family again (well, minus Laurie, but that was a given at this point). She would have to do something special for his return, which would also mark his recovery. Something cool, that the kids would like. Something with streamers, and maybe balloons! She took out a pen and starting making a list.

Angie and Steven watched the door close after two young girls they'd just sold a dozen records to. It was Hyde's first full day officially back on the job, and he was enjoying it more than he would ever admit. After being cooped up for too long, even doing inventory seemed sort of fun. Of course, he still had a valid excuse not to do the tedious, physical jobs like sweeping, or wiping down the counter, or restocking. Mostly, he was stuck to paper work, schmoozing customers, and cashier duty, and that was fine with him. The sales were good today, so Angie shared her half brother's pleasant mood.

"Nice job, Steven."

He wasn't sure what she was referring to, so he defaulted to sass. "Ah, working a register is easy. Even a monkey could do it. Like your boyfriend. Compliment appreciated, though, sis."

"No, I mean, with those girls."

"Huh?"

"Are you blind? They were totally into you."

"Uh...I don't think so."

"Why do you think they bought so many records?"

"Because, I gave them expert recommendations. And," he added a cheesey wink, "at great prices."

Angie twirled her hair, doing an imitation of the girls. "Oh my gosh, like, tell me more about your favorite artists." She stopped playing hair, and went back to her regular voice. "They were definitely flirting with you."

"That's the curse of being good looking. It's a burden, but what are you going to do." Doubtful, Hyde scoffed, then went back to filling out the paperwork he'd laid out next to the cash register.

Angie shrugged. "Girls just fall all over hurt guys. They can't help it. Something about vulnerability, I think."

"You say 'they' like you're not one of them," Hyde responded, intentionally disregarding her main statement. His half sister was smart and perceptive, but she wasn't saying anything he hadn't noticed himself the last month and a half.

"Well," Angie continued, "I'm not one of them in this situation, because I'm not going to fall all you, little brother."

Hyde cringed dramatically. "You sounded like Laurie there."

"Laurie who?"

He wondered what Laurie was up to these days, and when, if ever, they'd see her again. "Doesn't matter." He turned his attention back to the order forms, while Angie re-alphabetized some records. A young man came in, lazily browsed through a few crates, and brought two records to Hyde at the register. Hyde finished the transaction, noting how weird it was to be happy to be working. After the customer left, the store was silent save for the music playing throughout. Eventually, Hyde threw down his pencil.

Angie asked, "how's the paperwork coming along?"

"I'm done with my homework," he replied slyly. "Can I go play outside now?"

"Sure, Steven. Have fun on the jungle gym."

He rolled his eyes at her. Why did everyone have to bring up his leg all the time? Granted, he really did set himself up for that one. He got up and hopped over to the table where they kept magazines. The were was an automobile catalogue he'd nabbed from the muffler shop that he had been wanting to take a second look at. Realizing that he couldn't carry it and use both crutches at the same time, he settled for sitting on one of the chairs to look over it. There were no customers right now, and it was almost time for their lunch break anyway, so he figured Angie would let him get away with this. He thumbed through the pages until he came across the desired section on motorcycles.

"That doesn't look like work," Angie commented. Guess he wasn't off the hook, then.

"But you said it was recess," he mumbled, half paying attention to her, and half to the catalogue. That was, until she came up behind him and grabbed it out of his hands.

She looked at the page, doing a double take between her brother and the catalogue. She crossed her arms, and said "why are you looking at a motorcycle catalogue?"

"Is that what that is," he asked jokingly. "Thought it was the New York Times."

"Are you thinking about buying one?"

"Yeah, I'm going to buy a motorcycle with the thousands of dollars of debt I have left over from the last one."

"You know dad and the Formans are taking care of that stuff."

Hyde rubbed the back of his neck. "I know." He was going to pay them back as much as he could, however long it took to do so. "I am thinkin' about getting one eventually."

"Are you nuts?" She hissed, right before the bell over the front door jingled, signaling a new customer. Hyde quickly got up, using it as an excuse to exit the impending argument. As he talked to the woman who had just entered, he caught Angie glaring at him several times out of the corner of his eye. Maybe he should have been more discrete. He stupidly had thought it wouldn't be a big deal. He'd made it known on day one that he wanted to ride again, afterall. Luckily for him, a steady stream of customers strarted pouring in, so the squabble was put to the side for quite a while. Angie found a moment to whisper "I'm telling Dad," in his ear as she walked past him. Threatening to tell their dad on him - he really did have a sister. Hyde didn't think WB would stop him, but then again Angie knew him better. He'd almost let his plan slip to Kitty earlier that day, and he'd have to be more careful about that. She certainly would have some strong words on the subject.

Finally, they had to take their lunch break in the back office, sitting on opposite sides of the room. Hyde smiled a bit to himself as he found a note Jackie had slipped into the paper bag he'd packed his lunch in. Cute. He looked at the heart drawn by his girlfriend, then quickly stuff it back into the bag befor Angie felt the need to steal that, too. "Hey, Ang," he said with a mouthful of BLT sandwich, "I can feel your eyes on the back of my head from over here."

"Don't do it," she simply said, sounding tired.

"What am I doing?"

"You don't need a motorcycle."

"Yeah, and you don't need a convertible." Catching her look, he decided he better rephrase. He really wasn't trying to guilt her about her perfect car from WB. "I know I don't need one. I want one."

"Well, don't."

"Just don't think about it, Angie." It would be over a month before he could even get on a motorcycle, and much longer before he'd be able to afford one. There was no need to fight about it.

"Will you even be able to? I mean, with your leg?"

It was a valid question, but he thought she shouldn't think too far in the future about it. He certainly tried not to. The leg had been broken in several places, and this morning his doctor reminded him that in a little over a year, they could consider what he called hardware removal. It sounded like somehting a mechanic would do, but really it meant they could do another surgery to remove the plates and pins if they bugged him, which meant more recovery time. So he was determined not to be bugged. That aside, there was still the question of how well it was going to heal this time. "I don't know. So like I said, forget about it."

She looked at him again, then shook her head and went back to her lunch. As she picked up a coke bottle, Hyde spoke up again. "Angie-"

"What?" She snapped. "Are you going to tell me to forget it again? I understand, alright. You want to do whatever you want to do, but I am not going to stand aside and let you get hurt again. That was one of the worst days of my life. So, no, I won't forget about it. And you know what else?" She picked up the catalogue and dropped it into the trash can. "So what were you going to say?"

"Uh...you were drinking my soda."

A/N: So, I'm about as ready as Hyde is to get that cast off, so we're gonna have another time jump between this chapter and the next, to the day that happens. Then we can do some fun new stuff. I'll let you guess what that'll entail. Thanks again for reading!