Chapter Text
January ’77
“A local teenager is in critical condition after his car was thrown by a high-speed tornado”
The radio report was static-y, but the message it relayed was clear as day. That teenager had been Eric Forman. He had been driving to pick up Donna to go to the Snow Prom, but he didn’t notice the twister right behind his car.
At first, he just felt himself falling. It felt like time was moving in slow motion, but he couldn’t react to anything happening around him. Suddenly, the Vista Cruiser that felt so old that it would fall apart at any given moment never felt more solid. The car dropped back onto the ground with a sharp jerk, and he felt the wind knocked out of him, but the pain didn’t go away and he slowly fell unconscious. He was occasionally able to open his eyes, but the pain was too great.
After what seemed to be hours, he heard the sirens of police cars. There was a muffled “Oh God” followed by a “Hold on here, son, you’re gonna be alright” but the officer was struggling with the toppled over Cruiser. He could feel himself being yanked out of the car, and onto a stretcher.
Kitty was beside herself, and even Red was shaken. “The dumbass shouldn’t have even been outside with a storm that bad out” he muttered. His cynical attitude was just a cover for his worry. Red was never one to have his emotions on his sleeve after his tour in Korea, but his only son potentially dying was more terrifying than any landmines or enemy fire he had ever faced. Sure, he was hard on the kid, but only because he knew that in the end Eric would make better choices than he had. Red always knew he was going to have a great life with Donna, find a stable job, and raise kids that were better than both of them combined. That’s what he always thought people were supposed to do.
“Mr. and Mrs. Forman?” A doctor stepped into the waiting area where everyone was waiting. Red and Kitty stood up hesitantly. Red shook his hand. “Unfortunately, when the car fell back onto the ground the motion caused his head to hit the back of the seat. The whiplash he experienced caused a compression fracture on the cervical vertebrae. He also hit his head on the steering wheel before the airbag deployed. We’ll have to wait until he wakes up before we assess the amount of neurological damage, and whether or not he’ll need surgery.”
Kitty was trying to hold back sobs, and even though he didn’t show it, Red felt the same way. “Will he be okay?” he choked out.
“There’s no way to know at the moment. We’ll see how he responds in the next 72 hours, and after that we should have a good method of treatment.” He was stern, but his eyes were kind.
Red reached out to shake the doctor’s hand once again. He held it firm for a second. “Thank you. Just make sure my boy is in good hands.”
“Of course, Mr. Forman. We’ll do as much as we can.”
It was difficult for everyone to stay in the waiting area outside of Eric’s hospital room. He was still in critical condition, but the medical team were still trying to stabilize him. All of his friends were in a single row of chairs, each in complete shock.
“Why didn’t he just stay in the gym like everyone else?” Donna’s head was down, and she kept running her hands through her hair.
“Look, none of us even knew there was a tornado warning until after he left. It was a freak accident, you really shouldn’t be blaming yourself.” Hyde moved to put his hand around her shoulder, but she slapped it away.
Kelso was just staring into space, not unlike his usual expression, but his brow was furrowed in frustration. “Man, all of this is just crazy. I never really thought anything bad could happen to any of us, you know? One minute we’re hanging out in his basement, and now no one knows what’s gonna happen to him. It’s just not right, man”
“Michael, that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said.” Jackie cooed.
“Jackie, don’t take this the wrong way but why are you even here? All you do when you’re in his basement is make fun of him for being such a geek.” Donna snipped at the younger girl.
“Look, just because I call him a geeky, skinny, momma’s boy, doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate him. He was the only person I told about thinking I was pregnant, and didn’t even judge me for it.”
Hyde rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, Forman’s probably the best of all of us. I wouldn’t even have a place to sleep if it weren’t for him. God’s a sick bastard.”
Out of all of the gang, Hyde took Eric’s accident the hardest. He provided a shoulder for Donna and Kitty to cry unto, but he was just as upset and didn’t know how to show it. Eric was like his brother, the two of them talked about girls, played pranks on each other and finished each other’s jokes. They had been inseparable since Hyde basically followed him home when they were eight, and even then, Hyde was known to show up at the Forman house when his parents were fighting or his dad didn’t come home or his mom had a boyfriend over. Kitty knew the boy didn’t have enough to eat at home, and would slip him a bagged lunch when he came to walk to school with Eric. Even Red would slip Hyde a dollar here and there, and wouldn’t question when Hyde came over for an impromptu sleepover.
“Sorry kids” A young nurse in bright blue scrubs came into the waiting area “Visiting hours are almost over” Everyone started to walk over towards the entrance of the building. “Sorry to hear about your friend” the nurse said over her shoulder to Donna.
“Thank you” Donna whispered back. She glanced back at Eric’s hospital room. Eric was on a ventilator, clearly still unconscious. Kitty kissed her son’s forehead softly and swept his hair back. His neck brace looked stiff and uncomfortable, and Donna was almost relieved he couldn’t feel it. Donna silently blew him a kiss and sped up to keep up with the group.