A/N: This one is dedicated to quidditchseasonprotection because without her giving me this idea almost 3 months ago, I would never have gotten this kind of inspiration. I think this story is one of the best I've written! Not exactly sure if this will be a one shot or more, again it all depends on how you like it!

Point Place, Wisconsin

Mid-Spring 1979

10: 03 AM

Location: Eric Forman's Basement

"Forman, where's Big Red at?" Hyde came down the basement steps, two beers from the fridge in his hand.

Eric sighed when he heard the old nickname. "She told me this morning she had an extra shift at the radio station," Eric caught his beer as Hyde threw it to him, took a quick drink, and leaned back on the couch. "And 'Big Red' is blond now."

Hyde shook his head in laughter and frustration, taking his usual seat. "She's not there, man."

Eric lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Donna's not at the station," Hyde answered.

"Why'd you go to see her?" A light bulb went off in Eric's head, "Wait, shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm the boss' son; I can work whenever I want." Hyde put his feet on the table and set his beer can down. "Besides, Angie's there."

"That still doesn't explain why you went to go see my girlfriend at her job, smack in the middle of the day."

"What, you still think I like her? I've been over that for 3 years and I'm with Jackie." Hyde sighed and finally decided to answer the question, "Jackie locked herself out of the house and needed me to drive her to get Donna's key."

Eric laughed. "Why didn't she just come get ours?"

"She said your parents were making way too much noise upstairs." Hyde joined in on the laugh. "And they were still making noise when I came in."

"Hyde, both of my parents are at work."

They both looked at each other, trying to think of what it was. Together they came up with an answer, "Fez!"

Before both of them could run and stop their perverted friend, the phone rang, filling the room up with its loud tone. Again they both looked at each other, seeing who would pick it up first. It was as if they expected the person on the phone to be a killer. Finally, Hyde took the call.

"Yeah, Mrs. Forman, it's me…. Yeah, Eric's here. You wanna to talk to him?"

At first, Eric thought his friend was kidding, but when Hyde said, "What about Donna?" he grabbed the phone immediately.

"Mom, it's me," Eric told her. "What's wrong with Donna?"

"I… I can't. You need to come to the hospital, Eric. Now." Kitty's voice was scared and frail, yet still contained her firmness. Like one wrong move would shatter her to the ground.

Eric could see her standing at the nurse's station, as the busiest part of the morning began. He could see her tired and weary, about to end the night shift after working for 12 hours. He imagined sweat coming down her cheeks, mixed with tears from something he had yet to find out.

"Now!" Kitty's voice sent shivers up his body.

"I'm on my way." It took all of Eric's strength to put the phone down. He was prepared to run to the hospital, but somehow he couldn't move.

"What happened, man?" Hyde's Zen voice wasn't right for the situation.

"It's Donna… she's in the hospital." Eric slapped his own forehead.

What am I doing here? That's when Eric ran toward the door, forgetting to open it and falling onto the floor. He picked himself up fast, sped up the stairs, and hopped into the Vista Cruiser, all the while saying, "I'm coming, baby, I'm coming."

~~~ . . . ~~~

The ride to the hospital seemed to take hours, in Eric's mind. However, the hospital was only 10 minutes from his house, no one was on the road, he was pulling 65 miles an hour, and he didn't hit any red lights. As he burst through the hospital doors, all he could think about was one thing: Donna.

As Eric approached the nurses' desk on the 3rd floor he saw Dr. Chase, a friend of his mother. He sat in a swirling chair behind it, cupping a phone against his year. "Yes," the doctor started. "Your friend…. Sorry, your girlfriend has a high blood pressure, a 100 degree fever, and is throwing up…. No, she'll be fine as long as stays on her meds and gets rest…. Now's not really a good time for her. You could—" he was cut short by the sight of Eric standing there... well, more like an impatient jump. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Where's Donna?" Eric asked, tapping his foot. "What's wrong with her?"

The doctor looked at Eric with a concerned expression, standing up. "I'm sorry, who?"

"Donna Pinciotti. I was told she was here at the hospital. My mom wouldn't tell me what's wrong with her." Eric's voice was firm, even though his heart was pounding.

The doctor laughed. "So you're Kitty's son, the famous Eric Forman. Huh, I haven't seen you in years."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry to kill the moment, but my girlfriend could be dying right now and I have no way to get to her." Eric tried to lighten the mood, tried to stifle a laugh.

Dr. Chase's face grew white and he himself looked like he might faint.

"No," Eric backed away. "What happened to her?"

"Eric, she's all right, now at least. Her cancer is getting progressively worse."

"What!" It wasn't until then that Eric realized he was still holding his beer can in his hand. He squeezed it tight, without realizing it, and got it all over the floor and onto himself. He crumbled to the floor, leaning back against the wall. "She… she can't have cancer."

"She didn't tell you?" The doctor came around the desk and put a hand on Eric's shoulder, but Eric quickly shook it off.

"No." Eric looked up, a bit teary eyed. "Where is she?"

"317," Dr. Chase replied.

Eric jumped up and took off down the hall. It felt so familiar, being in the hospital. After all, as a child, when his dad was at work and his sister was at school, he'd spend 2 afternoons a week in the play area there while his mom finished her rounds. After turning a few corners, Eric came upon the room. He braced himself, not knowing what would be inside.

"Eric." The voice was faint, but Eric knew it by heart. "Eric."

"Donna? I'm here." Eric slowly walked into the room. Donna, the love of his life, laid on a bed hooked up to a bulky machine that seemed intimidating. Kitty sat in a chair in the corner, her face was streaked with tears. "What… where… who…"

"Why?" Donna offered.

Eric's laugh came out like his mother's, high mixed with nervousness. "Yeah, that's it."

Donna didn't answer right away, only stared at Kitty in the corner.

"Oh, I'll go. I have to see one more patient first." Kitty shuffled out the room, her dress swaying behind her, the sound of stifled tears in the air long after she was gone.

An awkward silence stung in the air and each second seemed to last a minute, each minute an hour. Eric pulled up a chair next to Donna, took her trembling hands into his. She'd seemed as normal as she could ever be the day before, so why would she be like this now? Inside, Eric's heart panged with guilt, like he should have known and should have done something. He wished he hadn't left her the day before the wedding because, somehow, that might have made Donna just a little bit stronger.

"It was right before the wedding," she said, more to herself than to Eric.

"What?" he asked, leaning closer.

"I didn't want…" Donna bit her lip and shook her head, it was almost impossible to say what she wanted. "I didn't want you to think we had to get married because I might die."

Eric took Donna's had in his. "You know I wouldn't feel that way."

Donna's cracked lips formed a smile, she still stared ahead. "I found out right before the rehearsal and I was thinking of running away. That's what I died my hair blond, 'cause I didn't know if I'd ever have hair again."

"But you're going to get better?" Eric's voice sounded like a little kid. "Right?"

Donna's voice was shaky as she answered. "Right."

The awkward silence stung the air again, but Eric was quick to stop it. "Is that why you said you were working so much? So no one would notice?"

"Yeah," Donna said. "But someone was going to notice sooner or later when my hair started falling out."

Eric leaned up to kiss. "You'd look beautiful anyway."

Donna laughed, filling up the room and breaking the tension. "You smell like beer."

"Coors Light, thank you very much." Eric leaned back, still clutching Donna's hand, proud of his stained white shirt.

Donna sighed and fell back into her pillows, fighting to keep her eyes open.

Eric stood up, pulling the thin hospital blanket over her body. "You need to sleep."

"Don't go," Donna told him, her weariness taking over.

"Of course not."

Donna's eyes slowly closed, the lines on the heart monitor she was attached to slowly receding.

Tears came down Eric's face again. "Don't go," he whispered, his voice almost inaudible. "Don't leave me."

Suddenly, the world fell silent; a cold air filled the carefully heated room; and all the faith Eric had seemed to disappear.

"No," Eric cried. "Don't go."

For a moment, hope slowly crept through both of their bodies as Donna slowly squeezed his hand.

Donna's eyes fluttered open a bit. "I love you, Eric," she managed.