Disclaimer: Don't own That 70's Show, but I do own Frankie.

Chapter 17- Guilt and Forgiveness

At the hospital, which was the same one they brought Frankie to when he was injured, Red and the remaining three kids were in the waiting room. Fez and Kelso were both munching on some candy they had gotten from the vending machine, both unusually quiet. Red was pacing back and forth with bandages on his nose. It turns out Frankie's dad broke it when he slammed his elbow in it. And Frankie was staring at the ER room.

Hyde and Eric were both being treated by the doctors. Hyde was being operated on to try and save his life. The bullet that Nathan hit him blew out his right eyeball and a chunk of his face. His chances of survival were still up in the air, maybe 40/60.

Eric's new nub was being cauterized as of now. His hand was stolen by Frankie's dad for whatever sick reason he had in mind. Eric lost a lot of blood, but not enough to die, much to their relief. Eric's right hand was his dominant hand and now that it was gone, he would have to readjust to life again with his left hand. Maybe it could've been stitched back on if they still had it.

Red growled, "Why couldn't I protect my son? First my wife and my daughter were kidnapped and now my son is now handicapped!" He turned to Frankie, "This is your fault!"

Kelso looked from his candy to the furious Forman. "Red I don't think,"

"Shut up Kettlehead!" Red snapped. His hardened war like gaze stayed on the saddened form of Frankie, "Everything is because of you. My wife is gone, my daughter was raped and now my son had his hand cut off because of you!"

"Not to mention Hyde had his eye shot out," Fez reminded, not really thinking about what he just said. Kelso glared at him, Fez realizing his mistake. "Oops,"

"Not oops," Red said. "You're right foreigner, Steven had his right side of his face shot out because of him. His family is destroying mine." Frankie refused to look up to him. "I already want to kill you because of what happened to Laurie. My little girl was forced onto because of you. I was alright with the two of you having something going on because of what happened to you, but now if we ever see her again, you aren't allowed to talk to her, or even look at her."

Frankie sobbed quietly, Red's anger rising. "I want you out of my house after all this is done and if Steven or Eric dies, I'll kill you myself." His threat wasn't fake. He meant every word he said. He never wanted to see Frankie again after all of this is done. This kid was a plague and a curse to his family and this was the end. Who knows what'll happen if he sticks around.

Fez timidly spoke up, "Red. Aren't you being a little...harsh?" he asked. He was about to say something else when Kelso grabbed his shoulder, giving the foreign boy a shake of the head. Trying to reason with Red when he's on this state of anger is just not the right thing to do if you wanna live.

Red didn't seem to hear Fez's question, only focusing on the boy in front of him, who still refsued to look at him. It made Red angrier then he already was. This boy was destroying his family and he didn't have the decency to look Red in the face when he was talking to him? Jesus, this kid had no respect for anyone.

Kelso stared at the depressed form of Frankie. He was upset about Hyde and Eric too but he didn't blame Frankie. He didn't even want them to save him in the first place. He wanted to be dead and he warned them about his family and how crazy they were and they didn't take it seriously enough. The fight at The Hub should've been enough, but they didn't take it serious enough and now this was the result of their decision.

Kelso's heart ached though. He didn't want to lose his friends. The girls were gone and now Hyde was on the verge of death while Eric was in a coma like state from the blood loss. If one of them died, he didn't know what he would do. Maybe cry, maybe go in a state of depression. Or maybe he'll go and kill everyone in Frankie's dad's group. He already took one of them down, remembering clearly what the shot sounded like and what the fallen corpse looked like. He took one down, Eric killed one and Frankie killed one. That was half of the group. But now they might lose half of theirs as a retaliation.

Fez was in a smiliar state of mind of Kelso. He drowned out Red's stream of curses towards their newest friend, knowing already that they would have to wait it out until Red was finished. He was next to Hyde when it happened. He remembered Hyde running like it was any other normal day and the next second, he was shot. Hyde's last words before he fell over played in his head.

"E-E-Eric, it's u-up to y-you." And then Steven Hyde fell over, half of his face now gone. It scared Fez, not only because his friend could die, but because that it could've easily been him. He was only a few centimeters away from Hyde when it happened. In fact, Fex wished it was him. He wished he was shot instead of Hyde. He hated to see his friends hurt and seeing Eric's hand chopped off in front of him also haunted his head. Eric's screams of pain as the hand was chopped off burned in his ears, the images of the blood shooting out his hand like a garden hose filled Fez's eyes. He shuttered and bit his lip to stop himself from crying.

Red was still yelling at Frankie, "My son lost a hand, his goddamn hand! He'll never have a normal life because of you. He's handicapped and he still might die of blood loss!" Red wiped his face, a liquid that the remaining three boys all thought was sweat. He had been walking back and forth and yelling for the last few hours nonstop. What Red wouldn't admit to them however, is that the sweat was tears. He didn't want to lose his son. He didn't deserve to die and he sure as hell didn't deserve to have his goddamn hand chopped off.

Frankie, for the first time since they got there, uddered a word. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He grabbed his pants and squeezed it, "I know its my fault. I told you to let me die a long time ago but no, no one listens to me." He was sounding like a smartass to Red, but decided to let him talk. He might be amsued by what he hears, "I didn't want to be saved. I wanted to die but you guys decided to do the right thing and help me. Look at where that ended up, the girls are gone, Hyde is most likely going to die and Eric lost a hand. I might've not known them for long Red, but Hyde and Eric are my best friends. They risked their lives to save me at The Hub and I risked mine to save them. How do you think I feel about this? I'm really upset and depressed that they got seriously hurt. It was my father and my brother that amputated them both. If you want me to leave Red, I will. But this is now my mess and it's my duty to fix it. After this is done, I'll leave and never bother you guys again." He promised, finally looking Red in the eye.

Frankie's eyes were covered in tears and it held much pain, misery, regret and determination. Red was surprised, really. Frankie was determined to fix his mistake and do what it takes to make sure this all ends as smoothly as possible. Red almost let a smirk pass his face, but didn't because then Frankie would get the idea that Red wasn't mad at him when he clearly was. He simply kept up his glare and nodded at him.

"Eric Forman?" a nurse called from the door towards the hospital rooms. Kelso, Fez, Red and Frankie turned around to see the nurse that had taken Eric when they arrived was standing there. She spotted them and walked over to them, "The wound's been cauterized and has stopped bleeding. He'll be unconscious for a little bit longer because he's lost so much blood but he won't die." She told them.

"Oh hell yeah!" Kelso shouted in pure delight, his guilt he was feeling about killing someone gone for a moment to relish in the fact that Eric would survive. Fez was jumping for joy as well as was Frankie, although he wasn't really jumping but was sitting in his chair with a grin on his face.

Red was trying to keep his tough man look on but it ultimately failed when the nurse said Eric would live. He would still have his son, his son was gonna live and be okay. Well, as okay as things can be for him with his new handicap. The smile that now stretched his face was filled with so much relief and so much happiness that if anyone knew Red before, they would just think that this was a clone of him.

"What about Hyde?" Kelso asked, remembering about their curly hair, government hating, zen friend who was in worse condition then Eric was. The nurse shook her head, showing she didn't know about Hyde's condition. Kelso nodded, understanding the situation.

Fez turned his head in surprise when Kelso didn't make a move to try and hit on this nurse. She was fairly attractive and Kelso, who was chick crazy, didn't try and make a move on her. Kelso never backed down when it came to a girl, not for anything, and now he was ignoring one. Things in his head must be really bad if he was ignoring her. Fez understood though. He wasn'\t trying to win her over either, the situation with their friends being a lot more important then trying and getting in a girl's pants.

"You can go and see him but he most likely will still be asleep," she told them. They all nodded and stood to go and see Eric.

Red held his hand out, "No one follow me," he warned. "I'm seeing my son first and IF I'm in a pleasant mood, then MAYBE you can see him," he looked to Frankie at that one, the timid boy nodding at Red. He turned to Fez and Kelso, "Come in in maybe ten minutes, I should be done by then." Fez and Kelso nodded at the older Forman, who followed the nurse to his son's room.

Frankie looked at Fez and Kelso, who looked back at him when they realized he was staring at them, "I'm leaving now and finishing this once and for all."

...

Red was now staring at the sleeping form of his son Eric Forman. He sustained some injuries from their fight with Frankie's dad, the bruises that covered some of his body being an example of that. Some dried blood also stained his clothes, but it was unclear if that blood was from the fight or from when his hand was chopped off. He looked over to the nub that now replaced his right hand. It was covered with bandages but Red would always see the blood and open wound when it was still fresh. He could only imagine what Kitty was gonna say and how the rest of the girls were gonna react to Eric's nub. (1)

Kitty.

He missed his wife, a lot. He could only imagine what they were doing to her. If that scumbag that was Frankie's brother raped his daughter, he didn't want to imagine what they were doing to his wife. Just the thought made Red's face scrunch up in anger, slightly hurting his broken nose. He didn't care. He was shot at and had taken a lot of injuries during the war. A broken nose wasn't much to him.

He was also concerned with Steven. His injury was worse then Eric's and they weren't hearing anything about him. Were they hiding something? Was Steven dead? Or were they just not finished yet with his operation? Red wouldn't be surprised if they weren't done yet. The shot could've done some serious damage to his brain as the bullet was dangerously close to it. He hoped Steven would survive. He kinda cared for the kid and now, with Eric and he handicapped in two different ways, they were gonna need all the help that they can get with this fight.

Red was tempted to call the cops but Frankie had warned them at the start to not do that. He said how his dad was involved with them and had connections to them. That explained where Frankie got his Colt Python and where his old friends got theirs. Red didn't like it, but if it wouldn't benefit them, it wasn't worth the extra headache.

Eric stirred slightly, startling Red. Eric looked to be in so much pain, his face all tightened and his arm twitching. Red wouldn't admit it, but his heart was aching. He came off as a strict father who didn't seem to respect his son to those who didn't know him. But his son had gained more respect from him today then most of his old comrades did back in the war. Eric, who was only seventeen with no combat training, put his life on the line to save his family and for the girl he loved. Red still was surprised that he loved the Burkhart girl instead of the neighbor girl. He wasn't gonna judge who his son wanted to love, Eric having deserved whatever he wanted with his actions today. He lost his hand for Jackie, and of course all the other girls but in Eric's mind, he probably was telling himself he lost his hand for the girl he liked. If Jackie still treated his son like a loser after he lost his hand for her, Red was gonna be arrested for child abuse and he was serious. He wasn't playing around when it came to his family anymore. If you messed with them, Red was gonna kick your ass.

Eric mumbled in his sleep, "I love you Jackie. I would lose both my hands, arms and legs if it meant to save you. I know you like Frankie, because I heard you say he was cute, brave and amazing but I don't care. I'll still love you," he talked in his sleep. Red knew Eric was dreaming about his feelings for Burkhart and mentally smacked himself. He knew Eric's self confidence wasn't the best, Red could take some of the blame for that, but he didn't think it was this bad. Eric was a great kid and he only had Donna as a lover, so it didn't make sense as to why he was single for a long time. Red would have to make it up to him pretty soon.

Eric's mumble turned into a low voice, "Dad...stop giving me that look," Eric's lips turned into a smirk as his eyes opened. Red was surprised. Eric shouldn't be up yet. He lost a lot of blood and shouldn't even be able to move, let alone wake up. "You're looking at me with a depressed look. Stop, it doesn't suit you." He laughed.

Red smirked, "How's your hand?" he asked, driving the conversation away from him to Eric. He didn't want to explain his feelings to Eric yet. It would overwhelm the boy and he just woke up and he wasn't suppose to do that.

Eric shrugged, "I don't have it. Frankie's dad took it." Red frowned. Eric was still a smartass, one handed or not. "If you're talking about my nub, then it hurts like hell. I can still feel my hand like if its there but everytime I try to move it, it's not there." Eric frowned. "It sucks,"

Red's smirk came back, "Would you lose your hands and legs for Jackie?" he asked.

Eric blushed, coughing nervously. "What? No. Why would I do that?"

"'Cause you can't shut up and you talk in your sleep," Red said, almost laughing when Eric's face sprouted into a full blown blush. "I'm not gonna tease you about it. We're here because of your hand,"

"I know. Dad, it hurts. I didn't think it would get this dangerous, with me and Hyde losing a body part. How is Hyde by the way?" Eric asked, the sound of his friend getting shot replaying in his ears.

Red shrugged, not exactly sure what to tell him. "I hope he's fine,"

"Fez, Kelso and Frankie?"

"Kettlehead and Tonto are fine. As for Wilson, I'm kicking him away," Red firmly said, already knowing what his son's reaction is gonna be.

"Dad, no!" and there it was. "You can't kick him away. What if something else happens to him?"

"Too bad. It's because of him all this is happening. We're gonna save your mother, sister amd your friends and after that, he's gonna leave. He even agreed with it."

Eric frowned, "Dad-"

"Steven Hyde has fallen into a coma," a nurse said to Kelso, Frankie and Fez, who were shocked as hell as was Red and Eric.

Hyde was down and most likely not getting up.

End of Chapter 17 of Guardian

Yeah, funny how I called this chapter Guilt and Forgiveness when there wasn't much forgiveness. I set up the forgiveness but it won't come for a while.

Do you agree with Red? Is this Frankie's fault?

Do you want him to leave?

Sorry if this is short but it's more of a calming down after all the action we had these last few chapters.

We see the girls next time.

(1)- We'll get the answer next time

Next Time: Nightmare