"Hello?" Eric asked, as he answered the phone.
"I'm sorry, what? New York?" Eric's face had always given him away. As it did now when it slid to an open mouth, gape.
He looked at Steven then to Donna. "Yeah. Yeah. Uh huh. Wow, okay. Wow. Oh, oh my god.." He said into the phone.
"Okay, can I call you back in a few minutes?" He asked. "No, I understand. Uh huh. Thank you."
Eric hung up the phone and slowly turned to the counter behind him, he put his hand at the corners and exhaled slowly.
"Eric?" Donna asked, "Who was that?"
He looked up at her then to me. "What's going on, man?" Steven asked.
"I don't even know where to begin." He exhaled again. "It's Jackie."
Donna and Steven looked at each other then back to Eric.
Jackie Burkhart hadn't been seen or heard from by anyone in Point Place in over eight years. The mention of her name sent shockwaves through the Foreman's kitchen.
Her name was never mentioned, not since a dark night eight years ago when Steven had come home drunk and trashed the basement. No one said her name or speculated about her in front of him since. She was a ghost. She didn't exist.
So it surprised Eric and Donna when Steven asked calmly. "What about her?"
Eric cleared his throat and stood up straight again and grabbed Donna's hand leading her to the table. "Eric?" Donna asked on the verge of tears.
"Sit." He said softly, pulling a chair out for her.
Eric cleared his throat," that was a hospital in New York City. It was a nurse. She said, Jackie had been in a terrible accident that she was the sole survivor and had just woken up out of a three week coma."
Donna covered her face as Eric continued.
"She said Jackie has what's called retrograde amnesia. That when she woke up she didn't remember the last 10 years of her life. That she thinks that it's 1978..." He ended by looking at Steven, finally seeing the storm building in his eyes.
"What? How? How is that possible? What does that mean? What- what do we do?" Donna rambled, crying.
Eric leaned over an took her hand. "The nurse said that her memory would come back but that it's hard because the car exploded right after she was pulled from it. Everyone and everything in it was destroyed, they didn't even know who she was until she woke up. She doesn't even know what she's doing in New York. The nurse said she's a mess all they could get out of her was our number."
"We have to go. Call them back, tell them were coming." Donna commanded.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Eric asked looking at Steven.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Foreman. Fucking forget the last ten years, she needs us." Steven said getting the phone and handing it to Eric.
Five hours later when Steven and Donna landed in New York City. Everyone decided it was best for them to go alone, then report back.
Donna walked up to the nurses station and asked for Jackie Burkhart. After a few minutes a doctor walked up to them.
"Mrs. Forman?" She asked, Donna.
"Yes?" She stood up.
She looked at Steven then back to the doctor.
"Okay. First thing you need to know is that Jackie is in the clear. She was banged up and she has a few broken ribs and she has swelling in the brain that we are watching closely. She had internal bleeding, but luckily the worse part is over and even more miraculous, the most important thing is that the baby hasn't been affected, almost as if an iron shield was around her during the crash."
Donna looked at Steven. "Baby?" She asked the doctor.
The doctor looked confused. "Ms. Burkhart is 5 months pregnant. You didn't know?" She asked.
"We haven't spoken to her in eight years." Donna said.
"Well... She's been waiting for you,"
Steven opened the door to Jackie's hospital room with a heavy weight blanketing his shoulders.
Emotion after emotion hitting him hard.
Then he saw her. He saw her and everything in the world faded away except for her.
