Moving On

C h a p t e r 9

I honestly don't remember a whole lot of what happened after that. I do, though remember waking up in the hospital.
"Jughead?"
"Daddy?" Two familiar voices said. It was Veronica and Juliet.
"Hey, baby." I looked up. She was sitting in Veronica's lap. Tommy was sleeping in the chair next to her.
"Take it easy, Julie." Veronica said as she lifted Julie up to my bed.
"Hi, daddy."
"Hi, Julie." I whispered. I was pretty weak. I stroked her hair as I was half asleep. My face was super sensitive. My leg was numb. Julie fell asleep next to me.
"Roni, how's Archie? Is he okay?"
"He's doing better than you."
"Haha, very funny."
"Jughead he told me everything. All of it."
"Oh."
"Don't worry. I'm not going to spill but, you should report it."
"Was penny arrested?"
"Yes. All of the ghoulies were."
"What about the black hood?"
"He slipped away, Jug. I'm sorry."
"It's just so hard. Frustrating. How am I supposed to save my wife if I can't even fight off a woman?"
"Jughead, your not weak. In fact, your one of the strongest people I know. And I know that your strong enough to find Betty. Just sometimes, you need a little help. And, that's okay." I began to cry.
"It's just so hard to move forward."
"I know, I know. Jughead, this may be the biggest loss you've ever gone through but, you will get through this."
"Thank you, Vee. I needed that."
"Of course. You know, I miss her too. I miss our sleepovers together. And our double dates. Just the little things."
"I'm sorry, Veronica. So, on an unrelated note, am I able to walk?"
"The doctor said it would be best to stay off of it the first few days. They said at least until you get the stitches out."
"Stitches?" I said surprised.
"Jughead, don't act so surprised. You were stabbed."
"I know. Was it really that bad?"
"Well, you almost needed surgery, Jug."
"Really?"
"This is the kind of stuff everybody tells you. You can't keep playing this game, Jughead. You have Julie now. You can't play detective, risk your life everyday, and play dad. It doesn't work. The more you risk your life, the closer Julie gets to losing both her parents. You know what it's like to live alone as a child. It sucks."
"Roni, I was 14."
"But, still you were pretty old by the time you had to live alone. Imagine having you parents die instead of leaving you and you got put with a random family you don't even know."
"I-"
"It would suck, right? Wouldn't you feel so alone?"
"Yeah."
"Then, don't put Julie through that."
"Got it."
"So, how long am I stuck here for? Also what day is it?"
"Well, it's obviously dark outside. It's 7:30 right now. Same day. And your probably staying until noon tomorrow. Their going to check your leg for infections or anything."
"Oh okay. Will you take Julie home?"
"Well, Jughead, my husband is here, at the hospital."
"Oh, right."
"Can you call Alice, please?"
"And say what?"
"All of it?"
"Jughead, I am not doing that."
"Well, can you at least try and get her to come down here, please?"
"Fine. But I'm not telling the whole story."
"Fine by me." She called Alice. Once Alice came down, I explained everything. All of it. Then, she brought Julie back to my house. I stayed at the hospital. Julie needed to go to school the next day. I fell asleep around 10. So much had gone on in the past day. It was overwhelming. I woke up pretty late the next morning. Then, I had just remembered something. Chic. I do remember something about a prison break in Hiram's prison. But, I never knew who made it back or not. I had my work cut out for me. Then, a surprise came. There was knock in the doorway of my hospital room. I turned my head.
"Hello, Jughead."
"Polly!" I said rather loudly.
"Hi." She said smiling as she hugged me.
"Oh my goodness. I just can't believe your here."
"Me neither." She laughed.
"So, how's June and Dag?"
"Their good. Their back in San Francisco with their stepdad."
"That's good." Polly had married a nice, wealthy man. I've met him. He was actually not suspicious like everybody else I've ever met. Mainly because he wasn't born in riverdale.
"So your doing good?"
"Yeah. I would say how are you but-"
"Yeah, I'm alive, I guess. Right?"
"Right."
"Hey, is that Pop's?"
"Why, yes it is."
"What brings you here? Just popping in, I guess. I came to see Cheryl, and her kids. I also came to see Jason's grave. I haven't been there in a while. And when I heard you were in the hospital, I had an excuse to come."
"Nice. Did Alice explain.. everything?"
"As a matter of fact, she did."
"Good." I said biting into my burger.
"So, where's Julie?"
"She's at school. I had your mom take her home."
"Do you mind grabbing my computer from the house? There should be a key under the mat."
"Oh, sure." After she left, the doctor came in to check in on me. He told me to stay another night just for observation. He said until the painkillers ware off and I get on antibiotics. They said it got a little infected because the knife was kind of dirty. Dirty was an understatement. I used that knife like everyday, for so many things. My dad gave it to me. It was from when he was in the military. It said "Jones" engraved on it. It was special. I had no idea where it was now. Polly came back with my computer. That's when I opened up my email. It was from an anonymous email but, it was definitely something. It said "Hope" on it. All the email said was, "save hope". When I opened it. I was confused. "Save hope?" What the hell is that supposed to mean? Is it metaphorical? I was puzzled.
"Everything alright? You look flushed."
"I'm fine, really thanks." The rest of the day went by pretty slowly so, when I went to sleep, I decided to think of something positive for once. One of the best days of my life.