Heartbreak (Bughead) ✓

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞

Once Jughead got back from the bathroom, he didn't talk nor even dare to move from his seat. He felt numb. There was no other way to describe it. His brain went numb to try to save him from the feeling of all of the heartbreak, but yet it never stopped it all. 

When his father tried to talk to him, he didn't answer back. He mentally and physically couldn't do it. He just zoned out for a while, hoping everything around him would just disappear. 

It wasn't until a nurse had come over to them when he finally broke out of his dangerously silent trance, fleeing from his thoughts for just a moment. 

"She's set up in her room if you'd like to see her," The nurse stated, getting their attention. "If you'd like to follow me..."

So that's what happened. It seemed like an eternity to finally step foot in front of the door. It seemed unreal how she was just a few feet from him, but completely hidden by the door and the surrounding walls. 

Alice was the one to finally open the door, gulping as she saw her almost lifeless daughter unconscious in a hospital bed. Jughead's heart dropped once she came into view, guilt twisting his stomach. 

Maybe if I had just swerved out of the way a little, this wouldn't have happened. He thought. 

Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, just like his. She had her left arm and right ankle in a white cast, her wrist fractured and her ankle broken. She also wore an oxygen tube, feeding oxygen to her lungs from a nearby tank placed by the foot of the IV cart. From what they had been told before; she had just been taken off of a ventilator system. 

A monitor stood next to her, monitoring her heart rate, blood pressure, and a few other things he hadn't known of. It seemed unreal how many tubes and wires were coming from her body. It didn't look right.  

Jughead felt his father put a hand on his back to help comfort him, now standing next to him. Alice just stood at the end of the bed, tears streaming down her face. 

"It's not your fault," He spoke, glancing back and forth between the two. "You know that, right?"

He didn't get an answer.

"Right?"

"Ya..." Jughead managed to spit out, his voice sounding weak. "I know..."

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It had now been almost two days that Betty had been unconscious in the same hospital bed. During those days, neither Jughead nor Alice dared to leave her side. Knowing very well so, F.P. would come and go, bringing them clothes and everyday necessities, along with food. 

Even some of Betty's close friends had done a sort of the same thing, minus the clothes and random items. Veronica had brought some fancy type of New York pastry she stated one of her family members made, along with a few of her favourite memories with the blonde. 

Veronica being Veronica, even somehow hired an amazing lawyer to tackle the legal business of the crash with the police and a few attornies, knowing very well that it would be too much for the others to handle. They thanked her very much for that. 

It wasn't until almost ten at night when Jughead's father walked into the hospital room, carefully shutting the door behind himself. 

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Jughead questioned, straightening his posture in his chair a little. "Shouldn't you be at home?" 

"No, but you should be," He replied, making the boy gulp. "Alice too,"

"But-"

"You both have barely slept a wink in days," F.P. spoke, pulling his keys out from his pocket. "I'll stay here for tonight while you both sleep and shower,"