Cheryls POV
"Babe, wake up," I hear
Toni was kneeling beside me and pointed to a doctor. I jerk up.
"Babe don't wake Kait or Madi," She says pointing to the two kids beside me
I nod and get up slowly and go into the hall with Toni and the boys with the doctor. He looks tired and defeated.
"I was the head surgeon on Tayleighs surgery today," he says "You were informed of her condition when she arrived correct?"
"Yes," Toni sputters
"We did end up getting her pulse back to a steady rate and her breathing at least shallow, We worked on her and removed both bullets but with the intense bleeding and the shock her body went through- we had to quit. Thankfully she is alive and the next 24 hours are critical, they will determine whether we can continue the procedure of stopping the rest of the bleeding or hope that her body ends up clotting herself. She is in critical-unstable condition in the pedestrian ICU and you can visit her in about an hour. Prepare yourself, and her siblings she looks sick, she is sick, but kids are often more resilient than you and me. Kids believe in miracles and it gets them through things they shouldn't or wouldn't. It's my personal opinion that if Tayleigh wasn't trying to fight, if she wanted to give up, she would've done it by now," he says
"Thank you doctor, for everything," I say
"Oh and here are the items found on Tay that the police didn't take as evidence,"
He hands us a bag and walks away.
Still shocked we all sit down and take in the news. Suddenly Toni grabs the bag and looks at something in it.
"Cher, this isn't Tayleighs ring- it's Alex's," she says shocked
"What?" I ask confused
"The one we gave Madi and her last January, and this necklace, I've seen Alex wear it before,"
"Mommy?" Kait says tugging on Toni's sleeve from beside her
"Ya sweetie?" Toni replies
"What's that?" She points to the bag
"Oh just things they found with Tay-Tay," She says
"Why is Alex's nightmare necklace in it?" She asks confused
"What's a nightmare necklace Kait?" I ask her intrigued
"Alex gave it to Tayleigh after she had a nightmare a couple weeks ago, and then last week she gave it to me when I had a nightmare. She said someone from her past said it would keep the bad people away so she wore it when she was scared,"
Toni looks at the necklace.
"Kait did you notice Tay get out of bed?"
"She was moving around a lot I guess, but I just went to sleep, she has nightmares a lot,"
"I know she does," Toni says hugging her "go back to sleep kiddo,"
Kait lies down beside Madi again
"Cheryl, what if Tayleigh had a bad nightmare, saw Alex leaving and followed her assuming she was going to see Fangs and FP," Toni says looking at the necklace
"Maybe Alex was trying to stop the bleeding and gave up because who ever it was came for her? And she just wanted to comfort Tay?"
Kevin walks in just as we Are contemplating
"Guys, we logged everything off Alex's phone, that led to our main suspect- Dylan Hali, also known as the ghoulie prince," he says "there was a conversation talking about meeting at midnight, then Alex texted him saying she was going early because she had an opportunity to leave, then there was a 2 minute conversation, we decrypted what was said and basically, Alex backed out said she wasn't scared anymore and was t going to do what he asked her to, and hung up from what we have so far. After this call we are estimating about 2 minutes later shots were fired and she called 911,"
"Kev, when they found Tay, was there anything to say someone tried to help her?" Toni says after a few minutes of silence
"Yes, my deputies found a serpent jacket not far from her, but someone had kicked Tay her from the edge of the road closer to the ditch and that came off," he says "actually that was the other thing I was supposed to tell you, the jacket was found and there are marks to suggest there was a struggle so we officially put out a Amber Alert but we need 3 pictures of Alex."
"Ok," I say reaching for my phone
"She's on the left," Toni says
"She's on the left again,"
I send him the photos and he goes out of the room to send them to be put on the Amber Alert.
"T, should I drop out of the race?" I ask grabbing her hand
"No Cher, you can do it and make Riverdale safer for everyone," She says firmly
"Babe, What happens when Madi and Kait wake up, what do we tell them," I ask
"That everything will be ok? I don't know Cher, Whatever seems right," she says "maybe tell Mads more of the truth than Kait, not that she'll actually remember,"
We sit down and I put my head on her shoulder. We all sit in silence until a doctor comes in.
"Tayleigh is now stable enough to go into surgery but we need permission to do so," He says almost in a panic
"Of course, do what you need to do," I say sitting up
"We will update you as often as possible," he says leaving the room
"It's going to be ok Cher," Toni says kissing my jawline
"I know, I know. But what is it isn't?"
"It will be,"
A/N: NEXT CHAPTER THERE IS 1-2 MAJOR TIME JUMPS AND WE FIND MORE OUT, ALEX COMES BACK SOON ISH