Jabitha Oneshots

Hear You

Jughead struggles to cope with his recently developed hearing loss. Tabitha assures him that all will be ok.

Jughead couldn't wait for the ringing to stop. He lay in a hospital bed, with wires sticking out of his arms and his head propped up, bathing in a pool of white light. It had only been a day since he had been rushed into the emergency room and he was already sick of being away from society. And even worse, he had no idea when his hearing would return. All he could hear was white noise, mixed with the distant sounds of muffled nonsense, which he assumed were the sounds he used to recognise.

He was struggling to fall asleep when he felt a soft tap on his elbow. Looking up, Jughead saw a doctor wearing light blue scrubs bending over him, her mouth moving without any audible words coming out. It sounded as though she was deep underwater.

"If you're asking how I'm feeling, which I imagine you are, I still have a headache. And if you want to know whether my hearing's any better, it's not." He said bitterly, rolling over.

Behind him, the doctor sighed and walked away from the bed.

A few minutes later, Tabitha strode through the door, quickening her pace as she saw her boyfriend lying in the bed. Jughead saw her out of the corner of his eye and rolled over immediately. He opened his arms weakly, and she flung herself into them, pressing a gentle kiss to his lips and cupping his cheeks. She said something but he couldn't hear her. That was the last straw.

"Sorry Tab, I-I can't..." he trailed off and his voice broke. He buried his head in his girlfriend's shoulder, allowing himself a few, blissful moments of weakness. Tears ran down his face and into the soft, cotton fabric of her shirt. It felt good to cry.

When he pulled away, wiping his eyes, he noticed the dark circles under Tabitha's eyes and the fresh tear stains cutting across her cheeks.

"Hey, have you slept? Or eaten today?"

She shook her head hesitantly and he sighed, stroking her cheek in gentle circular motions.

"I'm sorry. If you want to join me in the bed, we can have a power nap together and then get the nurses to bring us some lunch afterwards?"

She nodded but held up a finger. Wait, she mouthed, bending down, and pulling a notepad and pen from her handbag. She scribbled for a moment before holding it out for him to read.

'Jug, I just want you to know that I love you and I'll be here for you through all of this. I spoke to the doctor, and she says it may take up to a year for your hearing to return, so I was thinking maybe we could speak to the Riv. High ASL teacher and arrange for us to learn some basics so we can communicate properly? + Archie and Betty are both alright and they told me that when you're ready they'd love to visit you.'

Fresh tears pricked Jughead's eyes as he leaned in, drawing their lips together and allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck. They embraced for mere seconds before he pulled away, "as much as I would love to keep on kissing you, I'm worried that with the way you get me flustered, the heart monitor will go off."

Tabitha blushed and squeezed his hand, before pointing to the notebook and raising her eyebrows.

"If that's a 'does it sound like a plan?' look, it does. If you're ok with learning sign language for my sake, of course?"

She nodded furiously, snuggling into his chest and allowing him to run a hand through her hair.

"Wait, am I speaking too loudly?"

He looked down at her.

Tabitha smiled and he imagined the sweet sound of her laugh; he just prayed he'd be able to hear it again.

She shrugged and mimed yelling.

He gave a guilty smirk, lowering his voice to a whisper.

"Sorry, I guess you're stuck with my poor voice control until we learn sign language."

A few hours later, the pair had awoken, spending some time awkwardly communicating through a combination of charades and Tabitha's notebook. Finally, they flopped back against the bed, tired from laughing and miming to each other. They both exhaled deeply and grinned at each other. Jughead then picked up the remote before turning to look at his girlfriend.

"Lunch is in a few minutes. Want to watch some low-quality hospital programs while we wait for the nurses to come in? I think they have some Stephen King remakes from the 90's on here."

"With subtitles?" she mouthed.
"With subtitles."