Behind Revenge's Door

Reckonings and Fields

Third Person POV
Archie Andrews was driving. He had never driven before. He hadn't turned sixteen yet, he didn't even have his permit.
Maddy would have my ass if she saw me driving her car, he thought to himself as he saw his sister's eyes open slowly.
"Archie?" Madison asked, her voice barely breaking the silence that rang through Archie's ears louder than her voice. "Fuck!" Maddy groaned in pain as she felt her body scream in protest as she tried to breath, the hot blood staining her tan sweater.
"Mads, just hang on," Archie said as he set on hand on Madison's, trying to calm her without taking his eyes off the road, and without hurting her.
Madison began to jump back and forth between stable and unstable. As Archie finally managed to get to Riverdale General Hospital, Archie noticed she was barely breathing. He leaned over the seat, looking at his pale, dying sister.
"Madison?! Can you hear me?" He asked frantically, his hand on her face.
"You gotta tell him I love him," Madison grunted as her eyes closed. "He never heard me say it."
"Madison, Maddy no!" Archie yelled.
Archie didn't remember what happened next, only that he had been carrying his bloody sister into the hospital, screaming for help as tears mixed with Madison's blood that covered his being.

Archie's POV
The doctor's finally took Madison into the operating room, I followed the doctors in as far as I could, but there wasn't much I could do. The blood, the gore, it was too much. The only thing I could do, was call Betty. Betty would have half the town here in seconds.
That's what I needed.
The waiting room was cold, empty. I didn't have anyone here who knew me. Parents of children looked horrified at my appearance, covered in blood, a hurt hand, I looked like something out of a movie.
A nurse had come over a few times to try to fix my hand, but I refused to get admitted into the hospital. I needed to make sure Maddy knew someone was here for her. It wasn't until the nurse offered to wrap my hand in the waiting room did I agree to fixing it. I had, honestly, simply planned to wait it out until I knew Madison was alright. There wasn't anything else for me to do.

Veronica's POV
"What is that?" Mother asked me suspiciously as I took a seat at our dining table, a mimosa in one hand, a pastry in one.
"A chocolate almond croissant from Beans and Beluga," I shrugged, feigning innocence at her true question. "I'd share, but there's just this one."
"The other thing,"
"Oh," I smiled at my mother. "It's a mimosa. I saw a bottle of champagne in the fridge just dying to be opened,"
Mother groaned. "That was a bottle of Cristal for your father."
I was about to say something when my phone blared from next to me.
"That better not be your house guest," my mother said and I shook my head.
"No it's Betty."
I set the phone to my ear and smiled into the phone. "Hey Betty-"
"Madison's been shot."

Madison's POV
"Hey, Gorgeous," I heard.
I was in a field of flowers. A white dress was on my pale body in the still, windless plateau.
It was breathtaking... absolutely stunning. The flowers went on for what looked like miles. The glow of gold was everywhere I looked. When I looked up, I saw FP standing there with a smile.
The sky was dark, and the yellow flowers all around us glowed in the moonlight. Brushing my hands against the flowers, gold dust stuck to my hands. It was magical. This dust coated my hands as if fair dust had been sprinkled all around. It felt religious, it felt sacred. As if I was privy to something not many were. As if I were gifted with some sort of utopia hidden from the massage.
I smiled at FP as I began to walk towards him.
"You're ok!" I smiled at him as I jumped, my arms wrapping around him. He laughed as he spun me around before kissing me passionately on the lips.
"But you're not," FP said, a satirical laugh echoing from his lips, as if the world had stopped when he boomed.
"What?" I asked FP, confused.
"You didn't survive," I pushed FP away, scared of the look on his eyes, when my hands left his chest, I saw a set of red handprints on him.
Looking at my hands, I saw the gold dust had turned red.
The shredding, hot pain bounced through me as I looked down at my hands, and then to my stomach.
Blood seeped through the white dress like ink in water, and I felt my head begin to sting.
FP didn't help. He didn't even blink.
I was going to die.

Doctor Stephen Masters' POV
This girl shouldn't survive. No one should survive this.
Miss Andrews suffered a single gunshot to the abdomen. It ripped her stomach nearly in half, and it almost paralyzed her, but just barely missing her spine.
From what her brother told us, the injured woman suffered through the hard, excruciatingly painful car ride from Pop Tate's diner to the hospital.
"She should have died in that car," The nurse said and I nodded as I found the piece of bullet stuck in her body, pulling it out with a pair of shiny metal forceps.
"Yes. She should have."
But as the machines shrieked around all of us in the operating room, as her brother stood helplessly outside, I didn't think she would survive.
Yet, it wasn't until the woman had lost a heartbeat when I was truly terrified we'd lose her.
My blood ran cold as I shouted, "We have a code blue!"

Betty's POV
Veronica, Jug, my parents, Fred Andrews and I all walked into the emergency room waiting hall to see Archie sitting, staring out the window. His knees were pulled to his chest, and he had dirt and blood all over his body. Fred choked back a sob as Veronica ran to Archie, taking him into a hug.
"Son," Fred choked out to Archie as the two embraced. "What happened?"
"A robbery," Archie frowned as tears welled in his eyes. "Maddy's still in surgery. I don't know if she's going to make it."
"How did you get here?" Jughead asked Archie as Archie grabbed a pair of silver car keys from his jacket pocket.
"I drove Maddy's car. I called an ambulance from Pop's but..."
"She would have died if you didn't do what you did, Son," Fred said to Archie and pulled him into a hug.

Jughead Jones' POV
Never once did I think Madison would get hurt. I couldn't believe she had been shot.
I wasn't surprised she jumped in front of Archie, I was never surprised with her when it came to that. She was always stupidly selfless.
Tears welled in my eyes. Maddy wasn't my mom, but she sure felt like one. It was more than I'd ever had before.
"Do they know if she's stable?" Betty asked Archie after he hugged Mr Andrews and shook his head.
"No, they, uh," Archie's voice cracked, "they said they couldn't tell until they stopped the bleeding."

Archie Andrew's POV
I had to call Mom. Dad would fall apart if he tried to. He felt guilt enough over Madison getting shot. I couldn't put him up to this.
"Hey Sweetie!" Mom had smiled over the phone.
"Hey, Mom," I sighed.
"How's in Riverdale? Is everyone alright?" She asked, innocently.
I hated that I was about to ruin her day.
"Yeah, uhm," I started and shook my head as tears clouded my vision. "Actually, Mom, Maddy's shot. She was protecting me from a robbery at Pop's."
"What?!" Mom's sad voice sounded broken as I could hear tears form in her voice.
"I really think you should come back to Riverdale, in case we have to say our goodbyes."