𝐑𝐈𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐃𝐄, riverdale [2]

THREE

Mariah sat next to her mother in the waiting room. The blonde was on the verge of sleep while her mother was typing furiously on her phone. The clicking of multiple sets of heels made both Colemans look up. Josie, Valerie, and Melody stood in front of them. Ms. Coleman smiled politely at the three before standing.

"I'll let you girls chat," she said before walking over to where Alice sat. The three girls sat in the empty seats next to the blonde. Mariah sat up straighter and looked at Josie. "What's up?" Mariah asked. "We just came to check on Archie and Mr. Andrews. We also wanted to know how you were doing," Josie answered.

Mariah sighed and looked down at her hands. "I'm great," she said. Valerie rolled her eyes. "That's obviously not true," she said. "You can talk to us, you know," Melody said. Mariah smiled lightly at the three. "Yeah, um, there's just a lot going on," Mariah muttered. "Of course, there is. With Mr. Andrews and everything," Josie said.

"Yeah, Mr. Andrews," the blonde mumbled. The three pussycats looked at each other. "Is there something else going on?" Valerie asked. Mariah didn't look at them. Instead, she looked down at the phone in her lap. "I just realized that I, uh, need to call Cheryl. Tell her what's going on," Mariah said.

She stood from her seat and turned to look at the girls. "Thanks for checking on me. I appreciate it," she said before turning toward the door. She walked away from the waiting room and sighed. She dialed Cheryl's number and pressed the phone to her ear. She listened to it ring and tapped her foot against the linoleum floors.

"Hello," Cheryl said after the third ring. "Cheryl, hey. Where are you?" Mariah asked. "At the hospital," the redhead responded. Mariah paused for a moment. "So you heard about what happened to Mr. Andrews then," the blonde said. "I did. But that's not why I'm here," Cheryl replied.

"Then why are you here? Are you okay?" Mariah asked quickly. "I'm fine. But there was a fire at Thornhill. Mother was badly burned," she replied. "Where are you? What room?" Mariah questioned. "Twenty two," the redhead said. "All right, I'm coming," Mariah replied before hanging up the phone.

She walked down the hallways of the hospital and looked for the room. When she found it, she saw Cheryl, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. "Cheryl," Mariah said. Cheryl looked up at Mariah, who stood in the doorway. She beckoned the girl forward and Mariah entered the room.

"Is she okay?" Mariah asked quietly. Cheryl stood from the bed and walked over to her friend. "Unfortunately, yes," she answered. "What about Mr. Andrews? Is he okay?" The redhead asked. Mariah shrugged and looked down. "I don't know. He's out of surgery but the doctor said he wasn't breathing on his own. I just hope he'll be okay," Mariah answered.

"I'm sure he will be. He is an Andrews after all. They never seem to give up. On anything," Cheryl said. Mariah nodded and sighed. She looked over at where Mrs. Blossom laid. "How did a fire start?" The blonde asked. Cheryl shrugged, "They say one of the candles tipped over and caught one of the curtains on fire. And you know how easily fire spreads."

"I have many questions to ask you about this but I'm too tired to ask them," the blonde said. Mariah took a seat in one of the room's chairs. "It seems as though a lot of bad stuff keeps happening in this town. It's very unnerving," Mariah said. "Yeah. And this is a small town. These kinds of things shouldn't happen here," Cheryl added.

Mariah nodded her head and the two were engulfed into a peaceful silence. The blonde fell asleep without meaning to.

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Cheryl aggressively shook Mariah's shoulder, growing concerned when the blonde didn't wake up. "Mariah!" Cheryl called. She received no answer and began slapping the blonde's cheeks.