Northside Angel

Three

Adeline's P.O.V

I walked inside the hospital to go to dad's room with Archie. We got to the room where Cheryl was giving our dad a kiss on the forehead.

"Cheryl. What're you doing?" Archie asked.

"Paying you back for saving me at Sweetwater River. You gave me the kiss of life, Archie Andrews. Now I've given it to your dad. He's going to be just fine," Cheryl said.

"Thanks, Cheryl," I said. 

"Toodles," She said to us before leaving. 

"I've been thinking about what I can say to you, Dad. And I kinda started imagining what we would've talked about at Pop's this morning, if things hadn't gone to hell. You would've asked me about Veronica. I would've told you how crazy I am about her," Archie let out a chuckle. We sat down, trying to talk to our dad.

"You would have said, that's great, but take it slow, Archie, no one's getting married," Archie said.

We paused. We looked up to see dad's eyes open. I held his hand and gave it a small squeeze.

"Dad? Can you hear us?" I asked him. He looked at me and nodded. Archie and I smiled at him. 

"I'll get the doctor," I told them. I ran out to find the nearest doctor I could find. 

After they checked on our dad, the doctor left. We looked back at him as we smiled.

"Dad, I just want you to know I'm sorry I didn't do more at Pop's," Archie told dad.

"Archie-"

"And whether or not Sheriff Keller finds the person who did this or not, you don't have to worry. I'm gonna protect you. Nothing like this is ever gonna happen to you again, I swear it. I'm going to protect you and Adeline," Archie told him.

"Son. That's why I came back. To protect you and your sister," Dad told us. We both smiled at him.

As soon as dad was allowed to come home, mom was there helping us. She brought the food she made upstairs to dad. I looked over at Archie who had a baseball bat. I frowned a little as he held onto it.

"Do you think that's really necessary?" I asked. 

"I made a promise to you and dad. I'm keeping you both safe now," Archie told me.

"Archie, I can protect myself," I told him.

"I'm sure you can. However, I want to make sure you're safe now," Archie told me.

"Archie, we will get through this together," I told him before going upstairs.