Unexpected | Beronica

Chapter 18: Recovery

AN: this chapter will be in Jughead's POV <3

Jughead woke up feeling better than ever. Well.. almost. It was the best he'd felt since the accident. The doctors told him not to think about that too much to avoid triggering anything, because they weren't sure if he would have post-traumatic stress reactions. He didn't think he had any, but still though, both the doctor and his dad had told him that it would be best to see a shrink after his treatment was finished to figure it out for sure.

FP had been great so far. Jughead couldn't remember the last time his father had been so caring and nurturing towards him, and to be honest it felt kinda nice. Jughead basically had to raise himself since a young age, what with his mother and sister skipping town and his father becoming an alcoholic... It had definitely not been an easy life for him. But, since the accident, FP really seemed to have cleaned up his act. He'd shaved, didn't smell like booze, and was generally just looking a whole lot better. Jughead noticed that he might have lost some weight too.

Jughead was looking better too. It had been a tough road to recovery since the car accident, but he felt much better. He still had some trouble walking since his leg had been damaged after hitting a speeding car, but other than that everything else was basically fine. Besides, he didn't mind the extra holiday off of school and all the sleep he was getting. It did get a little boring sometimes, but the nurses, tv, and daily visits from his friends and family kept him occupied. Not to mention the exercises he had to do every day to stop him from being in bed 24/7 and consequently losing muscle mass.

Speaking of visits, his father was due to come soon. Every day FP would come in at exactly 10:15am with decent food and flowers, replacing the ones from the day before. It was a nice gesture really, and it always put a smile on Jughead's face.

No one else usually visited him during the day until 4pm, when school was over. Then, Archie and Toni always made sure to come in with smiles and updates with what was happening at school. That also made Jughead happy, knowing his friends still cared.

One person who hadn't visited him yet was Betty. Ever since the accident, Betty hadn't visited once... I mean, he didn't really blame her; their last conversation had been quite awkward. He couldn't stop thinking about it actually. He told her he loved her, they had a cute moment and everything, but all she did was lower her head and basically say "thank you". He didn't understand why that was her answer. They'd been dating for years and suddenly she couldn't bring herself to say "I love you" back?? He didn't want to look too much into it to avoid overthinking, but that was really hard. He'd wanted to ask her himself for an explanation, but she hadn't visited him yet and he didn't want to do it by phone.

At least Toni and Archie had visited him though. Archie always came in and talked about Veronica while trying to avoid talking about Betty. Jughead could tell that Archie was trying his hardest not to mention her name, since he knew about the "I love you" situation, but appreciated the gesture. But still, the two boys talked about both the teachers and students alike, laughing about the ridiculous things their biology teacher said. I mean, they really had the weirdest biology teacher ever.

After Archie left, Toni arrived. Toni came in every day with hot chocolate and classic movies, always laughing about how they were both "such geeks". Neither of them minded that they were geeks though, and always watched a movie together before Toni went back home. It was sweet really, and they'd become quite close friends since they met at school. She was like a female version of him, which he found awesome and always commented on when she did something similar to him. When they were together, Jughead somehow forgot that Betty wasn't and hadn't been there. It was nice, and he appreciated it.

Today wasn't going to be any different; Archie will arrive at 4pm, they'll talk for about half and hour, then he'll leave and make his way back to school for football practice. Then, Toni will arrive at about 4:45pm bearing gifts, stay for about 2 hours (enough time to watch a movie) and head home herself. And lastly, at 8, FP will walk into the room, close the curtains, say good night, and leave.