the girl next door ➳ a.a ♡ b.c.

Chapter Ten: Flatline

it had been about a week since betty cooper, the perfect girl next door, had been stabbed. she still hadn't woken up, but everyone had been going on with their lives like normal. everyone except the boy next door. his whole entire world was flipped upside down. he visited the blond anytime he possibly could. before school and after school, during lunch, during his free period. at this point the redhead had completely stopped doing homework, paying attention to classes, and he barley showed up for football practice which was something he once loved. but he loved the girl next door more, and he made sure to be by her side every minute. chuck had been arrested and was currently awaiting trial. alice was at the hospital every minute of every day. she was the only person there more than archie. veronica, cheryl, and everyone else came by in a steady flow. seeing if betty had woken up or bringing by flowers and balloons. but the balloons deflated and the flowers died. the days turned to weeks, and the weeks had quickly turned to two months. after two months the steady flow died down to archie and alice there everyday, veronica and cheryl a couple times a week, and everyone else once in a while. it had been two months of torture, two months of curiosity, two months of questions, two months of wondering if the glue that held together archie andrews' world would wake up, two months of hearing the machines monitoring her vitals steadily beeping. they were the only noise in the room, and the silence was slowly killing the anxious boy. all he wanted to hear was the sweet ring of betty's laugh, or the gentle sound of her voice. there was no sign of life in the blond, other than the heartbreakingly slow rise and fall of her chest, indicating she was in fact still breathing.
it was a day like any other, archie was sitting in the dark hospital room listening to the steady beeping of betty's heart monitor. it was the only thing that comforted him, the only thing that told him she was okay. he had grown use to the beeping, it didn't bother him like it did two months ago. he was sitting in one of the plastic chairs next to betty's bed, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. he told him self it was to comfort her, even though he knew she couldn't feel it, but in all honesty it was to comfort him. it made him feel like she would wake up, that maybe if he kept holding her hand it would jolt her awake somehow, so he kept holding her hand. it was cold and limp, almost as if all traces of life had left her body, but he kept holding it. clutching it like it was the only thing keeping him together, because it was. suddenly the comforting beeping stopped, and the long noise began. flatline. he looked to the monitor where the line signaling the girl's pulse once danced around, but now it was a straight, heartbreaking line. he dropped her cold hand and flung the door open screaming down the busy hallway.
"help! someone please!" all eyes turned to him as doctors began rushing over. but his attention was ripped away from the hallway when betty began violently shaking. she was dying. it was she's first time the reality had really hit him. he was shaken from his thoughts as a doctor pushed him out of the once silent room.
"young man, i'm going to need you to stay out here." before archie could protest the door had been closed and he was stuck outside. left to his mind. which had instantly thought the worst, he didn't know what was going on. but he did know he needed to call someone. alice? his dad? polly?
"dad, you need to get alice and polly, and get to the hospital right now. betty she, um...i don't know if she's going to make it." his voice broke as he spoke to his dad over the phone. the bitter tears were rolling down his face, and he couldn't stop them.
"betty cooper is the strongest girl i know. she'll get through this." his dad reassured him. archie hung up the phone quickly. his head was a mess, his thoughts were scrambled. all he could think was the girl who he was destined to spend the rest of his life with, was dying. what would he do without her, he wouldn't be able to go on with his life. he would never love anyone more than he loved elizabeth cooper. he could never bring himself to love anyone else the way he loved her. without her he wouldn't get married, have kids, become a grandfather. his thoughts were quickly and dangerously getting the best of him. but he knew he needed to snap out of it. he had to be strong for betty, and he would be. he needed her.