Hometown

Friday

    I sigh, wrapping a towel around my waist and walk out of the bathroom. I walk to the staircase and run into someone. She stumbles back a bit and looks up at me.
    "Jughead."
    "Hi, Betty." I swallow. "You uh, you look great."
    "You too, I'm just going up to see your mom, but I brought everyone else pops too."
    "Oh, they're in the living room. You know where mom is."
    "Oh, well, you seem to be busy so here you go." She said, passing me a pops bag.
    "Thanks." I smile, walking up the stairs.
    I watch as she walks into the living room, passing pops bags to dad and Jelly, then down the hall into mom's room. She hasn't changed much. She has more defined curves and is definitely more...shapely than I remember. I shake the thought of her from my head and pull on an 's' shirt and black jeans. I glance down in the bag and see two burgers, fries and onion rings. She remembers my order. I smile.
    I reach the living room and thank Betty for the food again. She smiles and passes me a chocolate milkshake. She remembers that too. I smile at her and give her a hug.
    "It's nice to see you again."
    She hesitates before answering. "It's nice to see you too."
    "We should hand out sometime, maybe when you aren't visiting my mom."
    "Jughead, you should go see her. She wishes you would."
    "Ya, I don't know. It's just weird to see her sick, not herself."
    "If you don't, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
    "What does that mean?"
    "She's dying, Jughead. I know I shouldn't be the one to tell you, but you need to go see her."
    "No, thank you for telling me. I'll go see her tomorrow, I just need to prepare myself for it."
    She nods, resting a reassuring hand on my arm. "I'm actually going in to see her again, why don't you-"
    "Betty!" Dad exclaims, giving her a big hug. "You have been such a big help to this family and we were wondering if you would be Gladys part-time nurse. We would pay you, obviously and it would just be for a couple of hours, since your working on your Degree. Jug, did you know betty is majoring in nursing and minoring in journalism?"
    "No, I didn't. That's incredible, congratulations."
    She smiles at me. "Thank you, Jughead. Do you want to head to your mom's room with me?"
    "Oh, sure. Thank you."
    I walk down the hall we ith Betty, to what used to be a guest room, but is now filled with medication and medical equipment. I stare at my mom from across the room for a second before Betty leads me to a chair near her bed and sits down next to me. We sit there for a second in silence as I examine my mom's thin, pale face. She coughs and I feel my breath hitch. Betty's hand quickly covers mine. She looks up at me and smiles sadly.
    "You okay?" She asks.
    "No, but...you have definitely made this easier on me, on all of us. Thank you."
    "My pleasure, Juggie."
    Juggie. I smile at the old nickname.