Chapter 16 Hospital And New Normal

29 0 0
                                    

Archie woke up in the hospital but when he did wake up, the first thing he asked about was the bomb. If it had gone off or not.

"I managed to fiddle around with some wires and disarm it" Betty said.

"And that's why I love you, Betty" Jughead smiled, kissing her on the forehead.

"When I was....at the warehouse, I thought I was gonna die. I wished I had died" Archie said.

"Archie, don't say stuff like that" Veronica said, shaking her head a bit.

"You don't get it, Ronnie. Ever since the accident I've been stuck in the corner. Feeling like there's nothing else for me to do because I'm in a wheelchair" Archie said.

"But you won't be in it forever, Arch. The doctor did say-" Jughead said before being cut off by Archie.

"I know what the doctor said, alright!?" Archie snapped. Veronica soon left the room.

"Guys, can you give Archie and I the room for a minute please?" Fred asked. Everyone slowly began to leave the room.

"Ok, tell me what's going on with you. You're acting a lot different than you were before all of this" Fred said, sitting down in the chair beside Archie's bed.

"Dad, you already know the answer" Archie said.

"I know but I want to hear it from you" Fred said.

"I had a life before this accident. I had a full scholarship lined up for me. Now it's ruined" Archie said.

"Archie, you've been told time and time again that you won't be in the wheelchair forever. Once you're back on your feet, you can go back to doing football" Fred said.

"But when, Dad?" Archie asked.

"I don't know son" Fred said, sighing a little.

A few weeks had passed and Archie was finally out of the hospital and at home. What was also really good was that Archie's back was getting better. So better that he barely had to use the wheelchair anymore. Instead, he used a walking stick. He admitted that it didn't look good on him but he knew that this was going to be the new normal for a while. At least until his back was completely healed.

"Archie! Time for dinner!" Mary called out from downstairs. Archie didn't answer.

"Archie!?" Mary called out, walking out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. Still no answer. She climbed the stairs towards her sons room and when she pushed Archie's bedroom door open, she found Archie asleep. She walked over to him and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Honey?" Mary said gently, putting a hand on Archie's shoulder. Archie flinched a little and looked at his mother with tired eyes.

"You ok?" Mary asked.

"Just exhausted" Archie said, rubbing his eyes and sitting up.

"Well, dinners ready. You wanna come down or do you want me to bring some dinner up for you?" Mary asked.

"It's ok, I'll come down. I just have to go to the bathroom first" Archie said, grabbing his walking stick and using it to push himself up from his bed.

"Ok, I'll be downstairs with your father" Mary said as she then left the room. Archie then walked to the bathroom and turned the light on. There he looked at the scar on his shoulder. Curtesy of Nick. As he looked at it, flashes of Nick torturing him flooded his mind.

He sighed before grabbing a shirt and putting it on. He then left the bathroom and headed downstairs to the first floor.

"Hey son, you ok?" Fred asked as he watched Archie sit down at the table.

"Yeah" Archie replied, looking at his father. Mary then brought over some bowls of food and placed them down on the table.

"Thanks for dinner mom" Archie smiled slightly before digging into his food.

In The MiddleWhere stories live. Discover now