The Serpent of Love

33: The hospital (Part 4: Dad)

February 8, 2020

“I don't fucking care you have other children!” I hear FP yelling as I make my way trough the paking lot of the Riverdale hospital, carring a Pop's paper bag. “I don't care! She's your daughter too, Hal!”
I sigh quietly and keep walking to him. I think he sees me, because he stops yelling, but keeps looking mad and talking to my dad. "Look, Hal, I don't give a shit about you. But I do care about her. You don't even know your own children anymore, you know nothing about what they're dealing with an- yes, she's fucking here." His eyes go on me as I stop a little in front of him and sighs. "Honey, he wants to talk to you."
"I really don't have time at the moment. Tell him I'll call him back tomorrow..." I say and walk past him, inside.
I go to the waiting room and give everyone a thing they ordered from Pop's. I make sure Lynette is okay, because Taylor is making out with Kevin every second and I don't want her to feel alone, but she says she's great and continues talking to Toni afterwards. I take my and Jug's and Jellybean's food and go into his room. I sigh, seeing he's already up.
"You said you'll be here when I wake up, liar," he accuses the exact moment I step inside the room and close the door behind me.
"I got us Pop's," I say.
"You better..." he smiles.
I give Jellybean all of her order and look at Gladys. "You know, I got 4 burgers for Jug, if you change your mind, you can eat," I say.
She chuckles. "I'm okay, honey, I already ate."
I nod and go to Jughead now. I give him a peck on the lips and put all of his food on the bed and hold the milkshake in front of him. His hand takes it, shaking less by today, and starts sipping the chocolate milkshake with the straw.
"It's bad for the enviorment," Jelly murmurs, making us laugh.
"It is," Jug agrees. "You should tell it to Pop, he's a good guy, maybe he'll get the exact same one for you every single time you go there."
"Ha ha," Jelly says. I smile and start eating my food as well.
The doctor enters the room and we looo there. He smiles at all of us as we're eating and I stand up from the edge of his bed just in case he wants to get closer. "How are you feeling?" he asks Jughead, who is chewing on his french fries and burger.
Jug shows him a thumb up.. "Better than in a while," he says after he swallows. "This burger tastes amazing."
We chuckle. "He means if the pain is better," I grin.
"A little, but still hurts, so thanks for reminding me," he tells me. I roll my eyes.
"Are you able to sit up by yourself?" the doctor asks. Jug frowns as he lets the bed back into a lying position. "You have healed great, but it'll still hurt for a long time," the doctor continues. "If you can stand up, it's possible to get to go home tomorrow..."
Jug gives me his half eaten burger and points a finger at me with a look that tells me not to take a bite. I bring it to my mouth immediately and take a big one, winking at him, making him grin and shake his head.
Gladys helps to get all the food on a chair and then Jughead gets hinself into a sitting position, looking content.
"Okay, where does it hurt the most?" the doctor asks.
"My back probably..." he says with a frown and slides his legs off the bed, his feet touching the ground now. I instinctively take a step closer as his hands get ready to push himself onto his feet. He gets up with a few seconds and grabs my wrist for balance, the feet not used to having any weight on them.
His face is tense as he moves his feet and gets them to walk a few steps before stopping, eyes mirroring pain.
"Okay, sit down," I say quietly and help him sit on the closest chair, just next to the food.
"You look weird," Jelly says, observing the hospital clothes on him. We chuckle quietly and he reaches out for his burger, which I give him.
I look back at the doctor, who is smiling once again. "Okay. It hurt?"
"A bit," Jug lies.
He frowns. "A lot, you mean?"
"Maybe," Jug grins and takes another bite from the burger.
"Okay. I bet you love wheelchairs, right?" the doctor asks. He says it with a really happy tone, but we all know he does it sarcastically.
"I'd rather stay here," Jug murmurs back.
"I'll get you a crutch and then let's see," the doctor says and goes out of the room. Jug's eyes go on me immediately.
"You're tall," he says in amazement.
"You're tall," I say back. He places the burger on his cast and looks at it intensively as his healthy arm curls around my waist and pulls me to sit on his lap.
I catch the burger just as it's about to fall, grinning to myself as he opens his mouth and I stuff all of it inside there.
"You're hurting when you're walking, but not like this?" I ask. He shakes his head, hand in my hair and pulls my cheek against his, just the way we like. FP helped gim shave today in the morning and I love it so much more, only a mini stubble against my face, allowing me to feel his skin better.

"Betty?" FP whispers. I look away from the sleeping Jughead and at him on the door. "Come with me."
I frown. "No."
"Please," he sighs. I frown and look back at Jughead. I give his forehead a soft kiss and uncurl my hand from his hair, standing up. I keep eyecontact with FP while we both walk out of the room and then I stop.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Are you mad at me?" he asks.
"No," I chuckle. "But if my dad's here, I'm really not in the mood to talk to either of you."
"Honey, he just wants to talk to you."
"Wait, he's actually here?" I ask with a sigh. He nods. I roll my eyes. "I have wanted to talk to him for about a year now. He doesn't answer my calls or texts and I don't have the opportunity to go to New York every time."
"I know," he says, understanding my situation. "Just please. Talk to him for just a minute at least. Just losten to what he has to say."
"Do you know what he has to say?" I ask.
"No. He didn't tell me anything. He just said he'll talk to you."
"He's a jerk," I murmur.
"I know," he agrees and his hand goes onto my back, pushing me in front of him carefully.
I sigh and force my legs to move towards the waiting room where he's probably waiting for me. When we get there, it's not only him though. It's his wife and kids as well. And all my friends are just sitting in silence, staring or well... glaring at him. We used to be a family. And they were always a part of it.
"I thought you told me he was here to talk to me?" I ask FP, teeth pressed together.
"Well, suprise then I guess," he murmurs. I give him a look, but he gives me a soft push and I sigh, walking into the waiting room slowly. I feel all the eyes on me, so I look at my friends, who look incredibly uncomfortable as well and give them a little head shake, telling them to stop. They look away from me and I feel better immediately.
I look back at my dad and see that he is in shock, observing me with his eyes. He probably wasn't waiting for his daughter to be a grownup. Here I am.
"Betty," he breathes out as I reach them and stop a few feet away.
"You don't have time to answer my calls, but you have time to drive three hours away just to tell me some stupid excuse about why you haven't sent mom the money," I say. He gets taken aback from my bitter tone and frowns.
"Can I get a hug?" he asks eith a sigh a few seconds later.
"Can I get a dad?" I ask with my same mad tone that before and keep standing on the place, crossing my arms. He doesn't say anything, so I raise my eyebrows and shake my head. "What? No lies in your head at the moment?"
"Betty," I hear FP's voice, warning me not to go too far. I clink my teeth together and keep stating at my dad's blank face.
"You've grown," he says finally, brain starting functioning again.
"No shit, I haven't seen you since November 2018."
He sighs and drops his head onto his nape. I take my time and let my eyes move onto his children, my half brothers, one who is a baby and the other one, Matthias, about 1,5 years old who is looking at me. I swallow, my face probably reflecting the sadness. I'll never get a chance to even know my brothers, because our dad who just makes it unbearable.
"Okay, I need to talk to you," he sighs.
I give him a nod. "Go ahead."
He looks annoyed at me as he points at the door, to talk outside. I sigh and go to my coat next to Taylor. He hands it to me, but doesn't let go. I meet his eyes and see that he is telling me to calm down. I roll mine now and pull my ciat on and walk straight out of the door, nt ern looking at my dad or anyone else.

"Here," I murmur to FP, handing him a big amount of cash. "Send it to mom or buy me a ticket, I don't care." He looks confused, but I just make my way back to Jug's room, wiping my tears away at the same time. I stop in front of the water cannister, and swallow my last anxiety pill with the water. I need to buy more.
I walk to Jug's room and see him already awake, lying there, just waiting for someone to come. He looks at me and smiles, but then his face gets worried. "Baby, what's wrong?" he asks.
"Nothing. My dad was here, he gave me the money and tried to talk to me, but I'm mad at him, so he started yelling at me and I hate him even more," I say, falling into the chair next to his bed and drop my head against the wall behind me.
My eyes go on him as he pushes himself to sit up and then to stand. He carefully sits dowm on the chair next to me and his hand gently touches my cheek. I turn my head to face him and he wipes another tear away from my eye and wants to get me onto his lap, so I let him.
I rest my head against his, my nose nuzzling itself into his hair, his arm around me.
"What did he say?" he asks quietly and looks up at me. So I tell him about everything. How he tried to talk to me, but I pushed him even more away and offended him in many ways until he was yelling at me and told me I'm not his daughter anymore and how he basically threw the money at me and just drove away. By the end of the story I'm crying. He just holds me, not saying anything, and keeps kissing my head until I'm on the edge of sleep.
"I love you," he whispers just as unconciousness takes over my body.