"VERONICA!"
Jughead's POV
My heart shattered as I felt multiple emotions at once as I saw the man with a dagger in front of a bloodied, mangled Ronnie.
I feel so, very angry; heartbroken; scared to death.
I lunge at the man with my on-hand knife, jabbing at his jugular. He dodges, and I punch him in the face.
All I see is red.
I'm blinded by my anger, and he punches me repeatedly, stabbing my arm with his knife. He's stabbing my leg, shoulder, and goes for my throat, interrupted when I hear an all-too-familiar voice.
"You fucked with the wrong group, bastard." Cheryl's voice echoes throughout the basement as everything turns slow-motion, her screaming at me to duck as she sends a sharp arrow—legit on fire— straight towards the man's heart. I do as she says, dropping to the floor as the arrow hits his left chest, and time goes back to normal. He collapses onto the floor, and Toni sprints over to her girlfriend. They share a passionate kiss, and when they break, I say:
"Cheryl, I owe you my life."
"You can owe me later, Jones. Our best friend and your girlfriend is loosing blood quick." She says.
I run to Ronnie, picking her up and rushing out with Cheryl and Toni. Toni called an ambulance the second we saw Ronnie, so when we got to the outside of the house, we could hear their sirens.they parked in front of the Cooper residence, and take Ronnie from me. As much as I beg to be with her on the way, they won't let me. Toni ushers me onto her motorcycle with Cheryl, and she speeds to the hospital. We get there as the ambulance does, and Toni holds me back with help from Cheryl as I cry, trying to break free to get to the stretcher they brought the love of my life out of the car on. My heart shatters, and Toni leads me to the waiting room. Cheryl phones Ronnie's mom, and Hermione gets there in record time. We all hug for a long moment, crying together until a nurse comes in with news of Veronica.
"She's lost a lot of blood. She's going to have to have surgery for multiple reasons, and we have no clue when or if she'll wake up. We're having our best doctors work on her as you requested, Mrs. Lodge. But in case, you all will be welcome to say good-bye before surgery." The nurse smiles sympathetically, walking away into another room.
I stand there, oblivious to everything else but my thoughts.
She said Ronnie might not live.
She barely revealed anything about her current state.
Etc.
Until I'm also brought into a room. I'd completely forgotten about my injuries. They put me in the room next to Ronnie's and give me a pill so they could perform surgery.
Veronica's POV
I hear faint beeps and voices, also I feel like I'm being operated on. I couldn't move a muscle.
Is this the afterlife? I thought.
I quickly decided I hated it.
Three Days Later
(wow time jumps you should totally check out a book with those by me heh called Promises. totally not using this as a promo. Anywho)
Jughead was done with being operated, but he wasn't allowed to leave the hospital yet. However, he did have a wheelchair to move around on. He wasn't allowed to visit Ronnie, but since when did Jughead Jones care about rules?
He visited her for the first time, and poured his heart out to her. He told her about everything that happened while she was gone.
Veronica's Third-Person POV
Her mind needed a wake up call.
That's what she was thinking before she heard it.
Jughead's voice.
A faint mumble in her ears, only catching a few words.
He came in daily, and it improved her brainwaves and hearing. It took all her strength to just move her pinkie slightly in see-you-later. In the few words she caught, he was saying that they shouldn't say the words "good" and "bye" together. He one-sidedly agreed, but she did too. She just couldn't show it.
A Week Later.
Jughead was talking to Ronnie with Cheryl in the room when suddenly the heart beat monitor raced at the word "Serpents" that Cheryl had spoke.
"Holy crap! I'll get a doctor!" Cheryl yells, rushing out of the room.
"Ronnie, stay with me. Ronnie. Please." Jughead says, tears misting his eyes. He grabs her hand as the heart monitor goes faster. He presses his lips to her cheek, three of his tears dripping onto the cheek. Her eyelashes flutter. Jughead gasps, her eyes fully opening. She lives her mouth like she's talking, but nothing came out. It looked like she tried to say "Jughead."
Jughead was ushered out by doctors, and waited four hours until he could visit. Of course, it took an hour to sort everything. But Jughead let Hermione in first. Then he let Cheryl and Toni in. Hermione took two hours, and Choni took one. As soon as the girls left, he entered slowly.
"Ronnie." Jughead says, relief and love flooding his eyes with the tears. He stood in the doorway shyly.
"Juggie."
All it took was her saying that, and he rushed over to her. Jughead envelopes her in a hug, kissing her forehead carefully.
"You woke me up. You talked to me. It improved my brainwaves and hearing. Your tears, your touch, your kiss. It woke me up. You saved my life, Jughead."
"And that would be the payment for me." Cheryl says from the doorway. "I saved Jughead's life. He just repayed me. Thanks, Jughead."
"For once you're not calling me Hobo." Jughead laughs.
"Wait, how'd you save his life?" Ronnie asked suspiciously.
"It's a story for tomorrow. You rest. I'll be here until you can leave." He states confidently, sitting in the chair. Cheryl winks at Ronnie, leaving the room beaming.
{End of Part One of Stay With Me}
