The Serpent Princess

The next day

The next morning Archie woken up as he heard Mary come in to check on Jess.

"Oh so sorry, Archie did I just wake you up?"

Archie said.

"No."

Mary strokes Jessica's hair as she felt relieved that she still here, Matthew had showed her the photo of how his mom looked last night.

"Her face looks so much better compared to last night."

Jess nervously opened her eyes as she hears a loud beep and she was frightened thinking she was losing air,  but thankfully it was another room. Mary said to her baby.

"It ok. It's not your vent,  I promise."

Jess was not buying anything as Mary could see that last night has definitely traumatized her.

"Oh sweetie. I can't even imagine what you were going through."

Jess could hear that vent blaring from the other room.

"Mommy, my mind is racing again and repeating the scenarios of last night."

After a few more tortured seconds, it has stopped. Jess close her eyes and fell asleep against her brother, but sadly a nurse had to take bloodwork.

"Sis wake up." Archie quietly whispered.

She woke up and she let the nurse go through their job as Archie laid her down in the her hospital bed. The nurse was done and Mary scoops her up and held her as it reminded her of when she was a baby and how she and Fred would rock her, engaged her in anything.

"I'm here Archie here don't cry."

Jess confessed.

"I miss my mom, dad and Fred so very much. I thought I was going to be seeing them, but it was Matt's face that told me to stay. I am just tired of being no longer walking, moving around and not be able to hold my kids even my god kids.  Not dance with my husband and even you both I guess I finally got a breaking point with living through it all over again. The first time I had gotten through it, Fred was being the father figure and because he gone, I guess I had lost the motivation that he had given me the first time around."

Archie knew from the moment she was shot, he knew that dad's passing was going to affect her again, but he didn't know when.

"We will get through it and I know that he was watching you and I had felt his presence to go check on you and I did."

Later that day Mary told Jughead and he teared up.

"I knew for the pass few months that she was has been feeling this way but she hid it so very well."