I'm never gonna give up on you.

41. Stay with me

"Alice, Alice!" FP shouted while rushing towards his girlfriend. He lifted her a bit and carefully placed his arms around her. He tried to shake her shoulders a little to wake her up completely, but it didn't work as he thought it would.

"Come on Alice, stay with me." He demanded once she opened her eyes a little bit just to close them in a while. Alice wanted to be strong, she was trying to fight with the pain, but it was stronger. The only way to feel relieved was to lose this battle. Even though she had always been the one who would win, this time she was forced to surrender.

FP could feel the weight of Alice's body on his knees. Her muscles were weak and they weren't working anymore. He was holding her nearly lifeless body close to his chest with his eyes filled with fear and madness.

"No, no, no! Don't fall asleep, Alice! Look at me!" He was trying to keep her awake, but her eyes were becoming heavier with every second, and deep down her heart she felt that it had to be this way and she had no other choice but let herself fall asleep.

"What are you waiting for?! Call the ambulance!" He yelled at the children with a trembling voice. They were standing pale not knowing what to do. Betty kneeled next to her mother and tried to wake her up right before checking her pulse. She could barely feel it.

„We don't have time to call them. We need to take her straight to the hospital." Charles commanded while seeing Caroline who was trying to find her phone in her bag. She just nodded and watched FP who lifted Alice's body from the floor.

"Alice!" JB screamed while running downstairs towards her father who was holding Alice in his arms. The girl's lips started to shake and she couldn't help the sobs escaping her mouth. Jughead pulled her closer into his warm embrace. He knew, Alice was like a mother to JB and couldn't do anything else, just be there for her.

„Go, I will stay with Jellybean." Caroline tried her best to stay calm, but the truth she was as scared as the rest of the people in the room. She barely knew Alice, but she knew Charles and FP and also knew that she had always meant the world to them.

"I'm not leaving Alice!" JB yelled loudly. The truth was, they were fighting about the things, that didn't matter while Alice's life was running out of time.

FP couldn't take it anymore and took Betty's hand right before they rushed out of the house and placed Alice on the backseat of the truck. Alice's head was rested on Betty's knees and the teenager was gently stroking her mother's blonde curls

Leaving everyone else in the house, FP turn the engine on and started to drive as fast as he could. Even though he knew every single street in the town, this way to the hospital was the longest one for them. He was trying to stay focus, but his mind was focused only on Alice's state at this particular moment and nothing could change that.

Why did it have to be her?

That question was bothering him for so long he couldn't even remember how many times he thought about it. The powerlessness was driving him insane and the only thing he truly wanted was to go back to the day when it all began. Maybe he could've done something better. Maybe he could've prevented it. Maybe there was still a chance to save her.

FP jumped out of the car as soon as he parked his truck in front of the hospital. He lifted Alice from the backseat with Betty's help and they got into the building. He was running as fast as he could, holding his girlfriend close to his chest.

"HELP HER, PLEASE!" FP screamed even louder than he planned, but he needed to catch someone's attention. His voice was trembling and his eyes filled with tears. He glanced at Alice, whose chest was barely lifting and down once she was trying to breathe.

He raised his sight when two nurses ran towards him. They helped him to lie Alice down on the settee while Dr. Ross was already on her way to help them with her patient. Woman's eyes grew wider the second she saw how bad is her state.

It took her a while to feel Alice's pulse, which was even less impalpable than before. Her mind was focused while she was trying to hear her patient's heartbeat. The woman closed her eyes and sighed heavily while running her hands through her messy hair.

"Take her to the OR, NOW!" There was nothing else she could do, just take Alice to the operating room and try to fix all of the damages. She didn't need to take another test to know that she had the cardiogenic shock and needed to be operated as fast as it could be. Alice was no longer just ill. It was the matter of life and death, and the only person that could help her was Dr. Ross.

„Where are you taking her?" FP asked with his voice terrified. He had always been strong guy, but as fast as Alice's health was concerned, he couldn't keep himself into one piece. He was terrified and couldn't hide his feelings anymore.

„She had the cardiogenic shock and needs to be operated immediately." Dr. Ross said while running next to the settee on which Alice was lying. The nurses had plugged her in medical equipment that showed her barely a noticeable pulse.

„Promise me, that she will be alright," FP whispered right after grabbing a woman's hand to catch her attention. Her sad eyes met his ones already wet from the tears. She knew, that she would break his heart, but also needed him to know the truth.

„You know I can't promise you this." Dr. Ross whispered back and didn't wait for him to respond. Even though she wanted to promise him, that Alice will be okay, she couldn't.

„Right now, we need as much blood for her as possible." The woman said in a hurry once she saw the kids and two adults running towards them. She turned back and brushed towards the OR.

FP watched her closing the door leading to the operating room and suddenly he felt the tears streaming down his cheeks. He couldn't hold them back anymore. He closed his eyes and leaned against the wall not wanting to talk with the kids.

„They took her to the OR. She needs the blood..." Betty's voice croaked once she breathed out the words while Jughead embraced her tightly. She wasn't the only one scared about Alice's health.

Charles ran his fingers through his hair while Caroline was doing her best to calm Jellybean down just a bit. There was nothing more she could do to help the girl, than holding her close to her and let her cry into her chest.

Although they were all shocked and terrified, Caroline was the only one who could put a brave face on things. The young woman decided to take some actions to help and asked Betty about Alice's blood type immediately. As it turned out, as well as Betty, Polly, and Alice, Caroline was the one who had the same blood type.

The only problem was, that Betty was still underaged and couldn't donate blood. Meanwhile, Betty called Polly right after Caroline asked her to do so, she had already volunteered to help Alice.

While Betty was trying to explain to Polly what had happened to her mother, Charles was sitting with his brother and the youngest sister. They didn't talk much. Just sat with each other.

At that moment, they didn't fight with each other. Neither Jughead nor JB blamed Charles about Alice's health state. The only thing they all wanted was her to get better and nothing else mattered.

FP looked at his children and his heart broke into a million pieces. He couldn't be strong anymore. He started to cry even louder while hiding his red face into his hands. Everything was crumbling down again and he had no idea why had it always been to be them.

After a whole night of sitting, waiting, and donating blood, they finally saw someone coming from the OR. Their faces turned pale and hearts stopped for a while. Everyone, except for JB, who was sleeping peacefully, stood up from their chairs to hear the news.

Betty covered her mouth with her trembling hands not wanting to scream while seeing that Dr. Ross's whole apron was dirty from Alice's blood. The woman glanced at the family and after a while, she let out a sad whisper.

„If she doesn't get a properly worked heart, she will die. We need a donor."