Undone

Chapter 5

Archie was finally able to see his dad nearly two hours later. When a nurse finally called for Fred's family, Archie jumped to his feet and looked wildly at his mother. Mary nervously took his hand and they both followed the nurse out of the room.

On the way into the unit, the nurse was explaining the rules of the ICU and preparing both Mary and Archie for what they were about to see. But, nothing could have prepared Archie for the sight of his father. Fred's room was filled with a variety of equipment. Multiple IV pumps lined the right side of the small room and the ventilator equipment was on the other side. Somewhere in the middle was a hospital bed and somewhere within that bed was Fred.

Archie was surprised to see how small the man looked lying in the hospital bed. He had never thought of his dad as a small man. Of course, Fred was of average height and weight, but to Archie he had always been a bit larger than life. But now, he just looked insignificant…..like he could just disappear into the bed at any moment without a single trace of the great man that he really was.

Archie felt his legs shaking as he made his way over to the bed. His palms were sweaty, his heart was hammering violently in his chest, and his mouth was so dry that it hurt to breathe. He could feel his mother's presence directly behind him, bolstering his strength enough to propel him forward even more.

Once he reached the bed, Archie stared down at the sight before him. Fred was covered by a blanket, but Archie could see the edges of the bandage that was covering his abdomen. There were tubes and lines everywhere, a chaotic mess of things that were keeping his dad alive. Archie tried to listen to the nurse as she explained what all of the tubes and lines were actually for. There were two tubes in his dad's mouth…. a larger tube going down his throat and into his lungs that allowed the ventilator to breathe for him and a smaller tube that went into his stomach, draining bile and whatever else from his stomach. There was a bulky thing coming out of his dad's neck which Archie was surprised to hear was an IV line with multiple ports. Each port had a line hooked up to it that lead to one of the various IV bags of medication on the poles behind him.

His mind wandered crazily as he looked around the small room, but it always seemed to come full circle back to his dad. He constantly watched for any sign of movement from his dad, but Fred remained motionless in the bed. The only movement Archie noticed was the mechanical rise and fall of his dad's chest as the ventilator delivered each breath. Eventually, he also noticed the small monitor above the bed and suddenly his eyes were riveted to it, watching as each beat of his father's heart translated to a blip on the screen.

Archie felt a small sense of comfort as he watched that screen. No matter what his dad looked like in that bed, his heart was still steadily beating. He was alive. Broken, but alive.

The next eight days were some of the longest days of Archie's life. If not for his mother, he would have stayed day and night at his dad's bedside, but Mary insisted that he go home at night to rest. Reluctantly, he did, but he was always back at the hospital by six o'clock in the morning. Betty, Veronica, and Jughead had to go back to school, but they returned to the hospital every afternoon, entertaining Archie with stories of the goings on of Riverdale High. Archie took very little interest in their stories, but he appreciated the fact that his friends were trying to take his mind off of the reality he was facing.

That reality was the fact that his dad wasn't waking up. After several days, the doctor's tried to bring Fred out of the medication induced coma he had been in, but Fred still hadn't shown any signs of waking up on his own. The doctors reassured Archie and Mary that sometimes it just took time, but with each passing day, a little of Archie's soul died.

By the end of day eight, Archie was devastated. He had just returned from a short trip to the cafeteria, carrying a cup of coffee for his mom and upon entering the room, he heard his mom talking to one of the doctors, whose words stopped him in his tracks.

"….time to start thinking about organ donation. Is that something you might be interested in?"

Before Mary could speak, Archie strode into the room. "Wait. What?! What the hell are you talking about?"

"Archie," Mary started, but he wouldn't let her finish.

"No, Mom! We're not talking about that!"

"Archie, please," she pleaded. "We just need to hear what our options are, sweetie."

"We're not giving up on him, Mom. The only option we have is to keep going. We can't give up!"

"Maybe this isn't a good time, Mrs. Andrews," the doctor stated patiently. "We can talk about this later. I think the two of you should get some rest."

"We're not talking about this again!" Archie yelled. "Never again!"

Once the doctor was out of the room, Archie rounded on his mother. "How could you? How could you even think about giving up on him, Mom? He would never give up on us."

"Archie, I'm not giving up on him. I'm not, I promise. But, it doesn't hurt to know all of the options, does it?"

"It does, Mom. I can't even think about any of that. He's going to come out of this. I know he is. He has to."

Mary stepped forward and pulled her son into a hug. "He will, Archie," she stated resolutely. "He'll come back to us."

Veronica didn't really know what to do for Archie. She could see him slowly falling apart right in front of her, but had no idea how to help him. Of course, she had been with him every possible second she could, but it just didn't seem like enough. She didn't seem like enough. He deserved better…. someone stronger, someone wiser. Someone like Betty.

She would never admit it to a single soul, but there had always been a part of her that was intimidated by Betty Cooper. If she were being truly honest with herself, Betty was better suited for Archie than she was. Betty had it all together. She always seemed to know exactly what to say to comfort Archie when he was upset, leaving Veronica to feel completely inadequate. And no matter how hard she tried to forget them, Kevin Keller's words continually echoed in her head. "Betty and Archie are end game. Betty and Archie are end game. Betty and Archie are end game."

But, Archie was with her. And she didn't think for a single second that he was playing her. She really felt that Archie liked her, that he wasn't faking his feelings for her or using her as a replacement for Betty. Or Valerie. Or Miss Grundy. And she would do anything to make sure he stayed with her. He was her end game.

Just as she was getting ready to call him, her phone rang. Thinking it was Archie, she eagerly answered it, only to be a little disappointed to see that it was her mom.

"Hi, mom."

"Ronnie, where are you?"

"I'm on my way to the hospital to see Archie," Veronica answered.

"You need to come home, Ronnie. Right now."

"Why? Mom, what's going on?"

"Your father's coming home. Tonight. He'll be here in just a few hours."

"He's coming home tonight?" Veronica couldn't believe what she was hearing. And she really didn't know if she was ready to have him back. Life was always so much more complicated when he was around and she already had way too many complications in her life. The last thing she needed was a Hiram Lodge-sized complication.

"Okay, Mom. I'm almost at the hospital, so I'm going to stop in and check on Archie first, okay? Then I'll be home."

"Be home within the hour, Veronica. Your father won't be happy if you're not here when he gets home."

"I'll be there."

Archie looked at the clock on the wall for the tenth time in as many minutes. Betty and Jughead had both texted him to tell him that they wouldn't be by the hospital until later that evening. Veronica, who was usually already at the hospital by that time, hadn't arrived yet. Pulling out his phone, Archie sent a quick text.

Where r u?

A few seconds later, his phone pinged with an incoming text.

Right behind u.

Archie turned around in his chair to find Veronica standing in the doorway. Pulling himself to his feet, he stepped towards her, meeting her halfway across the room.

"Hey," he said jauntily, trying to hide the exhaustion he was feeling.

"Hey, Archiekins. I've missed you today."

"I've missed you, too, Ronnie. More than you know."

Veronica grabbed Archie's hand and stepped over to the hospital bed. "Has there been any change?" she asked hopefully.

She could tell by the way Archie's face initially fell that the answer was no.

"Not really," Archie answered. "The doctor said he might do another CT scan of his head tomorrow. And one of the nurses thought she saw his finger move. The doctor said it was probably just a muscle twitch or a reflex, but I don't think so. He's starting to wake up, Ronnie."

Veronica really didn't know how to respond to that, so she just squeezed his hand. "Are you hungry? Have you eaten yet?"

"I ate earlier," Archie answered. "I'm not really hungry. Are you?"

"I'm fine. I have to go soon anyway, Archie."

"Is everything okay?" Archie asked.

"I really don't know, Archie. My mom just told me that my dad is coming home tonight."

"That's great, Veronica!" Archie exclaimed. "Isn't it?"

"I don't know. Things are always so complicated when he's home. And I can't help but think it's going to be even worse now that home is Riverdale. He has history here."

"I think it's great, Veronica. And I'd give anything to have my dad come home."

"I know, Archie, but this is different. My dad and your dad are two totally different people."

"He loves you, Ronnie," Archie tried to convince her.

"I know he does, but he won't let that get in the way of getting what he wants. He always gets what he wants."

"Well, maybe he's changed. Maybe being incarcerated was a wake-up call for him and this will be a chance to start over."

"Maybe," Veronica answered, but Archie could tell she didn't believe it.

"It'll be okay," he said as he pulled her into a hug. "And I'll be here for you, Ronnie, okay? Your broad shoulder to cry on if you need it, remember?"

"My soul mate," she answered, as she pulled him closer and gently kissed him.

Author's note: This chapter is a little shorter, but I really wanted to get another chapter out for you all before I go back to work. And I'm sorry there still isn't much of an answer on Fred's fate. It's coming, I promise.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts.