Betty woke before Jughead the next morning, her eyes squinted open to the light streaming into the room. Her head slightly ached from the stress of the day before, her stomach churning. She felt lightheaded and dizzy, her stomach not giving her any rest. At her last doctor's appointment they said her morning sickness should subside but yet here it was again.
She looked over to Jughead who was asleep with his arm draped over his head, his dark eyelashes grazing his sharp cheekbones. Betty smiled at him as he began to stir. He woke up, slowly opening his eyes. The first thing that he saw was Betty's face and that made him elated like nothing in his life could bring him down. Everyday his feelings grew stronger and he couldn't seem to push them away. He smiled as he took in her beautiful visage. Jughead eyebrows scoured as he noticed that something was off.
"Betty, you look pale. Are you okay?" Jughead asked sitting up with her and tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Yeah." Betty replied weakly, "I'm just nauseous. Morning sickness." She said shrugging it off. Although Jughead wasn't so easily convinced. He reached up and felt her forehead, checking for a fever. It was hot to the touch, so much so that he pulled his hand away at the feeling.
"Betty. You're burning up!" He said frantically quickly realizing this wasn't 'just' morning sickness. Betty had never gotten a fever with her morning sickness before. "I'm gonna go get you tea. Take off as many layers as you can and lay down." He said kissing her head quickly. "I'll be back." He said climbing out of bed and ran downstairs.
Jughead was pouring the hot water into the cup with the tea bag when he heard vomiting coming from the upstairs. He grabbed the mug and walked back up the stairs.
Betty was hunched over the toilet in her underwear when Jughead came into the bedroom. He sat the tea on the bedstand then joined her in the bathroom taking a hold of her hair gently. Betty sighed and wiped her mouth, "Thank you." She whispered trying to stand up. Everytime she tried to stand up she would lose her balance and Jughead would keep her from falling. Jughead couldn't how weak she was, she could barely stand. He decided to lift her up and carry her back to bed. He laid her gently onto the bed and pulled just the sheet over her.
"The room is spinning." Betty mentioned softly making Jughead even more worrisome.
"I'm calling the doctor." Jughead proclaimed grabbing his cell phone and dialing the doctor's number. Betty wanted to protest but she was too weak to attempt it. Jughead walked into the bathroom as he waited for the doctor answer. He grabbed the thermometer out of the cabinet and turned it on. As the doctor answered the phone, Jughead walked back into the bedroom and held the thermometer in front of Betty, to which she opened her mouth and he put it in.
"Yeah, Hi Dr. Evans. This is Jughead Jones. My wife woke up this morning feeling nauseous. She's pregnant so she thought it was morning sickness but she has a fever, her body is very weak she can barely stand, and she is dizzy." Jughead paused listening to the doctor. "Oh it's…" The thermometer beeps as if on a timer collaborated with the doctor. Jughead took and read it to the Doctor. "102.3" Jughead once again fell into silence listening. "Okay, thank you. Yes. Hurry." Jughead hung up the phone and sat gently on the bed. Betty laid her head on his lap as if it was an automatic response. He stroked her hair as they waited for the doctor to arrive. Jughead lifted his eyes to the ceiling and hoped he got there soon so he would know what was wrong.
Jughead had set up a bucket on the floor so that Betty could throw up without moving. She would too weak to get herself to the bathroom. By the time she could tell Jughead she needed to go the bathroom and him be able to get her there, she would have made a mess. So this was a much easier solution.
Betty got sick a few more times before the doctor knocked on the front door. Jughead moved her gently off his lap and went downstairs to let the the man in. As soon as Jughead opened the door he asked where Betty was. Jughead led him up the stairs and to the left where their bedroom was. Betty laid on the bed with just a thin sheet covering the middle of her body. She was oddly modest considering the situation. The doctor entered the room but quickly turned to face Jughead. "Wait Here." He said closing the door on Jughead leaving him and Dakota in the hallway. Dakota barked to try and get her way inside the room. Jughead sighed, "Sorry girl, that's not gonna work on this guy."
Jughead sat down on the top step, his head in his hands. His slender hands sat softly on top of his nose and mouth, his breathed jagged. He had no clue what was going on in the bedroom, what the doctor had figured out, or what he was doing for Betty to get well. For the first time since she had shown up at that church Jughead had no clue what was going on with Betty. Even in Betty's silence he had small inclinations of her feelings by her actions and the aura she let out into a room. But now with the door between them and her presence off centered by her illness, he was sitting at square one.
Jughead mind wandered back to the day he first met Betty. She walked into the church that day with Mrs. Tate and it felt like his world stopped for a minute. Her blonde hair sat in a sleek ponytail which he learned later was an everyday hairstyle for his wife. Her body was slender with curves bumping out at the right spots. He remembered his face erupting with a smile that he couldn't help but hide. Betty's face reddened at the gesture with a coy smile and he became more infatuated with her. She walked up the aisle closer to him, her features becoming more clear and beautiful. In that moment he was overjoyed, he had really lucked out in the wife he was given.
When Jellybean came to him and explained what the pastor had told her, he was intrigued by the story. A young woman close to his age had become pregnant and she needed a place to go. Her parents didn't approve of her immorality and wanted to send her away. They wanted to send her somewhere far away from their home, somewhere like Lanesboro, Minnesota. But the part that perplexed Jughead was that they didn't just want to send her away for the term of her pregnancy to relax. They wanted to send her away forever and for her to marry a man where she went. He first thought was 'geez this is 1932!' but upon Jellybeans pestering for an answer, he said yes. Jughead knew that he had no prospects of marriage. He knew every woman in Lanesboro and the neighboring towns and there was no one there for him. He wasn't one to go out looking for a relationship, he was a homebody. The whole knew this as a fact, he was the town loner who never took his beanie off, he was a weirdo. It was the main reason why the pastor suggested Jughead as Betty's solution. Jughead didn't have any plans that Betty would get in the way of. If Jughead wanted to find a wife he would have to visit another state and he wasn't going to try that hard. He was satisfied with his life on the farm but he couldn't help but feel relieved at the offer Jellybean put on the table.
When he decided to take Betty in, he never imagined he'd get so lucky. Floating down the church's aisle was a stunning woman who he got to take home and spend a life with. In that moment he knew somehow, someway they would have a happy life together. He hoped to have a relationship with her but he wasn't expecting anything especially only two months after her arrival. He was grateful for the result this situation had brought him.
With the memories of their wedding flooding his mind, tears began to slid down his face. Dakota whimpered next to him setting her head on his lap. Jughead couldn't lose her. They were just started off together, their real marriage was just beginning. The baby didn't deserve to lose its life when it hadn't begun yet. Jughead began to cry harder the tears quickly turning to sobs. He wasn't a religious man despite his family's beliefs. God hadn't done much good for him in his life. He didn't blame God for the events in his life but he couldn't say He was ever there for him when he felt he needed him. He figured he was desperate enough so maybe God would listen this time. Jughead closed his eyes and prayed.
It was a silent prayer. Jughead knew if he tried to talk out loud, his voice would give out. God I know that we haven't ever been close and I've never been one to come to you with my problems or with praise. But I need your help. Betty is sick and I have no idea what's going on. The doctor won't let me in and I feel so helpless. The point is God, I can't lose Betty. She is my life now and that baby whether blood or not is my daughter. If I lost either of them, I wouldn't know what to do. I don't know if I would be stronger enough to go on. I wouldn't want to live a life without them. I got through life before them but now that they're mine I couldn't imagine not being with them. I'm begging you God. Please do not take my family, help them get through this. I promise I'll do whatever you ask of me if you let them live. Please, God.
Before Jughead could say amen, he heard a soft voice behind him. "Jughead…"