Dot stared at her father ahead in shock. She put a hand up to her forehead. "I don't...I don't understand."
He was supposed to be incarcerated for several more years. She was happy to see him, no doubt. But too much was happening with Jug and Kippi for her to worry about her father.
"Dorothy, honey," Octavia said, stepping up to her. She put her hands around Dot's arms calmingly. "There was a reason why your dad and I didn't want you to visit him, I told you that much. What I didn't tell you was that your father was up for a parole hearing and he was scared that it might not work out which is why he wanted to wait to see you."
Dot nodded, although her head was anywhere but in that hallway. She turned to her dad, who offered her a warm smile. "Hi, Dad."
"Hello, Dorothy. How are you doing?" Andreas asked.
Dot swallowed a sob. What was she supposed to do? Lie to him about everything that'd been happening in Riverdale? Surely, he'd know by now. "Not great actually. Which is why I have to leave right now. Mom, Dad I'm sorry but Kippi just called-" Dot explained as her phone rang. "That's probably her again," she added, looking down at her phone. The display showed Betty's picture. "No wait, it's Betty. I gotta get that," she said, tapping the accept button.
She turned around, holding the phone close to her ear. "Hey, Betts. What is it?" Dot asked a little harsher than she meant to. She turned back around as Betty rambled over the phone. Her eyes widened and she froze in place. "I'll be there in no time!" she yelled, hanging up the phone.
"What is it, honey?" Octavia asked, concerned.
Dot's thoughts raced once more as she began fidgeting with her hands. "Uh-uh," she stammered. "Betty just told me that Fred got shot. He's in the hospital."
Octavia's mouth fell open in shock. "What?" she asked, now more concerned than ever.
"Yeah, and I was going there anyway because Cleo had a heart attack and Kippi is majorly distraught which means I have to go there now," Dot went on.
Octavia nodded. Despite the age difference, Kippi's grandmother Cleo was one of Octavia's best friends. So was Fred. She too was getting more concerned for both of them. "Of course, let's go. Andy?" Octavia said, turning back to her ex-husband.
"I'll come with you, don't worry," he replied.
Dot, Octavia, and Andy jumped out of the car at the hospital and immediately ran into Jug, Betty, and Veronica. Jug and Dot stopped in front of each other, staring one another down awkwardly.
"Hey," Jug said, finally breaking the silence.
Dot needed to figure out what to say. She didn't even know if she still wanted to be with him. But now was about more important things than them. She quickly straightened her posture and looked at Jug. "Hi."
The group immediately hugged Archie inside. As they pulled back Dot finally took his appearance in. His varsity jacket was stained with blood as was his face and cast.
"Arch? God," Betty gasped, shocked as she looked him up and down. Only Veronica seemed to be oddly reserved.
"I came out of the bathroom and there was this man, thief-wearing this hood, with a gun on Pop Tate, and then he pointed it at my dad and he fired," Archie stammered, trying to explain everything. Dot empathetically rubbed his arm, trying to calm him down.
"Oh, my God, Archie," Veronica finally spoke up.
"And then he..." Archie trailed off. He opened his mouth as if to say something but then closed it back up like he changed his mind.
"And then he what?" Jug asked.
"And then he bolted," Archie finally replied.
"Then I was holding my dad, Pop Tate called an ambulance and it didn't come so I drove here and-" he went on. Then sighed. "And I don't know, maybe I should've waited, maybe I made it worse-"
"No way," Dot interrupted.
"No, dude, are you kidding me? You saved your dad's life. First Cheryl, and now your dad. If you keep this up, you're gonna need a superhero name. LikePureheart the Powerful," Jug added.
Dot lightly patted Archie on the arm. "You are not to blame for any of this. Who knows what would have happened had you stepped in? You might both be dead at this point. You did the best you could and knowing your dad he'll punch Death himself in the face and come right back to you, okay?" she asked. Archie nodded half-heartedly. As the teenager's parents came to check in on them, Dot lowered her voice. "Guys, I'm so sorry and I really don't want to leave you at a time like this but I have to go find Kippi."
Veronica looked at Dot concerned. "Why Kippi?"
"Why is Kippi here?" Betty immediately added.
"What happened to her?" Jug asked.
Dot raised her hands to calm them down. "Kippi is okay. But she called me earlier and told me that her gran had a heart attack."
"Oh no," Betty gasped
"Is she gonna be okay?" Archie asked.
Dot shook her head. "I don't know, but I better go find Kippi."
"Yeah, go find her," Archie said.
Dot lightly smiled at him. "Thank you. He'll be fine," she reassured him and rushed off.
After asking several doctors and nurses about the whereabouts of Kippi and Cleo one finally pointed her to the right room. She stopped shortly before knocking. The door was open and Kippi was sitting by her Gran's side. Her face was wet from all the crying and she was still sniffling when Dot finally knocked at the doorframe.
Kippi looked up. She sighed in relief and immediately went and hugged Dot. "What happened?" Dot asked, concerned.
Kippi pulled back from the hug, wiping some tears away with her sleeve. "We were sitting at home after the jubilee and then she just suddenly grabbed her arm and told me she was in pain so I called an ambulance and they told me they don't know if she will wake up-" she explained as she started crying again. She took a deep breath to force the tears back down. "She hasn't woken up since she got here and I feel like she might not make it. This isn't her first heart attack," Kippi added. She dug her palms into her eyes. "I just can't lose her. If she dies, I'm all alone in this world. I'll get put into foster care and who knows if anybody will want to adopt someone like me."
Dot pulled her into a hug once more. She rubbed her back. "It's gonna be alright," she assured her. "You will never be alone. I'm always going to be with you," she went on. "I swear."
Kippi nodded her head. "Okay," she sobbed. "I think I should go back inside. I wanna spend as much time with her as possible."
Dot nodded. She halted for a second. She didn't want to worry her best friend with the news about Fred. But they had made a promise to each other not long ago. No more secrets. "Before you go. The others are here too because," she sighed. "Because Mr. Andrews got shot at Pop's."
"What? Oh my God, that's horrible," Kippi sniffled.
"Yes. He's in surgery right now. But you don't have to worry about that. Your gran should be more important to you now. Everyone else is just understandingly freaking out anyway. If you want me to stay with you, no worries I'll stay."
Kippi shook her head. "No. Go to the others. I'm sure Archie needs more help than me right now."
Dot sighed unsurely. "I mean it. Fred got shot then, oh my God. I can't even imagine what he must be going through right now. So just go. I'll be fine here," Kippi demanded, going back to Gran's side. Dot sighed, closing her eyes but went back to her friends anyway, mentally noting to go back later.
Dot seemed to have been gone longer than she thought. Sheriff Keller and Kevin had already arrived and the Sheriff had already talked to Archie. Now he and Veronica had gone home to collect some things for Fred.
"Dot, hey," Kevin greeted concerned. The two hugged tightly.
"Hey, Kev," Dot said.
"Betty just told me. How is Kippi doing?" Kevin asked.
"Not great. Neither is her grandmother. She might not make it through the day," Dot replied, shaking her head. Kevin sighed in defeat. When he looked back up he drew his eyebrows together confused.
Dot's eyes narrowed. "What?" she asked. Kevin nodded in the direction behind her. Dot turned around to see Cheryl walk behind some nurses wheeling a gurney into one of the hospital rooms.
"What the hell?" Dot asked.
"Come on," Kevin said, pulling her along.
"Cheryl!" Dot said as they walked towards her. The redhead stopped and turned towards the two.
"Is everything okay? Is that your mom?" Kevin asked, looking after the nurses.
"What the hell happened?" Dot asked.
"Oh, haven't you heard? There was a terrible fire at Thornhill last night. I might've perished if not for Mommy's heroics," Cheryl explained.
"Dottie, I think the world is ending," Kevin whispered to her.
"After my ordeal at Sweetwater River, I was asleep when the fire started. They think it was a breeze knocking over a lit candle, catching the curtains. Mommy got home from the Jubilee and rushed headlong into the blaze, risking her life to save mine. Unfortunately, she suffered third-degree burns and acute smoke inhalation," Cheryl went on.
"That's terrible," Dot said.
"Yeah, but at least she's still alive," Cheryl said somewhat happily. Dot noticed something was off about her though. She wanted to ask more but before she could Cheryl changed the subject. "What are you two doing here?"
Dot and Kevin exchanged worried looks. "Kippi's grandma had a heart attack and Mr. Andrews got shot at Pop's," Dot explained.
"Oh my. Make sure to wish Kippi the best from me," Cheryl said.
"Will do," Dot said.
Cheryl promptly excused herself and walked off before Dot could ask more about her weird behavior. Maybe that was for the better. There was too much on Dot's mind anyway. Dot and Kevin sat down on a nearby row of chairs.
"I know we're all really worried about Mr. Andrews and Kippi's gran but last night after the jubilee...did something happen between you and Jug?" Kevin asked.
Dot was so stressed out she was unable to talk to Jug this whole time. She shook her head. "Nothing like that. More like a 'Juggie might be joining the Serpents' kind of thing."
Kevin raised his eyebrows. "Dot that might get really dangerous. If Jug joins them and you stay with him that could get bad for you both. I'm not telling you to leave him or anything. I'm just worried about you."
"Don't worry, Kev. I'm not sure if I can still be with him. I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet," Dot said. At that point, Veronica had already arrived back at the hospital and was talking to Betty and Jug. Kevin pulled Dot off her chair, walking over to the three with her.
"Okay, or the wallet's just at Pop's. So we'll check it out, Vee." Betty said.
"Or," Kevin quickly spoke up. "Dot and Jug can check it out," he suggested. Dot stared Kevin down, wide-eyed. She nudged him in the side. "And besides Betty," Kevin said, pushing Dot's arm away. "Teddy's here. Haven't you seen him yet?"
Betty lightly slapped her hand on her forehead. "Is he still here? I'm the worst."
Dot sighed. "He's still here and you're not the worst. He got here ten minutes ago. He's with my mom and dad-" she said, before mentally slapping herself.
Betty's eyes went wide. Jug, Veronica, and Kevin stared at her just as shocked. "You're dad?" Betty asked.
"He's here?" Jug quickly added.
Dot let out another quick sigh. "Yes, he's back here. Turns out the only reason he didn't want to talk to me was because he was about to have a parole hearing and didn't want me to be disappointed in case it didn't work out."
"Okay," Betty said after a few seconds. She nodded as she turned back to Jug. "Well, take Dot. I'll go find Teddy," she added, walking away.
Jug turned to Dot. She knew he felt just as awkward about this as she did. "Okay, let's go then," she said, rubbing her hands over her pants.
"Alright," he nodded as he turned to walk away.
Dot turned back to Kevin. "Would you please look after Kippi? I don't want her to be so alone."
Kevin nodded. "Of course. I won't let her alone, promise."
"Thank you," Dot said, squeezing his arm before walking after Jug. She quickly caught up to him in the hallway. "Hey," she said, grabbing him by the arm before he could walk out the door. He sighed before looking back at her. "So, you're with the Serpents now?"
He shook his head. "Just because I put that jacket on doesn't mean I'm with them. What was I supposed to do? There were like twenty biker gang guys at the door. Who knows what would have happened if I'd said no?"
The young girl was conflicted. He might tell her he wouldn't join them, but who's to say he's not lying about it? "Jug, when I saw you put that jacket on you had this glint in your eye. Like you were excited to wear that jacket and wanted to be with them. I just..."
Jug took her hand. "Listen, I didn't join them. And I don't intend to. I swear."
Dot nodded. "Okay."
"So are we still together?" Jug asked.
Dot pulled the corner of her mouth up in a crooked grin. "I guess," she replied as Jug hugged her. When they pulled back, Dot pulled him out the door. "But for now. Let's do our best friend a favor and find Mr. Andrews' wallet."
Jug rushed a motorcycle in front of the hospital. "Uhm, where did you get this?" Dot asked, drawing up one of her eyebrows.
"I just recently found this. Just hop on," Jug said, throwing her a helmet. Dot quickly caught it and still stared him down worriedly. "What?"
"I'm sort of scared of these things," Dot admitted.
Jug chuckled as he held out his hand to her. Dot took it and Jug helped her onto the bike. "Just hold on tight and you'll be okay."
Dot nodded, locking her arms around Jug. "If my mom finds out I'm about to ride on a motorcycle she'll ground me for life," Dot said. Jug chuckled before firing up the engine and driving off.
Kevin and Kippi sat in the waiting area. Kevin handed Kippi a cup of coffee. "Thank you," she said, her voice raspy.
"Feeling a little better?" Kevin asked, sitting down next to her.
Kippi sighed. "A little. She's stable now. Maybe she will make it through the day after all."
"Sure she will," Kevin said, squeezing her shoulder.
By this point, Archie had arrived back at the hospital. Several classmates had come too. Reggie walked up to Kippi and Kevin after talking to Archie. "I know things between us didn't work out so well but I still want to wish the best to your grandma."
"Thanks, Reg," Kippi smiled.
Josie, Valerie, and Melody walked over to Kippi. "And we'll make sure to give another life to your gran," Josie said. "We hope she'll be back on her feet soon. There's no better librarian than her in this town. And we're here for you if you need it," she went on, petting Kippi's arm.
"Thank you so much, guys," Kippi said.
Dot felt a shudder throughout her entire body when she and Jug first walked into Pop's. The whole place was wrecked and Pop himself was mopping up blood when they walked in. "Sorry, kids, we, uh-We're closed today," Pop said, looking up at them. "There was, uh-" he stammered.
"We know, Pop." Dot interrupted before he could finish.
"We just came from the hospital to look for Mr. Andrews' wallet. It's missing." Jug said.
Pop leaned on his mop nervously. "Is he-" he started before Jug cut him off.
"He's out of surgery. We'll know more when he wakes up."
Pop nodded. A slight sense of relief washed over his face. "All right," he said. "The police have already looked. But if you wanna double-check, he was in that booth, there," Pop said, pointing at a booth a little further from the door.
Dot nodded, walking over to it.
"So, uh what happened, Pop? From your point of view?" Jug asked as Dot dug into the cushions to try and find it.
"I wish I knew," the older man said. "As soon as that gun turned off me, I-God help me, I dove. I don't even remember calling the police, but I guess I did.
"Hey, how much cash did the creep end up taking, Pop?" Jug asked.
The man shook his head in disbelief. "Not a penny."
Dot walked back over to the two. The wallet wasn't anywhere. "I knew it," Jug said, snapping his fingers. "What kind of thief shoots up a joint and then doesn't take a single dollar bill?"
"He wasn't a thief," Pop spoke up. "Over the years, this place has been robbed many times. Bricks through the windows, even, during the riots. I've looked plenty of thugs in the eye, but this man...his goal was something else. Darker. It was like the Angel of Death had come to Riverdale," he explained, a darkened expression on his face.
Dot shuddered once more. "Jeez, Pop, lighten up. You sound like the cranky old guy in theFriday the 13thmovies.'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.',"Jug chuckled.
Dot sighed. "Well, the wallet's not here anymore."
"Hey, you kids hungry?" Pop asked. Dot shook her head. She didn't want to put the man through more trouble after what had happened a few hours ago. "No, we're okay. But thanks anyway."
"Oh, I'm always hungry, yeah," Jug replied simultaneously.
Dot sighed looking over at him. Pop walked back into the kitchen. Dot only reluctantly sat down. She had to do other things. But if this was some sort of distraction for Pop, then why not let him have this?
About ten minutes later, Pop walked out with the teenagers' food. "Thanks, Pop," Dot said as the man set down the food in front of them. Jug immediately started to chow down on his burger. While glancing at him every now and then, Jug seemed almost like always to her. And in that moment, everything seemed normal for a second and then reality hit her once more.
The way he put that jackett on and smirked at the other Serpents the previous night. That wasn't just pretending. That was real. "In times of crisis, some people lose their appetite. But me, mine increases tenfold. I haven't eaten since last night," Jug said.
As if on cue, Dot's stomach grumbled. "Yeah, me either," she said as she finally picked up her burger and started eating. "I know we talked about this and I don't want to talk too extensively about that in a time like this...but I still need to talk to you about last night," she spoke up after a few seconds of silence. Jug began chewing slower for a second. Dot knew he wanted nothing more than to drop the subject but she couldn't do him that favor. "I know you don't wanna talk about it, but I have to," she said. "We have to."
"There's really nothing to talk about," Jug said.
"Yes, Jughead, there is. That jacket fit you too well and that look on your face. You looked happy in that moment," Dot rebuffed.
"Dottie, I'm not a Serpent, okay? That might be my dad's life, but it's not mine."
"What about the Lamberts? They're from the Southside. They could try to-" Dot began.
"Indoctrinate me? Don't worry." Jug interrupted.
"I've decided that. They'll cover for me with my social worker, but I'm not even going to be staying with them. I'm gonna be at the trailer. My dad's trailer," he went on.
Dot raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Dot, Archie almost lost his dad. He may still. And facing facts, my dad is going away for a long time. Wearing that jacket, riding his bike, and living in the trailer means something. Just kinda hoping that it means I'll always be close to him no matter what," Jug explained.
"I'm just so worried about you. Worried that you might hurt yourself or someone else. I know you wouldn't do that, but maybe there will be an accident. The Serpents are dangerous. And yeah, some of them - including your dad - might be nice, but a lot of them aren't. They might pull onto the dark side. After all, that's what they do, right?" Dot asked.
"I'm so sorry that I've been blowing you off so much but with everything happening lately, there was just so much to do," Betty told Teddy.
The boy shook his head. "Stop apologizing. I get it, really. You don't owe me an explanation."
Betty smiled at him. "I really don't deserve you."
"I don't deserve you either," Teddy said.
Dot and Jug walked back into the hospital. Pop had offered them more food for everyone in the hospital. "Who's hungry? We've got burgers and fries and onion rings," Jug asked.
The people cheered as they handed out the food. Andy pulled Dot aside. "Can I talk to you for a second?"
Dot nodded. "Sure," she replied. "Oh, but before we go," she said, tapping Jug on the shoulder. The boy turned around. "Dad, this is my boyfriend. You remember Jughead, right?"
"Of course. Nice to see you again, Jughead," Andy said.
Jug extended his hand. "Nice to see you again as well, Mr. Cahill," he said as Andy shook his hand. "Now, if you'll excuse us."
"Sure, go ahead. I'll wait here," Jug said as he handed out the last of the food to everyone waiting.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" Dot asked when the two had put a little distance to everyone else.
"I know this is bad timing, but I just want to make sure...well, I know I can't expect that from you, but I hope you don't think differently of me after..."
"After the accident?" Dot asked. Andy nodded. Clearly, the memory of it haunted him. "Don't worry. Of course, I was shocked but it was an accident and I'm sure you've changed," she said. Even though something deep down inside her knew that wasn't the full truth. It was an accident, that was true, but still, the man standing in front of her wasn't the man she knew anymore. He was sadder and life had clearly worn him out at this point.
"It's just because earlier you looked so shocked to see me," he said.
"I was, but there were other things weighing in on that. I'm sure you know what happened here over the last few months," Dot said. Andy nodded. "So, no, I'm not unhappy because you're here. But it's still weird."
"Well don't worry too much about it. I'm not trying to snake my way back into your mom's heart or anything. I'm not even going to be living with you. I'll be in a motel for the time being. I'm looking for a job and my own apartment. Maybe one day you'll be able to visit me when things have calmed down again," Andy explained.
Dot nodded. "I'll make sure to do that."
Kevin sat in front of Cleo's hospital room, watching Kippi talk to her. She had finally woken up a few minutes ago. Suddenly, her doctor asked him for a talk. "I'm Doctor Langston. I'm the one treating Ms. Goode. You're close to her grandchild, right?"
"Yes," Kevin nodded.
Doctor Langston sighed. "Okay, usually I shouldn't tell this to you but I don't want to ruin their moment. You may think Ms. Goode will make it, but that's wrong."
"What?" Kevin asked, shocked.
"Yes, I'm afraid Ms. Goode is having something we call a 'waking moment'. That's when somebody close to dying wakes up and seems fine, but it's not real. Usually that only happens when the patient is trying to say goodbye to their loved ones," Dr. Langston explained.
"Oh, God," Kevin gasped.
Inside the hospital room, Cleo grabbed Kippi's hand. "Loveday, my dear child, I love you so much."
"I love you too, gran," Kippi said, squeezing her grandma's hand.
"You are such a beautiful and kind girl, you're gonna be just fine," Cleo said.
"So will you," Kippi said.
Cleo nodded, despite knowing deep down that that wasn't true. She could feel that her life was coming to an end. Her jittering hand petted her granddaughter's cheek slowly, trying to hold on as long as possible. Kippi closed her eyes, imagining a future where Gran made it to her wedding and got to meet her kids. She was so lost in her thoughts, that she didn't even hear the alarms ringing.
Dr. Langston and a few nurses rushed into the room. One of them pulled Kippi out of the way. The young girl stood at the side, frozen. A tear fell down her face and soon those tears doubled up. Dr. Langston started performing CPR. Kevin ran to Kippi's side. And as a few rooms over Mr. Andrews opened his eyes again, Cleo's heart monitor gave out one final long beep. Dr. Langston sighed. "Time of death..." he said as Kippi broke down. Kevin held her and walked her out of the room.
"It's gonna be okay," he said as she cried into his shoulder.
"Excuse me. I'm looking for Cleo Goode." someone asked.
Kevin raised his head to see a blonde-haired young woman stand before his nurse. The nurse pointed her over to where Kevin and Kippi were standing. The woman's face fell as she saw Kippi sobbing into Kevin's shoulder.
Kevin patted Kippi's back, telling her to turn around as the woman came their way.
"Loveday," she said as she reached them.
Kippi stopped sobbing suddenly, raising her head in a flash. "No fucking way."
"Is that..." Kevin trailed off, looking over the woman.
"Yes, Kevin. It's me," she told him. She glanced at Kippi once more, waiting for any kind of reaction. "Not gonna give your big sis a hug?"
