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Rebound Love	By : sandyl666 Category: Comics > Archie & Co. Views: 13319 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: The comics Archie and Co, with its plot, characters, setting, etc does not belong to me. I guess they belong to John L. Goldwater, and a few others but I'm unsure. I make nothing by writing this fiction, and I don't plan to.

Chapter List
- 29
- 30
Chapter 30

Reggie sprinted alongside the many medical attendants yelling foreign terms to each other as they rushed his wife on a trolley to some place he assumed he could follow. Betty was groaning, holding her stomach and occasionally crying out. Blood overflowed from inside her and he could feel himself getting sick.
So much for not wanting to see her suffer ever again.
He could tell that whatever she was going through, it wasn't normal. The tones of the nurses were high and panicked, and he could see them paging a couple of doctors. Two. They needed two to fix his baby and wife.
Reggie could feel a panic attack making its way up his throat as a scream, but managed to stop himself. He couldn't afford to lose control at that moment, when Betty needed him most.
They took Betty through a couple of swinging doors, and a nurse stopped him there, having to stretch out her arms to physically block him. He tried to evade her, but she stepped in the direction he moved.
“Sir, if I could just ask you to remain at the waiting area-”
“That's my wife giving birth!” Reggie yelled, pointing to the doors.
The nurse's face was neutral, as if she'd been dealing with irrational fathers for years. “I know, sir. But her condition is critical right now,” In a softer tone, she added: “I don't think you want to be in there right now,”
Reggie, on a good day, would have been able to see her logic. But he was not having a good day. “I don't care!” He yelled at her, and shoved her aside. She gasped as she fell to the side. Reggie didn't let himself think too deeply about what he had just done.
His mind was full of his wife and baby.
He entered the room adjourning the ER, where the basins to wash up were. Through the glass he could see his wife. They had knocked her unconscious, with a mask on her face. That made him pale – it meant she couldn't even deliver naturally. Attendants rushed about the room, not running, but walking briskly. Another bad sign to Reggie. They were doing it hurriedly, as if Betty and Kierra didn't have much time left.
No. No, no, no. He begged in his mind.
He barely noticed as a couple of burly nurses escorted him out of the room and into the waiting area. He sat in one of the chairs, head down, thinking of the time Betty had fallen down the stairs. He had been left in a square-like region of the hospital hallway just like this one.
That time, his thoughts had been horrible. He had constantly sent up prayers, begging God to show compassion to him and his wife. To little Kierra.
But this time it was a thousand times worse. So bad that he actually shut down his mind temporarily, and the next he was aware was when Archie was shaking his shoulder.
“Hey, Reg, you okay? I heard about Betty,” Archie said. Reggie's head snapped up. He looked at the clock.
Betty had been in there an hour now. And still no news.
He leaned his head back against the wall, slamming it against the concrete. The pain was good. It cleared his mind from the grief he felt, grief that he shouldn't be feeling. Not yet. Betty wasn't gone yet.
“Arch. I won't survive without her,” Reggie said. It had been about a month since they'd gotten married, and already he knew – he would die without his Blondie. It won't even be a fast death. It would be a slow, withering death as he gave away his life so he could see her again.
“I know,” Archie responded softly. “But if I know Betty, she's going to be okay,”
Reggie took a while to nod. I hope you're right. He didn't dare voice out his thoughts.
“You should call her parents. They'll want to know,” Archie suggested gently, and Reggie nodded again. At least calling her family would be a good distraction, even though he knew there was no way they would take it easily.
Before he could dial their numbers, the same nurse Reggie had pushed aside earlier approached them. He was too concerned about his wife to feel guilty. He jumped to his feet.
“Well?” He demanded.
Her face was strained, even as she tried to force a smile. He wondered if she had been in the operating room with Betty. “Sir, please try to calm yourself as you listen to me,” She said.
Reggie wanted to yell at her that he was calm! Totally serene! Instead, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, he was ready, and the nurse could see it too.
“You have a daughter, sir,” She said with a tight smile. He didn't let himself rejoice. He knew there was a catch from the way she spoke. “She's in the incubation chamber, and I'm afraid to say she's not stable.”
Reggie ran a shaky hand through his hair. “...But she's alive?”
“Yes. We're hoping to get her stabilized within the hour or so.”
“What about my wife?”
The nurse licked her lips. He wanted to grab her and shake her until she answered him. “She's still in the ER.”
That was enough news for him. He sat back down and buried his face in his hands. Both his wife and baby were in critical condition, struggling to hold on for dear life.
“Our doctors are doing their best to fix her up. We'll notify you when either of them are stabilized,” She said quietly, and walked off. He felt Archie's hand grasping his shoulder.
“I'll call Betty's parents,” Archie said quietly.
Reggie couldn't even bring himself to reply to his friend.

Betty felt like she was on the sea, drifting on the waves, bobbing in accordance to their rising and dropping. It was so relaxing, she just wanted to stay on this sea and go wherever it took her.
Except something kept tugging at her finger. Frowning, she looked down. All she could see were tiny fingers, like a baby's.
Her baby's.
“Kierra?” She felt her mouth form the words, but nothing came out.
Determined to follow the pull of those fingers, she fell into the sea, panicking as the water filled her lungs and she couldn't breathe. She focused on the tiny hand that held onto her, how it guided her further and further down into the water. The deeper into the ocean they were, the harder it was for Betty to breathe. Her body begin to ache and fall apart at its seams.
But the tiny silhouette before her was trying its best to go through the water, and Betty knew that she had to do the same. So she followed her child as she was dragged ever deeper.
And suddenly she could breathe again as all traces of water disappeared.
She took a deep breathe as everything around her vanished and transformed, until it became utter blackness.

“Mr Mantle, Mr Mantle!” the same nurse called as she darted to him. He was still seated at the same spot as he had been in for five hours. In his hands were still the same cup of coffee Archie had bought him, the liquid cold. He hadn't even taken one sip of it. Archie had called Betty's parents, then sat with Reggie for a time, before leaving to check on Ron. He wasn't back yet. And Betty's parents were on the next flight to Riverdale, but he didn't think they'd be there for a day or two.
He looked up at the nurse, at her excited face, and his head spun.
“They're both fine – both of them!” She told him. “They stabilized at the same time.”
He stared at her blankly, unable to register what she had just said.
“It was also thanks to Mrs Lodge,” The nurse went on. “She suggested to try something she had seen on TV once, where a healthy baby shared the incubation chamber with the unstable one. She left both her twins with your daughter and somehow her heartbeat became less erratic, same with her breathing. She's even crying now!”
“What about my wife?” Reggie asked, standing in his surprise. He really had to thank Ronnie. That woman truly was a genius.
“She's fine too. It's a miracle. She was on the brink of death and suddenly – she's alive. Very alive. They're moving her to the recovery room now,” Just as the nurse spoke, the doors to the ER opened and they wheeled Betty out on the hospital bed. She was cleaned up, and her face was smooth. Peaceful. As if she'd just been napping.
He dropped his cup of coffee onto the floor and ran to her. He stopped right by her bed and stared at her chest. At the soft rise and fall of it.
The relief was so potent that he dropped to his knees and cried. He hadn't cried in years, but just at that moment he felt unable to stop himself from sobbing like a child at his wife's bedside. The nurses all looked at him in bewilderment and slight discomfort, not sure what to do. Reggie didn't pay them any mind.
They were both okay. His wife and child were going to live.

Man, my head really hurts.
Betty groaned softly. Scratch that. Everything hurts. Her whole body felt like it had been put through a grinder. It took her more effort than it should to open her eyelids. She looked around the room, barely craning her neck. She could barely see out of the slits she called eyes, they were swollen almost entirely shut.
On one side, Reggie slept in an armchair, his face smooth as his head rested against the wall. Behind him the sun shone through the thin hospital curtains. It was day.
How long had she been out?
“Well, hello sleeping beauty,” She heard a voice say chirpily. She turned to her other side. Archie and Ron were there, with Archie in a chair next to Ron's, also having fallen asleep against the armrest. Ron was looking up at Betty, her large belly gone, a magazine in her lap.
“Ron?” Betty croaked softly.
“Good morning,” Ron smiled. “How are you feeling?”
Betty took her cues from Ron and spoke in a barely audible whisper, so as to not wake the men. “Horrible. But I'm glad I'm still alive,”
“Apparently it was a close one,”
“Oh. You guys must have been worried.”
“We were,” Ron nodded. “But you're fine now, and that's all that matters,”
“I'm not so sure I'd refer to myself as 'fine',” Betty quipped, but even as she spoke she could feel the aches dulling, as if her sleep were the ones causing the pain. She managed to sit up, and Ron watched her silently. Something felt off, and then she realized. Her baby was gone. She hugged her midriff, shaking. What happened to Kierra? Was she okay? Betty thought of the fingers that had pulled her through that endless sea. Oh God.
“She's fine, Betty dear. Stop panicking,” Ron murmured to her best friend with a knowing smile. Betty blinked at Ron, then dabbed at her eyes as tears of relief sprang to her eyes.
“Oh thank God,”
“Thank the surgeons. And me. I was the one who helped to save her,” For the second time since she woke up, Betty blinked at her best friend blankly. Eventually Ron rolled her eyes, and got to her feet. “Come with me. I want to show you something,”
Betty said nothing, but as she rose from the bed, Reggie stirred. He went back to sleep just as quickly, so she didn't concern herself too much about it. She was glad to see she wasn't attached to any machines, and while the sensation of pinpricks in her feet were uncomfortable, she could walk.
She followed Ron through the doors, noting that she was no longer wearing hospital scrubs, but a loose, comfortable dress that still managed to make her look incredible.
As soon as they were out of the room, and the door was closed, Ron took Betty's hand and led her through the corridor.
“You're in for a big surprise,” Ron said, finally speaking in a normal, clear tone.
“What surprise?”
“You'll see,” Ron said, seeming to know where she was going. Some doctors and nurses passed them, but paid them little mind. They weren't concerned with patients who looked perfectly fine and obviously knew what they were doing.
“How long have I even been asleep, Ronnie?”
“Give or take four days,” Ron shrugged nonchalantly and Betty's eyes widened. It hadn't felt like more than a few hours. “Your condition was quite bad. It's a miracle that you've recovered so well,”
Betty couldn't bring herself to comment on that. Ron led her around a corner, then smiled.
“Here we are,” She announced in a singsong tone. Betty frowned at her. Ron just pointed to a large window, in which were cots. Many, many cots. Tiny babies lay in them, some, crying, others fussing about and most sleeping. What caught Betty's attention was the one in the middle. It was large, and accommodated three babies.
“I got them to stay together. It took quite a bit of paying off and arguing to let them keep our kids together, but of course I managed it. Well, it helped that the three of them started crying once they were separated. In the end, the nurses let them stay together just cause it shut them up,”
Between Alastair and Cameron was Kierra, looking quite happy, wrapped up in a pink blanket, a contrast to their blue ones. She was sleeping, and one of her hands was holding on to Cameron's finger, while Alastair had a balled up fist in her face. Betty laughed at the image, but it was mostly in relief. Relief of how healthy and fine Kierra looked. Nobody would have ever figured her to be a premature baby.
“Oh, Ronnie...” was all Betty could say. Ron's hand tightened around Betty's.
“She was put in an incubator and she wasn't stabilizing, you know. Then I remembered something I watched on Pink's Anatomy, and I had them put Cameron and Alastair in with her. Somehow the company helped her to survive. They were in there with her for two days, and by the third she didn't need to be in there anymore. The hospital is calling them the miracle babies,”
Betty shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. She couldn't find anything to say. No, actually, she could. She wanted to thank Ronnie, thank God, thanks Archie and Reggie for helping them to create these beautiful children.
But words didn't seem appropriate at the time.
Ron understood. She squeezed Betty's hand tight as they marveled over the three children, who seemed to exist in perfect harmony.
The same way the Riverdale gang did, even after all the arguments and heartbreak they'd been through. Maybe one day Alastair, Cameron and Kierra would have to as well. But until then, they would stay as the three little ones who given the choice would rather share a cot together.
And Betty couldn't be happier over that.

A/N: I can't thank you everyone enough for your support. For those who offered advice and constructive criticism, as well as encouragement. Even to those who didn't comment at all, thank you. If you're reading this message, then I just want you to know, thank you very much.
And of course, to christonacrutch, who is clearly my most loving fan: ;D
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Rebound Love