Mariah sat next to her mother in the waiting room. The blonde was on the verge of sleep while her mother was typing furiously on her phone. The clicking of multiple sets of heels made both Colemans look up. Josie, Valerie, and Melody stood in front of them. Ms. Coleman smiled politely at the three before standing.

"I'll let you girls chat," she said before walking over to where Alice sat. The three girls sat in the empty seats next to the blonde. Mariah sat up straighter and looked at Josie. "What's up?" Mariah asked. "We just came to check on Archie and Mr. Andrews. We also wanted to know how you were doing," Josie answered.

Mariah sighed and looked down at her hands. "I'm great," she said. Valerie rolled her eyes. "That's obviously not true," she said. "You can talk to us, you know," Melody said. Mariah smiled lightly at the three. "Yeah, um, there's just a lot going on," Mariah muttered. "Of course, there is. With Mr. Andrews and everything," Josie said.

"Yeah, Mr. Andrews," the blonde mumbled. The three pussycats looked at each other. "Is there something else going on?" Valerie asked. Mariah didn't look at them. Instead, she looked down at the phone in her lap. "I just realized that I, uh, need to call Cheryl. Tell her what's going on," Mariah said.

She stood from her seat and turned to look at the girls. "Thanks for checking on me. I appreciate it," she said before turning toward the door. She walked away from the waiting room and sighed. She dialed Cheryl's number and pressed the phone to her ear. She listened to it ring and tapped her foot against the linoleum floors.

"Hello," Cheryl said after the third ring. "Cheryl, hey. Where are you?" Mariah asked. "At the hospital," the redhead responded. Mariah paused for a moment. "So you heard about what happened to Mr. Andrews then," the blonde said. "I did. But that's not why I'm here," Cheryl replied.

"Then why are you here? Are you okay?" Mariah asked quickly. "I'm fine. But there was a fire at Thornhill. Mother was badly burned," she replied. "Where are you? What room?" Mariah questioned. "Twenty two," the redhead said. "All right, I'm coming," Mariah replied before hanging up the phone.

She walked down the hallways of the hospital and looked for the room. When she found it, she saw Cheryl, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. "Cheryl," Mariah said. Cheryl looked up at Mariah, who stood in the doorway. She beckoned the girl forward and Mariah entered the room.

"Is she okay?" Mariah asked quietly. Cheryl stood from the bed and walked over to her friend. "Unfortunately, yes," she answered. "What about Mr. Andrews? Is he okay?" The redhead asked. Mariah shrugged and looked down. "I don't know. He's out of surgery but the doctor said he wasn't breathing on his own. I just hope he'll be okay," Mariah answered.

"I'm sure he will be. He is an Andrews after all. They never seem to give up. On anything," Cheryl said. Mariah nodded and sighed. She looked over at where Mrs. Blossom laid. "How did a fire start?" The blonde asked. Cheryl shrugged, "They say one of the candles tipped over and caught one of the curtains on fire. And you know how easily fire spreads."

"I have many questions to ask you about this but I'm too tired to ask them," the blonde said. Mariah took a seat in one of the room's chairs. "It seems as though a lot of bad stuff keeps happening in this town. It's very unnerving," Mariah said. "Yeah. And this is a small town. These kinds of things shouldn't happen here," Cheryl added.

Mariah nodded her head and the two were engulfed into a peaceful silence. The blonde fell asleep without meaning to.

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Cheryl aggressively shook Mariah's shoulder, growing concerned when the blonde didn't wake up. "Mariah!" Cheryl called. She received no answer and began slapping the blonde's cheeks.

"Mariah! Mariah, wake up!" Cheryl's voice grew desperate as the blonde remained unresponsive. She gave Mariah one last slap and the blonde jerked awake. Cheryl released a relieved sigh as Mariah clutched her cheek. "Bitch! What the hell was that for?" The blonde exclaimed.

"You wouldn't wake up! You scared the shit out of me you troll," Cheryl replied. "I was exhausted and in a deep sleep you ogre," Mariah snapped. "Stop calling me names you stupid piece of garbage! I was worried and I don't think that you should've been that out of it. I've been trying to wake you up for three minutes! I don't think that's normal," Cheryl said.

"Are you a doctor now?" Mariah asked, sitting up straight and glaring at the girl. "No, but I'm someone with common sense. Have you not been sleeping lately or something?" The redhead said. Mariah shrugged her shoulders. "I guess that explains it then. What's up?" Cheryl said, sitting in the chair next to Mariah's.

Mariah shrugged again. "I don't know. There's just a lot going on lately. With Jason and your dad. Then to add on, Archie's dad got shot and mine—" Mariah cut herself off as she realized what she had said. Cheryl sat up straighter and narrowed her eyes at Mariah. "What about your dad?" She asked.

Mariah shook her head, "Nothing. That's not what I meant." Cheryl gave her her a disbelieving look. "Spill your guts," the redhead commanded. Mariah sighed and looked away from her friend. "Patrick is back," she muttered. Cheryl gasped, "Your father Patrick?"

"No, Patrick the Star," Mariah sarcastically replied. "Your sarcasm is noted and unappreciated," Cheryl said. Mariah rolled her eyes and looked at her friend. "You roll your eyes way too much. You should stop. It's not attractive," the redhead continued.

"You insulting me really isn't helping me feel any less shitty," Mariah said. "Sorry," Cheryl muttered sheepishly. She then cleared her throat and stared intensely at the blonde. "What's he doing here?" She asked, to which Mariah shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't really give him the chance to speak," Mariah said.

"Didn't wanna hear the bullshit?" Cheryl inquired. "Not at all," the blonde replied. Cheryl nodded her head. "How did he even find you guys?" The redhead asked. "That's the million dollar question," the blonde muttered. "Will you give me a million dollars if I find out?" Cheryl questioned.

"Does it look like I have a million dollars donkey face?" Mariah snapped. "Well, if you did, you would not be dressed like that," Cheryl said in mild disgust as she looked Mariah up and down. "You are such a bitch," Mariah laughed. "Hey, you started it by calling me donkey face!" Cheryl defended, laughing as well.

The two girls' laughter slowly faded and they became silent for a while. "So where are you gonna stay?" Mariah asked. Cheryl shrugged. "We'll figure it out," she said. "You can stay with me and my mom. But, your mom could stay in a ditch for all I care," Mariah said. Cheryl gave her a look and Mariah smiled.

"Or she could stay with us too," she said and Cheryl shook her head. "It's okay, really. I already have a place in mind. Don't worry," Cheryl said. "You sure?" Mariah asked, her tone unsure. "Yes, I'm sure. Now stop bugging me," Cheryl responded. "Okay, geez. You don't gotta be rude about it," Mariah said.

"You don't gotta be rude about it," Cheryl jokingly mocked. "You're immature and I sound nothing like that," Mariah said. "You sound exactly like that. Your voice is whiny and nasally," Cheryl said with a laugh. "It is not," the blonde said. "Is too," the redhead replied. "Well your voice is high pitched and irritating," Mariah snapped back.

Cheryl feigned a gasp. "That's not true. Take it back troll," she exclaimed. "You first, ogre," Mariah said. An involuntary smile made its way onto her face and erupted into a fit of laughter. Cheryl did the same and the two girls were laughing uncontrollably.

To Mariah, it felt good to laugh after the day that she's had. She wished that she could stay in this moment and not go back to the nightmare that was her life. "Will you too girls shut up! I'm trying to sleep," Mrs. Blossom croaked, her voice startling the two who had forgotten that she was there.

"Sorry," Mariah mumbled, though she wasn't sorry at all. Mariah's gaze met Cheryl's and she had to clamp her hand over her mouth to refrain from laughing.

····

Mariah paced up and down the hallway. She didn't know why she was so hesitant on going into Mr. Andrews' room but she was. She didn't want to see him lying in that bed, fighting for his life.

She wrung her hands together and pressed them against her stomach. Archie stuck his head out of the hospital room door. He furrowed his eyebrows as he watched her. When she turned to continue her pacing, her eyes landed on Archie.

"What are you doing?" Archie asked. "What is it look like? I'm pacing," Mariah answered. "Okay, why are you pacing?" He asked next to which she shrugged. "Do you wanna come inside? I'm sure my dad would like to see you," Archie said. "What do you mean? Is he awake?" Mariah asked, taking a step forward.

"Yeah, he's awake," he responded, a smile on his face. Mariah let out a relieved sigh and walked over to Archie. "By the way, where have you been? You just disappeared," he said. "I was with Cheryl. And I fell asleep for a while," Mariah said. "I saw Cheryl earlier. What was she doing here? Because something tells me that she didn't come all the way here to see my dad," Archie said, lowering his voice as Mariah stood in front of him.

"Cheryl's house burned down. Mrs. Blossom was burned pretty badly but I think she'll be fine," she replied. Archie nodded and Mariah looked past him and into the hospital room. Archie held out his hand for her and she took it. He pulled her into the room.

Fred Andrews looked over at them as they entered. A smile made it's way onto his face. Mariah smiled as she saw him. She was very relieved that he was alive. Archie pulled another chair over to the hospital bed. The two teens took a seat in the chairs and in that moment, Mariah felt as though things were starting to look up in this town.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

°°°°

Check out my fanfic for The Flash called Valkyrie.