Hello everyone! This is gonna be some pretty angsty stuff so brace yourself. Also Jack isn't here yet but he will be in good time don't worry! Anyways I'm super excited to write this so if you wouldn't mind giving me some feedback that would be great. Enjoy~!
Hiccup awoke to the shrill ringing of his alarm clock in his ears. He groaned and, although the snooze button was tempting, blindly turned it off. Only the smallest amount of sunlight was filtering into the room considering how early in the morning it was. Wednesday – not Monday but still too far from the weekend to start looking forward to it. Hiccup opened his eyes finally and stared at the dust floating around in the morning light. It became mesmerizing for a few minutes until he forced himself to snap out of it and sit up.
He tiredly yawned and stretched out his arms over his head. He was feeling extremely groggy today after staying up later than usual last night to write an essay he had put off until the last second. He figured a shower would help clear his head so he walked across the hall and into the bathroom. He stripped down and turned on the water full blast. He washed off in the burning hot water and stood there for a few minutes afterwards falling asleep standing up. He forced himself to snap back to reality again and turned off the water.
With a towel wrapped around his waist he stepped out onto the bath mat and looked into the mirror which was completely fogged over from steam. He grabbed a corner of his towel and used it to wipe a small section so he could at least see his own face and head. He then grabbed his blow dryer from the cabinet under the sink and turned it on to full heat.
It didn't take very long before his hair wasn't totally dry but not soaking wet either and that was good enough for him. He walked across the hall and into his room taking a glance at the clock. It read 6:43 and Hiccup panicked. His bus was going to be here in two minutes and he was still standing in his room naked. He rushed over to his drawer and pulled out a random pair of jeans and a plain green t-shirt.
He walked down the hall while still pulling his pants on and had to stop at the top of the stairs to button them. He then ran down the steps and saw his dad sitting on the couch and looked at the clock over the fireplace.
6:47. Crap! I missed the bus
He sighed and looked at his dad. Stoick seemed pretty caught up in whatever story the news lady was rambling on about so he had to shake his shoulder to get his father's attention.
"Dad, can you drive me to school?" He asked hoping he wouldn't be angry. His dad had to drive him on Monday too because Hiccup overslept. Stoick groaned and looked him in the eye.
"Son, this is the second time this week! And it's only Wednesday…" He said trailing off as he got up and grabbed his coat off the rack. "C'mon." He said almost sounding reluctant. Hiccup didn't waste a second to grab his backpack off the floor next to the door and sling it over his shoulder following his dad out.
The cold air hit Hiccup's bare arm causing him to shiver. It was too late to go back inside and get a jacket even though it couldn't possibly be above thirty degrees outside. He just had to make it until the car and then he could blast the heat inside. He walked around the front of the car and jiggled the passenger side door until his father unlocked the door. He got in and sat down buckling his seatbelt quickly as his father backed quickly out of their driveway.
The radio transmitter on the dashboard started going off with different reports from several different police from around the town but Hiccup barely noticed it. He had gotten used to the crackly voices constantly coming over the radio. It was always on since his dad was the chief of police and needed to monitor what was happening all over Berk.
They were driving along going slightly over the speed limit but not enough to be speeding as the roads twisted and turned. Hiccup was half zoned out but he noticed something ahead and leaned forward in his seat to try and tell what was coming. His father obviously didn't see it as he looked around for the road to Berk High School.
"Dad!" Hiccup shouted as he finally depicted a car coming at them at alarming speeds and swerving all over the road. He had noticed too late though as his father's attention snapped forward and he turned the car sharply. Hiccup couldn't really tell what was happening anymore when a jolt shook the entire car and sent Hiccup's head flying forward and slamming into the dashboard when the airbag deployed and sent him flying back into his seat.
His vision was spinning and he was extremely disoriented but he still had the energy to turn towards his dad. A piece of the car was going right through his chest and Hiccup began to panic. He wanted to scream but he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.
"Da…d… don't…. die." He said with the last of the energy left in him before he was plunged into complete darkness.
Hiccup lazily opened his eyes and was greeted by a low ceiling and felt like he was moving. He looked around and saw a nurse sitting next to the gurney he was laying on. He was extremely confused for a long moment when all of a sudden the memories of what just occurred slammed into his brain and he started to panic.
"Dad?! Where's my dad? Is he ok?" He asked frantically just wanting to hear her tell him yes. He wanted to hear the nurse whose name he didn't even know sitting next to him to give him relieving news. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief and laugh this crushing weight right off of his chest. But when he met her eyes she looked sympathetic and then she grabbed his hand and looked at that.
Hiccup's face fell as he immediately got the message. He refused to believe it though, there was no way. Stoick the Vast, the adored chief of police in Berk, a man who was looked up to for his amazing strength, would not be brought down by a car crash. …Right?
"No… He's…" He tried to begin but couldn't do it. He took a deep breath and tried again. "Is he...dead?" He asked in a barely audible whisper. The nurse just nodded back and Hiccup stared. He stared with wide eyes and his breathing grew heavy. Everything around him seemed to stop. The only thing he could hear was his rapid heart rate coursing through his veins and pounding into his ears. He didn't know what to say, had no idea what to do. He bit his lip and stared back at the ceiling avoiding the nurse's gaze.
He wanted to cry and scream and run away and throw things and throw a tantrum but couldn't will his body to do it. He honestly couldn't feel anything but wasn't sure if that was because of injury or the pure shock taking over his body. The ambulance came to a stop and the back burst open as two more male paramedics held the doors open.
All three paramedics worked to get the gurney out of the ambulance and onto the ground and rolled into the emergency room doors. For the first time since he woke up he dared to look down at the rest of his body to assess damage. His left leg had countless pieces of broken glass and various debris stuck in it and there was blood. He took a deep breath and was able to relax ever so slightly. He wasn't that hurt, just his leg was pretty banged up.
They put him onto the table and he remained lying down as the inserted an IV into his arm. Hiccup didn't even flinch and just continued to stare at the ceiling. He had started finding comfort in just staring into nothing since looking at anything else would stir thoughts in his mind. Feeling nothing was the only kind of "comfort" he was going to get. He began to feel lightheaded again and decided to just close his eyes and sleep.
Hiccup opened his eyes and was greeted by yet another white tile ceiling. He looked around at his surroundings to see he had been moved to a room and judging by the complete blackness outside it was night now. There wasn't a clock in sight so for all he knew it could be some ungodly hour of night. He was wearing one of those polka dot hospital gowns that you see in the movies and had a paper bracelet hooked to his wrist. In his right elbow there was still an IV.
Hiccup found a lever to move the bed so he could somewhat sit up. He was still leaning back a little but at least he wasn't staring at that damned ceiling anymore. He just sat there and stared at nothing and basked in the pure silence of the room. This silence was interrupted though when a nurse came in the room. It wasn't the same one as the ambulance though. This nurse was an African American woman who had her hair up in a tight bun.
She seemed startled to find Hiccup awake and sitting up. "So you're finally up. How do you like the handy work they did on your leg? Pretty remarkable, although it is a shame they couldn't save it." She stated casually as she walked over to the different monitors and began writing things down.
"Wait… what are you talking about?" He asked and his voice sounded dead and tired and not like himself. He was just glad these nurses didn't know him so they wouldn't notice.
"Take a look for yourself." She said back without looking at him as she just kept on scribbling into her clipboard. Hiccup took a deep breath and pulled the covers back and his eyes widened. Instead of a cast or fixed up leg, he found a replacement. A prosthetic foot that reached to the middle of his shin. He just stared at it and focused on keeping his breathing level. This was all just getting to be too much and he couldn't take it.
He just couldn't keep it together anymore. And to think, if he had just gotten up two minutes earlier this morning none of this would have happened. If he hadn't procrastinated until the very last minute to type that stupid essay maybe his dad would still be alive. He felt a tear roll down his cheek and then just burst into an all-out sob. He pulled his knees into his chest and cried into them gasping for air.
He felt an arm come around him wordlessly rocking him very slowly back and forth. He had to admit it was pretty comforting but right now it didn't matter. Nothing anyone said or did could change anything or make him feel even the slightest bit better. There was just so many ways that all of these terrible events could have been avoided if Hiccup wasn't… Hiccup.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there crying but eventually he calmed down and pulled his head up from his arms. Apparently the nurse had left without him noticing and he was glad that he wouldn't have to deal with her any longer. She had also shut off the lights as if she wanted him to sleep. There was no way he could and he wondered if he'd ever sleep again. Sleep scared him because he knew it would be full of nightmares haunting him for the rest of his life.
His eyes had adjusted some to the darkness around him and he could make out the faint shapes of the furniture of the room. He looked over onto the table beside him and saw a paper lying there. The door to his room was cracked open slightly and the small stream of light was coming across the paper. Out of curiosity he craned his neck to read the top of the paper.
Maine State Orphanage
All of the following paperwork must be filed for incoming orphans.