I got up on my feet immediately and pulled my mother into a long hug.

"Gods, what are you doing here?" I asked joyously. "How are you?" I could feel her return the hug as I started shaking with excitement.

"It's so good to see you, Hiccup," Mum choked out. "I'm here to bring you home." I let go and looked her in the eye. She looked really excited. My eyes then darted down and I saw her offering me an empty overnight bag.

"Wait, are you serious? I'm going home today?" She grinned and nodded.

"Yes!"

"Awesome!" I felt like a little kid again. "Wow, uh...okay, so do we need to talk to the warden or something?" Mum shakes her head.

"Already taken care of. You just need to get all your things together and sign out of the hospital."

"Okay, uh, fantastic!" I grabbed the overnight bag lead Mum back into the hospital foyer where a nurse told Mum to wait while an orderly escorted me to my room. I removed the garbage bag from my body and placed it in the bin near my desk before placing what little clothes I had into my overnight bag, along with my unfinished letter to Heather and the Excelsior page. I gladly turned my back on my drab room and made my way back towards the foyer where a doctor was talking intensely to my mother. I remember him. He was really apprehensive around me and Dagur.

"...Technically, you can take him out of here against our recommendation, but you assume a lot of liability in the eyes of the court, and he's just getting used to the routine here-"

"I don't want Henry to get used to the routine here!" Mum interrupted. "Eight months is long enough as it is, and he's ready; I can tell." She noticed me approaching their conversation and gave me a warm smile, which I returned. The doctor then put on a happy face as he acknowledged my arrival.

"Ah, hello, Hiccup-uh, I mean, Henry," the doctor said warily. "So...finally going home today?"

"Yep."

"Wonderful! Now, you remember to..."

He fired off a list of things that I can and can't do when I go home but I didn't listen because I was too confident to trust my judgement and believed I knew everything that was required of me. I just fired off a series of carefully placed m'hm's and yeses. I then looked at the Hospital Discharge Form that already had Mum's signature on it, and added my own. With that, we were right out the door and into Mum's wood panel station wagon.

"Got everything?" Mum asked as I buckled my seatbelt.

"Yup!" Mum started the ignition and we wormed our way through the carpark towards the exit. Suddenly, Dagur emerged from a row of cars, neatly dressed and carrying his own suitcase. He's been in here as long as I have, surely he can go home too!

"Hey Mum," I began. "Could we give Damien a ride to North Philly?" I pointed him out and Mum slowed the car down.

"What? I don't understand."

"No, no, don't worry about it, it'll be fine." I waved at Dagur and he returned the gesture gleefully. I beckoned him to get in the car with us. He quickly approached the car and hopped into the back seat.

"Looks like everybody's leaving today!" Dagur mused gleefully. "Hello Mrs Haddock, it's so good to finally meet you! Hiccup told me all about how the Gods made you rich in character and that you're the mighty oak that keeps the family together."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, too Damien," Mum greeted with a hint of trepidation. We all then drove off and made our way towards the Interstate.

"Damien was in the hospital because of crystal meth and alcohol," I brought up.

"Very bad combination," Dagur took over. "I used to work as a GP so I had a lot of access to drugs and I took advantage of it, on top of what Hiccup already mentioned plus a really bad case of ADD and anxiety. That was back when my hair was long-"

"He's always talking about his hair," I chuckled to Mum.

"-Too...I think, yeah when I was younger I tried to grow my hair out because I wanted to change but it wouldn't happen-"

"Hello?" Mum's phone had rung and she took it while she was driving. I didn't pay any mind to it so I kept talking to Dagur.

"Your hair looks great now!" I complimented as I ruffled Dagur's hair with my hand.

"What? Are you sure about that?" Dagur and I stopped talking and looked at my mother, who gave me a look of disappointment.

"I'm very sorry, I'll bring him back right away." Mum put her phone away and glanced at me.

"You lied to me, Henry; Damien's not allowed to leave." Mum turned on the indicator to make a U Turn but I impulsively grabbed the steering wheel.

"Wait, Mum just hold on-"

"HENRY-"

"Let me explain-" Mum fought with my pulling on the steering wheel but we didn't notice a car was about to collide with us head on.

"DON'T TOUCH THE STEERING WHEEL!" I let go, Mum swerved out of the way just in time and pulled over to the side of the road. She started crying.

"Hiccup, this whole thing was a mistake," She sobbed.

"I'm sorry Mum," I apologised. "Are you okay?"

"I am out on a limb for you with the courts right now." Before I could speak, Dagur stepped in.

"It's my fault, Mrs Haddock," Dagur confessed. "He didn't know I wasn't allowed to leave. I'm having a disagreement with the hospital but I'll sort it out soon. Take me back, but please take Hiccup home with you, he is 100% fine, trust me." Mum nodded and we drove back to the hospital in silence. We stayed in the car as Dagur was escorted back inside, then we got back on the road. An hour and a half of silence later, we were back home in Philadelphia.

"How's Dad doing?" I asked, trying to get a conversation started.

"He's bookmaking again."

"What?"

"Yep...he wants to open a cheesesteak place."

"Okay, well that sounds cool but bookmaking? Come on, Dad!" I huffed. He used to do bookmaking a lot when I was still at home but Mum got him off it for a little while. I was a little dejected that he was back in the game. As we drove through the main streets and reached our suburb, I noticed the high school that I used to work at before it all happened. Another idea popped into my head.

"Hey Mum, can we stop at the library on the way home? I wanna read Heather's entire English teaching syllabus." Mum looked at me skeptically. "Mum, it's a good thing! I'm remaking myself." Finally, a smile emerged and we pulled up at the library down the road from our house.

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