Chapter seven

The next time that Hiccup awoke, he was much more aware of everything going on. It had only just lodged into his mind that he was injured, in a strange place, surrounded by strange people, with absolutely no idea what to do. In fact, there wasn't really much that he could do, especially with being confined to his bed and all.

When he opened his eyes, he took a good proper look around the room. Hiccup paid each tiny thing an amazing amount of detail, all the strange moving lines on the beeping machine next to him, the light source above his head which worked without a flame to light it, the shiny metal poles holding bags of fluid and the sheer brightness of the room overall. Each wall was as bright as the last and the door was just as bad.

Whilst looking at the door, Hiccup noticed that there was glass in what could only be a window; it was very clever in his opinion. It would keep anything unwanted like bugs, or rain, or snow out whilst still being able to see outside. Glass didn't smell as bad as the water sodden, wooden door covering the window in his bedroom roof either; and that was always a plus.

The lanky teenager continued scanning his eyes across the room and noticed some long rectangular strips attached together by a beaded string, shifting gently, almost… blowing in the wind. 'That's it!' Hiccup thought, if he could just get to see outside, he may be able to see where to go next. Maybe he'd see a settlement that he had heard off, maybe there would be other people like him outside, or maybe he'd be able to catch that tiny glimmer of receding hope before it diminished permanently.

Normally, Hiccup wouldn't be one to give up hope so easily, but given the situation, everything did seem slightly on the downside. And as fascinating as everything around him was, he didn't want to be stuck here. If he had accidently travelled here with Toothless when they were supposed to be discovering new territories and lands then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. But being shot down by Dagur made it an unwanted trip.

Taking deep breaths, Hiccup forced all unwanted noise out of his ears. He slowly wriggled upwards until his head touched the top of the bed then used his good arm to pull himself up into a sitting position. Since the last time he'd been awake (however long ago that was) the pain jumping throughout Hiccup's body had dimmed down to a dull, throbbing annoyance. He looked back over at the rectangular strips before attempting to bring the side of the bed down so that he could escape. Before he could do that though, a stern voice told him otherwise.

"I'll be having none of this again, laddie! Lie down and stay down! You don't want to go about making your injuries worse!" It was Carol again, his friendly English nurse. Ignoring the jumble of sounds that he couldn't understand, Hiccup posed his own question.

"What is those?" Hiccup racked his brain to at least try and pair up the words so that they made sense. He just hoped that although his English grammar was awful, he could still be understood. As he spoke, the boy pointed to what he'd been previously looking at. Carol's gaze followed her patient's slim finger to the wall.

"You mean the blinds?" She raised one eyebrow and walked over to tap her hand upon the intended object.

Hiccup nodded, "Yes. Blinds. I never had… hear'd of dem… before." These words seemed to be getting harder and harder to pronounce. Every time he spoke in the foreign language it felt as though the words were matted to his tongue. The nurse seemed to understand though.

"You ain't never heard of blinds? Blimey, I dunno where you must've been living!" Her smile faltered slightly. "Hey, where are you from, lad? Where did you live?"

"I cannot tell. You may… be enemy, or… you may… tell duh enemy" Hiccup still didn't trust this women completely, but who could blame him? He barely knew her!

"Don't worry, I'm no enemy. I'm here to be your friend and to help you get better! You want that, don't you? You want to feel better so you don't hurt any more. Is that right?"

"Yes. I do not like being pained. I had enough of dat with leg!" A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth after attempting to make his first joke in this new language. Surprisingly to him, Carol smiled too.

"I should think so!" She laughed, "I'll tell you what. How about we spend some time and get to know each other if you're feeling up to it. Do you want to do that?"

"And you are not de enemy? No?" Hiccup pushed himself further into a seating position, making sure that his back was leaning comfortably up the soft cushions.

"No. I mean, an enemy wouldn't tell you things about herself, would she?"

"I guess no."

"Exactly. So… do you want to start from the very beginning again? What's your name? My name is Carol." She pushed a hand to her chest as she introduced herself.

"My name is Hiccup." He replied.

"So, Hiccup, how old are you? I'm thirty-seven," She leaned forwards into his ear, "But that's a secret, I never tell anyone my age, it makes me sound old! 'Kay? It's our secret." When she pulled back Hiccup nodded with a smile.

"I am… Uh…" He tried to pluck the English numbers from his mind, "Uh… One… Seven."

"You're seventeen?" Carol confirmed, "I must say, you look younger than that! That'll come in handy when you get older!"

"My friends do not believe age sometimes too, I am oldest which is good luck because I am tallest!" Hiccup chuckled, still praying that he wasn't messing this up big time.

"Really? It is lucky isn't it?" She smirked as she thought out her next question. "So, do you have anyone special back home?"

"Um… I- yes. Astrid…" Hiccup rubbed the back of his neck. Just the thought of Astrid made him want to leap out of the bed and run all the way back to Berk for her, to make sure she is safe. Was she safe? What if Dagur got her?! Hiccup's eyes widened.

"Don't worry, I was only teasing." The friendly nurse ruffled his hair, Hiccup breathed a little quicker upon his own thoughts.

"Astrid." He muttered in Norse, "No! no, no, no. I have to get back to Berk. I need to get back. Carol, where is my leg?!"He exclaimed, frantically patting the bed around him, as if hoping his prosthetic would just appear.

"I don't understand your language, Hiccup. What's wrong?" Carol placed a hand on his good shoulder.

"I got here when enemy shot me with arrow. I don't know how. Friend might got captured! He might hurt friend! I need to go home! Where is my leg?"

"Your leg is being kept in one of the other rooms, now calm down. I'm sure your friend is fine!"

"You not understand!" Hiccup yelled, "Enemy is very dangerous! He did dis to me! He shoot me with arrow!" The distressed boy gestured to his shoulder. Hiccup was beginning to lose his rational thinking again. All these aspects of the event seemed to be doubling up and causing so much stress as to knock him out of his normal character. Before he could argue any further, Carol was at his side sorting out a strange black chair with large round wheels.

"C'mon lad, you need to get outside. I'll take you out to the back exit. It's quiet there, and there aren't very many cars, it's also away from the main road."

"I do not understand." Hiccup shook his head. Once the nurse was happy with the chairs' setup, she lowered the 'defence barrier' as Hiccup had taken to calling it and leaned over the bed. She placed one hand on Hiccup's left arm and the other around his back. Standing side-wards, Carol gently pushed Hiccup forwards.

"Come on, lad; let's get you out of bed and into the chair." Her voice was very gentle; Hiccup could tell that she did this kind of thing often. Allowing her careful hands to help him, the teen was soon seated in the 'wheeled chair'. It was quite comfy, although he didn't want to admit that. After taking the tubes taped to his hand away, Carol knelt down and raised one of the foot rests so that Hiccup's right foot was comfortably rested without dragging. The brown haired women quickly marched across the room to grab what looked like an item of clothing and began shoving his foot in to it. The item was warm and fuzzy. A sock, and a nice one at that.

Next she grabbed a couple of blankets from the bed and began to cocoon Hiccup. "I'd take them if I were you; it's bloody freezing out there!"

"I am Viking. I am used to the cold!" Hiccup laughed, not noticing the confused glance Carol gave him. Once they were all set, the nurse began pushing Hiccup towards the door to exit the room. Heart pounding in his chest, thoughts running through his mind, Hiccup stared at the door. This was it. He was one step closer to getting out of here, now he only had to figure out the rest.

The door opened, Hiccup's eyes widened, and he was one step closer to home.