This is my FIFTH update today. Sorry about that last cliffhanger. :) Shout-outs:
silverwolvesarecool: YIKES. Could you only imagine? Poor Astrid... *sobs uncontrollably* *perks up again* I need to write some more chapters now. *still sobs* AGH.
It suddenly became too hot. Astrid became light headed, and then found that she couldn't breathe. Hiccup was...no, he wasn't. Not true. Ruffnut was lying. She had to be lying. Another prank by the Thorston girl? Yeah, that's it. Nothing more than a mindless, childish prank.
"You're joking," said Astrid. "You have to be joking."
"No, I'm not!" said Ruffnut. "Come on!" She grabbed her hand, and yanked her along.
Astrid didn't need to be told in order to follow. She didn't know where Ruffnut was going, but she could guess pretty well.
"How would YOU find out before I do?" Astrid demanded while running.
"Because I was there!" said Ruffnut. "I watched it, Astrid, it was terrible. Hiccup was giving me my weekly guitar lessons-"
"How did I not know about this?" said Astrid.
"No idea," said Ruffnut. "So, we do our lessons once a week, early morning. And so, on our way back, he was going to go meet you for something...I think he said it was lunch. And then the light went green for us to cross the road, and this car runs the red light, and the next thing you know, people are screaming and shouting 'Call 911!' and I see-"
"I don't want to know!" Astrid snapped.
"But you do," said Ruffnut. "Deep down, you know you do."
"How long ago was this!?" Astrid shouted, trying to keep her mind off the one thing it kept drifting to.
"Around noon," said Ruffnut. "Or some...I don't know! I wasn't watching the clock! It's hard to do when your friend is hit by a speeding vehicle!"
Astrid could practically hear her heartbeat drumming in her ears as she ran alongside Ruffnut, nearly outrunning her in the process.
"Where are going now?" said Astrid.
"Oh, I don't know," said Ruffnut sarcastically. "Our friend was just hit by a car, let's go get ice cream! We're going to the hospital, Astrid!"
Oh, right. Yeah. The hospital. Astrid couldn't think right at that moment. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that Hiccup was hit by a car.
"What about Valka?" said Astrid.
"She's already been contacted," said Ruffnut. "She's on a plane back here as we speak and run."
"How do you know that!?" said Astrid.
"Because the doctors asked me to do so, since I was the only one there who seemed to actually know Hiccup!" Ruffnut snapped. "They asked me if I could contact his mother, and I did. She's coming back, and will be back quite possibly in the middle of the night."
"How bad was it!?" Astrid shouted. "The whole car thing, I mean!"
"It was pretty darn bad, Astrid," said Ruffnut. "And I mean really, really, really bad. His heart actually stopped in the ambulance on the way to the hospital...they had to get it beating again somehow. It's a miracle he's even alive at all."
"Ruff, just stop, please, I can't..." Astrid started, her voice trailing off. She couldn't think about Hiccup - the little, guitar playing, pun-pulling weirdo she had learned to know and care about - on a hospital bed, surrounded by doctors fighting to keep him alive. It made her head and heart hurt.
"Let's get the bikes," said Ruffnut.
"I don't have a bike!" said Astrid.
"You can use my brother's," said Ruffnut. "Are you coming or not?"
Astrid nodded and followed Ruffnut to her house, where Ruffnut opened the garage door and rolled a black bike out for Astrid. As soon as that was done, Ruffnut ran back in and got her own. Astrid was already halfway down the sidewalk before Ruffnut even mounted her bike.
"Astrid, wait!" Ruffnut yelled, but Astrid didn't wait. How did one expect her to wait? No, she wouldn't wait. She couldn't wait. It was impossible. If someone had wanted her to, quote on quote, "wait", they would have had to tie her to the ground. And even then, she would have fought and struggled.
"Astrid, I'm serious!" said Ruffnut.
Astrid growled, slowed down, but didn't stop. As soon as Ruffnut caught up with her, she sped up again, faster and faster, until Ruffnut was left behind once more. When that happened, Astrid slowed down, let her catch up, and then repeated the previous cycle.
"Astrid!" Ruffnut gasped. "Stop!"
How did Ruffnut expect her to even slow down, much less stop? At that point, slowing down was hard enough for Astrid as it was without Ruffnut telling her that she needed to stop altogether. No way. Absolutely no way.
An hour. It took an hour before they finally made it to the hospital. Astrid jumped off her bike and ran across the street without even parking it.
"Hey!" said Ruffnut. "At least show some respect for my brother's bike!"
At that moment, Astrid could have broken the bike and wouldn't have cared. She could have broke it, thrown a hundred dollars at Ruffnut to buy a new one, and she still wouldn't have even thought about what she was doing. Why she suddenly felt so worried about Hiccup, she didn't know. Well, she was his friend, and she guessed that that was a big part of it. She cared about him, too. She cared about what would happen to him.
She threw open the double doors so harshly she was almost certain she had heard one of the hinges snap, and ran inside, followed by a very fumigated Ruffnut, who had leaned both bikes up against one of the trees located across the street.
Both girls stopped in front of the front desk, panting from the run and ride over. The lady sitting behind the desk, wearing a nametag "Susie" on her white coat, leaned forward to look at both girls.
"How can I help you?" she asked.
"We're..." Astrid gasped for breath. Never again would she run. She'd just take a car. "...here to see...Hiccup."
"Hiccup?" the girl questioned.
Astrid mentally slapped herself. His name wasn't Hiccup. Not his real name, anyway.
"Hadley," Astrid corrected herself. "Hadley Haddock."
"Hadley?" Susie repeated. Astrid and Ruffnut nodded in unison. "Are you family?" she asked.
"No, ma'am," said Astrid. "Just friends."
"Uh-huh," said Susie. "I'm sorry, but we aren't allowing any visitors other than family."
"WHAT!?" said Astrid.
As if on cue, the doors burst open once more, and Valka raced through. She was dragging a suitcase with her, in a full run. She dropped the suitcase in the middle of the waiting room and then raced to the desk, either not noticing Ruffnut and Astrid, or ignoring then altogether.
"How can I help-" Susia started.
"Hadley Haddock," Valka interrupted. "I'm here to see Hadley Haddock. I'm his mother."
"Room 701 on the E wing," Susie replied suddenly, not expecting Valka to answer so quickly and stoically.
"Thank you thank you thank you," Valka called over her shoulder, turning and running off.
"Wait!" said Astrid. Of course, Valka didn't wait. Astrid turned back to the desk clerk. "We're with her," she said.
"Nice try," said the clerk. "Even if you were with her, you two aren't family. And I'm sorry, but we're not allowing anyone but family in."
Well, at least it was worth a shot.
Question: Should I write a one-shot for when when Hiccup was hit by the car, like, I don't know, in Ruffnut's POV? If you guys want me to, I will, but I won't post it until later chapters to come. Just so you all know. What do you think? See ya next time!