Project Nano – Chapter 8 pt.1

Stoic sat in the small armchair next to his unconscious son's bed listening to the rhythmic sounds of the heart monitor that the hospital had hooked his son up to.

It had been about 4 hours since Stoic had gotten Hayden back from those horrible men. Anger still burned in him for what those people had done to his son. How could someone stoop so slow to endanger the life of a child just to serve their own selfish needs? He looked over at his son's sleeping face as his brows were scrunched up in pain, his cheeks flushed from a fever brought on by the swelling in his broken left knee.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Haddock," a soft voice said from the doorway brought Stoic out of his inner thoughts as he turned to see the nurse from earlier enter the room.

"I'm just here to check on Hayden." Stoic nodded to her silently and rose to his feet moving out of the way so that she could work.

The nurse began her usual routine, bustling around the bed and checking his son's EKG levels, IV, and oxygen tank before finally checking his knee.

Hayden was due for surgery at 8 am tomorrow morning to repair the fractured patella in his knee. Stoic had argued that they should be performing the surgery right away but the Doctors decided it would be best to wait until after the swelling had gone down.

Unfortunately, waiting was causing his son great discomfort as anytime he moved the pain would flare up his injured knee and make the nerve ending in his amputated leg feel like they were on fire. His son had also spiked a fever from the fracture. As the break was pouring toxins into his system which his body was currently trying to fight off.

The pain medications they had were strong dropping him in and out of consciousness, unable to focus on any one thing besides the pain.

"He should probably start to wake up soon, call me if he does." The nurse informed him sweetly giving him a sad smile.

"…Thank you." He replied stiffly.

The nurse nodded and exited the room moving on to the next patent that needed her assistance. Stoic sat back down at his son's side once more hoping that the nurse was right about Hayden waking up soon because he was going out of his mind with worry and just needed his boy to be okay.

His cell phone rang suddenly in his pocket, very loud in the quiet of the room. Stoic hurriedly rushed to pull it out of his pocket and hit the answer button "hello?"

"How's the lad?" The worried voice of Gobber came from the other end of the line.

"He's stable now but he's still unconscious, the doctors said it's from his body going into shock."

"Is he hurt at all? How badly is he injured?"

"Mostly cuts and bruises… he's developed a fever because of the injury to his knee."

"His knee? What's wrong with his knee?!"

"Those cowards dislocated it after he tried to fight back and the force of the hit actually fractured the bone. He's scheduled for surgery in the morning," Stoic was clenching his fists in rage.

"WHAT! Why haven't they taking him to surgery now?" Gobber yelled in outrage.

"His knees too swollen to operate. Until the swelling goes down and they can see if there is any tissue damage or something? And we still haven't figured out who paid those men to Kidnaped Hayden in the first place. I swear if I ever get my hands on those bastards that did this I'll make them pay for what they did to my son! I mean who could possibly think it was a good idea to use a child!? My son, for that matter as a bargaining chip."

"I hope you do more than just focus on that Stoic."

"Meaning?"

"I imagine this whole ordeal was extremely traumatic for the lad? I know the kid has been through more than most his age but that doesn't change the fact that he's still only 15-year-old. A child, who was put in a dangerous and vulnerable situation. This would most likely be pretty hard for him to deal with? Mentally speaking..."

Stoic clenched his teeth in anger as he understood what Gobber was saying.

He'd been so focused on getting his son back and going after the man that started this. That he hadn't stopped to think about how frightened Hayden must have been throughout all of this.

Stoic cursed, how could he be so stupid? Why was he only thinking about this now? Hayden had a panic attack for Thor's sake minutes after his kidnappers had left. What was the feeling when he was casual with them scared, alone, and hurt?

"Stoic?" Gobber's voice brought him back. He shook his head to clear those thoughts from his head, no he needed to focus.

"I'm not going to leave him alone Gobber, I'll be there for him."

"I was hoping you'd say that. I'm on my way to the hospital now, do you want me to bring you something to eat?"

"I'm not hungry, Gobber…Besides visiting hours are over they won't let you in."

"Stoic it's after midnight you haven't eaten anything since yesterday, you need to eat something!"

"Gobber, I'm really not –" he broke off as he caught sight of his son's green eyes blinking tiredly up at him. "I have to go, Hayden's waking up!" Not waiting for a reply he ended the call jumping to his feet and leaning over his son.

"Hey-sleepyhead?" Stoic spoke softly to his son, being weary of his tone trying to keep it as calm as possible to not initiate another panic attack like the Doctor had warned him about.

"D-dad…?" Stoic smiled hearing his son's voice was music to his ears, even though it pained him to see Hayden struggling under the pain and the pull of the heavy medication.

"Ya kiddo it's me. How are you feeling?" Stoic whispered leaning down brushing his son's sweat-soaked bangs off his forehead.

"I-it hurts..."

"What hurts?"

"Mm… my head. And my…my knee's k-killing me" he scrunched his eyes closed as he took a few ragged breaths before opening his eyes again and scanned the room.

"Where…?" he asks confusion etched his face.

"The hospital" Stoic answered, "Do you remember what happened?"

He gave a slight nod better flinching, probably from the pain in his head Stoic thought.

"T-those men took me… and S-Sven… they shot…" Hayden let out a strangled gasp as tears fell from his eyes"

"Hey, hey it's alright Sven is fine he was discharged yesterday. He's a little shaken up but he's okay" Stoic rushed in trying to ease his son away from another panic attack.

"I- I thought… R-really?" Hayden stopped unable to finish his sentence but looked up at him with hopeful eyes, and Stoic had the horrible realization that his son had thought that Sven had died trying to save him.

"Yes… He's fine. He's really worried about you and said he'd stop by later."

"…" Hayden just nodded and closed his eyes taking in a few deep breaths.

"Did… did they get away?" he asked opening his guilt-filled eyes.

"No Detective Mala and her team were able to capture all three of them. They're in cascaded now and the prototype is back at the lab."

"...Good" Hayden blinked several times, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Get some sleep." Stoic whispered as he watched his son's eyes slowly close.

"M'kay" he mumbled and just like that, he was out.

….TIME LAPS….

It had been about a couple of hours after Hayden's surgery the next morning and Stoic was currently waiting for his son to wake up as he sat at the end of his son's bed watching him sleep.

The doctor had said he should be waking up any minute now. But that had been over 40 minutes ago and his eyes haven't even fluttered once since after his surgery.

Stoic looked over at his son for the hundredth time that hour as if seeing him for the first time. He looked so small and frail lying there, face flushed with fever and small airy breath escaping his chapped lips.

The doctor had said that the fever was normal after a severe break like this and that it was the body's way of fighting off infection. But that still didn't make him feel any better.

Stoic was cursing himself for being such a horrible parent for the umpteenth time and for putting his son in a position where he could be targeted like this. How did he think it was a good idea to have his son working as the head technician on such a top-secret project? Especially after what happened to him last year. For doing nothing more than just roaming the building and being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not to mention the shock and pain his son has had to go through after the loss of his leg.

Stoic paused in his negative thoughts when he heard the first groan coming from his son in the past several hours.

He imminently moved into his son's line of sight, standing over him as he ran his hand through his son's hair, "Hayden?"

Another small groan escaped his son's lips as he turned slightly into his father's touch. Stoic smiled relieved that his son was showing signs of waking.

…Hiccup's POV…

Beep... beep... beep

That insistent sound was the first thing Hiccup was aware of as he began to pull himself out of the darkness.

'What is that sound?' He asked himself

As he tried to figure that out in his muddled mind, he became painfully aware of the pain in his aching head. His body felt heavy, his mouth dry, and then there was the throbbing pain coming from his left knee.

He tried to readjust his body to get into a more comfortable position but felt something keeping his left leg immobilized and the small movement of just shifting his leg caused the pain to shoot through his entire body like an electrical current stabbing him. He was thankful that the pain wasn't as sharp and agonizing as before but it still hurt all the same.

He was aware that he was lying in a bed, but it didn't feel like his own the air smelled sterile and the sheets beneath him felt too scratchy and rough to be his own. A hospital? How did that happen? He questioned himself last thing he remembered he was still in that warehouse with his father.

He struggled to remember what happened and how he had gotten here in the first place. His head pounding as the memories showed small fragments but not enough to go on as his head made it hard to focus on just one thing. So he turned his attention to his other senses in the room around him.

He could hear a mumbling voice and the feel of someone stroking his head- the sensation felt good and unconsciously leaned into it.

"H-den, s...n? ...re you ...ake?" the words were unclear in his hazy mind but he recognized the worried tone of his father. So he focused harder ignoring the pain in his head and slowly his father's voice became clearer.

"Hayden please, open your eyes" something bad must have happened if his father's voice sounded that concerned.

He let out another groan as his eyes fluttered open blinking rapidly at the harsh light of the room he was in. Why was everything so bright? He whimpered as his head throbbed and turned his head away from the light overhead?

"Oh sorry..." Hiccup heard the sound of a chair moving and footsteps walking away, confused he opened his eyes again blinking to clear his vision, only to notice that the light wasn't so bright anymore there was now only a faint glow of light behind his head by the headboard.

"Is that better?" his father asked, it took every bit of energy he had just to nod his head, 'geez why was he so tired?'

"What h-happened?" he moved his left hand up to his throat swallowing the lump that has formed and saw the IV needle in his arm and followed it to a dripping bag of clear fluid.

"You're in the hospital, you've been in and out of consciousness half the night. You may still be a little groggy from the anesthesia after your surgery."

"Sur-gery" he coughed, man his throat felt like sandpaper.

Seeing his discomfort his father poured him a glass of water from the pitcher that sat on his bedside table. Helping him to sit up before handing the cup to him and helped him drink, the cool water soothing his sore throat.

"How are you feeling? Are you in any pain?" Stoic asked as he pulled the cup back and refilled it offering it the Hiccup again.

Hiccup took another slip but pushed it away his stomach-turning, "M'kay..." Hiccup started but seeing the look on his father's face he knew he wanted the truth. "My knee hurts but not as bad as before and but my head's pounding" leaning his head back against the pillows his father set up for him and closed his eyes they just felt so heavy.

"I'll get the nurse to see if they can help."

Hiccup felt a surge of panic as he opened his eyes to see his father stand up to leave. He didn't know what came over him but his right hand shot out on its own and grabbed onto his father's pant leg stopping him in his tracks.

"Don't..." Hiccup's voice was low barely above a whisper. He hated how weak his voice sounded from just that one word.

"It's alright, I'm just going to get a nurse to help you and I'll be right back." Stoic misunderstood his words as he made to leave again to get the nurse.

Hiccup's grip tightens to the point where his knuckles turned white and he could feel himself physically shaking.

"d-don't go..." he begged him like a child as he stared up at him feel a tear prickle at the corners of his eyes and bit his lip to stop it from trembling.

He realized how stupid he was acting as soon as he saw the shocked look on his father's face and let go in an instant pulling his hand back quickly and throwing it over his face using to cover his eyes in the crook of his elbow to hide the tears he knew were forming. 'why?!" he shouted in his head 'why did I just do that?' his head continued to pound as his breathing picked up speed and he tried in vain to slow it down.

"…Hayden? Um, it's okay… calm down. Just take a deep breath…" his father shushed him, quietly trying to calm me down, which only brought on more tears, brought on by the soothing voice and his fingers running through his hair.

"There you go. Just breathe… easy, I'm not going anywhere okay?" His father continued to talk him down.

A couple of minutes later Hiccup's breathing eased and he heard the door to his room open as someone walked in.

"Oh, you're awake? Is everything alright Mr. Haddock?" a women's voice spoke from his right.

"Yes... my son says his leg is hurting him, and that he also has a headache."

"Oh no, sweetie…" he heard the women say.

Hiccup assumed it was a nurse that his father had called in using the call button by his headboard but refused to look at her turning his head away from the door not wanting her to see him crying like a baby.

"That's to be expected he's still a little dehydrated from what I see on his chart, but I'll get the Doctor and see if we can up his pain medication."

His father thanked her and when Hiccup didn't hear her leave right away he peeked out from under his arm to look at her as she was smiling back at him with kind eyes.

"It'll be alright sweetie, I'll be right back with the doctor" she smiled again and Hiccup hid his face again. This time to hide the blush that was forming over his checks from embarrassment at being called 'sweetie' what was he five?! His inner thoughts screamed.

He heard his father chuckle and lowered his arm to glare at him.

The man just held up his hands in mock surrender, but the smile never left his face. Letting his glare fall Hiccup looked away catching sight of his left leg, it was propped up on a pillow and heavily wrapped making it look at least 4 times its normal size.

"What happened to my knee? I-I thought it was just dislocated?" Hiccup looked back at his father seeing him sigh.

"You did but..." Stoic's words trailed off as he heard a little knock on the hospital door.

Turning their attention to the open doorway Hiccup saw a large middle-aged man with glasses and thinning blond hair walking up to them.

Hiccup flinched as the man came up next to him and shrank back at his approach unconsciously moving his left leg and giving out a pained hiss.

He shot up and grabbed his thigh in a desperate attempted to ease the pain, and slowing his breathing from the pike of pain. In seconds his father was there hovering over him and asking him if he was okay?

Not trusting himself to speak he nodded his head and releasing his white knock gripped from the sheets. His father helped prompted him up with a pillow so he could sit up while Hiccup snuck a peek at the doctor from the corner of his eyes seeing that he was further away than before.

The Doctor must have noticed his reaction because he had taken a step back from the bed and gave him a sad smile "Hi there… I'm glad to see you're awake. You had us all worried about you."

Hayden looked confusedly up at his father not sure if he missed something. Stoic just nodded and looked back at the doctor as he picked up Hiccup's chart.

"All alright Hayden, I'm Dr. Northrup and I've been told that you're feeling some pain?"

"Y-yes…" Hiccup coughed to clear his dry throat. His father noticed and handed him a cup of water with a straw, where he drank gratefully.

"Is it okay if I come closer, so I can look at you?" he asked as if he was talking to a scared animal.

Hiccup hesitated at first, he didn't know why he had reacted the way he did or why he was feeling so anxious and on edge. He was safe now, he got away from those men.

But the Doctor couldn't help him if Hiccup wouldn't let him. So he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, reassuring himself that he was safe and in the hospital with his dad. Hiccup nodded as he watched Dr. Northrup move to the side of his bed slower this time.

"Alight Hayden, I going to give you a little check-up and get some food brought up. You can either sleep after or stay awake and if you feel up to it you can have visitors this afternoon."

"I have visitors?"

"Yes, your friends and a young Detective have been very persistent. They've been asking to see you all night. Though I would prefer that only family visit you today...it can be a little overwhelming?" he said giving him a cautious look that was most likely from the reaction he just had to the Doctor earlier. But he left the question hanging in the air as Hiccup thought about it.

Hiccup swallowed "...yeah, I want to see them?"

"Are you sure son?" his father asked resting a hand on his shoulder. "You should take it easy you just had surgery."

"I'm sure dad. I want… no, need to see them"

Stoic hesitated for a bit but nodded "okay."

But then a thought occurred to Hiccup that was the second time his father had mention surgery, and he never got an answer to what he needed surgery for. "What did I need the surgery for?"

Dr. Northrup spoke up in his father's place "you fracture your patella, that's the bone in your knee." He pointed down to the large bandage surrounding Hiccup's knee. "Pins have been put into place to repair the fracture, but it shouldn't give you too much trouble in the future. Though it's bound to cause you some discomfort for the next couple of weeks. But with some physio, you should be up and walking again in no time."

"Great- more physio" Hiccup fought the urge to roll his eyes at the thought of having to do more physio.

The Doctor chuckled at that "Unfortunately yes. Now I can't raise your pain medicine, but you are due for another dose in about an hour or two."

"Um, okay" was all Hiccup could think to say after hearing about the damage done to his knee.

He wondered why his knee had hurt so much after having it popped back into place. It should have only been uncomfortable to stand on after that. But every time he had put his weight on it back in that warehouse it was beyond painful and it felt like he was going to pass out from the pain. It makes sense now that it was fractured and that was why it had hurt so much.

"Alright, I'm going to start now… are you okay with that Hayden?" he asked again cautiously, and I nodded.

Dr. Northup pulled on latex gloves and started with my head, he checked a cut that was along my hairline. It had some stitches in it that I don't remember how I got. Once that was done he moved to shine a light in my eyes, first the left then my right.

"Look here," he said holding up a finger and had me follow it with my eyes. He hummed a "good" and moved on to my wrists next.

His fingers brushing against my skin made me jump a bit, he apologized taking my wrist more gently this time, and began unwinding the bandages there. The discoloration of my skin was a shock to me as I noted the dark purple burses and red welts that bleed in some spots from the rope they had used to tie my hands with. I had to turn my head away as he examined them, turning it over in his hand then repeating the process with the other wrist.

"These have healed nicely" he commented as he applied some ointment on my wrist and began re-wrapping them back up with gauze "should be healed in a day or so." I nodded still not looking at them.

"Okay let's check that knee of yours" the doctor began unwrapping the bandages around Hiccup's leg and examined the stitches and prodding at some points along the area making Hiccup hissed at the pain has he poked a particularly bad spot.

"Hmm besides the swelling all seems to be fine and I don't see any signs of infection so that's good. But I'd still like to keep an eye on it just in case. I'll have you come back next week, to check on it" Hiccup nodded in response.

"Alright then I'm just going to go ahead and re-wrap this a bit and give you a leg brace, you're going to have to use crutches for the next 4 weeks. Do you still have the ones we gave you?" he asked looking up at my father.

"Yes, I have them at home. I'll have a friend of ours bring them later."

"How long do I have to stay here," Hiccup asked

"Not too long, I'd say you'd be discharged by tomorrow morning." The doctor said with a smile and hiccup returned it, grateful that he wouldn't have to stay here long. He had started to hate hospitals, after his last stay here. Not that the people here weren't nice or anything? Just that his last stay was long and painful after his amputation and physio.

"Do you have any other questions before I go?"

"No, I don't think so… Hiccup?" Stoic turned to him.

"No, I'm good."

"Good, then I'll just get someone to bring you some food and we'll see if you're still up to see your friends."

"Thank you."

"You are most welcome" and with that, he left the room.

My father pulled out his phone and started texting most likely to tell Gobber to stop off at the house to pick up my crutches. While he was doing that I studied the bracelet the hospital had placed on my wrist.

Hiccup looked up when I heard his father give out a huge sigh "what's wrong?" He asked.

Stoic looked up from his phone "It's nothing. Just some stuff with work that's all" my father gave me a half-smile that I knew was faked.

My dad chuckled at my skepticism and he walked over to me. He ran a hand through my hair "don't get so worked up, about it. Everything is fine, the board is just being irrational."

"Is it about the prototype? You said they got it back."

"Yes, they did…"

"So then what's the problem? Is it me? How much does my hospital bill cost?"

My father's smile fell a bit "Hayden it's no-"

"Dad" I interrupted "how much is me being here costing you?" Tears sprang to my eyes put I refused to let them fall. My father just got through paying for my last hospital bills and here I was again. I wanted to find a way to help him after the incident last year, and I thought I had done that with the Nanobots. It was meant to get out of debt not make more trouble by having him clean up the mess I made.

But it happened again and I got hurt. I did this so I could pay him back for his kindness, he was trying so hard to fix the past. CEO or not it was still expensive.

"Hayden-" my father said interrupting my inner thoughts. "Look at me son" but when I just stared at my hands he took my chin in his hands and forced me to look at him "Hayden don't you dare blame yourself for this. This isn't your fault."

"But-"

"But nothing" my father interrupted me "it's not that bad, really. I would spend everything I have to make sure you are safe and happy, my son. Don't ever forget that."

That was when the tears came. I couldn't hold them in anymore and my breath hitch as he pulled me into his chest, shushing me with calming words that I couldn't understand but knew in my heart. We stead like that for a few minutes until I was able to calm myself down.

"There you go…you're okay," Stoic said as Hiccup wiped the tears from his face "are you hungry at all? I can get you something to eat?' With a nod, I was suddenly aware of a pain in my stomach as it gurgled loudly demanding its need for food. Hiccup's face heating up with embarrassment.

"Haha, I'll take that as a yes" Stoic laughed leaned down, and kissed my forehead "I'll see if I can find a nurse and see what's taking so long. Then you can go back to sleep after that okay?"

"Okay."

"Are you going to be alright while I'm gone?" he asked giving me a worried look.

"Y-yeah... I'm good" and with that, he turned to leave the room but stopped as the door opened and a young nurse strolled in pushing a cart with the food on it.

"I hope you're hungry, sweetie!" The nurse said. She was obviously a children's nurse Hiccup thought as she was way too perky.

She walked over to him and gently pulled Hiccup into a better sitting position by adjusting his bed settings and re-fluffing the pillows behind his back for support. She placed the tray on the table and moved it into my lap.

When she left I dug into the food, it didn't even taste all that good but I was so hungry that I didn't care, and before I knew it was gone.

"Wow," my dad said, "you were hungry."

I nodded "I guess I was… I haven't exactly anything since... You know…" Hiccup couldn't finish the statement both Haddock knew he meant since the kidnapping, but it didn't need to be said out loud. He just wanted to forget.

"Yeah" Stoic looked down at him with an expression that Hiccup couldn't place, but it was gone in an instant.

Just then Hiccup gave a large yawn, Stoic laughed and moved the table away helped Hiccup lay back in bed. Hiccup tried to protest saying he wasn't tied and he wanted to see his friends, but his body just wouldn't listen.

"I know son, but your body needs time to heal. You can see them after you wake up I promise" Stoic pulled then blanket up to his chest and warm hit him as Hiccup sunk deeper into the bed.

Suddenly I felt tired my eyes threatening to close "D-dad," I slurred

"Shhh," my father said "rest"

I couldn't fight the sleepiness. I closed my eyes and waited for sleep to take me. But before I fell asleep completely I felt lips on my forehead. My father had kissed my forehead whispering words of comfort as I drifted off to sleep.