Author's note: I'm not too happy with the title of this chapter, so feel free to leave suggestions. I have no idea about the correct medical procedures in this situation, so they're based off what I think would happen and just a warning, there's a small amount of low-level gore in this chapter.
Hiccup's perspective
The past week had been a hectic and emotionally stressful one. My dad had come to the Hospital about 9 hours after we arrived, with Garret might I add. I still had a large bruise on my shoulder from when he came in the room.
I was sitting on a chair in the room Astrid would be taken to after her operation was finished, staring at the floor. Please be ok Astrid, I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you. I'd been repeating this mantra since we lifted off from Berk. We landed in Kalgoorlie about 30 minutes after take-off and were met by a myriad of trauma nurses. They hurriedly wheeled her into the trauma room and hooked up a defibrillator to her chest, in case her heart stopped again, her head was put in a neck brace in case her back or neck was damaged, and they cleaned up some of the shallower wounds before sending her off for an x-ray and a ct scan.
The main trauma surgeon showed me to the room Astrid would be staying in, where another doctor waited. The man gave me a once over to check for any injuries I might have sustained, but deemed me ok and showed me to the shower.
"Get yourself cleaned off," He said, looking up and down me. I did the same and found I was covered in dust and what was probably some of Astrid's blood. At that thought I looked dropped my head, a tear slipping out of my eye. The doctor noticed and spoke, "Don't worry, she'll be fine. You did a good job of getting her to medical help so quickly."
The doctor left me to shower, where I stripped and went inside. I scrubbed at Astrid's blood, trying to remove it, as if that would get rid of the memories, and the fact that this was all my fault. I got dressed and walked back to the room, sitting my guilty ass on a chair. I must have fallen asleep from exhaustion at one point, as I remember hearing the doctor from earlier telling me to wake up. I opened my eyes to see to nurses and said doctor wheeling Astrid into the room. I was fully awake in an instant and jumped to my feet, rushing over to her.
"She had large amounts of internal bleeding in her abdomen, we had to perform a skin graft to the point of impact, blunt force trauma to her upper back and right shoulder and a dislocated right knee. The bones should be fully healed in about 6 weeks, but she should be able to walk in about 3. As for the internal damage, that'll never fully heal, so she needs to be very careful about any impact of any kind." The doctor spoke.
I nodded solemnly. He continued, "Your father and her father have arrived and are speaking to the surgeon out the front, they'll be here in a few minutes."
I thanked the doctor and sat down again. Sure enough, our parents came in a few minutes later. My father rushed towards me and picked me up in a hug, knocking the air out of my lungs. "Dad, LUNGS!" I wheezed before he released me and awkwardly patted my back. Garret had been standing next to Astrid's unconscious form during our meeting.
My dad walked over to him, seeing his now tear-stained face. "My poor girl. How could this happen?" he cried.
"It'll be fine." My dad said, lacing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Garret's face suddenly hardened and he twisted round to face my father.
"No, it won't. My daughter may never be the same!" Garret shouted, swatting the hand of his shoulder. He stopped for a moment and pondered something, "Actually, I shouldn't be saying this to you, I should be saying this to your son."
He strode over to me and shoved my shoulder into the wall. I cried out and dropped down, my shoulder throbbing.
"GARRET!, What was that for?!" my dad yelled, running over to me and shoving him out of the way.
"What? It's your son's fault for not protecting her against the dragon. He's the reason she's here and this state!"
"Garret, you're just looking for someone to blame. It's not Henry's fault."
"Your god damn right it's his fault!"
While this confrontation was going on, I'd managed to leave the room and get one of the hospital security.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave now, for the safety of your daughter and the other visitors," the man, who was only slightly less bulky than my father, said calmly.
Garret managed to calm down and walked out the door, tears still streaking down his face. My father came over to me. "Are you alright son?" he asked, lifting my shirt to inspect my shoulder.
"Really dad, it's fine." He gave me a penetrating look then shrugged it off.
Since then, Garret, my father and myself had all been taking 'shifts' in looking over Astrid. Astrid's mother and brother had come over about 3 days ago but had to go back as her brother had school. My dad had made up with Garret after his little incident and had taken him to the pub. Astrid had been in surgery one other time, to check the internal bleeding. And I was now on a vigil, sitting by Astrid's bedside, waiting. And hoping.
It was now about midnight and I'd only started to doze off, when something caught my eye. A slight movement coming from near Astrid's bed. I shrugged it off, saying it was probably just the wind coming through the partially open window.
There it was again. What was it? I got up and slowly walked over to Astrid's bed, feeling around for anything heavy.
Wait, it was Astrid that was twitching, every now and then. I watched, wondering if I should get a doctor. The twitches stopped after about 2 minutes. I sighed, turning around to sit down again, when I noticed her head start to lol about.
"Uugghh" came out of her mouth. I slowly walked closer again, not knowing what was going on.
Her head was slowly moving from side to side, the occasional moan coming from her parted lips. I was really starting to get worried now.
Astrid's perspective
Ringing. Uugghh, what is that ringing?
I fell down to my knees, pressing my hands onto my ears, trying to stop the high pitch ringing piercing my brain.
It was slowly starting to fade, allowing me to look up and around.
Nothing
I was surrounded in this white room, nothing to be seen of. I had no sense of scale. How big is this place?
I got up to my feet and moved around a bit. I couldn't find any walls around me. "Where am I? What is this place?" Uncharacteristically, I started to panic.
Just as I was on the point of breakdown, the whiteness was swept away, like water down a stream, and in its place, a new scene.
I looked around from the point I was standing in. Large wooden houses surrounded me on two sides, what looked like a street was passing down the middle. People who looked like old-time Vikings walked around me, some carrying carts piled high with apples and other produce. Others were mingling with each other and a new mother was sitting on a bench, cradling a newborn child, while someone who was probably the father sat next to them, sharpening his axe on a stone.
What?
The serenity of this village's life was interrupted by a loud horn coming from one of the watchtowers surrounding the village. This horn must have meant something to the citizens of this island home as the mother screamed and ran inside the house. I could hear large locks being moved as the father jumped up and ran to what was probably the center square. I ran after him and found a group of Vikings in the center of the village square, sounds of a blacksmith coming from the edge of the space. A large burly man came running down from a room carved into the side of the mountain and started yelling orders.
I couldn't make out what he had said, but what was so significant about that horn? The villagers spread out, all of them carrying multiple weapons. Three young Vikings had gathered 'round the large man, talking hurriedly.
Screams were starting to come from the fire side of the village, fire blazing. My heart was starting to pound. What happened next scared me. The four Vikings from before all transformed into Night Furies, just the way Hiccup had. They took to the sky and flew to the fires.
I ran after them, not managing to keep up but seeing where they had gone.
Then the roars started. A massive dragon landed in front of me. It had orange scales, large horns on the back of its head, its bottom jaw protruding outwards. My heart was pounding harder than ever. I started to back away slowly. It didn't care.
The beast came straight at me. I tried to run but it was faster. It had reached me, and I braced for the end. But it went straight through me.
Instead of attacking me, it was after a warrior who was running after dragon with spikes on its tail, who was carrying a long-haired cow looking thing. The first dragon reached the warrior, him not noticing till it was too late.
The dragon's jaws clamped down on top of the man, blood pooling on the ground below the dragon's mouth. It opened its mouth a second later, the remains of the once proud warrior falling to the ground. I gasped in horror watching the dragon take off to find its next victim. A high-pitched sound emanated from the sky, catching my attention. I looked up to see the four Night Furies from before shooting blasts that looked like Hiccup at the attacking dragons.
The largest one fired a shot at the dragon that had just killed the man. The blast hit the dragon straight in the chest, knocking him over. The Night Fury pounded on top and the two began to wrestle. The Fury managed to get on top of the orange dragon, it's mouth poised to fire the finishing blow. But the orange dragon had other ideas. It twisted 'round and blasted a huge amount of fire at the neighbouring house. The one with the mother and child inside!
"NO!" I screamed and ran over to the burning house. The side wall was on fire and it was quickly spreading to the rest of the wooden building.
"NO! INGRID!" the father came running down the street, straight up to the house. He grabbed his axe and cut away at the door.
"Magnus! There's no chance!" a young man yelled from beside me. I stood in horror as I watched Magnus ignore the warnings and run straight in after his we and child. The fire had spread around the whole house now. A roaring heat built up, causing me and everyone to else back up. The roof started to crumble, caving in in the middle. They still weren't out yet.
The walls collapsed on themselves and we knew it was too late. The once young and happy family was gone. I fell to my knees.
"Why?"
The scene changed back to the white one. I felt myself open my eyes.
Hiccup's perspective
"Astrid!" I called her moaning getting louder, a tear seemed to appear in her eye, running down the side of her face.
I grabbed her shoulders, completely disregarding what the doctor had told me. I shook her. Her eyes opened and she sat bolt upright, tears still raining down her face. She seemed to start to be aware of me standing next to her, holding her shoulders. She looked up, puzzled, "Hiccup?"
"I'm here Astrid." I pulled her into a tight hug.
"Hiccup, what's going on? Where am I?" she asked looking around the clean white room.
"Astrid? You don't remember?" I asked puzzled but still shocked at her crying and moaning only moments earlier.
"Remember what?"
"The accident, me trying to turn you into a dragon. I hit you with my blast and you passed out. You've been in hospital for the past week," I said, looking down guiltily.
"I, don't, remember, any of this." She clutched her head in her hands
"Astrid, are you alright?"
"Hiccup, I saw something."
Author's note: Thanks for reading folks. Please review, tell me what you think and if you have any suggestions for titles feel free to PM me or leave them in a review.