I'm so sorry this chapter is so incredibly short but I kinda was really fed up with all that waiting, so ... things gonna get real, guys! (You'll probably hate me for the cliffhanger and I'm sorry [but I had to])


Chapter 3 - I Will Stay

Days went by and by. The sun came and left again, marking the days of waiting. That was probably the worst - the waiting.

It seemed endless.

Hiccup sat in the chair by her bed, watching his wife's face, barely moving for hours. She had been asleep for six days now. With a short glance at his phone, he realized that it was Thursday already. That meant that the accident had been last Friday.

The ring stayed on her finger.

Hiccup sighed and turned his gaze back to her closed eyes and her pale, slightly freckled face. "Don't worry, Astrid", he whispered softly, leaning towards her, "I'm right here. I'll be right here when you wake up. I'm not going anywhere. You're going to wake up and then we'll just go home when you feel better and we'll eat something, maybe some of your burnt chicken or the mashed potatoes with those black bits in it and we'll talk and laugh and then we will go to bed and I will just hold you in my arms and you're going to snuggle into me and nearly break my ribs and I won't care because I love it when you do that and right now ... right now I'd give everything just to hold you in my arms again ..."

His voice broke.

His head fell on his knees.

That was how the doctors found him and he quickly scrambled up to his feet, hope dwelling up inside his chest once again and once again it faded oh so quickly when they told him that there still was no change of her state and that they would just have to wait. And he thanked them and they left the room again, and the young man sank down on his chair again and waited.

That was how it had went for five days in a row now. Almost like a routine.

When Hiccup darted up, it was somewhat past midnight. He groaned and rubbed his face, made his way to the bath and shoved some of the ice-cold water in his face. But it only made him jump and shiver. The desired effect of being awake and not tired anymore to last the night fell out. He really missed his bed and would have preferred to sleep on a matress instead of a hard and uncomfortable chair but he just couldn't leave her side.

Slowly, Hiccup shuffled back to Astrid's room, the peg leg giving muffled clicking noises.

After a moment of hesitation he started pacing around the room like a sleepless cat. There and then he stopped in front of the window to gaze at the piercing full moon.

The dark sky was filled with thousands of stars and everyone of them shone brighter than he would like them to. Astrid had always been a night-person. Sometimes, they would just sit, wrapped up in blankets, her body curled up against his, on the balcony, staring into the sky and trying to count the stars.

Suddenly, a rustling sound behind him made him jump.

His blood froze when he realized that the sound came from Astrid's bed.

He darted around, a dull noise in his ears, his heart racing.

Could it be ...?

There. Her hand was definitely twitching.

The world stopped.

And Hiccup moved, no, stumbled to her bed, his breath hitching in his throat.

And then, Astrid Haddock opened her eyes.


SorrysorrysorrysorrybutIloveCliffhangerssorrysorrysorryIamaterriblehumanbeingsorry