Here's the 4th chapter for you after that horrible cliffhanger earlier! D:
SEE HOW TOTALLY SURPRISING THE STORY CONTINUES ...!
Oh yeah, One Bright Light: Haha, wow, you are so good! I just read your review and was all like '...yeah. That's ... what's ... gonna happen ... basically. Hm.' :D :D YOU READ MY MIND! ;D
And thanks again for all your kind reviews and faves, it really means a lot to me! *hugs*
Chapter 4 - Come Back To Leave
Pain, was her very first thought wheh she woke up. For a few seconds, she didn't want to open her eyes, afraid of what she would see.
But then she heard a noise. Steps.
And a voice. A low, rasp voice breathing the words "Oh God". It sounded desperate, broken and tired but relieved.
Astrid took a moment to brace herself for what would be expecting her.
Then she opened her eyes.
They needed a moment to adjust to the bright light beside the bed she was lying in.
Astrid wanted to ask where she was but no sound left her chapped, dry lips.
And then she noticed the face of a young man in front of her.
He was crying.
Astrid looked at him in confusion. Who was he? What was she doing here and where was she even? His lips kept on forming silent words, tears were streaming down his tired, beaten face.
"Oh God, oh God, you made it", he just whispered, over and over again.
Then she suddenly found his rough, calloused hands on his face, stroking her cheeks, he was leaning in, his head touched her neck, tears fell on her collarbones ...
Everything in Astrid rebelled, every tiny bit of her. Before she even knew what she was doing, her hands pushed him away, letting out a yelp, leaving her whole body shaking and boiling.
He stumbled backwards as if he had bee struck. His green, watery eyes stared at her in shock and confusion.
"What ... A-Astrid?", he breathed and took a step forward again, his hands streched out. Quickly, Astrid pulled the bed cover over her upper body and sat bolt upright, ignoring the pain in her left arm and right leg.
"Who are you?"
Her voice was shaking and sounded rasp, as if she hadn't spoken in days - how long had she been here? Had she been unconscious? "Where am I?"
His lips curved to a small, disbelieving and bitter smile now. "That's not very funny, Astrid ..."
She ignored him and tried to block out all those confusing thoughts in her head.
Why was he so happy to see her and who was he? Why did he know her name?
"Listen", she said, trying to get her voice under control, despite the stinging pain in her face when she spoke, "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here but where. Am. I?"
His face was a mask of horror, shock and pain at the same time.
"You ... y-you don't ... know me?"
He staggered backwards.
Slowly, Astrid shook her head at the stranger. He was trembling all over his body now.
"It's me ... H-Hiccup ..."
Her thoughts were racing. He definitely knew her but why didn't she know him? Should she know him? "Do you know what happened to me?", she said, slowly, but he didn't even listen to her, he was shaking and kept staring at her with those big, horrified green eyes, shaking his head. "No ... no, no, no ... that ... can't ... be ..."
His trembling hands found the bedpost and clung onto it like a drowning man to a plank.
Suddenly, someone burst through the door and carefully but firmly shoved him aside. Astrid stared at the new face in distress. It was an elderly doctor with glasses and mousy hair who looked at her quizically.
"I'm Dr Layton. Mrs Haddock, do you remember what happened to you?", he asked slowly. Astrid shook her head and hissed: "No, that's what I've been asking him all the time but he just wouldn't tell me!"
"You've been hit by a car", he explained calmly, watching her face carefully, "six days ago. You fell into a light coma. Your husband has been waiting for you to wake up."
Her eyes widened. "What do you mean, husband? I'm not married ..."
She tried to focus through the mist in head but her throbbing leg distracted her. A choking sound was heard from the corner of the room. Astrid turned her head to see the young man with the auburn hair and the piercing, green eyes stumbling towards her bed.
"It's me, Astrid!", he breathed, his voice hoarsly, and he tried to grab her hands but she pulled them away, "it's me ... Hiccup ... Please, you ... you have to ..."
"I don't know you!", she suddenly yelled and felt tears pricking in her eyes. He looked so torn and sad and so sure that she knew him but she didn't and she just wanted him to leave.
Astrid didn't know why, but somehow his shocked, emerald eyes and the strange determination that she knew him scared her.
"Why do you expect me to? And I don't know who you think I am but I am certainly not your wife!"
A couple of moments, he only stared at her. Then his whole body started shaking. He fell on his knees, next to her bed and clung his hands to the cold metal of the bed, so hard that his knuckles turned completely white.
His words were only a frantic, urgent whisper.
"You're Astrid Haddock, my wife, we've know each other for ten years, we live here in Grandview and we have a cat and ..."
"Leave me alone!", she yelled, cutting him off, trying to get as far away from him as possible, "you're scaring me. And I'd like you to leave. Now."
Now, the only thing to be heard was the beeping of the heart-monitor, going crazy.
Astrid felt herself shuddering at his expression. How something inside of him seemed to die in the very moment she had finished. The light faded from his eyes. His head dropped, his pleading gaze broke away. He started shaking, his whole body was shaken from silent sobs.
And then, he hauled himself up to his feet and slowly walked across the room, his shoulders quivering. Without another look at her, he left the room.
A couple of minutes later, Dr Layton emerged from her room and stepped into the dark hallways, finding Hiccup slumped together on one of the few chairs standing along the white, dull walls. When Hiccup heard the steps, his head shot up. He didn't even need to ask. Dr Layton just sighed and sat beside him.
"I'm sorry, Mr Haddock" was the first thing he said, sounding tired. Hiccup said nothing. He just stared at his hands, where the lack of his ring was piercing into his eyes and heart. It was like a slap in the face.
"Your wife, she ... she doesn't remember anything. Well, to be precisely, she remembers her name and own identity, but doesn't seem to know any other persons who were - are - close to her." He hesitated. "I can't really help you with this. You'll have to go to third floor, the head doctor of the Neurologistic section, Dr. Emrys will be able to answer your questions." He stood up, wiping his hands on his coat. "I'm sorry", he repeated, trying to catch Hiccup's gaze but he didn't look up. "I really wish I could help you. Good luck, Mr Haddock."
"Thank you", Hiccup murmured, still staring at his hands in his lap.
Dr Layton nodded to him and then turned around to leave. After a second, he changed his mind and turned on the heels back at the young man. "Oh, and ... I think it's better if you wouldn't return to her room, Mr Haddock. She really is exhausted and confused. I hope you understand that."
"Of course."
That wasn't even a sentence, that was a croak, what left Hiccup's mouth but this time he looked up at the elderly man, nodding at him.
For a moment, Hiccup could do nothing else than shake and sob silently. He curled up in the chair and hid his face from the burning, white and clinical light.
He couldn't believe it.
This wasn't real.
It was just a bad dream ... a nightmare. And he would wake up, when he did he would find her in his arms again, in their bed, in their home. Where they belonged. With each other.
It couldn't be real.
But she didn't know. She hadn't recognized him. And the look in her eyes ... as if he had been crazy. She had been ... scared of him. Bewildered. As if he were a complete stranger.
Hiccup tried to steady his breath but the only thing he could manage was a pathetic wheeping sound, mixed up with a cough. His hands gripped his hair; he started rocking back and forth, trying to get a grip on himself again. He had to think.
But he couldn't.
Not when he still saw her beautiful, wonderfully familiar face in front of him, covered in healing bruises and that bewildered, furious expression.
When her voice was still echoing in her head, filled with anger and confusion. 'I don't know who you think I am but I am certainly not your wife!'
The whole world just slipped out of his hands.
It fell to the ground.
And it crashed into a million little pieces.
Dun, dun, dunn ...
Okay, sorry, I just ... had to cut it here, all dramatic and sad and lonely ... 's gonna get ugly for Hiccup. Oh yes. [and I'm not even sorry]
