=Normal POV=
(Tuesday, 1/30/2018-2:35 pm)
(Archian Island, Berk)
(Berkian Academy)

It had been a week since Hunter knocked out after taking a basketball to the chest, a week tomorrow, in fact. Shane and Travis told their friends what happened, and they were worried for Hunter. But he reassured that everything was fine and it had hurt at the time; he was okay the next day. There had been a small bruise, but nothing significant. The weekend gave Hunter his movie night with Nicole; they did it after his game on Saturday morning. The two went to early lunch, then back to his house to watch the fourth Happy Potter film. Nicole had already started on the fifth book and hoped to finish it by the end of February or early March. It was now the end of the school day; Hunter had work from 4-9 pm, so he'd have some time to get home and start on homework before needing to get to the shop. For now, he was just meeting his friends on the grass outside of C-Hall.

"So, do you have work tonight, Hunty?" Nicole asked, wrapping her arms around his midsection and smiling after kissing his cheek, then laying her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, from 4 to 9." Hunter nodded.

"Awe." Nicole pouted teasingly.

"Why? Want me to call out and spend time with you?" Hunter chuckled.

"Well, that'd be nice…But I know Glenn relies on you, and you won't do that to him. No, my parents wanted to take me and you out for dinner." Nicole giggled. Hunter arched a brow at her. "My parents really like you, and that's saying something after some of my ex-boyfriends, all of which were hated."

"Oh, well damn. No, I can't call out on Glenn. It's getting busier for him with all the winter repairs for tires and what not. Uh maybe tomorrow, after practice or something? Or Thursday even. No practice or work that night." Hunter suggested.

"I can ask when I get home if either of those would be possible." Nicole said. "I'll text you and let you know?"

"Sure. I'll keep my schedules clear until I know." Hunter replied softly. His head was bothering him a bit; he'd need to get a pain killer once he was home and hopefully the nausea would stay low as well. These things were almost becoming constant now. Headaches, nausea, chest pain, shortness of breath when first standing up, or laying down on his back. The blue tinge on his fingers was random, and the fatigue was constant at all hours of the day; even if he went to bed early and slept all night. The fever was still random too, but never going above 100, though. And Hunter could usually manage it with pain killers and fever reducers. Pain killers for the almost constant joint pains he had. It was like it never stopped now. Another random feeling was of being dizzy or lightheaded. Maybe something was wrong, or he was just losing his mind and stressing out when there was nothing to be worried about.

"You're looking a little tired, Hunter. Maybe stop staying up so late on the phone with Nikki and sleep?" Ashley commented as Hunter gave her an unamused glare.

"For your information, Ash. I was off the phone at 9:00 last night, and went right to bed. I just didn't stay asleep all night; I kept waking up at random." Hunter remarked. "Maybe mind your own business?" He added.

"Hey, lose your tude." Ashley huffed.

"You started with me first, I'm merely given back what I was given. If you don't want an attitude, don't give me one first." Hunter replied.

"Okay, you two…Knock it off. We're all friends here." Heather said softly. Hunter wanted to make a remark that he and Ashley were ex-lovers and tolerating one another for the sake of their mutual friends, but he kept it to himself. He wasn't in the mood, and wasn't feeling all that great either; he hoped that the pain killers would work before he started his job in an hour and a half.

"Also…Dad wanted to talk to you again if we were able to go out tonight." Nicole said with her hand holding Hunter's.

"Talk to me? About what?" Hunter blinked some.

"Dunno, he didn't say the topic; just that he wanted to speak with you again in a friendly setting such as going out to dinner with his family and daughter's boyfriend. His words." Nicole informed.

"Well, friendly setting and out to dinner seems like I shouldn't have anything to worry about, coupled with the fact you said your parents actually like me dating you." Hunter shrugged a bit. "Just let me know it tomorrow or Thursday is good with them. If not, we'll have to plan another day over the weekend or something. I think we've got a game Sunday afternoon at 3 pm too." He thought about the scheduling they'd been told yesterday.

"Yeah. Coach said it was because Murderous would have had a double-day with us and Meathead. But the games would have overlapped, so they pushed ours with them to Sunday." Travis stated.

"Ah, right." Hunter nodded. "I work Saturday from 8 am to…I think 4 pm. But maybe it's 5…I'll check tonight when I go in. And I think I work Sunday morning too from 8 am to 2 pm. Was supposed 4, but game at three, so I had to work that with Glenn." He mentioned.

"I'm sure Thursday would be fine. Mom and dad don't want to bother you longer after a practice; they know you gotta get home to do homework and stuff." Nicole smiled. "I'll let you know, babe." She added.

"Appreciated. Well, I should be getting to the jeep. Buses will start pulling out soon, and I hate getting caught in them." Hunter stated as he lightly kissed Nicole's lips and she returned it. Just a quick one as they were still on school grounds and being watched by the hall monitors. Hunter smiled at her and prepared to get to the student lot, but he was smacked with a dizzy spell and chest pains after a few steps. Hunter closed his eyes and put a hand to his head, shaking it a bit.

"Hunter?" Nicole asked with some concern for her boyfriend. Hunter never responded; he started breathing heavy before he swayed a little. His eyes started to roll into the back of his head and he began to drop. Bryan, who was originally at Ashely's side, but closest to where Hunter was, left Ashley and caught Hunter before he hit the ground.

"Woah, Hunter…" Bryan said quickly. "You alright?" He asked. Despite the fact Ashley was Hunter's ex-girlfriend, Bryan and him had no issues and were good friends even being Bryan was older and graduated the year prior. Bryan came to hang out during lunch sometimes, or after school when they were waiting to leave on the buses. Or he'd just come to grab Ashley before they went on a date. Hunter didn't knock out when he fell back; he refocused as Bryan steadied him on his feet and didn't back up until Hunter was balanced. "Seriously? Are you okay, man?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Sorry, guess I'm more tired than I thought…" Hunter smiled. "See you later." He prepared to head off and get to the lot again.

"Hunter…I don't think it's a good idea for you to drive." Addilyn frowned. "You almost passed out, again. It happened last week at practice…" She knew because she'd been there and saw it happen.

"I was smacked in the chest with a freaking basketball and hit the ground full force. I'm fine, Addy." Hunter stated firmly.

"Exactly. Last week you got hit, knocked out and hit the ground." Shane scoffed.

"This time; you weren't hit, and started going down and the only reason you didn't smack the ground was because Bryan caught you." Travis interjected.

"Look, I'm okay." Hunter retorted. "Back off, would ya?" He added before adjusting his bag and heading off to get to the lot before anyone could stop him.

"Is anyone else buying it?" Fisher wondered. They all shook their heads, even Nicole. "I think something is wrong, and he doesn't want to tell anyone so we won't worry."

"Well, we're worrying anyway…" Heather stated softly. "I get the practice knock out…But just now?" She asked, looking at the others.

"Like Travis said; he wasn't hit with anything. Yeah, he looked exhausted and pointed it out jokingly for him to go to bed earlier…But he got so defensive." Ashley said.

"It was more than just nearly knocking out; he was holding his head and breathing heavy from my angle. I saw him put a hand on his head too, like he got dizzy and needed to refocus or something." Bryan returned to Ashley's side.

"I think I'm gonna tell his dad. Uncle Spencer would want to know that Hunter is attempting to drive after nearly passing out again and with no cause this time…" Shane got his phone out to dial his uncle.

"I think he's okay, Shane. It was probably a little dizzy spell; he's been tired lately and unable to get comfortable at night." Nicole informed. "He was walking fine and talking clearly just now. I'm not saying there isn't something wrong, but he's okay to get home today. Maybe we can hint about seeing a doctor or something, for the sleeping issue?" She suggested.

"I'd normally ignore the request…But I know you've likely been around medical stuff all your life and if he looks okay to you…Then alright. But I swear if it happens again…" Shane paused.

"If it happens again with no cause like today, I won't stop you. We'll make him go to the nurse, and it'll be relayed to Spencer anyway…" Nicole nodded. The group of friends broke off to get on their buses, or cars to get home.

. . .

(Wednesday, 1/31/2018-1:00 am)
(Haddock Home)

Hunter got home at normal time; 3:05 pm, and knew that his father and uncle were working. The first thing he did was use the bathroom and take two pain killers for the joint pain and headache. Afterwards, Hunter texted Nicole to let him know he was home safely, and sorry for snapping at school. Hunter got started on his homework; the one that would take the longest. And then at 3:50 pm, he left for work at Berk Automotive. Hunter worked his five hours, and took dinner break at 6:30 to 7 pm. At the end, Hunter got home around 9:15 pm, showered, texted Nikki to let her know he loved her, but was going to bed. Nicole had let him know that her parents were fine with dinner on Thursday, and asked if 5:30 pm would be okay. Hunter replied it was perfectly fine, and that he needed to get some sleep. He set his phone on the charger, turned off all sounds and vibrations; then tried to fall asleep. It did not come easy. By 10:30 pm, an after trying to knock out; he couldn't. Hunter got up and sat at his desk to finish his homework, which he completely forgot about doing after work. Around midnight, it was all done and Hunter, again, tried to sleep. It didn't happen until 1:00 am; that was the last time he saw the clock on his DVD/VHS player that sat under the TV.

. . .

(Thursday, 2/1/2018-2:40 pm)

Wednesday had been a shitshow for Hunter. After falling asleep at 1 am, he was up at 3:45 am with bad nausea and winded up puking twice. Hunter slept from 4 am to 4:35 am, then got sick again. After that; he couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep again, so he actually got out of bed with his 6 am alarm. Hunter showered, took more pain relievers and fever reducers, got dressed, packed his backpack, ignored breakfast and headed to school despite how bad he felt. Hunter played it off all day he was fine, the fatigue showed during practice, but no one said anything to him as he was still doing well. Hunter did his homework from 3 pm to 5:30 pm, had dinner, talked to Nicole a little, and finally crashed around 8 pm. Today hadn't been great either, and it was a bit more noticeable to the friends that Hunter didn't look like he slept much lately. They asked if he was alright, he waved it off with his usual I'm fine and continued about a normal day. He got sick twice at school while dealing with an awful headache. The nausea kicked up first thing in the morning while at the breezeway meetup, but it happened while Hunter was already in the bathroom anyway. The second one happened during his second to last class of the day.

At 2:30, when the bell rang; Hunter met up with the others for about five minutes and headed home telling them he wanted to get his homework done before the dinner date with Nicole and her parents. The friends were still convinced that something was wrong and Hunter wasn't talking about it, but none of them knew what it could be and sighed heavily while still grouped up.

"I just don't get it." Ashley shrugged. "I know he's a shy thing, most times, but this isn't shy…It's distance."

"He never did this with you?" Nicole asked.

"How do you know about Hunter and I being old boyfriend and girlfriend. None of us have told you." Ashley remarked.

"Hiccup told me himself, night of the Halloween dance when we went to dinner and agreed to talk about past lovers and what not." Nicole shrugged. "So, back to my question?"

"No, he never got distant while we were together. Not with anyone else either, so something else is going on." Ashley informed.

"Yeah, this is new for Hunter…" Raelyn nodded.

Suddenly, Shane snapped his fingers with wide eyes. "It's almost the one year…" He stated, confusing the others.

"What are you talking about?" Fisher wondered.

"What happened last year in May…" Shane looked at them, maybe a bit sadly. All of them but Nicole gasped and understood. "I know we're not in May right now…But it's three months away…"

"Oh my Gods…I-I didn't even think about it…" Heather put a hand over her mouth in shock.

"I don't understand…" Nicole said, feeling a bit left out of why everyone knew what might be wrong with Hunter.

"Hunter hasn't told you?" Shane inquired as Nicole shook her head. What hadn't Hunter told her? In all their talks about things, he'd never taken a pass on not talking about anything. Or…Was it a subject that they hadn't touched yet and he had no reason to pass on something they hadn't reached? Shane sighed. "Nicole…I'm sure you've noticed that Hunter's mother is…Never at the house when you're over."

Nicole got nervous now. "I-I figured she was traveling, or…Maybe a divorce. Hunter never talks about her, so I felt like it was a sour subject and I don't ask…"

Shane shook his head. "It is a sour subject, but not for the reasons you though. Nikki…Hunter's mom is dead." Nicole gasped quickly.

"She passed away last May, right after her forty-second birthday. She got really sick, and…Just died." Ashley said softly.

"Uncle Spencer explained that it started with feeling a little unwell at random times, but by the time they realized it could be more, and had set for her to be seen by a doctor…She just collapsed at home and before the ambulance arrived; she was already gone." Addilyn frowned, looking down.

"D-Did they ever discover what it was?" Nicole asked softly, still in shock at the information. Hunter's mom was dead, and it was coming up in May when she passed; is that why he'd been the way he was lately? Not sleeping, seeming distant?

"Something to do with her heart," Shane replied. "I forget the official cause of death. We just know, vaguely, that it was her sick and then collapsing, and then died before the paramedics showed up. I mean they came within ten minutes, but it was too late."

"Hunter was a mess last year; he missed a month of school and the only reason he didn't fail or stay back was that we were…Kinda doing his work for him to help him stay caught up. We'd give him some, but we'd do the rest and turn it in to keep his grades up. But yeah…I think that might be why he's the way he is right now…" Fisher said.

"I can't believe we didn't think of it," Heather said lightly.

"Because we don't bring it up; it was the one thing he asked us to do. Not ask if he was alright, and not talk about it…" Addilyn reminded as they nodded, recalling it now. Nicole really wondered why Hunter never brought this up, then again; it was pretty painful to talk about your mother dying less than a year ago. If it hurt as much as the others said, then it was no wonder Hunter wasn't quite ready to talk about it. That was more than fair, Nicole still hadn't told him her ex-situation either.

"Oh, well…Thanks for telling me," Nicole said. "I'm sure he will with time; I'm not gonna push him while letting him know it's okay and I'm here."

"And…Can you not ever tell him we told you? Just on the grounds of it being…Personal business and what not?" Travis asked.

"Tell Hunter what?" Nicole smiled softly.

"Thanks." The group sighed in relief. Everyone split off to reach their transportation home. Nicole just popped in her headphones and relaxed, thinking about everything the friends said regarding Hunter's mom's passing. Sadly, Nicole didn't believe that it was just about his mom's death making Hunter this way; he was very defensive when asked if he was okay, and everything else she'd seen lately. Something was definitely going on, and Nicole had an odd feeling that it was medically related, which only made her more nervous and unsure of what to do about it. For now, she just wanted to get home, start on her homework, and enjoy and dinner with her parents and boyfriend.