Hey there! Happy Annual Update!
(dodges flying objects)
Jumping puppers and dancing dogos! I promise I won't disappear for another year! Ok, so I can't promise that but I do apologize for being away for so long. The last year has been crazy with school, Comic Con, work, and hospital visits so...yeah.
I really hope that you guys like this chapter.
~Enjoy~
Beep… Beep… Beep…
Snotlout hated that stupid alarm. He contemplated sitting up and smashing it so that it would never bother him again but he knew he'd have to get a new one and the cycle would start all over again. He mentally sighed debating on whether to wait for his Mom or Dad to turn it off and force him up or if should get up on his own; he decided to turn it off himself.
He went to open his eyes but he seemed to be struggling, like they were glued shut. As he continued to struggle, his other senses began to kick in causing him to wonder where he was. He knew he wasn't in his room, that much he knew for sure. The room smelled too…pristine and opened. He felt that the blanket over him was too thin and light and the bed he was lying on was to stiff and small. This wasn't good news for him.
Snotlout continued to struggle with opening his eyes. He needed to know where he was. He hated not knowing his surroundings. Finally getting somewhere, Snotlout could see blurry figures sitting at the foot of his bed. He noticed two were blondes and the other had darker hair. Finally able to focus a bit more he realized that Astrid, Ruffnut, and Hiccup were the figures sitting at the end of the bed.
"What if doesn't wake up?" he heard Hiccup ask.
"He's tough," Ruffnut responded. "He'll pull through."
Astrid put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder and gave him a weak smile. "Things will work out. The doctors will be able to figure out what is in his system."
"I overheard the doctors," Hiccup said. "They don't know what it is. Just like with everyone else."
"Does this drug really have the possibility to kill him?" Astrid asked.
Hiccup nodded. "They said if he doesn't wake up soon, Snotlout could die. His body is refusing the nutrients from the IV."
"Is anyone else in here for the same thing?" Ruffnut asked.
"Yes," Hiccup answered. "But it's not good."
Snotlout didn't like what he was hearing. He tried call out to get some more answers but he was having trouble making a sound. He knew what he wanted to say but the words weren't coming out of his mouth. He was getting really frustrated.
"What do you mean it's not good?" Ruffnut asked.
"Dagur's sister, Davina, came in a couple of days ago," Hiccup explained. "She didn't make it. They called it last night."
Ruff and Astrid looked at each other in shock. Snotlout didn't know how to respond to that information either. His gut began to knot just thinking that he could have wound up in a grave. He tried speaking again but it didn't work.
"That is-I don't know what to say," Astrid said.
"That won't happen to Snotlout," Ruff said. "Snotlout is too stubborn."
"Damn…right," Snotlout managed to whisper weakly.
The three snapped their heads to look at Snotlout, their faces lighting up with joy. "Snotlout!" they all cried at once. The three ran over to the bed with Hiccup putting a hand on his right shoulder, Ruff grabbing his left hand, and Astrid holding his right.
"How are you feeling?" Hiccup asked as he pressed the nurse button.
"Like I was tackled by ten 300 pound guys," he responded. "I'm having a hard time moving. How long have I been here?"
"About two days," Ruff smiled.
"Your parents and your uncle are here," Astrid informed. "They've been trying to find some answers as to what happened to you."
"When they find out," Snotlout tried to get more comfortable but failed to move. "Can they let me know?"
The door opened behind Hiccup and Astrid as Snotlout's parents, Stoick, a nurse and a doctor came in. "My boy!" his mother cried. "You're okay!"
"What happened?" Spitelout asked.
"How are you feeling?" Stoick asked.
The nurse gently moved Astrid and Hiccup aside so the he and the doctor could get closer to Snotlout. As his family asked questions about his wellbeing, the Doctor and nurse began to jot down numbers and doing several simple tests until the Doctor finally spoke up.
"What can you tell us?" she asked.
"Um…," Snotlout puzzled as he tried to remember anything. "I was just walking and then everything went fuzzy and black. I'm not sure of anything in between. I do remember pain around the base of my neck like I had a headache or something."
The nurse gently began to sit Snotlout up and looked at his neck, moving his hair to find anything. "Doctor," the nurse said. "Look."
"What?" Snotlout asked. "What is it?"
"Jason. We need to get a picture of this for the file."
Jason nodded as he lay Snotlout back on the bed and he left the room. The Doctor turned to Snotlout and continued to ask questions. "Where did this happen?"
"I don't remember," Snotlout said.
"I found him near grocery store," Hiccup informed. "Food and More."
"How do you feel?" she asked.
"Sore and tired."
"Hungry?" the Doctor asked.
"Not really."
"How long have you been awake?"
"Maybe a few minutes," Snotlout tried to shrug. "But it was a chore to even open my eyes or speak."
"Interesting," the Doctor jotted that information down. "Is there anything else that you think I should know?"
"I don't think so?" Snotlout shook his head.
"I have a question," Spitelout spoke up. "What did you find on the back of his neck?"
The Doctor turned to the adults as she explained. "We found a bruise from what looks like a forced puncture wound from a needle. A syringe to be precise. We had suspicions that it was the drug but now that we found the puncture site, we know for sure."
"Wait," Stoick interjected. "You didn't know that he was another victim of the mystery drug? But you said that he was."
"In truth," the Doctor adjusted the clipboard in her hand. "We didn't know. However, when your son brought him in and seeing the symptoms he was portraying as well as your nephew's medical history, we thought it was a safe bet to assume so and treat him as we have treated the others. Meanwhile, we did run some other tests to make sure that it wasn't anything else causing the problems and all those tested as negative. We began to run substance tests and just like the others, the results didn't make sense."
"So the only common denominator is the bruises?" Hiccup asked. "For all the victims?"
"It looks that way."
"And it looks like you were right, Hiccup," Stoick smiled.
"I wish I wasn't," Hiccup frowned. "It would be nice to more to go on."
"I agree," the Doctor nodded. "But at this point, I'm just glad we can identify the victims. I will be spreading the word here to look anywhere on the body. Snotlout is the first one to have the bruise by his neck."
"This is getting out of hand," Stoick huffed. "These people are getting away with this and we have nothing to go on! Several people have died and it feels like we are at the hands of these maniacs."
Ruff tapped on Astrid's shoulder. "Let's leave them to this and get a coffee or something." She then turned to Snotlout. "We'll be back later."
Snotlout nodded and watched as the two girls left the room and Jason come back in with a camera. He gently sat Snotlout back up and took a few pictures of the back of his neck then laid him down with an extra pillow to keep him propped up a bit more. "Here's the bed controls," Jason said as he handed Snotlout a control. "If you want to sit up or lay down more."
"Thanks."
"Please," the Doctor motion towards the door. "Let us continue discussing outside so he can sleep."
Hiccup sat in the chair besides Snotlout as the adults walked out. "I'll stay here."
Once the others were out of the room, Snotlout looked to his cousin and saw a weird combination of emotions cross his face. It's like he's pissed and worried at the same time. What the hell? "Are you ok? You look-"
"What?" Hiccup snapped. "Mad? Hell yeah I'm mad!"
Snotlout flinched at the outburst. He had never seen Hiccup like this and it was freaking him out. "What did I do?"
"You got hurt!"
"It's not like I wanted to get hurt let alone pumped with a drug that could have killed me so why are you mad at me?" Snotlout was getting annoyed, frustrated and mad. He didn't like being accused of doing something on purpose.
"Because you could have died!"
He didn't know how to respond. Snotlout's face relaxed and his frustration completely left his body as he watched Hiccup. He watched as Hiccup's face softened and bow his head, his hair trying to hide his face.
"I'm sorry," Hiccup spoke softly. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I shouldn't have snapped at you. I know it wasn't your fault. It's just…"
Hiccup trailed off leaving Snotlout in the dark. "Just what?" he asked. He wanted to know what his cousin was thinking, why he acted the way he did.
"It's just that I have enjoyed us being friends," Hiccup explained as he looked up. Snotlout could see he was on the verge on tears and fighting to not let them fall. "We've spent so many years at each other's throats that what we're trying to do now is something special."
Snotlout kept quiet. He knew not to interrupt Hiccup in the middle of one of his confessions and he actually wanted to hear what he had to say.
"In a way, it's like getting a family member back." Hiccup looked down at his feet as he continued. "So when you said that you couldn't breathe, when you weren't responding properly to the doctors, or when they said that you were another victim, I was afraid I was losing another family member."
Snotlout looked down at his lap. He kneaded a section of the sheet as he tried to think of something to say, but nothing came to him. He wasn't used being told that he was important enough to cause someone to freak out like that.
"I was afraid of being alone."
"But you're not alone," Snotlout finally spoke. "You have your dad, my Dad, my Mom, Gobber, and friends."
"I know," Hiccup nodded. "But since losing Mom, I guess I've always had this fear that I could lose everyone abruptly and I'd wind up alone."
"I didn't know you dealt with that. Does your dad know?"
Hiccup shook his head. "No. And he's not going to. He has more important things to worry about what with this drug attackers and a panicked country."
"How about Astrid?"
"Wha-what do you mean?" Hiccup stammered.
"You two were close friends when Aunt Val died. Sometimes I feel like you still are but did you tell her?"
"Not like that," Hiccup rung his hand. "But I think she has some sort of idea."
"For a guy who has a lot of feelings, you don't voice them enough," Snotlout chuckled.
Hiccup looked at his cousin and chuckled along with him. "Shut up."
Astrid was silent all the way to the café shop just down the street from the hospital, her mind occupied on the events of the last couple of days. She never thought in a million years that someone close to her would have been attacked by those scumbags.
"What do you want?" Ruff asked.
"Huh?"
"The guy wants to know what you want," Ruff pointed to the teen behind the register.
"I'll take a large tea. Black," she smiled.
"We have Earl Grey or English Breakfast," the teen listed. "Which would you like?"
"One of each."
The cashier nodded and rung up the amount, sending the ticket to the back once the balance had been paid. Astrid followed Ruff over to a table and sat down but she stared aimlessly at the table, still trying to wrap her mind around everything going on. Why is everything going to shit this year? It doesn't make sense. The drug people almost killing Snotlout, my Dad being even more of an ass than normal, and with college around the corner this is just too much.
"Hello!"
Astrid flinched seeing a hand waving just an inch from her face. "Huh? What?"
"Where is your head?"
"Huh?"
"Cause it's not here. I've been talking to you and you are acting way too much like a statue: non responsive."
"Sorry," Astrid sighed. "It's just-"
"There's a lot on your mind," Ruff finished. "I get it. And you don't have to apologize. I wasn't talking about much. I just wanted to know if you're alright."
"Yeah, I'm ok. It's Hiccup and Snotlout I'm worried about."
"I know, right? And I wanted to be the first one to get close to the Grimm Reaper."
"You have a death wish?" Astrid asked confused.
"No. I just wanted to get close enough to prank him or something and maybe freak my brother out in the process."
"That's not something I'd joke around about."
"I know," Ruff nodded. "But that was like years ago…last week. I can change my mind."
"Astrid. Ruff."
Both girls stood up and grabbed their drinks and began walking back toward the hospital. A cold wind picked up causing both girls to shiver in their thin jackets.
"Really?" Ruff sighed. "Can't we have a late winter instead of an early one? I'm getting tired of freezing in those stupid cheer uniforms."
"Me too. I'd like to feel my fingers holding the pom-poms. That or you'd think that they'd build an indoor field or something knowing the weather of this town."
"Oh my God! I think I found another petition to start. 'Save Muscles and Cheer. Play Football All Year!' What do you think?"
Astrid laughed, welcoming the distraction. "How is it you can make petition titles out of midair? You should go into reporting or something."
Ruff pondered for a second or two. "You know, maybe I will. And maybe you should be a counselor."
"Where did that come from?"
"The way you comforted Hiccup in the hospital. I'm surprised you're so chill being seen in public with him."
"Wait, what are talking about?"
Ruff's eyes went wide and she went to take a sip of her drink as she spoke. "Nothing."
Astrid grabbed Ruff by the arm and stepped aside on the sidewalk and looked around to see if anyone was nearby. "What did you mean by me and Hiccup being seen together in public?"
Ruff looked around and then sighed as she looked down at the floor. "I may have, accidently, decided to eavesdrop on you a few the Friday you stayed with Hiccup."
"What!" Astrid yelled, quickly recovering and whispering. "What?"
"In my defense, you're the one that butt called me in the middle of the night," Ruff shrugged. "I answered and once I realized who I was hearing and that you had no idea that you were being listened to, I decided to see where that would go so…I continued to listen."
"What!"
"I know! I know! I shouldn't have but I was curious as to why you were with him considering that you two hadn't been friends since like before high school and boy! Did I get a surprise! I never expected what you two talked about. I only listened for about an hour then I hung up but I figured out what was going on. Then when your called asking where you were on Friday, I wondered why he was asking but knowing you're dad, he was probably confirming something you told him so I played along. I knew what I did was right when I got you text."
"You have no idea how right you are."
"Since that phone call, I figured that you two want to keep your dad in the dark about your continued friendship but I couldn't figure out why. I figured you'd tell me when you were ready."
Astrid looked at her friend while clenching and releasing her fist. Oh my God. What do I do? She knows about us but what do I do? Do I tell the same lie? What?
"Are you going to tell me or are you not comfortable?" Ruff asked. "It's okay of you're not ready."
Astrid sighed. "No, I should tell you. But you can't tell anyone."
"Okay. Lips sealed."
"My Dad threatened that…he'd move me across the country. Cut off all contact with everyone here."
"Holy shit!" Ruff exclaimed. "What the hell is wrong with your dad?"
"I don't know but that's why we're trying to keep it a secret. I've made a lot of good friends and I don't want to lose you guys."
"Whoa. Don't worry. My lips are sealed and your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks, Ruff."
"Now let's get back to the ex-friend of yours and his cousin."
Let me know what you guys think! XD
