Hi. Hello. Salutations awesome people! :D So, sorry I didn't update earlier. As most of you know, both my ears are infected right now, so...yeah. I've been sleeping a lot today...I've just recently felt up to writing another chapter, so here it is. :) I'm also updating for WBOTR in a minute...yeah, so that too. And I just want to say thanks to all who've said in reviews that they hope I feel better. You may not know this yet, but it means a lot to me. :) And thanks for all your support. This story shouldn't be much longer; maybe three or four chapters more, I dunno...
Can't think straight right now. :P So, enjoy the chapter, and I'll work to update tomorrow! :D
Valka held him for a whole half an hour straight, until she was certain he was sleeping soundly enough to be moved. She laid him back down, grabbing an extra blanket and throwing it over him. His fever had broken earlier that day, but now he had another one, and it seemed to be worse then all his previous ones.
"Toothless, stay with him," Valka ordered, her tone desperate. "I need to go get some more water from the well. Make sure he doesn't try to get up." His fever was bad; really bad. To the point where not getting it down as soon as possible could be fatal. Toothless nodded, standing guard over his rider while Valka grabbed a bucket and raced downstairs with it, running outside and towards the well.
She tried to keep from thinking negatively, but that was nearly impossible to do. Hiccup was her son, and he was sick with a high fever. He had had fevers a lot the past few days, but now, this one was just...it was higher than usual, and that made Valka frenzied.
As she dunked the bucket into the well, Astrid walked up to it as well, a bucket dangling from her own grip.
"Valka?" she gasped when she saw Hiccup's mother. She made sure to keep her voice low; no need to wake the villagers, after all. "What are you doing?" Astrid asked.
"Getting water," Valka said simply as she hauled the now full bucket out of the well, setting it on the ground. "Hiccup has another fever, Astrid, but it's worse this time. It's higher than usual. I need to get it down."
"Do you need any help?" Astrid offered.
In truth, having Astrid to help her would be a major relief for Valka. It was always easier when the young Hofferson was so willing to help her and Hiccup out. Valka nodded.
"If you're sure," Valka said. "You don't have to..."
"No, I want to," Astrid said. "I just need to get some water back to my house, I'll tell my parents where I'm going, and then I'll head over, alright?"
"Alright," Valka said. "Thank you, Astrid."
"You're welcome," Astrid said, nodding her head. "You should go..."
"Right," Valka said. "I'll see you in a few minutes." She went off, back towards her house while Astrid filled her bucket with water.
Valka struggled little with the heavy bucket she was carrying. She didn't have time to dwell on it. Hiccup needed her to be back as soon as possible.
She pushed her front door open, and then made her way up to Hiccup's loft, ignoring what little water she spilled on her way. She could think about that later. Not now. She crossed the room, setting the bucket beside the bed and finding a clean rag. After dunking and soaking the fabric in the cold water, she wrang it out, pressing it to Hiccup's forehead to skim sweat off his brow.
Hiccup shuddered, his teeth chattering as his eyes finally slipped open. He looked up at his mother with half-lidded, unfocused eyes, and Valka looked back down at him with concern.
"Mom..." Hiccup rasped. "We...really need to...stop...meeting like this."
Valka couldn't help but smile at his remark, but it faded rather quickly. "Your fever's too high," she said. "I need to get it down. It's going to feel cold, and I'm sorry, Hiccup, but if I don't get it down..."
"I know," Hiccup said, "and I understand." Valka pressed the cloth to his forehead, and Hiccup shuddered once again. "S'alright..." he murmured sleepily.
It didn't take long for Astrid to arrive after that. She came, straight through the door and up the stairs with purpose. As soon as she was upstairs, she crossed the room, sitting down on the bed next to Valka and Hiccup, putting her hand on Hiccup's cheek.
"You weren't kidding," Astrid said with worry filling and overflowing her tone. "He's burning up. It hasn't been this high so far."
Valka nodded. She and Astrid worked in earnest, both of them fighting to get Hiccup's fever down before it got worse. However, even after a full hour of trying, his fever only seemed to rise.
"He's getting hotter!" Astrid announced frantically as she put the back of her hand against Hiccup's hairline, right above where the soaked cloth was sitting on his forehead. "What do we do, Valka?"
"Water's not bringing it down," Valka said. At the moment, it was tempting to just dump the entire bucket of cold water over Hiccup's head, but Valka knew she couldn't do that. He was already shivering enough as it was, and he had developed a somewhat nasty cough. "We need ice, or snow."
"Snow, got it," Astrid said, grabbing the bucket of water to refill with snow as she ran out the door. She was, for once in her life, thankful that it had snowed recently, because it made getting the ice even easier. She scooped snow into the bucket until it was full, and then ran back into the house, skipping every other step as she dashed up the staircase.
"Got it," she said, setting the bucket by the bed.
"Good," Valka said, taking a chunk of snow out of the bucket – ignoring how it numbed her fingers – and then put it on Hiccup's head.
"Do you think he'll be alright?" Astrid asked.
Valka was about to respond, but then she hesitated. She knew Hiccup was strong; stronger than he was given credit for, but she also knew that at the moment, he was weak and sick. The illness that plagued him seemed to be winning.
However, she also knew that she couldn't tell Astrid what she really thought.
"I think he'll be fine," Valka said after a moment of silence. "As long as we can get his fever down, he'll be alright."
As she tried earnestly to bring down her son's fever, Valka could only hope she was right.