Hiccup felt himself shaking when he woke up. Despite how cold he felt, he could feel the sweat pouring down his face. His breathing was labored, he noticed. His right side felt like it were about to cave in with each breath he took. What was wrong with him? And where was he at?
Opening his eyes, his breath caught in his throat. He could smell the fire close by. Other than the crackle of the wood in the fire, he heard silence.
He winced when he felt his lungs fighting for more air. But, it hurt to take in too deep of a breath. Somehow, he knew he'd broken a rib or two. How? And still he had another question, where was he at?
He tried to gather his strength to sit up. He rolled over onto his left side, struggling to not cause the pain to radiate up his right side. Slowly, he tried to push himself up. He felt very weak.
"Easy-" he heard a voice whisper to him. A hand laid on his shoulder, and he was pushed back down towards his pillow. Opening his eyes again, he met his mother's.
"Mom-"
"Relax," she said to him quietly. He could feel a damp cloth pressed against his forehead. He leaned into it, feeling the slight warmth of her hand on his skin. It felt soothing.
"What happened?" Hiccup asked without really thinking. What was wrong with him?
"You've had quite a day," Valka replied to him. "You and Toothless both-"
"Toothless!" Hiccup suddenly felt the adrenaline rush to him at the thought of Toothless. He sat back up, pain pulsating through his right side. His mother tried to push him back to his pillow, but he refused. "Where-where is my dragon?" he asked.
"Toothless is fine-" his mother began. He felt her arm go around his back as she tried to support him upright. "He's had all day to recover-you on the other hand-"
Hiccup suddenly felt light-headed and involuntarily he closed his eyes, and was forced back against his pillows again. Knowing Toothless was okay was a relief to him. He could relax a little bit.
"Take is easy, son," she said, wiping his face again. "If we don't get this fever down-you'll end up in Gothi's hut." Hiccup struggled again with the deep breath he was trying to force himself not to take. Hearing him wince, his mother pulled the covers from over him, pushed up the shirt he was wearing, and began feeling around on his chest a little bit. Suddenly, he felt her fingers hit the tender spot he didn't know he had, he winced again, unable to conceal the pain. "I suspected you had broken a couple of ribs when Toothless came crashing into the Great Hall-"
"Is that where I am?" Hiccup asked.
"Yes-and no," his mother responded to her him. She sighed. "We are in the meeting room."
Hiccup bit his lip to hold back another wince. He didn't want to spread the worry over his mother's face again. Each time he winced or took in too deep of a breath her eye brows would come together on her forehead. He didn't want her worrying over him.
"Where's Astrid?" he asked.
"Helping dig a path through the village," Valka said. "The snow is as high as Meatlug outside."
"Everyone okay?" Hiccup asked her.
Her eyebrows came together at his question.
"Mom-"
"Everyone is fine!" she said to him. She placed her hand on his cheek, and he leaned into it. It felt warm to the touch. "You need to rest."
"Mom-I-" He felt her hand go to his damp forehead. His eyes closed. He needed to focus on his breathing to keep the pain in his ribs away. He measured how big of a breath he could take without causing himself some pain. Unfortunately, his breathing couldn't be very deep.
"I'll be back," Valka said to him. "Toothless-watch over him."
Hiccup heard his mother's footsteps disappear in the distance the same time he could feel his dragon settling himself close to Hiccup. He felt a great wing lay over him to keep him warm, and then Hiccup closed his eyes tighter to try to gain a little bit more sleep.
...
When Hiccup woke up again, his body felt as though it were on fire. He felt himself kick the blanket off in response, but regretted it as soon as he had done so. He instantly felt cold again. He tried to sit up and reach for it, but the pain in his ribs made him lay back again. He felt very sticky. Again, he needed to focus his breathing.
"Oh, Hiccup-" He heard Astrid beside him. He felt the blanket lay back over him. Feeling her hand on his cheek, he found himself leaning into it, just like he had his mother's.
"I'm sorry-" he said to her.
"There's no reason to be sorry," she said to him. "Just rest-"
He felt himself becoming edgy. He couldn't explain why he was becoming this way. His breathing suddenly became rapid, his chest was burning. His head felt as though it were going to explode. Astrid could sense this, he knew, because she was closer to him, holding him to keep him calm.
"It's going to be okay," she said to him. She was practically in his ear. "Take a breath, and relax."
"Astrid-"
"I promise you, Hiccup-" she said to him again. "Close your eyes-relax-"
He made himself sit still even though he felt like he was going to lose it. He felt himself grow more rigid but he forced himself to remain against his pillow as best as he could. He suddenly felt as though he would explode.
"Valka-his fever-" he suddenly heard Astrid cry. "It's growing too high-"
"Gothi-please!" he heard his mother plead. "He's getting sicker-"
Suddenly, Hiccup felt a cool cloth press against his forehead. Someone was holding it there, applying additional pressure. Then, he felt someone force his head up a little bit, and a mug pressed to his lips.
"Drink-" Astrid said to him. "It'll help you sleep." Her voice was barely a whisper.
He took a few small sips, nearly choking on the taste as he did. It wasn't a moment more, and he felt himself relax, his eyes flutter, and he was asleep again.
...
Gobber had approached the door to the secret room some time later. He used the secret knock, and he heard the board that sealed the door be removed by Fishlegs. Then, it opened and Fishlegs welcomed him inside.
"How is 'e?" Gobber asked Fishlegs.
"Getting there," Fishlegs replied, locking the door back up. They both glanced over into the direction of the chief.
Astrid had sat herself to her husband's left. She sat hunched over, with her legs crossed. Her elbow rested on a thigh. Gobber could see her fist was shoved up to her mouth. Her right hand rested over Hiccup's where he laid. She was watching over him closely.
"Has the lass slept 't all?" Gobber asked Fishlegs. In return he was given a shrug.
Astrid knew she was staring off a little bit. She was conscious of the fact that she kept rubbing her thumb over her cracked lips. She wasn't leaving Hiccup. Not the way she had seen him earlier. The fear the shown on his face, despite the fact that he had tried so hard to conceal it. That image was burning through her mind, and it had been half a day since Hiccup last awoken.
Beside her Toothless cooed. Equally, they were both concerned.
She felt a heavy hand lay over her shoulder, and she was startled. She turned and looked at the source.
"Gobber-"
"My turn," he replied to her.
"I'm not leaving him," she said.
"You need to get yourself something to eat-and some shut eye," he said to her. Reaching another hand over to Hiccup, he felt his cheek. "The fever is starting to fade."
"I want to be here when he wakes up again. Gobber-he looked terrified-"
"Astrid-this is doing you no good," Gobber said to her. "You'll make yourself sick. Go get something to eat. He will be here when you get back, okay?"
Astrid went to fight him on the instructions, but over his shoulder, she could see her mother-in-law looking at her. Valka's eyes told her that she needed to go take care of herself for a little while. Giving Hiccup's hand a single squeeze, she forfeited her post and went to get a chicken leg from the kitchens.
...
Hiccup woke up. Opening his eyes slowly, he took in his surroundings. A little ways again, he could hear what he believed were Snotlout and Fishlegs snoring. After a moment, he was certain it was both of them. He groaned. They were the last sounds he wanted to hear when he woke up.
"I'll never get to sleep again," he said to himself in a whisper. He gently rolled over onto his side, noting the pain again. He was prepared this time, and he slowly pushed himself to sit up. Looking to his right, Astrid had been asleep beside him with her back turned to him. She didn't have a blanket over her, and he thought he could see her shudder gently.
Reaching over to the blanket that laid over him, he gently placed it over her shoulder. After making sure he was covered up, he woke up a little bit more. His stomach gave a nasty noise. He was hungry. When was the last time he'd eaten anything?
It was then that he remembered the warm liquid that Astrid had fed him last. It had helped him relax and sleep. Placing his hand up to his forehead, he noted that his fever had broken. He sighed, and regretted it immediately when his side gave a small ache in response.
He went to push himself to stand up, but he realized his prosthetic was missing. On normal circumstances, he would have gotten up and hobbled over to where he was heading, but he knew he was too weak to do that. Admitting defeat, he turned to Astrid. He didn't want to wake her up.
His stomach gave a loud groan after a moment. He was starving. Sighing, he reached his hand over to her, placing it on her arm. She bolted upright.
"Easy, milady," he said to her.
Their eyes met. It was then he could see the dark bags under her eyes. It was obvious she'd barely had any sleep. He wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep since he'd been forced to drink the liquid. Just as he was about to speak, his stomach gurgled loudly again, and the noise pulled Astrid's eyes away from his.
"Oh, Hiccup," she blinked. "You must be hungry."
"A little," he said in response. He felt his cheeks turn red with slight embarrassment.
"How's your side feeling?" she asked him.
He shrugged his shoulders a little bit. "Still hurts to breath a little bit."
"I'm sure," she said to him. Reaching her hand up to his forehead, she felt for fever. Hiccup closed his eyes, welcoming her touch again. "Your fever broke, finally." she said with a sigh of relief.
"I didn't mean to worry you," he said to her.
"I know," she replied back. "We expected you home sooner than you came."
"The storm held me up," Hiccup said to her.
"That did, among other things," she replied to him. "I'm sure leaving Dagur and Mala wasn't easy."
Hiccup shook his head. "No, it wasn't." He felt Astrid's hand touch his arm. She gently uprooted it from where his hand sat on the floor to help support himself up. He swayed a little bit as she inspected his hand. After a moment, she seemed satisfied, and let it go.
"I thought you were getting some touches of frostbite," she said to him.
"I wouldn't be too surprised," Hiccup said gently. Suddenly, he felt a punch in the arm. His mouth became a straight line. What had he said?
"Don't joke with me!" Astrid said to him. "That's what you get for joking at a time like this-" She punch his arm again. "That's what you get for worrying me-" Again, she punched his arm. "-And that is for-everything else! You don't get it at all, do you?"
"What are you going on about?" Hiccup asked her.
"How-how much you make me worry!" Astrid said to him. Suddenly, he was aware that she had wrapped her arms around herself, as she did when she was nervous. "I constantly worry about you, Hiccup. It isn't fair-"
"What isn't?" Hiccup asked.
"How much you make me worry about you-"
Hiccup sighed. "I don't make you do anything."
"But, you know you do cause me to worry," she replied.
Hiccup sighed. "Not purposely."
"It may not be on purpose, Hiccup. But, you are always getting into trouble-"
"This time it wasn't my fault."
Astrid sighed. "I know. You couldn't help the storm. Next time, would you please-please let me go with you?"
"Someone needs to be here," Hiccup said.
"If not me, then Fishlegs?" Astrid asked him.
He could see the worry growing in her eyes. She was right. He shouldn't be traveling alone. Toothless had gotten them out of a few sticky situations. Who knows how many more tricks they had up their sleeves in events out of their control.
"All right, then," Hiccup said to her. "We will talk about this later."
"Later?" Astrid began.
"Yes," Hiccup said. Suddenly, his stomach gurgled again. "Now, do I have to find my own leg to go get myself something to eat? Or, are you going to fetch it for me?"
Astrid shook her head and growled. Clearly, her point had gone through one ear and out the other...again.
...
Sadly it took me four days to write both chapters of this two-shot. I was having some major writer's block. Hopefully I can get past this again. Thanks for reading guys.
