I blow some more air into his lungs, hoping he'll wake up and put his arms around me and tell me he's fine. But he won't, I shove air hard into his lungs, I can feel stuff stopping most of the air from entering the rest of his body. But a little must be going in, right? I stop, my lips are just lingering on his. No purpose, just a kiss. I have always known Hiccup and I are close, but after my joining of the family, we never shared a kiss again after the embarrassment of the one earlier. But this, this is a time when I'm not feeling those awkward emotions. I press my lips against his in a more serious way. If this is the last thing that happens to Hiccup, so it should be. But I shouldn't be the last girl he kisses. It will be Astrid who does that job, but I can't escape the feelings of my lips against his. I like it a little, I never experienced it with someone I loved in a non brotherly way. Rye will just have to kiss me again sometime. I give one last bit of enthusiasm then remove my lips gently.
The tears well up and I hug Hiccup's body close. I keep forcing his heart to pump and air into his lungs. And to my luck, dad comes back eventually. A healer behind him, I stare at the healing woman, dad signals to me silently to hand Hiccup to him. I feel nervous but I gently release Hiccup's curled up body from my grasp and hand him to dad. He scoops Hiccup into his arms, his body staying in the same slightly curled up position. I follow dad and the healer, staring at Hiccup the entire time, acting as though he is just a newborn baby.
The healer takes him to an upstairs room where he's placed on a bed, the whole room is nearly empty except for that bed, a couple buckets, a table, and two stools. Dad leaves, he doesn't want to face this again. I stay though, I need to help and certify that my big brother will live. The healer grabs a bottle of something and pours it down Hiccup's throat, she looks at me in a serious way,
"I'm Asvor, if another woman comes in here, her name is Terri. I would like you to blow hard into his mouth, it will push this medicine into him. Which should loosen all everything that's been trapped in his throat. Has he woken since you found him this morning?" Asvor says in a rush, I bend over Hiccup and blow extremely hard into his mouth until it's hurting me. "Yes, he woke once when I first tried to blow air into him, he vomited up blood and other stuff then fell back into this, unconscious not breathing no heartbeat sort of way." I reply to her question.
She nods at me to do it again so I blow hard, "Stop Isabella. That should help, if he's woken and vomited he might make it. Impaled in his side?" She asks, I stop and lift up his shirt, she nods and runs down the stairs, coming back up a few seconds later with an extremely hot kettle. "Hand me that hollowed wooden piece," She commands, I hand her the funneled out stick, she dips a cup into the hot pan and before I can even blink she has the wooden piece set exactly into Hiccup's wound, the hot water flowing down and going, in it? "This was designed specifically for 'Naddar spike wounds. This hot water should clean the cut." She says like having a Deadly Naddar tail spike cut into you is something she does everyday.
She dumps some of the hot water into Hiccup's mouth as well and makes me blow, I did as I was told. "Now, lift him up and tilt his head down." Asvor commands, I do as she says and to my amazements, a large puddle of thick milky liquid with small chunks and a bit of blood falls onto the blanket on him. I set him back down, Asvor looks at me, "Now quick as you can, blow into his mouth then rapidly press on his heart." she says. I bend down and blow then move my hands and press. "Stop," Asvor says simply. I release my hands and stand up straight a bit, "Check him." She says,
I put my hand over his heart, there's a steadying heart beat! "Thank Odin." I say as I move my hand to his mouth and feel a shaky little breath coming from him. I step to the other side of the bed and hug Asvor. "Thank you, I didn't want to lose him." I say, Asvor hugs me back a bit before I release my embrace, "How come you were away?" I ask, she looks at me with a small laugh,
"The Berserkers chief, Dagur The Deranged, his wife was having a baby and their idiot village doesn't have a healer, a midwife, or even a woman willing to help. They brought a peace flag and flew me off yesterday." She says. I laugh to, the Berserks sometimes make me feel like Berk is trying to teach a bunch of toddlers about alchemy. Those toddlers being the other tribes and islands.
I sat on a chair and checked on Hiccup every now and then, Stoick and everyone came to visit. Astrid gushed when she saw him.
"He's okay! I heard what you did, with the air. That must have been awkward, but it's worth it!" She says to me. I look up at down at Hiccup, "I know. It was bit odd at first, but I wasn't going to let Hiccup die in my arms." I reply as I stare in a saddened way, Hiccup still won't wake up. I just hope he's not comatose. Everyone's eyes turn to me, Astrid looks straight at me, "You, you held him in your arms? Even though you knew he might not make it?" She asks.
I take a deep breath, "I held him tightly, I thought I was going to be the last person he ever saw. I thought he was going to die, but I held him tightly. I've been treating him like an infant. I hold him in my arms and hum, and it's not right. He should have his arms around me." I say trying to fight back tears,
Rye pushes past dad, Snotlout, and the twins. He places his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eyes with a small smile. "I guess, I will have to fill in for Hiccup." He says, I smile back when I feel his hand slip around my waist and his lips pressed against mine. I enjoy the kiss, it's an actually decent one from someone I love. And it won't end in tears, the others stay for a bit more, and dad tries to coax me into going home. But I resist and settle on staying with Hiccup until he can go home. Which could be a long time,
I scoop Hiccup up into my arms and move him over a bit. I grab a clean blanket and settle down next to him, I never even changed out of my sleeping clothes. I put a protective arm around Hiccup so I can always be sure he's okay. And after checking him multiple times, I drift into a light sleep.
The next morning I wake up and start checking on Hiccup, he's still breathing, good. I get up and look out the small window, moving the thick cloth out of the way. I catch sight of something that removes my worry about our dragons, Toothless being ridden by Rye, with Zip in tow behind him. I sit down on the bed beside Hiccup and rub his shoulder, something kicks in and I pick him up. I'm going to get a workout constantly picking him up. I hold him in a curled up position in my arms, like a child who's almost to big for lifting. I smile at Hiccup's peaceful face. I can see why Astrid wants to marry him.
Wait, oh please let it be! It is! Hiccup moves a little, small muscle movements. Oh his eyes are opening! He blinks and focuses on me, "Hiccup you're okay!" I say happily as I squeeze him into a tight hug. I stop squishing him, and let him move his head to look at me. He opens his mouth, before he can even move his head, out comes a small pile of thick liquid and a tiny bit of blood. Which lands on me. I laugh a bit, he winces as he sees his spit up all over my shirt front.
He looks at me with a half smile and says, "Your hair looks like a mop!" Is he still drunk?! Oh wait, I just haven't brushed my hair in almost three days. I laugh some more.
"I don't even care if you just threw up on me, or those were your first words to me since you woke up. You're okay!" I say, Hiccup hugs me a bit with a smile, then glances up and down at my arms and his body. "Um, are you, holding me?" He asks, I shake my head, "Yes. Yes I am holding you Hiccup, I've been holding you in my arms for two days! Carrying you and saving your life!" I reply. He puts on a casual face and looks at me, "Will you put me down? I don't really like being held by my little sister. And I really need to use an outhouse." He says.
I stand up then place him on his feet, still supporting him. He takes a step with his metal foot and starts to fall, I grab him and stand him back up. "Should I-" I start to say, Hiccup looks at me with the most helpless and embarrassed look, "I guess I am going to need your help. Alright, carry me out there." He says. I smirk and bend down in one quick motion and sweep him up. I squish him into a ball shape. "Am I like a baby to you?" He asks me softly as I head for the door. I look at Hiccup,
I can already feel sympathy for him welling up. Hiccup is often treated like a baby, I take care of him, and he acts like a man and protects me. But I do as much caring and work for him as he protects me.
I look at Hiccup, I do treat him like a baby! I mean, he is okay being treated like a kid, most men around here would have even refused guidance to the outhouse. "No Hiccup, you are not a baby to me. You are an amazing and protective man, you just need help sometimes." I say, Hiccup seems a bit proud at me calling him a man. I get him down the stairs, we walk past a couple other patients, two men who seem to have been bitten by stubborn dragons. They stare with their mouths wide open at the sight of me carrying their future chief in my arms.
I actually had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, Stoick the Vasts children, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and Isabella Elma Haddock, the two scrawny Hiccup's who hold each other and cuddle like toddlers. We're both scrawny kids, always have been. I place Hiccup in front of the outhouse and open the door for him. He stumbles in and I walk over to a terrible terror, scratching at the ground. I pick up the small dragon, "Huh, even the most ferocious creatures are skimp sometimes." I say as I look at the scrawny dragon.
I look behind me, Hiccup's stumbling out the outhouse. I run and hold him up, "You want to try walking?" I ask him as I slip an arm around his waist to hold him up, Hiccup looks at me, "Yeah." He says blankly and starts taking some shaky steps. I help him and by the time we walk back to the building he's walking on his own again.
Inside, we walk up the stairs and back into the room. "You are a mess." He says as he stares at my slightly tangled hair and vomit covered shirt. I take up a small blame game, "Hey! You are the one who throw up on me! The hair is because I've been saving your life, and, you aren't very decent looking yourself." I say. Hiccup glances at his own shirt and makes a face, it's coated in blood on one side, and some blood he threw up dripped onto his chest. He carefully feels his hair, then tries to run a hand through it. Failure, he can't even slip his fingers in his hair.
I go to the window and peek through, I see Astrid and Stormfly walking nearby, "Hey Astrid! He's awake! Think you could get us a hair brush and some clean tunics?" I shout to her. She looks at me smiling as she hears about Hiccup, "I'll be there in twenty minutes with everything!" She says and starts mounting Stormfly. I walk back away from the window and we sit down on the bed.
"Hiccup, why didn't you tell me about being hurt?" I ask him, He stares at me, "I didn't want you to worry about me. I thought it would heal, but by the time I had it removed, it was in deeper then I thought." He says as he wraps an arm around himself and places a hand over the wound. I swallow and ask something else. "The blood on your apron, it was from the wound, wasn't it?" I ask.
Hiccup shakes his head. "Actually, no. Astrid hurt herself, and she flew back and landed roughly. I was walking by, and the closest place I knew I could get help from was the shop. So I used my apron to stop the bleeding, and some spare water to wash her off." He explains, I make a small oh with my mouth. Astrid is so lucky, "Well, you are going to live to marry Astrid." I say, Hiccup stares straight into my eyes, "Belle, I don't know about this marriage! I will have to move out and get my own place! I won't be there for you to mess with in the mornings." He says with a slight tease.
I sit for a minute. Then it clicks! "Actually, you might not. If we get some help we can build a few extra rooms on the house! One for you and Astrid, I'll keep our old room. One for Rye, and if I marry Rye someday we can share a room and that will leave another room for all the future kids! We could even divide up the extra room in smaller rooms for separate bedrooms for children!" I explain my idea excitedly. Hiccup stares with his head tilted to the side a bit, an open mouthed smile poking at the corners of his lips.
"That might actually work! Are you planning everything with me and Astrid? Next thing I know you'll be calculating due dates for any kids we have and picking out baby names!" He says in a mock anger. I laugh, "If I can figure out the due dates of your future kids, then we have problems." I say with a laugh. He laughs to and we end up supporting each other, laughing about future children of ours and coming up with ridiculous names.