Do you ever wonder how different things could be if you could just change one thing? I do. A lot.
What that one thing would be? Well, that's easy. I would prevent that truck from ever existing. Oh wait, you don't know what I'm talking about of course.
Let me tell you…
It was a rainy Friday-afternoon. I, along with every other student of Berk High - Home of the Vikings - couldn't wait to get to the bus and to get home to celebrate the weekend. I was fourteen that time. I was the typical loser: scrawny, awkward, you name it, and I was it. People liked to make fun of me, especially Steven "Snotlout" Jorgenson, along with his friends - who were also twins - Tuffnut and Ruffnut, who never wanted to be called by their original names Christian and Mary-Ann, because those names were awful. At least, that was what they thought, and everyone who dared to call them by their original names, would find their head shoved into the toilet.
This day was no exception. I was just closing the door of my locker when I heard Snotlout calling. "Hey Hiccup!"
Yep, that was me. Hayden "Hiccup" Haddock. Nobody really remembers how I got dubbed Hiccup, but it stayed, and so everyone at school - except the teachers - called me that.
I sighed. I knew it was too good to be true to be left alone today. Hands roughly grabbed my upper arms and dragged me towards the closest janitor's closet. I knew it was Ruffnut and Tuffnut. Snotlout wouldn't bother dragging me off to some place or another. I was thrown into the supply rack, and some bottles toppled over my head.
"Can't you just leave me alone?" I asked softly. The twins sniggered, and Snotlout flexed his muscles.
"Nope," he grinned, and lashed out with his fist. It connected with my jaw, and I could immediately feel the pain surfacing. That'll definitely bruise. I made a mental note to buy some more foundation to hide the bruises, I was running out of it. Ruffnut and Tuffnut joined Snotlout, and soon I was lying on the floor, curling up protectively.
"Pathetic," Snotlout sneered once he was done. Ruffnut and Tuffnut sniggered again, and then they left me in the closet.
I laid there for some time, letting the pain subdue a little before standing up again. I slowly and painfully walked out of the closet and towards the nearest bathroom. There I looked in the mirror at my reflection.
I looked awful. Sighing, I took the little box with foundation out of my backpack and applied a little layer on the fresh bruises. After so long using it, I became pretty good at applying it, and now no one was able to see the difference if they weren't looking very closely.
When I was done, I carefully hoisted the straps of my backpack so they were a little more comfortable, and made my way towards the parking lot, where hopefully there were still some buses ready to leave. Of course, there weren't.
Sighing, I fished my cellphone out of my pocket and dialed my mother's number.
After two rings my mum answered. "This is Valerie speaking."
"Hey, mom, it's me," I said.
"Hayden! Is something wrong?" I could clearly hear the worry in her voice. And that was why I never told her about what was happening at school. It would break her heart for sure.
"No, nothing's wrong, except that I missed the bus home," I replied.
"Again? What is it, the third time in two weeks?" my mother sighed. "Alright, I'm just finishing up here, so I'll be there in fifteen minutes, that all right?"
"Yeah, don't rush yourself," I answered. My mother worked at the local veterinarian as an assistant. She was really good with animals, and she really loved her job.
"Don't worry, I'm already done. I'll be there soon, okay?"
"Okay. Bye," I said.
"Bye, sweetheart." With that, she ended the call.
I sat down on the steps at the front of my school, looking out at the road and watching various cars pass by. Luckily there was a roof over the steps, otherwise I would be soaked. It was as if the Gods - yes, I said Gods - themselves had turned every tap available open.
For as long as I could remember, I was always attracted towards the Norse culture and mythology. I was always interested in the tales of Vikings and their rampages. I liked the Gods they believed in, and their way of living. I sorta blended their culture a bit with mine, and thus I never thought of one God, but more, and more things like that were copied from the Norse people to my culture.
I was interrupted from my musings when a silver-grey Ford drove up the parking lot. It seemed my mother had arrived. I smiled and stood up, ignoring the pain the movements brought. I quickly walked through the rain towards the car, and stepped in. It's a good thing the foundation was water-proof.
"Hey there," my mother smiled. "How was your day?"
I shrugged. It wasn't like I could tell her "My day was great! My notebooks were ruined - again -, I ate lunch next to the dumpsters and got beaten up by three bullies. Oh, and did I mention that I aced that maths test?"
Yeah right…
My mother knew I was never very talkative after school, but she just thought I was exhausted after a day full of classes. Instead, she always turned on the radio, and this time was no difference. I didn't know who was singing, and I didn't know what song it was they were singing, but it was nice. I sighed and looked out through the window, watching trees and houses pass by.
The rain was falling even harder than five minutes ago, and I wondered how long it would be before it would be sunny again. Knowing the city of Berk, it wouldn't be soon.
"What does he think he's doing?" I heard my mother murmur, and I looked up. She was watching the red truck that was coming our way. A moment later I realized it was swerving a little, and gradually moving over to our side of the road.
It was then that my mother realized that the driver lost the power over the truck, and she pushed the brakes of the Ford with all her might. The rain had made the road slippery, and even though the wheels weren't moving anymore, we were gliding forward, straight towards the truck that was advancing on us very fast.
"Hayden!" my mother yelled, and I could hear the fear in her voice very clear. It matched mine perfectly. My heart was thumping high in my throat, and my hands were clasping the edge of my seat very tightly.
Then the truck hit the car, and I knew no more.
A soft beeping sound was the first thing I heard. I felt myself lying on something soft - a bed. I didn't know where I was. Didn't know what happened. But then the pain came crashing in, and with that the memories. Me and my mother in her car, rain, a red truck, and then darkness.
With a gasp I opened my eyes, and for a moment the brightness blinded me. Once my eyes were adjusted enough, I could see that I was in a hospital. I tried to say something, but I felt something in my throat, a tube of some sort. Not knowing what it was exactly, I panicked. The beeping sped up it's pace, and not long after that the door opened and a woman clad in white I didn't know entered the room.
"Calm down, Hayden, it's okay, you're safe," she said in a soothing voice. It took a little while before I was calmed though, with the help of something the woman put into his IV-bag, I later realized.
"That's better, isn't it?" the woman - probably a nurse - asked.
I inclined my head a little, but I doubted the nurse saw it.
"Now, your father is here, but he's down in the cafeteria. Do you want me to get him?" the nurse asked. I nodded, visibly this time, wanting someone familiar is this frightening situation.
The nurse smiled and brushed my bangs out of my face before leaving to retrieve my dad. I looked up to the roof. A simple, white-tiled, typical hospital-roof.
I realized that that something the nurse gave me also had dealt with my pain, since I felt pretty numb.
With nothing else to do but wait, I started to count the tiles of the roof. Thirty-six tiles, six in a row.
I then understood why people didn't like hospitals. Even though I was only awake for barely ten minutes, I was extremely bored already. The tube was already starting to annoy me, and I really wanted to be home, with my mom and dad.
Wait…
Where was she? Where was my mother?
I tried to look around, but the tube made movements a little difficult. But I could turn my head enough to see that I was alone in this room.
The opening of the door caught my attention, and I watched my father enter the room.
My father was big. Not fat, big. He was tall, muscular, and had a beard no one could compete with. And he was the mayor of the city.
"Hayden," he said, and he sat down in the chair that was standing next to my bed. He took my hand, which seemed really small in comparison with his. "How are you feeling?" my dad asked.
I blinked, before I slowly nodded. The pain was still numbed, and other than that, I was just bored. Nothing bad. But there was one thing I really wanted to ask. "Mom?" only it sounded more like "Mmm?" Stupid tube.
It was enough for my father to understand though, and he squeezed my hand a little. I looked at his face, and I was baffled to see tears welling up in his eyes.
No, I thought. She can't be-
"Your mother… She didn't make it Hayden." No! My mind yelled. I shook my head, not wanting to believe him. Tears rolled down my face, but I didn't notice them. My hand slid out of my fathers grasped, and along with the other one I clasped the covers tightly, ignoring the soft throbbing from my right wrist.
I didn't see my father watching me, also crying. I didn't notice him gently prying my hand away from the covers and holding it again. His thumb stroked the upper side of it in a comforting manner, but I didn't notice.
"When the paramedics arrived, she was already-" my father couldn't say the word. Instead he took a shuddering breath. "You were barely alive. One of your lungs collapsed - that's why you have that tube -, and your stomach had a small tear. You have some badly bruised ribs, two broken, and a sprained wrist. And then there's your leg…" It was hard for his father to sum up all of his injuries, I could see that, and I didn't like to see my father this sad. He was always the one who never cried, who was always strong and tough.
Only then did my mind register his last words. My leg? What happened to my leg? I looked down, and felt my heart drop to my stomach. Even with the covers over my legs, it wasn't hard to miss. Where my feet should be, was only one lump. My left leg ended just below my knee.
It was gone. My foot was gone.
"Hayden, I-" my dad said. I shook my head slowly. I couldn't believe it, I wouldn't believe it. With a shaking hand, I lifted the covers of my bed, and there it was. Or rather wasn't. The stump - it sounded so strange to think of my leg as a stump - was wrapped up in a lot of gauze, making it look weirder than it already was.
"Hayden, look at me," my dad said. Slowly, I obeyed him. He cupped my cheek with his other hand, and smiled a very small smile. "It'll be okay, I promise." I shook my head. Nothing was going to be okay. My mother died, for God's sake. How could everything be okay?