*walks down spiral staircase with white gown flowing dramatically behind me*
Nice, to, meetcha, where've you, been?
I can show you incredible things.
Fandoms, Fanfics, that's my, trend,
I saw it there and I thought,
"What the heck? What is this?
This looks like...a brand new ship?"
Better watch out, here I go again! (OH NOOOOOOOO!)
Sorry guys, I am SO random. :P Here's chapter 31! :D
This was even more terrifying than watching Hiccup fall into the flames during the battle against the Red Death. This was different than any of the other situations Astrid had ever found herself in.
Valarie nodded, quickly placing the herb on the desk before running off to get Rosie and Gina. She returned almost moments later with the two young girls, who instantly ran back downstairs to heat some water. Valarie handed Rosie the herb, and the girl took off downstairs once more to help Gina.
Valarie, meantime, had laid Hiccup out on his bed, undoing the already bloodstained bandages and casting them aside.
The wound looked so much worse than it had before, and Astrid and Stoick couldn't hold back their gasps. It looked worse than "worse", and more terrible than just simply "terrible." It certainly didn't look happy, and even that was an underestimate.
Stoick and Astrid sat by Hiccup, Astrid holding the poor boy's hand while Toothless looked from the healer to his rider with concern and worry.
"Done!" came a shout from Rosie and Gina as footsteps met their ears once more. The two younger girls came up the stairs with a bowl and cup, both of which had steaming liquid in it.
"Thank you, girls," said Valarie, taking both objects from her assistants and setting them down on the desk. The contents of the bowl were thick, almost like a paste, and it was dark green and smooth. The liquid in the cup was as thin as water with a slight green hint to it; nothing much, though.
Valarie handed the cup of water to Astrid, who took it almost instantly. "Get him to drink it," said Valarie.
"How much of it?" said Astrid. She tried to keep her hand from shaking.
"All of it," said Valarie. She dipped her fingers into the bowl, scooping some of its contents onto her hand before looking at Stoick.
"This is it," she said. "If he thrashes, make sure he doesn't move." She spread the paste over the gash, and Hiccup did nothing more than groan, his head lolling to the side. Astrid, meanwhile, was forcing the liquid of the cup down his throat, and although he coughed and choked at first, he was eventually coaxed into swallowing.
"How will we know if it works?" Stoick asked, worry evident in his voice. Valarie rubbed the last of the thick paste on Hiccup's wound and then handed the bowl back to Rosie, who set it to the side.
"We won't know for three days," said Valarie.
Astrid's brain screeched to a halt. "THREE DAYS!?" Astrid shouted.
Valarie nodded. "Three days," she repeated, turning her attention to Astrid for just a moment before looking back at Stoick. "The herb is rather strange in the way it works. In three days, Hiccup's body will either accept it, or reject it. If it accepts it, he should wake up in three days time exactly feeling quite a bit of pain in his wound. If he's in pain when he first wakes up, it's a good sign. It means it's healing properly. However, if his body rejects the healing herb, he should wake up in three days feeling fine for about an hour, before the pain increases, thereby starting the three weeks of torment before he finally passes away."
"...And until then?" Astrid asked.
"There's no way of knowing," said Valarie. "It will be impossible to wake him for the next three days, and so the best thing to do is just let his body work. We'll know in three days for certain. I wish there was something more I could do."
"You're doing everything you can, Valarie, and I appreciate it," said Stoick.
"I do, too," said Astrid.
"Thank you," said Valarie. "All we have to do now is wait."
Rosie and Gina started gathering Valarie's supplies together while Valarie bandaged Hiccup's wound again in order to keep it clean, and to continue stemming the bleeding, which, albeit sluggish and slower than before, was still pursuing.
Once that was finished, Valarie, Rosie and Gina bid their goodnights and good lucks to Stoick, Astrid, Toothless and Hiccup before they left the house, going back to their own homes to try and get some sleep themselves.
Astrid, Stoick and Toothless remained where they were, waiting and hoping silently that Hiccup would pull through. No words were said between Stoick and Astrid, merely because neither one of them wanted to speak about the matter, and they certainly couldn't have talked about anything else. Besides, even if they had wanted to discuss something amongst each other, neither one of them knew what to say, or what to talk about when the only thing on their minds was Hiccup.
As they sat there, Astrid's mind took darker turns. Valarie hadn't sounded exactly excited about using the herb. Maybe there was more a chance of it failing than actually succeeding. Maybe there was no chance at all. Maybe it was ninety nine perfect it wouldn't work, and one percent that it would.
She tried not to think about it, but the more she tried to avoid it, the more it seemed to haunt her. She knew that there was no knowing for three days. She was certain that those three days were going to be unbelievably hard for her, Stoick and Toothless, not to mention Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, who had worked with her so hard to destroy the Gemsho.
Astrid glanced at Hiccup's unconscious form, and then looked at Toothless and Stoick. They were watching Hiccup with concern in their eyes, and Astrid was sure that she was doing no different. She looked back down at Hiccup, and sighed. The herb had to work. It just had to work. Astrid couldn't imagine it not working. She couldn't imagine Berk without Hiccup. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, who had changed the village for the better in such a short amount of time all those years ago during the battle against the Red Death. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, who trained dragons, ran the Academy, was heir to the throne of Berk, and so close to death.
With that on her mind, Astrid closed her eyes for just a moment.