Apologies for the late update, I originally wanted to update on Friday BUT Friday I went to a concert in London immediately after work and couldn't upload from my phone and then spent the weekend with my fiancé's family :D But here you go, Chapter 30, in which Astrid gives Hiccup a scare and Gobber comes through as the fave once more! And Snotlout is just being himself lol.

Chapter 30 - Fire Alarm

"Firstly, I wanted to ask if you were accepting any pets, we've got a lovely indoor- no? Oh, okay, thank you anyway. Have a good day."

With a click, Hiccup hung up the phone at his desk and sighed. Snotlout swivelled around in his chair to face him.

"Still no luck?"

"Nope," Hiccup sighed and crossed another property link off the list he kept on his desktop. "What a surprise. People are acting as if 60 per cent of the population don't have pets. What do they all do, sneak them in?"

"I mean, they probably just own their houses. And then buy another one to rent it out with no pets allowed," Snotlout pointed out and patted Hiccup on the back.

"You'll find something. You've only been looking for like, what, two weeks? Plus, if you don't find anything, you can always just move her stuff into your place."

Hiccup sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Yeah, that's true. I don't know why I'm feeling so weirdly resistant to that idea. The place would probably feel a whole lot homier than it does now. We could really make it ours."

"Hey, if it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel right. Keep looking, you'll find something I'm sure. Plus, I mean, if you actually told them who you are I'm sure they'd bend the rules for you a bit."

Hiccup scowled at his cousin. "Har har," he deadpanned. "Yeah, right. I'm not gonna use my Major Dad to get me and Astrid a house."

"Alright," Snotlout said. "It's your funeral. Just trying to help."

Hiccup rolled his eyes and opened another link to dial the number. Snotlout got up to get them both a snack and shortly returned with two bananas and a twix each. He slumped back into his chair and aimlessly moved his mouse around on the open word document of last shift's report he was working on.

"Do you want right or left?" he whispered to Hiccup, who was on the phone to another estate agent and put a finger to his lips, his brow furrowed in focus. Snotlout rolled his eyes, tore open the twix wrapper and passed the left one over to Hiccup, who took it without comment and scribbled something onto his notepad.

"Yeah, that sounds great, thank you! That should work, my girlfriend should be free Wednesday afternoon as well. Amazing. Alright, see you then, have a good day. Take care. Bye bye. Bye."

He hung up, a triumphant look on his face.

"Did you get a viewing?" Snotlout asked through a muffled mouthful of banana and Twix, earning a grin from Hiccup, who nodded excitedly and picked his phone back up from his desk, already typing away.

"Yeah, for this Wednesday at 4:30, which is great, 'cause I'm on night shift that day and I think Astrid's off of school at 3 that day, so that's perfect. I'm gonna put that into our calendar ... eh, you know what, I'll just text her too, make sure she sees it."

"Gross, you guys share a calendar? What are you, 45? Eugh," Snotlout interjected and ducked to avoid the banana skin that flew towards him in response, just barely avoiding it as Hiccup laughed.

"You know what, a bit of organisation wouldn't kill you. Do you even have a calendar?"

Snotlout grinned, tapping his temple with his index. "Nah, I've got all I need right here. I don't even write down my shift schedules."

Hiccup snickered. "That explains a lot, actually."

"Bitch, I've got it down to a science. You couldn't even get on my level if you tried."

They both jumped when the alarm suddenly went off, blaring through the station, and both men immediately jumped into action. Just as they got up, Gobber came rushing into the room, stopping sharply in the hallway, as pale as a ghost. His gaze met Hiccup's and Hiccup's stomach sunk even before the words left Gobber's lips.

"It's the school."

Hiccup felt as if all air had been sucked out of his lungs. He would have doubled over, gasping for air, had Snotlout not immediately placed a hand on his shoulder, anchoring him, his voice made out of steel when he announced: "Let's go."

Hiccup tried his hardest to ignore his racing heart, the cold sweats, tried to stop the thoughts as they formed in his mind, and pushed it all down. He needed to be as fast as possible, like every other time. Like before he knew her, but how could he, when this was how they met and when this was what he was terrified would divide them.

Stop it. His shaking hands placed his helmet on his head, his legs almost didn't feel like his when they carried him to the truck, and he was so grateful when Snotlout told him he'd drive. Unmoving, willing himself to be unthinking, he slumped into the passenger seat and screwed his eyes shut, still trying to stop himself from shaking.

The siren started blaring. Snotlout's voice came from somewhere next to him. "It's going to be alright. She'll be fine. They'll all be okay." Hiccup didn't know if he was even talking to him.

Snotlout ran a red light - a fine they would later worry about - and checked his side mirrors. "Gobber and Jim are right behind us, we've got the meds on their way, all hands on deck. Almost there, be two minutes."

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Hiccup saw the school building at the end of the road. He saw the smoke before anything else but didn't see any active fires just yet. A strained sigh escaped him, hands shaking as he unbuckled his seat belt and double-checked his gear. He went through his mental list; everything was there. He turned to Snotlout.

"As soon as we get there, I'm gonna go look for Astrid. I want Gobber to be on med, you and Jim on hose with Jim on standby for crowd while I look for her."

Snotlout just nodded as he pulled into the school's car park by the entrance. Utter chaos was all around them. The children were shrieking, teachers running around. Immediately, Hiccup's worst fears and suspicions were confirmed. He threw open the engine door and jumped out, his eyes locked on Camilla, shouting her name as he approached her. The closer he got, the clearer it got: there were people still inside and unaccounted for. She grabbed his arm, fingers digging into his protective gear, eyes wide with fear.

"Hiccup, thank God, we have three students and two teachers still ins─"

Then he saw her. She came to a stumbling halt in the entrance of the school, clutching two children to her sides. Astrid desperately tried to draw a deep breath when she saw Hiccup's face in the crowd.

The desperation clinging to Hiccup's throat blocked his voice, the uttering of her name a mere breath of air in the cold afternoon air. He ran towards them as they stumbled furhter away from the building, the two girls she'd been guiding, no, dragging, being taken into the arms of two other teachers and within a heartbeat, two paramedics were by their sides.

Astrid's staggering steps towards Hiccup seemed to only fuel the pure terror in her chest that transformed and ruptured with a fury she'd never felt before-

"Where the hell were you?" she all but screamed, her voice raw and rough from the smoke she'd been inhaling. And then Hiccup's arms caught her. And then the tears came, and then heaving out of her chest came the phlegm as he held her, stroking her hair whispering to her."What the hell took you so long," she sobbed, clinging to the rough fabric of his protective gear, her legs giving way beneath her. He held her, steadily, scooped her up and carried her towards one of the ambulances, where Gobber and a paramedic stood waiting, Gobber's face still entirely devoid of colour despite his tenure. Hiccup gently set Astrid down, his fingers gentle but firm as he pried her cramped grip off of his gear, holding her wrists. He felt her shake. Her eyes weren't coming into focus, her breathing laboured and quicker than it should be and he knew she was bordering on hyperventilation. A cold, sharp feeling of dread had settled into his chest, and he realised he had never felt so helpless at work before. This was no different than a normal mission, and yet it was because it was her. He opened his mouth to call for Gobber but the older man was already pulling the oxygen mask over Astrid'd mouth and nose. Astrid gasped and coughed, clinging onto Hiccup.

"Astrid," he said softly, stroking her hair as he held her. "You're okay. My love, listen to me. You're okay. Do you know if there's anyone still inside?" He knew that partly, he was trying to convince himself she'd be okay.

She looked at him now with wide eyes, soot covering her face, starkening the contrast of her blue eyes even more, and slowly, she shook her head, shaking. "I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know."

"That's okay," Hiccup said softly, caressing her face. "You're okay. You did great."

"Cass and Annie were still in the gym with me," Astrid whispered, her gaze terrified and vacant now. "We were the furthest from - the exit was blocked, I didn't─"

"You did great, my love," Hiccup whispered, pressing a kiss on her forehead, closing his eyes and for a second let his endless gratitude wash over him. "You did great."

He found Gobber's eyes. Gobber nodded. Hiccup knew it was high time they got her to hospital, but his hands didn't want to let go of her, desperately clinging on, as if he could heal her lungs just by touching her.

"Astrid," Hiccup continued softly, going back to stroking her cheek, searching her gaze. "I'm going to go and make sure everyone else is okay, alright? I want you to stay here with Gobber and the paramedic. Gobber will go with you to hospital, okay? He'll be there with you the whole way, and I'll come and find you as soon as I'm done here, okay? I love you. I'll come find you."

Astrid only nodded, her eyes fixed on him the entire time he was speaking. Hiccup exhaled. Okay. Let her go. He kissed her forehead, smelling only smoke and ash on her, and squeezed Gobber's shoulder. The look exchanged between them said all there could be said.

Keep her safe.

You can count on me.

"I know," said Hiccup and with that, gave Astrid a last kiss on the crown of her head, got up and ran back towards the crowd where he found Camilla and Jim.

"Jim," he called out and his colleague spun around, smiling lightly.

"It's okay," was the first thing he said upon meeting Hiccup halfway, "Me and Snotlout got everybody out. He's getting the hose ready, seems the fire was contained quite well by the fire safety doors close to the lab."

Hiccup exhaled, relieved. "Good. That's good. Good work, thank you. I'll go help Snot with the hose, you stay here and see if anyone still needs the meds." Jim gave a quick thumbs up and put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder as he turned around.

"Astrid okay?" he asked quietly and patted Hiccup's shoulder when he nodded. "Good."

Hiccup smiled at him and turned back around to face Camilla.

"Cam, are you okay? Did you breathe in any of the smoke inside?"

The older woman shook her head in response and he gave her a quick hug, feeling her tremble. "Call my Dad," he said. "He'll come get you, take you home." He smiled at her, trying to be reassuring, squeezed her hand and then turned around to help Snotlout with the hose. He was walking with less urgency now, knowing that Astrid and everyone else was safe and that the fire was contained for the time being.

"Snot!" he called over to his cousin, who was getting the hose ready. "Need a hand?"

"Is Astrid okay? I didn't see her after you got her," Snotlout called back towards him. Hiccup nodded and Snotlout sighed with relief.

"Good. Jim update you?"

Hiccup nodded again in response and together, they marched into the building.

Hiccup was out of breath and sweating when he finally, finally was able to pull off his helmet and raked a hand through his hair, wiping his sweaty, soot-covered brow with a tissue.

"Alright, everyone, if I could have your attention, please," he called out towards the crowd of teachers, students, administrators and caretakers.

"The fire is out," he continued and registered the relieved faces of the adults and the slightly disappointed faces of the kids, although most of them seemed pretty shaken up. "I'd like to thank you all for your quick reaction time and for following fire safety procedure. We were lucky, this could have gone a lot worse, so, well done and good job. We're going to be sending in our investigation team shortly, and I ask that if you haven't been to see a paramedic yet and spent any time in contact with smoke or fire, to be seen by one of my team members or one of the paramedics, please."

He turned back towards Camilla, who was standing next to him, clinging on to her clipboard as if it were a lifeline and murmured in her ear, "Cam, can you do me a favour and get people together to start calling parents to get the kids who don't need to go to hospital picked up and give me a list of emergency contacts for everyone in an ambulance right now? I'll let you know who's already en route to hospital if you follow me quickly."

"Sure, Hiccup," she said shakily, then cleared her throat and followed him down to the school grounds entrance. Within half an hour, everybody had been accounted for, picked up or transferred to hospital. Him, Snotlout and Jim met by the entrance of the school. Hiccup rubbed his face.

"Okay. Everyone is where they should be, I think. If one of you could double-check that, please. I'm gonna go call Gobber and see if Astrid's in hospital yet and-"

Snotlout touched his arm, shooting him a soft smile. "Hey, it's alright. We've got it covered, you go look after Astrid. I'm right behind you once we're finished up, let me know where you are. We'll drive back the engines, don't worry about it."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay. Thanks, guys. I'll see you later."

With that, he turned around and headed back towards the road. Walking over to Berk's hospital would take him thirteen minutes, getting a cab would probably take fifteen. He opted to stay on foot and broke into a jog, his heart still racing in his chest. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, dialling Gobber's number.

"Gobber, it's me," he said as he skidded around the corner between Haig Green and Oakwood Rise. "I'm about 10 minutes away from hospital. Where are you guys?"

"They took her into triage twenty minutes or so ago, and have just taken her for her chest x-ray, we think she might have a light infection but doesn't seem like anything major so far. She was lucky, lad. Really lucky."

Hiccup sighed. Gobber didn't need to tell him how much worse this whole thing could have gone.

"I know," he said and picked up his pace, glad that Astrid had been dragging him out on runs with her recently. "Where are you now?" he asked and Gobber paused, exhaling.

"A&E waiting room, inhouse patients. I'll come outside in five minutes."

"Okay. Thanks, Gobber. See you in a bit."

The cold, white neon sign announcing Mercy Hospital's name shone through the quickly descending darkness. Hiccup exhaled, relieved, and stumbled through the big, automatic doors into the main reception area, where he quickly oriented himself to find the sign that pointed towards A&E. He felt like his vision was blurring, new panic surging through his body again, his heart beating through his throat. Gobber had said she'd been lucky. It couldn't be too bad. It couldn't.

The reception area was completely empty, void of any waiting patients or loved ones. A single nurse sat behind the reception desk and softly asked him if he was okay, if he needed help. He blinked, trying to focus on her and he knew he was having a panic attack, trying his best to push it down.

"A&E, my girlfriend," he managed to croak out and she smiled sympathetically, pointing to the hall down to her right. "At the end of that hallway, take the left door. Good luck," she added, a maternal smile gracing her lips. Hiccup thanked her and started making his way towards the turn, and soon, he was running. He hadn't seen Gobber yet and was desperately trying not to think about what that could mean. Just as he flung open the corridor door the woman had mentioned, he was met with his uncle's face, who flung his hands up to avoid crashing into the door.

"I was just about to come-"

"Where is she? Is she okay?" Hiccup's gaze was flitting around the waiting area, no sign of her, and he was still trying to ignore his racing heart and the cold sweat drenching his back, clammy hands holding onto Gobber's arm now. The older man sighed and carefully led him to a nearby chair, sitting him down.

"Hiccup, you have to calm down. This ain't gonna help you - or her for that matter. Come on, lad, breathe with me. Nice and slow. In and out. She's gonna be okay, alright? Just breathe and sit here, that's all you need to do right now."

He heard Gobber's voice from somewhere far away, but still, Hiccup drew in a slow, shaking breath, hands gripping onto the edge of the cold plastic waiting room seat.

"And out." Gobber's voice was slowly but surely swimming into focus. Hiccup felt like he was underwater. It had been a while since his last panic attack. He felt strangely out of practice. Treat it like it's someone from work, he told himself. Pretend it's not Astrid. Pretend it's a random woman you've never seen before. Pretend it's not the love of your life. For some reason, this made it worse. He felt Gobber's hand on his back and tried to focus on that.

"In and out," Gobber said, his voice almost stern. "There you go. Slowly in and out. Good."

"I'm sorry," Hiccup forced out through the controlled breaths, his head in his hands. "Should be keeping it together. I know. But it's her, Gobber." He couldn't stop the desperation from slowly crawling back into his voice.

"I know that, son," Gobber said, his voice a lot more gentle now as he rubbed circles on his adoptive nephew's back. "I know. I didn't mean to be harsh, it's just not going to help either of you if you go see her like this, it'll make her feel even worse. So before we go see her, just try and pull yourself together. She'll be fine, I'm sure. Her vitals looked okay when I triaged her in the ambulance, she'll come out just fine on the other side. I promise."

"Okay." Hiccup sat up, letting out a long, deep breath and released the edge of his seat. "Okay," he repeated and inhaled again and finally met Gobber's gaze, who grinned at him.

"There you go, son."

Gobber gave him a few healthy pats on the back and then got up. "Right, let's see if we can't find out where they've taken her by now. I'm sure they've already done the full blood panel and ABG by now."

Hiccup nodded and got up. Gobber's words had indeed inspired some kind of tentative confidence and the hopeful conviction that everything would be fine. He exhaled, closing his eyes for a minute, trying to get Astrid's terrified face out of his mind's eye.

"Alright," he murmured to himself and smoothed over his sooty protective gear. He'd take it off once she'd been given a bed. He took another deep breath and motioned for Gobber to follow him to the A&E front desk, putting on his best winning but toned-down smile as he approached the receptionist, who looked very annoyed and beyond her capacity.

"Hi," he said softly, leaning on the counter. "Berk Fire and Rescue Service. We brought in a young woman earlier, smoke poisoning from the fire down at the school, we were wondering if she was done with her tests yet? My friend came in with her, said she was taken into triage around 45 minutes ago."

The woman nodded. "Name?"

"Astrid Hofferson."

Her fingers flew clacking over the keyboard. "Ah, yes, she's in Pulmonology, that's building 403, unit 2. My colleagues over there will fill you in."

Hiccup thanked her and headed, Gobber in tow, back towards the main reception area. They didn't speak as they walked out of the main building and made their way to Pulmonology. Hiccup was desperately trying to get his racing thoughts to a stillstand, trying to take what Gobber had said taken to heart. He wouldn't be useful if he was more stressed out and anxious than Astrid. The last thing he would want was to make her feel like she'd have to comfort him instead of the other way around.

They found themselves on the correct ward fairly quickly, and Hiccup found himself, for the first time today, hesitating as he got to the door of the room she'd been set up in.

"Right behind you, son", he heard Gobber murmur and felt his hand on his shoulder, giving an encouraging pat. Hiccup took a deep breath and knocked on the door, hesitated for a second, and then went inside.

As he entered the room, Astrid flinched. He smiled at her, tentatively, and whispered, "Just me." He sat down on the edge of her hospital bed, opposite to the chair Gobber had chosen and took Astrid's hand, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. She'd been given a nose tube and the sight of her laying there, machines beeping around them, almost chased tears into Hiccup's eyes, but he swallowed and willed himself not to cry, his fingers stroking her hand. She opened her mouth, but no sound seemed to come out but a cough.

"Hey, my love," he whispered and smiled when she squeezed his hand. "You're okay. You did so well. I'm so proud of you. I love you so much."

He heard Gobber's rustling movements as the older man got up from his chair and quietly left the room.

It was no use; their eyes met and he saw heaven in hers. His tears started to escape as he raised a shaking hand to stroke her cheek.

"Hey," Astrid finally got out in protest, her voice small and raspy. "No crying allowed. Gobber said you wouldn't."

Hiccup chuckled tearily, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "I'm sorry. Can't help it. I - I love you so much, I'm so glad you're okay."

Suddenly, Astrid grabbed his arm, her eyes wide open again.

"Where are the girls? Are Annie and Cass okay?"

A pang of guilt rushed through Hiccup. He'd been so preoccupied with Astrid and her well-being that he'd completely disregarded anyone else's health she might want to know about.

"They're fine, lass," Gobber offered then, softly, and Astrid relaxed back into her pillow, sighing with relief.

"Thank God," she whispered and closed her eyes. Hiccup continued to stroke her hair, gently brushing her fringe out of her face.

"Rest up, my love," he whispered. "Try to get a bit of sleep. I'll be right here." She nodded and mumbled something. She wanted nothing more than to look at him, see the warmth and love in his eyes to comfort her, hoping maybe he could make her chest stop hurting, but her eyes were so, so heavy. The room was nice and warm and his hands were soothing. After a few minutes, Astrid stopped resisting the urge to sleep for a bit.

Hiccup jumped slightly when he heard the door. He looked up - Gobber had returned with two steaming plastic cups and placed one next to Hiccup on Astrid's bedside table.

"Thank you," Hiccup whispered.

"She sleeping?" Gobber whispered back, pointing towards Astrid and Hiccup nodded before he took a sip of the drink. It was hot chocolate. He smiled softly at Gobber honouring his coffee aversion. Suddenly he remembered Snotlout and pulled out his phone.

Astrid is ok so far, haven't spoken to a doc yet. are in building 403 unit 2 pulmonology on the first floor room 34, he typed out quickly and took another sip of the hot chocolate. Two minutes later, Snotlout sent a thumbs-up emoji and Hiccup exhaled, somewhat relieved. They must be nearly done and back at the station by now. His gaze wandered back to Astrid, whose mouth hung slightly open. He smiled at the sight, relief washing all over his body again. He planted a light kiss on her nose and leaned back against the wall, closing his own eyes for a second, the sudden bone-deep tiredness washing over him.

A sudden knock at the door startled him out of his quiet moment, and he - carefully so as to not wake Astrid - got up to open the door. He was met with the sight of a tall, grey-haired doctor holding a clipboard. He nodded at him in greeting and sat down next to Gobber.

"Good afternoon, I'm Dr. Hogarth," the doctor started, almost sounding bored, his eyes glued to his clipboard. Finally, he looked up.

The doctor raised a questioning eyebrow when he saw Hiccup, eyes wandering to the gear he was still wearing, and his tone was almost accusatory when he spoke.

"Bit usual for the firefighters to come with to the hospital."

Irrational anger at this audacious comment surged through Hiccup, making him shoot to his feet, his hands balled up into fists. He was shaking with anger as he glared at the doctor.

"She's my girlfriend," he said, surprised at how much like a warning this sentence sounded. Gobber's hand shot out to pull sharply on his arm, his expression telling him to sit the hell back down. Reluctantly, Hiccup slowly sat back down on the bed. "Not that it's any of your business," he mumbled quietly. The doctor hadn't heard his last comment - or at least he was pretending not to have heard it - as he strode through the room.

"Well then, your girlfriend's had a lucky bad day," he commented dryly as he checked Astrid's chart. "She got away with a chest infection but no monoxide poisoning, ABGs are in the normal realm. We did a Bronchoscopy earlier and she should be fine with oxygen for a few more days, we're also giving antibiotics and paracetamol to get the fever down. I'd like to keep her here for observation for three days and then reassess. Will you be assisting her once she's home?" he asked, turning to Hiccup, who nodded. The doctor scribbled down some notes on the clipboard, his expression almost bored and Hiccup tried to not hold too much of a grudge.

"Alright," the doctor continued. "Make sure she does her inhalation starting at every two hours, then over the course of a week reducing to three times a day. I'm sure I won't need to tell you that she'll experience some shortness of breath for a while and tire a lot more easily, so I'd recommend no exercise for the time being. Once the symptoms subside she can start with some non-strenuous exercise but not overdo it. Horseness and soreness of the chest and throat are to be expected for a while."

"Thanks, doc," Gobber said, his tone a lot more jovial than Hiccup's had been, and smiled. He got a slight upturn of the corners of the doctor's mouth in return.

"Well, then, gentlemen, I will leave her in your capable hands for now," Hiccup's eyes narrowed at the slight sarcasm in the doctor's statement, "and have one of the nurses check in later. Good evening to you."

With that, he turned around and quietly left the room. Hiccup sighed.

"Lovely guy," he commented, and Gobber shot him another look.

"There was no need for that tone, Hiccup," he scolded him. Hiccup scoffed.

"You're telling me."

Astrid's eyes fluttered open. She felt absolutely horrible. Astrid couldn't remember a time she'd woken up feeling worse. All she knew was that it hurt to breathe.

"Urgh," he groaned and furrowed her brow, confused by the weight next to her. She turned her head and found Hiccup still by her side. He was curled up next to her now, cramped into the metal frame of the hospital bed, an arm draped across her stomach. She smiled, a hand involuntarily coming up to rest on his head - a sharp pain in her wrist stopped her just as she bent it. She squinted at it, her bleary eyes swimming into focus. Of course, the IV in her hand.

"Hiccup," she rasped and moved her leg to nudge him. He woke up with a start, immediately jumping out of the bed. Old habits die hard, I suppose, Astrid thought and smiled softly when he met her gaze. His face broke into a huge grin and he sat back down, pressing a sloppy kiss on her forehead, making her grin.

"Look who's awoken from her slumber, my sleepy princess," he murmured and Astrid giggled, no sound coming from her lips. "Do you want some water?" he asked then, his green eyes full of concern. She nodded and gladly took the glass of water he handed her, gulping it all down in a single swig. She licked her lips. Hiccup jumped up again.

"Do you want some of your chapstick?" He rummaged through his trouser pockets and produced one of her lip balms. He leaned over her, careful not to disturb her nose tube, and gently applied some of the lip balm. Despite the ever-present pain in her lungs and throat, Astrid did not feel anything but love in this simple moment. She hoped her eyes would say everything she felt she couldn't right now. Her eyes must have done something at least, because she immediately received another kiss on the forehead post lip balm application.

"The doctor came by earlier. You really were quite lucky, my love," Hiccup murmured, stroking her hair absentmindedly. "You got away with a lung infection and a fever, which we should get down pretty soon. You didn't get any carbon monoxide poisoning, which is really good. I'll help you do your inhalation, which needs to be done every few hours. But you should be out of here in a few days."

Astrid squinted at him, her head still quite foggy.

"Hiccup," she rasped, ignoring the pain in her throat. "I'll be honest, I didn't understand a word of what you just said."

He laughed. "I'm sorry. I'll try again later. Why don't you rest up, get a bit more sleep and I'll try to see if I can find you some camomile tea for your throat?"

His warm, calloused hands were still stroking her hair, and it was so comforting and warm under the covers Astrid felt she might never want to get up again.

"Would you like that, my love?" Hiccup's voice was so soft and full of love. Somehow, it managed to chase away some of the pain in her chest. She nodded with her eyes closed again, a soft smile on her lips.

"Okay," she heard him murmur. "I'm gonna be right here when you wake up."

"Promise?"

"Always, my love. I'll stay as long as you want me to."

I hope you enjoyed this one! Let me know what you think :D