Hiccup sat in his bed, after Astrid had left, Fishlegs showed up and told him that his father and Gothi should be here by tomorrow morning. That made him feel even worse. He didn't want them here. Gothi would poke and prod him to her heart's content and his father would want about why he hadn't taken his tonic. But once he discovered why, he would have Gothi poke and prod some more. By the time they were done everyone on the island would know he suffered from seizures.
He didn't want that. They would all be mad at him. They wouldn't view him as a leader anymore. Afterwards, they'd strip him of his leadership. Snotlout would muscle his way into being leader only to end up giving Astrid control. Astrid would most likely send Hiccup back to Berk.
In his heart, he knew that it wasn't true, but with how things were unravelling it sure seemed like it. He knew he had to make it up to Astrid before his dad and Gothi got here, but how? He couldn't really walk right now. His ankle was still swollen and hurt worse than a Fireworm burn.
Hiccup was so concentrated on how to make it up to Astrid, that he didn't notice the sun rising and filling the hut with natural light. Hiccup looked up from his thinking position and made a sour expression
"Daylight already," Hiccup cursed as he lowered his head again. "Dad and Gothi will be here very soon. Astrid still isn't back yet. She must be mad still."
Astrid stood at the bottom of the stairs, just out of Hiccup's line of sight. She had been standing there for a few hours, listening to him beat himself up about hiding the seizures. He was sorry and Astrid knew that. After sitting on a cliff for a while she finally understood why he hid it. He didn't want to be seen as weak. He wanted to prove he had what it took to be a leader in spite of everything.
While she was gone she remembered a story her Uncle Finn told her about a distant cousin who kept having fits like what she saw earlier. His village healer didn't know how to treat it. He eventually had one he couldn't recover from and eventually died. His village saw him as weak and shunned him. He was quarantined inside his own home and left to suffer alone. Uncle Finn told her to be grateful to have a village healer who knows what to do.
Hiccup didn't want to be shunned for something out of his control. He wanted to live as normal a life as possible. She wanted to go up there and tell him that she understood, but something kept stopping her. If she waited much longer, Snotlout would be back with Stoick and Gothi before she even had a chance to say anything.
She walked up the stairs, as quietly as she could, not wanting Hiccup to look up and notice her. She was at the foot of the bed and he still hadn't seen her.
"... She must be mad still," Hiccup muttered.
"I'm not mad, Hiccup," Astrid said with a smile.
Hiccup nearly jumped out of his skin, and yelped in surprise. "Astrid!"
Astrid let out a small laugh at Hiccup's reaction. It felt good to laugh before the seriousness set in. She sat down in the vacant chair next to the bed with of the bed.
"So you're not mad?" Hiccup asked.
"No," Astrid answered carefully. "I was confused and hurt. Still am. Despite your answers, I didn't understand why you would hide something like that, but I think I do now. While I was out cooling off, I remembered that one of my cousins in another village was shunned for an impairment like yours. His healer didn't know how to treat him. He made me feel grateful that we have Gothi as our healer. Like I'm grateful right now. I'm happy that Gothi knows how to treat your seizures."
She took Hiccup's hand into hers before continuing. "Hiccup, I'm glad you are okay, but from now on if I find out you are hiding something from me, I will throw you from the top of the mountain. Is that clear"?
Hiccup grinned as he envisioned being thrown from a mountain. "Clearer than Changewing."
Before either could say anything else, Fishlegs announced that Stoick and Gothi had arrived.
Astrid stood up to leave. "Have fun. I'll come back with some lunch in a little bit."
Hiccup watched as his father paced back and forth, quietly ranting about how stupid he was to play with his health like that. Stoick was beyond livid about how careless his son was. The Dragon Rider waited for his dad to stop to catch his breath, so he could explain.
"Did you even bother to pack your tonics, or did you just leave them here, hoping you would be back in time?" Stoick wondered.
"Dad, I can explain," Hiccup interrupted, finally fed up with the ranting.
"Oh, can you?" Stoick asked, stopping in his tracks long enough to look at his son.
Hiccup dove into the recent events of the past few days. He explained how he had just taken his daily tonic when Snotlout told him about a Hunter camp. He talked about the purple gas that caused him to lose consciousness and waking up in a cage with several chained wild dragons. While he talked he watched his dad's anger melt away. He didn't leave out a single detail. He told his father everything leading up to the seizure.
"You see, Dad, I wasn't being careless. My stuff was confiscated by the Hunters. I seriously doubt they would give me my tonic, willingly. Even if I did ask for it, they could have poisoned it, or used the information against me later on," Hiccup finished.
Stoick sighed, he couldn't be mad at his son for something that had been out of his control. "I'm sorry, son. I should have let you explain before I yelled at you."
Hiccup nodded. "It's okay, Dad. I probably would've done the same thing."
"How is he, Gothi?" Stoick questioned.
He and Hiccup watched as she wrote her symbols on the floor. Hiccup had gotten pretty good at translating since Gothi joined Berk's A-Team. "She says 'I'm fine and just need a few days of rest. The ankle and bruising will heal and there's no lasting effects from the seizure."
"That's good to hear," Stoick sighed a breath of relief.
Hiccup continues used to translate. "I'm not to leave this bed until the swelling around my ankle is gone.'"
Gothi nodded pleased with the translation and began to pack up her stuff. Once she was gone, Stoick sat at the end of Hiccup's bed. "You follow her orders to the letter. If I find out you're not, you'll be coming back to Berk to recover. Understand?"
"Yes sir," Hiccup said. The idea of going back to Berk to recover from an injured ankle under the watchful eye of his father did not sound pleasant. Stoick gave his son a pat on the back, before getting up to leave.
Once Hiccup was sure his father or Gothi weren't coming back up, he decided to catch some shut-eye. He was exhausted by all accounts. He found it easy to fall asleep.
Hiccup woke up to his stomach growling from hunger. He sat up and made a move to get up, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and was greeted by Astrid.
"You're not going anywhere," she firmly stated.
Hiccup blinked a few times, trying to get rid of the grogginess. His tired brain finally reminded him of Gothi's orders. "Oh yeah. Slipped my mind."
Hiccup moved back into the bed until his back was against the headboard.
"That's understandable, you've been asleep for about a day and a half," Astrid said, worry and amazement in her voice. "I thought only Snotlout could sleep that long."
Hiccup shook his tired head, trying to wake himself up faster. "A day and a half?!"
"Yeah, you must have been exhausted," the blonde pointed out. "When was the last time you had proper sleep?"
"A month, maybe more," Hiccup shrugged, not really remembering. "Anyways I'm starving. Who's in charge of dinner?"
"Heather," Astrid answered. "I think she's making her yak ribs with that sweet sauce."
Hiccup's stomach growled again at the thought of those savory ribs. "Any idea when they'll be done?"
Oh gods, was Hiccup planning on eating like Snotlout. He hadn't eaten a decent thing in days. He had managed to get the Monstrous Nightmare to cook one of the fish, only to burn most of it.
"I'll go get you plate," Astrid offered. "How much do you want? You know she always makes extra."
Hiccup was tempted to say all of it, but that would be selfish. "A rack and a half, with some extra sauce and whatever the side dish is."
Astrid smiled at Hiccup's eagerness to eat so much. She got up and left Hiccup alone with his impatient stomach and Toothless.
Once Astrid was down the stairs, Toothless padded over to his rider and licked him hello.
"Hey bud," Hiccup greeted, wiping the excess Night Fury saliva off his face and chest. "I've missed you too. Sorry about scaring you the other night. Here let me look at your paw."
Toothless gently placed his paw on Hiccup's lap. The rider began to unwrap the cloth and examine the wounds caused by the Razorwhip. It had been properly cleaned and treated. The wounds had scabbed over quite nicely. Hiccup doubted that there would be scarring.
"This looks like the work of Gothi," Hiccup stated as he wrapped the bandage around the paw again. "Must've treated you after I fell asleep."
Toothless bobbed his head up and down while he smiled. Hiccup smiled back at his beloved dragon, taking that as a yes.
After spending a week in bed, Hiccup was feeling better than he had in a while. After reattaching his leg and getting dressed in just a tunic and pair of trousers, he and Toothless walked down the planks toward the Clubhouse for breakfast with the rest of the Riders.
When Hiccup walked into the Clubhouse everyone stopped talking to look at him. Aside from checking in on him and Astrid bringing him his meals, none of them had really seen him.
Astrid got up from the table and walked over to Hiccup. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better. Thank you," Hiccup smiled. "So what's on the agenda, today?"
"We were going to run some refresher courses with the Night Terrors," Fishlegs answered.
Hiccup nodded as he sat down. "Sounds great. Let's finish eating and get to work."
Author's Note: This chapter marks the end of The Secrets We Keep. Next up to be updated is Beating In Stride, so stay tuned for the revised version