Tangled Vows

Chapter 26

Something didn't feel right.

As Astrid waited in the kitchen, sipping her coffee and eating a slice of toast to warm her stomach, something felt off. There wasn't that usual annoyance that accompanied her breakfast, and no wonderful smell of bacon and eggs filling up the house.

Everything felt silent and heavy. It was too quiet, and Astrid didn't like it at all.

Looking up at the clock that rested on the wall in the kitchen, Astrid could see that it was already 8 a.m. and they were due to open the shop at 9. Yet, curiously, Hiccup had not emerged from upstairs.

This was highly unusual to Astrid, as Hiccup would often be the first downstairs before she had even woken up. It was not like him to sleep in, and it definitely wasn't like him to be later than Astrid.

Something was definitely wrong, Astrid could feel it.

So, determined to find out what was going on - regardless of whether she disturbed Hiccup or not - Astrid marched upstairs towards Hiccup's room. When she had passed it earlier that morning, she hadn't noticed anything in particular and it was as quiet as it always was in the morning. However, she just assumed that meant he was already awake like he usually was.

Nevertheless, as she stood before the door, listening in to hear whether he was moving around inside, she came to the conclusion that Hiccup was still in there and definitely asleep. Knocking on the door, she was sure she was about to hear a groan or complaint emerging from the other side of the door. 

Perhaps he sometimes exercised in the morning, when she was having a shower or her breakfast.

But she couldn't hear anything. So, she knocked again.

"Hiccup? Are you in there? Is everything okay?" She called out to him worriedly, yet no answer came to her calls.

She wanted to burst inside, to check whether he had passed out or was in severe distress. Before she could barrel through the door, she remembered his warning to her when she had first entered his house. 

His room was off-limits.

As she stood there pondering this, the devil on her shoulder threw it all away behind her. If he was in trouble in there, and she decided to ignore it based on some petty rule that Hiccup made up for his own privacy, then she would feel even more guilty than she already was. Astrid could not deal with any more guilt on her conscience.

"Okay, Hiccup." She called out to him as she held the door handle hesitantly, "I'm coming in."

Yet, despite her warnings, there was no reply. Not even when she turned the handle and began to slowly open the door.

Throwing caution to the wind, Astrid thrust open the door and entered Hiccup's room, and what she saw was not what she had been anticipating. His room was fairly plain and simple, and there wasn't much about it to consider as her eyes focused on the large form tossing and turning beneath the covers of the bed.

Astrid immediately rushed over to see that Hiccup was drenched from head to foot in sweat and looked extremely pale. Reaching out a hand to touch his forehead, Astrid immediately diagnosed he had a fever as he was almost too hot to the touch.

Remembering how her aunt used to take care of her during a fever when she was younger, Astrid rushed to the kitchen and got a bowl and a cloth and filled it with cool, tepid water. Taking it back upstairs, Astrid took off the covers and cooled Hiccup down using the damp cloth and cool water. Carefully and slowly, she brushed the cloth over his body, starting with his arms and ridding him of the sticky sweat and replacing it with something cool and clean. Then, she moved onto his chest, debating with herself over whether to take off his shirt.