Hiccups

Chapter Twenty-One: Homecoming

A wise man once said, "Time flies when you're having fun." Well, that old man could zip it because these last two weeks sucked.

At least, that's what Fearless Finn thought as he slowly rolled out of the bed he'd occupied for a better part of the month. In all his life, he'd never known such exhaustion, physical pain, and serious boredom.

Occasionally he could still feel the ghostly pain of Ratri's beatings, even though the scars from his frightening past had healed long ago. But the grueling hours of recuperation from a stab wound? That one takes the cake.

Finn sighed, glaring down at the white strips of cloth still wrapped around his waist. Gathering his willpower, he looped his arms through his shirt and slowly pulled it over his head. He'd almost finished the minor task pain-free until he made the mistake of jerking his shoulders back and a sharp pain lanced up his side.

"Ow. Gods," Finn whispered, a hand at his side.

"Careful or you'll bust a seam! You'll dirty the sheets!"

Finn rolled his eyes, unsurprised that Inga was watching from the doorway with a smirk. In the last weeks it had been her duty to keep an eye on him and make sure he didn't get sick or do anything stupid.

"Inga, as much as it pains me to tell you this," Finn teased. "I am going home today and I daresay you will not see me around here again for quite some time. I could very well be putting you out of a job."

Inga snorted. "Oh sure. Knowing you, you'll be back tomorrow whining for pain relievers." She sauntered into the room, donning a large frown and a hand pressing against her ribs. "Inga, my side hurts again, do you have any tumeric paste?"

"Ugh, I have had enough of tumeric paste for one lifetime." Finn grimaced.

"Inga, what am I going to do without you?" She pressed on, ignoring his glare. "I've become so accustomed to sitting on my rear all day, what am I supposed to do with my life? I think I've lost my sense of purpose!"

"HEY!" Finn abruptly stood. He just barely stopped himself from lunging after her as she danced away on light feet. "That is so rude!"

Inga cackled from the doorway. "Come on, redhead, let's get out of here."

Finn bit back a goofy smile, unsure why she'd suddenly started calling him "redhead". He supposed it was an improvement from words like "idiot" and "stupidhead". Was insulting one of Inga's love languages?

He strode out the door, not sparing the room another glance. He was leaving this place and he did not plan on returning.

The last few weeks had been rough. It had taken days to be able to sit up again, and even longer to stand and move around without feeling faint. Those days had been long and painful; despite Inga's jesting, he had to admit that those days had been the hardest. For most of his life, he'd always gotten up at the crack of dawn for an early-morning workout with his dragon, followed by a long day of working his body into a sweat with work and training. He'd never felt lazier and more useless than in the last two weeks.

He found Mara standing by the door with crossed arms. Her expression made Finn mentally prepare for a lecture that he'd not soon forget.

"Now Finn," Mara began, ignoring Inga's smirk from beside them. "There will be no working, no exercising other than those few strengthening exercises I have given you, no rough housing with the boys, and absolutely no flying. If you feel any pain or sickness outside of the norm, you will contact me as soon as possible. If I so much as hear a word of any of the above, I will find you and put you back in that healer's bed until you can move freely with no pain whatsoever. You will be here for another month. Do I make myself clear?"