Viggo's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

Part 9-Appendicitis

Viggo's stomach had been aching all day, and he wished that it would have the decency of going away while he completed an important letter. The stomachache unfortunately had poor manners and chose to stay, but Viggo completed his letter and sent it off. It was a message to the chief of an island in the far south where Viggo was hoping to trade for some rare dragons, and a small stomach ache was not going to interfere.

The pain had first become noticeable close to Viggo's belly button, and since he had thrown up that morning the dragon hunter dismissed it as a small flu. His cramping stomach and fevered skin seemed to support this theory, so Viggo decided to ignore the illness in favor of his duties and simply go to bed a bit earlier that evening.

The dragon hunter had done exactly that, but when he woke the next morning the pain was even worse. It had shifted to his right side, and when Viggo moved it sent waves of pain throughout his body, making him gasp. He still felt nauseous, so the stocky viking chose to forgo breakfast and instead focused on moving slowly as he dressed and went on deck to supervise his men.

Pain continued to stab through his side throughout the day, but the only concession Viggo made to it was slipping a dragon-heated stone into his armor, which dulled the pain to a tolerable throb. By that evening the pain had actually faded to almost nothing, and Viggo managed to actually eat his evening meal with the rest of the crew.

Sometime later that night, Viggo's body decided that eating hadn't been such a great plan after all, and he barely made it to the bathroom before heaving. The pain was many times worse than it had been before, radiating out as far as his upper thighs and chest. When the vomiting stopped Viggo forced himself to his feet, deciding that this was something he should try to simply walk off. He would join the night patrols for awhile and then go back to bed tomorrow, with the excuse that he was up all night to cover his real reason for sleeping during the day.

Up on deck, Viggo's head felt fuzzy, and it seemed like everyone around him was screaming. "Stop yelling, I can hear you perfectly well!" The crewman Viggo was addressing stared at him blankly and said, "Are you feeling alright sir? None of us are shouting." Another crewman had slipped away when he saw Viggo's pale face, and Ryker was brought on deck just in time to see his brother slump to the ground.

Viggo woke slowly, finding himself in bed. Bandages swathed his middle, and the viking poked at them with a frown- had he been stabbed? He couldn't remember much beyond deciding to go on deck for night patrol. A large hand suddenly slapped Viggo's, and Ryker spoke, "Don't touch those you idiot. Do you know what happened?"

Ryker's eyes smoldered with anger when Viggo didn't know, masking a deeper worry. "Your appendix burst and you fainted on deck- in front of everybody." Viggo cringed in embarrassment. "You almost died brother, you would have if our ship's healer hadn't returned from her supply trip a day early. Seriously, what is it with you and refusing to take care of yourself?"

Knowing his brother was right, Viggo put a hand on Ryker's arm. "I hate to say it, but I'm sorry. I thought it was only a stomach ache, and then it went away for awhile, so I... I simply refuse to look weak in front of them, although it seems that it backfired this once. I promise to take better care of myself next time alright?"

Ryker nodded, his gaze softening a little. "You better keep to your promise- or I'll tell our fleet that your health is poor and that you need constant assistance." Viggo's face went dark red as Ryker went to fetch him some food, laughing hysterically as soon as he was out of the room, not caring if his brother heard or not.