Hidden Scars

Chapter 65

Chapter 65...
Astrid's eyes began to slowly open as the ringing sound in her ears began to fade. She was laying in a hospital bed in a gown. Her throat burnt with every swallow she tried and her eyes stung with every blink. Lifting her hand to reach a small cup of water by the side of her, she saw the needle fixed in the back of her hand along with a oxygen tank hooked up to the pipe, leading and positioned on her nose. Her broken arm was now in a cast and wrapped in a sling on her shoulder.
Taking small sips, the splashes of water soothed her throat and mouth but felt like knives cutting her as she swallowed the cold liquid. Gently placing the cup back down on the side, a sudden shooting pain pounded through her head. Reaching up to hold her head in her hand, she felt a large material bandage wrapped around her hand where she had hit her head during the fire. She winced as pressed into where her cut was before laying back and closing her eyes, blocking out the light that made her head spill.
"Ah Miss Hofferson, glad to see you awake and well..."
Opening one eye carefully, she saw a nurse enter the room and pick up her clip board and writing notes.
"Just about, my head is killing me..."
"I expect it is dear, you had a nasty gash to your head and concussion from it. Tell me, do you remember anything about what happened?"
Astrid took a pause as she tried to think about what happened earlier. There were some memories but they were blurry and hard to clearly remember.
"Um, there was a fire and my ex boyfriend was the one who started it... I broke my arm trying to get to my boyfrie-"
She stopped ad she remembered about Hiccup when he was in the fire with his injured leg from being shot. She sat up quickly
"Hiccup! Is he here!?! I need to see him! Is he ok!!? What's going on?! Have the doctors said-"
"Woah woah calm down dear, calm down. Your blood pressure is getting too high. Take some deep breaths." The nurse said as she put her hand gently on Astrid's good shoulder. Astrid nodded as she saw the machine next to her spike up and beep fast. After taking in some deep breaths of fresh oxygen, her blood pressure began to fall slowly back down to her original state. When it was back to normal, the nurse spoke again.
"You were both bought in together but I'm not sure what his condition is at the moment. But I can find out for you..."
"Yes please. Thank you"
The nurse smiled gently as she stood up and put the clipboard back and walked towards the door.
"I'll go speak to the doctor to see what's going on with your boyfriend. I'll be back in a bit to look at doing some stitches and attend to some of your cuts and smaller injuries."
The nurse left the room and closed the door behind her, leaving Astrid to lay in bed on her own, her head still hurt but her heart hurt more remembering how bad Hiccup was injured. But what about Leo? He disappeared after the fire happened but he was injured. Maybe he was bleeding out on the side of a road or in an abandoned field... She didn't care what happened to him.
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"Sounds like you've been through a lot my dear. I'm sorry to hear all that..."
"It's ok, I can't do anything about it anymore. Besides, Leo ran off after the fire even spread through the house. He was injured to but whether he's alive or not, I couldn't care less."
The nurse was sat nodding her head as she listened to the whole story with Astrid, Leo and Hiccup from the beginning. It was hard for Astrid to describe everything that happened to her but it felt good to get it off her chest and tell someone else rather than the police or Hiccup or her parents. She trusted the nurse.
"I have a few more to do and then you should be done" the nurse said.
She stitched up some of the deeper wounds Astrid received and put medical tape over the cuts to keep them closed and able to heal.
It hurt a bit but it was bearable.
"You're a tough one aren't you?" The nurse smiled at Astrid.
"Sure am..." she smiled and chuckled a little.
After about 10 more minutes of treatment, the nurse was finished stitching up and fixing Astrid.
"All done dear, you did a really good job."
"Thank you... for everything."
"It's ok, I am a nurse after all and I'm not just here to fix broken bones". She smiled as she packed up her stuff.
"How long do you reckon I'll have to stay on hospital for?"
"Well, since you have concussion and these head pains still we will monitor you through the day and probably the night aswell to make sure we haven't missed anything. I will order another CT scan aswell so we can see if anything has changed since we scanned you the first time when you arrived."
"Ok, thank you again"
"Anytime dear, I'm here if you need me"
Astrid said goodbye to the nurse as she left the room. She turned her head to the right where there was a window there where you could see into the corridor through the blind. She watched the people pass by and doctors walk by, moving patients and talking to one another. At one point, she saw a mother with a little girls about 2 years old being held as they stood outside talking to a doctor. The little girl was holding a small little bunny toy in her right hand and and leaning her head on her mother's shoulder.
For a moment, she remembered the time when she became pregnant after Leo raped her which ended up as a miscarriage. Although she didn't want the baby at first, Hiccup being there and happily supporting her and saying he would be the father made her wish a bit that the baby survived.
She could picture holding a small baby in her arms and giving it all the care and love she could. Hiccup would have been an amazing father. Maybe in the future though? That's if there is one.
The small girl turned her head to the window where she saw Astrid laying in the bed. She had curly blonde hair with green eyes staring at her. Her lips moved into a little smile as she waved to Astrid through the window with her fingers curled around her toy still. It made Astrid's heart melt.
Astrid smiled and waved back to the little girl with her good arm, watching the little girl giggle into her mother's shoulder. It made her giggle too.
After a few seconds, the little girl was carried away as her mother followed a doctor down the corridor.
KNOCK KNOCK
"Come in?"
A doctor walked in with his stethoscope around his neck and a file.
"Hello Miss Hofferson, glad to see you awake and treated."
"Thank you doctor"
"I am here to discuss the situation involving Mr Haddock..."
"Is he ok? Is he awake? What happened? Can I go and see him?"
"It's ok, calm down Miss Hofferson... Hiccup is in a stable condition at the moment."
"What do you mean by 'at the moment'"
Astrid sat up concerned.
"Most of his wounds are treatable but his leg wound is more complicated than we first believed."
"How serious is it?"
"Well... without further treatment, he could bleed out and his organs can shut down along with the rest to his body."
"What's the further treatment?"
The doctor sat down on a chair and next to her and looked seriously at her.
"So far we've been able to take control of the bleed but we are not sure how long for. We have one option left that we can do to help save the rest if his leg."
Astrid nodded as she waited for the doctor to continue.
"Our only option left is to do an amputation below the knee on his injured leg."
Hearing the word amputation made Astrid's face turn pale. She has the thoughts of how Hiccup would react to the loss of some of his leg and how he would be able to cope. This is Hiccup we are talking about. Yes he can be tough but deep down inside she knew that this would be a challenge for him. But it had to be done. And he was there to support her through all of this so it's time for her to do the same for him.
"Mr Haddock's mother has been contacted and she is on her way to the hospital but we must make a decision as soon as possible. And as the second emergency contact and next of kin, we are asking you to make the decision."
She couldn't let Valka lose another loved one. And she knew this is what Valka would think is best for Hiccup. She be lived in him as did his mother.
"Do you wish for us to proceed with the amputation?"
After a few moments of silence, Aareid made the decision.
"Yes, I wish for you to proceed with the operation."