When We Meet Again

Chapter 24: Hospital and Dagur

It had been about 37 hours since Heather had been admitted into the ICU of the hospital and placed in an induced coma. Astrid hadn't left ever since she first arrived, with Ruffnut bringing her a fresh change of clothes and meals every few hours.

She already felt horrible for being so oblivious, what didn't help was the fact that Dagur was arriving in the next few hours and she had no idea how he would react. Hiccup called and assured Dagur that everything was alright and that he should remain calm, but he couldn't hide the truth from Astrid.

"Dagur is extremely furious and worried, I'd put it as berserk," he said in an as a matter of fact tone, while being cautious of Astrid's mood. "All he did was scream and curse the guys. Hopefully he will feel much better when he sees us."

A total of seven men were involved in the unfortunate incident, and the police had arrested five suspects. All suspects were students from the university and had been expelled by the management.

Monday afternoon and Astrid was again sitting by Heather's bedside, watching her best friend's heart monitor beep. Hiccup was with her for a moment before he headed out to wait for Dagur when he arrived. As time ticked by, Astrid grew more and more nervous to meet Dagur. Well known for his dramatic reactions and psychotic screams, he definitely defined the Berserker surname, while bringing fear to everyone.

The creak of the door as it opened notified her about the entrance of other people into the ward, but the sound of Hiccup's voice talking to a man with a higher pitched voice made her blood run cold. Astrid turned slowly to see Hiccup leading a weary and stressed Dagur to Heather's bed.

As soon as he reached the edge of the bed, Dagur turned his attention to his sister with a mask on her face and wires connected to heart monitors and IV tubes. Astrid could see his heart break through his eyes, which turned into a frown before he grabbed Heather's free hand from the IV needle, muttering to her softly.

"Don't worry sis, you will be avenged. You will wake up to see the sun rise another day, to see me, mom and dad again, to be the fashion designer you always dreamed of becoming," Dagur choked out as he began to tear up. Hiccup placed an arm on his shoulders to comfort him, while Astrid stared on in silence.

Not long later, Dagur finally turned to the only blonde around Heather's bed. His face was unreadable through the tears, making Astrid even more worried about his reaction. Instead of going insane, however, Dagur walked over to Astrid and hugged her, tears flowing down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Astrid," he whispered. "I blamed you, I blamed you for being absent, for not paying enough attention to her whereabouts and business. But I've come to realise you didn't do anything wrong. You've always been there for Heather, and this was just a mistake. She didn't tell you anything, that's on her. I didn't ask her about herself, that's my fault. You never went with her, that's your decision. It was an unfortunate incident we are all responsible for. I'm sorry and also thank you for searching for her in the middle of the night. You're the bestest friend she could ever have, anyone could ever have."

Astrid's eyes welled with tears as Dagur spoke to her, causing her to start sobbing into his shoulder. He had always been the elder brother both she and Hiccup never had, and would forever be, no matter what stood in the way. He may be crazy, but he had the most protective and caring soul only for his loved ones.

Hiccup watched them as they comforted each other, a small smile appearing on his face. Astrid opened her eyes to find Hiccup's eyes rested on her, nodding encouragingly at her, reassuring that everything was going to work out.

About an hour later, the three of them had come up with a plan for watching Heather: Dagur staying with her every night while Astrid will stay whenever she didn't have classes and Hiccup doing the same while occasionally bringing Fishlegs along. When he first met Fishlegs, Dagur was extremely sceptical and wary about his feelings for his sister, but Hiccup convinced him that he's the gentlest and most caring person Heather would ever meet.

One evening before Hiccup was about to leave the hospital, he and Dagur took a walk together in the courtyard of the hospital while Astrid and the twins who badly wanted to see Heather stayed by her bedside. Toothless had joined them as he wasn't allowed to enter the ICU, forcing him to sit outside the doors to the ward obediently to wait for Hiccup. The two young men sat on a bench in silence as they watched an elderly man smell flowers as he walked carefully with his walker. Suddenly, Dagur broke the silence between them.

"So what are you going to do about Astrid?" he asked in a curious tone. Hiccup froze when he heard those words. He expected Dagur to ask that when he had noticed them being close friends again.

"I- I don't know..." he replied with his head down.

Dagur just chuckled. "You know, brother, Astrid never stopped loving you. Heard that from my sister who's literally a news reporter. Even though she acted all tough and over it, Heather could tell by her body language that she was still into you, especially whenever she declined to meet guys. Tell if I'm wrong that Astrid always pretends to be macho, even when she's upset or vulnerable."

"Fair point. And how far do you trust that information?" Hiccup asked with a raised eyebrow.

Dagur scoffed. "They're the best of friends, duh. Oh, and also, Heather went through her photo gallery on her phone with her permission while looking for a recipe she saved. Besides finding the recipe, she also discovered a whole album filled with pictures of you," he added with a smirk.

Hiccup blushed at Dagur's claim. Could it be true that he could still fix the mistake he made?

"I don't think I should do anything about it right now, Dagur. Your sister's health is all our main priority at the moment," he said with a comforting smile to Dagur, who simply nodded and sighed at the thought of Heather's state. "We also shouldn't make a move when the biggest shipper is out of action," Hiccup chuckled, lightening the mood at the thought of Heather.

Hiccup noticed his brother figure soften at the thought of his comatose sister. "She will be fine, Dagur, don't worry," he said as he placed a hand on Dagur's tense shoulders.

The biggest surprise came when Astrid called Hiccup at that moment with news. "She's moving, she's already stirring. Is it too early? Where's Dagur? Oh my Thor what do I do???"