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“Let us in his chambers!” Astrid yelled at one of the castle guards.
Hiccup screamed from his chambers, still obviously conscious, despite his injury.
Astrid heard one of their partners make a sob sound behind her.
“We’re not even allowing his father in, and he’s the King!” the guard exclaimed. “Only medical personnel at this time.”
Astrid growled and wanted to scream but she kept it together for the others, who were already upset.
“Where’s Toothless?” Fishlegs asked softly.
“In the stables with your dragons,” a voice from behind them said.
Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut turned around to see Viggo. He was out of armor and the state of the shirt he was still wearing made them gasp.
The shirt was clearly a white shirt as parts of it were still white but the front of it was covered in blood.
“Is that Hiccup’s blood?!” Snotlout exclaimed.
Viggo nodded grimly.
Ruffnut let out a swear.
Fishlegs let out a sharp gasp. Astrid grabbed his hand, as he was closest.
“Isn’t the definition of a bodyguard like, supposed to prevent things like this from happening?” Tuffnut asked.
Snotlout made a move to approach Viggo but Hiccup screamed again. Snotlout flinched and let out a sob.
“You were supposed to protect him!” Snotlout cried.
“Hey, Snotlout, let’s go see Toothless, okay?” Astrid asked.
She didn’t want to leave Hiccup but it was clear that staying here listening to him react to the medical procedures being done on him wasn’t going to be helpful to anybody.
And also yelling at Viggo wasn’t really their place. Let the King do that.
Astrid started to walk with Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs, stopped, realized that Ruffnut was still standing staring at Hiccup’s chambers, trembling.
“Hey, honey,” Astrid whispered to her, wrapping her arm around Ruffnut. “Come on.”
Hiccup cried out as another medical person touched his injured leg.
He was exhausted and in a tremendous amount of pain, but still awake.
He heard one of them say, “Can’t be saved.”
“What?!” he yelled.
“Hiccup, sir, we’re going to put you to sleep for surgery, okay?” one of them said. “It’s the only way.”
“Surgery?” Hiccup asked, before drifting into unconsciousness.
Toothless looked fine, but upset. He was whining when they got to the stables. The five of them all sat with the dragon, because there was nothing else to do.
Several of them hid their faces in Toothless’s scales.
Astrid’s heart hurt hearing Snotlout weep against the dragon.
So, she cried too.
Viggo briefly dropped by the stables again, after having been told by a high-ranking member of the King’s staff that the King was not seeing anyone at this time. That Viggo would have to wait until he was summoned. Understood.
He decided not to bother them as well, in their raw emotional states. He wearily went to his personal room.
After a couple of hours being in the stables, they decided to head back to Hiccup’s chambers with Toothless.
Already there was Hiccup’s dads, the King and the Prince Consort, sitting in the hall outside of Hiccup’s chambers.
Eventually, a palace doctor opened the door of Hiccup’s chambers, before shutting it once he exited.
He approached the gathered group of people and dragon, and was about to bow, when Stoick said, “Please spare me the formalities; I only care about my son’s condition.”
The man nodded and said, “Hiccup is alive. The injury to his leg below the knee was so severe that it could not be saved. We amputated his leg below the knee. He is currently still unconscious.”
Stoick nodded grimly. “Thank you,” he said.
Toothless let out a coo sound that everyone took to be echoing Stoick’s thanks.
“Thank you,” Astrid said. She was the only one who found her voice, but the rest nodded.
“Can… can we see him?” Snotlout asked.
“After his fathers,” the doctor said. “But yes.”
Toothless went with Hiccup’s dads into Hiccup’s chambers and when both men came back, did not come out with them.
Next was their turn. Astrid took a deep breath and walked in. Fishlegs, Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Ruffnut followed her into his chambers.
Inside were various medical personnel working with one sitting in a chair keeping watch over Hiccup in Hiccup’s bedroom. Toothless was sitting on a bunch of pillows doing the same thing. He looked like he would have preferred being on the large bed with Hiccup.
Hiccup was unconscious, and he was covered in a blanket from his chest down, so they definitely couldn’t see the injury.
Astrid heard a couple of sniffles from the others.
“Can we get into his bed with him?” Tuffnut asked of the medical personnel sitting in the chair.
“No,” was their response.
“Yeah, should have figured when Toothless was relegated to a fucking corner,” Tuffnut said.
So, they kneeled by his bedside and touched his head, face, and hands, and cried over him.
It was some relief to see his chest moving with his breathing.
They each whispered their love to Hiccup.
When they left the room, they made sure to give Toothless a pat as well.
Tuffnut whispered to Toothless, “T, you deserve to be on the bed with him.”
Astrid and Ruffnut whispered back, “Agreed.”
Hiccup let out a soft noise as he opened his eyes to see his favorite dragon.
He heard, just barely, a person state, “He’s awake,” but barely registered it.
“Hey, bud,” Hiccup said. He groaned a little, from pain.
Toothless licked him softly.
“Yes, thank you,” Hiccup whispered. “I’m happy to see you, too.”
Hiccup made to move out of bed, only to—
Astrid and Ruffnut were sitting outside Hiccup’s chambers (the five of them got into a habit of at least one of them sitting outside in case he awoke) when they heard a loud cry from Hiccup’s chambers and multiple voices saying, “Sir!” and “Your Royal Highness!”
Utterly ignoring any arguments from the guards, Astrid and Ruffnut rushed into Hiccup’s chambers and into his bedroom to see Hiccup sitting on the edge of his bed. Toothless was in his personal space, and Hiccup had one hand on his head, and he was breathing really fast and visibly upset. He was staring downwards, at the fact that one of his legs ended just below his knee and was wrapped in bandages.
“We should sedate him,” one of the medical people in the room said.
“This is the first time he’s been awake in days and you want him back asleep?” Astrid asked, aghast.
“If you touch him, I’ll bite you,” Ruffnut added. “Or tell the Night Fury to do it.”
The noise Toothless made sounded like agreement.
Astrid and Ruffnut quickly found spots next to Hiccup and sat next to him, holding his hand. Ruffnut placed her hand on top of the hand on top of Toothless.
“We’re with you,” Astrid and Ruffnut said.
Toothless purred, effectively saying the same thing.
Astrid made a “shoo!” noise directed at the medical people in the room.
It made Ruffnut chuckle, and Hiccup make a sound like a laugh.
Hiccup let his head drop onto Astrid’s shoulder and she caressed his arm. Ruffnut moved her fingers across Hiccup’s hand as well.
After a long while, they pulled away from him, not before kissing his face (Astrid chose his forehead, Ruffnut chose his cheek, Toothless chose his lips).
“We’ll check on you later, alright?” Astrid said.
Hiccup nodded.
He got back into his bed and Toothless hopped up onto the bed next to him.
“Listen, let the dragon be on the bed with him. Come on!” Ruffnut told the medical people in the sitting room, as the two women made their exit.
Within a couple of hours of Hiccup first waking and learning about his leg, both his fathers were sitting in his room. The medical personnel got shooed out of the Prince’s chambers entirely for this. Hiccup sat up in bed, and Toothless lay on the bed as well, head in Hiccup’s lap. Hiccup had been giving an after-action report of what had happened.
“Look, no matter how you look at it, Viggo Grimborn saved my life. He got me to our quite capable med team very quickly, and they’re so competent. Their only fault is that they sometimes tell Toothless to get off the bed.” Hiccup said. “Viggo did his job. I personally think he should get to keep being a knight.”
“Fair enough,” Stoick said. “I’ll speak with him when I’m ready.”
“Your dad wants to be stoic for that,” Gobber said, with a chuckle.
Both Hiccup and Toothless let out laughs at the same time.
Stoick gave his husband a mild withering look.
“Toothless, do you mind moving a little bit?” Stoick asked.
This time it was Toothless’s turn to give him a withering look.
“What? Like, I can’t hold my boy?” Stoick asked.
Toothless let out a loud sigh, making Gobber chuckle.
Hiccup had a very large bed that could hold him, a Night Fury, and five very special people if needed, and the dragon merely moved maybe two feet away.
A moment later, Hiccup was being held by his dad. Stoick kissed his head.
“I know you’re in your twenties, lad, but you’re still my boy, and I’m just relieved you’re alive,” Stoick said.
Toothless purred.
Gobber said, “Aye.”
Hiccup was resting (more like quietly sitting with Toothless in his bed), when one of the medical attendants came into his bedroom.
“Sir, your partners are here to visit you,” they said. “Do you want visitors?”
Hiccup almost said, “Duh,” but opted for an “Of course, thank you. And the medical staff can take a well-earned break for a while.”
When the five of them came into view, Hiccup exclaimed, “Hey!” And raised his arms towards them.
Astrid smiled softly at how his face lit up when he saw them.
Snotlout had beat everyone to Hiccup, throwing himself into Hiccup’s arms.
“I love you, too,” Hiccup said, kissing Snotlout’s cheek.
Once Snotlout had pulled away, Tuffnut noted: “Glad to see that they’re letting T on the bed with you,” just before hugging Hiccup himself.
Hiccup kissed Tuffnut’s cheek too.
“I wonder if we can get away getting in the bed with Hiccup,” Ruffnut said, before joining in on the hug with her brother. She then pointed to her lips, and Hiccup gifted her what she wanted: a lip kiss.
“I rather think the medical staff would object,” Fishlegs said.
“It is a rather big bed,” Hiccup said. He gestured for Fishlegs to hug him, after the twins pulled away.
Fishlegs did what he asked, exchanging a cheek kiss.
Astrid was hugging Hiccup and was about to kiss him, when Ruffnut asked: “Astrid, can we please get into the bed with Hiccup and Toothless?”
Astrid’s forehead touched Hiccup’s when the only sound that came out of her mouth was essentially her breathing through her nose like she was trying to hold back a laugh.
“Love that you’re asking Astrid and not me or Toothless,” Hiccup said. “But it is effectively all our bed.”
“Kiss me and I’ll say yes,” Astrid said. She also wanted to spend time with Hiccup in the bed.
Hiccup gave Astrid a kiss.
“I love you guys,” Hiccup whispered.
Which is why, when the medical staff came back a couple of hours later, Hiccup was sleeping surrounded by five people and a dragon.
Viggo Grimborn stood at attention, facing his King. It had been weeks since Prince Hiccup returned to the castle with an injury so severe that his leg needed to be amputated.
“I have spoken with my son about what happened that day. My son had nothing but praise for you. Even shared his own opinion on your job,” Stoick said.
Viggo nodded. “He is quite opinionated,” Viggo said.
“Indeed,” Stoick said. “The Night Fury gets to share his bed, much to the consternation of the medical staff.”
Viggo smiled a little.
“I take he is in good spirits?” Viggo asked.
“Yes,” Stoick said.
Viggo nodded.
“Based on what I have heard, your actions saved his life. He thinks you should get to remain a Knight. I am in agreement with him,” Stoick said. “We do not blame you.”
“Thank you, but I do.”