The news of what had happened to Astrid spread faster than wildfire.

As she was rushed to the hospital, the police had called her parents and informed them of her accident. Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson had rushed to their daughter's side at record speed upon hearing the news.

Hiccup was the one who had to break it to the rest of the group. They had agreed to meet up at the hospital over the phone and upon arrival, they were left waiting in the waiting room as the doctors worked on reviving Astrid.

They all sat in silence, gazes locked onto the linoleum floor beneath their feet.

The muffled beeping of a machine, the bubbles rising in the water dispenser, the receptionist's loud tapping on his keyboard and the occasional cough from other visitors. Those were the only sounds that could be heard in the waiting room.

Hiccup sat in the chair closest to the front desk, head in his hands, guilt washing over him.

How he wished he had gotten there earlier, how he wished he hadn't wasted all that time standing around, how he wished he had jumped in immediately, rescuing her sooner.

"What happened, Hiccup? You didn't really specify over the phone" Heather's words were the first ones spoken since their arrival. Her voice was low and raspy and her eyes red and puffy from crying, the news of her best friend being taken away in an ambulance took a toll on her.

Hiccup hadn't really gone into detail of what happened, he was still in shock when he called them. All that he had said was that Astrid was on her way to the hospital and that they should meet him there.

Hiccup lifted his head up from his hands, revealing his own puffy, red eyes as he brushed the hair out of his face. No one said anything, they just stared at him curiously, all wishing to hear his answer to Heather's question.

Hiccup let out a deep sigh. "She... she was in an accident, drove right off the bridge and into the river. Had I just arrived sooner, perhaps I could've—"

"I'm just going to stop you there" Ruffnut interrupted. "We all know that there would've been nothing you could do, regardless if you arrived sooner or not. Stop trying to pin the blame on yourself, it's not only stupid, but very cliché as well"

Hiccup nodded in response, not even bothering to comment on Ruffnut's unusual choice of words. He just sat in his seat, and once again turned his attention to the floor beneath his feet.

The faint sound of tapping against the linoleum floor could be heard from where the group sat. The sound grew louder and louder with each passing second until the doors to the waiting room were thrown open, revealing a tall, muscular man with his dark hair in a ponytail.

He smashed his large hands down on the front desk, managing not only to capture the attention of the receptionist, but the attention of the entire room.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes at him. He seemed so familiar, but where had he seen him before?

"I'm looking for Astrid, Astrid Hofferson, could you tell me where she is?" The man asked the receptionist through heavy panting, as if he had ran an entire marathon before arriving at the hospital.

That's when Hiccup recognized him. It was Eret, Astrid's boyfriend. Hiccup had never been a big fan of Eret, mostly because he was Astrid's boyfriend and that he had proved to Hiccup several times that he was not excellent at his job.

"I'm sorry, sir, only family members are allowed beyond these doors" The receptionist looked up from the computer screen in front of him and gestured towards the doors that lead out into an empty hallway littered with other doors.

"Please, I'm her fiancé" He pleaded to the receptionist, hands clasped together.

Hiccup's head jerked up so fast he could hear the bones in his neck cracking. Astrid's fiancé?!

The rest of the group looked just as confused and surprised as Hiccup did, when did Eret become her fiancé?

The group looked to each other for answers, but it seemed that no one had them. None of them had ever heard a word about Eret being Astrid's fiancé. Was this just a scheme to get past the doors?

As the teens were busy trying to process and make sense of what they had just learned, the receptionist informed Eret of Astrid's parents' whereabouts, before allowing him to slip through the doors to the empty hallway.

"Fiancé?" Hiccup's entire world felt like it was crumbling around him. Mere hours earlier he had been holding Astrid in his arms, thinking about how much he loved her and wanted to be with her every second of every day, but now...

Hiccup let out a long sigh, sinking into the chair as his brows slowly neared one another.

Heather and Ruffnut exchanged a glance before narrowing their eyes at the heartbroken young man in the chair.

"Why do you sound so... disappointed, Hiccup?" Heather asked him, a curious undertone in her voice as she leaned forward.

"Yeah," Runnfnut agreed. "Why do you sound so disappointed?"

Their little conversation quickly managed to catch the attention of the rest of the group, who were all curious to hear Hiccup's answer.

Hiccup let out a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head, trying his best to conceal the fact that he indeed found himself very attracted to Astrid. "What? It... uh... it's just that she didn't tell us anything about it and... erm... that's why I'm...disappointed?"

None of his friends believed a word that had come out of his mouth, but they decided to put the conversation aside for the moment, seeing as they were here for Astrid and not to get information from Hiccup.

As the hours trickled by, the teens gathered in the waiting room watched plenty of people come and go, as they bored themselves half to death.

At 1 am, the night shift receptionist had attempted to throw them out, but the gang had convinced her to let them stay a little while longer.

At 3 am, the teens decided to inform their parents of their whereabouts, telling them that they weren't going anywhere until they were allowed to see their injured friend.

At 4 am, they had all fallen asleep in the uncomfortable chairs of the waiting room. At around 6 am, they had been woken up by the pained cries of a young man, crying over the death of his wife.

At 9 am, when Heather was staring intensely at the vending machine, Ruffnut was charging her phone beside the bathroom door, Snotlout was drinking water from the water dispenser, Fishlegs was napping, Tuffnut was talking to a potted plastic plant and Hiccup was sitting in his chair, thinking about Astrid, the receptionist stood up from her desk and informed them that they were officially allowed to visit Astrid.

The teens all ran up to the front desk together.

"Room number?" Heather urged the receptionist, barely managing to stand still from the excitement of getting to see her friend again.

"209" The receptionist smiled. "But seeing as she is very recently out of surgery, I suggest you all go in one and one or two and two, as to not overwhelm her"

They nodded before throwing open the doors to the empty hallway and speeding down the halls, searching every door for the number they where looking for.

When they finally found the room, they stood outside for a short while, just staring at the door. The group turned towards one another and silently agreed who were to go first.

Heather and Fishlegs went in first, knocking gently on the door before being greeted by the red, puffy eyes of Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson.

Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson exited the room, Eret on their heels as they decided to allow the teenagers some privacy with Astrid.

Snotlout and Hiccup offered the seats they had taken to Astrid's parents, who gladly accepted them, shooting the boys small smiles before going back to their blank faces.

Heather and Fishlegs eventually exited, and it was clear that the pair had been crying.

"Thank you for allowing us to see her, Mr. and Mrs. Hofferson" Heather sniffled. "But we think it's best we go home and try get some sleep, we'll return tomorrow"

And with that, Heather and Fishlegs walked down the empty hall, arm in arm, their footsteps the only things providing sound in the otherwise silent hall.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut eventually went in, bringing Snotlout with them, defying the rule the receptionist had sat, bringing a little Ruff and Tuff rebellion into the hospital.

Unlike Heather and Fishlegs, the trio couldn't bear to be inside for more than 10 minutes.

As they exited the room, they turned to Astrid's parents, excusing themselves before turning their noses home.

Hiccup took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to see.

He placed his hand on the doorknob, but he couldn't bring himself to turn it. He glanced to his side to find the three people left in the hallway staring at him, waiting for him to go inside.

Astrid's mother shot him an encouraging smile, which gave him the courage to turn the doorknob and step into the room, making sure to close the door behind him.

As soon as he turned around from the door, he spotted her. Hiccup had no intention of offending her, but if you had asked him how she looked in that moment, he would've said: "horrible, but still gorgeous"

Her hair looked like she had just been pulled out of the river. It was flat, darker than usual and it looked wet, telling Hiccup that it had become quite greasy since he had last seen her at school the day before.

Her face looked different from the last time he had seen it as well. Her skin was less blue-toned than it had been at the river, and from where she had bled earlier on her forehead, was now a big band-aid, which Hiccup recognized as the type of band-aid you get after getting stitches.

His eyes continued down her face and landed on hers. Her eyes were closed, but her eyelids were lobster red with massive bags under her them, making it look like she hadn't slept in a decade.

Over her mouth and nose sat a breathing mask, which fortunately stopped right before the bruising on her nose.

Hiccup slumped down on the stool that had been set up beside her bed, his eyes stinging as he took in her bruised and damaged but still gorgeous face.

He watched as her chest slowly rose up and down, the heart monitor on the other side of the bed beeping with small pauses. A small smile spread across his face. Thank the gods she was alive.

As he observed her, he could not for the life of him understand why the surgery had taken as long as it had. The only things he could see were the stitches in her forehead and the cast on her left arm.

His eyes traveled further down, until he reached her legs, which were covered by a white sheet. He slightly lifted the bedsheet and begun to understand why the surgery had taken so long.

Her legs were covered from hip to toe in casts, leaving her stiff as a Barbie doll. He slowly lowered the sheet, his eyebrows knitting together in worry.

"I'm so sorry I didn't find you sooner" He told her, his voice on the verge of breaking as his lip quivered and he could feel the tears gathering on his bottom eyelid.

He glanced down at the arm that laid beneath him. Unlike her left arm, it looked unharmed, so he carefully slipped his fingers between hers, bringing her hand up to his lip.

He kissed the back of her hand gently, his mind wiping away every painful memory he had of her. "I'm so sorry, Astrid"