Deduced | Mericcup

Chapter 7

The hospital did not change when they returned. The nurse that sat on the counter was still there. She nodded at Hiccup, but Hiccup continued walking as Merida followed.

He went over to the morgue. This time, Merida followed him inside. The girl with a braided, blonde hair was writing something on a clipboard. She turned when she heard the door open with a smile plastered on her face. She has blue eyes and a round face and she gave Hiccup the sweetest smile that Merida had ever seen.

When she saw Merida come in, she frowned. "You're the girl from earlier." She said.

"Yeah," Merida said. "I'm Merida. I'll be working here as a biochemist tomorrow."

She nodded. "That's nice. I'm Astrid, by the way." She said as she held out her hand. Merida shook it and Hiccup groaned.

"So much drama!" He exclaimed and waved his hands in the air. He walked over the dead body and sighed.

"How long had he been dead again?" Hiccup asked.

"Two days." Astrid answered.

Hiccup brought out his magnifying glass and examined the body with it. He stood straight and placed it back to his pocket and sighed. "There are bruises."

"Recently dead bodies do produce bruises when hit hard with a whip or anything hard. It is not because of an inflammatory reaction though. It is because the underlying blood vessels rupture and the stagnant blood oozes out of it. Sometimes, due to gravity, the blood may ooze downwards, and form a bruise-like mark on some other part of the body, other than the part that was struck." It was Merida who spoke.

Hiccup looked at her with a surprised look. "What?" Merida asked. "I'm a curious person. I search the internet when I feel like it."

"But it's better to experiment for yourself." Hiccup said. He turned to face Astrid. "Are there any dead bodies here that are older than two days?"

"Yes," Astrid said and went over to the mortuary cold chamber. She opened one and slid a dead body out of it. The body was inside a large, black bag that's on top of a table with wheels. "This one is a week old."

Hiccup went over to it and opened the bag. It was a woman's body and it made Merida uncomfortable. He doesn't seem to care though. He took a rod from one of the corners and started hitting the body.

Merida flinched as the rod his the woman's body. Astrid went to stand beside her, flinching like Merida.

"Does he usually do this?" Merida asked once Astrid was beside her.

"Not usually, but he's usually here," Astrid said. "They own the hospital so they let him in. He loves doing experiments to enhance his deduction skills."

Merida looked at Hiccup then back to Astrid. "I'll be working at this guy's hospital?" Merida exclaimed. "Ugh, I should have known."

Astrid looked at Merida curiously. "I haven't seen you anywhere. You're new here, aren't you?"

"Yes. I moved in just beside Hiccup's flat." Merida answered. Astrid got quiet. If Hiccup had not been trying to bruise the dead woman, the room must have been really quiet.

When Hiccup finished, he went over to Merida. "Do you want to get some lunch?" Hiccup asked.

"Seriously?" Merida asked. "What's up with you?"

"Just hungry. Besides, it's almost lunchtime." He said.

He then turned to look at Astrid. "Text me after ten hours, a man\s alibi depends on it. Thanks again, Astrid!"

With that, Hiccup and Merida left the morgue until they were outside the hospital. He continued walking while Merida followed beside him.

"What alibi?" Merida asked.

Hiccup looked over to her. "You really can't zip your mouth from asking too many questions, can't you?"

Merida shook her head.

"It's from a case I took yesterday." Hiccup said. "Now, what do you want to eat?" He asked.

Merida stared at him. "I am about to punch you in the face."

Hiccup ignored her and kept walking until they reached a local restaurant. He went over to a table and sat, waiting for Merida to do the same.

"Hiccup!" A man beamed from the other side of the room.

"Mr. Gobber." He said.

"Good to see you here, kid." He said. "My wife's running the bakery so she's not here today."

He looked at Merida. He gave her a surprised look before he looked at Hiccup again. He leaned over to him and he whispered, "You've got a date?" even though Merida could still hear it.

"She's not a date." He said "a date" while using his hands to mimic quotation marks.

"I'm just his neighbor." Merida said. Mr. Gobber laughed out loud, people started looking at them.

Mr. Gobber waved his hand once as if dismissing what they had said. "Date or not you still brought a girl here other than Astrid. I always thought you look great together. I didn't know you could find a finer woman other than her."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Mr. Gobber, Astrid is nothing more than a job partner."

"Suit yourself." Mr. Gobber said as he handed a menu for each of them. "Enjoy your date, Haddock."

When he left, Hiccup looked at Merida. "Don't mind him. He's crazy."

"Crazier than you?" Merida asked.

Hiccup chuckled. "I'm not crazy, Merida."

"People call you a psychopath," Merida said. "I wouldn't be surprised if you are though. You look like you're about to go insane. You get excited when there's murder."

The boy shook his head. "I kept telling them that I'm not a psychopath." He said. "I'm a high-functioning sociopath."

"Eh," Merida said. "I'll have a pizza."

"You're paying for this." Hiccup said.

"No, I'm not." Merida said.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are." Hiccup said. "I could do this all day because you're paying for it."

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm—ugh, this is hopeless. You dragged me here and you're telling me that I'll be paying for it?"

Hiccup chuckled. "Yes."

Merida rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just don't order too much."

"Why? You're rich. You can pay for it." Hiccup said, intertwining his hands together before placing it on his lips.

"Fine!" Merida exclaimed.

They ordered their food, Hiccup buying more than what Merida thought he could eat. They didn't talk much. The food arrived and they ate it silently. After they ate, they went back to the flat. This time, Hiccup headed to his room.

The remaining hours passed normally. Just before the sun sets, she had unpacked her clothes and made her bed. She went back to the living room and watched some shows, but decided to close it and head over to the shower.

She ran warm water on the tub and waited for it to fill. She dipped a finger in before she decided to soak herself in. She sighed. She didn't know she was exhausted for the day until she had dipped herself in a nice warm bath.

But her peaceful bath was disturbed by a loud crash.

———————

Author's Note: I feel like I'm killing the update. HAHAHA I'm enjoying this. I've been updating constantly. XD Should I stop and have at least a day of interval?

Hmmm... what could that loud crash be?

kungfukick