The Lost Boy IV - The Hidden World

09 - Failed mission

Astrid stormed in, opening the tent, scaring off the Terrible Terrors, three of them flying off from the exit. The young woman stiffened as she met Goathi's death glare, then she saw her little brother on the bed. He had a wet towel on his forehead and seemed to be asleep, or unconscious. She walked to the elder and asked what happened. Goathi was making signs to her so she would quiet down when Elska and Hiccup rushed in too, scaring again the small dragons and creating new commotion.

As the former-healer feared, all the noise woke up her patient. They heard him grumble and saw him move in the corner of their eye. Hiccup was the first one to get to the bed, kneeling there and catching the hand Joke was rising – surely towards his head that seemed heavy and painful. Joke started when he felt warm hands grabbing his, dropping the wet tissue from his face, but calmed down as he recognized his husband bent next to him.

''Hey, you guys are back...'' He said with a weak smile.

''Yes, but you...'' Hiccup rejoined, unable to hold back his worry. ''What happened to you ? They said you collapsed or... I don't know...''

Joke blinked in confusion and stared around him, taking in where he was. He met the eyes of Goathi, Astrid and his mother, the three seemed concerned.

''Huh, I'm not sure... I was going to see Lumi and the eggs, and suddenly I had a stomach ache and felt dizzy. I don't know what happened next, I must have fainted.''

''Overstrain.'' Elska said, reading Goathi's scribbles on the ground.

Hiccup couldn't buy it. Himself had happened to be overstrained, mostly during his first year as chief, but not to the extend of fainting. Was Joke that busy ? He had not so many things to take care of... He was the new healer of the clan but didn't have all the patients since vikings were still going to Goathi first, by habit, he was assisting his mother in taking care of the dragons, keeping an eye on the Night Lights and Lumiverse's eggs...

Dragons were really turbulents, always hurting themselves and others for tiny things, Elska and Joke were constantly seeing new ones coming to the shed, and they were so many on the island... Plus the vikings coming to get Joke's healing treatments... Of course it was a lot of work, no doubt enough to get him sick.

However, Elska didn't seemed convinced. She frowned while watching her son, then walked to the bed, sitting on the left side while Hiccup was on the right. She gently ran a hand in his snowy hair, feeling his light fever and noticing his pale face. She waryly stroked his hair, as if he was a sand sculpture that could crumble if it was touched.

''Sweetheart, can you describe me how you feel, exactly ?''

Joke nodded and did so. Hiccup listened intently to his husband describing his symptoms. He was feeling tired all the time, he was more hungry, he had these headaches in the morning and vomitted sometimes but was getting better during the day, he also had some stomach ache and sudden dizziness. Hiccup got stunned as he learnt that Goathi was actually following Joke for four months about this problem.

Hearing this, he frowned and shook his head with disbelief. When he took again Joke's hand, his grip was so strong it made the young man start again. Hiccup didn't care for the conversation he was interrupting.

''Why didn't you tell me about this already ?'' He blamed more than he asked.

''I... You had already so much to worry about, Hic, I didn't want to add more to the pile.''

The young chief dropped his head against their intertwinned fingers, grimacing as he was holding back an internal scream. Gods, why was Joke always thinking about others before himself ? Why was he always thinking about Hiccup before himself ? Constantly, Joke was supporting him in his stressful and overbooked chief daily routine, helping him to relax in the evening, helping him think about something else, sometimes he even completed tasks in his stead so he had less work to do, but Joke was bearing this sickness on his own... for four months... to not bother him ?

Gods, he was not possible...

''You can't be serious...'' Hiccup sighed. ''Gods, Joke, your health is way more important than my chief duties.''

''I'm sorry...''

Hiccup lifted his head to look at his husband, seeing on his face how regretful he truly was, which made him even more guilty. He sighed again and got up to hug him. Nuzzling his white hair, he let out his guilt.

''No, I am sorry. I should have noticed something was wrong.''

Joke didn't reply but buried his face on the crook of his viking's neck, his breath tickling the freckled viking. They stayed like this for a moment, until Elska stepped in. She helped Hiccup laying Joke back in bed, then she lifted the furs on him. She did the same with his tunic, unveiling his pale belly. Hiccup noticed it was a bit plump, surely eating so much for the last months had added some fat to his slim frame.

''I'll get a look at you, okay ?'' She asked.

Joke smile in an embarrassed grimace, then nodded, before resting his head back on the pillow. Hiccup watched his mother-in-law feel his lover's belly.

''You said it's been four months since the beginning of the symptoms ?'' She asked her son.

Joke only nodded in reply, slightly squinting his eyes.

''Do you know what it is ?'' Hiccup enquired.

''I think so.'' She rejoined, lifting her eyes upward so she could focus on her touch.

The young chief got puzzled by the way she was inspecting her son, waryly pressing her fingers in different spots, as if she knew what she was doing, as if she was searching for something in particular. The more she was handling Joke, the more he was grimacing. That seemed pretty uncomfortable for him.

''There is this specificity of the Storm family I haven't told you yet, because I didn't really had the opportunity to come to the question. We don't really have an explanation for this, but our most likely hypothesis is, as the Alpha which gave its heart to our ancestor was a female, she-''

Suddenly, as she pressed Joke's belly in the lower part of the left side, he jolted up, unable to hold back a cry of pain. Hiccup worried about it and helped him lay back, quizzical by Elska's reaction. Her whole face lit up and she even smiled. She put back Joke's tunic over his stomach and the furs on him, then rested her hand on the one Hiccup was not holding.

''In our family, both women and men can bare life.''

''What ?'' Joke started.

As Astrid and Hiccup froze in surprise, Elska stroked her son's hair again.

''Sweetheart, you're pregnant.''