How to Deal With Amnesia

Chapter 17: The Way Back Home

The walk from the forge to his house, which usually was normal and quick, has never been so long and difficult. At last he could see his house! What a shame it was still so far away... Why did he have to live up on a freaking hill?!

He moaned, leaning on his right leg, in fact, he could barely put his weight on the left one as he limped. Even his back was beginning to hurt for standing in an awry position. It was hard and he had to stop several times to catch his breath, but at least it was better than jumping all the way back.

Each limped step seemed worse than the previous one; he was exhausted, but closer, now, he only had to go uphill.

"Hiccup? Why are you limping again? I thought you were just fine with the prosthetic..."

Breathing hard, he turned his head to find Astrid. He forced a smile.

"Hey, Astrid. Hi. Astrid, hi..."

"Okay, what's going on?" She crossed her arms and approached him. "And what's wrong with your prosthetic? Its seems a bit... Different, maybe even odd."

"And what brings you here in a time like this?"

"I just went to the Great Hall to get a hot beverage before I went to bed and then I was just checking our defenses when I saw you limping... I'm not gonna ask again, Hiccup, so you might as well answer me while you still can limp, if you catch my drift..."

He rolled his eyes.

"Fine..." He mumbled and then complained more to himself than to her. "Geez, I'm so stupid, why can't I just do anything right?" So he turned back to the girl. "I had a little accident when I was leaving the forge and I fell and hurt my leg... I can barely step on it..."

"Hiccup, you can't fool me, we know each other, maybe just for like three years, but I know you better than anyone else, and at the moment, maybe even better than yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you're with that tone of voice you use when you try to hide something and..." She noticed something on his face and her anger mode quickly turned to her worried mode as she took a step forward, lifting a hand to gently touch his right cheek. "And how did this happen?"

"As I said, I fell. More than once, actually..." It wasn't entirely false, he was on the floor twice, but he was shoved against it, he didn't just fall. "You know me, I was already clumsy enough with two feet..."

Astrid sighed and her shoulders fell. She knew she was lying and he was pretty sure she knew that, but neither admitted.

"Okay... Just let me help you go home, then."

"You don't have to..."

"It's not up for discussion, Hiccup." She told him grabbing his left arm and put it around her shoulder, so she held him by the torso. He froze for a second, still not used to her touch, but soon he relaxed again. "Lift up your left leg so you won't have to step on it and lean on me for support, okay? And don't make me get Snotlout, or Fishlegs or even your father to carry you home, just do as I say."

"Okay, okay... Geez, you're bossy..."

"I know. And you love it. Now let's move."

With Astrid's help, it was a bit easier to finally reach his house. Stoick wasn't home, yet, both guessed he was probably with their visitors.

Hiccup groaned looking at the stairs that led to his room, but neither said anything and just started their climb.

When they were almost on the second floor, his metal leg accidentally bumped onto a step of the stair. He flinched and hissed in pain, leaning on Astrid even more, surprising the girl as she realized whatever it was, was worse than what she had imagined. It seemed like the kind of acute pain that was so sharp it could cause shivers run down the spine, piercing your very own soul. The kind of pain that you just can't move for several seconds that feel like minutes or hours until you can move again, until you can breathe again.