AN: Finally!! I had to scrap the draft for this chapter twice because I just wasn't satisfied with how things were going. I hope you guys all like this chapter (These are the ramblings of your quirky writer at 4:30 AM) XD

Astrid's eyes were droopy as she still sat in the chair when the sun had come up, she put her hand up to stifle a yawn. While vampires could function on virtually no sleep, the events of the day before had tired her. She was loathe to admit it but she could use a nap about now. Her stubborn side would not allow her to leave Hiccup but her body told her that she needed about two hours of sleep to be fully functional again. Yet Astrid kept her eyes open as she kept vigil. The story Heather told had really rattled her. She could remember meeting another vampire in Russia, near the Chinese border, when she and Heather traveled. Heather knew the man quite well and introduced them. But there had been something odd about Heather's acquaintance. At that time, still relatively new to her vampiric powers, she didn't know what felt so off about the man. Now she understood. It felt like half of his soul was missing. Fledglings tended to imprint on their Sires, be it a bond of friendship, parental, or romantic. The Sire was either dead, did not acknowledge the fledgling, or had abused the fledgling severely for the bond to have been broken.

The steady rhythm of the heart monitor told Astrid that the change was still ongoing. The heart was the last organ to stop and would do so on the fourth day in this case. Astrid stood up to stretch her legs and went over to the blinds that had been drawn. She looked through them to see the nurse on call sitting at her desk not so far from the room. Astrid wondered what the other nurses on shift happened to be like. She had yet to meet them. She sighed before deciding to stretch her legs a bit. Grabbing the overnight bag, she rifled through it to see what Dagur had packed. Astrid got out a simple T-shirt with the saying 'I just came for the food' and some blue jeans along with a towel. When she stepped out of the room she looked around for the location of the washroom. The nurse at the station flagged her down. "Miss if you want to freshen up you can use the staffroom." This suggestion surprised Astrid. She approached the nurse's station as the woman put a key on the counter.

"Thank you." Astrid said as she observed the young woman. The nurse nodded and then added "I shall alert you if there is any change in your fiance's condition." Astrid's mouth hung open at the word fiance. She wondered how the nurse came to that conclusion. "Uhm... how.... Uh.... fiance?" She stammered out. Sure she was in love with Hiccup and hoped that they would someday be married but she just gaped at the nurse's assumption.

"Oh, I'm sorry. The Mayor said this was all hush hush, and that you two weren't telling people yet."

"Right.... Yeah.... Can you..." Astrid made a shushing motion and the young woman nodded and gave her a wink. Astrid left for the staffroom, clothes gripped in one hand, while she thought of the fiance bit. It was obvious Stoick told that little white lie to get her at Hiccup's side much easier but did he really expect it so fast? Astrid's mind was whirling with thoughts as she operated on autopilot when she located the showers. Hot water splashed down as she thought 'Are they expecting a wedding soon?' and then Astrid nearly froze when she thought of something 'Would Hiccup's parents expect grandchildren?!' She slightly panicked for a while and shook out of her musings when the water started getting colder. Astrid quickly finished up and as she was putting clean clothes on her mind wandered back to that subject. In all the years she lived one of the things that remained constant was that people wanted children or grandchildren to raise and spoil.

Astrid took a deep breath as she thought about this aspect. As a vampire she was incapable of having children. 'You don't get immortality for free she had learned'. Eternal life but you give up any chance to have offspring, and now Hiccup was in the same boat as her. 'Would Stoick and Valka truly be so supportive if they knew this fact?' She wondered. Their other son would probably go to jail for a long time and thus Hiccup would be the only one to give them grandbabies.

Astrid groaned at all the societal norms. Human culture over the years was indeed vexing, and she had observed a good chunk of it. When she was still human and living in France she was told to find a husband as quickly as possible to continue her family line. In Europe, decades later, she was told that her intelligence and mastery of several languages were a turn off for potential suitors. While she was glad that there had been a lot of change for women over the years one thing did remain the same: 'offspring'. Astrid grumbled in French for a moment, easily slipping back to her native language.

It was a short walk from the staffroom, situated on the floor, back to the nurse's station. Astrid handed the woman back the key and gave her a grateful nod. Hiccup was exactly as she had left him and Astrid resumed her vigil from the plushie chair. "We have so much to talk about." She whispered, hoping that Hiccup could hear her. There was a knock on the door and Astrid turned to see a doctor she wasn't familiar with standing in the doorway with a clipboard. Astrid was immediately on guard as the man greeted her. She watched him closely as he checked Hiccup's chart near his bed while making small notations on his own like how any regular doctor checking up on a patient would do. She knew however, that this wasn't Hiccup's assigned doctor and Astrid asked as she stared at the man "Excuse me, but who exactly are you?"

"I'm Doctor Lambert, miss...." The doctor trailed off as Astrid gave him her last name. "No need to worry miss." The man said next. "I'm just here to check up on the patient and schedule the tests needed."

"Tests?" Astrid frowned as she moved closer to Hiccup. Her inner vampire was hissing threateningly to not let this man get close. "I wasn't aware of any tests." And indeed there weren't any scheduled. Stoick had done a marvelous job to make sure that his son was safe and that the hospital didn't get in trouble either. They didn't exactly have a standard procedure for vampire patients.

"Just some standard tests miss. Some blood work is needed to update the medical records." Astrid's eyes narrowed when blood was mentioned and she discreetly pressed the nurse's call button at the side of the bed as she smelled the bag of lies this man was spouting. "And with which department are you?" She then asked while crossing her arms. She didn't have to wait long or she would have tossed the man out of the room itself, preferably out a window, when the young nurse came in. "You!" The nurse accused while pointing a finger at the man. "Get out!"

Astrid lifted a brow at the complete one-eighty of the young woman as she stared down the doctor. "You aren't supposed to be here!" The man knowing that he'd been caught raised his hands in a non-threatening manner and inched out of the room under the glares of two women. The young nurse, after making sure that the man wasn't on the floor anymore returned to the room to offer her apologies.

"I am so very sorry miss." She said and Astrid could see the sincerity on her face. "This man had been wanting access to your fiance for a while and as per the Mayor's orders I refused him. I had to check up on another patient when he must have slipped by."

"Why aren't there any other nurses stationed here?" Astrid couldn't help but ask.

"The hospital, in agreement with the Mayor, felt that the fewer people knew the better." The nurse stated. "That man just now was an immunologist not affiliated with this hospital. Some of the news from the surgery did get out so he rushed here to get samples only to be denied."

"He certainly doesn't take no for an answer." Astrid grumbled. "I was ready to throw him out the window."

"I'd rather you didn't." The nurse mumbled. "Think of all the paperwork I'd have to file with Chief Camicazi."

"You know Cami?" Astrid asked.

"We went to school together. She was two years ahead of me." The young nurse stated. "She's actually the one that asked if I would volunteer for this week."

"Cami works fast." Astrid mumbled as she guessed it was the smart thing to do. If Cami handpicked the nurse on duty then she'd be more than trustworthy. "Just out of curiosity. You said she was two years ahead of you in school. How did you meet?" At this the young woman did blush a bit but answered "I beat her at a pie eating contest and armwrestling." Astrid nodded and resolved to get the full story out of the Chief of police someday.

Things quieted down for another hour or so. Astrid looked up when the door handle to Hiccup's room jingled. She saw Stoick and a slim woman enter the room. "Oh my baby!" The woman gasped and Astrid guessed that this was Valka.

After a tearful reunion, and Valka and Astrid being introduced, which ended with Astrid once again crushed in a bearhug, they sat down and Valka demanded to know the full story of what had transpired. Still dressed in her green jumpsuit she listened as Stoick and Astrid filled in the gaps. By the end of it Valka stood up with pursed lips and told Stoick "We are going to the police station after this."

"Honey, are you sure you're up to seeing Henry today as well?" Stoick asked as he looked at his wife sadly.

"Stoick, we are going to the station after I pick up my wooden spoon from home." Valka told the man without hesitation and Astrid noticed Stoick gulp. Of course Hiccup had told her about the infamous wooden spoon and how no one dared to oppose his mom while she was wielding it. She had apparently even brought it with her to a PTA meeting when she felt that one of the teachers had wronged her babies. Hiccup had dissolved into a fit of giggles, remembering that episode, and he had just said without much elaboration "No one dared go against the spoon."