Chapter 4: Jack's Secret

The next several weeks flew by but they didn't seem like that to Jack who was coped up in the hospital lying on the same boring bed in the same boring room for the entire time. He was so bored with the hospital that he had resorted to pretending that Anna's useless conversations about her garden were actually interesting. The sad thing was they actually were. But he did have one other distraction that was keeping his mind quite sharp.

Ever since he could use a laptop (his fingers had been damaged by the blast), which had been about a few weeks ago, he had been looking for engagement rings for Elsa. News was spreading that the war could be over soon and if those reports were true then Elsa could be coming back any day and he wanted to be married to her as soon as possible.

However there was something else that was bugging Jack. He had been having nightmares every night about the war. He had told his mother and she had responded by getting him some sleeping pills that worked and by getting him to talk to a therapist about the issues. Jack had agreed and so he was wheeled up to a Doctor Jane Sampson every few days to talk about his problems. Jack had been finding that these two tactics were actually working. He had been having less and less nightmares over the last few days.

His platoon had even come to visit. Bunnymund, who had completely recovered over a period of two short weeks, had visited Jack every few days to discuss anything and everything. About a week ago, Tooth and Sandy, who were still on the front lines, had come. They had told Jack that had been promoted to help working the base and so they were permanently off the front lines. Jack breathed a sigh of relief in this knowledge.

Jack had asked about Elsa and they had shrugged. They had told him that they didn't get to see her much as she was busy preparing for some big operation that was happening very soon. Jack didn't know what but he felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach but he knew Elsa. He knew that she would come through it.

At least there was some good news. Jack's casts had all been taken off as his bones were now fixed. He had several operations to fix them and they had finally told him the good news a few days ago. They said that he could go home soon and with some physical therapy, he would be fine. Jack actually starts his physical therapy in just a few short days. They wanted to get him into it while he was at the hospital.

Jack then woke up on a bright sunny day. He had lost track of the days as they were all the same to Jack now. The first thing he did was grab the laptop. He had found a really good site for a store that was local that sold nice rings. He opened up his history browser, found the site and clicked on it. He then carefully went through the designs. He could definitely see himself proposing with any number of them but somehow none of them was the right choice for him. They were nice but they didn't have the wow factor he was looking for.

Jack then saw Jamie approaching. Jack then hurriedly closed out of the internet and closed the laptop with a flourish. He didn't want people knowing his plans just yet. He wanted it to be a surprise but unfortunately his surprises never really were surprises. Like the time he wanted to ask out Elsa to the school ball and he made the mistake of telling Kristoff, who told Anna, who ended up telling Elsa. So when Jack asked her, she had already told him that she bought the tickets for them. It was not going to be like that.

When Jamie walked in, he gave Jack a long hard stare. Crap, Jack thought, he must have seen me. Jamie didn't do anything. He just walked in and took a seat. Jack relaxed a bit but it wasn't for long. Jamie then made a wild grab for the laptop while Jack tried to defend it. Jack lost while Jamie won. Jamie pushed his chair way back so Jack couldn't get to him.

"Let's see what you're hiding," Jamie said.

"Give that back Jamie," Jack said trying and failing to get out of bed.

Jack watched as Jamie made several clicks and gave a gasp after a few minutes.

"Why are you looking at rings?" he said grinning. "There is only one reason."

Jack watched as Jamie smirked. Damn, he thought, this is going to end up just like the school ball.

"You are going to propose to Elsa!" Jamie said with a triumph.

"Okay fine!" Jack said throwing his hands up in the air in defeat. "I am, happy?"

"Very!" Jamie said grinning.

Jack then noticed Anna coming. She had just stepped out of the elevator and was heading their way. She had her head down and she looked like she was texting someone.

"Okay, Jamie could you please not tell Anna or anyone about this?" Jack begged.

"Why?" Jamie's eyebrows were raised.

"I want it to be a surprise."

"Okay, that's cool."

Jack breathed a sigh of relief just as Anna entered the room. She gave Jack a look before turning to Jamie.

"My woman's intuition is telling me that you two are up to something," she said.

"Well your woman's intuition is wrong because we're not," Jamie said.

Anna gave them both another long hard stare.

"It's never wrong and I don't believe you for a second but if that's how you want to play then fine. I can be patient."

Jack knew what that meant. Anna was going to get Kristoff to spy for her and then get him to relay all the information back. Jack grinned. This was not going to be like that this time. It may have worked in the past but this time it was going to stay hidden between the two of them.

A nurse then came in and told Jack that it was time for his therapy. Jack smiled and was wheeled out of the room waving at his two friends who he was leaving behind.

As soon as Jack was out of earshot, Anna turned to Jamie.

"Okay what is that you two are up to?" she shot at him.

"Nothing," Jamie said opening up the laptop. "I think I'm gonna start a game of solitaire," he added.

"Look if it is something about Jack's treatment or condition then I think I should-" Anna started but Jamie cut her off.

"It's nothing to do with that Anna," Jamie said. "It's just a really big surprise that Jack doesn't want ruined."

"What kind of surprise?"

"The kind that makes woman go nuts," Jamie responded.

Anna sighed. That could be a hundred different things. Anna shrugged and peered over to what Jamie was up to.

"You can move the black five to the red six," she said pointing it out.

"Thanks," Jamie said clicking the mouse pad. "Yes, that reveals a red ace!"

Anna continued to watch Jamie until Jack returned an hour later.

"How did he do?" Anna asked the nurse.

"He did great," the nurse said. "He just needs to do this every day for a while and then we can start cutting it back."

"Excellent," Jack said getting back into bed. "Can I have my laptop back?"

"Not now Jack," Jamie said. "I'm almost finished."

Anna saw Jack roll his eyes.

Jack waited until Anna had gone off to tell Kristoff something before he turned back to Jamie.

"You didn't tell her right?"

"No," Jamie said shaking his head, "of course not!"

"Good," Jack said.

The laptop was back on his lap and he was thumbing through the rings again. Jamie was next to him and giving his opinion on certain ones.

"How are you going to propose?" Jamie asked.

"I really don't know," Jack said. "I could go for one of the cliché ones and do it at a restaurant or something but that doesn't feel like us."

"Yeah," Jamie said. "You need to make it personal and really, really romantic."

"I know," Jack said, "I know."

Months rolled by for Elsa. She had been training very hard over that period of time. She had been Skyping Anna as much as she could. Apparently Jack has been doing quite well and that he was being released from the hospital very soon. Elsa was thrilled but that wasn't all that she was thrilled about.

According to sources, the war was nearly over and according to North, there final push against Hans may actually help finish the war. Elsa was going to miss the fighting though. She did enjoy a good adrenaline rush while she was out there in the battle field but she knew people worried for her and hoped she would make a safe return. Elsa wished for that too.

Elsa was soon called to Colonel North's office on the debriefing for their latest mission. Elsa was scared but excited.

"Okay," North was saying. "The first part of your mission starts tomorrow. I want you all to go out and do a little recon before you go in. I want you to bug the place and then get as much info as you can get. Once you get the thumbs up from me, you will go in and take out Hans before we drone strike the area. Make sure you are out before we do that though. This part of the mission will take a while so make sure you bring plenty of stuff. We have a safe house set up a few miles away so you should be all good. Any questions?"

"No sir!" Elsa and the others said.

"Good, dismissed!" North said.

Elsa ran back to her room and quickly opened up her laptop. She Skyped Anna who picked up at once.

"Hey Elsa," she said her face splitting into a wide grin.

"Yo," Elsa said. "How's it over there? I hear Jack is almost home free!"

"Actually he is," Anna grinned even more. "He got home yesterday. He's been held up in his old room while his mother feeds him. I don't think Jack will complain though."

"No I don't think he will," Elsa laughed.

Anna then looked at Elsa very closely.

"Something is new," she said.

Elsa nodded. "I'm being dispatched for my mission tomorrow morning."

"This is the big one right?"

"Yeah, if it goes according to plan, it would give a big bonus to our team."

"Well good luck out there!"

"Thanks I think I may need it!"

Jack woke up on the fifth day of being back home. It felt great to be home but he wished that Elsa was home with him but he guessed that for the time being, he should make the most of it. According to his doctors, Jack had improved a lot. He was now only seeing his shrink once a week and she was pleased with his improvement. Jack was no longer having nightmares and he was feeling like his old self. On another good note, he was also only seeing his physical therapist twice a week.

Jack was feeling very excited. Today, he had arranged for Jamie to help him shop for rings. Jack slipped out of bed quite early and wrote a note for his mum so she wouldn't get worried. His hand was on the door handle when a voice rang out.

"Where are you going?" the voice belonged to his younger sister Pippa.

"Uh, out," Jack stammered.

Pippa gave him a long stare. "Jack Frost, you really are the worst liar in the history of liars. You do know that right?"

"What do you mean?" Jack asked with his hand on the door.

"I saw the brochures in your room Jack," Pippa sighed.

"What were you doing in my room?" Jack demanded.

"I was cleaning in on our mother's instructions and I came across them. Jack, you're going to propose to Elsa aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

"Well I would like to know in advance if I'm getting a new sister. Jack this is a huge step! Are you sure about this?"

"Yes," Jack said firmly. "I have never been more certain than anything in my entire life. She's the one Pippa. I know."

For an answer, Pippa grabbed her coat and keys.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked her.

"Well I'm not going to let you blunder this up!" Pippa said. "Come on!"

Pippa then marched him out of the house to her car. Jack jumped in the passenger side while Pippa started the engine up. They found Jamie outside his house and he looked confused why Pippa was there until Jack explained everything.

For the next few hours, they trolled the ring shops looking for the perfect one. Pippa was quite handy as she knew what kind of ring they should be looking one. In what seemed the hundredth shop, they finally found it. It was a beautiful diamond ring which had two adjoining sapphires on either side on a gold ring. Jack could see Elsa saying yes when he looked at the ring. He grinned and looked at the others who were grinning back.

Half an hour later, Jack walked out of the store holding a small velvet case with an even bigger grin plastered all over his face.

A/N: So what's going to happen with Elsa? I hoped this has been a good update. Please review =)