Chapter 11: A Ringing Sound

February 2014

Anna had to take a moment to realise what the Warden of the prison was saying. Elsa was…what?

"Mrs Bjorgman?" the warden had realised that Anna hadn't spoken for several seconds. "Did I lose you?"

"No, I am here," Anna's head was spinning. "May I ask what happened?"

"She was attacked by several inmates. It is highly suspected that a guard was involved as well. It was rather a brutal attack. She is lucky to be still alive. I don't have much further information than that. I would suggest talking to her doctors at Arendelle Hospital. She was transferred there from our prison hospital about a couple of hours ago."

"Thank you, Mr Eriksen, I'll be sure to do that."

Anna hung up the phone, her mind buzzing. Kristoff was giving her a questioning look but Anna didn't speak. So, Elsa had been attacked and it was bad enough to land her in a coma. A part of her wanted to cry for her sister, but another part was strangely okay with Elsa being viciously assaulted. It was as if she didn't blame the attackers for what they did. Elsa was one of the most hated people in Arendelle now. A lot of people were angry that she had killed their loved ones for sport, and others hated how she wouldn't aid the police in telling them where her other victims were.

A guilt started to rise within her as she thought at the times, she didn't hate Elsa or when she did hate her. It was like damned if she did, damned if she didn't. If she hated Elsa, she felt like she was betraying her own sister. If she didn't hate her, how could just let all the horrible things her sister has done go? Stuck between a rock and a very hard place.

"Anna? What happened?"

That was when Anna realised that Kristoff was still in the room staring at her.

"Oh, it's…you know," Anna couldn't bring herself to say her sister's name. Sometimes it was hard to. Whenever she did, she couldn't help but think of all those pictures in the newspapers of the victims. "She was attacked in prison and is in a coma."

"Holy shit, is she okay?" Kristoff looked shocked.

"I don't know," Anna shrugged. "The attack was apparently brutal. According to the warden, she is lucky to be alive."

"Are you going to see her?"

Anna didn't answer. Instead she looked at her book. Was she going to visit her injured, deranged sister in the hospital? She didn't know – or maybe she didn't want to know.

Jack unlocked the door to his house after a long day of work. Inside, he found his sister Pippa cooking dinner for everyone. She had moved back with Jack to help him take care of her niece and nephew. His two children were sitting at the table happily chatting to Pippa's husband, Stanley Evans – a local maths teacher. He seemed to be helping them with their maths homework as they were discussing basic fraction equations.

"Hey Jack," Pippa said the second he walked into the door. "How was work?"

Jack worked as a website designer for a local start-up company. He had experience doing it for Winter's Industry, so it wasn't a new area for him.

"Work was okay," Jack ruffled his children's hair and gave them both a kiss. "How are you two? Did Uncle Stanley set you guys too much homework?"

"Yes," the pair of them said together which made them all laugh.

"Oh, come on!" Stanley said, pretending to sound outraged. "All I gave to Leif today is one page of fractions and I am helping Sigrid with her multiplications."

"How are they going?" Jack asked as he took a spot opposite Stanley.

"Very good, Leif is nearly done with his work and I think Sigrid has the hang of her two times tables."

"Good job you two, proud of you!"

Small chit chat formed between the two brothers-in-law as Pippa placed a chicken noodle dish in front of them. The five of them ate in silence.

"Oh, sorry completely forgot," Pippa said, breaking the silence. "Anna called today."

"Anna?" Jack was perplexed. He hadn't spoken to Anna much over the last five years. The only communication that the pair of them had were on birthdays and Christmases apart from the odd call if something special had happened. The last time he had heard from her was on Christmas Day last year to thank him for sending her children Christmas presents and for him to thank her for doing the same. "What did she want?"

"I don't know," Pippa shoved a rather large amount of noodles into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed before continuing. "Said it was urgent though."

"I better call her then," Jack wondered what it could be about. His first thought that maybe it had to do with his grandfather who still lived in Arendelle with his mother. She didn't want to return to America, not wanting to be in the same country as his father who was out on parole. "Maybe it's to do with Grandad? Or Mum?"

"If it had, surely she would have told me though?" Pippa said which raised a valid point.

"Maybe Bunnymund or Tooth got up to something," Jack said. "Yeah, that makes sense. It would surely have something to do with them or with Natalie. Maybe she has a boyfriend that Bunnymund actually approves of."

He gave a small laugh at his joke but Pippa had raised her eyebrow.

"Or maybe it has something to do with-" she had started but got interrupted by Jack, loudly asking his children how their school day went.

After dinner, Jack sat alone in his bedroom, staring at his phone. He knew why Anna had called. It had to do with his ex-wife back in Arendelle. That was the only possibility. He took in a deep breath as he tried to figure out why Anna had called. There could be thousands of reasons why she had. Perhaps Elsa had just wanted to get in touch with him or with the children? She had tried in the early days of her imprisonment but Jack had downright refused again and again. His reasoning was that he didn't want his children to have any more contact with her.

However, the truth was that he didn't think he could face her. After everything that had happened in Arendelle, it had been too much to face. So, he had fled. Fled as far as he could, away from her. It may not have been the smartest decision, but at least he could breathe here. Back in Arendelle, it felt like everyone was looking at him and his children. Here, on the other hand, he was just another face in the crowd.

Gingerly, he picked up his phone and rang Anna. She answered straight away.

"Hey Jack, did Pippa pass along my message?" she asked.

"Why I'm calling!" Jack tried to sound light hearted but there was a sadness behind it. Anna reminded him too much of… her. "So, what's up? Did Kristoff do something stupid again? Did he lose a kid at the zoo or something?"

Anna laughed. "No, thankfully. Actually, I am calling for another reason." There was a pause before Anna spoke again. "It's about Elsa. She's in the hospital. She was attacked in prison and is in a coma."

"What?" Jack thundered before he realised that his ex-wife was someone who probably did deserve that. "I mean... hey, it happens."

"Jack, I can understand that this will bring up conflicting feelings. Hey, it did it for me but if you need to talk things out, I am always here."

"Thanks Anna, but I really gotta get the kids to bed. Thanks for the update."

"Jack – wait!" Anna had begun but Jack had already hung up the phone.

Jack threw himself onto his bed and stared up at the ceiling, thinking hard about things. So, Elsa was in a coma. How was he supposed to feel about that? Yes, he did still love her. How could he not? She was his childhood sweetheart. They had been a couple for over seventeen years. He had known her since he was five. That wasn't really a relationship one could throw away. However, there was also the fact of what she had done.

Elsa had teared apart their family with her sick little game. She had killed people – horribly – and she didn't feel an ounce of remorse for her victims or their families. Anger started to consume him. Why did she have to do that? Why did she go down that road? What made her do those things, act that way? At the trial, he had seen a side of her that he never had seen before. It didn't look or sound like the woman he knew. It was like a lookalike had taken her place. Alas, it was her. She had done these things and there was no coming back.

Pippa popped her head into the room and gave him a bright smile that he hurried to return.

"So, what did Anna want?" she asked.

"Oh, she just wanted to know Leif's size now," Jack said, quickly making up an excuse. "It's his birthday soon and she wants to jump on it before it gets away from her. She does have three children to run after."

"Ah, that makes sense," Pippa said but Jack wasn't sure if she had really bought it or not. "Stanley wants to know if you want ice cream."

"Is that even a question?" Jack laughed before exiting his room, his sister right behind him.

March 2014

Anna was in her kitchen cutting up vegetables when her phone buzzed. It was Arendelle Hospital again. Since she was now legally Elsa's next of kin, they kept contacting her regarding Elsa's care. Anna always responded to these calls with the same answer; do whatever you think is best. She tried not to think about Elsa lying in the hospital bed, perhaps lingering between life and death.

Kristoff was in the room. He was giving her a stare that Anna knew the meaning behind. Over the past several weeks, he had been trying to get her to see her sister – at least find out what her condition was. Anna had refused. Not because she didn't want to see her sister, but because she couldn't face her. Seeing her lying in a hospital bed, broken and unconscious would remind Anna that she was still her sister and not some monster that she had desperately tried to pretend that was all Elsa was.

"Shut up Kristoff," she said as she threw the carrots, she had just chopped into a pot.

"I didn't say anything," he responded, trying to sound innocent.

"I know you were thinking about it," she sighed. "Look, I know I should go but, it's hard, you know?"

Using the tea towel nearby to wipe the tears that were forming in her eyes, she resumed her work. As she chopped, a guilt started to set in. The least she should do is find out what condition her sister had been left in…right? Kristoff was nodding as if he knew what was going on in her head. Kristoff walked over and gave her a hug from behind, planting a small kiss on her cheek.

"You're stronger than you know," he whispered.

Against her better judgement, she was being escorted through Arendelle hospital the next day to Elsa's bedroom by her doctor – a woman by the name of Dr Eva Banke. Throughout the walk, Dr Banke was telling Anna all about Elsa's condition, but all that she heard was half of what was being said. All she caught was that Elsa had broken ribs, arms, punctured lung and severe brain damage.

"There she is," Dr Banke said as she stopped outside the hospital room number 3.14. "We have her placed under a fake name and have security cameras for her protection. You can guess that we have been under a lot of pressure from the public to look the other way, but don't worry, she is in safe hands here."

Anna didn't respond. All she could focus on was her sister lying in the hospital bed, her blonde hair out of its usual braid and falling around her face. Tubes were inserted into her mouth and nose and the heart machine next to her was beeping at regular intervals.

"We had to do a few surgeries to fix her lungs and her brain," Dr Banke continued. "I personally was her surgeon for the brain operations and I hate to say, I don't know what kind of condition she will wake up – that is... if she wakes up."

Anna peered through the glass at her sister. She didn't look like the monster that everyone knew she was. In fact, she looked like her normal sister.

"Do you want to see her?" Dr Banke asked.

Anna hesitated for a moment before she carefully nodded. Dr Banke led Anna into the room before leaving her. Up close, she could see her sister. The doctor had said that if she wakes up again, so that could mean there was a chance she wouldn't. That could mean a difficult decision for Anna further down the track but for now, all Anna wanted to do was stare at her broken sister. Her hand reached out and took her sister's.

"I am here, Elsa," she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't care anymore about whether it was right or wrong for her to be feeling this way. She was a murderer later, her sister first. Her older sister whom she had always loved. "Please wake up."

However, Elsa didn't wake. The beeping of the heart monitor continued as Anna stared down at her sister as if it knew that she wouldn't.

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed this update! More to come!

Reviews:

Collington: Oh no, don't worry about Jack and the kids - they make more appearances. I think they were aiming to kill her, they just got caught before they did or their efforts were in vain.