It started off as a normal day, in a life that Kristoff considered pure bliss, but ended with what would be the start of his now miserable life.
When he woke up that morning, Anna was cooking bacon, eggs, and toast with strawberry jam, his favorite breakfast meal. They had been happily married for three years now and knew one another like the backs of their hands.
He sauntered over to where she was standing and wrapped his arms around her, giving her a kiss on her head. "Good morning feistypants, breakfast smells good." Anna hummed as she leaned into his touch. "Let's just hope it tastes as good as it smells." A deep a chuckle came from within him, when they had first met Anna had been a terrible cook, but over the years with some practice (and a few close calls to the fire department), she had become exceptionally talented in the kitchen.
"Oh, I need to go get more groceries and was wondering if there was anything you needed that I could pick up for you." Anna began dumping their breakfast on some plates they got for their wedding. It was a dining ware set given to them by his sister to save them from having to no longer eat on the cheap plastic plates they found on sale at Walmart. "Nah, I'm good baby. Thank you for asking though." She gave him a kiss on the cheek as she set his plate down in front of him. "Well if you think of anything let me know." He grinned. "Will do."
"What time do you have to get to work?" Anna asked as she took a bite of her bacon. "Soon, in fact, I need to hurry up and eat if I want to make it on time."
After finishing up breakfast Anna did the dishes while Kristoff got ready for work. A few minutes later he was out the door unable to escape his wife's kisses and her compliments on how handsome he looked in his police uniform. Kristoff made it to work in plenty of time with a huge smile on his face wondering how he ever got so lucky to have found someone like Anna to share his life with.
It was 12:00 when he got the news. Anna. Car crash. Injured. Though these weren't the exact details given to him by the caller, he knew that when they described it was Anna. His Anna.
He raced down with his partner and best friend Sven, whom he has known since high school and who had been his best man and his and Anna's wedding. "Don't worry man. We're gonna get there and find out that she's going to be just fine." Kristoff gripped the wheel tighter trying his best to be as calm about the situation as possible but from the strain in his voice was failing to do so. "I hope you're right buddy."
After what a normally five-minute drive felt like it took an hour, Kristoff and Sven had arrived at the scene. All Kristoff wanted to do was rush over to Anna's car and make sure she was okay. However, he knew that he had to stick to the procedure and the first the thing to do was ask the witnesses what they saw.
There were only two women who saw the whole thing go down, and from what it looked like, they were both in college and were friends. "I...I was j..just driving and all of a sudden this big truck just pulled over onto the opposite side of the road and the fronts of their cars collided. We were far enough behind to where I was able to stop in time, but I saw the lady's car roll off the side of the road and into the trees. Oh god, I just hope she's okay." Kristoff couldn't agree more. "So, would you say the man driving the truck was at fault for the incident ma'am," Sven asked looking up from his notepad. "Yes sir….I think he must've been drunk or something. We checked on him as well to see if he was alright. He looked badly injured but not as much as the lady he hit." Sven quickly scribbled something down and with a nod thanked the two young women as he and Kristoff went to investigate the scene. Finally, Kristoff was able to go see if his perfect, beautiful Anna was okay.
The ambulance hadn't arrived yet so she was still in her car which wasn't, to Kristoff's luck, flipped over. The young woman explained that they didn't want to help her out for fear that they might do something wrong or somehow make it worse and decided to wait for the police or some medical professional to do it.
With each wobbly step, he took near Anna's car his breath grew heavier, and he felt as if he might faint. Her ruby red Toyota Prius was no longer sleek and smooth but crushed and scratched up from the impact of the tree. Luckily, her airbag had activated, and she was still wearing her seatbelt so that had decreased her risk factor by at least a little bit. However, her body had still managed to get pretty beaten up as she was decorated with scratches, cuts, bruises, and blood.
She was leaning back in her seat with her head lolled over to the door side where Kristoff crouched down to check her pulse. He sighed a breath of relief when he found one.
He noted down any damages done to the car, and when the paramedics came, he helped them lift her into the hospital bed. He watched dolefully as they rolled her away, lifted her into the back of the ambulance, and drove away. He wanted to ride with her, but he couldn't leave Sven behind to deal with the rest of the investigation, even though he said it was completely fine.
-
Once everything was sorted out and Kristoff had picked up his truck from the station, he immediately drove to the hospital, unaware that he was about to receive the worst news of his life.
Kristoff tried to keep his worry down as he walked up to the front desk. "Hi, um I'm Kristoff Bjorgman. My wife Anna was just involved in an accident and I was hoping I could see her." The lady gave him a soft smile. "Of course Mr. Bjorgman, please have a seat and I'll inform the doctor."
"Thanks."
Five minutes later, the doctor showed up and asked Kristoff to follow him. As they went inside a small room that was very obviously not the one where Anna was being held, Kristoff's worry grew.
"Why are you taking me here? Where's Anna?! I demand to see my wife!"
The doctor sighed, "Mr. Bjorgman, please have a seat."
"No. Not until I've seen Anna. I wanna see Anna. Where is she?!," Kristoff's voice started to raise. He didn't have time for this! He needed to see Anna. He needed to know that she was okay.
"Mr. Bjorgman, I know that you want to see your wife, but there's something we needed to tell you first. So please, have a seat."
Kristoff took a deep breath, which only helped calm his nerves just a little. "Okay. But, do you promise you'll take me to Anna once you tell me what it is you have to say?" The doctor nodded as if he was trying to hide his emotions. "If that is what you wish….then yes."
Kristoff didn't speak and just gave a nod as a response. "Mr. Bjorgman," the doctor let out a sigh. "Anna has received a serious brain bleed." Kristoff's heart dropped to the bottom of his chest but tried his best to calm down as the doctor continued. "Her suspect that the cause of it was due to how much her head was thrashed around...I'm sorry."
"But, you can help her get better right!?" he said, the panic in his voice evident now. "You can stop it?"
"Mr. Bjorgman,…...I'm sorry," the doctor gave him a sad look that he didn't like, "but your wife…...she didn't make it. She died before we even made it to the hospital. I'm sorry. I really am."
Everything seemed to freeze in time when Kristoff heard those words slip from the doctor's mouth. Anna was dead? He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. He absolutely, positively refused to believe that life could do something so cruel to him.
Kristoff shook his head and was brought back into reality. "No. No….you must be mistaken. There's no way that's true. My wife's not dead. She can't be." Kristoff gave the doctor a pleading look as he tried to find some sign of hope in the doctor's eyes. But he found none. All he saw were the same sad eyes of the men who had just given him the worst news of his life.
"In-in fact, I bet you if you took me to her room right now, she'd be breathing and fighting for her life a-and very not dead." Kristoff was hoping he could change the doctor's look of despair into something hopeful. But the doctor's expression once again remained the same.
"I'm sorry doc...you may know a lot about medicine and surgeries and what not….but I know Anna. And I know that she's not dead,"
"I'm sorry…..but it's true. You're more than welcome to see her if you'd like."
"I will. And when I go in there, Anna will be alive and fighting her hardest to get better."
The the doctor just shook his head. Not out of annoyance, but sorrow. He's seen it many times before, and he will see it many times again: people who are just not willing to come to amends with the truth.
"Very well, then. If you'd please follow me, I'll take you straight to the room your wife is being kept."
The the doctor seemed to notice that Kristoff's tension had gone as he let out a calm "Thank you," and they stood up to go leave to the grief that would befall the young man.
Kristoff walked, or more like sped walked, down the cold white hallways with heavy steps of the hospital as the doctor led him to the room he desired most to be in. It felt like an eternity before they reached Anna's room, but as soon as the doctor opened the door he ran inside, desperate for the doctor's news to be false. Only to be shocked to find a body, or what he assumed to be one, lying on a hospital bed covered up by a blanket instead of Anna.
"Where is she?" Kristoff mumbled.
The doctor gave him a confused look, "Where is who, sir?"
"MY WIFE! WHERE IS MY WIFE?" Kristoff didn't want to yell but he no longer had the patience to keep his cool.
"Mr. Bjorman….that is your wife. When someone dies we cover up their body with a blanket out of a means of respect." Kristoff took a deep breath, "So what you're saying is, if I take off that blanket….I'll find Anna." The doctor gave him a solemn look and then glanced towards the ground, "Yes. Yes, she will be there."
Kristoff carefully walked towards the hospital bed, but just as he reached for the sheet was stopped by the doctor. "Wait," he spoke calmly, "allow me to do it. No one should have to uncover the body of a loved one. He waited for Kristoff to give a a nod of confirmation and then proceeded.
Kristoff couldn't believe what he was seeing. He didn't want to believe it. There, on the plain white hospital bed, laid Anna. His beautiful, sweet, perfect Anna unable to draw another wonderful breath from her soft lips ever again.
Kristoff tried to speak. He tried to scream out his sorrows. But his words got caught in his throat, so he did the only thing he could do. He cried. His days of sunshine and happiness were over. Without Anna, life wasn't worth living. But, he knew he would have to. For her, because he knew that she wouldn't want him to be sad.
