Half an hour later Elsa knocked on a plain wooden door in the servant's quarters. The door opened to reveal a tall, red faced, older man with salt and pepper hair. Small spectacles were perched low on his nose. "What?!" Realizing who he was barking at he straightened. "Your Majesty, forgive me. I didn't know it was you."
"It's alright, Doctor Engen." When he made no attempt to move she held up a ladened serving tray. "May I?"
"Of course." He stepped back opening the door wide for her. "Let me get that for you."
She turned blocking him with a shoulder. "No, thank you. I've got it."
Gerda sat propped up in the middle of the bed. A pile of papers scattered on the blankets around her.
"Queen Elsa, what are you doing here?" Gerda asked.
Elsa made her way to a small table, setting down the tray. "You missed ten o'clock tea." Without further explanation she turned to the doctor. "So how is our patient?"
"As stubborn as ever."
"I didn't ask for you to come here and start poking and prodding me." Gerda snipped.
"No, I asked him too." Elsa answered.
"What on earth for…ma'am?" Gerda caught herself.
"Because, you're sick." She folded her hands against her skirt and looked to the doctor. "How is she?"
"She has a cold, ma'am."
He took a small brown bottle from his bag. "She needs to take a teaspoon of this every four hours, Your Majesty." He pointed at Gerda. "And she needs to rest, at least two days of bed rest. And real rest, not sitting in bed working.
Gerda waved him off with a growl.
Elsa took the medicine. "Don't worry, doctor. I'll see to it she does as you say."
"Very well, Your Majesty." He opened the door, then turned to Gerda. "I'll be by tomorrow to check on you."
"To torture me, you mean."
He shook his head, turning to Elsa. "Your Majesty, if she develops a fever send for me."
"I will. Thank you, doctor." Elsa closed the door behind him. She turned to see Gerda throwing back the covers. "And where do you think you're going? She crossed the room, placing a gentle, yet firm hand on the woman's shoulder. As she pushed her back, her other hand pulled up the blankets.
"I need to go to the kitchen. Lord, only knows what damage Margit has caused this morning."
Elsa began gathering the scattered papers. "Alma, is handling the kitchen, and Margit. You need to rest. Didn't you hear a word the doctor said?"
"Bah." She tried to take the papers from Elsa's hands, but the younger woman moved them out of her reach. "Bed rest, that's his answer for everything."
Elsa placed the papers on the small table, well out of Gerda's reach. "That's because it's the best way to fight a cold."
Gerda frowned, pointing a finger at her. "You're a fine one to talk, Your Majesty. When have you ever followed doctor's orders to rest?"
"Never." Elsa removed the cover from the tray and lifted a bowl, spoon and napkin. "I'm a horrible patient." As she sat on the edge of the bed, draping the napkin under Gerda's chin, she caught the older woman's eye. "And you're worse. Would you like me to send for Kai?"
"Don't you dare. It took me weeks to talk him into going to see his brother. I'll not have his visit cut short by a silly, little cold." She folded her arms over her chest. Besides," Some of her sternness faded. "he'd worry himself sick the entire trip home."
"As you wish." Elsa fought down a smile. She scooped up a spoonful of soup, blew on it then held it out to the woman. "Now, open up."
Gerda glared at her.
A delicate eyebrow arched as Elsa tilted her head forward. "You know I'm just as stubborn as you. Kai reminds me of it nearly every day."
Gerda snorted, still holding Elsa's gaze she begrudgingly opened her mouth. Elsa fed her the soup.
"There, see, that wasn't so hard." She held up another spoonful.
Gerda accepted it without hesitation. Her eyes soften with a faint smile as she watched the young woman. "You shouldn't be doing this, Your Majesty."
"Well, you could hold the bowl yourself, but I don't want you to spill it during a coughing fit." She emptied the spoon and dipped it again.
"That's not what I meant. You are the Queen. You should not be feeding anyone, especially a house servant."
A hint of a smile ghosted over Elsa's lips. "I am the Queen. Therefore, I can feed whomever I choose." Her eyes caught Gerda's and softened. "And you are much more to me than a house servant."
The woman looked away at the admittance. "Still, it's not proper."
"I think we can all use a little impropriety once in awhile." She held up the spoon.
Gerda accepted the offering.
They continued on in silence for several minutes, till Gerda turned away with a shake of her head.
"Let's finish this before it gets cold." Elsa held the spoon out.
"No, I've had enough. My stomach is turning a bit sour."
"All right, why don't you take your medicine then you can get some rest."
The woman nodded her agreement.
Elsa placed the bowl on the table and retrieved the medicine bottle. She returned to the bedside. The cork slipped from the bottle with a faint pop. Her eyes began to water as she brought the bottle up to measure out a spoonful. Thick, brown, syrupy like liquid oozed from the bottle to fill the spoon.
She held her breath to keep from gagging. Once the spoon was full, she held it out to Gerda.
The woman's nose crinkled as she caught a whiff of the concoction. "That smells horrid."
"Well, as you tell Anna, medicine isn't supposed to smell or taste good."
Brown eyes fixed her with a hard glare. "Just wait till it's your turn to down that witch doctor's brew. We'll see who's laughing then."
Elsa couldn't hide her giggle as she tried to steady the spoon. "Come on, let's get this over with."
Gerda drew a deep breath, opened her mouth and closed her eyes. Not waiting for her to change her mind, Elsa gently forced the spoon into her mouth.
As the thick liquid coated her tongue, Gerda struggled to force it down. After a moment, she smacked an open hand against the blanket. Her face turned bright red as she sucked in a breath and began coughing.
"Gerda?" Elsa came to her feet. Unsure what to do, she began rubbing circles on the woman's back.
"That,horrid man, is trying, to kill me." She managed to spit out the words between coughs.
"Would you like some water?" Torn between laughter and crying, Elsa continued to stroke her back.
Unable to answer Gerda nodded. She continued to cough as Elsa retrieved a glass.
With one hand on Gerda's shoulder, Elsa steadied the glass, as Gerda drank. After several large swallows she pushed it away.
"Thank you, dear." She managed to rasp out, as the coughing eased.
She missed the small smile on Elsa's lips at the slip in formality. Exhausted Gerda laid back against the pillows.
Elsa placed the glass on the nightstand as she eased onto the edge of the bed. She studied the older woman's face. Winkles lined once smooth skin. When had the honey brown hair grown so gray? Sometimes she forgot that Gerda was no longer the young woman who used to give her baths before bedtime. The woman who would check the dark corners to make sure no monsters were lurking to drag her away in the night.
She had washed away dirt and tears, made her eat her vegetables and tucked her in with bedtime stories.
Anytime her parents had not been available, Gerda had been there to care for her.
From the moment she drew her first breath Gerda had been a part of her life. There was a part of her that believed Gerda would always be there. But she knew that could not be.
Time was taking it's toll on the woman. One day she would be gone. Elsa felt a twinge of panic. The thought of losing her was not something Elsa wanted to consider.
"What has you worried?"
"What makes you think I'm worried." Elsa asked.
Gerda placed a hand atop the one resting in Elsa's lap. "The room grew cooler. What are you thinking about?"
Red blushed Elsa's cheeks as she ducked her head, under the woman's gaze. "I was thinking, how I don't want to lose you. I was remembering how you would sit with me after mother and father…passed." She picked at her skirt with her free hand.
"Don't worry yourself over such things. I have no plans to leave this world anytime soon."
"Such things are not always up to us."
Gerda placed a hand atop the one resting in Elsa's lap. She waited till Elsa met her gaze. "You mustn't worry over such things. It will not change what is to be. You'll only lose sleep and peace of mind."
Elsa patted the hand atop hers and managed a small smile. "I know. It's just…I don't know what I would do without you. If not for you, I'm not sure I would have survived losing mama and papa."
"You are stronger than you give yourself credit for."
Without looking up Elsa nodded. Her mind drifted back to those dark times. For two days after word of her parent's passing she had sat in her room sobbing. She refused to leave the room or open the door, even for meals. On the third day Gerda had forced her way in, pass the ice and snow pressing against the door. In spite of Elsa's protests, the woman had insisted on caring for the grieving princess. Wrapped from head to toe in winter wear, she refused to leave till Elsa had eaten, bathed and changed into clean clothes.
That first day Elsa had been unable to eat as the fork would freeze over before she could take a bite. Much to her dismay Gerda had insisted on feeding her.
The maid had argued that it wasn't touching, since the fork was between them.
Elsa had been too hungry and tired to argue. Once she had eaten, exhaustion took over. Gerda tucked her in, than sat by her bed, reading and singing to her till she fell asleep.
"You took such good care of me, and Anna. Shifting between us throughout the day and night."
"I did what I could. What you would allow me to do."
The gentle scolding caused Elsa to duck her head. "I didn't want to keep you from Anna. She needed someone to comfort her."
"So did you."
"Yes, I did. Thank you, for everything." She leaned forward and cup Gerda's cheek with one hand as she placed a gentle kiss on the other.
Gerda caught the hand on her cheek as Elsa eased back. Tears glistened in her brown eyes as she pulled the hand to her lips, pressing a kiss to it. There was a faint coolness to the pale hand, that was so familiar it brought more tears to her eyes. With her eyes squeezed shut, she held the hand for a moment longer. She drew a raggit breath before releasing Elsa. "Now, that's enough of that. I've kept you from your duties long enough."
"Are you throwing me out?" There was a hint of teasing in Elsa's voice.
"What? No,I…" Gerda folded her hands in her lap and straightened. "I know the Queen has more important things to do than baby sit an old woman."
"You're not old, and I'm not leaving. Would you like for me to read to you?"
Gerda started to protest, but caught herself. "That would be nice."
Elsa's grin blossomed into a wide smile. Gerda felt her heart warm at the once rare sight.
After a quick search through the book selves surrounding the room, Elsa returned to Gerda's side with a book in hand. She pulled a chair and foot rest to the bedside and settled in.
Gerda settled back into the pillow's, closing her eyes as Elsa's voice lulled her to sleep with the heroic quest of Don Quixote. She drifted off thinking about the baby she had held in her arms, one cold winter morn long ago.