Freeze awoke the next morning where he had drifted off to sleep – on the stone floor of his cell, kneeling in front of Nora's tube. He saw his beautiful wife in front of him and was filled with bittersweet feelings – while her smile always made him happy, it was also a reminder of his continual failure.
He straightened up, planting a kiss on the glass over her smiling lips. "Good morning, my love," he whispered. "Another dawn brings another chance for you. I shall begin work immediately…"
He trailed off as he caught sight of her monitors. There had been a change in the cancer. It had diminished.
He raced closer, studying to make sure he wasn't fooling himself. But he wasn't. There was a definite decrease in the size of one of her tumors. He manipulated the camera, wondering if it was a fluke, but it wasn't. Some of the tumors had disappeared entirely overnight, and the ones that remained were already growing smaller. "Oh…my God," he whispered. "I've done it."
The realization swept over him like a tidal wave, literally knocking him back by the strength of his feelings. Victory and relief were immediately replaced with fear and panic – he had dreamed of nothing else but this for years, and now that it was finally here, he realized how little he had prepared himself for it. What would Nora think when she woke up and saw him like this? How could he possibly deal with her shock, and perhaps her fear of him? How could he possibly explain to her what he had done, what he had become for her sake?
He sobbed in agony at the thought of her face, her beautiful face, falling in horror when she saw him. He began banging on the door, ringing the bell that summoned the guards. "I need to speak to Dr. Leland!" he cried when they opened the door to his cell. "At once!"
…
"I have never seen Freeze so agitated," said one of his guards to Dr. Leland, who was seated in her office.
"Freeze agitated?" repeated Dr. Leland, raising her eyebrows. "That is unusual. Did he say why?"
"He only said he had to speak to you urgently," replied the guard.
Dr. Leland nodded. "Let him in," she said.
The guard opened the door to reveal Mr. Freeze in his customary suit, which he had to wear to survive in normal temperatures. "Leave us," he ordered the guard coldly, in his filtered voice.
"Do as he says," said Dr. Leland. The guard shrugged, leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. "Please have a seat, Victor," said Dr. Leland, gesturing to the chair across from her.
He obeyed. His face behind his helmet was his usual stern expression, but Dr. Leland thought she saw his lips twitching nervously, and flickers of agitation running across his face. "How can I help you?" she asked.
He opened his mouth to respond, and then hesitated, which was completely unlike him. Dr. Leland saw definite signs of agitation now. "I have found…a cure for my wife," he said at last, haltingly.
Dr. Leland stared at him in shock. "Well, that's wonderful news!" she exclaimed, beaming. "Congratulations, Victor…"
"It is…difficult for me to…process what this means," he said, slowly, ignoring her. "I wish her to wake up, you see, only…she cannot wake up here, in a cold cell surrounded by bars and stone and madness. And she cannot…see me. At least, not right away…the shock might be too much for her…to see…what I've become…"
He trailed off, choking on a sob. This was completely unheard of for Freeze, and Dr. Leland thought she saw tears in his eyes. "Victor, I don't think…" she began gently.
"I cannot have her see me…like this," he interrupted, firmly. "I cannot. She must be taken to a hospital, someplace safe and warm, and I will write her a letter to be delivered to her when she is strong enough explaining…my situation. If you could deliver that letter to her personally, I would be…eternally grateful."
"Oh…yes, Victor, of course," said Dr. Leland. "But are you sure you wouldn't rather see her yourself? I'm sure after she wakes up she'll be eager to see her husband…"
"Not like this," he interrupted. "I…am not her husband now, you see. No woman could be married to this…thing…this creature…"
He sobbed again, burying his face in his hands. Dr. Leland had never seen Freeze cry. Nobody except Nora ever had.
"I…I will encourage her in my letter to leave me," he murmured. "To remarry – I only want her to be happy. And she cannot be happy carrying on a sham of a marriage to this frozen shell. I will tell her it may be for the best that she never sees me again. She might…she might be afraid of me, and I would rather die than see her face gazing at me in horror…"
"Victor, I have never met Nora, but I cannot believe that she would ever be so superficial as to stop loving you just because you've changed a little physically," retorted Dr. Leland.
"Changed a little physically?" repeated Freeze, glaring up at her. "I cannot live outside sub-zero temperatures! She could never live with me again, let alone touch me or…"
He sighed again, burying his face in his hands. "I have become a monster," he murmured. "Both inside and out. My precious Nora is an angel on earth, and I will not doom her to some half-life with a monster. I will not allow her to waste her life and love on someone who is already dead. I cannot be so selfish."
Dr. Leland nodded slowly. "I will respect your wishes, Victor, and get Nora to a hospital," she said. "I will also deliver your letter to her. But what if she wants to see you anyway? Should I allow her to come here?"
"Here?" he said. "I…suppose so. If she insists. But explain to her that it would not be a good idea, that it would better for her to think of me as…dead. Because I am. I am."
Dr. Leland was about to argue when he stood up suddenly. "I thank you for your time, and for your cooperation, Dr. Leland," he said, in his usual flat monotone. "I will write my letter and deliver it to you in a timely fashion. Good day to you."
He headed for the door, where the guards were waiting to escort him back to his cell. Dr. Leland sighed. "I'm sure your wife is not going to be as obedient as you hope she will, Victor," she muttered to herself. "And I'm pretty sure she's not going to leave you without a fight."