Nora Fries awoke slowly, her eyes flickering as they adjusted to the light. It was a blur of brightness that gradually focused into an overhead light, shadeless and cold, like the kind you might find in a hospital.

"Mrs. Fries?" said a voice. Nora blinked, looking over at her bedside to see an unfamiliar woman seated there, in a lab coat.

"Yes, I…" she began, or at least that's what she intended to say, but her voice caught in her throat. She tried to sit up, but her arms wouldn't obey – her muscles felt as heavy as lead.

"You won't be able to move or speak very well for a little while," said the woman, gently. "It's a natural part of the unfreezing process. But you can hear me?"

Nora managed to give a small nod. Her mind was whirling with thoughts, trying to remember what had happened to her. It was like waking from a very deep sleep, and trying to remember what you had dreamed about. The woman had said something about an unfreezing process, which meant she must have been…frozen. Why…

And her memory suddenly came flooding back. "Victor!" she gasped out, in a raspy voice. "Where…is Victor?"

The woman smiled sadly. "Your husband asked me to deliver this to you," she said, placing a letter on her nightstand. "He asked that you read it when you're feeling strong enough."

"Why…isn't he here?" she gasped. "What's happened to him? He's…he's not dead, is he?"

She smiled sadly again. "No," she murmured. "No, he's not dead. Now I think you'd better try to relax and recover your strength, Mrs. Fries. My name is Dr. Joan Leland, and if you need anything after you've read the letter, please don't hesitate to contact me at Arkham Asylum."

"Arkham…Asylum?" repeated Nora, slowly. "Why…why are you…Victor's not…crazy…what would Victor be doing in Arkham Asylum?"

"I'm sure he can explain it better than I can," replied Dr. Leland, gently. "But try to rest now…"

"No!" she gasped, making a colossal effort to sit up, and managing to struggle up onto the pillows in a sitting position. "No…I won't rest…until I know…that Victor's ok."

Dr. Leland's heart melted at the worry and tears in her eyes. "Please," Nora whispered. "Please…read his letter to me."

Dr. Leland hesitated for a moment, and then nodded, sitting back down and opening up the letter. Her voice faltered as she read its contents aloud to Nora.

My beautiful wife,

I hope you can forgive me for who I have become, and what I have done. Everything I did was for you, you must believe that. I never once acted out of selfishness, except for the selfishness of my love for you, which would not allow you to remain cold and lifeless if it was in my power to prevent it. I told you once that I'd sacrifice anything and anyone for your sake, and I have, my beloved Nora. I have sacrificed myself.

Shortly after you went into stasis, I suffered an accident. I believe, looking back, it would be better if I had died, except then I could not have restored you to life, and that, to me, is worth everything I have suffered and more. To know that you are alive again, that you can feel the sun on your skin and enjoy the warmth of a summer's breeze – this gladdens my heart above all else, and makes my damnation a light burden. But if ever man was damned on earth, I am that man, Nora.

I am no longer able to exist outside of sub-zero environments, and I have to remain otherwise at all times encased in a protective suit which regulates my body temperature to the frozen conditions I need to survive. My contact with the earth and all things in it is over forever. My world is only ice and snow, cold and bleak and empty now. I lived only to make you live again, and now that you are once more radiant and warm and alive, I wish I could die. I hope you will never have to see me as I am, this freak of nature, this monster.

Yes, I am a monster, Nora – I have the appearance of one, and I have acted as one. There is nothing I have not done in my quest to restore you to life – I have taken hundreds of lives as payment for yours. They didn't matter. Only you mattered, my angel, my wife. And while it pains me beyond reason to say goodbye to you, I know in my heart that you can move on and will be happy without me. There is yet sunshine in your life, which has gone completely from mine. You were my only sunshine, Nora, and I am happy to have restored you to the beautiful world where you belong. But it can no longer be my world.

We had such happy days, my love. Days of sunshine and summer and laughter. You will have them yet. I will not. But I will remember forever what it was like to love you, and I do not regret anything I have done for that love. It is everything to me, Nora, as you are. Please do not try to see me again – it would destroy me to see your face when you saw the monster I have become. But please try to be happy, for my sake. I will always be happy remembering you are you were, and as I hope you will continue to be – dancing in the sunshine with flowers in your golden hair, as if they belonged there. As if all that is beautiful and warm and good came from you. That is certainly true for my life, and I thank you for making me the luckiest of men. I love you, my angel. I love you, I love you, I love you forever.

Victor.

Dr. Leland finished reading and looked up to see tears flowing down Nora's cheeks. "Is it…true?" she whispered.

Dr. Leland nodded slowly. "Oh God!" Nora gasped. "Oh my God! Victor!"

She burst into tears, choking on loud sobs. "Oh, my poor Victor!" she whispered. "My poor, poor love! What have I done to you?!"

"Mrs. Fries, you shouldn't blame yourself," murmured Dr. Leland. "It was a tragic accident that happened to your husband – nobody could have prevented it. And who's to say what lengths we'd all go to in order to save the ones we love?"

"I should have been there – I could have protected him," she whispered. "He's such a gentle man, really…such a gentle, sweet man…but the world's been very cruel to him, and he can't help but fight back. It's in his nature, fighting back. He's had to do it his whole life, against the people who have tried to hurt him, and beat him down, and…oh my God, my poor, brave love!"

She looked up at Dr. Leland. "How can I help him?" she whispered. "I'll do anything, Dr. Leland, you have to believe that. Anything!"

"He told me in person, and he said in his letter – he wants you to leave him and move on," she murmured. "Pretend he's dead and try to find someone else…"

"He always was an idiot," she said, forcing a smile. "He must know I'm not going to do that. I have to see him, Dr. Leland. Please."

She nodded slowly. "Try to recover your strength, and I'll arrange a meeting. But I warn you, he has changed very much appearance-wise…"

"Do you think it matters to me how he looks?" interrupted Nora. "My husband is my husband, Dr. Leland. And I love him. It doesn't matter to me how he's changed – I won't stop loving him. Victor must understand that."

"I don't think he will until you tell him yourself," said Dr. Leland. "But I do hope you can help him. Most of our inmates don't have much of a chance at rehabilitation. Now that you're…back, I believe Victor might. If you wanted him to."

"Yes," she said. "Yes, of course. I'll do anything. I mean, if he gets released we can…live somewhere together, and we can get a special room for him that's…that's frozen and he can stay there and I can…take care of him…"

Tears began trickling down her face. "I mean, it…it won't be perfect, but we'll make it work," she said, firmly. "We'll be together. And that's all that matters."

Dr. Leland sincerely hoped that she was right.