Chapter 6: Waking Up
Anna's eyes opened to the rays of a new dawn peeking in through the east window. With a yawn she sat up and began her morning routine. She flexed her fingers and curled her toes, checked her wrists and ankles, and stretched out her arms and legs. Awesome! Not much pain at all today, and great weather too! I think I might be able to get across the room! Let's do it, girl. Carefully she swung her legs out from the bed and took a deep breath. With care she dropped her feet to the floor and eased her weight onto them. Balancing against the bed, she pushed herself up straight with only a slight wobble. First step first. She reminded herself as she slowly shuffled her left leg forward.
A few minutes later she was clutching her dresser to catch her breath. Suppressing a grimace of pain, she surveyed her progress. That has to be 20 feet. A new record! WOOHOO! A fist pump turned into a wince as her back spasmed. She muttered to herself, "Ok, so we're not there yet. That's fine. They said you would have trouble even lifting a single arm this soon into the process! Now, what would Gerda think if I was already dressed when she got here. It'll be the perfect surprise!" Supporting herself with one arm braced against the open doors, Anna picked out a nice outfit and wrapped it all up into a ball before starting back across the suddenly very large open floor space between her and her bed.
Only a few months had passed since she first woke up, much to the delight of the rest of the castle. Her mind had been nearly as frozen as her body, and it moved sluggishly, trying to remember how to communicate with others. She had been asleep so long that waking up was like being born again as a baby. It was a week until she had been able to eat and drink without help. But the cobwebs cleared in time, and before long Anna was back to her normal bubbly self. Mentally, that is. Her body was another story.
In the three years she had lain immobile under a spell, her muscles had atrophied and wasted away. The problem had been compounded by her trip through the snow, where the hypothermia had reached almost every part of her body. In fact, she had overheard the doctors telling her father that simply still being alive after that much exposure was a miracle, and in all likelihood she would lose the use of most of her extremities forever. Well, either she was extraordinarily lucky or they didn't know what they were talking about, because most of the effects of the cold had already faded and Anna had made it a personal goal to be fully recovered within six months.
Right now that felt a little too optimistic, but Anna was still an optimistic young girl and she never gave up before the end. With a sigh, Anna let herself fall back onto the bed to rest before putting on the clean dress. Sometimes it was hard to believe that everything she had been through was real, that she wasn't going to wake up one morning back to normal. Her memory of the past was incomplete and fuzzy, and the last three years were essentially an empty void. Trying to remember anything from that time was an exercise in frustration, and Anna had resolved to deal with her physical problems first. If nothing else, she needed to leave this room!
Her father hadn't changed anything while she was asleep, and the same old walls and decorations day after day were beginning to drive Anna stir crazy. She wanted to run and jump and play and explore, to talk to people and meet new friends and have conversations. The snows were starting to melt, and with spring would come Anna's seventh birthday. And then by the time summer comes I should be ready to go outside and enjoy it! She was still idly thinking and pulling on her clothes when Gerda finally arrived with breakfast. She was certainly shocked at seeing Anna already changing, and her motherly instinct made her warn Anna about pushing herself too hard when she wasn't ready. But Anna could see a twinkle in her eyes, and she was clearly proud of what Anna had managed to do.
Shortly after Gerda had cleared away the breakfast dishes and finished Anna's hair, her father arrived. "Daddy!" Anna exclaimed and waved him over for a hug.
"There's my little angel!" he smiled as he crossed the room. "Already up and dressed, too. How're you feeling today?"
"Great! I walked all the way over there," she pointed to the dresser, "before Gerda even got here this morning. So, daddy, do you think I could leave the room soon? I can manage it, I promise!"
Her father frowned in thought at Anna's sudden request. "Well, let's not be too hasty. I don't want you to end up back in bed with a major re-injury." His expression softened in response to her instantly dejected expression. "Now now, I wasn't finished yet. Let's not be too hasty, but I think that you've certainly shown plenty of progress. So, starting next week, you're allowed to go anywhere on this floor of the keep as long as you keep Gerda with you! After a few weeks of that we'll take another look at the rules."
"YAY! I love you daddy! I can't wait to explore, thank you thank you thank you!" Anna grinned from ear to ear and leaned over to wrap the king in a loving embrace. He returned the gesture and spoke again.
"Also, that's not the only thing I wanted to talk with you about, Anna. You've done incredibly well on your recovery, especially with your memory, and I think it's time that you started your schooling." Anna groaned and flopped back onto her pillow with a sigh. "Oh I don't think it'll be quite that bad, young lady. You're almost seven now and the sooner we get you caught up the better. The tutors I've hired are only the best, and you'll learn a lot. Being a princess requires more than running and playing all day! I bet you'll even have some fun if you give it a chance."
Anna grumbled, but she knew that she had to do it. Suddenly she had a new thought. "Um, if I do go to the tutors, does that mean that Elsa will be there? I haven't seen her at all since I woke up!"
Her father tried to keep his face neutral. He had been trying to avoid this issue until Anna was completely recovered. Sidestepping the larger question, he simply said "No honey, remember that Elsa is already ten and she has a big head start on you in school. You've got a lot of work ahead of you if you want to catch up to her. She is very, uh, studious. You should concentrate on yourself and learning as much as you can at your own pace."
Anna pouted a little bit, but she was also determined. Every time she had asked about her sister no one had really given her a straight answer, it was beginning to look like she was going to have to figure it out on her own. Anna remembered playing with Elsa a lot before her accident, but not much else. She certainly couldn't remember any fights or problems, but for some reason her sister hadn't visited her even once! Did I do something wrong, maybe? I must have, because if it was her in bed I would have kept her company every day! Once I get outside I'll find out where she's staying and say sorry and then we'll play and hang out and do everything with each other. Oh I can't wait!
Anna couldn't say why it was so important to her to meet Elsa, it just was. Just like her daddy, her sister was family, and family was meant to be together, right? She had tried to explain it to her father once a few weeks ago, but he just smiled and said that the two of them were enough to be a family. Which didn't make much sense in Anna's mind, but maybe he had a reason. All the same, Anna knew that Elsa was her best friend in the whole world. Her memory of the last three years was almost a complete blank, but alone with her in that void was a presence. It was a vague feeling, and thinking about it was like trying to catch her steamed breath in a bottle, but Anna was somehow sure that the presence was Elsa.
Even now, Anna occasionally woke up with sharp pains and cramps in her recovering body, but her mental Elsa was always there to comfort her and bring her strength. It had felt like there was a passenger in her head, someone that knew her deepest self without reservation, and loved her for it. Of course now it was only a memory, but something that strong didn't fade easily. I need to find Elsa. She'll be able to tell me what this is. Daddy wouldn't understand, he doesn't have a sister.
With a start Anna realized that her dad had asked her a question. "Huh? Oh, have the tutors come here for this week? Welllll… if you say so, daddy. Ok, I'll start learning." In truth, Anna actually was kind of excited to start school, especially now that she had the idea in her head of getting closer to Elsa through it. But she could hardly say that out loud!
The king smiled and stood up. "Great! I'll make the arrangements today. Once you're able to walk more easily I'll move them to the master library, but for now you might as well get a head start! Which is exactly what I need to do before more of the day goes by." He beamed down at his daughter and put a hand on her shoulder. "I would stay with you all day if I could, honey, but your daddy has a lot of work that only he can do. I should be back in the evening to say goodnight, be good until then!" And then to Gerda he said, "Oh, and in case I forget. Once she starts leaving the room she is allowed anywhere she likes that doesn't require stairs to reach, except the west wing. That is forbidden."
Once he had left Anna immediately had a hundred questions for her nurse that she tried to ask all at once, but the old matron silenced her with a raised hand. "You heard your father. First of all we're not going anywhere for a week. And you can forget about leaving without me, the guard outside won't allow it. Secondly, turn over so that I can run down your legs. We don't want any cramps when the tutors get here, now do we? And finally," she smiled sadly down at the inquisitive little princess, "you'll find out about the west wing in time. Why, there are so many other rooms in the castle that you won't even have time to think about it. The library alone has enough books in it to last a lifetime, with shelves that stretch to the ceiling and plenty of comfy chairs where I can read to you." But no matter how much Gerda rambled on, Anna couldn't stop thinking about the forbidden wing and wondering what was in it.
