"UGH!"
Kristoff was just reaching the threshold of Anna's hospital room when he heard her exclamation, and an amused grin immediately danced across his lips. He drew back the curtain as quietly as he could, but once he caught sight of her, silence was impossible. He pulled the curtain the rest of the way open, chuckling softly before crossing his arms over his broad chest, looking down at her.
Anna was lying flat on her back, both arms draped over her face dramatically. She gave another groan, louder this time for her audience. "Bored, Feisty Pants?" he mused.
Anna peeked at him from under one arm. "…what did you call me?" she asked curiously.
Kristoff blanched. Not the best time to be forgetful. "Uhm…" He looked away from her and rubbed the back of his neck, heat now flooding his previously pale face. He chuckled nervously. "It's your nickname… From me. You, uh… proved yourself to be a pretty stubborn little princess," he grinned sheepishly.
Anna lowered her arms and propped herself up on her palms. She was studying him through narrowed eyes, making Kristoff believe he really had made a mistake. And just as he opened his mouth to apologize, a smile broke out across her freckled face. "I like it." Kristoff closed his eyes and let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. He opened them again as cold fingers wrapped around his wrist. "Take me to physical therapy," she pouted.
"You don't have physical therapy today, Your Majesty," he teased, grinning down at her. "Jesus, Anna, your hands are like ice!" He pulled her fingers from his wrist and held her hand in both of his, frowning down at them. "Are they leaving you enough blankets?"
Anna rolled her eyes. "Stop fussing. I'll warm up if you take me to the physical therapy room and let me move around. I don't want to be in a wheelchair when I go home! We don't need the therapist. I've got you!"
Kristoff chuckled. "Reason number four hundred and thirty-two why you are nicknamed 'Feisty Pants'."
Anna smirked and threw her bed covers off of her legs, revealing her black yoga pants and her already socked and shoed feet. "Planning to get your way today, were you?" She never ceased to surprise him.
"Of course I did!" she grinned, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "You're a complete pushover, Kristoff," she teased.
Kristoff shook his head, grinning as he helped her off the bed. "Not meaning for this to sound as terrible as it does, but I'm kind of glad you were unconscious for as long as you were." She was linking her arm with his, and he noticed the way she tightly squeezed his bicep. He grinned. "Not why you think, Feisty. Watching you sit miserably in that bed for 3 months while the bones in your leg healed would have been agony. If you haven't noticed, it's pretty difficult to keep you still," he said, grinning down at her as he supported her as they walked out of her room.
"Oh, geeze… you're right," she said, turning her head to look up at him with wide eyes. "That would have been torture!"
"For all involved," he added, receiving a nudge in the ribs for good measure before he settled her into a wheelchair.
He suggested she start small and work her way up, so he led with long arc quads. "Kristoooooff," she whined, letting her head fall back as she looked at the ceiling in dismay. "The whole point of this was to stand, not sit!"
Kristoff shook his head. "Hey, you asked me to bring you here, so we play by my rules, you got it, Feisty?" He couldn't hide his smirk. She was so restless.
"Hmphf… Fine…" she mumbled, crossing her arms over her chest as she let him help her down into a wooden chair in one corner of the room.
Kristoff chuckled as he knelt down on one knee. He sighed inwardly; the only time he'd ever get to do so. He crossed his arms over his knee, staring up at her pointedly. "Now, Princess, you know that's not the proper way to sit in the chair for long arc quads…" he told her in mock reprimand. She glared down at him, narrowing her eyes as she slowly pulled her arms apart, sat up straight and gripped the edges of her seat. "Good girl!" he cheered, mussing her hair, receiving another annoyed look from the redhead.
"Watch it, Bjorgman…"
"What are you going to do, huh? Chase me down?"
"Oh-ho ho, just you wait. Just. You. Wait."
Kristoff only grinned as he situated himself on his knee on the left of her chair. He tucked his left hand under her knee and took her foot with the right, slowly pulling the right angle of her leg into a horizontal line. "How does that feel?" he asked, his voice softer as he helped it back down to the right angle.
Anna nodded, and Kristoff spotted a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her perfect lips. "Feels fine. It doesn't hurt like it did last week."
"You think you can lift it by yourself?" he wondered.
Her eyes widened and she shook her head quickly. "No, no. I need your help."
Kristoff smiled as he helped lift her right leg again. "Always, Anna. Always."
By the end of the hour, he had a doe-eyed, shaking Anna standing, both of them holding onto each other's forearms. Her legs were weak and trembling. "Kristoff, I can't do this…" she whispered.
He smiled softly at her. "You seem to have forgotten one of the most important things about yourself," he said, holding her eyes with his own, his voice quiet, but serious. "Anna, you are quite possibly the strongest person I know, that I've ever met. If there's one thing you have never done, it's give up." Anna shook her head and began to look away, but his head went with hers, forcing her to keep eye contact. "Anna, come on. I believe in you. And I swear on my life, if you start to fall, I will catch you." He swallowed hard, faltering at the sight of her glistening eyes. "I will always catch you, Anna…"
Anna closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, Kristoff was smiling warmly at her. If anything was to be motivation, it was the thought of him holding her in his arms. They moved a couple of steps together, Kristoff moving backwards. Slowly but surely, their hands moved further away from each other until they were now only holding on to each other's fingers. Anna morned the loss of his touch, of his heat, so when he moved away from her completely, taking a few steps back, she took four steps, without fear and on her own, until her knees buckled underneath her. Kristoff caught her by the waist and pulled her close against him, easing her into a hug.
"Look at you, Feisty Pants," he whispered in her ear. "I am so unbelievably proud of you…" Anna smiled like a fool, a tear falling down her cheek as she nuzzled her face against his chest.