A/N: And so the story continues! (with an awkward moment thrown in there just for good measure! :) You've been warned!)

Disclaimer: Did I mention that I don't own Frozen?

Johan had followed Elsa out when he realized it was her that was in the hallway. The drop in temperature gave it away. He knew that whatever she was up for at that hour could not have been anything good, and now it turned out he was right. He had stopped when he saw her with the mysterious hooded man on the beach. He couldn't hear them, but when she suddenly collapsed in a heap on the ground, he took off running.

"Elsa!"

As he called her name, he saw the hooded man look up and take off, swiftly running in the opposite direction. With the capture of this man on his mind, Johan ran after him, but the man was too fast, and he lost sight of him when he ran off the beach.

Turning around, he ran over to where Elsa lay in the snow. He gasped when he realized that snow was red. He bent down and rolled her onto her back. Her eyes were open, but only just.

"Elsa?" he said, brushing her hair out of her face. "Oh my god! What did he do to you?"

He heard her whisper his name as he examined the wound on her torso. The cut wasn't as deep as he was afraid it would be, but it still spilled out a lot of blood. She moaned as she closed her eyes, despite her best efforts to keep them open.

"C'mon, stick with me, Elsa," he said as he wrapped his cloak around the wound to try to stop the bleeding. "Try to stay awake. You're gonna be okay."

He lifted her up bridal style and carried her back to the castle as fast as he could. Several guards were there to meet him, having been alerted when they heard the commotion. Johan kept walking as he barked orders at them.

"Find the castle doctor and tell him to meet me in the Queen of Arendelle's chambers immediately. And find Princess Anna and tell her that her sister is hurt."

"Right away, Your Highness," they said before rushing off.

He carried her to her room and placed her on top of her bed. He took the cloak she had been wearing and laid it across the desk where it would be out of the way. He sat on the side of the bed by her head and took her hand in his own.

At the feel of his hand, Elsa opened her eyes slightly and looked at him.

"Johan?" she said weakly.

"Shh," he said, brushing back her hair with his free hand. "It's okay. You're gonna be alright." He kissed her hand when suddenly the door burst open.

"Elsa!" Anna cried, running up to her sister.

"Anna?" Elsa whispered at the sound of her sister's voice.

"Oh my god! Johan, what happened?" the princess cried.

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied. "I heard her get up and I followed her. I saw her standing on the beach in front of a man with a hood, and he was saying something to her, but I don't know what. Then all of a sudden I saw her collapse to the ground and I ran to her. I tried to catch the man but he got away. Then when I saw that she was wounded I brought her back here."

"What did he do to her?" Anna asked.

"There's a big slash across her torso. It looks like it's from a knife. I wrapped it in my cloak to try to stop the bleeding."

"Do you think she'll be okay?"

"I think so, but we need the doctor to help."

Right on cue, the doctor entered the room to take care of Elsa. Johan helped him unwrap the cloak from around her waist and the doctor briefly examined the wound.

"You two may want to leave," he said to Anna and Johan. "I'm going to need to take off her nightgown in order to properly take care of the injury.

They nodded, and Anna made her way to the door. She waited for Johan as he lingered at Elsa's side before finally letting go of her hand and starting to exit. But before he could get very far, Elsa stopped him.

"No... Johan," she begged, reaching out and grabbing his sleeve. "Please... don't leave me..."

Johan's eyes widened as he stared at her. Her eyes were begging him to stay. He looked up at the doctor, who gave him a reassuring nod. The prince sighed as he looked at Anna.

"Go," he said. "Get some sleep. I'll stay with her."

Anna nodded and left the room closing the door behind her.

Johan pulled the chair from the desk up next to the bed. He helped sit Elsa up so the doctor could remove the nightgown, which left her in only her underwear. As he lay her back down, Johan tried to keep his eyes on her face and away from her bare chest, making him blush in embarrassment. Of course, though, the fact that she was indecently exposed was the last thing Elsa cared about at the moment. In her daze, she tried to ignore the agonizing pain from the wound and focus on the fact that Johan was by her side to keep her safe.

"Your Majesty, I am going to stitch up the gash now," the doctor said. "This is going to sting quite a bit, but I need you to try to resist the urge to move if you can, okay?"

Elsa nodded, and Johan held her hand to comfort her. As the doctor began sewing the skin back together, she gritted her teeth in pain and tightly squeezed Johan's hand. He simply squeezed her hand back in encouragement. When the doctor was done, the prince helped Elsa to sit up again as he wrapped a gauze tightly around her torso and chest.

"She'll be alright," the doctor said as Johan lay the queen back down. "Just make sure she rests and doesn't put too much strain on those stitches or they may break."

"Of course, Doctor," Johan replied as he laid her back down and pulled the covers over her. "Thank you."

The doctor walked out, and Johan sat down again, not wanting to leave Elsa's side. He kissed her forehead and brushed the hair out of her face. At his touch, Elsa drowsily opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Johan?" she said. "I'm sorry."

"Shh," he said, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "It's okay. Just go to sleep."

She obeyed, and as soon as she shut her eyes, she was asleep. Johan stared at the beautiful woman in front of him for a while, until his eyelids got heavy, and he too fell asleep in his chair.

Read on, write on, dream on. -bandgeek63