Family
When Elsa came back to her senses, she felt sharp pain shot through her body instantly. It took a lot of effort to open her eyes after she regained consciousness. She had no idea where she was or why everything hurt so bad. The first thing she saw when she focused her eyesight was her right arm wrapped in a small bandage. Elsa became alarmed when she noticed an intravenous tubing attached to it. Immediately, she tried to sit up, helping her torso with her other arm. Pain numbed her left arm making her shut her eyes again and fall back to the mattress. 'What is this? Where am I?' she thought, her breathing was becoming more erratic with each passing second, and she knew she needed to focus. Her head pounded, making her feel dizzy and disoriented. She opened her eyes once again, fighting the pain she felt, she decided she had to get out of there as fast as possible; she had promised herself not to endure any more tests on her body, and she was going to keep that promise. She focused on the IV once again and forced her left arm to respond. She tore the needle from her right arm in a rushed movement, she then felt a pair of hands restraining her movements by her shoulders. She didn't care about the pain anymore, she trashed in bed trying to lose herself from the tight grip. That's when she noticed her right leg was in a cast, hanging above the mattress. She focused on it and then on the voice that tried to sooth her. That's when she realised it was Gerda who was grabbing her shoulders and not a stranger. When she recognised the voice of her adoptive mother, she let herself relax a little. She was still scared of where she was, but if Gerda was there, she knew nothing bad was going to happen. Elsa heard her mum telling her over and over again to calm down and she obliged, resting her head in the pillow once again. Her head was killing her and she didn't know how much she could keep fighting. She was weak and exhausted and so, she chose to trust Gerda.
After Kristoff had returned to the hospital the previous night, he had to explain what had happened and why he had decided to sedate his sister. It took him some time to convince the nurse and one of the doctors to trust his word on which drug he had used. He had explained his mother was an ER nurse and she was the one that had given them the sedative. He had given Elsa a Benzodiazepine dose. Gerda had explained to the both of them, some years ago, the most important things they needed to know about the drug. She was the one who had advised Elsa to take it before going to the hospital for a serious matter, or whenever she needed to treat her anxiety attacks. She had asked Elsa not to abuse it and to always be sure to tell others whenever she had used it. Nonetheless, Kristoff had never felt confident about Elsa being dependent on the drug. But he also knew that if taking the drug avoided further problems for his sister, then he was not going to go against her wishes. This time he knew his sister had been right, doping her had been the best course of action to take. It was thanks to the drug that the doctors had been able to take Elsa inside without inconvenience after all.
He had to answer multiple questions and complete several forms for her surgery. He knew it had been part of the protocol, but he had wanted them to stop questioning him and start performing the surgery at the time. The doctor had explained briefly to him what they had to do to Elsa, and asked him to complete all the necessary papers with the help of the nurse when he finally left. Once everything had been arranged for Elsa's recovery, Kristoff had used the public phone in the waiting room to call his parents.
Gerda had arrived at the hospital in the middle of the night and had joined Kristoff and Anna in the waiting room. The moment Elsa was moved to a recovery room after the surgery, she had asked the doctors to wait inside the room with her daughter. Her training as a nurse had convinced them it was a good idea, and allowed her to stay with the girl. It was for this reason she had been waiting in a chair next to Elsa, when she woke up in the early morning.
Gerda had seen the girl move a little in her sleep and she had prepared for what she knew was coming. Since the day she had met Elsa, she knew the girl was terrified of waking up in unknown places, particularly if the place happened to be a hospital. Gerda had paid attention to the time since the girl had come out of surgery, together with her vital signs, and she knew Elsa had been due to wake up at the time. Anyhow, being prepared didn't mean she liked seeing the girl in a state of alarm. Gerda saw her open her frightened eyes and look around not really focusing on anything, until she saw the IV. In mere seconds, Elsa tried to sit up in the bed hurting her left arm in the process; she laid back down to then, in a sudden movement, rip the needle from her good arm. The old woman resigned herself to helping Elsa when she saw the girl was not going to come to her senses on her own. She didn't blame her, but it was too early to start causing problems in the hospital. She stood up and grabbed her by the shoulders, talking to her in a soothing voice. But, to her dismay, Elsa reacted worse than she had imagined. She trashed in the bed not really caring about the pain Gerda was sure she was feeling. She forgot Elsa had gotten so big in just a couple of years, and so restraining her had become a problem. She called for Kristoff, who was waiting outside the room with Anna, for help; when she saw Elsa relax a little. She began telling her to calm down and trust her, it was then that Elsa finally gave up.
By the time Kristoff and Anna had entered the room, Elsa had stopped resisting and was looking to Gerda with scared eyes. Anna noticed Elsa was not completely aware of what was happening but she had calmed down under her mother's gentle voice. She rested her head in the pillow and allowed herself to listen to Gerda's explanations.
"Dear, it's all right. Please, listen," the old woman said when she noticed Elsa was finally looking at her. "You are okay. Do you understand?" Gerda made the effort to talk in a serene way, making sure Elsa followed everything she said. "You are in the hospital but it's fine. You had an accident. Nothing bad is going to happen to you," she took a deep breath and continued, "the doctors took care of you and now Kristoff, Anna and I are taking care of you. You are safe."
Anna noticed the woman stressed the last word, making sure it got into Elsa's head that she had nothing to worry about. She was amazed by the way the woman had talked and convinced Elsa she had nothing to fear. She saw Elsa nod and finally let her body relax completely. Her arms rested in the bed and her legs were clearly less tense.
"Can you talk? How are you feeling?" Gerda asked with worry when she saw Elsa was not going to give another answer than the previous nod.
"I- I feel-," a coughing fit interrupted Elsa when she began talking.
Gerda asked for Kristoff's bottle of water and help her daughter drink, "better?" she asked.
"Yes…" Elsa took a deep breath and continued, "I don't feel so good."
Anna's eyes turned downwards with her sister-in-law's comment. The guilt from the previous day was still present, and to hear the young woman say she still felt bad, even after the surgery, hurt her deeply. Anna felt the need to apologise once again, she was about to voice her remorse when she heard Gerda speak again.
"Can you tell me why?" asked as she introduced the IV in the girl's arm, despite Elsa's effort to stop her. Once the needle was in place she said, "You need to IV, dear. Just for another couple of hours."
"My head's killing me and my arm too... I can't feel my leg though," said Elsa as she looked at the needle in her arm once again. She grimaced at it and looked around the room, finally noticing her brother and his girlfriend were there too. "Kristoff, Anna…"
"Hi, sis. Do you remember what happened?" Kristoff got closer and sat in the chair Gerda had been previously occupying. His mother had stayed standing up next to the head of the bed after helping Elsa. Anna approached the bed too, but she chose to stay next to the footboard by the left side of the bed.
"Yeah, I fell down a cliff. You helped me and…" She made an effort to remember something else, when she couldn't she admitted, "I don't recall how I got here, though." Her eyes fixed in her lap as she made an effort to remember what had happened.
"Anna and I brought you here… Don't worry about it, you were sedated during the trip to the hospital." Kristoff explained, letting her know it was not her fault she didn't remember.
"Oh… okay," she raised her head to look at her leg. The cast covered it from foot to a few centimetres over the knee. The surgery had taken a little over two hours to complete and the doctor had informed the family he planned on explaining the fracture once Elsa was awake. Logically, Elsa hadn't been informed of that decision so far, and so it was logical for her to ask about the limp when she noticed the tissue near the cast was swelled and reddish, "how's my leg?"
Kristoff raised his head towards his mother, he had a certain idea but he chose to let Gerda speak for him. The woman saw it was her time to talk and explained in simple words what the doctor had told them, "We don't know for sure about the damage, the doctor wanted you to be awake for that. But you had surgery, it lasted a couple of hours." She grabbed the girl's right hand and told her plainly, "I wouldn't get my hopes up about having a fast recovery, Elsa. You'll need to be patient, okay?"
As fast as lighting Elsa turned her head from her leg to her mother, she had been listening but not actually looking at her, "You mean stay here?!"
Anna thought the fast movement wouldn't have helped her headache, but the older girl didn't seem to care.
"No, Elsa. Calm down," said Gerda comforting the girl once again. "It's true you'll probably have to stay here for another day or so, but I mean you'll need to be patient with your leg. It'll take weeks to heal." Gerda let go of her hand and arranged the girl's pillow to help her be more comfortable in the bed, "I know you must be in pain and still tired. You should sleep some more before seeing the doctor."
"Weeks? But I have to-"
Gerda interrupted her before she got a chance to argue about something that couldn't be helped, "I said you should sleep Elsa. Don't worry about your leg now… Aren't you tired?"
"Yes… I am. But I need to know if-" she began saying once again when Kristoff cut her off.
"You should sleep,thickhead," Kristoff teased. "It'll help you ease your pain. We'll be here when you wake up."
She looked at Kristoff with a little annoyance, but then finally accepted, "Fine…"
The truth was she was completely drained. Her body felt heavy and almost everything hurt. Elsa thought she was lucky her leg was still under the anaesthetic effect. She knew it was going to hurt more than she could imagine the first few days. She Tried to get more comfortable in the bed and then succumbed to sleep.
Anna and Kristoff watched Elsa close her eyes again and kept quiet for a few minutes, they didn't want to interrupt the girl's rest. The young man stood up from the chair and gestured to his mother to take the place. Elsa was not the only one tired in the room and it was best if Gerda took some minutes to rest her eyes too. The old woman accepted and sat in the chair beside the bed. He then signalled to Anna to follow him outside, both of them were tired too and it was best if they had breakfast before Elsa woke up once again. He explained his idea quietly enough and she instantly agreed with his reasoning. Kristoff was thankful for his girlfriend's support and for the way she cared for his sister. He made a mental note to thank her later. He knew the accident had been his fault, but Anna was taking half the blame for him; and she was doing everything in her power to be as kind and helpful as possible. 'I don't deserve her,' he thought as the girl exited the room in front of him.
Gerda watched her boy leave the room in company of his girlfriend. The two of them had done everything right the previous day helping Elsa, and Gerda couldn't be prouder of them. When Kristoff had called explaining there had been an accident, she tried to get ready as soon as possible and rush to the hospital. The nurse inside of her knew there was no reason for her to run, Kristoff had been clear everything had been taken care of; but her maternal instinct had told her she needed to be as close to her children as possible. She had hurried to the hospital on her own, since her husband had been working the night shift, and she had stayed by Elsa's side from that moment. When the young couple left the room, she watched her daughter doze off and she finally allowed herself to relax. She was now not so stressed since she knew Elsa was okay. The recovery was not going to be easy, she knew, but at least her daughter was alive and conscious. She had been really worried about her baby girl,as she liked to call Elsa whenever she wanted to annoy the girl. Gerda was a devoted mother to both her children and she loved them as if they were her own, it was normal for her to worry so much.
When Kai and her were younger, they had tried to have children of their own; but life hadn't been fair for the couple. After years of trying to get pregnant, she suffered a miscarriage when they were finally expecting their first child. I took months for them to recover from the incident and start talking about kids once again. Both had agreed they were not going to put themselves through the same suffering and risk another unsuccessful pregnancy. At the beginning, they had agreed on being a childless marriage, but as time passed and they became older, they realised they needed someone to raise and love; even if nature wanted the opposite. That's how they decided to look for a kid who'd want to be part of their family. The couple agreed a boy would be best, someone who would continue the Bjorgman family name and who would inherit their properties. After visiting the orphanage a couple of times, they found Kristoff. A twelve-year-old boy with golden hair who enjoyed their visits more than the rest of the children. He was all the time trying to get their attention and show them everything he knew and everything he could do. He loved to spend time with them, and they with him. It took them months to complete all the necessary requirements to adopt him legally, but during that time the couple made sure to visit almost every week. Every time they visited, they heard him talk nonstop about his best friend, Elsa. A girl around his age who was, in Kristoff's words, the most incredible person in the whole world. They had listened to his stories every single time and had encouraged him to introduce his best friend to them with no luck. The boy wanted them to meet her but he always explained the girl refused to do so. They hadn't had a clue at the time why she refused so much, but they had respected her wishes. With time, all the papers were in order and Kristoff was finally adopted by the Bjorgman family. He had been eager to have a home, but he was miserable about leaving his best friend behind. From the day he stepped into the Bjorgman's house he had done everything in his power to persuade them to adopt the girl. At first, they thought it had been just his desire to keep his best friend around for as long as possible, but as time passed, they realised the kid was serious in his requests. Two years of Kristoff's insistence and a series of shocking events, led Kai and Gerda to adopt the girl in the end. Even if the circumstances they underwent to adopt Elsa were not typical in any sense, and having a fourteen-year-old daughter had never been part of their original plan, they ended up loving Elsa more than they imagined it was possible. Watching Elsa sleep in a hospital bed now, triggered many memories Gerda didn't particularly liked about that time; and even if she tried, she couldn't help herself from thinking about the first time she had met Elsa.
The old woman sat there in the hospital room, remembering those days, when the door suddenly opened. Her husband appeared through it with a cup of coffee in his left hand, distracting her from her memories. He silently closed the door to then finally greet her with a soft kiss in her cheek.
"Hi, honey," he gave his wife the coffee and reached the bed. As delicately as he could he caressed the girl's head, avoiding to touch the bandage that covered the left side of it, "How's Elsa?"
"She is okay. The doctor hasn't stopped by yet, but she was awake a few minutes ago. She remembered what happened after we explained to her what she was doing in the hospital," the woman smiled to herself and added "she was already trying to complain about the time she'll have to stay here."
A laugh escaped the man's mouth.
"But she said she was in pain…" a sigh. "It must be bad, since she admitted it so easily."
The laugh died and Kai looked concerned once again, "let's just hope they give her painkillers and don't try to see how she reacts without them."
"Yeah…" A few seconds passed with both of them lost in their own thoughts when Gerda decided to break the silence, "Did you see Kristoff and Anna?"
"Yes, they were entering the Coffee shop across the street when I was coming out with your coffee. They look exhausted."
She sipped the hot coffee and answered, "I bet they are. They were so worried for Elsa they refused to go home and catch some sleep."
"Kristoff made me promise we'll call them when the doctor comes to talk about her leg," Kai smiled thinking about Kristoff's insistence.
"As if we'd risk not telling him…" Gerda laughed too. "So… How was work?"
After getting coffee for themselves, Anna and Kristoff walked to the parking lot where the truck was parked. They wanted to make sure Sven was all right. The dog had spent the night there and they were ready to take him home. The poor dog didn't understand what was going on, but he had been patient with his owner. When he saw them approach the truck, he got up from the makeshift bed and barked with joy. Once they greeted him, he started searching for what they could only assume was Elsa. Kristoff made an effort to explain Elsa was not coming home with them and opened the door for the animal and Anna to enter the vehicle.
Once they were on the way to Kristoff's apartment building, Anna offered a different idea, "why don't we take him to my house? He already knows mama and papa, he won't be so lonely. Who knows when you'll be able return to your apartment … Oh, and we still need to go back to the cabin for our staff an-"
"Are you sure your folks won't mind? Sven can be a little too much when he is nervous," he kept his eyes on the road, but used his right hand to pet the German shepherd in between them.
"Of course not! And it would be a good reason to stop by and explain we returned a couple of days earlier than expected…" Anna watched the road to avoid watching Kristoff in the eyes, thinking about the fact that the holidays had been ruined due to hers and Kristoff's… stupidity, to put it simple, made her guilt return. She knew he felt bad too.
He focused on the right turn he had to make in order to head in the direction of Anna's house. The place was in the opposite side of town, but it was closer to the hospital than his own apartment. The idea was good, at least he wouldn't have to worry about Sven during the time stayed in the hospital, "If you say it's okay, then I'll trust you. It'll help me a lot." When he saw Anna nod with reassurance, he offered, "you should stay too. You need to sleep."
"Are you sure you won't need me?"
"Yes. It'll be practical. Besides, you are right about our bags, we'll need to go pick them up sooner than later. If you get enough sleep, maybe you can drive me there later this afternoon." Kristoff smiled at her, he wanted Anna to go home, relax and sleep; but he didn't want her to feel bad about it. Truth be told, he needed a few minutes to talk with his parents about the accident on his own. And with his sister too. He wanted to clarify some doubts he had about the fall and also wanted to make sure she really was okay.
They reached Anna's place sooner than they had expected. The snowfall the previous night had stopped people from going out so early on Sunday morning and the roads were practically deserted. They parked in Anna's garage and by the time they were getting off, the front door opened. Idunn, Anna's mother, was waving at them from the doorway, still wearing comfy everyday clothes "Sweetheart, you are back early! I was just preparing breakfast."
Anna walked towards Idunn and hugged her tightly, "Yes… something happened and we had to return sooner than expected…"
She saw the worry in her daughter's eyes and asked, "everything okay?"
"Kind of… I'll explain inside," she signalled Kristoff to come inside too. Kristoff reached the door with Sven following him closely. "And I hope you don't mind babysitting Sven for a while?" Anna said when Idunn seemed puzzled by the dog's visit.
Kristoff was entering the hospital near noon, when he ran into his father. Apparently, the old man was coming out to call him. So, it was a convenience they ran into one another. "Elsa is awake. She's been for the past thirty minutes. Gerda and her are about to talk with the doctor," said the man to his son.
"Shouldn't we be there?" he asked passing his father by, intending for the man to follow him.
"Not necessarily. He is going to see if everything is fine. I bet he wants to make sure there are no complications. Where is Anna?" he said as he searched everywhere for his daughter-in-law.
"I left her at her house. She needed to sleep and she offered to watch Sven for me," he returned to his father's side when he saw Kai had no intention of following him. If he thought about it, there was no reason for them to be in the room when the doctor checked Elsa but he still wanted to see her. He chose to follow his father when Kai went into the waiting room instead.
"Anna seemed worried…" the statement was meant for Kristoff to continue talking and explain a little better what had happened the previous day.
"We both were… what happened was my fault, but Anna insists in blaming herself." He sat beside him and continued, "I still can't believe Elsa isn't more hurt. Or dead."
"About that… Gerda and I didn't have the chance to ask Elsa, how did she avoid getting hurt? I know how high that cliff is."
"She fell into a pile of snow…" Kai watched his son sigh and rest his forearms in his legs. The young man looked exhausted.
"I see… Were you the only one in the place?"
"Anna saw her fall but she didn't see the place she landed. I asked her to go to the cottage while I rescued Elsa."
"No one else?"
He shook his head in denial, "It was just the three of us in the slope."
"That's good," commented Kai, a little more relaxed. He stayed silent for a few seconds before saying, "your mother told me you drugged Elsa before coming to the hospital. I wanted you to know you did the right thing," he put his left hand in his son's shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.
"Yeah, maybe it was for the best… But it doesn't mean I enjoy drugging her as if she was a dangerous animal," he closed his eyes and his face contorted with sadness.
"That's not what you are doing. You are just helping your sister face a difficult situation, that's it."
Kristoff stood up suddenly, he grabbed his hair in exasperation and began walking the empty room, "It doesn't feel that way…"
Kai watched the young man pace the room, there was little he could do to calm the boy when he felt remorseful. However, he knew that once Elsa was out of the hospital, Kristoff was going to agree with the rest of the family. He was going to agree with them it was the right thing to do.
At the beginning, he had had his own doubts about Gerda's idea. When his wife had given sedatives to Elsa when she was seventeen years old, he had thought the idea was ridiculous. To allow a teenage girl to have drugs at her disposal wasn't the best course of action in his opinion. But with time, Elsa had proved she was mature enough to use the benzodiazepines with responsibility. Over six years later and the girl still used the drugs whenever it was needed. It was a benefit the girl despised the drugs' effect, and she only used them when she knew it was totally necessary. Kristoff knew how much she loathed them, and felt guilt-ridden whenever he let his sister take them; and even worse if he was the one who gave the dose to Elsa. So, in a way, Kai understood his son's apprehension and couldn't blame the young man for worrying.
Some minutes later, Kai decided it was time to return to Elsa's room. He was sure the test was over and he imagined there was no problem if they showed up a little early in the room. He stood up and walked towards Kristoff who had stopped pacing the room after a minute or two, and was resting against the opposite wall, "Let's go, kiddo. I guess we can go back to the room now." Kristoff nodded and followed his father in silence. He hadn't spoken much after the talk the two of them had shared.
They were approaching the correct room when they saw the doctor walking down the hallway. The man was focused on some papers on his hands. Since the man had left the room, they chose to enter the room unannounced. The first thing they saw was Gerda sitting in the left side of the bed beside Elsa, she was speaking to her in a reassuring way. The girl looked upset.
"Hey," said Kai. "Everything all right?"
Both women raised their heads in order to address the man. Elsa was not in the mood to answer and let her mother speak for her, "Yes. Elsa is responding as expected to the surgery. The pain she is feeling, and the inflammation, are completely normal."
"What about the injury? Did he say anything?" Kristoff asked as he approached the bed. He rested his arms in the steely footboard.
After that question, everyone in the room noticed Elsa's sullen expression as she watched her leg with disdain. Gerda continued explaining what the doctor had told them, "he described the fracture. Apparently, it was an impacted fracture, each bone collapsed onto itself. The bad thing is it was a compound fracture."
"That makes sense, her leg looked terrible when I found her," commented the young man.
She agreed with him nodding her head, "It also explains the time Elsa had to be in surgery. They had to repair the bone and the tissue. He also explained the operation in more detail to me." Gerda didn't bother explaining every detail about the procedure since it was not really necessary.
"So, now what?" enquired Kristoff once again with curiosity. He didn't know much about medicine, just the basic things he needed to know during an emergency.
"Well, now Elsa will have to-" Gerda began to say when she was interrupted by Elsa.
"Now, I have to stay in a stupid bed for two weeks. And I'll have the cast on my leg for eight -if not ten- weeks. Not to mention I can't concentrate in other thing than the pain right now." She was irritated, that much was obvious. Being bedbound was a nightmare for Elsa, she hated the idea of not being independent for weeks.
Putting a hand in her shoulder, Gerda tried to calm her down, "the painkillers will kick in shortly, dear."
"It's not about the pain… Winter season begins in two weeks and will miss all the tourists. All the hard work I put into the stupid slope will go to waste, I'll have to stay inside the cottage while-" In her rant, she moved her left arm causing pain to shoot to all over it. She stopped talking and grabbed it with her good arm, trying to soothe the pain. Her body was going against her own words, annoying her even more.
Gerda knew she had to stop Elsa before she continued with her outburst, the girl was going to regret letting go of her emotions in a public place if she continued. The woman didn't agree with the girl's allusion to stay in the mountain with a broken leg, but there was no reason in arguing about that at the moment. The most important thing was for them to calm her down and make sure she didn't hurt herself. Caressing her arm, she said, "Stop, sweetheart. You are only hurting yourself and not helping you at all thinking about this. It is what it is. We'll help you with anything you need."
Elsa scoffed at Gerda. How many times had she told herself 'It is what it is' trying to accept the things life throw at her face? She was tired of passively accepting everything that happened to her, but she agreed it was best if she calmed a little. Her head still hurt and she was not in the mood to talk, and less to argue. She decided to lay down once again. Gerda wanted to reproach her behaviour, but one look from her husband told her it was best to let it go. Elsa was not a disrespectful person, they thought it was best to just let her vent.
During that time Kristoff had stayed silent, he knew Elsa was not someone who usually lost her temper and nothing he could say was going to help her take the news easily. That's when he thought he could give her a little task to get her mind off of things, "Elsa, I know you must be tired right know but I needed to ask you something…" He waited for her to look at him before continuing, "Anna and I need to go back to your cottage in the afternoon to pick our stuff and some other things we left behind. Can you write down a list of things you need? I can bring those to you, if you want."
She thought for a while, "Do you need it right now?"
"Not this instant. If mum and dad don't need me here, I'll go home, have a shower and sleep a little. I'll pick the list just before driving there." His parents shook their heads indicating they could manage on their own.
"Okay, I guess I'll need some things. I'll have it ready for you."
Standing up, ready to leave, he answered, "Great! I'll be here in a couple of hours. Try to rest." Turning to his parents he continued, "If you guys need me, just call." And with that, he left the room.
Late afternoon found Kristoff and Anna driving towards Elsa's cottage for a second time that week. They were feeling calmer now they knew Elsa was fine, and her leg was healing the way it should after the surgery. After a few minutes on the road, he asked Anna to pay a look at the list Elsa had given him earlier.
"She just mentions common things like toothbrush and such… She lists some things I have no idea what they are… Do you understand her handwriting?" she said after reading the list a second time, trying to understand the girl's what was written on the paper.
"Don't worry, I do. But I'm not surprised you don't, it's terrible." Kristoff then remembered something his mother had asked him when he was leaving the hospital, "Oh, mum also told me to make sure I bring her enough clothes. Elsa just mentioned essential things, she thinks she is going back to the mountain as soon as she is released from the hospital."
Anna looked at him puzzled.
"Mum didn't tell her yet, but she is staying in the city with us, probably me," he smiled thinking of the way his sister was going to react when she found out about that.
Anna nodded in understanding and put the list away in her bag, "I think that's for the best. But why didn't she tell her?" she asked. "And don't worry, I'll make sure to pack enough clothes for her."
"She doesn't really like the city but she'll have to get use to it for a couple of weeks. She'll survive…" Some minutes later, when he recalled he hadn't asked about Sven, he enquired "how are Sven and your parents getting along?"
"Oh! They love him," she said honestly. Then she remembered the conversation she had earlier that day with her parents about the accident, "Mama is really sorry about Elsa, by the way. She'd like to thank her properly for what she did one of these days. Papa too."
"Tell them not to worry. I know Elsa did what she thought was right, there is no need for them to thank her," he said matter-of-factly.
"Oh, no. They really want to thank her, me too. What she did for me was so selfless! I don't care if she thinks she was responsible for my safety, like she said to me yesterday when we were at the back of the truck-" she stopped the conversation, thinking about something else from the previous day.
"Look, I'll let her know. But I'm sure she won't-" began saying Kristoff when he noticed his girlfriend was lost in thought. "What are you thinking about?"
"Uh?" she raised her head realising she had stopped talking. "Sorry, I was just remembering something," she continued to ponder the idea in her head for a few seconds before making up her mind and asking, "Kristoff, can I ask you something? It's about Elsa. I haven't asked before because her safety was the most important thing yesterday, but still, it's something that I'd like to know."
Kristoff grabbed the steering wheel with a little more force than necessary. He knew Anna was going to question some things about his sister at some point, but that didn't mean he hadn't hoped for it to be later on in their relationship. He knew Anna was a good girl with a good heart. He knew Elsa thought so too. But still, his sister was a really private person and she had good reasons for that. He hoped Anna would ask a simple question he could answer. He didn't want to lie to his girlfriend, but at the same time he didn't want to betray Elsa's trust. Finally, he said, "sure… What is it?"
A/N- I hope you enjoyed the chapter. My apologies if I made some mistakes while talking about the drug or Elsa's injury. I try to read and make sure everything is as accurate as possible, but sometimes it's impossible for me to verify that the things I'm saying are correct.
Feel free to point out any grammar mistake you can find, it helps me improve. Also, let me know if you think I should include more/less description or more/less dialogue. Sometimes it's really hard to tell if the story is well balanced.
And don't forget to leave a review if you think the story is interesting. I write for myself mainly, but I'd like to know if people like what they are reading.
