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Anna burst through the door of Elsa’s room and took in the sight of her beleaguered sister. An array of machines and an IV were attached to her and she was sleeping peacefully in a sea of pillows and blankets. She took a seat in the chair next to the bed and hoped someone would be by soon to explain to her why she got an emergency call from Elsa’s office telling her that Elsa was being taken to the hospital.
Realistically, Anna knew Elsa didn’t always take the best care of herself, especially when it came to her health but this was dramatic even for her sister. After a few minutes the door was gently pushed open by a nurse with rich brown hair pulled into a neat braid down her back. The nurse checked Elsa’s vitals and scribbled something down on her chart before turning to Anna.
“You the sister?”
“Yes, hi, I’m her sister. Anna.”
“NIce to meet you, I’m Maren.”
“Nice to meet you, too. Could you tell me what’s going on? Elsa’s office only told me that she was on her way here.” Anna said as worry creeped into her features.
“For starters she had bronchitis and then she became dehydrated which is how she ended up here because she collapsed. We’ve got her on an IV to rectify the dehydration and we’ve started her on a course of antibiotics since the doctor believes it’s caused by a bacterial infection. The doctor said she will be staying overnight for observation and then you’ll be able to take her home.” Maren rattled off as she double-checked the chart.
“Okay. And why is she buried under so many pillows?” Anna asked, confusion coloring her voice.
Maren laughed at that, “Oh, when she got here she was quite disoriented and said she was cold and demanded more pillows and blankets and buried herself so far in them they have to practically wrestle her out of them to do her IV.”
Anna rolled her eyes, “Sounds like Elsa when she’s sick. Normally the cold doesn’t bother her but as soon as she gets so much as a cold she gets...well, cold.”
Maren nodded knowingly. “If she needs anything don’t hesitate to press the call button. I’ll be back around again later.”
The next time Maren came to check Elsa’s vitals piercing blue eyes followed her every move. When Maren was done filling out the chart, Elsa was still eyeing her so she stared back. After a moment, Elsa finally spoke.
“Fight me.”
Anna looked about ready to jump from her chair and scold her sister and in any other situation Maren would have been taken aback but since she had seen Elsa when she first came in she knew she was probably still a little out of it. She shook her head at Anna and chuckled before replying “Maybe later,” as she moved the pillows burying Elsa so the sick woman would be able to eat the lunch that would be arriving shortly.
When Maren came in again, after lunch, Elsa was at it again.
“Fight me.” she rasped out before descending into a coughing fit so bad she couldn’t breathe.
Anna just shook her head and actually scolded her sister this time, “Elsa you can’t just tell people to fight you even if you have no idea what you’re saying.”
Maren laughed and held up a placating hand to Anna as she helped Elsa get her breathing back under control. She smiled at the other woman and said, “I won’t fight you because I know you’d win.”
Elsa seemed satisfied with that response and buried herself further into the mountain of pillows and blankets, quickly falling asleep.
“I’m so sorry about that. I don’t know what’s gotten into her. She’s never usually like this.” Anna said.
Maren smiled at Anna, “Eh, it keeps me on my toes and to be honest it’s kind of adorable. Plus she’s buried so deep under all that I don’t have to actually worry about her following through.”
Anna’s eyes went wide. “People actually try to fight you?”
Maren shrugged her shoulders, “You’d be surprised at what nurses come across day-to-day. Visiting hours will be over in about a half hour, just so you know.”
“Thank you, Maren. For taking care of my sister and humoring her.”
“It is not a problem,” Maren said with a smile. “Shift change is happening soon though and Yelena is not quite as light hearted as I am so maybe try to warn her before you go. The cough medicine I just gave her should knock her out for the night but...just in case.”
Elsa woke the next morning with what felt like the worst hangover of her life. The only problem was that she knew she hadn’t been drinking and she was under a mountain of what she recognized as hospital issue pillows and blankets. She pressed the button to raise the bed into a seated position and looked over to see Anna anxiously staring at her.
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I got hit by a truck,” Elsa responded. Her voice hoarse from both her coughing and disuse. “How’d I get here?”
“You collapsed at the office. Dehydration and bronchitis,” Anna said flatly. Her eyes narrowed and mouth set in a firm frown.
Elsa at least had the decency to look a little ashamed of herself. “I thought it was just a cold.”
“Well, it wasn’t. I don’t know how many times we’re going to have to go through this, Elsa. You can’t work the way you do and expect to maintain good health.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” Elsa said as she turned her head to take in her surroundings. Everything seemed normal except for the coffee cup on her tray table. It wouldn’t have been unusual for Anna to bring her some coffee but this coffee was from the hospital gift shop and it had Fight me? scribbled across it with a phone number underneath it.
“Anna?”
“Hmmm?”
“Why does this coffee cup say fight me on it with a phone number underneath it?”
Peals of laughter echoed throughout the room. “ Oh, wow. I thought that was what was happening but I didn’t think it would actually work.”
At this point, Elsa was beyond confused. “What? What happened?”
“Well, there was a very beautiful nurse taking care of you yesterday and you know how you get when you think a girl is pretty in your right mind,” Anna snickered, “Apparently when you are severely dehydrated and on very strong cough medicine you get worse. But somehow seduced her with your terrible lungs and drool. Every time she came in while you were awake, you told her to fight you. She thought it was adorable. ”
Elsa prayed to every god and spirit she could think of that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. She felt her whole body flush and was confident that she was now the color of a tomato. Elsa reached for the cup to find that it was still warm.
“Is she here?!? It’s still warm.” she cried.
Anna started to laugh again. “I don’t know I got here about five minutes before you woke up and the cup was already here so I would guess that she’s back. Her name is Maren.”
Just as Anna finished Maren pushed the door open and was followed in by the attending physician. Anna listened to the doctor’s instructions intently, every so often shooting her sister a glance to indicate that they would be following all of it to a “t.” Elsa, for her part, was trying to sink as far into the bed as possible but her eyes were glued to the nurse. Maren.
Maren really was beautiful. Her gray scrubs complimented her gorgeous skin tone. Her hair was in an intricate braided bun and her eyes were a beautiful shade of brown, almost like honey. Anna was right, of course. Elsa could feel the nervous energy radiating off of herself and it wasn’t just because she thought she had embarrassed herself the day before. No, Elsa was a disaster when it came to beautiful women.
“...and you should be good to change and go whenever she’s ready. Maren here will unhook your IV and monitors in a moment, Elsa.”
Elsa nodded. Her throat suddenly was as dry as the Sahara. She watched as Anna moved from her chair to shake the doctor’s hand and thank them again.
“Shoot, I left your change of clothes in the car. I’ll be right back.” Anna said with a shit-eating grin on her face as she left her sister with a wink and some frantic gestures pointing between Elsa and the nurse. Before Anna slipped out the door, Elsa let out an indignant huff and rolled her eyes.
Her attention was drawn away from the door when Maren appeared by her side and took her hand. Elsa’s eyes widened and she felt herself blush before she realized that Maren was just moving her arm to get to the IV.
Clearing her throat, she decided to try to make small talk. “Hi, I’m Elsa, nice to meet you now that I have a clear head.”
Maren smiled at her. “I’m Maren, nice to meet the clear headed Elsa. Even though yesterday's Elsa was pretty fun.”
Elsa ducked her head in embarrassment. “Sorry, about that. I get a little...out of it when I’m sick, I guess.”
Maren chuckled at that and continued to work, gently removing the IV from Elsa’s arm and writing down some final vitals before turning off the machines and removing the fingertip pulse oximeter from Elsa’s hand. When she was done made her way to the door and turned around to face Elsa as she left saying with a soft smile, “I meant what I wrote on the cup, by the way.”
Elsa couldn’t help the dopey grin that spread across her face. The next few days would be miserable. She would be staying with Anna and Kristoff so that Anna could make sure Elsa didn’t so much as lift a finger until she was better but one good thing had come of it. She had managed to flirt with a beautiful nurse and get her number. Something she never would have been able to do in her right mind.
Anna opened the door and took one look at her sister’s face. “Oh, you got it bad.”