Accident Part 2 And The End of the Sisterly Tensions

Part two of yesterday:  (Read Part 1 HERE unless you wanna be really, really confused.)
Tangled Fan came back down after awhile and brought me back to him. He was still out, but by
the time she was done with her second excruciatingly long examination, Eugene was starting to come to. She quickly administered a wee bit of children's Tylenol, which made him go right back to sleep.
After she'd done that, she turned to me. "It seems to me that the fall probably did something to his legs. They seem a bit more loose than usual, but I'm sure he'll still be able to walk. He might take a little bit of rehab, but I don't think it will affect his walking much, if at all. He'll be fine. And as for the head injury -- don't worry, I heard you guys yelling in there, so I have a good idea of what happened -- he'll be okay. Luckily, he didn't seem to sustain any head injuries from falling or getting punched - this'd be a whole different story if he had been. I want you to keep an eye on him, though, okay? Once he wakes up, I'll do another examination of him and then we'll see about letting you go back upstairs."
A shiver shot through me as I thought about the idea of him being permanently handicapped, and I mumbled a thank you. She nodded, went to go get a few blankets for us, and then left again. She also brought Pascal down...thankfully.

And so I waited. And waited. And waited.
I also beat myself up. If I would've been a little stronger...if I hadn't have gotten into that fight...if I had had better reflexes...Ugh.

Finally, he woke back up. I was at his side in a heartbeat.
He glanced around, confused, but then he saw me and tried to sit up.
"No, no, no. You'll get dizzy. Lay back down, okay?" I told him, resting my hand on his shoulder.
He started to nod, but then he caught himself. "Wh-" he broke off to clear his froggy throat. "What happened?"
"Kristoff punched you...and you fell off of the dresser." I said. "You remember the fight?"
"Yeah," he said.
We stayed in awkward silence for a few minutes, and I started to rub at my arm, which was starting to really ache from trying to haul Eugene back up to safety.
Noticing, he asked if I was okay. How had he even seen me rubbing at it? It's not like I was dramatically rubbing at it! Alrighty then, Mister Hawk-eyes.
"I'm fine," I reassured him, and he gave me a small smile. I wanted to hug him, but I was afraid I'd hurt him...!

By the time Tangled Fan came back down, we were both about ready to go to sleep, and it was soo dark down here...dark and cold!
She got him to walk, and examined him alll over again. I could tell he was embarrassed by the extent of her examination, but oh well.
The final report was that he WOULD need to take it easy, and gave me a physical therapy-esque idea of what to do for him. Then she took us all back upstairs, setting us (thankfully) on our old shelf.
Tangled Fan had a few long boxed sets of books on that shelf, which I was easily able to tip on their sides to make a nice bed up off of the floor...that was the only way we would be able to lay down! I would set them back up in the morning.

When we were alone again, I made sure Eugene was comfortable and I probably went a mite mother-hen on him. When I was done obsessing [for a little while], Eugene urged me to come to bed.
Without needing another invitation, I went to sit by my husband, but I didn't lay down. I sighed as I thought about how lucky it was that he hadn't gotten hurt any worse. I didn't realize I was staring at him...whoops.
"Uh oh. I know THAT look," he told me. "That's the same look you gave me the last time I fell off of something and got myself hurt. C'mere."
I tried to laugh in order to lighten up the mood. "I won't do anything stupid this time, I promise," I told him.
He grinned. "Okay, but c'mere anyway."
I shrugged my shoulders up to my ears, wanting to, but suddenly being afraid of accidentally bumping him in a sore spot or something. "I-I was thinking about sleeping on the wicker chair-" I told him.
He read through that. "Hon. I promise to you...I'm not horribly sore. My legs hurt, yeah, and my back, but other than that, I'm fine. And I want my wife."
My heart squeezed and my eyes teared up, for whatever reason, and he stretched an arm out for me. I caught his grimace, though. 
"You said-"
"My arm just hurts a bit. Don't know why-"
I broke him off. "That was the arm I caught you with, when you fell. I tried to kee...keep you from falling, but I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough...I'm sorry." I told him, almost losing my composure.
"Ahh...I get it. I bet your arm hurts even more, huh?" He suddenly looked concerned for me.
"I'm fine-" I told him, but he caught me, chuckling.
"Right."
I tried to disagree wtih him, grinning at him, but I trailed off. Why lie? He already knew the truth, anyway.
"Don't try to disagree with me on this one, babe. You won't get anywhere." He gave me a smile. "Now..c'mere."

I accepted his offer this time, curling up on my side to face him. He was laying on his back, uncomfortable laying any other way, but he pulled me close to his side.
"I love you," I told him quietly, resting my head hesitantly on his chest. "And I'm just really glad you're okay." I hated that my voice cracked at the last word.
"Don't get yourself upset, okay?" he whispered.
"No promises," I shot back, and he chuckled, holding me tight. I felt my eyes tear up as I thought about the fact that he could have very well been severely injured. I tried to swallow my tears, hoping he wouldn't notice. When I accidentally loosed a sigh that turned shuddery, he rubbed my forearm comfortingly.
"Hey. Don't cry...don't get upset. I'm fine-"
"But you could've gotten hurt a lot worse, and like Tangled Fan said, you might have to deal with your loosened leg joints forever!" I pulled away from him, sitting up.
Grimacing, he tried to sit up, too, but I told him not to. Against my requests that he lay back down, he sat up.
"Let's talk...okay?"
"No, it's...I'm just being dumb...you need rest. Get some rest, okay? I'll be fine. I just...I'm being ridiculous."
He gave me a calculating expression before he shook his head carefully. "What's so upsetting this time?"

I started to ignore his question, insisting he go to sleep, but then I heaved another shaky sigh. "You'll think it's stupid. I just...I blame myself for not being able to keep you from falling. For partaking in the fight to begin with. And I j-just don't know what I'd do without you!" I broke down, and immediately felt humiliated for it. How pathetic could I seriously be?
I expected him to laugh, but he didn't. "Look at yourself...and look at me. No wonder you couldn't keep me from falling, especially if you were hanging from a drawer handle! And you know...you were just trying to stand up for Elsa. Kris didn't have to react in the way that he did, and Anna surely didn't, either. And honey, don't worry about that kind of stuff. It's uncontrollable. Okay?"
I rubbed at my nose before I reached over to pull him into a hug.
"It's just-"
"Hard to not worry?" He finished for me.
"Mhm," I said, pressing my face into his shoulder (making sure it was the one opposite the arm I'd yanked on.)
He held me close for a few moments, until I pulled away from him to give him a kiss. When I pulled away, a twinkle was in his eye. He gave me that special grin of his. "Feeling better?"
I gave him another quick hug, telling him again that I loved him.
Probably without thinking, my hubby flopped down onto his back, and then hit his shoulder....hard. He grimaced, and I immediately offered to get Tangled Fan.
"No, no, no. C'mere, go to sleep." He told me, and as soon as I laid down, he pulled me close, sighing tiredly. "And...don't blame yourself, get worried, or anything. Love you, and good night."


This morning, I was still nestled up against my hubby. He was still sleeping, but a couple minutes after I woke up, he did, too. When I knew he was awake, I flopped onto my belly so I could see his face. "How are you feeling?"
He chuckled at my promptness. "My arm's feeling less sore. How about you?"
I rolled my eyes at his skirting around my question. "That's good about your arm, but your legs...your head...?"
"They're fine. I'll have to get up and walk to see how my legs are." He sighed, and I saw a hint of fear cross his eyes at the thought.
I faceplanted my head carefully onto his chest, heaving a melodramatic sigh. "Can't we just stay here and just not get up or anything? No injuries can be caused that way."
He laughed, stroking my hair. "Sounds good to me."
I pulled my head up to grin at him, and he winked before he stretched. I stood up and held a hand out to him, which he accepted.

Almost as soon as he stood, he bobbled on his hip joints.
He caught himself, though it took him a few minutes to get perfectly balanced. I stepped to the other end of the shelf, away from him, watching him tensely as he went to take his first steps since he fell.
A hard few steps they were. Taking an agonizingly long amount of time, he was able to get his legs working. Randomly, his joints would give out on him, and he'd bobble; almost fall down, even. I could see the frustration on his face, and it tore at my heart. I made myself keep my composure, though, for his sake. And then he tried to take a longer stride, and almost fell. I hurried to his side, steadying him, and he gave a disgusted huff. When he eventually got himself standing straight again, I put a hand on his shoulder.

"You alright?" I asked, studying his face. A mix of fear and disgust were visible on his features.
"Yeah." He said shortly, but I knew he wasn't mad at me. He was silent for a few moments before an entirely horrified expression plagued his usually happy face.
"What, honey?" I asked, searching his eyes.
He turned his head away from me, but I still saw the tear streak down his cheek. I wiped it away, cupping his cheek in my hand so I could pull his face around to look at me again.
"I-I....I'm just so frustrated right now, is all. What if I'm always like this? I can't be who I want to be. I won't be able to be a very good husband. I won't be a good father. I'm useless! I am-"
I broke him off. "Hey. This is just the day after your injury. I'm sure your joints will get better-"
He broke me off in return. "Don't make assurances you don't know are true."
"It'll be okay. They'll get better, and you know what? You don't have to have perfectly functional leg joints to be a good husband - just knowing you're here for me is enough! And, well...we don't HAVE to start a family..." I trailed off, realizing I shouldn't have said that last part.

He didn't reply. He just took in a shaky breath and refused to meet my eyes, so I reached to pull him into a tight hug.
"It'll be okay. It will be okay. I promise," I told him, and he bent to bury his face in my neck.
I just rubbed his back and embraced him until he pulled away.
Suddenly, he seemed to catch himself. "I shouldn't be upset about this. I need to make sure I'm here for you-"
"Honey, you've been here for me for, like, ever. And over some of the silliest things, too! It's high time that I take a turn and support you."
He loosed a sigh. "But we probably won't be able to go on walks as long or as often, and..."
"Eugene," I laughed in amazement. "I'm just happy that you weren't hurt WORSE! Right now, our outings don't matter. I'm just glad you're still able to walk, period!" I ducked my head, suddenly hoping my earlier incredulous laugh wasn't taken the wrong way.
He tipped my chin up to look at him, and then he stroked my hair a couple of times. "You've got a point. I guess I should be happy I CAN walk at all..."
"Mhm!" I told him, and he carefully bent to give me a quick, gentle kiss. When he pulled away, I gave him a grin. "But, ah...next time I see Kristoff, I'm punching him right in his big, fat nose."
He gave a surprised laugh, wavering on his unsteady joints, and then he pulled me into a hug. "What happened to the shy, sweet girl I married?"
"She went away when her best-friend-slash-hubby got hurt." I played along, and he laughed, holding me a bit tighter.
"Don't make me laugh hard, I'll fall down," he told me. "But, ah...should I be scared of this new girl?"
"Definitely maybe." I shot back, and he started laughing harder. And then he took a step back and stumbled. I grabbed at him, trying to keep him upright, but it just turned out that he fell backwards, dragging me down with him. I landed right on top of him, and gasped.
"You okay?" We asked each other at the same time. And then we laughed. I squirmed off of him, standing up, and reached out to help him up. Once he was steady on his feet, he gave me a thankful grin.

Sortly after, Tangled Fan came back to check on him, but when we both asked (at the same time :P ) about if he would always be like this, she just shrugged, telling us it was too early to tell...but that he needed to keep off of his feet. I didn't like the look in her eye, though, when she'd said it was too early to tell. But we'll see...It'll be a long recovery process, I can tell you that already! Thankfully, Tangled Fan told us that we could just stay on our old shelf again - she'd ended up not using it for what she'd been planning to. Nice of her to tell us this now....Ugh. But regardless.

No later than half an hour after THAT, I heard numberous footsteps and talking. 
I hurried to the edge of the deck, and was met by Zelia.  Anna and Elsa, neither looking very pleased, were climbing up behind her. 
"Oh!  Um...hey, guys.  Wh-what brings you all up here?  Zelia?"  I stepped back so they could all file on to the deck.  Zelia looked absolutely perturbed.  Ohh boy. 
"We are figuring out this STUPID problem, and we're figuring it out  NOW.  I'm sick of the stupid fighting!"  Zelia snapped, shooting a dark look towards Anna. And oh man, she gave it right back.  But I could also see that her angry facade was slipping. 
Hmm?  ....
Elsa just looked plain ticked off. 
So I gestured them all into the shelf, and Zelia promptly asked Eugene how he was doing.  While he was talking to her - flashing me the occassional 'help me'/terrified look - I tipped the boxes down and tossed a blanket over it so everyone had seats.  I also pulled up Tangled Fan's Hallmark ornament box (Guess what.  The ornament is Tangled-themed.  I bet you never guessed that! xD) and scooched Eugene's chair over a bit (much to his disgust, because he couldn't just get up and move himself.  I made sure Pascal was beside my husband on the chair, and then gestured for everyone to sit.

 

We all squeezed into chairs.  I sat on the corner of the 'bed', right beside Eugene, and turned to look at the sisters. 
"Spill it, girls." 
"There is nothing to-"
"Spill.  It."  Zelia glared at them both.  Elsa shrank back, but Anna gave her a defiant glare. 
"Please?  As a friend, I'm just worried for you, Anna.  And I'm sure everyone else is.  What's been going on?"
"Noth-..." she broke off and allowed the word to die on her lips before she heaved a huge sigh.  "I didn't want to...to say anything.  Kristoff asked me out on an honest-to-goodness, special date last month.  I freaked out.  I-I just feel like we're going too fast.  I mean, I know you guys got married in just a couple of months, but I don't want to go that fast!  And he...does.  But I'm a-afraid to say anything to him!  So I just kept going along with him and doing whatever he wanted to do.  I was confused, frustrated, and upset, and I got so many headaches this past month, and if anyone even talked to me, I just snapped because I was so stressed.  I thought there'd be no end, or he'd see what the matter was. But the one day...over the weekend..I just...I told him I thought we were moving too fast.  He asked what the problem was, and I told him that I felt we were going too fast, and he...he thought that you and Eugene had told me that, Rapunzel.  And that's...why he was such a jerk.   He wouldn't be convinced otherwise.  I should have fought till he knew that it wasn't you guys who had told me that, but I-I..didn't.  And oh my gosh...I could've ruined you guys!  I could have ruined EVERYTHING.  Rapunzel, I am so, so sorry.  And Eugene-"  About halfway through, she started bawling, but she managed to calm down to apologize.
"It's fine.  It's not directly your fault," he brushed it off. 
He was definitely a much better character than I was.  I simply nodded, still mad at Kristoff. 

"And sis?"  Anna turned to look at her with a small smile, drying her cheeks.  "I'm sorry for being such a jerk.  I know that how I treated you wasn't right, and I feel horrible." 
Elsa gave her a relieved smile, grabbing her into a relieved hug.  "Glad to have you back, sis," she told her. 

All of this was heartwarmingly adorable and sweet, and I was so relieved to know what the problem had been, and then...

"There you are!  Good grief, I thought you were just going for a quick walk and when you didn't come back, I got worried..."
Kristoff.  Speak of the devil.

Anna jumped up, and as I eyed him warily, I felt my own blood pressure rising.  And not in a good way. 
Eugene elbowed my side, and when I looked down at him, he shook his head. 
"Let it go," he hissed quietly at me. 

Kris suddenly saw the rest of us, and he glanced around awkwardly.  When his gaze flicked over, then came back and stayed on me and my husband, I jumped up, ready to do something if necessary.  I wasn't sure what to do, but I'd do something. 
Eugene grabbed my arm quickly and awkwardly, seeing as he couldn't jump up or move quickly; and then he hauled me backwards. 
"Don't.  I can't save you this time," he whispered to me, chuckling. 
I sighed, sitting  back down on the bed to watch what was going to take place as Anna meandered over to him. 
"Anna..what's wrong?" 

She explained everything to him all over again. 
We all watched.  She couldn't even meet his eyes, she was so worried. 

When she was done, he gave her a pained, yet relieved smile.  "Oh, Anna...I'm so sorry I didn't listen to you and jumped to conclusions.  I'm sorry.  We can take it just as slow as you want, okay?" 
She finally met his eyes, giving him a grin.  "Thank you.  And...love you.  I really do, I just.."
"I understand," he gave her a shy smile, and she instantly reached to hug him. As they embraced, I looked away from them to glance at my husband, who had just reached for my hand. 
He gave me a wink, and I smiled, wondering if he was thinking about our first hug.  I knew that this wasn't Anna and Kris' first hug, but that's immediately where my mind had gone. 
When Anna pulled away from her guy's arms, they both looked around awkwardly. 

When Kris looked our way again, it must have finally clicked - about what he'd done yesterday. 
He immediately began fretting and looked like he was about to tear up as he profusely apologized, and my amazing hubby was able to quickly accept his apology, wholeheartedly. It took me longer to accept his apology and actually truthfully mean it.  I know I shouldn't be that way, but it was hard.  For me it was, at least...

 

They all sat and talked for awhile, and by the time everyone left at four, I was absolutely exhausted from talking so much! 

When they left, we just sat around quietly for awhile, just appreciating one another's company.  But then I allowed worry to seep in, and I grew a bit restless.

 

 

When it was about time to go to bed, I was leaning up against the side of the shelf, biting my lip as I wondered if he'd ever be able to stand or walk without losing his balance. I was trying to not worry, but it wasn't working.

He noticed me, and broke my thoughts by telling me to come over to him.
Snapping out of my worries, I put on a smile and reached a hand out to him. "Ready to go to bed?"
He shook his head. "You were looking lonely and worried over there.  Sit," he told me, patting his lap. My gaze instantly dropped to his legs, even though I tried not to.
I shook my head. "No, I'm fine-" I started to say as I went to do something, anything, else.
He reached for one of my hands, pulling me backwards. I gasped, but he snaked an arm out around my waist, pulling me onto his lap. When I just gave up and sat sideways so I could see his face, he put his arms around me, giving me an affectionate hug.
"I can read through your mask, babe. Don't be worried, okay? Things will work out." He told me, kissing my cheek, and I sighed, leaning my head up against his shoulder.
"I'm just..." I trailed off. "I feel so helpless, because I have to watch you go through this and I can't help you at all, and it just irks me."
He kissed my hair. "You are helping, and you CAN help me. Trust me, just steadying me when I'm unbalanced, and being here for morale support helps."
"I'm not being very good at morale support, though. Look at me, seriously!" I grumbled.
He chuckled, gazing down at me and giving me a gentle grin. "I see a beautiful, sweet girl, that I'm very glad to call my wife, who is simply concerned for her husband."
I rolled my eyes, but my cheeks felt hot and a coy smile teased the corners of my lips. I made a hum of non-commitance, but then reached up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You need to get to bed. The more you rest your joints, hopefully, the better and quicker they'll heal."
He nodded, and I carefully slid off of his lap. This time, he took my hand.

And then his hip joints stuck in place.
When he tried to stand up, they locked.
I gasped and put my other hand over my mouth as I watched my husband slowly work his way upright. It must've really hurt, because his face held pure concentration and he kept grimacing. I wished I could help him....it killed me to see him struggle, without me being able to help him. :(
As soon as he straightened and he'd gotten himself balanced, I immediately went to his side again, tucking myself under his arm so I could guide him to bed. He moved stiffly, and when he lowered himself slowly down into bed, he made mention that he probably shouldn't have sat around as much today.

"But Tangled Fan said..." I trailed off, not sure what to think. I tried to conceal my shaky hands, since I was still upset about his struggle to stand up, but he noticed them anyway.
"It'll be fine. It'll just take some time, I guess," he reassured me, squeezing both my hands with his.
I nodded and got to work being a mother-hen over him again. I made sure he was comfortable and covered up, and warm (It's been chilly at night..UGH!) and then I asked if he was comfortable. I had thought about getting something to prop his legs up on or something, but I wasn't sure.
He nodded, focused on trying to find a comfortable way to sleep, so I left to brush my hair out and slip into my nightie....and to make sure Pascal was all covered up and warm, too, on his wicker chair. When I got back, I grabbed another blanket and smoothed it out before I sat down.
"Too many blankets, or are you good?" I asked him.
He chuckled over my obsessing, but then he shrugged. "I could be better..." I started to stand up, asking what he needed, but then he snagged my wrist. I glanced down at his eyes, and caught the teasing glimmer in them. "C'mere. Really, c'mere."
I rolled my eyes to let him know that that was one of his less-amusing jokes (as I fought to keep a straight face, because at least he was lighthearted enough TO be joking!) but I curled up beside him. And then I allowed myself to grin, figuring he wouldn't see.
"You act less than amused, yet I see the grin on your face." he pointed out, and my face heated with slight embarrassment and surprise.
I couldn't decide if I wanted to tease him back or be truthful. I decided to go with truthful xD.
Putting an arm securely across him, I gave him a broader grin.
"You teasing just makes me know that you're not, like, deathly ill or anything." I laughed. "Pathetic, I know."
"But that's what I was going for," he told me, pulling me close so he could give me a gentle kiss goodnight.
I gave him a wink when our lips parted. "Well...tomorrow's another day. Hopefully you won't be as unsteady."
He nodded, so I burrowed down into the blankets until even my head was covered, and went to sleep before I could get back to worrying.