Elphaba Thropp walked back to her dorm room at dusk. By the time she got to the door of the building, clouds had begun to form in the sky overhead. Elphaba had been anticipating it, and began digging through her bag for her keys. They were nowhere to be found.
"What in Oz's name—?" She muttered. She felt a raindrop land on her head and winced at the sharp pain she felt as it burned her scalp. She burrowed herself into her sweater, which wasn't doing much good. She crouched under the door way, wrapped in the sweater, and looked up as other students rode past on their bikes. Elphaba recognized them as Shenshen and Pfannee. To Elphaba's dismay, Pfannee held her keys in her hand.
"Hey Greenie, you looking for these?" Pfannee taunted. Elphaba didn't move, but stared steadily at Pfannee.
"I think the artichoke needs to be steamed, don't you?" She said. The boys they were with suddenly grabbed Elphaba and yanked her sweater off of her.
"No—no, please, don't," Elphaba said through gritted teeth. The raindrops stung enough as it was. Now she stood, shivering, in just her tanktop. The rain rose lesions on her skin, which were quickly turning purple.
A bucket of water was thrown at her and Elphaba shrieked in pain. They threw the keys at her, laughing. Elphaba grabbed everything and hobbled inside. She pulled her sweater on, trembling at the burning sensation that now seared her whole body. As she headed up the stairs, she fought back the tears of pain as she rapped quickly on her door.
Galinda Upland opened the door and her eyes widened. "Elphaba, where were you?"
Elphaba trudged into the room, obviously shaken. Each step was pained. Galinda grabbed her arm and Elphaba cried out.
"What is it?" Galinda gasped, letting go. Elphaba pulled back her sleeve tenderly and revealed the open sores that spread up her arms and on her neck.
"They're like this on my whole body," The green girl muttered. Galinda carefully steered Elphaba toward the bed. She remembered the ointment Elphaba kept with her and went into the bathroom to go get it. That and a cloth.
"Elphie, take off your shirt and your pants. But not your panties, please," Galinda told her. "I'm going to get something to clean the lesions.
When Galinda came back, holding the pink bottle, Elphaba sat before her, her thin body bare in all it's green glory except for her bra and the panties she wore. Elphaba sat curled in almost a fetal position and Galinda set to work.
"Oh, Elphie, how did this happen?" She murmured. Elphaba turned her head away, biting her lip as Galinda carefully dabbed at the wounds on her arm.
"Shenshen, Pfannee, and some boys I didn't recognize," She said. "They—they threw water on me."
Galinda saw how pained her friend was, and it hurt her.
"Oh, Elphie," She said softly, rubbing her friend's green arm comfortingly. She carefully cleaned out the lesions and began dabbing the ointment on. Elphaba hissed in pain. Galinda saw her biting her lip and squeezing her eyes shut and lay a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Elphaba, it's OK to cry," She told her. Elphaba shook her head fiercely, shooting Galinda look.
"I'm not going to cry," She responded tersely. Galinda sighed. She couldn't make Elphaba do anything she didn't want to. But she had a feeling it would come in time.
One Galinda was finished, Elphaba trudged over to her bed. She put on a tank top that was light and barely covered her midriff. Before tonight, Galinda couldn't remember ever seeing Elphaba's bare stomach. She was usually so concerned about covering herself up. Now Galinda found herself looking at her friend's abdomen, protruding hips and all. Elphaba did indeed eat, she was just naturally that thin. Galinda found herself wondering how Elphaba kept herself warm in weather like this.
"You sure you'll be alright?" Galinda asked. Elphaba nodded, gingerly getting into bed. The blanket she had brought from home was thin, and Galinda couldn't imagine how it did much good.
"Yes. Thank you, Gali," Elphaba said without looking over her shoulder. Soon, they were both in bed and the lights were out. As Elphaba lay on her side, her body felt as though it was on fire. All she could do was stay still. But the pain was so great. Unable to hold back the tears, she pushed her face into her pillow and let them flow, her thin green shoulders wracking softly.
Galinda had been awake and heard the silent sobbing. Without hesitating, she looked up, saw Elphaba's back to her, curled up in a fetal position, and yanked the thick comforter off her bed, and moved to Elphaba's bed where she lay down beside the green girl, putting her arms around her.
"Galinda, I'm alright," Elphaba insisted weakly with a cracked voice. She was trembling. "Plese, just leave me be,"
"No, Elphie, you're not," Galinda told her, wrapping her arms around Elphaba's waist, covering her with the blanket. She could feel every soft sob that came through Elphaba's body. "You know I love you, Elphie. I'm not going to leave you to suffer this alone,"
And sure enough, Elphaba began to cry. She cried because the pain was too great, and because it was just to much to bear. She also cried because she could feel for real that Galinda really did love her. Maybe the first person in her life that actually did. Elphaba turned and found herself in Galinda's outstretched arms, and cried into the blonde's shoulder.
"Shhh, it's alright, Elphie," Galinda murmured to her softly, rubbing Elphaba's back gently, trying to comfort her. She held Elphaba for a good twenty minutes before the sobs subsided. Elphaba still had her head in Galinda's shoulder, and Galinda lay her head on Elphaba's shoulder. The two had begun to drift off. Elphaba rolled back over, but this time snuggled up against Galinda.
"Thank you, Gali," She murmured softly. "I don't think I would have been able to make it through this night without you."
Galinda leaned forward, returning her arms which looped around Elphaba's stomach gently, holding her close as she lay her head against the middle of her back. "Of course, Elphie. You're my best friend. I'm always going to be here for you."
Early the next morning, it didn't take Galinda long to notice something was wrong. She could feel Elphaba shaking, and moved toward her to try to keep her warm, but when Elphaba continued to tremble, Galinda grew worried.
"Elphaba? Elphie, are you awake?"
"Galinda…something's wrong—" Elphaba whimpered. Galinda pulled the sheet off her where Elphaba lay curled tightly in a fetal position. Galinda encouraged Elphaba to lie flat on her back and she pulled Elphaba's tank top off her stomach. There, the sores had swelled up and were bright red. Galinda placed her hand over one of them and felt heat radiating off of it. Elphaba moaned and cringed. Galinda found a spot on her friend's stomach that wasn't occupying the lesions and lay her hand over it reassuringly.
"Elphie, just hold on, we're going to get you to the Infirmary, but you need to try to get up for me, dear, alright?" Galinda told her gently. She helped Elphaba up, her hand placed in the center of Elphaba's back as she helped her friend to her feet. Immediately, Elphaba crumpled to her feet and collapsed. Galinda sank to the floor with her, setting Elphaba's head in her lap.
"I'm so cold, Galinda," Elphaba murmured. Galinda rubbed her hands up and down Elphaba's arms briskly, fighting back her panic.
"I know you are, sweetheart, you have an infection. We're going to get you help, but you have to stand up for me, Elphie, please, try," Galinda pleaded. Gathering every ounce of strength Elphaba had, she staggered to her feet and leaned against Galinda. Galinda immediately draped Elphaba's arm around her own shoulders and put her arm around Elphaba's waist, trying to keep her steady as they headed down to the Infirmary, where someone met them immediately.
"Now, what on earth happened?" The nurse asked.
"Water. She's allergic to water," Galinda said, tears filling her eyes.
"Oh, my goodness," The nurse said, her tone not all that worried, but still concerned. It brought a sense of relief to Galinda, seeing as the nurse seemed pretty confident with her skills.
"Well, I've never actually seen anyone with that allergy but it does occur." She said. "Now let's get your friend into a bed and see what we can do."
Elphaba was placed on a gurney and her tanktop was pushed up to gain access to the sores on her stomach which seemed the most infected.
"Well, she does have an infection," The nurse said, gently swabbing at the sores on Elphaba's stomach with some sort of liquid. It was a bright blue color, but whatever it was, it was causing Elphaba major discomfort.
"Oh, sweet Lurline," She hissed, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. "If any of those wretched people ever come near me again, especially Pfannee…."
"Wait, someone did this to you?" The nurse's head shot up. Galinda bit her lip, reaching for Elphaba's hand. Elphaba took it, and squeezed it tightly.
"Yes….water was thrown at me, after my keys were stolen yesterday to avoid letting me in to my room," Elphaba muttered. Galinda saw the tears brimming Elphaba's eyes and squeezed her friend's hand. Elphaba was trying so hard to be strong. But everyone had their breaking point. Elphaba, it seemed, was well past hers, but she was still trying to push through.
"What were the names of the people who did this to you?" The nurse almost demanded. "This is a very serious offense. If they had known of your allergy…why…this could have killed you!"
"Pfannee, Shenshen, Avaric, and another boy I didn't recognize," Elphaba said, tentative as to whether Galinda would completely change alliances. But the Gilikin nodded firmly, looking up at the nurse,
"I can vouch for it," She said. "I've known them a long time, I wouldn't put it past them,"
Elphaba looked up at Galinda and tears filled her eyes. She couldn't believe Galinda was taking her side in this, but she was grateful.
"Thank you," She said softly. Galinda smiled thinly, stroking Elphaba's hair gently.
"Well, this matter will be taken care of," The nurse said promptly. A series of treatments were done, including the cleansing of all of Elphaba's wounds with alcohol. Elphaba was left in merely a bra and panties once more, and was disgusted with how vulnerable she felt. What she didn't see coming was how great the pain would be. But Galinda stayed by her side throughout it all.
"Oh, God—" Elphaba murmured through gritted teeth. Tears stung her eyes as the dabbed at the wounds on her stomach, chest, arms and legs. Galinda stayed right there, rubbing her back and murmuring soothing words to her.
"Shh, it's alright," She said softly, trying to comfort her friend. "It's almost over, Elphie, you're doing great."
It was over and Elphaba was given something, some kind of herb that would take the pain away and something that would help to bring her fever down. Elphaba lay on the mattress in the Infirmary, asleep, with Galinda beside her. Elphaba had fallen asleep with her head in Galinda's lap, with her friend gently and soothingly rubbing her back. It was what Galinda could think to do. When she was sick, her momsie always say with her and rubbed her back until she fell asleep. She could only think to do the same for Elphaba.
"This will all be over soon, Elphie, I promise, and I'll be right here with you, I promise," She told her sleeping friend, making that promise. She knew Elphaba would do the same for her. She'd done it so many times, being there for Galinda in her time of need. Galinda just felt like finally she was able to do her part.