Elphaba woke up to find Galinda snuggled up next to her. Carefully slipping out of the bed so as to not wake the blonde, she quickly got dressed and stood at the window, watching the sunrise. Tendrils of light began to creep their way into the sky, turning the pitch-black darkness to a dark blue, and then the normal lighter blue.
There were footsteps and Elphaba turned to see Galinda limping towards her. The swelling of her knee had gone down considerably, although she could tell that it was still sore.
"What are you doing up so early?" Galinda asked as Elphaba hurried over to her, supporting her as she limped over to a chair and sat down.
"I always get up early," Elphaba said, pulling up another chair and sitting across from her. "I'm sorry if I woke you."
"No, it's fine," Galinda said.
They were both quiet, and then: "Galinda, can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah, sure," Galinda said.
"What was last night?" she asked. "I mean…what are we? Are we just friends or are we…something more?"
Galinda stared and Elphaba continued frantically, getting up and starting to pace. "We both said that we love each other, but…are we taking that farther? I mean, I want to, but…you don't have to, I don't want to force you into anything…"
"Elphaba, you mean…you want to be…to be my, uh, my girlfriend?" Galinda asked hesitantly, blushing and staring down at her lap.
"Yeah, I mean, do you want to?" Elphaba asked in turn.
"Can I try something?" Galinda whispered.
Elphaba stopped pacing and looked at the blonde, nodding almost imperceptibly.
Galinda walked over to her, running her hands up her arms to her elbows and grasping her forearms, standing on her toes and leaning in towards the green girl. She gently brushed her lips against Elphaba's and both girls jumped back when a shock ran though their bodies.
Touching her lips, Elphaba stared at Galinda. "What was that?" she whispered.
"I don't know," Galinda replied, eyes wide.
They both stepped towards each other and they gently pressed their lips together, gasping when another shock ran though them. Elphaba gulped and stepped back.
"What is this feeling?" she asked quietly.
Galinda laced their hands together. "It's love."
"Love?" Elphaba asked.
"I love you," Galinda whispered.
"And I love you, too," Elphaba said. "But…but what are we going to do about the rest of Oz? I mean, a relationship like this isn't exactly…well, a lot of people don't approve. Your social reputation would be ruined."
"Well, I don't really care what the rest of Oz thinks," Galinda said, leaning into Elphaba.
The green girl wrapped her arm around the blonde. "My father…and my sister…" Elphaba whispered. "They would hate me. But…but I love you. I either please them and lose you, or I love you and lose them."
Galinda stepped back. "I understand," she whispered, tears in her eyes. "Family always comes first…"
"No!" Elphaba exclaimed, pulling Galinda back into an embrace. "I am not going to let them rule my life anymore. They can say whatever they want, I don't care."
"So…we're dating?" Galinda asked.
Elphaba smiled. "Yes," she whispered. "But I don't understand, do you want to be…open about our relationship? I don't mind either way."
"I don't want to have to hide anything from anyone," Galinda said. "A lot of people make fun of you, and I've barely been able to stand it before. I don't think I could endure it now that we're…together."
"I really don't care if they say things about me…" Elphaba started.
"They say horrible things that shouldn't eve be thought about," Galinda said. "It's rude, and mean, and if any professors heard them…no, I'm not going to listen to them anymore."
Galinda was getting really worked up, her eyes flashing in anger and her hands clenching into fists.
"Okay," Elphaba said soothingly, trying to calm her down. "You don't have to listen to them."
"So…are we going to go on a date?" Galinda asked excitedly, her mood changing drastically in only a few seconds.
"A date?" Elphaba asked. "I…don't know. I'll see what I can do."
Galinda hopped away from her, skipping into her closet to pick out an outfit. Elphaba shook her head, chuckling, and followed her inside to see her sitting down on the floor with a look of pain on her face, massaging her knee. She looked up at Elphaba with tears in her eyes, and the green girl sat down next to her.
"What can I do?" she whispered. "How can I help?"
"I need to get to the nurse's office to get an infusion," Galinda whimpered. "It'll help with the swelling, unless my blood has become resistant from the last time I went there. And my pain medication is still on my nightstand."
"Okay, I'll get the medication and you get dressed, okay?" Elphaba asked, and Galinda nodded, standing up and wobbling slightly. Elphaba stood quickly and steadied her. "On second thought, maybe I should stay here to make sure you don't collapse trying to find an outfit, and then go get the medication."
"I'll be fine," Galinda said, although Elphaba could tell she was struggling to keep the pain from showing on her face. She decided not to comment on it and walked out of the closet, grabbing the bottle of pills and going into the bathroom to pour a glass of water.
Grabbing a glass, she turned on the tap and held the glass underneath. After it finished filling up, she turned off the water and walked back into the main room. Galinda was dressed and sitting on her bed, looking through the things on her nightstand.
"I have the medication right here," Elphaba said, handing the glass of water and three pills. "Do you need anything before we go to the nurse's office?"
Galinda shook her head and then took the pills, downing the whole glass of water. Elphaba helped her stand and then grabbed her satchel, along with Galinda's books. "Are you going to be able to walk by yourself?" she asked worriedly.
"I'll be fine," Galinda laughed. "I've done this before, carrying all my books at the same time. I had to get up earlier than I usually did because I couldn't tell my friends about my hemophilia. So I couldn't have any of them helping me carry by books to the nurse's office. Come on."
She led the way out of the dorm room and Elphaba followed her, watching her carefully, not caring what the blonde said. There was a chance that Galinda could get seriously injured because of her knee, and she didn't want that to happen.
They arrived at the office without incident, although Galinda had a few close calls as she limped along the corridors, leaning on the wall for support. She opened the door to the office and she collapsed into a chair as the nurse behind the desk smiled sympathetically.
"You brought a friend with you this time," she remarked as Elphaba hesitantly walked it, sitting down next to Galinda and setting down her satchel and Galinda's books. "I told you your friends wouldn't abandon you if you told them that you had hemophilia."
Galinda stared at the nurse, wide-eyed. "This, um, is…this is, uh, Elphaba Thropp, my, um, girlfriend," she stuttered, averting her eyes on the word 'girlfriend.'
The nurse's smile widened. "Good for you," she said. "The doctor is ready for you, he was expecting you a little later, but he can take you right now. Would Miss Elphaba like to come with you?"
"Elphie, do you want to stay out here?" Galinda asked, turning to the green girl.
"What do you want me to do?" Elphaba asked. "I can stay out here if you don't want me in there with you, and I can go in if you do want me in with you."
"Come with me," the blonde said, standing up, and Elphaba stood with her, putting a supporting arm around her waist. They made their way after the nurse and into the exam room where a doctor was standing at a counter with a series of injections laying out on the counter.
"All of those in the same visit?" Elphaba whispered.
Galinda nodded. "It's fine," she whispered. "Some of it is the stuff that will help my blood clot, some of it will take down the swelling, and the rest will help with the pain. I get the injections two or three times a week. Today is just a few more."
"How are you doing today, Miss Upland?" the doctor asked, turning to Galinda. "Who's this? I am Doctor Ryes."
He held out his hand and Elphaba took it, shaking it firmly. "I'm Galinda's roommate," she said.
"And my girlfriend," Galinda volunteered, jumping onto the table and rolling up the sleeve of her blouse for the injections.
Elphaba blushed and looked away. The doctor laughed. "Go ahead and sit next to her," he said, picking up one of the injections. "She usually gets a little emotional during these visits, and there's never been anyone here to comfort her. I'm sure she'd appreciate some."
The green girl carefully sat next to Galinda and the blonde interlaced their fingers, squeezing her eyes shut as the doctor gave her the first injection. Five injections later, a few tears had leaked out from under her eyelids and Elphaba was gently wiping them away with the corner of her sleeve.
"It's okay," she whispered. "It's almost over, it'll be alright."
Galinda whimpered at the last shot and then snuggled up to Elphaba, who bundled her up into her arms, whispering comforting words in her ear and stroking her hair comfortingly. The doctor caught her eye and smiled at her, nodding encouragingly.
"You can go as soon as she's ready," he whispered. "Just make sure she can only take her medication every eight hours and not to take it for another four. Thank you for coming in here with her. You have no idea how much this means to her."
Elphaba just nodded and continued to comfort Galinda until she stopped crying and calmed down. "Are you ready to go get breakfast?" she whispered, drying her eyes with her sleeve. "Or do you want me to take you back to the room and just bring breakfast up myself?"
"Let's go down to the cafeteria," Galinda said, smiling slightly. "Thank you, Elphie, for not getting upset when I told the doctor and the nurse that…that we're…"
"Dating," Elphaba finished, also smiling. "Come on, we've still got the Pfannee, ShenShen, Milla, and all the others to face."
The blonde's face fell. "I had forgotten about them," she whispered.
"No matter what they say, I'll always be here for you," Elphaba said. "I'll be right there beside you. And if you want, we don't have to tell anyone, everything can go back to the way it was outside of our room."
Galinda shook her head. "I need to do this," she said.
"Okay," Elphaba said, standing with her and they kept their hands clasped together, walking out of the examination room, grabbing their stuff in the waiting room, and walking out of the door, going to face the world that would most likely ridicule and insult them for who they truly are.
I am really, really, really sorry for not updating for the past week. I have honestly been trying, but a combination of writer's block, drama, and life catching up to me has really set me back. It took me awhile to get this chapter out because of my writer's block and the lack of time I've had to write it. Thank you for being patient with me. I don't know when I'm going to be able to update next, but I'll try to as soon as I can. Please review, and thank you again for sticking with me!!!
ReallyObsessiveWriter