A/N: I apologise for the wait, as usual xD. Hopefully I'll break this habit soon, but no guarantees, as exams and crap are coming up soon.
This chapter's dedicated to all you lovely reviewers who make writing worthwhile. -end sappiness-.
Oh, also, depending on which route I want to take (I have a definite story line in mind, but I can either end it very soon or later) the story's either halfway over or close to it orrrr it'll be quite long. Depends.
Oh, and random fact: this chapter's exactly the same length as last chapter. 2929 words.
Making Good
Three rapid knocks sounded at the door. Surprised, Elphaba looked up from the book she was reading. Who would possibly be calling this early in the morning? Nessa couldn't have climbed the stairs up to the dormitories by herself; even if so, she had been avoiding Elphaba for the past few days, perhaps out of embarrassment. And as far as she knew, Glinda was still ill and was showing no signs of improvement…. There was no one else she could think of that could be looking for her.
Those thoughts in mind, she closed her book, marking the page she stopped at, and crawled to the door. Madame Morrible's face, now horribly familiar, simpered back at her. "Miss Elphaba. Do you have any important appointments you need to attend to at the moment?"
Elphaba blinked, confused. What would Morrible want to talk to her about? Surely she'd have given up on the Wizard situation already and they had both already agreed it was best not to continue practicing sorcery until Glinda recovered. "No, Madame," she replied slowly.
"Good," Morrible said, her grin stretching. "Would you care to accompany me to the infirmary, then?"
Startled, Elphaba immediately began to worry. "Of course, Madame," she quickly responded, exiting her dormitory and closing the door behind her. "Is anything wrong?"
Morrible gave a short bark of laughter. "Oh, no, nothing more than the usual, don't you fret, dearie. I'll explain on the way over."
Elphaba fell into step with her headmistress, their pace swift and sure as they headed out the girls' dormitories.
"Now, as I'm sure you know by now, none of the victims of this horrendible disease are showing any signs of recovery thus far," Madame Morrible started, a long-suffering expression pasted on her face. "And I appreciate your concern for Miss Glinda's wellbeing should she wake up-"
"When," Elphaba interrupted quietly.
Morrible stopped walking as she tried to grasp what the girl had said. "Excuse me? I didn't quite catch that."
Elphaba flushed. "You said 'should she wake up'. I just think 'when she wakes up' would be more… appropriate," she stammered through her embarrassment.
"Oh. Yes, of course," Morrible said, reddening as she brushed the slip off and continued walking. "Anyhow, we must accept the fact that Miss Glinda might not get better. At least not right away," she added hastily. "We need to address the issue that you need to continue training your sorcery abilities. So, I decided that while I was going down to the infirmary to see if I could do anything about those sick, you could join me. Perhaps, together, we could find a cure."
Now it was Elphaba who stopped mid-step, gazing at Morrible in wonderment. "I could help cure them?"
Morrible grinned. "You'd certainly be making good if you could, my dear."
Elphaba began walking faster, now in even more of a hurry to get to the infirmary. Finally, if something good could happen, maybe these magical powers wouldn't be such a curse after all. Maybe she could finally make her father proud.
Maybe she could finally be proud of herself.
Her anticipation seemed to grow with each step; the closer they found themselves to the infirmary, the harder it became to restrain herself from breaking out into a full-on run. Why was she taking so long? Each second was precious time they were wasting.
However, the student and her headmistress finally approached the ominous double doors that signified the entrance to the hospital ward. "Madame," Elphaba asked, turning to the older woman, "who are we going to try healing first?"
"Miss Upland," Morrible replied simply.
Elphaba let out a relieved sigh. Though she wasn't one to complain- well, she wasn't one to complain when things were going her way, at least- she was curious as to Morrible's logic.
Before Elphaba even had the time to formulate her thoughts in a way that wouldn't insult her headmistress, Morrible seemed to answer her unasked questions. "If y- we should succeed, if Miss Glinda improves, and if she should be up to it, she could aid us in healing the ill."
Elphaba didn't miss the quickly-covered word that nearly slipped from Morrible's lips. Did she expect Elphaba to do this solo? Oh well- that didn't particularly matter right now. She set her jaw in a determined line and pushed the doors open, heading straight for Glinda's cot. Once she reached her feverish roommate, however, she found she had absolutely no idea as to what she was supposed to do. She looked to Morrible, feeling foolish. "Madame, how am I supposed to do this?"
Morrible smiled toothily. "Take Miss Glinda's hand in yours and try to clear your thoughts."
Elphaba nodded as she dragged a chair to the side of Glinda's cot. With a heavy sigh, she clasped Glinda's clammy hand and joined their fingers, wrapping her free hand around their intertwined hands. She sighed before settling into the chair as comfortably as she could, closing her eyes in an attempt to block off the sounds and sights of her surroundings.
"Just focus." Morrible's voice was too shrill, too invading. Elphaba tried to force it out of her mind, instead focusing on the sound of her pounding heartbeat. There, that was a cry from a nearby hallucinating patient. This was too hard; everything was so loud, so distracting.
A pitiful whimper from the unconscious Glinda set Elphaba's determination in place. Slowly, she sighed and tried again. Breathe in… two, three, four, five, six, seven. Hold… two, three, four, five, six, seven. Breathe out… two, three, four, five, six, seven. Could anyone else hear her heartbeat? Surely it sounded like Elephants thundering to someone else besides her. In… two, three, four, five, six, seven. Hold… two, three, four, five, six, seven. Out… two, three, four, five, six, seven….
After what seemed like eons, Elphaba found herself in a dead silence broken only by her own roaring heart and rattling breath. Without opening her eyes, fearing it would break her sudden concentration, she attempted to "look" at the magical connection that had been established through her meditation.
She couldn't see anything… only darkness.
The next time Elphaba opened her eyes, the infirmary was gleaming with what was left of the setting sun's light. Groggily, she tried to open her mouth to speak; only a hoarse croak emitted. She coughed raggedly, feeling as though someone had drugged and beaten her.
She must have been making some noise, though, for Madame Morrible soon appeared by the cot's side. "Oh, Miss Elphaba, you're awake!"
Elphaba winced. Her headmistress's voice was piercing enough without a splitting migraine. She began to speak again, only to have another rasp emit.
"Ah, of course." Without any explanation, Morrible disappeared, returning with a glass of iced tea. "Drink up, my dear."
After the tea was downed, Elphaba smiled half-heartedly and mumbled her thanks. "What happened?" she asked roughly.
Morrible smiled sympathetically (or that was only what Elphaba could assume; the woman's face looked distorted). "That always happens when one casts a rather large spell. And- I can only assume, as healing never has been my forte- I would think that using your powers to heal another human would only drain your strength even further."
Somehow, it wasn't surprising. Instead, Elphaba focused her attention to the still-unconscious Glinda. "It didn't work, did it?" It was more of an apologetic statement than a question.
"Oh, I wouldn't assume that," Morrible said, a shadow of doubt crossing her face only to be replaced by a smirk. "Healing spells always take a while to take effect. Of course," she continued melancholically, "this was only your first time trying a larger spell. There's a very good chance it didn't work. You did your best, dear."
Elphaba covered a grimace before thanking her headmistress. "It's obviously late," she explained, "so I'd best be getting back to my dormitory."
Morrible nodded. "Of course. Thank you, Miss Elphaba, for trying to help today."
The enunciation of 'trying' was more than infuriating. As Elphaba got to her feet, the whole room began to spin. Irritated, she clutched to the side of Glinda's bed until the spinning was reduced to a minimum. Well, she thought, this'll take me a while to get back to my dormitory.
Unfortunately, the moment she made her way out of the infirmary, she was greeted with a sight that could only make the situation more aggravating: Fiyero. Elphaba cringed, hoping he didn't see her.
He did. "Haven't seen you in a while," he started amiably, before noticing the state she was in. "Lurline, are you alright, Elphaba?"
"Perfectly fine," she managed through gritted teeth. His concern was very… grating, for some reason.
His eyebrows furrowed. "You don't seem like it... What were you doing in the infirmary?"
She sighed. "I was trying to help cure Glinda."
"What?" Fiyero sputtered, obviously surprised. "You can heal people?"
Elphaba's irritation went up a notch. "Madame Morrible seems to think so," she said snappily as she tried to edge her way around him.
He noticed. "What are you doing?" he asked, a hint of worried amusement apparent in his voice.
"I'm trying to get to my dormitory. And you're in the way, thank you very much," she crossly replied.
Fiyero didn't move. "And you think you can make it yourself?" he asked incredulously, ignoring her vehement reply. "Honestly, Elphaba, look at you: you can barely stand without swaying on the spot." Without another word, he placed a hand on her waist and attempted to help her stand straight.
She moved out of the way immediately. "What are you doing?" she snapped, trying to hide her furiously blushing cheeks.
He returned his hand to her waist and promptly said, "What does it look like? I'm trying to help you to your dormitory."
She swatted it away once more. "Trying would be the operative word," Elphaba said irritably. "Why?"
"Because we're friends." It was more of a question than a statement.
Momentarily distracted and flustered by the tone in which he was asking, she looked away. "I suppose, but still."
Fiyero used her temporary distraction to slip his hand around her waist once more despite her irritated remarks. "If you don't like it," he said lightly but with finality, "I could carry you instead."
She scoffed. "You most certainly will not." She didn't, however, try and shrug away when he placed his hand on her waist again as she began to move down the hallway. "Stubborn," she said, more exhausted than irritated now.
"Only when I must," he replied, grinning. They were moving a lot faster than expected, but with the movement came silence. So, Fiyero did what he usually did to break the silence: he asked the first thing that popped into his mind. "Have you ever had a boyfriend?"
Startled by the abrupt change in subject, Elphaba tried to whirl around to face him; however, it only resulted in making her even dizzier. After she had regained her balance, she tried to answer with what little composure she had left. "Why?"
It was Fiyero's turn to struggle to hide a small blush. "Sorry. No particular reason. I was just wondering what in the world you did when some poor boy decided he was going to try to carry your books in an attempt to impress you," he trailed off lamely, trying to cover his awkwardness with a very fake-sounding cough.
Elphaba forced a laugh. "Well, lucky for me, I've never had to determine a creative way of torturing said kind of poor boy. No sane boy would want to carry my books anyway," she joked with an inkling of self-loathing underlying her words.
"I believe you underestimate yourself, Miss Elphaba," Fiyero said with a smile. Sensing her discomfort, he changed the subject. "So do you think Glinda will be okay, then?"
She sighed and responded bitterly, "I honestly don't know. I've never healed anyone before and Morrible didn't help much."
Fiyero offered her a half-hearted smile. "Well, you did the best you could and I'm sure she'll appreciate it once she wakes up. No one was expecting anything of you."
"I expected it of me," she said crossly. She unenthusiastically scuffed her foot on the ground, but her dizziness and unsteadiness caused her to trip.
Fiyero noticed her falling too late to catch her; Elphaba landed in a heap on the floor.
"Damn," she muttered embarrassedly.
He bit back a smile and helped her up. "Such ugly words from such a pretty mouth," he teased. Immediately he felt the air cool as she jerked away from him again irritably.
"Thank you for helping me to my dormitory, Master Fiyero, but I'm sure I can manage the last few feet alone," Elphaba said calmly, her voice carrying an eerie tinge of agitation.
"Master Fiyero?" he repeated, keeping his hold on her waist and shoulder steady. "Since when have you been one to use an honorific?"
She tried to escape his grasp but he instead questioned her again. "Elphaba, are you alright? Did I say something wrong?"
"I'm perfectly fine. Now if you would please let me go, I'm sure I could manage a few feet without assistance."
When he still didn't let go of her, she stomped on his foot crossly, causing him to release her in surprise. "For Lurline's sake, what's gotten into you?" he asked, irritation and confusion lacing his voice.
"Nothing," she muttered before marching the path to the dormitory quickly, albeit shakily, leaving an utterly and hopelessly perplexed Fiyero standing in the empty hallway behind her.
"Oh."
That was the only rational expression that came to the forefront of the Munchkin's mind when he entered the infirmary. He had been visiting Glinda religiously ever since she had fallen ill, and the day-to-day basis of the visits were continually the same: he would always bring some sort of gift, whether it be a book he thought she'd enjoy should she awake or a bunch of flowers like he currently held. She'd always be unconscious, though every once in a while, sporadic and violent hallucinations would cause the blonde to quiver in her comatose state. Every time he visited, there'd be someone else in a bed nearby but never any visitors; it seemed all of Shiz dreaded going near the ill for the fear that the disease was airborne. However, today was slightly different: Glinda's breaths were even and calm and she had a visitor: Fiyero.
"Sorry," Boq muttered quickly, face flushing a deep red. He turned to leave the infirmary, but suddenly remembered the flowers in his hand and awkwardly returned to Glinda's cot. He removed the old flowers from the vase, throwing them away in the nearby trashcan before placing the newer flowers in their place. There was another uncomfortable moment of silence between Fiyero and Boq before the latter said, "I'll just leave, then."
Fiyero grinned sheepishly and said, "No, stay." As if to demonstrate his certainty, he grabbed another seat from a few beds down and placed it beside his own. "Is it really that much of a shock that I'm here?"
"I- no, I mean- you- she-" It was apparent Boq was trying to say something but the general gist of the sentence was lost on Fiyero, who instead offered another awkward smile.
"Breathe, Boq; I'm not going to eat you."
Boq delicately sat down in the offered seat and silence reigned once more. After a few more moments of unbearable tension, the Munchkin decided uneasy conversation- anything, really- was better than this suffocating silence. "So, how many times have you actually been in here to see Glinda?" he managed to stammer out.
It was Fiyero's turn to blush. He grimaced and replied, "This is actually the first time I've been here. I don't know why I didn't come but after I ran into Elphaba yesterday and she told me everything that was going on, I decided it was probably for the better."
"What did Elphaba say?" Boq asked, intrigued as to what could entice the Winkie prince to visit an unconscious schoolgirl.
Fiyero looked up, startled. "Oh. She just said Morrible tried to help her heal Glinda or something. She was dead exhausted when I ran into her is all I know."
"Heal her?" Boq got to his feet, examining Glinda more carefully. "Did it work?" he asked hopefully.
"Your guess is as good as mine. You think it would've worked by now, though," Fiyero murmured, his voice trailing off.
They sat there lost in their idle discussion for a little while longer but Glinda showed no further signs of waking up. However, the sounds of a frustrated exchange a few metres away from Glinda's cot caused their conversation to lag for a few brief moments.
"It won't fit," one voice proclaimed crossly.
"Well," responded someone who sounded horribly like Madame Morrible, "pick her up out of her wheelchair, then. Oh for pity's sake, she's not made of glass; she won't break if you touch her."
Fiyero's gaze met Boq's at the same instance and their thoughts seemed to be reflecting one another's: wheelchair?
In response, a nurse walked past them a few moments later. She was carrying a seizing Nessarose, who looked oddly feeble without the structure of the wheelchair surrounding her as usual.
Boq stood up immediately, his face looking pale and discomforted. "Is she alright?" he asked the nurse, knowing the answer already.
"No," she replied curtly, drawing the curtain around the cot and effectively shutting Nessa out of sight.
Kay, once more, review replies :o.
X-Kate-X: Wow xD. I'm terribly sorry you had to read it again D:. And putting it on alert too, how horrible for you and me.
Thanks for notifying me about the sarcasm, by the way; I never would have guessed it. Sarcasm eludes me most of the time. As you can obviously see.
OMG it's WickedJelly: Lovely screenname change, by the way; forgot to mention it. I should so change my penname to "Meltalviel Never Updates". But anyway. You already know your reviews make me laugh, so let's not go over that again :). Hopefully this chapter's review shall as well -hint, hint?- :D.
Sparkling Patronus: Welllll. Glinda or Fiyero won't die, but I shan't say anything else. The hallucinations will tie in later, though, especially should I decide not to be lazy and go the long route.
Dyani: Have I mentioned I love you? ;-;. Your reviews make me feel special. ...Well, more special than I already am.
justcallmeelphie: Well. I kinda did something like that up here? I already had that planned, but you should feel special for suggesting it :).
Special thanks to all of you and to Niagra Falling (Didn't email you this one, it's been so long o.o. Should I keep emailing you, by the way?), Solarity, LostOzian and all you special people who read and didn't review :). So pah you don't get yer name on here in bold. Now what.
Happy early birthday to meeee. If you want to make me happy, review please :D.