Here's where the nerd in me really takes over.

Disclaimer: Last time I checked, I didn't own Wicked.

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Elphaba felt dizzy as Glinda carefully led the horse through the labyrinth of the woods in Kiamo Ko. Both women sat upon the saddle, Elphaba in front of Glinda, reclining into her chest as Glinda held the reins. They had been traveling for nearly four hours straight, and the pain from the stab wound had certainly not subsided, and stung with each step the horse took. The world about Elphaba seemed to swirl as she became increasingly light headed.

"Glinda," Elphaba whimpered. "Can you please…examine my wound?"

Glinda's heart sank at the sound of the ailing voice of the once proud and haughty Elphaba Thropp. It was an alien experience for her. "Of course Elphie. Just give me a clock tick to stop this horse." With a pull of the reins Glinda brought the steed to a halt and hopped off of the saddle. She offered a hand to Elphaba, helping the green woman to carefully ease her feet onto the ground. Elphaba stumbled to gain her composure, and clearly was not achieving any proper balance. Glinda ducked under Elphaba's shoulder to support her weight, and eyed a soft patch of grass nearby which could serve as a bed.

"Lay down here my love." Glinda said softly as she guided Elphaba toward it and knelt to pat down the soft green blades with her hand. Elphaba reclined on her back, hissing as she made contact with the damp grass. A few fleeting kisses later, Glinda gently eased Elphaba's dress and petticoat up, yelping softly at a small sensation between her legs as she took in the sight of Elphaba's toned albeit slightly bloodstained legs. Her trance was broken upon discovering the makeshift bandage completely impregnated with blood.

"Elphaba, this bandage is positively soaked. Nearly five hours have passed and you're still bleeding!"

Elphaba emitted a low sigh. "I had a notion that I was losing a lot of blood. I certainly feel sapped of my strength. We don't have a lot of time."

"What do we do!?" Shouted Glinda amidst saturated eyes.

"First, remove this bandage please, love. I think…it is doing more…harm than good." The green woman murmured, struggling a little with each breath of air.

Glinda swallowed hard and complied. She took the dagger from her rucksack, and gently cut the fabric and slowly peeled it off of the wound. Glinda held up the sopping dressing with her mouth agape as if the cloth were alive. Glinda prodded the wound gently with her finger. It's so…deep! Elphaba's otherwise emerald skin was barely visible under the black soupy mess of fresh and coagulated blood. This and the wound made her torso look like raw meat being prepared for a feast. Tears fell from Glinda's eyes and she swiftly caught them before they could have landed on the gash. Tossing the wrap away, Glinda eased down onto the patch of grass next to Elphaba, resting her head in the crook of Elphaba's neck. Glinda felt herself calm by the metronomic beat of Elphaba's carotid artery against her cheek. She placed soft kisses on Elphaba's neck, causing the green girl to purr.

The both laid together in silence for a while, watched over by the setting sun. Elphaba turned and placed a kiss on Glinda's lips. She smiled at the blonde with misty eyes.

"Glinda there is, something I have to confess to you…and it isn't going to make this situation any better." She breathed.

Glinda nodded softly and braced herself for the worst.

Elphaba swallowed hard. "I am a…hemophiliac. Only mildly, but still I am one."

Glinda sat there with a vacant expression, mouth slack, and an eyebrow lifted in apparent confusion. "You love…what?"

"No my sweet, I was born with Hemophilia. It is a…medical condition. My blood doesn't clot properly."

Apparently Elphaba's attempt to clarify was still hung way over the blonde woman's head. Glinda still retained the confounded expression on her face. "It doesn't…clot…properly?"

"Lurline bless poor Doctor Dillamond's soul!" Elphaba sighed. "My sweet, whenever you hurt yourself and bleeding occurs, what eventually forms?"

Glinda thought for a moment. "Oh those ugly, dreadful scabs!"

"Yes, those dreadful scabs prevent us from bleeding to death and contracting infection. Our body can heal itself."

"Elphie, a wound such as this would require stitches, would it not?"

"Yes, Glinda…yes it would. But my bleeding does not stop for a long time, so I run risks of losing a lot of blood. For a normal person, the pressure you had applied with your, makeshift, bandage would have helped the bleeding subside. Alas, that isn't enough for me I'm afraid."

"That is ludicrous! How did you treat something like that in the past??"

"Well dear old Doctor Dillamond explained to me why exactly my blood is so different from others. As if there weren't enough erroneous traits that made me different." Elphaba chided. "The Professor taught me how to perform what he liked to call 'factor replacement therapy'. I obtained the components that my blood was lacking, since I was born without them, from chemists who had extracted it from anonymous donors. Under the watchful eye of the Professor at first, I would inject it every few weeks or so, since I wasn't in a dire need for it. Small scrapes and cuts would bleed longer than the average person but I could still survive it just fine." She trailed for a moment as she looked upon the gash in her side. "However, I've never suffered…a wound quite like this one before."

Dumbfounded, Glinda tried to compute all that Elphaba had just imparted on her. "Well then…that adds a whole new…dimension to things doesn't it? Where does one get this…component?"

Elphaba grew increasingly tired as this exchange continued. "That isn't the problem right now…I need more blood…a transfusion, if you will." She heaved. "I also need someone to check for any hemorrhaging that may have occurred. It hurts to much for me to bend in a way for me to observe with my own eyes I'm afraid."

Glinda felt her heart race. "Where does one just get some blood?? Can't we just slaughter a…cow in a field or something? Or go to a butcher! Lurline! As if this couldn't get any worse." A green hand across her mouth silenced her.

"You never paid any attention to Doctor Dillamond did you my sweet?" said Elphaba softly with a slight grin, followed by a quick kiss. "Don't stress your pretty head worrying right now my love. In fact…I think I know of a place were we might be safe, and I might be able to obtain some care without being immediately thrown in the gallows."

"Great. A delay in incarceration. And now where might that be!?" said Glinda, exasperated.

"The Cloister of Saint Glinda to be precise." Was the simple response.