AN: Ugh, finally. Couldn't update anything into my Doc Manager all day ;_;. But now here it is! Was this fast enough? :)

Thank you all so much for your lovely reviews, by the way!

BlueD: noted :P. Both the reviewing thing (which I like) and the birthday (I'll have a chapter ready to dedicate to you)!

PocketSevens: um... yeah. I think you need to do just that :3. Again. Or maybe not. No death threats yet, so I think I'm safe... for now.


Chapter 9.

"Okay, here's what we need to do," Jermain said urgently after Kristoff had carried Anna inside and laid her down on a bed. "Judging by the angle and location of her shot wound, I think the bullet must have pierced a vital organ."

Kristoff made an odd noise in his throat and Elphaba placed a comforting hand on his arm. "We're going to help her, Kristoff." She looked at Jermain. "Aren't we?"

The prince took one look at Kristoff's pale face; then at Elsa, who looked about ready to either faint or burst into tears; and he nodded firmly. "We're going to try our best." He looked at the raven-haired witch. "Is there a healing spell in the Grimmerie?" he asked her.

"I'll look for one," she promised, after which she ran off to get the large spell book.

"Kristoff," Jermain said. "I need hot water. Elsa, could you get me some towels?"

They both hurried off, returning quickly with the requested things. Elphaba came running back into the room as well, the Grimmerie in her arms.

"I found a spell that might help," she said breathlessly. "I'll need to alter it a little, but I think that if I use the power of the Grimmerie and combine it with my own magic powers, it should work. It will only heal her internal injuries, though," she warned him. "Not the wound itself – just the damage the bullet has done to her organs."

Jermain nodded brusquely. "Alright. We can work with that." He ordered Elsa to cover a nearby table with towels, which she quickly did; and the prince lifted Anna up and laid her down on the towels. The table was a little smaller than a normal dining table, but it was still big enough for Anna to fit on. More importantly, it was the right height, so that Jermain could reach everything swiftly instead of having to bend over all the time.

He ripped open Anna's dress near the bullet wound. Elsa whimpered softly when she saw the wound, and Elphaba laced her fingers with the snow queen's and squeezed softly.

"She'll be okay," she said softly. "Really. Jermain knows what he's doing, Elsa."

"How…" Elsa swallowed. "How do you know all this?" she asked Jermain. There was a catch in her voice and her fingers were shaking as she ran them through her hair.

"Gale Force," he replied curtly, working on clearing the area around Anna's wound and cleaning it with the water. Anna moaned softly, but she was clearly still unconscious; her face was pale, her eyes were closed, and her breathing was shallow.

"We all had to take medical training," Jermain explained while he worked. "We learnt about different parts of the human anatomy and we were taught what to do when one of us got hurt. There were different procedures for different kinds of injuries – varying from stab and shot wounds to burns and from the stomach and abdominal area to head injuries. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"I know," Elsa said in a small voice. "I trust you."

The Vinkun prince looked up, looking from Elphaba, to Elsa, to Kristoff, and back again. "Listen to me," he said solemnly. "To keep Anna alive, I'm going to need all of your help."

Kristoff nodded, still looking pale. "Of course."

"Can I help?" Olaf, whom no-one had even noticed come into the room, asked a little shyly.

Jermain smiled quickly at the snowman. "Sorry, Olaf," he said apologetically. "To be completely honest… you can't even reach the table."

Olaf looked down, his face falling. "Oh, yeah."

"But if you could get me some more towels and a few smaller pieces of cloth," Jermain suggested, "that would be great."

Olaf brightened at that and nodded. "I'm on my way!" With that, he quickly padded off.

Jermain looked at Kristoff. "I'm going to remove the bullet from her abdomen," he said. "I need you to keep her still while I'm doing that."

Kristoff pressed his lips together until they formed a thin line. Then he nodded.

"I can do that."

"You need to keep her really still," Jermain warned him. "If she moves, I could accidentally hit another organ and that's the last thing we want right now. Hold her very, very still. Understood?"

Kristoff nodded again, more forcefully than the last time. "I can do this," he said. "Really."

"Alright then." Jermain looked at the girls. "Elphaba," he said. "The moment I remove the bullet, I need you to get over here and cast that healing spell. There's going to be a lot of blood and if we let her bleed for too long, she might die of blood loss. We don't want that."

"Obviously." Elphaba moved closer to the table, though she was careful not to stand in Jermain or Kristoff's way. "I'm ready."

"Elsa," Jermain said, putting pressure on Anna's wound. The girl whimpered and moaned again in pain, but she did not wake up. Kristoff stroked her hair, whispering reassuring words to her.

The prince looked up, only to find Elsa standing completely frozen, staring at her sister's pale face.

"Elsa!" he said sharply and her head snapped around.

"What?"

"Stay with me here," he said gruffly. "I need your full attention for this, okay?"

She swallowed, but nodded. "Okay. What do you want me to do?"

"Cool her down," he said. "I need you to do that right now. It will thicken her blood, meaning it will be less likely that she should die of blood loss; and it will make her less conscious of what is happening, thus decreasing the amount of pain she's bound to experience. I need you to cool her down, Elsa, and I need you to do it now. Before the bullet causes so much damage that we can't save her anymore."

Elsa blinked at him, mouth slightly agape. "But… but I can't…"

"Yes, you can," Jermain said firmly. "You have to." He locked his eyes with hers. "I have faith in you."

She took a deep breath. "Okay."

"Don't freeze her," Jermain said, warning her one last time. "Just cool her off. Can you do that?"

"I think so." Elsa closed her eyes, focusing on her love for her sister, knowing now that love was the key to correct use of her powers. She imagined cooling Anna down, slowly, degree by degree, very slowly, draining the warmth from her body…

"Stop," Jermain said suddenly. He was feeling Anna's forehead. "That's enough." He looked up for a moment and smiled at Elsa. "You did great."

She slumped in a chair, unable to hold herself up any longer as she watched Jermain work on her sister.

As he removed the bullet, Kristoff had a hard time keeping Anna still. Despite the fact that she was unconscious and even less aware of the pain because of the decrease in her body heat, it obviously still hurt. Kristoff had to hold her down by practically lying over her, keeping her from thrashing.

Jermain worked carefully, yet quickly, scrunching his nose up in concentration as his fingers searched for the bullet inside Anna's body. Anna whimpered. Jermain pulled the bullet out, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Elphaba," he said, and she immediately rushed forward, the Grimmerie in her outstretched hands.

"Ah Nem Vulnus Sangra Malum," she chanted softly and quickly, "Eleka Calda Sangra Ah Tum Ne Dolor Signum Eh Sana."

Immediately, the blood flow from Anna's bullet wound dramatically decreased as the tissue inside her abdomen quickly healed itself, recovering from the damage the bullet had caused inside of her. Blood still trickled out of the wound itself, but Jermain quickly stitched that up, working swiftly to close up the wound as neatly as possible before cutting the wire and putting everything down, taking a few deep breaths.

"That's it," he said. "That's all we can do."

Elphaba sank down onto a couch, her energy drained because of the use of her magical powers. Kristoff sat down next to her, still looking so pale he was almost grey.

"Will she make it?" he croaked. He and Elsa both looked at Jermain hopefully, waiting for an answer.

The prince shrugged helplessly. "I don't know," he said. "There's no way to tell. I don't know how bad the damage was and I don't know for sure what the effect of Elphaba's healing spell has been. We're just going to have to wait and see."

Elsa closed her eyes for a moment. Kristoff sagged against the back of the couch, looking more tired than any of the others had ever seen him. Olaf plopped down on the floor at Kristoff and Elphaba's feet, the expression on his face sad instead of cheerful for once.

"Elsa," Jermain said softly, making the white-haired girl jump.

The prince pointed at Anna, who was shivering now, her lips a little blue. "I think we need to heat her up again. Can you do that or shall I do it the old-fashioned way?"

Elsa gave him a questioning look, at which he clarified, "A big fire and some thick blankets."

She shook her head. "I can do it," she said. She slowly moved closer to her unconscious sister, concentrating. As the colour returned to Anna's cheeks and the girl stopped shivering, Elsa reached out to smooth some hair away from Anna's brow, the touch of her slim fingers light.

"I'm sorry, Anna," she whispered. "Please be alright."

Jermain, who had been washing his hands, now gave her a reassuring smile. He dried his hands on one of the unused towels before walking over to Elsa and drawing her into his arms. "Don't worry, Elsa," he said soothingly, guiding her head to rest against his shoulder. "We've done everything we could. And don't be sorry. It's not your fault."

"It is, though," she whispered. "She's my little sister. If I don't protect her, then who will?"

"No," said Kristoff, his head hanging down. "It's my fault. I didn't keep a close enough eye on her. I allowed her to come with me as we went to stop the Ozian army and I shouldn't have. I should have made her stay behind…"

"Knowing her, she would just have followed you on her own," Elphaba noted, "which would have been far more dangerous."

Kristoff raised his head to look at her. "What are you saying?"

She shrugged. "It's not your fault," she said. "It's not Elsa's fault, either. It's no-one's fault… alright, maybe the soldier who actually shot her could be held accountable," she acknowledged, "and I would blame the Wizard, too, since he started this whole war in the first place. But neither of you have any part in Anna getting hurt. These things just happen. Just like I couldn't save the Animals…" Elphaba fidgeted, looking down. "Like I couldn't save Boq… and also not my sister, in a way…" She shook her head. "I just mean to say that some things happen for no reason at all. Things you couldn't have prevented. That doesn't make them your fault."

Silence settled across the room for some time as they all thought about what the green-skinned witch had said.


"Are you okay?" Jermain asked Elsa quietly.

They were sitting next to each other in a sitting room adjoining to the room where Anna was in. They could just see the girl through the open door; she was still unconscious, but Kristoff had stayed by her side at all times.

Elsa sighed and shrugged slightly. "I guess," she said, biting her lip. "I just…" She couldn't really find the words to express how she was feeling. She was scared – terrified, actually – and she felt guilty, and she was sad and angry and…

Luckily, Jermain seemed to understand, for he just put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed softly, nuzzling her hair. "I know," he whispered. "I'm sorry."

"There's nothing for you to be sorry for." She sighed again and kicked off her shoes, curling up on the couch and snuggling into Jermain's side a little, seeking his warmth and his comfort. He drew her closer and she rested her head against his shoulder.

"Anna will be okay," Jermain said softly. "You just wait and see."

"I hope so." She looked over at Kristoff, who was clutching one of her sister's hands in his own as if it were his lifeline. He was talking to Anna, using his other hand to smooth her hair away from her forehead. He looked heartbroken – just like Elsa felt.

"Hey." Jermain cupped her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb as he made her look at him.

"Don't worry," he told her. "She'll be fine." He kissed her forehead. "We'll all be fine."

"I hope so," Elsa said quietly. Then she frowned a little. "Where is Elphaba?"

Jermain shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't seen her for a while now."

"I don't want her to be alone," said Elsa softly. "I mean… she's my sister." That still felt like a strange thing to say, but at the same time, it seemed to fit. "I know she was affected by all this, too."

Jermain smiled at her. "Feeling guilty again?"

She chuckled softly. "A little. I mean, Kristoff is with Anna, and you're here with me; and meanwhile, Fiyero is on his way to the Vinkus and Elphaba is all alone here."

"You're right." Jermain rose to his feet and offered Elsa his arm. "Let's find her, then. She's my sister, too, you know. Or, well, sister-in-law," he corrected himself.

Elsa looked up at him in surprise. "You're right!" she exclaimed. "I hadn't even thought of that."

They found Elphaba outside, sitting on top of the stairs leading up to the door and staring up at the night sky. The green girl looked up when she heard them coming.

"Hey," she said. "I figured you'd be inside, keeping an eye on Anna en being all cuddly together."

Elsa blushed furiously. "No! I mean… we were worried about you," she explained. "We didn't want you to be alone."

Elphaba laughed softly. "I'm not alone." She gestured towards Sven, who had plopped down next to her with his head in her lap, roaring happily; and Olaf, who was leaning against the reindeer, looking up at the stars.

Elsa smiled when she saw them. "I see."

"Is Anna okay?" Olaf asked.

"There's been no change," Jermain said. "We're just going to have to wait and see."

Elsa sat down beside Elphaba. "Do you miss him?" she asked quietly. "Fiyero?"

"Every second he's not with me," Elphaba said with a smile. "And honestly… I had never thought I would ever feel about someone that way." She got a faraway look in her eyes for a moment. "Not until he came barrelling into my life, nearly running me over in the process."

"Of course he did," Jermain muttered.

Elphaba gave him a grin before continuing. "So yes, I miss him," she said. "But it's okay."

Elsa eyed her curiously. "It is?"

"He's not in any danger," the dark-haired witch said simply. "Not right now, anyway. Even though he's not here, I know he's safe… and I know he loves me, too." She looked at Elsa. "That's the most important thing."

"Wow," Olaf said, clearly impressed. He was staring at Elphaba with wide eyes. "I was right! What you and Fiyero have is true love!"

Elphaba laughed. "Maybe," she acknowledged. "I don't really believe in that sort of thing."

Olaf gasped in shock. "You don't believe in true love?"

Elphaba scratched Sven between the ears, looking thoughtful. "I don't know," she said. "Maybe." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter now, though. Come on, let's get back inside – see if Anna is doing any better."

"I'll stay out here to keep Sven company," Olaf volunteered, and both girls smiled at him.

Then they turned and walked back into the palace.


One more thing: I just found out (yes, only today, which I feel bad about because it was published April 5th!) that tooOTPtofunction, one of my reviewers, has written a Wicked/Frozen one-shot! It's called 'Singing' and it fits perfectly into the Conceal, don't feel/Here we stand universe. It's really, really cool and sweet and fluffy and I suggest you all go and check it out! :)