Elphaba, who was more aware of the fact she looked just exactly like what she'd been doing - i.e. messy hair, swollen lips, blushing face- decided to make herself scarce. She also was not anxious for Dr. Wynn to have a look at her in a pair of pajamas that said "Moo With Me!" On the front. Luke was one thing, but she didn't know Wynn nearly as well and though she felt confident he probably wouldn't laugh about her choice of apparel she got up and disappeared into the bedroom and, from there, the bathroom where she was intent on starting her usual morning routine for getting ready. She pulled her long hair back out of the way and cleaned herself head to toe with warmed oil from a dish that was left sitting on a candle warmer on the sink over night. When she felt refreshed she would comb out her hair to get rid of the tangles and then brush it a hundred strokes to make it look softer. Some mornings she left her hair down- though not usually- she knew he liked her hair even though he didn't mention it. He was always looking for an excuse to get near enough to her and lately she was beginning not to mind.
She entered the bathroom and staggered to the sink and pressed her hands against the cool marble top and closed her eyes, swallowing several times. There was a strange rush of feelings inside of her. She felt hot all over, but not in a bad way. Slowly she sunk to the floor and lifted her hands to her face, tipping her head back against the wall and closing her eyes. She allowed her imagination to run wild for a few moments. She allowed it to picture what might have happened if Dr. Wynn hadn't picked such a blasted awful time to come to the door. She wondered if they would have made love. She would be a fool not to consider the possibility... it had been heading in that direction hadn't it? Then again, she'd probably never know. Unless, when Wynn was gone... Her face flared with heat at the thought. This was ridiculous, perhaps he didn't even want to- though his actions told her otherwise.
Suddenly, the sound of soft, serious voices from the other room caught her attention. She noted the timbre of the voices. They didn't sound like a mentor and a student or two colleagues catching up on work. They sounded more solemn than that and she got up from the floor and walked across the room to slowly press her ear against the wall making it possible for her to listen in undetected. The wall felt cool against her hot face and she strained to hear more of the conversation going on in the next room. It sounded soft and warped- the way it sounds when you're listening to a long distance call over the telephone.
Luke had gone to the door and opened it. It wasn't until he saw the telltale expression on Wynn's face that he thought to check his appearance. Wynn gave him a look. "Ahem.. I can ... see I'm interrupting so .. I'll try to make this quick." He said, his voice was more grave than usual and Luke noted that his face looked pained and he moved into the room and shut the door behind Wynn running a quick hand up to his hair and trying to brush it down as much as possible to avoid it looking any sillier than it already did. He grabbed a random t-shirt off the back of a chair and forced it over his head. Wynn had the good grace not to laugh when the first attempt yielded him almost putting his head through the arm of the shirt in his nervousness before he got it right. "I.. don't see Elphaba." He said, the note in his voice hinted that he was digging for a little more information but that he wasn't going to outright ask. "Did she ... enjoy the party last night?"
Party last night? It seemed otherworldly to Luke. It felt like the night they'd gone to the barbeque and watched ET had been weeks ago instead of just the night before. So much had happened in the interim. "Yes, I think she did." Luke said. "She's um- cleaning up I think. She was still in her pajamas a minute ago." He said, almost as if trying to make it clear that Wynn hadn't caught them doing anything worse than kissing. It wasn't that he was ashamed of it, but more that he was mortified at being caught. At times Wynn was a friend and at times he was more like a father figure. It was the latter at the moment.
"Luke..." Wynn said with a sigh, taking a seat at the island. "Do you love her?"
Luke sighed and went to the kitchen stove and took the heated water off the back of it and unsteadily poured two cups of coffee, handing one of them to Wynn before he sat down across from the other doctor and tipped his own cup up to have a drink, scalding his tongue in the process. He set the cup down deliberately. "Why do you ask?" he inquired.
"No reason, really, I just.. was curious."
"Well, in that case." Luke sighed, "Yes, I think I do." He lifted one hand up and rubbed it against his temples as someone might do when they have a colossal headache coming on. Luke wished they could change the topic of conversation. Thinking about Elphaba wasn't helping the fact that he was highly aroused from the kissing on the sofa and thinking about Wynn in a bikini was not a very good idea at the moment given that the man was sitting two feet away from him - thankfully with a table in between the two of them!
"Good." Wynn said, simply.
"Doc.. you know me better than that. I'd never." He sighed. "Well I'm pretty sure that you know we were..."
"Kissing, yes." Wynn smirked. "Between all the medical texts and that goofy grin plastered all over your face."
Luke blushed cherry red and looked away. "I'd never lead her on if I didn't... feel something I mean." He tacked on for better understanding. He wrapped his hands around the coffee cup and stared off into the distance, face thoughtful. "Don't you understand why I told you I didn't want her case?" He asked, his voice pained. "I was so afraid of what I felt for her- even back then- I thought that if I didn't take her case I could run from what I felt. I thought that if you handled it then I could pretend that I ... well obviously the way I feel about her now and the way I felt about her then were very different, but.. I've had crushes before, Doc. I know what those are like. I've just.. never been in love before this." He said with a small sigh.
Wynn groaned softly. "I should have listened to you, Luke." He said. "This is all my fault. You said you had a good reason for not wanting the case. I should have believed you did straight up. Or at the very least I should've pushed further to find out why you were refusing it. My star doctor student, always there on time, always caring, working your tush off every day. I should've known that you wouldn't just turn down a case simply because she made an idiot out of you. I wasn't thinking and now.."
"Now what?" Luke asked.
"Now I've messed everything up." Wynn admitted, rubbing his own temples.
"What do you mean? Messed everything up?" Luke inquired. "Elphaba and I are alright. You just saw us at the Barbeque last night."
"I know and she's never looked better. She was positively glowing last night. I've never been more confident in my relationship with her than I am now." He said softly. "And she's improving rapidly. She's getting stronger every day, her.. her independence and her fire are coming back. She's getting her sarcastic edge back..." He trailed off, noting the look on Wynn's face. He looked even more pained, if that was possible.
"Luke.. Do you remember the day that you were sitting by Elphaba's bed and she was sleeping? It wasn't long after she woke up.. you were taking notes."
"Of course I remember." He said, easily. "Because that was the first day that I started trying to convince myself I had to give up her case because I thought I might feel something... other.. than you know.. patient doctor relationship. I'd rather give up her case than give her up entirely." He said.
"Well, this is." he sighed, "Hard. I don't know how to say this."
"Just.. whatever it is.. say it." Luke said with a sigh, beginning to get a feeling down in his gut that this was going to be bad. I don't know if you've ever received some really bad news or a hard let down, but often times right before the person delivers the news you get a little sick feeling down in your stomach that something really bad is going to happen. It was the same kind of feeling that Luke had right now.
"Dr. Dumas saw you. Dr. Dumas knows that she's been staying with you since her release from the hospital because Payne told him. I don't even know how Payne knew."
"Dr. Dumas the dumb ass?" Luke asked, trying to weakly crack the joke that they had for him. Dr. Dumas was another brain surgeon on floor four of Topeka Memorial and he was a real jerk. He had absolutely no sense of humor and zero people skills whatsoever. He had no problem going into a patient room and laying it on them thirty minutes after they'd woken up from surgery that they had epilepsy or that all the brain tumor they'd operated to removed hadn't come out and they had about three weeks to live. Dr. Dumas didn't care about his co-workers or, seemingly, his patients. He was almost always a jerk to his fellowship student, Mark. Luke had many moments where he felt grateful he'd not been assigned as Dumas' fellowship student and that he'd gotten Wynn. Dr Dumas went out of his way to make the nurses and other doctors' lives a living nightmare and he'd hated Luke since the day Luke walked into the building simply because Luke actually tried to care for his patients properly. Wynn could see it more plainly than Luke- the fact that Dr. Dumas was so jealous of his new student that he couldn't see straight. Of course, he wasn't about to tell Luke this, nor was he about to tell him that the other doctor would do anything to see Luke gone. He would simply keep the two of them apart. Now, it seemed, he was going to pay for this grievous mistake.
"The one and only." Wynn agreed. "He went to the board, which I didn't know about. And.. he turned you in for indecent relationship with a patient on the grounds that he saw you alone with her multiple times and now she's living with you."
"What?!" Luke spluttered, his face red again- this time with anger. "That's bull crap doc! You know I didn't!"
"I know.. I know." Wynn said, holding up a hand lightly. "The board convened this morning and I myself gave testimony that nothing happened between you know in that manner until Elphaba had already been discharged as a patient." He said with a sigh, "But the board doesn't care. Dumas has them in his back pocket."
"So.. what are you saying then?" Luke asked, though he felt sure he knew what the older man was saying.
"They've decided it would be.. best for all if you were removed from the fellowship program." Wynn said softly.
Luke hung his head lifting his hands over his face. He didn't want Wynn to see him cry but he couldn't stop the burning tears that were coming up from the well deep inside of him. "W...what?" He questioned, though he'd heard perfectly well what Wynn had been saying.
"I'm really sorry, Luke." Wynn said, getting up off his hair and walking across to where Luke was sitting. Wynn hugged him and Luke hugged back hard, his tears choking him. "This is all my fault."
"What do you mean it's your fault?" Luke asked thickly. "It was Dumb ass who went to the board- you tried to stop him."
Wynn sighed, "I knew that he didn't like you from the moment you started the fellowship program two years ago. I knew he wanted to get rid of you but I don't like to speak ill of my co-workers- even if they are dumb asses- and I didn't want to tell you about it so I just didn't mention it. If you'd known, if you'd been on your guard about him- perhaps this wouldn't've happened."
Luke shook his head miserably. "If that's true, and I believe it is given how the man has always treated me, then it would've happened sooner or later no matter what you did or didn't do." Luke said with a sigh.
"I still feel responsible." Wynn murmured. "I mean you're.. you're still a doctor with just.. just one year left to complete in your fellowship program. It just... won't be at Topeka Memorial. I know it's a long way away but.. I know a guy- he was in my medical school class. He's working at a big hospital in New York City and I could make a couple of calls. I know he has an open space in his fellowship program and your records and grades are top of your class I'm sure you could get in there. It's only one more year to complete and then you'll be fully qualified. You could even come back here and work if you wanted."
Luke considered this for a moment and nodded, "I'm not going to let stupid Dumb Ass do me in. I've wanted this ever since I was in junior high." He muttered. "Go ahead and make the calls. I appreciate it." He said with a nod.
Elphaba felt as if she'd been kicked in the stomach as she slumped against the wall of the bathroom. This was her fault! Luke was out of his fellowship program and it was all because of her. She leaned her face against the wall of the bathroom feeling tears burning her skin as they worked their way down her face. How could she have let something like this happen?! She should have been more careful even while she was in the hospital, about protecting him. She should have... well there were a thousand should haves for her and she'd not done any of them. Damn it.. why did she always hurt the people she loved? Why?! She felt somewhere within her that this had happened before and she struggled to hold onto the hint of the memory. She struggled with it for a second.. a cornfield.. soldiers.. screaming.. nothing. She shivered at the partial flashback and wished it would return. As terrifying as it had been- her first real flashback- she wanted to know more. Luke had told her that these flashbacks would come- even if it took a long while. She would eventually begin to have them and if she listened to them they could tell her about her past. She felt sick.
Back in the main room, Luke's removal from the program wasn't all the news Wynn had for him. "That's not all of it either. A strange coincidence of events has been going on.. Dr. Payne stopped coming to work." Wynn said with a sigh. "I thought it was because I turned him into his own board after you told me what he did to Elphaba but I don't think that's it. A guy turned up in the ER this morning. He had a really nasty bite on his hand and he was pretty delirious. Raving lunatic about a monkey with wings gave it to him and that Dr. Payne was trying to kidnap the monkey."
Luke had to work hard to control a gasp of surprise and to keep his face neutral. "That monkey was here last night." Luke whispered.
"Whhhatt?" Wynn asked. "Are you.. you're bluffing me right?"
"No I'm not." Luke said, "He was here. The monkey's name is Chistery. He ransacked the bloody apartment and was standing in the living room at midnight when Elphaba and I got home." He muttered.
"How do you know his name's Chistery?"
"He talks." Luke replied simply.
"I should be laughing." Wynn muttered. "Is this some kind of a ridiculous joke?"
"No it's not a joke. You thought a woman with green skin was a joke too- until you saw one. I'm telling you the winged monkey exists and I know it because I saw him, here, last night and he knows about Elphaba's past." Luke replied.
"Really?" Wynn asked, surprised.
"Yes. The monkey was with her in the tornado that brought her here. He's a pet of hers I think. He knows her entire history and he told me bits of it. But he was very upset because she sort've brushed him off. She doesn't remember him. Not even seeing him helped. As soon as he'd finished the story he ran out of the room. I tried following him but.. I couldn't catch him."
"Someone else did." Wynn said with a sigh. "I asked the man, jokingly, what happened to the monkey and he told me that he gave it to Payne and that Payne was taking it to Dr. Henkle- whoever the hell that is- and Henkle was going to run tests on it to see why it had blue wings. I asked him who Henkle worked for and he said The Department of Homeland Security. I thought he was joking and making him talk kept him still so that I could stitch up his bite." Wynn said with a groan, "I never thought about the fact that he might be telling me something real."
Luke sighed and brought his hands up to his face. "You're telling me that this monkey is... Monkey-napped!? By someone who works for the freaking department of homeland security?!"
"It.. looks that way..."
"This is like bloody ET the movie happening all over again in real life. Next they'll be coming after Elphaba wanting to study her!"
"I know that now." Wynn whispered with a sigh. "So what do we do?"
Luke shook his head. "I don't know, but I love her and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to her."
Wynn nodded, "I'll find out whatever else I can from that man and come back later. He's still in the hospital because we've been watching the hand for infection."
"Thanks." Luke said.
Wynn sighed. "One good thing came out of all this."
"What?" Luke asked.
"Well.. Um.. don't mention this to anyone else but.. when I found out what Dumas did.. I sort've.. knocked him out cold in the locker room."
Luke had to stifle a loud laugh with his hand. "Good for you, Doc. I knew you could do it."
"He deserved it. I've been wanting to do that since the day I met that cockroach." He muttered. "I just never had an excuse to for the last fifteen years. Until now. But listen.. they know where you are now. You should take Elphaba and get out of here if you want to keep her safe. I'm going to find out whatever information I can. You should leave as soon as I've come back. Find her original clothes- whatever she came here in and leave."
"What clothes? She came in a witch's costume." Luke muttered with a low chuckle.
Wynn rolled his eyes, "You know what I mean..."
Elphaba didn't think she'd ever felt more awful or sick in all of her life. Chistery had run off because she'd refused to speak to him. Chistery had been her.. pet? Had they been close? Had she turned away the only friend who knew her past? It was her fault that he was taken now! He was the only chance she might ever have to find out where she'd come from and why and how to get back. He knew about her life. He needed to be able to tell her and she needed to hear it. She needed to know what he knew about her life. Now she was never going to know because she'd let him go away. She'd refused to speak with him Oz only knew why. The man who'd taken him was working in league with Dr. Payne and Dr. Henkle- whoever Dr. Henkle was. They were working in turn for what sounded like the United Stated government. She'd learned a lot in her time with Luke- enough to know that this was serious. If the Government got involved... What if they tried to take her and run tests on her like they tried to do to ET in the movie from the night before..
"Sweet Oz! I've got to get out of here before I cause anymore trouble for Luke. It's already my fault he's out of his job. And now I've hurt Chistery too. I have to get out of here. I have to get Chistery back and find out how to get home- wherever home is- before anything else disastrous happens to us or to Luke."
She moved faster than she knew was possible as she searched through her clothes- they'd all been washed by the apartment laundry service- and found the dress she'd come in. Her 'witch's costume' and she began dressing as fast as she could. She brushed her hair and pulled it into a bun as she used to do, found her shoes and slipped into them, using the tiny hook to button them as she'd always done. She stuffed all of her books back into the book bag. What about the Grimmerie? It was still laying in the living room floor. No matter, she didn't have time to wait to retrieve it. She needed to get out of this place before something awful happened to Luke because of her. He could keep the Grimmerie. It only caused trouble anyway.
She looked around, wondering if she should leave a note and finally decided she would. She looked around but saw no paper, only a random pen laying on the bedside table. She grabbed the pen and her eyes scanned the room as she looked for a book. She grabbed the first thing that she saw. Luke had extensive book shelves in his bedroom with hundreds maybe even a thousand books on them. He had all of his books from the time of his early childhood on. The one that she grabbed looked very old so it wouldn't matter if she wrote in it. It had a gaily colored front cover that looked as if it had been a childhood book and that made her feel better. She wouldn't want to write in one of his good books.
She grabbed the pen and flipped to the title page and began to write in such a rush that her writing was cramped and only with very careful studying could it be read.
Luke,
It's not safe for me to stay here anymore. I've caused too much trouble for you already and it's my fault that everything that happened, happened. I can't bear the thought of you giving up all your dreams on my account. Go back to the board and tell them I'm gone. It'll be better for you. I'm not worth giving up your entire life for. That's silly. I think I love you and sometimes when you love someone enough, you have to let them go. I can't stay here. This is not my world and I don't belong in it. I can't cause you more danger than I already have. I'm going to find Chistery, the monkey and then I'm going home- wherever home is. Please don't try to follow me, I don't think you'll be able to. I don't -want- you to follow me. Stay here. Don't be an idiot. - I think I love you, Elphaba
What she didn't notice as she threw the book hastily on the middle of his bed and disappeared out the window with her bag over her shoulder, was that the book had fallen open to the page on which the note was written. Behind the note was a sketch of a woman dressed in the classic witch costume. It was all in black and white except for her face which was a lurid green color. She was stooped and beside her stood a small monkey with wings, for the book was The Wizard of Oz and beneath the picture the caption read, "The Wicked Witch of the West and one of her Flying Monkeys."
Aii I hope you liked this chappie. It was a very difficult one for me to write! Um.. let's see I hope you liked the Idina reference- this one's harder to spot. Luke's remark about the witch's costume bit was actually made by Idina's husband at one point when she got taken to the ER after falling through a trap door on the set of Wicked and sustaining an injury. Thought it was rather ironic. You can find the video of her talking about that at Youtube by searching Idina Menzel Wicked Injury if you want to see it. I recommend you do because it's hilariously funny. Um.. anyone else think the ET reference was really funny that it happened to be that movie she saw.. Yeah anyway. I know this chapter was sad. It gets better after this. Promise!