AN: You're all so sweet and generous, giving me cake and refraining from attacking me... and because some of you asked me so very nicely on Twitter, here is an early update!
There's no Glinda in this one, but there will be in the next one - which I will probably post on Tuesday, since tomorrow, with my bachelor graduation ceremony, will be a pretty busy day for me.
Chapter 11.
Elphaba wasn't entirely conscious. Not all the time, anyway. Her fall from the sky had knocked the air straight out of her lungs and she was sure she had broken, or at the very least bruised, a couple of ribs… not to mention that she had hit her head pretty hard. She felt weak and her body ached all over as she drifted in and out of consciousness, only catching glimpses of what was going on in front of her.
The men were attacking Dawyn, but the Jaguar was fighting them with all she had, snarling and biting, lashing out at them with her claws. She slashed one man's stomach and shot at another's throat. He tried to impale her on his pitchfork, but she leapt out of the way and bit his leg, pulling him off his feet.
Another one of them advanced on Elphaba, but Dawyn jumped in between them, growling. He stopped and tried to shoot her with his crossbow. She sunk her teeth into his shoulder and threw him against the other men, sending them all toppling to the floor.
She bared her teeth again, hissing and growling. "You're not getting her," she snarled. "Never. So either you go back home now, or I swear to Oz I will rip every single one of you to pieces."
They hesitated, looking at one another. Dawyn growled again, low in her throat, and the men cast another glance in the direction of the Witch before slowly stepping back. They backed away and then turned around and ran, soon disappearing from sight.
Dawyn was panting slightly as she leant down to nuzzle Elphaba's face again. "Elphaba?"
"Yeah," the green girl murmured, her eyes opening briefly.
Dawyn licked her cheek gently. "Don't worry, you're going to be okay," she said. "Can you move?"
"Sure." Elphaba tried to, but immediately winced at the pain and Dawyn sighed.
"Stop being stubborn," she said sternly. "Please. It's not helping anyone." She carefully slid her head under Elphaba's body and slowly moved and wiggled until the young witch was sprawled out on her back and Dawyn could carry her.
"I know you're in pain," the Jaguar said over her shoulder, "but try to hold on, Elphaba. Just grab my fur, or my neck, or… anything. I don't mind. Just don't fall off. I'll go slowly, but I can't move too slowly – there are still Ozians and Gale Force soldiers out there who want to get you."
"I know," Elphaba mumbled. "I'll hold on."
"If you're slipping away or you need to stop, warn me in time." With that, Dawyn started walking. When she felt Elphaba's arms around her neck, she picked up the pace until she was running, not as fast as she could, but still running, back in the direction of the Animal hideout where Doctor Dillamond would be. He could heal Elphaba, she was sure of it… or she hoped so, anyway.
She grimaced at the thought of Fiyero, back at the village. He would be worried sick once they got back – and with reason, Dawyn couldn't help but think. Without slowing down, she glanced over her shoulder once. Elphaba's grip around her neck had loosened and the green girl appeared to be unconscious again.
Dawyn had no idea how badly her friend had been injured because of her fall, but she had been up pretty high and the impact had been hard. She just hoped that once she'd get Elphaba to the hospital at the hideout, Dillamond and the other doctors would be able to help her.
They had to cross a road a few times and Dawyn had to pay attention to her surroundings to prevent anyone from spotting them. Elphaba awoke every now and then and every time Dawyn asked her how she was doing, the response was an indignant, "Fine", but the Jaguar knew better.
They were spotted at some point, by a man on a horse; and Dawyn cursed under her breath.
"Elphaba, I have to run," she said urgently. "Can you hold on?"
She felt the green girl nodding weakly. "I've got you."
Dawyn took a deep breath and sprinted off. The man chased after her on his horse, shouting things at the top of his lungs, but Dawyn couldn't even hear what he was saying. Luckily, she was much faster than his horse was and she managed to shake him off relatively easily – which was good, because she already felt Elphaba's grip on her slowly loosening and she realised the dark-haired witch was probably falling unconscious again.
By the time they finally reached the Animal hideout, evening was falling and Dawyn was absolutely exhausted, but she pressed on. She ran through the village and straight to the hospital, where she found both Dr. Dillamond and Fiyero, who was helping out there.
He smiled at first when he saw her. "Dawyn!" Then, however, he realised what she had on her back, and his smile immediately faded. "Oh my Oz…" He suddenly went very pale. "Is she…"
"She's alive," Dawyn assured him, looking at Dillamond, who got the hint and helped the green girl off the Jaguar's back and onto a stretcher.
He looked at Dawyn. "What happened?"
"A bunch of angry villagers saw us," Dawyn said, giving them the brief version. "They started shooting burning arrows at Elphaba, and one of them set the back of her broom on fire. She lost control and crashed."
She could see that Fiyero was close to bursting into tears and she pushed her head against his hand. "Fiyero."
He looked down at her, his eyes wide, and she met them calmly. "Keep yourself together," Dawyn said. "She needs you right now."
As if that was her cue, Elphaba's eyes slowly opened and she stared at them all, dazed. When her gaze fell on Fiyero, she murmured, "Yero?"
"I'm right here," he said, trying to stop his voice from trembling. He took her hand in his and squeezed softly. "You're going to be alright, Fae."
"I know," she muttered, frowning slightly. "I'm fine."
He swallowed, unsure of whether he should feel reassured by that or not. On the one hand, she would probably tell him she was fine even if she was taking her final breath; but on the other hand, at least she still had enough strength to tell him that she was fine.
"Yero?" she said again and he brought their joined hands up to his lips to kiss the back of her hand.
"Yes?"
"I love you, too."
"No." He shook his head violently, feeling tears stinging his eyes. "Don't say it, Fae. Not now. Not yet. Say it when you're better."
Dawyn realised why he was so upset. She knew about Fiyero and Elphaba's strange agreement – he always told her he loved her before she left, and she always told him after she'd come back. They had always done it like that because they didn't want it to sound like a goodbye… but Elphaba saying it now did sound like a goodbye, and it looked like it was all Fiyero could do not to break down right there and then.
Elphaba drifted back into unconsciousness and Dr. Dillamond took her away to a room in the back, promising he'd take good care of her.
They stayed away for a long while and all this time, Fiyero was pacing up and down the room, chewing his nails and his bottom lip, running his fingers through his hair, stopping at the window to look out of it for a moment without really seeing anything before moving back and pacing to the other side of the room again. It tired Dawyn just looking at it, but she understood his anxiety.
"Fiyero," she said at some point.
He stopped and looked at her.
"She'll be alright," Dawyn said. "I've told you this before – she's strong. She's a survivor."
"I know." He resumed his pacing. "But do those things really help you when you fall off a broomstick and plummet to the ground? You said she was still as high as the trees!"
"They weren't very high trees," Dawyn tried weakly, but Fiyero just shook his head.
"If anything happens to her," he said, and she could hear the catch in his voice. "If she dies…"
"She's not going to die." Dawyn rubbed her head against his hip. "Stop worrying about things that are not going to happen. Focus on the here and now. She's still alive, and if anyone can help her, it's Doctor Dillamond, right? Right. Calm down."
It took Dillamond another half hour or so to emerge from the back room and when he did, Fiyero pounced on him.
"And?" he asked anxiously. "How is she? Will she be okay?"
Dillamond removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"For someone in her condition, she's doing surprisingly well," he said, looking at Fiyero. "She's got three bruised ribs and one broken one, a broken collarbone, a sprained wrist, a dislocated shoulder, a dislocated knee, a broken shin, and a concussion… but there seems to be no internal injury. I gave her something against the pain, which might have been a mistake, because now she's feeling better and insisting she's fine and she wants to get out of here."
Dawyn couldn't help but smile. "That does sound like her."
Fiyero's knees buckled with relief and he sagged against the wall, breathing hard. "Can I see her?"
Dillamond nodded. "In theory, she doesn't have to stay here," he said. "As long as she rests, it doesn't matter whether she's here or at your home – for as far as I can tell, her life is no longer in danger. But she has to rest, Fiyero. She has to. If you don't think you can make her do that – which I would find perfectly understandable – then I'm going to keep her here."
Fiyero exchanged a look with Dawyn and they both nodded.
"We can handle her," Dawyn said. "Between the two of us, she won't stand a chance."
Dillamond chuckled. "Good. Come with me, Fiyero, I'll take you to her."
She was sitting up in the bed, her right arm in a sling and her ribcage, wrist, and leg bandaged up tightly. When Dillamond saw her, he cast his eyes heavenward.
"Did I tell you that you were allowed to sit up?" he asked in exasperation.
She grinned at him. "No, I think you said that I was not allowed to sit up."
Dillamond heaved a deep sigh. Elphaba just smirked slightly.
When she saw Fiyero enter behind Doctor Dillamond, however, her smirk transformed into a soft smile. "Hey."
He didn't say anything as he crossed the room and gingerly wrapped her into his arms, holding her to him.
She closed her eyes and leant her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry I scared you."
He huffed a laugh. "By now I should be used to you nearly giving me heart attacks."
She chuckled softly. "Remember that time I didn't come home until the middle of the night because I was hiding from some Gale Force soldiers?"
"And when you did come in, I nearly beat you down with a chair because I thought you were a Gale Force soldier yourself." He shook his head. "I remember."
"Or that time when that bullet hit me in the side and you thought I was dying?"
He cringed. "Please don't remind me of that."
She opened her eyes to look at him. "I'm not so easily killed, Yero. You should know that by now."
"I know." He shook his head. "But you come so awfully close sometimes."
She kissed him gently. "Can I say it now?"
He chuckled. It came out a little choked because of the tears he was holding back, but he didn't want to cry in front of her. "You can say it."
"I love you, too."
He made a noise in his throat and buried his face in her hair, holding her as tightly as he dared. He was actually hurting her a little, but she didn't say anything. She knew him and everything about him right now – the look in his eyes, the slight shaking of his hands, his body language – told her how worried he had been about her, exactly, and so she understood that he needed this.
He pulled away after a while, trying to give her a reassuring smile, but failing. She laid her hand against the side of his face.
"Yero…" she whispered. "I'm okay, really. And it's okay for you to cry, you know. I know how worried you must have been just now."
He sniffled, but swallowed his tears.
"Come on," he said instead, his voice not quite sounding as his own. "Let's take you home."
Her eyes lit up. "I can go home?"
"If you rest," Doctor Dillamond spoke up sternly from behind Fiyero. "You need lots and lots of rest, Elphaba."
She grimaced, but Fiyero nodded firmly.
"We'll make her rest."
The Goat handed Fiyero a small bag. "Medication," he clarified. "It's for the pain. She'll need two pills three times a day, but if the pain is very bad, you can increase the dosage. I put in a note and if you have any questions, you can always come and find me."
Fiyero nodded and thanked the doctor. Then he scooped the young witch up in his arms and carried her out of the room.
Comments? Favourite lines? :)
