My buddy "Denpa Wave Chick Saki" co-wrote this with me. Enjoy!
Galinda looked up at the doctor. "How bad is it?"
The doctor looked down at Elphaba, who was lying in the hospital bed, her left leg in a cast and elevated. "It is serious...she had multiple broken ribs and a shattered ankle. Some of her organs seem to have suffered damage as well. Luckily there is minimal to no brain damage," he explained, turning to Galinda.
"Then why won't she wake up?"
"Her body has been through great stress. It needs time to recover. She will wake up...however, it will be some time before she is able to move around again." The doctor handed the blonde Elphaba's folded cloak and her boots. "These are her personals. Her other clothes had to be cut off when we were treating her." He left the room.
Galinda set Elphaba's things on the little table in the room before she collapsed into the chair, tears streaming down her face again. She wiped at them, ignoring the pain when she brushed over her swollen cheekbone. "I'm sorry, Elphaba. I'm so so sorry. I know you probably can't hear me right now, but I really am very sorry."
Elphaba twitched in her troubled sleep, letting out what sounded like a whimper. "Nnn...Glin..."
Galinda noticed and she pulled her chair over by the bed, taking Elphaba's hand in hers. "Elphaba, if you can hear me, please understand that I'm sorry. And if you'll just wake up soon, I will try to make up for everything I've ever done to you..."
Elphaba twitched again before one eye opened weakly, the other black and swollen. She focused on the blurry figure in front of her. "Glin..."
She gave her hand a slight squeeze. "Elphaba? Elphaba, can you hear me?"
"Glin...is...you?"
"Yes! Yes, it's me. It's Galinda. Are you alright, Elphaba? Do you need anything?"
The green woman winced. "You...okay?"
"I'm fine. Perfectly fine thanks to you. You saved me, Elphaba." She gave the green woman's hand another small squeeze.
"Glin...I..." Elphaba grimaced as pain shot through her chest. "I'm...sorry."
"What are you sorry for? You have nothing to be sorry about!"
"I...quit..." Elphaba shook her head. "Please...no..." The green woman was having trouble articulating her thoughts and she closed her eyes, trying to focus.
"Elphaba, it's fine. That was all my fault. I was so angry over nothing really. You have nothing at all to be sorry about."
"No...please...I want...job back..." Elphaba opened her eyes again and looked at Galinda.
"You can have it back. I didn't really mean it when I said you were fired...I was just so angry and that's how it came out." She looked down at their hands and gave a small blush, gently pulling her hand away after realizing what she was doing.
Elphaba closed her eyes again. "Thank...you..." She was soon out again.
Galinda gave a small nod, sitting back in her chair and trying to rub the pain from her knee. After a particularly sharp stab of pain, she got up and silently left the room, limping down the hallway. She found the nearest nurse and stopped her. "Excuse me, ma'am. But is there any way I can get a brace for my knee? I injured it awhile ago, but it seems to be acting up again." The nurse gave a nod and went off to get her one. Galinda slowly made her way back to Elphaba's room after making a quick stop in the bathroom to heave up the contents of her stomach. She finally collapsed back into her chair next to Elphaba's bed about 20 minutes after she had first left. After taking another look at Elphaba, the blonde buried her face in her hands, muttering to herself. "Oz, this all my fault..."
Elphaba suddenly awoke with a cry of pain. Her gaze fell on her cast and she tried to reach it, but her arms refused to obey.
Galinda jumped at first, but stood and went over to her. "Elphaba, what's wrong? What do you need?"
"Ankle...pain..."
"Do you want me to fetch a nurse?" Elphaba nodded with a gasp. "I'll be right back." She quickly limped out of the room, only to run into the nurse she had talked to later.
"Oh, there you are, dear. I have that brace for-"
Galinda quickly pulled her into the room. "We can do that later. She needs your help." She pointed worriedly to the green woman in the bed.
"What's the problem? The nurse asked the green woman.
"My...ankle..." The nurse gave the green woman her pain medication before she left the room, handing Galinda her brace as well. Elphaba sighed and leaned back, feeling the pain start to ebb away.
"Are you ok now, Elphaba?"
Elphaba nodded as her mind started to clear. "Why...did you...take your...brace off?"
Galinda sat in the chair and started putting on the new brace. "Well, when I was running to get help...it was slowing me down...and I kept falling, so I just took it off."
Elphaba shook her head. "Why didn't you...leave me there? Why...come back?"
"I...I don't really know. I just did, ok?" She looked down at her hands in her lap.
"Fine. Then why...are you still here?" The fog clouding her mind was clearing further, much to Elphaba's relief. Now she could actually be coherent.
"I wanted to make sure you were all right."
"I'm still alive so you may leave."
"I...I'd rather stay here."
Elphaba's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why? So you can add insult to injury? Do you hate me so much that you have to kick me when I'm down?"
"Please- NO! I feel...horrible for everything, Elphaba. Please, believe me..."
The green woman shook her head. "Don't pity me."
"I don't pity you."
"Then why are you here? Don't tell me it's because you care or feel bad! You hate me too much for that!"
"I don't, really...hate you, I mean."
Elphaba shook her head with a humorless laugh. "We both know that's a lie. You never wanted my help, so now I'm telling you that I don't need yours."
"It wasn't you I hated, alright?"
"Then what did you hate? The green?"
"I hated what you represented," she said quickly.
"What I- you are making zero sense right now!"
"To me, you were a constant reminder of Father's control over my life!" Galinda continuing to pour her heart out, unable to stop revealing the revelations that were just now hitting her. "Sometimes you even seemed just like me...a caged bird with nowhere to fly. That's why I hated you! You were a constant reminder of how pathetic my life is!" She looked up at the green woman angrily.
Elphaba stared at the blonde. She looked down. "I always knew...you weren't happy."
"Well, now you know." She crossed her arms and looked away.
She looked back up, almost angrily. "But why should any of that change now just because of this? I did what I said I'd do: I put my life on the line for you!"
"You want to know what changed? It's because I realized that I had become to you, exactly what my Father is to me! And I hated feeling like that!"
"Feeling like what? A dictator?"
"Heartless..."
Elphaba was taken aback by that. "Galinda, you are not...heartless. If you were...you would have let me die."
"Well, that's how I felt!"
"Then why didn't you do anything to change? All those times I tried to help you...you always turned me down!"
"Because it's what was expected of me! 'Galinda, I hope you'll be just like your father when you rule.' That's all I've ever heard my entire life!"
"Fine! Then let me be the first one to say it: you are not your father! You can be your own person! Your father is killing Oz! If you follow in his footsteps, Oz will suffer! Is that what you want?"
"No! That's why I'm stopping!"
"So that's what it took...me coming within an inch of my life changed your mind..." Elphaba shook her head. "Galinda...that's called being reactive. You want to learn to be proactive. And I swear to Oz, if this is some sort of pity or way to make it up to me, I will not accept it."
"Ever since we came to Shiz, it's been starting to get to me. Being away from him let me think for myself! And I just can't do it anymore! Did you know that literally every time I hurt you, it would make me so sick to my stomach that I would have to go throw up? If my body reacts like that, then obviously that isn't who I was meant to be."
"Then why did you keep doing it? And why should I believe you? You never believed me when I said I never meant to hurt you. You don't even trust me!"
"I do! I trusted you with my life! I just didn't trust you with my feelings."
Elphaba shook her head. "I can't deal with this right now. Please...just leave me be."
"Fine." Galinda leaned back in her chair and looked away again, with her arms crossed.
"I meant go away."
"I will not be leaving this room."
"Why not?"
"Because if you find you need something and I'm not here, then there will be nobody to get it for you."
"I don't need anything! Please..." She looked down, her tone changing. "I don't want you to see me like this..."
"I'm sorry, but no. Besides, who else would be willing to sit with you like this?" She said, trying to somewhat lighten the mood.
"I don't need anyone...please don't torture yourself. I'm sure you have better things to do than sit here with the green bean."
"I have nothing more pressing than staying here. So you may as well give up. I'm not leaving."
Elphaba sighed. "I know that's a lie..." She winced as she leaned forward to scratch her leg, trying to get under her cast as best she could. "Seeing as you would never give me the time of day before..."
"Well, it's not a lie, because things have changed."
Elphaba looked into the blonde's eyes. "Fine. You really want me to believe you've changed? Then prove it."
"How? Please, tell me how to prove it, and I'll do it."
Elphaba shook her head. "It's up to you to figure that out. If I just tell you it wouldn't mean anything would it? Try using that brain of yours for once, Miss Galinda." She fixed Galinda with a hard stare. "Though I doubt you'd waste your time for something as insignificant as gaining my trust. What could I ever mean to you?"
Galinda glared over at her. "Look here, little miss pessimistic, I may not know exactly why I want to gain your trust, but I will do it. Mark my words, I will."
"I see. So this is merely a diplomatic move." She laughed humorlessly. "I should have expected no different."
"It is not diplomatic! How the hell do you think being nice to you would help me diplomatically? I just said that I haven't figured out why I'm doing this yet."
"Exactly. You're doing it just to be on good terms with me, just as your father does with all the other high power families in Oz. For no specific reason if only to have a sense of conquer. I won't be something you can use to make yourself feel better."
"No- That's not- What are you- Gah! Sometimes you are so...so...so difficult!"
Elphaba started to reply, but sighed instead. "Now you know how it feels..."
Galinda shook her head, trying to clear her mind. "No matter. I will see this through to the end. No matter what."
"If you say so. Now run along to your boyfriend, Miss Galinda. Your green freak of a bodyguard is bedridden, so there's nothing to stop you two from fucking to your heart's content."
"I'm still not leaving."
"Why the fuck not? Oz, what is wrong with you?"
"What's wrong with me? You're the one trying to get rid of the only person willing to sit in here with you to leave, when you clearly are not in a state to be left alone in!"
"I am fine! I don't need you or anyone! Don't pity me. I can't stand it!"
"You are most definitely not fine!"
"Because of you! If you had just listened to me for once in your life, we wouldn't be here! Why didn't you trust me?"
"Well, if you hadn't have been bothering me as you were, I never would have run off in the first place!"
"Are you really going to try and pin this on me? Fine! I'm sorry I went after you! I'm sorry I did my job! I'm sorry I allowed myself to be beaten within in an inch of my life because I care too much for you to get hurt and I-" Elphaba stopped, realizing she had revealed too much of her feelings. She looked down. "I mean..."
Galinda's anger faded in an instant, and she looked down at her fidgeting fingers in her lap. "No...no I'm the one who should be sorry...I am. Truly, I am."
Elphaba looked at her. It was the first time she had ever heard sincerity in the blonde's voice. "Well...I...I accept your...apology..."
The blonde gave a small nod of her head. "So, do you...um...need anything?"
Elphaba let out a short laugh, which sounded more like a gasp of pain. "I never thought...I'd hear you say that."
"Well, you're clearly the one in need of help. Not me, this time."
"Please...I don't need anything from you. Don't feel obligated to help me." Elphaba strained to reach the pillow supporting her left leg.
Galinda got up, readjusting the pillow for Elphaba. "Better?"
Elphaba's face turned dark green. "Ahh...um...yes. Th-thank you."
She turned to sit back down in her chair. "All you have to do is ask. It's my turn to take care of you."
Elphaba shook her head, her face growing darker. "N-no! I could never...it wouldn't suit...it wouldn't be..." She couldn't recall a time she'd ever been flustered before.
Galinda looked over at her with sad eyes. "Please, just...let me do it, ok?"
Elphaba looked back at her. "I...I don't know if I could...I've always taken care of you..." Elphaba paused. "Actually...there is...something..." Her face turned dark green again.
"What is it? What do you need?"
"If you could...write to Nessa, and tell her...that everything is fine..." A single tear ran down her face. "That this never happened!"
"Elph- I mean, Miss Thropp, you can't possibly expect me to keep this from her. You know she will find out somehow. Wouldn't it be better to tell her now instead of later?"
"No! Nessa can never know! And why can't you say my name?"
"It's...not proper."
Elphaba looked down. "Of course...I'm sorry." She closed her eyes. "Please...please don't tell your father."
"I didn't mean- oh, alright, then. I see no reason at all why I shouldn't tell Father, though. It might be possible to keep it from Nessa, but Father has ways of finding things out. In fact, he probably already knows."
Elphaba nodded slowly. "I see...it was an honor working for you...Miss Galinda."
"Was? Are you quitting again?"
"No...but your father will have me fired for sure! I can't move, and you got hurt! He'll fire me and find someone else, or worse, have me executed, I know it!"
"No, he won't." Galinda shook her head with a half-hearted chuckle. "It may not seem like it at times, but he does trust you with my life. Much more than he does anybody else. There will not be any new bodyguards for me."
Elphaba shook her head. "He's going to fire me because I can't protect you!"
"He won't. He might find a temporary substitute, but as soon as you're up and ready, I have no doubt in my mind that you will have the job back."
"A temporary- no one will protect you the way I do! How will they know how you like your eggs? Or your coffee? They won't! You won't be safe! I can't-" Elphaba struggled to sit up. "I need...I need to get back on my feet!"
Galinda jumped to her feet and gently pushed Elphaba's shoulders back down to the bed. "You will do no such thing. And that's an order." She looked her straight in the eye to get her point across. "Besides, if it really comes to it, I just won't leave your side. Nothing can happen to me if I don't leave this room, right?"
Elphaba looked up at her. "But...I couldn't ask you...to do that."
Galinda looked her straight in the eye. "You don't have to."
"But surely...you'll get bored...just sitting here. A-and you'll miss class..."
"Oh, come on. You've known me for how long? Since when have I ever cared a twig about classes?" She gave a small chuckle before sighing. "But I suppose I'll just have to make up the work when I can. I'm sure my teachers will understand."
"Galinda...forgive me, but I...this is all too strange for me. I really don't want to be a burden...or have you feel like you owe me something. All I did was my job..."
"I do owe you..." Galinda looked back down at her fidgeting fingers, speaking quietly, "...just not for the reasons you're thinking..."
"You mean...for all the years before?" After a few moments of trying to speak and failing, the blonde gave a small nod of her head as she sat back down in her chair. Elphaba smiled slightly and closed her eyes, feeling herself starting to slip back into sleep. "I knew...you were different..."
Galinda continued to just sit, fidgeting with her fingers as she thought deeply about what Elphaba had said. By the time she looked at the clock it was nearly 9 o'clock in the evening. She gave a sigh. It's only been a day...one long, emotional, hellish day...
Elphaba let out a groan as she opened her eyes. "What...what time is it?"
The blonde blinked, snapping out of her thoughts, and looked at her. "It's about 9 o'clock in the evening. Do you need anything?"
Elphaba let out a wince as pain shot through her ankle. "N-no..."
Galinda saw the wince. "I can tell it's hurting you. I'll go fetch the doctor."
"Galinda...did the doctor say what was wrong? With me, I mean."
"Well, the doctor said that some of your organs seemed to have suffered damage. You have multiple broken ribs and a shattered ankle as well. And he thinks there is minimal to no brain damage."
Elphaba winced. "Well...I can be thankful for that at least." She gave a short laugh. "I'll bet it looks worse than it is...eh...maybe not." She gave the blonde a slight grin.
Galinda attempted a smile in return, but she failed miserably. She got up and looked away, heading for the door. "I'll go fetch a nurse or doctor or someone."
"Galinda...don't treat me like I'm about to drop dead any second. Please. If you're going to stay..."
"You're in pain. I'm simply going to get somebody who can give you something to ease it."
Elphaba sighed and shook her head. "Fine. Go."
"I'll be right back." She left the room and walked down the hall. She recognized the doctor who had first taken care of Elphaba and stopped him, quickly requesting that he come to give her something to get rid of her pain.
The doctor followed her back to the room, giving his patient a small smile. "Hello, Miss Thropp. I hear that you're feeling some pain?"
Elphaba looked at him. "I...um..." Never admit to pain. The green woman shook her head, trying to clear the memory. "No...I'm fine. Miss Galinda seems to be overly worried."
Galinda gave her a sad look. "Elphaba, please tell him."
"I'm fine. Really. Please...don't concern yourself with me."
"I'm sorry, doctor. It appears maybe I was just overreacting." She sighed and her shoulders slumped. She collapsed back into her chair as the doctor left the room.
Elphaba looked at her. "Galinda, I- I'm sorry. It's just...I've been trained...to never admit to pain...But I'm fine...really...watch." Elphaba sat up and tried to swing her legs over the side of the bed. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth.
Galinda shot out of her chair and stood in front of her, blocking Elphaba from getting up. "Don't! You're lying when you say you're fine. You are definitely not fine! You shouldn't be moving around."
Elphaba looked at her. "N-no. I'm fine. I-I can stand...really."
"No." She looked her in the eye, dead serious. "You are going to lie back down right now. Or else I'll go get that doctor and make him give you something to knock you out."
Elphaba nodded. "Yes, Miss Galinda." She laid back down, turning to look at the blonde.
"Good. Now stay there." She turned to return to her chair.
"All right..." Elphaba sighed. "Did you really mean what you said? That you don't want me fired? Even after everything that...I put you through?"
Galinda nodded her head. "Yes, I did mean it."
"I still can't understand why. You always said how much you hated me."
"I already talked to you about that. Can we please not bring it up again?" She looked away from her, staring at the decorative painting on the wall.
Elphaba nodded. "All right..." The green woman's eyes narrowed. "Did...did you get hurt?"
The blonde shook her head. "It's nothing. Not anything more than what you can already see."
"Galinda...I'm sorry I let this happen. If I hadn't driven you from the ballroom..."
"Please stop. You're bringing up things that we've already discussed and that I'd rather not revisit."
Elphaba nodded. "So...what would you prefer to talk about? Or perhaps you'd prefer to eat, or...rest?"
"I'm fine." She continued to stare scrutinizingly at the painting. "I am ok with talking about anything but that."
Elphaba raised an eyebrow. "Might I ask what is so intriguing about that painting? Is there a reason you can't even look at me, let alone say my name? Am I that hideous to gaze upon?"
Galinda pulled her eyes away and looked at Elphaba. "I'm looking at you. See?"
"Yes...I see the pity in your eyes." Elphaba looked away. "If there's one thing I cannot stand, it's to be pitied."
"Now look at who's not meeting who's eyes..." She returned her eyes to the painting, just so she wasn't staring into nowhere. "And there's a big difference in me pitying you and feeling regret..."
Elphaba looked back. "I have never seen you show regret for anything but buying the wrong dress. Am I to believe you actually feel regret for this?" Elphaba attempted to sit up again. "I...am fine. I don't need...to be here." She brought her legs over the side of the bed with a grunt and slowly slid her bare feet to the floor. "I can stand..."
"NO!" The blonde ran to her, gently, but forcefully, pushing her shoulders back to the bed. "Your ankle is shattered! You can't possibly think that it is ok to walk on it!"
"I'm fine!" Elphaba sat back up and attempted to stand, but as Galinda had pointed out, her ankle was shattered and it immediately gave out on her. Elphaba gasped in pain as she fell forward on the blonde, knocking them both to the floor.
Galinda gave a grunt when her knee slammed into the floor, but she shook herself out of it, sitting up and looking at Elphaba with worry. "Are you ok?"
"Y-yes...I'm fine." Elphaba sat up and leaned back against the bed. "I'm sorry! Are you all right? Your knee...?"
"I'm fine. What about you?" She managed to get to her feet. "I told you that you aren't ready to walk. Why didn't you listen to me?"
Elphaba brushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, her face turning dark green. "I...I'm sorry. I guess...I really am...out of commission for a while."
"No, really? The shattered ankle and broken ribs didn't tell you that from the start?"
"I admit I was wrong...must you continue rub it in?"
"Fine. I'll stop." Galinda held out her hand and leaned down. "But we need to get you back on the bed."
Elphaba looked up at her. "Must I? I feel so...helpless and...vulnerable lying there." She grasped the edge of the bed and staggered to her feet, putting all her weight on her right foot. "See...I can stand..."
"But you can't walk."
"No...but that doesn't matter as much." Elphaba looked around the room and her eyes fell on a folded wheelchair behind the bed. She hopped over to pull it out and set it up, sitting down and lifting her legs to rest on the supports. "See? Still mobile."
Galinda shook her head with a sigh. "Why can't you just rest and heal in bed?"
"Because that requires me to stay still for a long amount of time. I'm sorry, but that's not the way I was raised."
"Fine. Well, are you hungry or anything?"
Elphaba shook her head. "I am fine, and even if I were, I would not eat until you do. It wouldn't exactly be...polite."
"If I say I'm hungry, will you agree to eat? You haven't eaten in a long time. You need it."
"I will only eat after you eat. And I can go quite some time without food, but I appreciate the concern."
"Alright. We're going to go eat." She got behind Elphaba's chair, pushing her through the door and down the hallway.
Elphaba's face turned dark again. "You needn't push me...I can do it all right."
"I'm doing it anyway." She continued pushing her until they went through the doors of the hospital cafe. She left Elphaba at a table, getting into line and gathering a tray of food for the both of them. When she was done, she went back and set the tray down on the table, sitting down across from Elphaba. "There. Food. Now, eat."
Elphaba looked at the food, blinked, and then looked up at Galinda. "I...I can't. Not until you eat...and it is improper for me to eat at the same table as you...and at the same time."
"Just eat it, already." She picked up a bagel and started picking at it, every once in a while putting some in her mouth. "Happy? I'm eating. Your turn."
Elphaba looked down at her hands, spinning the ring on her finger nervously. "I can't...I'm sorry."
Galinda set down her bagel and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms. "I won't eat until you do."
Elphaba looked at her. "You can't...you can't expect me to just suddenly change the way I live...to change everything I know...just like that."
"No. But right now you're very injured and your body needs the energy and nutrients that food gives you to heal."
"I...I can't okay? Stop doing this to me!" Elphaba grabbed the wheels of the chair and turned away from the table before she started to flee.
Galinda quickly wrapped a fresh bagel and an apple in a napkin and followed after the green woman. When she caught up to her, she grabbed hold of the chair handles. "All I'm trying to do is give you what you need to get better. Why is that so upsetting?"
"You want me to change! You think that just by coming in here and feeling sorry for me, I'll forgive everything that's happened between us! It won't just go away, Galinda! Now, let go!"
"Not until you eat something!"
"I don't want to eat anything!"
"Well you need to!"
"I don't want it! Please, I can't eat right now!"
"Fine. But it's coming back with us to the room, and you're expected to eat it within the next few hours."
"Why do you even care?" Elphaba turned the chair to face her. "What could I ever mean to you?"
"Because it's my fault! That's why I care so Ozdamn much!"
"It is not your fault, Galinda! I chose to take that beating because it would have killed me to see you hurt! As much as I shouldn't, I care too much to see anything happen to you!"
"And you think this isn't killing me? Seeing you like this all because of me!"
Elphaba let out a sigh of frustration before she grabbed the blonde by the sides of her face and pulled her down so that she was staring into her eyes. "Listen to me: what happened that night was not entirely your fault. We were both to blame for that, so please, STOP."
Galinda pulled away and stood, wiping away the angry tears that had welled in her eyes. "It's not that easy, but whatever. It's done." She got behind Elphaba's chair again. "Where do you want to go?"
"I don't care...I really don't care anymore."
"Alright. Back to the room it is." She pushed the chair back down the hallways.
Elphaba remained silent all the way there, and allowed herself to be helped back into bed without protest. "I don't see how you can write that letter if you're arguing with me all the time..."
Galinda sighed. "If you want me to write the Ozdamn letter so bad...fine. I'll go get some paper." She left the room and returned soon with some paper and a pen, sitting down at the little table. "What do you want me to say?"
Elphaba had fallen asleep by the time Galinda returned, a very soft snore being her only response. The blonde looked over at the lack of a response, giving a sigh of frustration. She threw her pen down and sat back in her chair, crossing her arms.
"Nnn...I don't hear...writing..." the green woman muttered.
"Well, you were asleep. And I didn't want to write something you didn't want. I was waiting for you to wake up."
Elphaba chuckled softly. "You need me...to write a simple letter? Use that brain...that I know you have..."
"You're the one gave all the rules for it."
"Fine...don't write it then...but when Nessa asks why your father is so upset...what will you tell her?" Elphaba readjusted her pillow as she started to slip back into sleep.
"I didn't say that I wouldn't write it! Ozdamn. I was just waiting until you woke up."
Elphaba groaned and sat up, rubbing her uninjured eye. "All right...I'm up. What do you need me to do?"
"Tell me what you want to say in the letter." She picked up her pen again.
"I just want you to assure Nessa that everything is all right...that you're safe and I sustained minimal to no injuries."
Galinda shrugged her shoulders and began writing on the paper. "Alrighty then. But don't get mad at me if you don't like how it turns out."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
The blonde gave a slight smile. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly the most eloquent person."
"I'm sure you can do it. Lying comes natural to you, doesn't it?" Galinda gripped her pen tightly but managed to stay silent. She continued her writing. Elphaba watched her for a few moments before she said, "May I go back to sleep now?"
"Yes. Go ahead and sleep as much as you need to. I'll just finish with this letter." Elphaba was already asleep before the blonde finished her sentence.