Chapter Fourteen:
Suddenly blood was everywhere. In a split second it had gone from being on Glinda's hand and lips, to soaking through the bedsheets.
"Glinda!" Elphaba immediately sprung into doctor mode, grabbing whatever linens her hands could get a hold of and held them up to Glinda's mouth where she had been vomiting blood.
The blonde reached out a hand and gripped Elphaba's tightly, her eyes betraying that she was terrified of what was happening to her. Elphaba felt a pang of pity for her.
"Glin, it's going to be alright. You're going to be fine," comforted the green woman.
She then turned to the rest of the people in the room, who granted, looked like they all were going to faint at just how much Glinda had thrown up in the few short seconds.
"Get me some towels to clean this up," she hissed at them, and they all dispersed to get what she needed.
Her attention returned back to the blonde, who was shaking and trembling, not to mention covered in her own blood.
"I'm dying, oh Oz, I'm dying," cried Glinda hysterically, tears streaming down her face.
"Glin, you're not dying. Do you think that I'd let you die?" asked Elphaba sternly as she wiped away the woman's tears.
"No, but Elphie... there's so much blood," whispered the blonde as she was suddenly hit with another round of coughing that produced more blood to eject from her mouth.
"You're going to be fine, Glin. I'm going to fix this..." Elphaba lied, but she really didn't know how. She knew that this was the sickness that was killing everyone around Oz, and she suspected that Glinda knew too.
The only hope for Glinda was to get that damn book from the Wizard.
"How?" asked Glinda in a small, throaty voice.
Elphaba stared at her friend. She didn't want to give her false hope, but she didn't want Glinda to think that she was doomed.
"I don't know just yet..." stammered the green woman, "But I promise I'll figure something out soon."
Glinda laid back, still shaking and obviously terrified, onto the sheets.
"Elphie, I don't feel so good," admitted the blonde.
Elphaba looked at her, her attention focused on the woman and not on the drying blood on the fabric.
She put a hand on the blonde's forehead. "You do look pale. It's probably because of the blood loss, do you feel light-headed?"
Glinda nodded, "I-I kind of just want to go to sleep for a little bit." Her eyes started to close when Elphaba suddenly took her by the shoulders and shook her.
"No, Glin. Don't fall asleep, not until I figure out to get your heart-rate back up."
Those blue eyes looked at her face wearily.
"I feel so sleepy though, Elphie," confessed the blonde as she suddenly coughed again, more blood appearing on her hands.
Elphaba tried to take deep breaths. This was not going well. Glinda looked like death, a ghostly apparition of her former self. She looked too skinny, too sickly and she hadn't been infected for very long. This disease worked fast, and it was cruel and painful, as Elphaba knew from her experiments on the animals.
But there was one thing that she was wondering about.
"Glin... how do you think you got this-this sickness?" she asked her, grabbing another linen and cleaning up the blonde's hands.
"I don't know," the blonde murmured, "Chuffrey and I were in the city yesterday... but I don't remember getting coughed on or touching anyone as deathly ill as this."
Elphaba thought back a few days.
"Do you still not remember the day you saw Madame Morrible?" asked the green woman.
Glinda's brow furrowed.
"No, Elphie. I still cannot recall it."
The blonde paused, "You don't think that she did this to me, do you?"
Elphaba tightened her lips together and didn't say a word, she didn't have to.
The room was silent, except for Glinda's pained breathing.
"Elphie," the blonde took the green woman's hand, "Is there something you're not telling me?"
Elphaba avoided her gaze, staring at the mass of blood on the sheets.
"I haven't been completely honest with you about my work with Dr. Dillamond," she said softly.
"Oh?" the blonde looked confused.
Elphaba sighed, explaining everything to her, about the sickness, about the theory about Morrible and the Wizard, everything.
"I don't know if I can cure you," confessed Elphaba at the end of her explanation, nearly in tears.
Glinda laid there, silent, her breathing slow.
"Glin, please say something..."
The blonde avoided her eyes, glancing down at her engagement ring that was spattered with blood.
"So what you're saying is that I am going to die unless you get that book," Glinda concluded in a weak voice.
"You're not going to die, Glin. I promise, I won't let you die," swore Elphaba reaching for her hand.
Glinda looked at her; fearful, trembling.
"I'm scared," the blonde confessed. Elphaba pressed a hand to the woman's forehead gently.
"I know you are. But I promise, I'm going to do everything I can to help you." She then paused.
"I'm sorry for the way we left off," Elphaba apologized, "I shouldn't have ignored you. That wasn't the right way to handle things. I am sorry, Glinda."
Glinda looked at her.
"I'm sorry for what I did. I shouldn't have thrown my feelings on you like that, I didn't mean to cause a riff between us. It's just... you're my best friend Elphie, and I love you... and I just... I just needed to tell you, but it's alright that you don't feel that way... I just needed to get it out there in the open. I'm sorry too."
She grabbed the blonde's hand.
"I promise I'll never abandon you like that again. True friends don't abandon each other."
Glinda smiled a little at that.
"I'm glad I get to be your friend again," said the blonde, "You have no idea how happy that makes me."
A warm smile graced Elphaba's face.
"Do you want anyone else in here?" she asked the blonde. "Or do you want to sleep?"
The blonde took a moment.
"Chuffrey can come in... but I'm too tired to see my parents..."
Elphaba started to ask a question but then she decided against it mid-lip parting.
"What?" Glinda noticed as she coughed again.
"Are you still planning to marry him, Glin?" she asked softly.
"If I live through this," said Glinda rather defeatedly.
"Hey, hey, don't talk like that!" reprimanded the green woman. Glinda only grimaced.
Elphaba then wiped away a trickle of blood that had run down the blonde's cheek from her mouth.
"I'm going to go give your parents an update, think you can stay conscious until I come back?" she joked with the woman.
Glinda gave her a weak, but genuine smile.
"I think so."
With one last look, Elphaba left the room, trying to conceal how paranoid and frightened she was of Glinda's obviously deteriorating condition.
Mr. and Mrs. Upland were right outside of the bedroom, both anxious and looking worried.
"How is she?" questioned Mrs. Upland while Mr. Upland held out towels, "You told us to get these. Do you need more?" he asked.
"No, these are fine," answered Elphaba and then she looked at the older blonde, "She's weak but I think she can pull through."
It was a lie, and a big one but it easily slipped off her tongue and fooled the worried parents for at least tonight.
Fiyero stood a ways away, silent, but his eyes never left Elphaba's form.
Chuffrey stood leaning against the railing of the stairs near the bedroom. His face was obviously distraught.
"Chuffrey," said Elphaba, "You should go in there and be there for her. She was asking for you."
Again, it was a lie, but she knew that he needed something to do otherwise he would go crazy just sitting there waiting for either a life or death result.
Sir Chuffrey moved slowly towards the bedroom, and as he passed, Elphaba grabbed one of his hands and squeezed it gently.
He squeezed back but didn't look at her. He just moved forward and disappeared into the bedroom. Elphaba bit her lip hard.
"What can we do?" piped up Mr. Upland.
Elphaba sighed, not really knowing what they could do to help their daughter.
"Just keep her comfortable for now. I have to go back to the house to get some supplies, but I'll be back soon."
She walked forward, passing the parents and she paused as soon as she got to Fiyero.
His eyes were scrutinizing her and she knew that he was the only one who could see right past her lies.
"Can you come with me?" she asked softly.
He nodded, but didn't stop giving her weird looks until they got outside. It was still pouring rain, lightning was striking in fast bolts all around and thunder erupted from every corner of the sky.
"She's got that sickness, doesn't she?" Fiyero said as soon as the doors to the Upland mansion had closed behind them.
Elphaba suddenly had a large lump in her throat. She tried to push it down but it stayed in her throat. Her eyes grew misty, she didn't dare look Fiyero in the eyes.
Before she knew it, his warm body was pressed against hers, and her head leaned on his shoulder.
"I'm so sorry, Fae. What can we do to help her?"
Elphaba steeled herself not to cry. She picked her head up, her eyes still misty but tears did not fall.
"We have to get that book," she said simply.
Next chapter will be up before school starts hopefully. Hold me to that, guys. Feel free to PM to ask how it's coming. Hope you all are still enjoying the story. It's about to get Dracula-ified. :)
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