A/N: This prompt was so much fun tbh, since I have never written a hospital fic before. Now, the entire prompt is called "one of them is hurt and the other falls asleep in their hospital room" but that was kind of too long for a chapter title, that's why it's called a little differently.

Happy reading!

After staring blankly at the same page of her book for the last half an hour, Elphaba finally gave up and snapped it shut. She took another sip of the coffee she had bought at the small cafeteria downstairs which tasted downright disgusting, not only because it had been cold for an hour now, but she needed the caffeine to keep her awake.

She wasn't alone in the waiting area of the hospital, a little boy and his father had made themselves comfortable as much as possible, the boy lying over three chairs, his head on his father's thighs. The boy was sleeping now, and the man barely looked her way, deeply engulfed in his phone. But although there were other people in a similar situation, there was something about hospitals that made you feel lonelier and more helpless than ever before.

Galinda was lying somewhere in this building, probably waking from her anesthesia by now, and there was nothing Elphaba could do besides sitting here and wait. She had repeatedly told the nurse to let her know as soon as she could see her girlfriend, the bored looking woman only ever nodding in response. There was nothing she hated more than being here, utterly useless while a doctor cut open Galinda's belly to remove the inflamed appendix he had diagnosed her with.

They had arrived at the hospital in the wee hours of the morning after a day and night spent with the blonde wailing over stomach cramps, constant vomiting and a fever that didn't seem to go away. At first, Galinda had shrugged the pain off as simple period cramps, but when they only ever seemed to get worse, Elphaba didn't see any other option than bringing her into the ER. She hadn't closed her eyes for over twenty-four hours now, having done her best to take care of her girlfriend, and even now that she actually had the chance, sleep wouldn't come.

Whenever she so much as closed her eyes, her brain created the most gruesome images of Galinda on a surgical table, her tiny body opened as if it was nothing more than a piece of meat. Ever since she had been diagnosed, she had thought of every possible scenario. What if it had been too late and the inflamed appendix had burst? What if Galinda never woke up from anesthesia? What if she died in surgery because the doctors made a mistake?

Pressing her palms against her eyes as if she could force the mental images out of her head, she took a deep breath. Thinking like this wouldn't get her anywhere. The doctor had told them it was a standard procedure and he had done it a thousand times already, emphasizing it over and over again when Galinda had started crying hysterically. Elphaba had done her best to calm her down while forcing back her own fear, feigning confidence and trust in the doctors.

Now Galinda wasn't here to pretend to anymore, and her own panic began to manifest in her fidgeting in her seat and her legs bouncing up and down in an uneven rhythm. The man on the opposite side of the room shot her a glare that looked sympathetic and annoyed at the same time. He probably thought she was waiting for her own appointment, she thought bitterly, as that was probably his explanation for her green skin. If the situation was any different, she would have given him an earful when he had spent the first half hour openly gawking at her. Now she could barely bring herself to care.

"Miss Thropp?" The voice of the nurse from earlier made her look up. "You may see Miss Upland now."

Elphaba jumped to her feet, barely remembering to grab her backpack and her book. Finally.

"How is she? Is she okay?" She asked while dumping the empty cup of coffee in the trash before following the nurse down the hallway.

The nurse didn't look at her as she replied, only striding towards the elevator as if she tried to outrun the green girl. "The surgery went fine with only minor complications."

Elphaba tried to cling to the word fine, but that couldn't stop her heart from speeding up as she heard the rest of the sentence.

"What? What do you mean by minor complications?"

The nurse looked down at her clipboard before answering. "Apparently there have been problems with her breathing. The doctor had to give her artificial respiration through intubation, but she's already breathing on her own again, so need to worry."

Easy for you to say, Elphaba thought, but could stop herself from saying it out loud. What had happened wasn't her fault, and the green girl wasn't interested in making her the scapegoat for something neither of them could control. Now that she knew that Galinda was fine, all she wanted was to see her again.

When they arrived at the correct floor, the nurse barely got the time to point in the direction she had to go and tell her the room number, before Elphaba stormed off. She basically ran down the hallway, frantically looking at the signs on the doors until she found the one Galinda would be staying behind. She didn't waste her time with knocking, instead she silently opened the door so she wouldn't wake her up.

Her heart stopped beating for a second as she saw her girlfriend lying in the hospital bed, her blanket only up to her chest so the hospital gown was still visible. Elphaba carefully came closer as she noticed that Galinda's eyes were closed and her breathing deep and even. She looked so small in the huge bed that had been built to fit all sizes, her hand attached to an IV dangling from an infusion stand. A white plaster had been applied to her throat where they had been forced to insert the intubation tube, and a small smile appeared on her lips as she imagined the fit Galinda would throw when she found out.

Carrying one of the chairs standing by the window towards the bed, she placed it right next to the hospital bed and sat down. The hard, wooden chair was beyond uncomfortable, but she didn't care. Lifting the blanket only a little to find Galinda's other hand that wasn't attached to an IV, she pressed a kiss on it.

She didn't know how long she just sat there staring at her girlfriend's beautiful face while she slept, beyond relieved that it wasn't screwed up in pain anymore. Elphaba couldn't stand to see her hurt, and the last twenty-four hours, if not more, had broken her heart.

At some point when it began to get dark outside, she rearranged herself a little, using her elbow as a pillow to rest her head next to Galinda's body. That position wasn't comfortable at all and yet she jolted awake a little while later when she felt soft fingers stroking her hair.

Looking around in confusion, she noticed that it was still dark outside, the room barely lit by the lamp on the nightstand. Then her eyes fell on Galinda, who was looking at her with a tired smile under half-closed lids.

"Elphie," she whispered with a heavy tongue and reached for the green girl's hand. Elphaba immediately took it, squeezing her fingers.

"Hey, beautiful. How are you feeling?" Elphaba asked as she smoothed her blonde curls back.

Galinda yawned instead of an answer and Elphaba couldn't help but chuckle. "It's okay to be tired, my sweet. It's the anesthetic in your body."

"Didn't mean to … wake you up," the blonde slurred, her voice barely audible while she fought against the urge to close her eyes again.

Elphaba smiled at her and gave her fingers another gentle squeeze. "It's alright. You should sleep, I will keep you safe."

Weakly nodding in response, Galinda blinked a couple of times. "Elphie?"

"I'm here, my sweet."

"Cuddle with me?"

Elphaba could barely understand the words, but when she did, she hesitated. "I don't know if that's a good idea. Your stomach-"

"Please," Galinda cut her off, the word barely more than a loud breath, before her head fell to the side, her eyes closed. While part of Elphaba was terrified to hurt her, she couldn't stand the thought of denying her girlfriend her wish. For once she was glad for her own lanky frame that now allowed her to lay down next to the blonde, draping the blanket that smelled like hand sanitizer over them both. Her head rested on her elbow facing Galinda and she brought their joined hands between them, pressing a kiss on hers before interlacing their fingers. She didn't dare to snuggle closer to her, always mindful of the closed cut on her belly underneath her gown but spent the rest of the night watching Galinda breathe and caressing her hand with her thumb.

This time she woke before Galinda did and yet she wanted to strangle herself for falling asleep in the first place. It was starting to get a little lighter outside, and a quick glance to the clock hanging above the door told her that it was half past four. Carefully letting go of Galinda's hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes, she looked at her sleeping girlfriend. Her cheeks seemed a little rosier, although it could just be the lights playing tricks on her.

As she shifted in her spot on the bed, she soon realized that she needed to go to the bathroom. In fact, Elphaba couldn't even remember the last time she went, in all the hectic and chaos of taking care of her girlfriend, admitting her to the hospital and the anxiety while she was in surgery had her forgetting her most basic need. But she couldn't bring herself to get up, even as she noticed her empty stomach growling for food.

She just couldn't stand the thought of Galinda waking up alone.

Elphaba didn't have to wait long, only a couple minutes after she had woken up, the blonde began to stir. Reaching out her free hand, Elphaba gently cupped her cheek, lightly stroking it with her thumb.

"Good morning, my sweet," she whispered and leaned over to press a kiss on her temple, lingering for a second before retreating.

Galinda smiled before slowly opening her eyes. "Elphie."

"Look who's finally waking up," Elphaba said, letting her hand wander to golden curls and twisting one around her finger. "How's your stomach?"

"Better, I think." Galinda shifted a little, lifting her hand with the IV high enough so she could look at it. "This thing itches."

Elphaba chuckled at that. It was just like the Galinda she knew and loved to complain about something so minor, and she was so happy to have her back. "I know, but your body needs it. You haven't eaten in too long and you need the vitamins."

Her stomach growled again as she finished and Galinda let out a small giggle, although she quickly hissed in pain as it irritated the wound on her belly.

"Seems like I'm not the only one."

"I'm fine," Elphaba was quick to protest. "I'm not leaving this room."

"Elphie-"

"I mean it," the green girl cut her off, stroking Galinda's hair, as always reveling in its softness. "Nothing's more important to me than you and your health. You can't imagine how happy I am that you're okay."

Her voice cracked at the last few words and she had to fight back the tears welling up in her eyes. "When the nurse told me there had been complications, I-"

Galinda's eyes widened and Elphaba wanted to slap herself for her stupidity.

"What?"

"Nothing!" Elphaba quickly tried to backpedal, but the damage had already been done. "Hey, my sweet, look at me. Everything's alright, I promise. Everything's fine."

The blonde's breathing became shallow and fast as she noticed the big plaster sticking to her throat. Bringing her hand up, she tried to rip it from her skin, Elphaba barely able to grab her fingers and stop her in time.

"They had to insert an intubation tube during surgery, that's why they put the plaster there. I'm sure they will take it off soon but for now, you have to leave it there, please."

Tears glistened in sea blue eyes. "You said nothing could go wrong!"

"I know, I know," Elphaba said softly, interlacing their fingers once again. "But you're here, aren't you? You're alive and awake and you said yourself that your stomach feels better, remember?"

Galinda nodded slowly, a single tear freeing itself from her lashes and rolling down her cheek.

"I just want to go home," she finally said after a while of staring at Elphaba's face.

"Just a couple more days and I will take you home," the green girl replied, wiping away the tears that had followed the statement with her sleeve. "And then we will cuddle up in your bed and watch some stupid romantic movie and you can boss me around all the time because you won't be allowed to lift heavy objects and things like that for a while."

A timid smile lit up Galinda's face at the prospect. "And you will attempt to cook something, and we'll get food poisoning and probably end up back here."

"You haven't had hospital food yet. I'm pretty sure you will be begging me to cook once we arrive home", Elphaba smirked and tapped her girlfriend on the nose as she screwed it up in feigned disgust.

"I doubt that."

"Don't be so mean to me!" Elphaba protested playfully and had to fight the urge to tickle her as a punishment, since the fit of giggles she would certainly break into would hurt her stomach. "Or else I may just leave you here and not come back."

Galinda grinned, the tears she had fought against long forgotten. "You would never."

Sighing in defeat, Elphaba pressed a kiss onto their interlaced hands.

"No, I would never."