Chapter 16: Break A Shoulder

Elphaba's costume was too tight for her liking, but she'd just have to deal with it.

Everyone was in the dressing room, wearing their solo costumes and stretching. Elphaba was in a straddle, her stomach to the floor as she held her pointe shoes up to a fan. She had just put on what was probably the third or fourth coat of green paint on them. She pulled the shoes back and lightly touched them all around. Finally. They were dry.

She placed them on her feet and practiced some of her solo in her own little space. Deciding to try her walkover, she carefully measured the space she would need so she wouldn't hit anything around her. Raising her arms over her head, Elphaba slowly did her walkover. When both her arms carried all her body weight, she felt her right shoulder pop. She crashed on the floor. The dressing room went silent.

"Elphaba? Are you alright?" one of the boys asked. Who, she wasn't sure with her eyes tightly shut.

"Yeah," she choked out, "just slipped."

Everyone seemed satisfied with her answer and for that she was glad. Now not only was she sure her right shoulder had popped out of place, but her head hurt. Oz. She managed to stand up and sat down in front of her mirror. She just ran her solo in her head. The pain in her head was beginning to subside, but her shoulder still hurt. Luckily, everyone was too caught up in their own thing to notice her bone seemed to be sticking out from under her skin.

She just had to go and mess things up. She put her head down for a split second before it snapped up at the sound of the door opening. Madame Morrible and Fiyero stepped inside. She grabbed her right arm with her left and stood up.

He could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong. "You ok?" When he went to place a hand on her arm, he followed her left arm, up to her right, and saw why she was in so much pain.

"Shit," he muttered.

"Indeed."

Fiyero ran a hand through his hair. "Ok," he whispered. He slowly dragged her out of the dressing room. She wasn't sure where he was leading her, but she didn't question him. "How did it happen?" His arm was around her waist.

"I don't know." She was still slightly in shock. She had never injured herself to this extent before. "I went to do a walkover and…it just snapped and I fell." Her breathing got heavier.

"Hey, hey, hey." he rubbed her side, still walking. "It's ok. You'll be fine."

Eventually, he opened a door she hadn't even realized they'd arrived at and let her step inside.

"Hello. Anything I can do for you today?"

A nurse. He'd brought her to the clinic. He sat her down on the chair. "Her shoulder dislocated," Fiyero answered.

"Oh my," the Elephant said and eyed Elphaba's costume, "and by the looks of it, I'm guessing you're a dancer in today's competition."

Elphaba nodded and winced when the Elephant slightly moved her shoulder with her trunk.

"How bad is it?" Fiyero knelt down in front of her and placed a hand on her knee. Shivers ran through her leg. His hand was cold. But she smiled softly to herself. It had nothing to do with the temperature of his hand, and she knew it.

"Fortunately, it doesn't seem too bad. I've seen hundreds of injuries like this one. We'll just have to place it back into its socket."

"Will I still be able to dance?" Elphaba asked.

"Depends, when are you scheduled to go onstage?"

"I don't know. Fiyero?"

"Not for another hour or two. You're pretty far down the list."

"Ok. Are you on your hands sometimes during your dance?" the nurse zipped down Elphaba's costume and pulled her sleeve down on her injured shoulder. Blushing, Elphaba held up her costume at her chest as much as she could. She knew she was probably as red as a tomato when Fiyero helped her keep it completely up, his gaze focused solely on her shoulder. She smiled softly, always the gentleman.

She suddenly remembered the nurse had asked her something. "Um, sometimes. A couple tricks here and there."

The Elephant nodded and got a bag of ice ready. "Would you grab her wrist for me dear?" she addressed Fiyero. He did as the nurse asked.

"This might hurt." Her trunk tightened on Elphaba's shoulder. "One. Two-"

"AH!"

"Three."

Elphaba leaned forwards on her chair. The only thing that prevented her from falling to the ground was Fiyero's arms. The Elephant placing her shoulder back into place had hurt. Like hell. The ice was helping though.

"Couldn't have given her a heads up?" Fiyero asked, slightly mad that it had caused her a lot of pain.

The nurse zipped Elphaba's costume back up. "Patients tend to tense up when they know we're going to put their shoulder back into place. Less chance of them doing that if we go on two instead of three."

"Yeah, she's right," Elphaba groaned. How did she not remember that's exactly what they had done when Glinda had dislocated her shoulder? She rolled her joint forwards and backwards. "Do you think I'll be fine to dance in a couple hours?"

"Elphaba, if you don't feel-"

"I say that as long as you keep moving it, without it causing you too much pain, ice it for a couple minutes at a time, you should be fine. Though, I would suggest you modify your routine to avoid going on your arms."

Elphaba nodded, but Fiyero was reluctant.

"Thanks," he said.

"No problem, and if you do dance honey, be careful and good luck!"

"Thank you," Elphaba waved.

"Fiyero, please," Elphaba practically begged.

As they walked back to the dressing room, he'd told her how he might be able to pull her number and reblock the group dance with the girls so she wouldn't have to dance for the day. She flat out refused.

"Elphaba, you're hurt. If you go out and dance your solo, even without the gymnastic tricks in them, you could still overwhelm your shoulder."

"Then can I at least do the group?"

"No. You need to rest."

"Yero-" she pulled his arm and they stopped walking. "Please, please, let me dance. I mean, I've worked so hard for this."

"Elphaba, it's just one competition. If you want, we'll input your solo into another one," he soothed. He couldn't give in. He couldn't risk her safety and have her hurt herself even more.

"It's not just about that," even if she did really love her solo. "Dance is my life. I never thought I would get an opportunity like this and I don't want to waste a single moment. Fiyero please, this means so much to me. It's everything for me. Please let me dance. I swear to you if my shoulder gets worse after my solo, I'll let you omit me from the group."

She couldn't help but smile a little when he gave an exasperated sigh. She was getting to him.

He knew what it felt like, to work so hard then get injured, and want to keep going. But this was different. He was the one making a decision. And it wasn't his body he was risking. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Oz, this woman.

"If your shoulder gets even just the slightest bit worse after your solo, you'll let me cut you from the group. No further debate?"

She nodded vigorously.

Fiyero placed his hands on his hips, shaking his head before looking back at her. "Fine."

Elphaba hugged him tightly and he wrapped his arm around her, careful with the ice bag that had been placed on her shoulder. "Thank you," she sighed.

"You're lucky I love you."

I am, she thought, and smiled.

Elphaba moved her scarf around to help her mark her dance and move her shoulder around a little bit. It hurt significantly less, but she wasn't taking any risks. For her front walkover and cartwheel, she'll just switch that to a front aerial and a side aerial. And whenever both her hands are on the floor, she'll let her left arm carry most of her body weight.

"So-"

Elphaba squealed then placed a hand over her mouth. She had to be quiet backstage, but Leiha had startled her.

"Oz, Leiha, you scared me."

The pale girl was dressed in a black crop top and baggy camouflage pants for her hip-hop routine. "Sorry. How are you feeling?" She nodded to the green girl's shoulder.

"Much better, thanks."

"No problem. So I've been meaning to ask, what's with you and Fiyero?"

Elphaba choked on her own spit. "What?" she coughed.

"I see the way he looks at you. I mean, he's been nothing short of a hawk after you guys came back from the nurse. Not to mention, you're in each other's rooms until bedtime, you sit next to each other whenever we all go out." Leiha smirked. "And you did seem a little tense after I said I thought he might've liked me the other day."

Elphaba just stared. "How-"

"I have an eye for these sorts of things."

"Sounds like someone I know." She laughed.

Neither girl said anything for a couple seconds. "So…" Leiha dragged out. "Am I right?"

"We're best friends." Well, for now, hopefully. But Elphaba didn't say that out loud.

"Mhm. Wanna know something?" Leiha lowered her voice. "It's ok for y'all to date as long as it doesn't interfere with the competition. Am I right to assume that's why you haven't put a label on it yet?"

"There's nothing to label." Wait. "And how do you know that?"

"I dated the guest choreographer we had about three years ago. Then I dumped her because she was too bossy on and off the dance floor."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows. Leiha was a lot like Glinda. Once they started talking, they didn't stop. She shook her head, smiling.

"Ooh, you're on! Break a shoulder."

"What?" Elphaba giggled.

After the announcer said her name and routine, she went on stage.

She was beautiful. Oz, was it even possible to be so talented? And if she was in pain, he couldn't tell. Man, his heart was just warm with pride and love watching her dance. He made sure to clap as loud as he could once she'd finished her solo.

When Fiyero went to find her in the dressing room, she was all too ready for him, her hand in a prayers position.

"I promise it doesn't hurt any more than it did before going on stage."

He chuckled at her and rubbed her good shoulder. "You were great out there."

"Would you believe me if I told you I forgot the dance about halfway through?"

No. She was lying. There was no way she could've blanked out. She was flawless up there.

"That listening to the song and imagining it thing really works," she laughed softly.

"I couldn't tell."

"Oh thank Oz."

"Go change, you have a group to get ready for."

She beamed at him and went up on pointe to hug him at the neck. He smiled and hugged her waist. "Thank you."

"Go," he shooed her away and she quickly changed.

She looked different in her prisoner costume. That punk/rock style wasn't what he usually saw her in and he had yet to see either group dance. The fake tattoos really completed her look. She looked like a badass.

She was disappointed in herself, he could tell, but really she should be so proud. He was.

Only four out of the ten solos had placed in the top ten, she had been the highest of them, all placing third with two guys having beating her out of first and second.

"Do you know how hard it is to win against males?" He tried to make her feel better.

"But it's not impossible."

"Exactly. So move on from this competition and look forward to the next one."

Ephaba sighed and slouched in her seat. The group numbers took fifth and second place, the ladies placing the highest. Overall, they had gotten 36 points, which wasn't as much as last week. But it didn't take away from the fact that Fiyero was proud of all of them.

"Hey." He removed the arm rest between them and drew her into his arms. "Stop feeling so down. You were great, and you did great. You're barely starting to get a feel for how these competitions work. I am so proud of you."

She settled herself deeper into his embrace and he could feel the tension leaving her body. "I love you," she said.

Oz, those three words made him feel so happy, he knew she meant them like he did. He wanted to tell her very badly that he wanted to be more than friends. But now wasn't the time. Who knows when it would be, but he wasn't as scared anymore.

"I love you, too."

The plane took flight and Fiyero leaned his head back. Two competitions down, 17 more to go, and a hell of a lot more choreography to do.

"I feel you," Elphaba said and he realized he'd said that out loud.

"Good to know," they both laughed softly.

Here is Elphaba's solo: www . youtube watch?v=e2iJqhEeCPU

And the girl's group dance: www . youtube watch?v=7MmBj66_PCg&t=2s

If you watch/watched dance moms, Elphaba is Kalani.

If you didn't, Elphaba is the one at the far left in the afro wig.

Also if you watched dance moms from pretty early on, you'll probably remember that there was an episode in which Brooke did a handstand before going on stage since in her solo, "Metamorphosis", she would be on her hands a lot, and she hurt her shoulder. That's where that idea came from.

Fun fact no one asked for: I actually popped my shoulder out once in volleyball practice. Holy hell.

And Elphaba's begging is actually me. Last year I sprained my ankle on my first performance, the third dance in our musical, and I literally fought with and begged my choreographer to let me keep dancing. Long story short, a friend lent me her brace and I was fine for the rest of the night and the next three shows. Hurt like a bitch afterwards though haha.

Dance terms:

Front walkover: it's like a cartwheel but forwards.

Front aerial: front walkover w/no hands.

Aerial: cartwheel w/no hands

Hope y'all liked the chapter!