Strength

A.N. Thanks for the reviews! And to Penelope, the e-mail address in the review you sent had the part after the symbol cut off. I made a wild guess and sent it to that screenname at yahoo but I'm not sure if that was right. Let me know if I was correct or if some random person got the e-mail I sent you.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters

Two Weeks Later-

Fiyero and Elphaba looked around at the bland, off-white walls of the waiting room at the local medical office. Though the atmosphere of the room could hardly be described as "happy", Elphaba was grinning from ear to ear. A week earlier, the cast on her arm had been removed. Today, the cast on her leg was coming off as well. She was finally going to be free.

They had already been waiting quite a while, and the amount of people in the office suggested that they would be waiting for quite some time more. It was mid-December, and right in the middle of cold and flu season. The waiting room was packed full of people sniffling, sneezing, and coughing. Elphaba just hoped that she didn't catch anything from being here all day. She kept herself entertained by watching a pair of children, siblings, most likely, across the room. The older child had a book in his hands, and was reading to his obviously sick little sister.

The scene put an even bigger smile on Elphaba's face. Fiyero, who had been watching the children in an effort to see what was keeping Elphaba entertained in what might have been the most boring waiting room in all of Oz, leaned closer to her and whispered, "How much longer do you think we'll be here?"

Elphaba laughed a little bit. "Honestly, Fiyero, I would expect you to be a little more patient. You knew it was cold and flu season. These places are bound to be busy. Those kids over there were already here when we came in and they haven't complained once."

"Yeah, well, that's because they have something to do. Hey, how about I read to you? You know, one last bit of Fiyero-care before you have to fend for yourself again."

Elphaba sighed and gestured to her bag on the floor. "Fine, Fiyero. If it will keep you from whining about how long we've been here, then go ahead. There's a book in my bag down there that I've been meaning to…"

"Oh, no. I'm not reading anything you brought with you. I don't understand any of that stuff and I'm not reading aloud stuff I don't understand. I do that enough in class." He looked around at the end tables on either end of the row of chairs. "Here we go. This is about my speed" he said selecting one of the children's books from the pile on the far table.

Fiyero opened up the book and began reading before Elphaba could say anything. Elphaba decided it was more fun to pretend like she wasn't listening, and watch people's reactions to a 19 year old collage student reading a children's book aloud to no one. Every so often Fiyero would look up, and Elphaba would make eye contact and feign an intense interest in the story.

He had just finished the book when they called Elphaba's name. As he was carrying her out of the waiting room, an older woman tapped his leg.

"By the way, honey, you read very well" she said.

The procedure of removing the cast was a blur to Elphaba. Fiyero spent much of the time complaining about how she embarrassed him in the waiting room. But soon enough, the cast was off and Elphaba did something she had wanted to do for over six weeks.

She stood up.

She was shaky at first. She wobbled a little bit and Fiyero put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. Her first few steps were just as rocky. Even so, Elphaba insisted on walking home. Although her leg did get stronger as they walked back to Shiz, Fiyero still kept an arm around Elphaba's shoulder. It didn't feel right to him not to be holding on to her somewhere.

Elphaba was actually grateful for Fiyero holding on to her. Although she was overjoyed at being able to walk again, she had grown used to being constantly protected and part of her didn't want to see that stop.

There was a slight chill in the air around them, and the sky had become the pale gray that usually is a warning sign for snow. Still, the two made no effort to speed up their trip.

"So, why didn't Glinda come with us today? I thought she would have wanted to come with you for this." Fiyero asked.

"She said she wasn't feeling well. I'm actually kind of afraid of what I'm going back to."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be fine in a few days. Just make sure not to catch anything yourself. I need both of you to be healthy for our little Lurlinemas celebration."

Elphaba had almost forgotten about Lurlinemas. Of course, it was hard to forget completely with all the decorations everywhere. The three of them had planned a small party for the occasion. The realization dawned on her that she had to get gifts for them. She had to go shopping. And even scarier than that, she had to go alone.

However, when Elphaba got back to her dorm, she realized that shopping was going to be the last thing on her mind. Even before she opened the door she could hear Glinda coughing. She turned and looked at Fiyero.

"I think I'd better go in alone. We don't need both of us being exposed to this."

Fiyero was going to protest, but another coughing fit from Glinda changed his mind. He kissed Elphaba on the cheek, the two exchanged "I love you's" and he headed back to his room.

Elphaba opened the door slowly and peaked her head in before entering. Glinda was sitting at the desk, although whatever she had been attempting to do had been abandoned in the coughing fits.

"Hey, Glinda. How are you feeling?" She knew this was a dumb question; Glinda could be heard coughing halfway down the hallway. Still, Glinda answered her with "Oh, I'm fine. Just a little cough."

"Well, it just so happens that I heard your "little cough" all the way down the hall. I'm surprised no one's had a medical team sent over. It sounds like someone's dying in here."

"Really, Elphie, it's nothing. You and Fiyero…hey, wait a minute. Where is Fiyero? How are you…Oh, Oz! That's right! Your cast came off today. Elphie, I'm so happy for…" Glinda was interrupted by a loud coughing fit.

"Just a little cough, huh? I think I'd better find you some cough medicine." Elphaba retreated to the bathroom and began to search the medicine cabinet. She was about to bring it out when she heard Glinda's voice call her.

"Elphie? Actually, I think I'm going to need the full cold stuff. I've got a headache, and my throat is kind of sore too."

Elphaba laughed at Glinda's sudden change from "I'm fine" to "I'm dying" as she found the right medicine for Glinda. She found a box of pills labled "Full cold relief".

"Here, Glinda. This should treat every cold symptom in Oz" she said as she handed Glinda the pills with a glass of water.

"Thanks, Elphie." Glinda said groggily.

"Why don't you go lie down for awhile?" Before Glinda could respond Elphaba had already guided her friend out of the chair and over to her bed. She helped Glinda to lie down and then positioned herself on the edge of the bed.

"Now try and sleep a bit. Those pills should knock you out for a few hours anyway. If you need anything I'll be over on my bed reading."

Glinda offered only a slight nod in response, so Elphaba went over to her bed and removed from her bag the book that she had attempted to get Fiyero to read to her in the doctor's office. As she opened the book, she let out a slight cough.

"Great" she thought. "Just what I need."

A.N. Well, that took longer than planned. I was actually sick for a few days, which provided inspiration for this chapter.