1 Down: Period of recuperation (13)

The first sign Fiyero had that something was wrong was that Elphaba wasn't in their Politics lecture. In the year that he had known her, Elphaba had never once missed a class. The most logical explanation, in Fiyero's mind, was that she had gotten distracted in the library and lost track of time. But she wasn't there. Nor was she in her dorm room, The Wilted Rose, or the bookstore in town.

Fiyero felt as though he'd been wandering all over campus and town by the time he ran into Nessa and Boq.

"Hey, where's your sister?" he greeted Nessa.

Nessa's brow furrowed, adjusting her scarf tighter around her neck. "Didn't Galinda tell you?"

Fiyero shook his head warily. "I haven't seen Glin today. What? What happened?"

"Elphaba's in the hospital," Nessa told him and Fiyero's stomach dropped.

"What?!"

"She's okay," Nessa added hastily.

Fiyero's shoulders sagged in relief. "Mother of Oz, Nessa. Maybe start with that," he said weakly.

Nessa frowned in disapproval, most likely at his language but Boq chimed in before she could say anything about it.

"She's got a fracture in her foot," he informed Fiyero. "She's got to wear a cast for a few weeks, but they're probably going to release her tomorrow. Something about making sure she's okay with the pain meds before they give her crutches?"

Fiyero, having broken his leg as a teenager, nodded knowingly. "Sure. But she's okay?"

Nessa smiled faintly. "She's fine. She's already bored and she hates the painkillers they've given her, but she's okay."

"What happened?" Fiyero demanded, shifting on the spot to keep the blood flowing to his feet.

Maybe the middle of January wasn't the most ideal time of year to stand around outdoors and chat idly; but Fiyero's concern for Elphaba outweighed the cold right now. After all, she'd been fine when he'd seen her at dinner the night before.

Nessa clearly stifled a laugh at that, which Fiyero found rather odd. "I think Elphaba should tell you that story herself," she said, rather vaguely.

"I'm sure she'd like visitors," Boq offered. "We were just with her, and Galinda's gone to pack her a bag… I don't think Elphaba likes hospitals that much."

The humour on Nessa's face dimmed at that, and she grimaced. "She doesn't," she agreed. "And the painkillers make her head fuzzy, which she hates. So, if you wanted to see her-"

"I'll go see her now," Fiyero interrupted. "I've got no more classes today."

Nessa smiled, her shoulders dropping in relief. "Thank you, Fiyero. Tell her I'll come back tomorrow morning?"

"Sure," Fiyero agreed.

Fiyero made a quick detour before heading to the hospital, which he couldn't say he'd ever really noticed before. He'd walked past it many times, but he'd never really paid attention to it. It was a large red brick building that overlooked the park, and the recent snowfall they'd had made the red bricks appear even more vibrant. Once he walked through the doors, the stark white of everything was even more apparent in contrast to the red bricks.

Finding Elphaba was easy- the nursing staff were all too happy to direct him once they'd recognised him. Elphaba was in a room with three other beds, two of them full. One was a woman Fiyero guessed to be his mother's age, who despite the cast that encased her whole arm, gasped excitedly at the sight of him; and the other was a girl probably around fourteen or fifteen, who blushed furiously when Fiyero glanced at her and tried to subtly hide beneath her covers. Fiyero tactfully ignored both of them, focused on Elphaba. She was in the bed by the window, looking unharmed besides her casted left foot and she greeted Fiyero nonchalantly.

"What happened?" Fiyero demanded the moment he was within earshot of her.

Elphaba grimaced. "It's nothing, really. Who told you? Galinda?"

"Nessa and Boq," Fiyero replied, taking the seat beside the bed. "They said you fractured your foot, which doesn't sound like nothing to me."

He studied her face closely. She looked rather pale now that he was this close, and rather tired, but there were no other signs of injury, and his tone sobered.

"Seriously, Fae. What happened?"

Elphaba eyed him warily, leaning her head back against the pillows. "You can't laugh, okay?"

Fiyero huffed indignantly. "You think I'd laugh at your broken foot?" he asked incredulously. "What, did you slip on the ice or something?"

Elphaba made a face. "I wish."

Fiyero grinned. "Okay, now you've got to tell me. Did you fall in the shower?"

Elphaba's cheeks flushed. "No! Stop guessing. Because I guarantee, you're not going to get it."

Fiyero chuckled. "If you don't tell me, I'm going to keep going and my guesses are only going to get crazier," he warned her. "Right now, my top theory involves a banana peel and a raccoon."

She rolled her eyes, sighed and then conceded. "I fell asleep reading last night-"

"Honestly, I expect nothing less from you."

"Shut up. Anyway, I was sitting up and sitting on my foot and I guess it went numb. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and…"

Fiyero's eyes widened. "You broke your foot walking on it when it was numb," he summarised. "Because you fell asleep reading while sitting on your own foot."

"Yes," Elphaba admitted. "I honestly didn't really think anything of it at first, because I wasn't really awake. And then I went to get up this morning and I couldn't really walk on it. So, Galinda insisted I go see the nurse, and they sent me here."

Fiyero shook his head, his eyes soft and something warm nestling in his chest. "That is the most you way to injure yourself, and I love it," he declared.

Elphaba's cheeks flushed again.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Not at the moment," Elphaba replied. "But they've given me some excellent painkillers."

Fiyero leaned forward slightly, squinting as he tried to look at her eyes.

"The really good stuff?" he asked. "Are you high?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "My head is pretty fuzzy," she replied, which Fiyero figured was a pretty much a confirmation.

Fiyero reached down to grab the paper bag he'd brought with him that now sat at his feet.

"I brought you some things," he informed her, ignoring the flicker of confusion that crossed her face. "You know, to aid you in your convalescence."

Elphaba rolled her eyes, as he began pulling things from the bag and piling them on Elphaba's lap- chocolate bars; a pack of coloured markers; pairs of brightly coloured woollen socks; a ruler; and a pen.

"I understand what most of these are for," Elphaba said slowly, picking up the ruler.

"That's for when your leg itches beneath the cast," Fiyero said wisely. "Trust me."

He reached for the packet of markers and pulled out a blue one, gesturing to her cast. "May I?"

Elphaba nodded warily, craning her head to watch as Fiyero signed his name on her cast with a flourish.

"You could sell that for a fortune later," he told her and Elphaba snorted, picking up the socks.

"Galinda is going to hate these."

Fiyero grinned. "Oh yeah. I had fun picking out the ugliest ones I could find because I knew it would annoy her and you would wear them because it will annoy her," he admitted cheerfully and Elphaba laughed.

"And the pen?"

Fiyero held up a finger and pulled once last thing from the bag- a book of crossword puzzles.

"It's not the newspaper," he said almost apologetically, handing it over. "But I thought this was more practical."

Elphaba's eyes softened as she looked between the crossword book and Fiyero, and Fiyero's heart thudded so hard he was sure that she must have heard it.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

Fiyero positively beamed at her. "You're welcome."

Elphaba flicked through the book and Fiyero expected her to start doing a crossword there and then, but she didn't.

"Painkillers?" Fiyero guessed.

"I don't think I'd get many clues right at the moment," Elphaba admitted, sinking deeper against her pillows.

Fiyero grinned. "Well, let's find out shall we?"

He replaced everything he'd brought her back in the bag, save for the book and pen and settled back into his seat.

"You don't have to-"

"Oh, please. This may be my only chance to beat you at a crossword puzzle, Miss I-Know-All-The-Words," Fiyero said matter-of-factly, turning to the first puzzle in the book and clearing his throat. "One across," he read out aloud. "'Extreme anger.' Three letters."

"Ire," Elphaba said immediately.

Fiyero filled in the spaces, looking up to find Elphaba smiling softly at him.

"What?" he asked her.

Elphaba shook her head. "Nothing. Just… thank you."

Fiyero flashed her a smile, his heart swooping with what could only be hope. "You're welcome," he replied quietly. "Four across?"

Elphaba nodded. "Four across," she agreed.

AN. Fun fact: my mother actually did break her foot this way years ago. Although instead of reading, she fell asleep by my sister's crib trying to settle her back to sleep in the middle of the night.