Chapter 13
Everything happened so quickly. Fiyero's world had turned upside down. He closed his eyes and reminisced back. After reading Elphaba's letter he ran up to tell Marcella. As he entered the playroom, he witnessed Sara hovering over her.
"Nana, wake up! Nana!"
"What happened? Marcella!"
"Daddy, nana fell on the floor. She fell asleep. Wake up, nana."
Feeling a gentle hand on his shoulder, Fiyero opened his eyes. "Mom. Just thinking."
"Fiyero dear, would you like me to sit with you?"
He nodded. "Look at her, she's just laying lifeless."
Queen Yasaman sat beside her son. "You know, Marcella's not just hired help, she's family. Your dad called Rada. She's on her way home. She'll arrive in a few days."
"Okay. And Sara?"
"She's with your sister. She keeps asking for her nana."
"What did you tell her?"
"That nana's not feeling well. And doctors are doing their best to get her better. I don't know what I would have done without her all of these years," the Queen said. "She was a young mother when she came to us. Her husband had left her and Rada."
"I remember telling her lots of times when I was little that I'm a prince, and she works for me, and she said she didn't care. Said if I didn't listen she'd tell you and dad."
The Queen smiled. "She never told on you. Even when I knew you were misbehaving. When you did something wrong, she stood by you."
"I know." Fiyero lowered his head, and cried silently.
Pulling tissues out of her bag, the Queen dabbed her eyes with one, and handed one to her son. "I'll stay here with you tonight. Sara's well taken care of."
"Thanks, mom."
"Fiyero, Marcella wasn't taking her medication on a daily basis...wasn't refilling her prescription. That's why she suffered this stroke."
"She was too busy caring for Sara and me. I depended on her a lot. Never had time to herself. It's my fault."
"Stop that. It's not your fault. I reminded her to take her pills time and time again. She would just shrug it off and told me she was fine."
"How bad is she? Is she going to die?"
"I don't know. We'll have to wait and see what the doctors says. You know, we've got the best ones for her."
He snapped at his mother. "That's not the answer I want to hear!"
"Lower your voice, dear. She may be asleep, but she can hear you."
"Tell me she's not going to die. She can't die on us...on me. Mommy, please."
The Queen looked at her son, and it broke her heart. He was a little boy all over again...begging for something that was out of her control.
xxxxx
It's been a couple of days, and Fiyero had not left Marcella's hospital room. He refused to leave her alone for fear if he did, she would die. His mother felt that he needed someone to keep up his strength.
Laying his head on Marcella's bed, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "I'm fine, mom," he said. Only it wasn't his mother as he raised his head. It was Elphaba.
"How did you know?" Standing up, he wiped his tears, then embraced her, and cried. "She's been with me since I was five years old."
Elphaba hung on to him as he fell apart.
After a while he stepped away from her, and returned to his seat.
"Your mom and sister came by my house early this morning. They had gone to Glinda's and she told them where I lived. I'm so sorry, Fiyero. How is Marcella doing?"
He shrugged. "Look at her. Do you think she's in pain?"
Elphaba took hold of Marcella's hand. "It looks like she's just sleeping. Marcella, it's me...Elphaba."
"I talk to her. There's no respond...not even a stir," Fiyero said, pulling a chair.
She sat beside him. "I've never seen her with her hair down. She's beautiful. And she's never come close to getting married again?"
Fiyero slightly laughed. "How could she? When she had dates, Rada and I made sure they'd never come back. We would say, "are you going to be our new daddy?" It scared the guys away. We'd get punished. Standing still facing the wall."
Elphaba smiled. "And now, that's exactly how you punish Sara."
"I learned from experience."
They sat quietly for several minutes until Fiyero broke the silence.
"I had gone to the playroom, and Sara was trying to wake up her nana, she was...," his voice cracked as he spoke.
Elphaba turned to face him. "Don't replay that scene in your head."
"I panicked, and ran to the guards, they helped me, they helped her."
She wrapped her arms around him, holding and comforting him. "Marcella knows you love her. Cry all you want."
And he did just that...cried.
Chapter 14 - TBC
