Elphaba and Drew sat in silence. Elphaba's back was stinging and aching, as was her heart. This would be her life, it was nice to know that at least Drew wasn't out to make her life miserable, Elphaba thought of Glinda and Fiyero again. Her lover dead, her best friend probably all alone. She missed them, it hurt so bad. Elphaba wanted her friends. It was hard to stop the spilling over of tears in her eyes. Elphaba tried to discreetly turn around so that Drew wouldn't see her cry, but discrete was hard with pounds of heave chains attached to your feet and hands. Elphaba winced at the clanging chains, Drew looked up at the sound. "what are you doing?" he asked, thinking she'd try to sleep. "Nothing" she croaked through her tears. Drew was silent, he knew she was just embarrassed to be crying in front of him. "Anything else you want to talk about?" he asked Elphaba. She stay facing the wall, "I'm guessing I'm not allowed visitors?" Elphaba asked. "No... anyone particular in mind?" Drew said, already guessing who she was referring too. "Just someone who I don't want to visit, she can't see me like this." Elphaba wept. "Glinda..." said Drew. Elphaba let out a sob and swung her head around at the concrete wall. "Hey, be careful!" Drew said cautiously. The impact of the wall caused the whip injury Drew put on her face to start bleeding again. Drew sighed loudly, checking his watch, he was off duty in an hour. "Elphaba" he said. Elphaba turned to him, her face streaked with blood and tears. "I'm off duty in an hour," he began to say, but was interrupted. "You're leaving me?!" Elphaba said in fear and disbelief. "Only for 8 hours" he continued. "Then I'll be back for another 8 hours. I just think you should know, the other guard, he's not a gentle or sensitive guy, do whatever he says and you should be okay. He's going to give you another 30 lashes too. Just don't move and don't make noise." Drew finished. Elphaba looked scared, but also brave somehow. But she mostly just looked empty. Empty and broken, shattered. Maybe seeing Glinda would be just what she needed to make a little more hope shine through.
In that moment of silence, Elphaba began to drift off again, Drew reached the stick in through the bars and prodded her hip. "You can't sleep Elphaba." Elphaba grunted and stood up, wincing all the at the terrible pain in her back, that was soon to worsen.
Later, Elphaba was relaxing, focusing on staying awake through the exhaustion, when her concentration was broken by loud stomping footprints. Drew cast one more encouraging glance at Elphaba before the guard relieving Drew. He was the tall one who ripped her dress and broke her hands, Elphaba couldn't help but be afraid. Drew and the soldier shook hands and Drew walked off, into the darkness. Elphaba sat still, staring at the wall on the other side of the bars. She tried to hide her purple and blue bruised hands under her thick wall of black hair, keep him from feeling too much pride.
She heard the tall soldier unlock her cell and stomp inside, locking it behind him. She looked in the same spot on the wall the whole time he slid out his whip and crack it on the ground for the sheer purpose of fear. "If you want to keep that pretty hair of yours, I'd move it." said the soldier. Elphaba didn't look at him or say anything, she just pulled all her long, long hair over one shoulder. The soldier chuckled and lashed Elphaba's upper arm. She clenched her teeth together and gasped at the pain. He continued to whip at every inch of exposed skin, her arms and legs were coated in gashes, very little green was visible on her thighs and upper arms by the time he was done with her, she was also sprawled on the ground, bleeding too much to move. He sat on the stool up against the bars and watched Elphaba bleed and suffer on the ground, struggling to stay awake.
When Elphaba closed her eyes, he reached his stick through the bars, jabbing her about six times on the side. "Wake up witch" he taunted, jabbing her another several times. Elphaba was frankly very annoyed, and her attitude got the best of her. "Could. You. Not." she said, immediately regretting it. He obviously doesn't like to be told what do to. The bars clang opened then slammed shut. He took out his whip, lashing at Elphaba's stomach and her face. The whip created a gash it her stomach, and barely missed her eye, hitting her brow. The blood was flowing down her whole face no matter how hard she tried to stop it. He folded up his whip and tucked it back into his belt. He grinned, feeling very accomplished. The guard left the cell and locked Elphaba back in, she was gasping for breath after having all wind knocked out of her. Tears and pain blurred Elphaba's vision, she felt as though she were about to throw up.
It was not hard to stay silent and awake for the next 7 hours. Pure terror did that to somebody. Time flew and before she knew it, Drew was back, relieving the cruel soldier from his duties. Drew noticed Elphaba's careful shallow breath from being whipped in the stomach and of course the deep cuts covering her limbs, but he waited a few minutes, until he was sure the other guard was out of listening range. "What did you do?" he asked worriedly. Elphaba tried to catch another breath before answering him. "I let my attitude get the best of me." said Elphaba. "Elphaba" Drew sighed. "I'm sorry." he said, but it wasn't his fault. "are you okay?" he ask. Elphaba nodded
The pair stayed silent for several minutes, Elphaba seemed to be breathing easier now. "I'm going to get this bit over with Elphaba." he said unlocking the cell and taking his whip out. "You know I hate this." he said, and Elphaba knew he wasn't lying, he truly hatedhurting her, it was another sad case of a kid being pressured into a life they didn't want by their parents. She lifted up her shirt, her hands aching from having to bend them, reveling her stomach. "I want to keep this shirt from destruction as long I can so I'm just going to hold it up. Hope you don't mind." Elphaba said. Drew cracked the whip down on Elphaba's stomach, avoiding hurting the already existing slash. Elphaba was so tired now that holding back her grunts and whimpers of pain was useless, she didn't really care what Drew heard anyway. Once Drew finished the mandatory 30 lashes, He bent down to check her pulse, he stood about to leave "You can go to sleep in a few minutes" he said. Elphaba sighed in relief. "good." she said. Elphaba squirmed down, attempting to get comfortable, wincing in pain each time she moved. "Will you still be here when I wake up?" she asked. Drew nodded "I have to wake you later" he said. "Drew, what are they saying about me? Outside..." Elphaba asked, nervous to know the answer. Drew rubbed his hands together, "Well they're saying you were captured, and executed." Elphaba nodded. "So Glinda thinks I'm dead." she breathed. "Nobody has seen her since the news was released. They say she's hiding in her castle." Drew informed her apologetically. Elphaba felt a tear roll down her cheek and sting, landing in the cut on her cheek. "I'm really sorry Elphaba." said Drew. She shook her head, "Don't be, it's for the better. If she doesn't know I'm here then she'll never try to come for me or something stupid like that." Elphaba said, obviously upset. Drew stared at the floor for a few moments, then his watch beeped. "You can go to sleep now." he said. Elphaba immediately closed her eyes and fell asleep instantly.
Elphaba was woken, by being poked gently with the stick. "What." she groaned drowsily. "Elphaba, there's someone here to see you. She technically broke in, but she's here now so I let her stay until you woke up." Said Drew. Elphaba's heart skipped a beat, she stood up despite her aching body. "Where is she?" Elphaba asked, looking around frantically. Drew turned the corner and came back with Glinda running ahead of him. She was crying, "Elphie!" Glinda sobbed, pressing herself against the bars. Elphaba smiled, "Hey Glin." she said. "Elphie, your hurt..." Glinda said. "I'm okay." Elphaba said. Glinda turned and pointed and angry finger at Drew, her curls bouncing. "What did you do to her you-" Glinda was cut off by Elphaba. "Glin it's okay, it wasn't him." Elphaba assured her, even though a lot of it was Drew. "Let me in there!" Glinda shouted at Drew. He hesitated, "Oh calm down, it's not like I'm going to break her out..." she looked at Elphaba "Yet" Glinda whispered, both girls chuckled a little bit. Drew rolled his eyes and unlocked Elphaba's cell. "I'm going to lock it again, just let me know when you want out." Drew said. "In that case, now please." Elphaba joked, Drew grinned a little bit. "Not you Elphaba, nice try." Drew said. Elphaba smirked. Glinda flung her arms around Elphaba's fragile body. "Oh Elphie, I knew they were lying, If you had died, I would have known, I would have felt it." Glinda said. Glinda started combing Elphaba's hair with her fingers. "You've really let this hair of yours get away on you." Glinda smiled, playing with her best friends extreme amount of hair. Elphaba turned and flung her arms around Glinda's waist, ignoring the jolt of pain it sent through her body. Glinda hugged back gently. "Oh Elphie." Glinda smiled.
The friends sat together for 2 hours chatting and giggling just like old times. Glinda waited until she thought Drew wasn't listening to plan Elphaba's escape, only Drew was listening. "Miss Glinda, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Drew said, standing up. "No!" Glinda cried, pushing in closer to Elphaba. The two latched onto each other. Drew looked slightly annoyed, he wasn't going to be the guard who let the wicked witch escape. "Fine, but Glinda you have to come on this side now." Glinda groaned but stood up anyway. Hugging Elphaba one last time. Drew opened the cell and she stepped out. Glinda sat pressed up against the bars of Elphaba's cell for the rest of the visit. They continued their wild conversations which ranged from soft crying about how losing Fiyero, and Elphaba's unfair sentence, all the way to laughing about funny memories. Drew only had 2 more hours until his shift was over, so he had to break up the conversation. "Glinda, the guard is switching soon, you have to leave. "No! I can't leave her!" Glinda fought. "Glin, get out of here, I'll be okay." Elphaba assured her "fine." Glinda pouted. "I'll see you later Elphie." said Glinda. "See you later, Glin." Elphaba bid.
Drew and Glinda strode away with the torch, leaving Elphaba in complete darkness to think about what had just happened. When drew returned, he placed the torch back in the holder, and began pacing in front of Elphaba's cell. "Is something wrong?" Elphaba asked, worried. Drew stopped in front of the bars, looking down at Elphaba sitting on the ground. "I should not have done that!" he yelled, more to himself then to Elphaba. "Do you know how against the rules that was?" Drew resumed pacing. "I won't say anything... I promise..." Elphaba said, feeling guilty. "It wouldn't matter if you did! They'll know!" Drew panted, he stopped in front the bars again pointing a finger at Elphaba. "The point of hurting you all the time, isn't just to hurt you, they want your spirit broken, they want you to feel hopeless. Glinda raised your spirits to the moon and back. You're supposed to feel alone. We should not be on a first name basis, we should not speak to each other, but we do, and its making you feel better. I'm not cut out for this job, I can't hurt people, I hate seeing empty, shattered eyes. It's awful, if I can help it, I'm going to try to keep these people human as long as I can, but if anybody ever found out that I was letting you have visitors, the visitor would be dead, I would be dead, and you're sentence would increase." Drew was shouting now, and Elphaba was close to tears. "I'm sorry..." she croaked. Drew plopped down on the ground in front of Elphaba and sighed. "Don't be. But Glinda can't come back here." Drew said. Elphaba nodded. "I have to feed you before the guard switches." Drew remembered, getting up. "Wait" Elphaba said, Drew turned around. "Do I have to eat now?" she asked awkwardly. "Aren't you hungry?" he asked, slightly confused. Elphaba looked embarrassed. "well yeah, but I don't want to throw up while that other guard does his thing." she said. "I'd much rather wait to eat after." she said, staring at her feet. "Well... I don't have another shift for 40 hours actually, so if I were you, I'd eat now while you have someone to help you." He admitted. Elphaba was surprised, and frightened to hear that Drew wouldn't be back for nearly 2 days, but agreed to eat then, because he was right, it was doubtful any other guard would help her eat with her broken hands, she wouldn't be able to lift even a spoon with no intact bones in her hands.
Drew left and returned with a plastic bowl half full with some sort of thick, creamy colored mush, and a plastic cup of water. Elphaba's face must have shown with disgust, "Don't worry, it's just rice, potatoes, and collie flower mashed together." He assured her. Drew entered the cell and spoon fed her every last bite, then helped her drink the water, this time stopping between mouth full's. Elphaba found her helplessness so embarrassing, considering she has always been very independent, Elphaba was always the one who helped the helpless, but never the one that needed the help and she didn't like it at all. Drew noticed this and decided to leave her be. "I have to pee." Elphaba said in a very small voice. "right..." Drew said awkwardly. He entered the cell again and unhooked the chains from the wall, then wrapped an arm around her waist. "The upstairs prisoners have their own toilets and sink, but it gets messy and down here is 24 hour watch, so for the sake of the guards, we have to escort you to use the bathroom. Elphaba didn't really care, but nodded along anyway. She was having trouble walking, and Drew arm barely helped because Elphaba was probably 6 inches taller than him, the chains on her ankles weren't helping either. Elphaba felt herself beginning to trip, with instinct, she put out her hands. Drew tried to catch her but was too slow. Elphaba's broken hands were pushed against the ground extremely painfully. Elphaba quickly rolled off her hands and onto her back, she bit the insides of her cheek and took deep quick breaths, trying so hard not to cry out, but the pain in her hands and wrists was unbearable. Drew ran to the nearest wall holder to put the torch down and ran back to Elphaba. She was sitting up now, her hands held to her chest. "I'm fine." Elphaba said a low voice. Drew sighed and helped her back up, allowing more of Elphaba's weight onto him now that he didn't have to hold up the torch.