Drew will be back soon, Elphaba tried to comfort herself. Moving was impossible for the most part, the past two guards were brutal, yesterday was one Elphaba had yet to see since her first day when she had surrendered. He wasn't quite as bad as the man she was in the company of right now, but he was certainly no Drew. It was apparent that Drew was the only guard who followed the minimum degree of her sentence. Only another hour until she was back with Drew.
Elphaba's thoughts were scattered, it was hard to tell what was real and what was not sometimes, Elphaba found herself talking to Glinda, who wasn't actually present. That normally resulted in punishment. The pain throughout her body was extreme, bruises made from kicks and punches, and cuts made by the whip covered her body. Her shirt and shorts were torn to tethers, she had barely enough clothes left on her body to cover much, luckily, the essential parts of her clothes were somewhat intact.
Elphaba wanted nothing more than to get out of there, but knew even then, nothing would ever be okay again. 'This is my life now. This is forever...' Elphaba repeated in her head. She was driving herself crazy. Elphaba had no sleep schedule. Sometimes she was allowed to sleep and other times she wasn't, often, even when she was allowed to sleep, she wouldn't. Elphaba would be too scared to actually sleep, she would lie there with her eyes closed until they decided to 'wake' her. Apart from going unconscious due to pain, Elphaba hadn't slept since Drew left. Elphaba was exhausted, that could be a factor to the hallucinating, that and blood loss.
Right now, Elphaba was pretending to sleep. She had counted the hours as best she could amid the torments and the sleep deprivation, if Elphaba counted correctly, Drew would be back soon, Elphaba wanted to sleep, or eat, or at least have the comfort of know she was safe with him. As Elphaba had suspected, it didn't take long for her to throw up from being beaten right after eating, There was no avoiding it, so Elphaba was hungry. She hoped that Drew would offer her food when she came back. She hoped a lot of things. 'I'm in prison, I can't expect to be given everything I want' thought Elphaba through her blurred thoughts.
When Elphaba heard far off footsteps, her heart leapt, it must have been Drew. She kept her eyes closed though, if she opened them they'd have known she was faking. Elphaba heard Drew and the other guard say a few words to each other, then it was silent for a few minutes. Elphaba thought it might be okay to open her eyes now, so she did. "Hey." Drew said, seeing her eyes open and her head lift very slightly off the ground. Elphaba made a noise, that may have meant to be a greeting, but it was hard to tell. She let her head fall back but kept her eyes locked to Drew's. "Are you going to be okay? Come on, talk to me." Drew said encouragingly. Elphaba turned her head from side to side, tiredly. "Come on Elphaba." Drew pushed. Elphaba didn't speak, but she let out small sobs, ashamed of herself and her weakness. Drew opened up the lock on the cell. Elphaba's eyes widened as Drew stepped closer. She didn't want to be whipped again. "no... no..." Elphaba breathed, though Drew wasn't cruel or rough, but still, the fear, Elphaba didn't know if she could handle any more of it. "No, I won't. Not today, it alright." Drew said, trying to comfort Elphaba. He stepped out of the small cell, leaving the door opened. "Can you please speak to me?" Drew asked, feeling extremely guilty. Drew had expected Elphaba to be in bad shape as far as the deep bruises and wide cuts, but he hadn't expected her to be so psychologically effected. Drew had a 12 hour shift today so that Elphaba wouldn't be able to keep track of time by shifts, they wouldn't be able to notice whether Drew enforced the sentence today, her whole body was cuts and bruises.
"Elphaba, I want you to speak. I know you can." Drew said bluntly. Elphaba looked dreadfully broken. "What do you want me to say?" Elphaba croaked, her voice raw. She wept onto the dirty floor. "Can you move?" he asked her, attempting to find motivation for her. "I'll walk you around the bottom floor a bit if you think you can manage it." Drew suggested, though he knew that wasn't allowed. "I want to try." Elphaba said, wiping tears from her face.
Drew unattached the manacles from the wall and offered to help her up, Elphaba refused and tried to get up on her own. She struggled to reach a sitting position then had to stop to breath for a minute. Elphaba put a hand on her rib cage and took a few deep, slow breaths, wincing with each inhale and exhale. "Elphaba... do you, have a broken rib?" Drew asked, shocked that any of the guards would take it that far. She nodded. "He kicked me." said Elphaba. "Maybe you shouldn't try to move then." Drew said stepping back, "No!" Elphaba quickly. She resume climbing to her feet, using the wall for balance. Once Elphaba finally was able to stand Drew wrapped an arm around her waist and another hand on Elphaba's hip. Drew was basically carrying her, she let most of her weight fall onto him and began a trail through the unlit hallways.
Elphaba was glad to have the chance to move again, she was having trouble breathing due to her rib, and even relying heavily on Drew, she was still having trouble walking. Elphaba didn't really think there was a purpose to this walking. The pair turned down a different hallway. When they turned the corner it was easy to hear the sound of nervous breath. Drew carefully propped Elphaba against a wall on the floor. "Don't go anywhere." he told her sternly. "Yeah, because I'm in shape for a chase." she said sarcastically through the pain in her legs and ribs. Drew walked a few feet farther down the suspicious hallway, "Show yourself now, with your hands up." he said, pulling out a weapon Elphaba never knew he had. Elphaba could barely see Glinda stepping out of one of the many empty cells with her hands above her curly blonde head. "Glinda?" Elphaba tried to shout, though it came out hoarse, to her friend. "Elphie!" Glinda shouted back, craning her neck to see her friend around Drew who was now standing shocked in front of Glinda. "Hey listen, I'm sorry, I know you said not to come back but I can't just leave her here like this! I'm working on getting Elphaba court date to clear her name." Glinda explained to Drew loud enough for Elphaba to hear. "I wanted to talk to her about it first, I don't want to be doing stuff that has to do with her, without her knowing." Glinda continued. Drew still looked very surprised to find Glinda The Good lurking in the south stairs. "You can't send her to court, she already has a sentence, and you can't clear her name, everyone in Oz already thinks she's dead." Drew argued. "That would not be hard to fix, a private court session with only a few people who already know, or can be trusted with the knowledge that Elphie is alive, then when she win, I'll summon all citizens of Oz to outside my palace to explain things and reveal her." Glinda fought back strongly. Elphaba was very tired and very confused. What Glinda was saying was hard for Elphaba to comprehend, she had trained herself not to have any hope of escaping this hell of hers, but what Glinda was saying was throwing it all off. Drew looked stumped. "That doesn't mean you can break in to the south stairs. I'm going to let you see her. Only for a minute." Drew said, frustrated with both of them.
Glinda ran to where Drew had Elphaba seated, "Elphie, oh my Oz... Elphie, are you okay?" Glinda breathed. She turned to Drew and kicked him in the shin. He grunted and winced. "I can go higher if you like!" Glinda threatened in a deep angry voice that anyone would be shocked to hear come out of her thin, pretty pink lips. She stepping close to him, her eyes directly at Drew's chin. "Why are you douche bags, hurting Elphie? Why the hell! are you doing it." Glinda shouted angrily. Drew pushed her back gently, she swatted his hands away and glared at him. "Glinda come here." said Elphaba. Glinda spun on her heel quickly and plopped onto the ground next to Elphaba then scooted in closer, Elphaba laid her head onto Glinda's shoulder. "Don't be afraid." Glinda told her, referring to the possible court session. "I am afraid." Elphaba admitted. Glinda hugged her friend, conscious of Elphaba many injury's. "It's okay, but I'm not letting this go on, this will not be your life. We are going to clear your name." Glinda insisted. "nobody is just going to welcome me back, I've ruined everything for myself because I thought I'd be the hero. Glinda, I can't go back." Elphaba said. "You can and will Elphie, and once you do, you can live in my palace for as long as you want. It'll be okay." Glinda assured her.
"We're going back now." Drew said, bending over to help Elphaba to her feet. Glinda stood too and helped Elphaba. It seemed Elphaba favored Glinda's help, because once she got to her feet, it was Glinda she chose to rely on. "I'm going to walk back with you." Glinda declared to them both. "Fine." Drew muttered. Glinda soon found that she couldn't hold up Elphaba by herself, she glanced at Drew pleadingly and he came to the other side of Elphaba and took on half of the weight.
Once Elphaba was safely back in her cell, Glinda hugged her friend and gave Drew nod before departing.
"When are you leaving?" Elphaba asked Drew. "I have a 12 hour shift today so not for awhile." Drew answered, Elphaba was relieved. He started back down the hall with the torch. "Where are you going?" Elphaba Croaked. "I'm getting your meal." He echoed back.
When Drew returned he had the same thing in his hands as the last time, Drew opened the cell and sat down on the cold floor next to Elphaba. She gestured to the water first so he pored some into her mouth. He fed her and gave her the remainder of the water before locking her back in and taking the dishes to wherever he takes them. When he returned, Drew simply pulled his stool to the wall and sat.
The pair were silent for several minutes until they both heard footsteps. Drew immediately checked his watch, panicked. He noticed Elphaba's anxiety rise. "It's not nearly time to switch." He whispered, barely audible. When the foot step began to descend from the darkness, the guard became clear. It was the one who Elphaba hated the most. "Sorry to interrupt your shift Drew. I have a delivery from Madame Morrible for the witch." The guard stated, glancing at Elphaba. Her heart seemed to freeze in fear. "Of course Jeremy." said Drew handing him the key. He glanced apologetically briefly at Elphaba while Jeremy jiggled the key in the lock. Once inside, he reached up and took the pole that Elphaba's chains were attracted too and put it on the floor, then un did the chains from the pole. He pulled Elphaba up, anything but gently. "Drew." Jeremy summoned. Drew bounced to his side. Jeremy pushed Elphaba to him. "Sit her on the other side of the bars. Drew did as he was told, ignoring the agony and panic on Elphaba's face. Jeremy, on the inside of the cell re attracted Elphaba's broken hands to the pole on the Inside of the cell. He stood up and turned the corner "I'll be back in 40 minutes. Keep her like that." He announced as he got farther away. Once his footstep were inaudible Elphaba whipped her head to Drew who was sitting behind her. She was breathing hard, which was causing her extreme pain due to her broken rib, and she had tears on her face. Drew felt terrible but couldn't do anything to help her. "Drew what's happening! Please!" She whispered frantically. "I don't know Elphaba. Calm down, it'll be fine." He attempted to sooth her.
The 40 minutes Jeremy was gone were the longest 40 minutes of both Elphaba and Drew's lives. When he returned he was carrying two fairly large pots. He set them down by Drew then wrapped his arms around Elphaba's torso, directly on her broken rib and pulled her backwards as far as her chains would allow. She cried out. "Whoops, I forgot about that." Jeremy grinned evilly at her. She returned him with the nastiest look she could muster. He chuckled, picking up the larger of the pots and stepping inside the cell. When he took the lid off the pot, clouds of steam escaped, the cruel guard poured boiling water onto Elphaba's hands. She threw her head back and squinted her eyes back, stifling a scream, though barely. There was no way to move her hands, which were now blood red and blistering awfully on top of the bright purple and blue bruising. Tears ran down Elphaba's face as she did everything she could not to make noises. Jeremy stood above her grinning as though he witnessed something humorous. Once Elphaba caught her breath, she was mad. "Hey, I have something for you to pass on to Madame Morrible." she said, still breathing heavily. "And what's that sweetie." Jeremy said, leaning in inches from Elphaba's face. She spit at him, then smiled.
Elphaba could see Drew blurrily, behind Jeremy, his look of shock and disapproval made Elphaba regret what she did. Jeremy waved a finger in front of her. "That's exactly what I was waiting for." Jeremy ran to the corner of the corridor and returned with a long pair of tongs, he set them down near the other pot. Unexpectedly, Jeremy pulled Elphaba's legs out from under her, causing her to lay on her stomach in an awkward position. She cried in pain. "Drew, grab her foot." Jeremy ordered him. Drew reluctantly did as he was told. 'What a coward.' thought Elphaba of Drew, through the mind blurring pain coursing through her.
Jeremy picked up a hot coal with the tongs and held it against the bottom of Elphaba's foot. She screamed as loud as her throat would allow, burying her face in the pools of her hair around her. After a few of those of both her feet, Elphaba couldn't take it and fell unconscious.