For the next half hour, idea after seemingly brilliant idea ran through her head, only to be shot down, one after another. There were just too many variables working against them. And it wasn't just variables. Everything was working against them. There was the Gale Force, the Wizard, Elphaba's obvious verdigris, and Fiyero's life-threatening injuries, to name just a few. That's how it had always been, and Elphaba had always managed to muddle through. But it seemed nothing could get them out of this, no matter how hard she tried.
But she would keep trying. Even though it seemed he would die, she couldn't - and wouldn't - let that happen. Elphaba had a few more hours until the first rays of sunlight appeared in the Ozian sky, and she would take full advantage of that.
Lapsing back into her thoughts, another half an hour passed. She was only brought back to Oz by a bit of movement catching her eye. She glanced over, only to see Fiyero's breathing becoming more and more labored. And on top of that, he was shivering. Ozdamnit.
Getting quickly to her feet, Elphaba hurried over to her love, kneeling beside him once again. She brushed his hair back from his face once again, sighing. Wrapping her arms around him, she gently dragged him to against the support, being careful not to jostle him any more than was absolutely necessary.
Once he was in a sort of sitting-up position, Elphaba sat back down next to him. She didn't wrap her arms around him to provide him with the little heat she possessed, for it would only make him colder when she didn't hug him.
Leaning slightly against Fiyero, Elphaba pulled her knees into herself, and fixed her gaze on a random object in front of her. Another idea had popped into her head, and it just might work. But she was trying to find a reason not to. For, the idea revolved around something she really really didn't want to do.
But as the minutes ticked by, Elphaba knew she would have to. There wasn't time to figure out an alternative, as it had taken her over an hour to come up with this one. So she'd just have to do it. Muscle through, as it were.
Looking over at Fiyero, Elphaba got to her knees again, leaning over him. She pressed her lips to his, her hand resting on his cheek. Despite her stony appearance, the green woman felt it deeply when he did not respond. But even so, she moved away after a moment, her dark eyes watching Fiyero. At least his breathing had stabilized.
"Don't worry, my hero. I'll be back for you soon. Stay safe, for me." Her voice almost too soft to hear, but somehow, Elphaba knew that Fiyero had heard. Somehow.
She got to her feet and, with one last look at Fiyero, her love, walked out from underneath the bridge and into the night.