Chapter 5
Galinda's father sat in his office, drinking a cup of coffee, when he heard a knock on his door.
"Come in!" he said and turned in his chair.
"Good morning Timion, how are you? " His assistant Jahir asked as he entered the room.
"I am well, thank you. What do you have for me? " Timion said as he noticed a letter in his hands.
"I just received this wire for you, it is from Galinda," Jahir said and handed it over to him.
"Thank you, I hope that nothing is wrong with her," he said, sounding very concerned.
Galinda wrote them often, but they never had received a wire from her before.
He quickly opened the envelope and scanned over the letter. He relaxed instantly when he read Galinda's reassurance that nothing was wrong with her.
As soon as he read about the water allergy, he closed his eyes and sighed deeply: He knew that girl! There was only one Ozian in all of Oz who was allergic to water.
He clearly remembered the day when he first met the green girl and shuddered from the flood of memories that nearly threatened to overwhelm him.
After all this years, he was still very ashamed that he was involved in the events that would make Elphaba's childhood well… difficult.
Now he had a chance to make it all up to this special girl. He wondered why his wife never told him, that Galinda was rooming with Elphaba. When Galinda wrote to him, she would never tell him anything specific about her.
All he knew was that his daughter disliked her roommate from the start and that she was very angry that she had to room with someone at all.
He was glad that Galinda asked him for help, because he could clearly imagine what difficulties any doctor would have with Elphaba's allergy. Timion was very sure that it had not been easy for Elphaba to live with that strange allergy.
After he put the letter into one of his desk drawers, Timion stood up and went to the door.
When he opened the door, he could overlook a big part of the lab. There were many different workstations and some meeting rooms.
Timion went into one of them and found Jahir sitting at a table, reading a report from one of the scientists. Jahir was not only his assistant, but also his best friend. They knew each other from school and worked together since they had graduated. He would trust him with his life.
"Jahir, can I talk to you for a moment please?" he asked after he knocked softly on the door frame to not startle his friend.
"Oh of course Timion, please sit down!" Jahir said.
Timion closed the door behind him and sat down beside Jahir on the large conference table.
"It is about Galinda's wire, she told me that her roommate got burned and that they need some special supplies to treat them," Timion hesitated for a moment before he continued.
"Her roommate is Elphaba Thropp," he said calmly, looking Jahir directly in the eye.
Jahir inhaled and looked very surprised at his friend. "Elphaba Thropp? Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes I am very sure, because you know that there is only one human being in Oz who is allergic to water."
"This is true."
"I didn't know that she is Galinda's roommate up until today. She never mentioned this in one of her letters to me. But that is not so important for the moment. She told me that Elphaba got burned during a rainstorm at Shiz yesterday and that the doctor there is afraid that he could not treat her burns sufficiently. Galinda asked me for help with that problem. I think that will be my chance to make some things that happened in the past up to her."
"Timion my friend, there are things that you could not change. I know that you feel bad about your involvement, but you had no other choice at that time," Jahir said, patting his friends shoulder.
Timion sighed. "I know, but I can't stop feeling bad about it. I want to take the train to Shiz this afternoon, to make sure that I can help Elphaba. I just need to talk to Elanora first."
"All right, I will prepare some supplies for you in the meantime. Just write all of them down and I will get them ready," Jahir said and got up from his chair.
"Thank you Jahir, I appreciate your help!"
"Just go home and talk to your wife, don't worry about the other things for now."
"Okay, I send you a note when I am ready and will pick the supplies up when I drive to the train station."
"That is all right with me, see you later."
"Yes, see you later," Timion said and hurried out of the door and back into his office. He quickly wrote down the needed supplies, then grabbed his jacket and bag and went out into the lab. He gave the note to Jahir then left.
It was a ten minute carriage ride to Upland manor and he was glad that it was not far from his lab. He hoped that Elanora would be home by now because he felt a strong urge to be as quickly in Shiz as possible. When he arrived at home, Timion was greeted by their butler.
"I know that I am home early, but is it possible that my wife is home yet?" he asked.
"Yes she arrived twenty minutes or so ago and is currently in her parlor," the butler said.
"Thank you," Timion said and crossed the hallway towards his wife's parlor. He knocked on the door and entered the room after he heard Elanora's soft reply.
"Hello darling, you are early," Elanora said when she saw her husband enter the parlor.
She was a little bit concerned because he never came home that early, besides something was wrong. Usually she had to remind him that he was working too long.
"Is everything okay?"
"Hello my precious wife, I am fine but something came up that we need to talk about," Timion said and gave his wife a soft kiss. "I got a wire from Galinda this morning. She told me that her roommate was injured yesterday and that she needs my help, because they can't treat her properly."
When Elanora started to say something, Timion held is hand up and continued: "I know that you didn't want to tell me about the fact that Galinda is rooming with Elphaba, because you know that it would make me feel uncomfortable. And that is okay. I still wish that I could change that part of my past," Timion said calmly.
"You are right darling, I told you not about Elphaba living in a room with Galinda, because I feared that it would trigger bad memories in you. I am glad that you see my intention to protect you. What happened to Elphaba?"
"Apparently she was surprised by a rainstorm yesterday afternoon and got burned. You know that she is allergic to water and how bad it must be."
"Yes, I can imagine that she received many burns, even when she was inside quickly."
"It seems that no one gave her proper supplies to treat any injuries, because Galinda asked me, if I could make her some antiseptic oil. The doctor there is concerned, that the wounds might get infected, because they could only use plain mineral oil."
"You want to go to Shiz, am I right?" Elanora asked gently.
"Yes, I need to. This is my chance to help her. I don't know if she will recognize me, but I must take the risk. There is so much that could happen to her when they can't treat her properly."
"I know and I understand your need to help her darling."
"I have been talking with Jahir and he is currently packing some supplies for me. He thought that visiting Shiz is a good idea too. I try to get the four 'o clock train this afternoon."
"That is okay, how long do you think you are needed there?"
"I think it depends on how Elphaba is doing. I hope that everything will be all right, but the possibility for complications is there. I will inform you as soon as I know more."
"Very well, let me pack a suitcase for you, so that you can make the arrangements."
"You are a treasure my dear," Timion said and kissed his wife tenderly.
Timion hurried out of the parlor and called for their driver. When he arrived in town, he managed to get a ticket for a private compartment on the 4 'o clock train. After that was done, he quickly drove to his lab in order to get the supplies from Jahir, who was already waiting for him.
"Here is a box with all of the supplies you requested and some you might need also. I hope that you are able to help that special girl," Jahir said and handed the box over to his friend.
"Thank you Jahir, I hope that too. I have to go now. You will hear from me as soon as I know more about the situation."
Jahir looked Timion directly in his eyes and said: "And please remember: not everything was your fault."
Timion nodded and left the lab, not knowing what would await him at Shiz.
X
Back at Shiz, Galinda was still sitting beside Elphaba in a comfy chair, eating her breakfast. She had been watching Elphaba for a while now. Every time the green girl moved, she flinched, but tried to hide her pain. It seemed to get worse during the last twenty minutes.
Elphaba reached for the glass of milk that was on the bedside table, but this time the pain in her arm and side was so intense that she let out a little yelp, despite her effort to suppress it.
"Oz Elphaba! You can't hide the fact that you are in a lot of pain from me any longer!" Galinda said a little bit unnerved and stood up. "Why haven't you told the doctor that you require more analgesics?
Elphaba sighed and looked at Galinda. "I don't want to take more. It makes me sleepy and… I am afraid of the dreams that I could have."
"Oh dear!" Galinda said. "But Elphaba, the pain must be worse than a nightmare, don't you think?"
"Pain is something I can deal with, but I have no control over the nightmares."
"Fine, but please understand that I have my own limits seeing you in such a great amount of pain."
Elphaba looked over to Galinda and said quietly: "You mustn't stay with me you know?"
Galinda took a deep breath before she answered: "I know that I could go back to our room, but I don't want to. You need someone who looks after you, and please don't tell me that you can handle all of this alone."
"But why are you doing this? Why do you suddenly feel the strong need to provide me comfort?" Elphaba asked the question she had in her mind all of the time.
"Because I sort of like you"
There was a stunned silence in the room after that statement. Galinda was surprised that it came out so easily. But it was now clear to her, that it was not pity that made her stay with Elphaba in the infirmary.
"You…You like me?" Elphaba stammered slightly. "But why me, the ugly, broody green girl, that you was forced to live with?"
"I don't know, sometimes friendship has no rules," Galinda said with a smile. "Please don't push me away; I just want to provide you a little comfort in a situation which is apparently not easy for you."
Elphaba sighed deeply and smiled tentatively at Galinda. "Okay, stay here with me if it makes you happy. I don't understand why you want it yet, but I think that I have not the strength to throw you out of the room," Elphaba said with a wink.
"Oh I doubt that you are able to throw me out too, you can barely move your arms without feeling a good amount of pain. And that brings us back to the fact, that you need to take something against it!" Galinda said firmly.
"Fine, I will take something," Elphaba said, silently admitting to herself, that she more than needed it by now.
"Finally!" Galinda said and threw her hands up in the air. "Is it okay if I leave you for a moment to talk to the nurse?"
"Of course, I can handle being alone here just fine," Elphaba said a little bit testy.
"Elphaba, I didn't say that and you know it," Galinda replied calmly. "I'll be right back."
With that she crossed the room and went out of the door.
X
Galinda went down the hallway and to the front desk, where another nurse sat. "Excuse me; is it possible for me to talk to Nurse Clare for a moment?"
"You are Miss Upland correct?" The nurse asked.
"I am."
"I will get Nurse Clare for you, just sit down over there, I will be back in just a moment," she said, pointing to the small sitting area that was across from the desk.
"Thank you!" Galinda said and sat down in a chair.
The young nurse knocked on the door to the head nurse's office and entered it after she heard a soft response.
"Good morning Nurse Clare, Miss Upland wishes to speak with you."
"Thank you, I will get her myself."
She went to the sitting area and called for Galinda, but the blonde was deep in thought and didn't hear her. When she laid her hand on Galinda's shoulder, the girl startled slightly.
"Oh Nurse Clare, I haven't noticed that you are here," she said a little embarrassed.
"No matter dear, I heard that you wanted to speak with me?"
"Yes I do, do you have a moment?"
"Of course, just follow me into my office."
"What can I do for you?" the nurse asked after they both sat down at her desk.
"Elphaba needs more pain medication. She tries to hide it, but I can see that every motion is hurting her. I told her that she mustn't live with the pain, but she seemed to be afraid that it would make her drowsy again."
"She is afraid of the nightmares, isn't she?" the nurse said.
"Yes, very much. I wish I knew what is haunting her."
"It will come out in time. I suppose that you convinced her to take something for the pain?"
"Yes, I did, albeit it was not an easy task."
"I can imagine," the nurse chuckled and got up, indicating Galinda to do the same.
She went over to a table and took a tray that was on it.
"I have already prepared some medicine for her; we need to give her some anti-inflammatory medicine too. We are just cautious," she added when she saw Galinda's worried look. She didn't want to concern her even more than she already was. "I just added a new pain medication for her."
Nurse Clare went out of her office with Galinda and told the young nurse at the front desk where she could be found.
"I hope that my father got my wire, I hope that he is able to help Elphaba."
"I am positive that he got it. To be true the doctor and I are very curious to meet him. We heard a lot of good things about him."
"Really?" Galinda asked surprised. She knew that her father was well known in Frottica and the towns around, but never thought that someone in Shiz would have heard about him.
"The medical world is small," the nurse chuckled.
They reached Elphaba's room and Galinda knocked on the door and went inside.
Elphaba had her eyes closed, but opened them as soon as she heard the knock on the door.
She wondered why Galinda was gone for so long.
"I am back Elphaba, Nurse Clare has some medicine for you," Galinda said.
The nurse gave Elphaba the little cup with the pills. "I know that you don't want to sleep Elphaba, but you mustn't be in more pain than necessary. The new analgesic is not so strong like the others we gave you, so you have to take it more often. But it will not make you drowsy, I promise."
"I appreciate that," Elphaba said and drank the pills down with some cider. "Nurse Clare?" Elphaba asked quietly.
"Yes?"
"Who knows that I am here?"
"I informed your advisor about your extended absence from class but no one else. Why do you ask?"
Elphaba looked relieved. "I just don't want that Madame Morrible get word about that, she would inform my father and that would make the situation not easier for me."
"There is no need in telling Madame Morrible about your injuries. We will only inform your advisor and no one else. Is that okay for you?
"Yes it is, thank you." She turned her head in Galinda's direction and said "If anyone asks about me, please don't tell them either, I...I had been hiding my allergy for so long and was successful. I don't want that anyone will find that out."
"Of course Elphaba, I will tell no one about your allergy," Galinda said reassuringly.
After she heard that her secret was safe for now, Elphaba relaxed visibly.
"All right girls, I will attend to my other patients now and will be back with your lunch in two hours or so," the nurse said.
"We will call you if we need something," Galinda said.
"I am sure that you will, until later!"
After then nurse left, both girls were silent for a few minutes.
Elphaba was the first one to speak. "Galinda, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Of course Elphaba, what is it?"
"Can you go to our room and bring me some books from my desk? It seems that I have to stay here longer and I most likely get bored."
"Sure, just tell me which books you want and I will get them for you. I need to get some fresh clothes for me anyway. I will be back in 30 minutes or so."
"Thank you, don't hurry to much, I think I am relatively comfortable with being here for now - when there is no doctor of course," Elphaba said, smiling slightly.
Galinda smiled back and grabbed her purse and outerwear. "Please try and relax a little while I'm away."
"I will."
After Galinda left the room, Elphaba sighed deeply. She was still confused about the change in Galinda's demeanor when she was with her. Could it be that she was about to have a real friend?
X
Galinda walked slowly across campus, relieved that there were not so many students underway. It still rained and the wind was blowing.
She was afraid of meeting Jennica again because she was sure that she was absolutely not in the mood to tell anyone were she had been the last 24 hours. Galinda didn't thought about the implications of her helping Elphaba yet.
The blonde reached the dorm and was glad to be inside again. As much as she liked rain, as soon as it involves storms, she was not so comfortable with it. She managed to get to their room undetected because almost anyone was in class now.
After entering the room, Galinda immediately went into the bathroom and started to disrobe. She bathed quickly but thoroughly and was finished after ten minutes.
She stepped out of the bathroom and went over to her wardrobe to select a fresh outfit.
After dressing quickly she got the books for Elphaba from her desk and put them into a satchel. With an afterthought she went over to her desk and retrieved a little notebook for Elphaba from a drawer. She was sure that Elphaba had to stay in the infirmary long enough to get bored and books alone are not enough because the green girl always made notes while reading.
Galinda looked around the room and was satisfied that she had everything.
The only task now was to return to Elphaba.
She managed to get there without any disturbing events. When she was inside of the building, Galinda took a deep breath. "I will not have so much luck the next times," she muttered to herself.
Galinda went into the infirmary and headed towards Elphaba's room. She hoped that everything was still fine.
She opened the door to the room and saw that Elphaba was asleep again.
Oh no, she didn't wanted to sleep Galinda thought and went over to her cot and laid the satchel on top of it.
It was eleven thirty by now and Galinda wondered how long Elphaba would sleep this time.
She took her journal out of the satchel and sat down in the comfy chair again.
For close to half an hour, she wrote everything what happened since she found her roommate out in the rain. It was still hard to believe that something simple like water could harm the green girl.
After she finished with writing in her journal, Galinda leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. There was a headache starting again and she hoped that it would not be so worse like the evening before.
She must have napped in, because she didn't notice that the nurse came into the room.
"Hello Galinda, I have lunch for you two." She saw that Elphaba was asleep and was a little bit surprised. "How long is she asleep?"
"I don't know when she fell asleep, I was in our dorm room to freshen up and get some books for her. She was sleeping already when I returned. Haven't you told her that the medicine would not make her drowsy?"
"It normally doesn't, It seems that her body just needed more sleep and she just fell asleep. She can eat her lunch when she awakes, I can warm it up for her."
"I will call you when Elphaba awakes," Galinda said and sat down on the table where the nurse had sat down the tray with the food. There was a bowl of chicken broth and some bread and a plate with rice and chicken. "Thank you for bringing lunch," Galinda said, starting with the chicken broth.
"There is nothing to thank, I suppose that you didn't want to go over to the cafe."
"No, I don't want to be away for so long."
"Enjoy your meal, I will come back in tree hours or so to check on Elphaba's burns. You know what you have to do when she wakes up before that."
"Yes I do," Galinda said.
After the nurse was gone, Galinda dug in into her food. She was so occupied during the morning that she hadn't noticed that she was very hungry. After she had finished her lunch, Galinda took a sketchpad out of her satchel and began to draw. She was too immersed in her work, that she didn't noticed that Elphaba started to fidget in her sleep.
x
The hands were everywhere, examining her, taking samples from her skin. The pain was almost unbearable. Elphaba tried to escape from the examination table, but she was restrained by many leather straps that fixed her onto the table. Her panic grew.
The room she was in was lit with a bright light that blended her eyes. A man in a white labcoat leaned over her and dropped some water onto her bare skin on her chest.
The water burned her instantly and she cried out in pain. The man slapped her across the face to silence her.
"Quiet you green monster, we need to find out how to cure your skin condition. You are a sin, you deserve to feel the pain!" the man said smirking.
"No! Please stop! Please! Leave me alone" Elphaba cried and pulled desperately on her restrains.
The man turned to an assistant who was observing the experiment.
"You there, come and hold her down on the table, she is still moving too much!"
The young man came reluctantly over to the table.
"Oh don't be afraid of that green freak, she won't bite you," he said.
The assistant put his hands on both of Elphaba's shoulders and kept them down while the doctor continued with his tests.
"Hmm I think I will try out what happens when I give her a injection with water, I am very curious if she is as allergic to water from the inside as on the outside."
His assistant started to protest, but the doctor silenced him with a stern gaze.
After the doctor administered the shot into one of Elphaba's arms, the green girl started to cry out in agony and writhed on the table.
"Stop it! Please make it stop!," she cried out, tears streaming down her face, burning it.
The doctor just laughed sardonically "Stop crying like a baby! Now we know that your whole body is allergic to water. It proves that we have a lot of work to do!"
The pain in Elphaba's body grew stronger and stronger as the water was pumped trough her veins, burning them, but not too much to cause permanent damage. Her cries grew even louder when they started to take another sample of skin from her stomach area.
Her ordeal would never end.
x
Galinda was startled from her work when a sudden loud scream came from Elphaba. She quickly looked over to her roommate and saw that she was tossing and turning wildly in her bed.
"Oh no she has a nightmare!" Galinda quickly went over onto Elphaba's side and tried to wake her up.
"Elphaba, wake up! It is just a bad dream, it will be okay!"
She saw that tears were running down Elphaba's face, leaving angry red marks on the already burnt cheeks. The blonde quickly took a soft cloth from the beside table and carefully wiped the tears away.
"No! No leave me alone!" Elphaba cried and tried to push away Galinda's hand.
She was still not awake and Galinda wondered how she could help her.
After calling her name and squeezing Elphaba's hands the green girl suddenly opened her eyes, looking around wildly. At this time, Galinda was holding onto her arm to try and keep her from harming herself with her wild trashing. Elphaba felt restrained and tried to jerk her arm away. When Galinda still held onto her arm, the green girl gathered all of her strength and pulled herself free. She shot up from the bed and tried to flee, but she came not far and collapsed onto the floor. The pain was so intense that she was barely able to breathe and the room was spinning around her.
All of this happened so fast, that Galinda was totally stunned when she saw Elphaba on the floor. She didn't know that her attempt to protect her roommate caused the increasing of the panic. She jumped up and crouched down next to Elphaba.
"Sweet Oz Elphaba! Please calm down, I won't hurt you, it's just me, Galinda"
Elphaba was very pale and her breathing was ragged. She barely registered Galinda by her side.
Galinda didn't know what to do, she couldn't get Elphaba into her bed alone. She jumped up from the ground and ran over to the pulling cord. The blonde wondered why nobody was here already, after all, her roommate had been crying rather loud.
After she had pulled the cord, Galinda crouched down beside Elphaba again.
"Elphaba, please listen to me. I called for help and you will be safely back in your bed in just a moment. Trust me you will be alright." Galinda continued to speak with Elphaba in a comforting manner until Nurse Clare came rushing into the room.
"Oh dear what happened?" she said and went over to them "My colleague alerted me when she heard the cries from your room."
"Elphaba had a nightmare and woke up screaming. I don't know if she is really awake, she is not responding to me," Galinda said, sounding very concerned.
Nurse Clare crouched down beside the distraught green girl and tried to get her attention, but Elphaba didn't respond at all. She was trembling violently and had a look of sheer terror on her face.
"I can't get her attention, we need to get her out of that state very quickly, but I don't know how," the nurse said.
Galinda knew that something drastic must happen in order to get Elphaba out of her panic and nearly catatonic state. With no further thought, she leaned towards Elphaba and hugged her gently. Elphaba immediately tried to fight her, but Galinda held tightly onto her.
"It's okay Elphaba, I won't hurt you, please trust me! Look at me, just look at me and you will see that you are no longer in your nightmare. Nobody is here to hurt you," she spoke softly directly into Elphaba's ear.
It briefly crossed Galinda's mind that she was in very close proximity to Elphaba and that it didn't bothered her at all.
Elphaba slowly stopped fighting Galinda and her breathing went slower and more regular than before. She was still trembling and pale, but seemed to be more aware of her surroundings.
"Galinda?" Elphaba asked in a hoarse whisper. "Why are you holding me?"
"You had a nightmare and I tried to wake you up from it. Nothing helped, so I tried this," Galinda said.
"Thank you for waking me," Elphaba said weekly. She felt like any power was gone from her body and a throbbing pain spread all over it.
Nurse Clare was relieved that Elphaba was awake but they needed to get her back into the bed.
"Elphaba, I will call for one of my assistants to get you back into your bed. I will not call for the doctor because I think that will make you even more uncomfortable. I can't do that task because my back will not allow it; after all I am over fifty," the nurse said smiling.
After only one minute the nurse was back with her assistant, the one who was at the desk earlier. Soon Elphaba was safely back in her bed. The green girl felt very uncomfortable with the pain she felt, but said nothing about it.
But this time the nurse was prepared for that. "Elphaba, please don't try to hide your pain, we all know that you feel a good amount of it right now. I will suggest that I give you a sleep aid that will prevent any nightmares that could occur because you will sleep very deeply. I promise."
Elphaba knew that the nurse was right. "Okay, if you say that I really won't have any nightmares, I will take the sleep aid."
"Before you take it you need to drink at least two glasses of cider. I'm sure you haven't been drinking enough this morning," the nurse said and handed Elphaba the first glass of cider, which the green girl drank down rather quickly.
She gave her the sleep aid with the second glass and assured her again that she would sleep peacefully.
Galinda was sitting on her cot and watched the scene. She was glad that Elphaba allowed Nurse Clare to give her the sleep aid. The blonde was still a little bit shocked of how intense the nightmare must have been. After taking the pill, Elphaba quickly fell asleep.
"Galinda can you come out with me for a moment?"
"Of course, is something wrong?"
"Not in the least, we received a short note from your father right before you alerted us. He will arrive at Shiz during the evening. Apparently he is interested in helping with Elphaba's needs."
"Oh I knew that he would come, but so quickly?"
"He said in his note that he wanted to help and that he knew that we have not much time left. We arranged for him to stay in guest quarters."
"Thank you so much, I am sure that he can help Elphaba," Galinda said. She was very relieved that her father would be here so soon.
"I advise you to take a nap too, you are still looking a little pale and I am afraid that your headaches will return soon."
"I must admit that they started again a while ago, but not very strong. But I will take a nap, because I know that Elphaba will sleep untroubled for now."
"Good girl." I will wake you up when your father arrives in case you are still asleep then."
"Thank you!" Galinda said and went back into Elphaba's room. She stretched out on her cot and was soon asleep too.
Both girls slept peacefully throughout the afternoon.
x
Timion arrived at eight-fifteen at Shiz. Devin, the dorm porter was waiting for him at the platform and drove him to the university. He was escorted to the infirmary and introduced to Doctor Bradburn and Nurse Clare.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Mr. Upland," Doctor Bradburn said, shaking the man's hand.
"We are very glad that you agreed to help us out in this unusual case, not to mention that you came so quickly."
"When I got the wire from Galinda, I realized that I heard about Elphaba in the past.
I know that I can help her because of that. How is she doing so far?"
"We are very concerned. When we changed the bandages this morning, the wounds looked slightly inflamed," Doctor Bradburn said.
"Okay, that sounds not so good. Can I see her now?"
"As far as I know Elphaba and your daughter are both asleep. Galinda stayed the whole time with Elphaba since she found her out in the rain," Nurse Clare said. Timion raised a brow in surprise.
"I will escort you to Elphaba's room. We gave her a sleep aid after she had a nightmare. She was very distressed and we wanted to prevent more stress."
Timion walked with the nurse down the hallway to Elphaba's room. He knocked on the door, but no one answered.
"It seems that both girls are still asleep, I will see if I can wake Galinda up," he said.
After he opened the door, Timion's gaze fell immediately on the sleeping Elphaba. A memory from a long time ago flashed through his mind and he saw the little green girl that was restrained to a table in a lab, crying out in agony.