AN: Okay...so one of my RP friends on Facebook apparently found this story, lol! Anyway, Kat, I'm assuming that you're reading this, and if you are, then you are going to recognize someone mentioned from our RP with each other, but I changed his last name to something that sounds more Ozian than what it is on FB, and I just wanted to let you know before you got to that part so that you didn't get all confused or whatever, so, yeah, just thought I should let you know real quick, haha!
Anyway, even though the first chapter only got three reviews, they were all positive, and Fiyero got some sympathy, all that kinda good stuff, so, yeah. Um, also, I will be posting links to Elphaba's locket as well as Glinda's ring for anyone who wants to see them. So, uh...yeah. I think that's about it, so I'll just go ahead and do the disclaimer, then shut up and let you read, haha!
DISCLAIMER: My people (the Scots) have a poem called "Ye Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus!" Well, guess what? Jist as ye cannae shove yer granny aff a bus, Ah, unfortunately, cannae say Ah ain Wicked ur onie ay its characters.
Eighteen-year-old Elphaba Thropp gripped the handle of her suitcase tightly as she gazed up in nervous awe at the building that stood behind the gates in front of her—the Ozma Memorial Psychiatric Hospital for the Mentally Ill. Today was the first day of an internship she had dreamed of for so long and worked so hard to earn. Starting today, she would finally be able to begin working towards her lifetime goal of helping as many people as she possibly could in any way she was able to do so. And, with what had happened to her aunt and sister, what better way to start making progress toward that goal than with an internship as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital?
As she made her way up the front walk and got closer to the doors, she could see a petite blonde girl in a nurse's uniform standing on the front steps. When Elphaba reached the bottom of the steps, the girl smiled brightly at her. "Hi there!" she said. "You must be the new intern! My name is Galinda, but everybody calls me Glinda on account of a friend mispronounced my name when we were little and it ended up sticking as a nickname." Elphaba returned the blonde's smile and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she took the hand that was offered. "Elphaba," she said, "and yes, I'm the new intern."
"Great, then follow me and I'll show you around! Oh, um, before we get started, though, I should probably tell you that some of the people here...well...it can be very heartbreaking sometimes." Elphaba sighed and nodded. "I know," she said. "I've got a bit of...shall we say, personal experience with this sort of thing, as well as physical handicaps. But that's part of why I want to do this. I want to help people as much as I can, because I wasn't able to help my sister like I should have when she needed me most, and I'm going to have to live with the guilt of that for the rest of my life, so...I guess part of me is under the belief that maybe I can somehow redeem myself a little if I'm able to help other people who are...you know...the way Nessa was."
Glinda nodded sympathetically. "Well, I'll tell you right now that there aren't really any physical handicaps here, at least not any major ones." She stopped walking for a brief moment and furrowed her brow. "Although there is one," she said thoughtfully, and Elphaba's ears perked up a bit with interest. "Who?" she asked. Glinda shook her head, blonde curls bouncing as she took hold of Elphaba's arm and pulled her closer.
"You didn't hear this from me," she said in a low voice, "but there's a patient on the sixth floor named Fiyero. He's nineteen, and I've heard that he's a prince, but I don't know if it's true or not. Anyway, based on what I've heard, the way I understand it is his parents put him in here about two years ago after he did something that completely paralzyed his entire arm, and he hasn't been able to use it at all since then, and if what I've heard is true, he'll never be able to use it again. They call him the Dead-Armed Boy. You just have to promise that you won't go around repeating any of this stuff, alright? I don't know how much of it is true and how much is just talk, and I don't want either of us to get in trouble. Hell, to be totally honest, I'm not even sure if the guy is real or somebody on the staff just made him up for kicks! I've never heard any specific room number, I've never come across any files or records with his name or anything about a paralyzed arm, I don't even know what he looks like, supposedly or otherwise! Promise you won't repeat any of it. Please promise me!"
"I promise," Elphaba said, and Glinda smiled as the tension left her small body. "Thank you," she said. Switching back to normal volume, she asked, "So tell me a little about yourself!" Elphaba shrugged. "What's there to tell?" she said, but at the look she got from Glinda, she decided to humor the other girl. "Well," she said, "I'm eighteen as of this past March, I was born and raised at the mansion in Colwen Grounds, Munchkinland—I don't like to make a big fuss over it or anything, and you shouldn't either, but my father is the Governor of Munchkinland, Frexspar Thropp. Um...I'm his first daughter, but middle child, I've got an older brother, and the sister I mentioned before is younger." She sighed and shook her head. "...Was...younger," she amended. "Nessarose was younger than me. She's, uh...She's not around anymore. She didn't die or anything, she just...I don't like to talk about it, it's hard for me because I feel...I feel like what happened to her was—is—my fault, and so I just...Anyway...
"My mother died not long after what happened with Nessa, my brother started traveling so much that we rarely ever see or hear from him anymore, and my father just ignores me for the most part these days. That's really it. Well, except for my mother's sister. I'm named after her, my middle name. Anyway, Aunt Sophelia...Honestly, we're still not entirely sure what happened to her. I barely remember her because it happened when Momma was pregnant with Nessa, and I was only about two or three at the time, but...I just...I don't know.
"All we've ever really known with absolute certainty is that for some unknown reason, Aunt Sophie just suddenly went stark, raving mad one day out of pretty much nowhere and with absolutely no explanation to speak of. She was unmarried, and both my maternal grandparents were dead by then, and she and Momma had no uncles or aunts, so her fate was basically left in my mother's hands unexpectedly, and even though she didn't want to and she tried everything she could think of to prevent it from having to happen, she was eventually left with no choice but to institutionalize my aunt. So Aunt Sophie was checked into some obscure sanitarium or something in Munchkinland, and about two years later, the place burned to the ground, and as far as anyone knew or still does know, Aunt Sophie was still inside when it burned down, so up until recently, we've all believed that she died that day, but not long before the whole thing with Nessa got started, we were given reason to believe that she somehow may have survived and has spent the last...fifteen, sixteen, seventeen years or so just wandering around out there doing Oz knows what with herself. That's another reason I want to do this. It's sort of a...family history sort of thing, I guess you could call it."
"In that case," a voice said, "see to it that you don't give me a reason to assign you a room of your own here."
Glinda's hand flew up to grab Elphaba's arm, bringing the taller girl to a halt as sudden as her own. Elphaba noticed that Glinda's blue eyes were like saucers, and her entire body seemed to have become absolutely rigid and her back was ramrod straight. Forcing a composed expression back onto her face along with as natural a smile as she could manage, Glinda slowly turned around, keeping her hand on Elphaba's arm the entire time so that the green girl turned along with her.
The voice, she discovered, belonged to an older woman who, based on her clothing, seemed to be a nurse like the girls, but of a higher station, perhaps. She had steel gray eyes and curly white hair pulled into a tight bun on top of her head, which, along with her bad and much-too-heavy make-up, accentuated the sharp angles and features of her face. "Nurse Morrible!" Glinda chirped. "What a...an unexpected surprise! How are you on this fine day?"
The older woman narrowed her eyes at the blonde before directing her attention back to Elphaba. "I take it you're Miss Thropp?" she said. Elphaba blinked. "Y-Yes, ma'am," she said.
"Good," the woman said. "I've been expecting you for some weeks now. I am Nurse Morrible, and you will be under my authority during your time here, is that clear?"
"Yes, ma'am," Elphaba said quietly. Morrible nodded. "Good," she said. "In that case, Nurse Arduenna here will show you to the nurses' dormitories. After you've had a chance to settle yourself in a bit, you are to report to my office. Once I have made sure that you are familiar with the rules here, I will introduce you to the nurse you'll be shadowing. I expect you not to give her any trouble."
"Yes, ma'am," Elphaba said, and again, Morrible nodded. "Good. In that case, I will see you shortly. Good day to you both."
"Who was that?" Elphaba asked once Morrible was gone. Glinda shuddered. "That was Morrible," she replied. "She's the head nurse around here. Believe me, you do not want to get on her bad side. Ugh! I get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about that woman, she's more terrifying than a kalidah that's joined forces with a dragon! Anyway, the dormitories are down this hall, and the room I'm in is the fifth one on the left. That's actually why I met you outside." Glinda's face turned pink as she looked down a bit shyly at her feet. "I was told last week that I'd be getting a roomate, and when I overheard that you'd be getting here today, I was absolutely determined to be the first person to welcome you because, well...I've never had a roomie before, and I just...I wanted to make sure we got off on the right foot and that I didn't screw this up the way I've screwed up some of my friendships in the past."
Elphaba blinked at the word "friendship," surprised to hear it from the blonde's mouth. "I...Th-Thank you, Glinda," she said. "I don't...I don't know what to say, I mean...I've never had a friend before." Glinda frowned. "You mean...ever? In your life?" she asked. Elphaba nodded, holding up a hand. "I'm green," she said simply. "Nobody wants to be seen with the green girl. Everybody back home knows who I am, and I've always craved anomosity. People my age only talk to me when they want to tease me or call me names. I'm pretty much avoided the rest of the time, that's part of why I'm as much of a bookworm as I am. So...you truly have no idea how much it means to me that you would go out of your way just to put yourself on the front steps in time to see me get here. And the fact that you would even consider being my friend after seeing me is just...it means more than I can say. So...thank you. And don't worry about screwing things up with me. Since I've never had a friend before, I don't really know what would qualify as 'screwing up,' so I very highly doubt that will be much of a problem."
Glinda flashed a small grin and giggled as she opened the door to the room she and Elphaba had come to a stop in front of. "Well," she said, "here we are. I know it's not much, but it's home." Elphaba looked around. The room was small and simple with two beds sitting on either side of a window that had lace curtains. There was a nightstand beneath the window with an oil lamp on it, and on the other side of each bed was another nightstand. One of the beds had a rose pink blanket and a floral design on the pillowcase; on the nightstand beside this bed was a carved wooden jewelry box in the shape of a heart and a music box whose figurine was that of a woman in a ball gown dancing with a man in what looked to Elphaba's eyes like a military uniform of some kind. Tacked up on the wall around the headboard were photographs of various people, some of which included Glinda, and beside the music box was a framed photograph of a young man with short blond hair, blue-gray eyes, and a friendly smile. She assumed that these were Glinda's belongings and that the bed with the pink blanket was hers, which meant that Elphaba would be getting the other bed.
"It's great," she said. "Actually, believe it or not, this is better than what I've had since Momma died. Are all these people your friends?"
"Friends, family, you know. Well, except for Fintan here," Glinda said, picking up the framed photo and smiling as she lightly traced the boy's features with her fingertip. "He's special." Elphaba raised a slender eyebrow as she set her suitcase down on the empty bed. "Is that your boyfriend?" she asked. Glinda sighed happily as she fell down onto her bed. "No," she breathed, "he's my fiancé. We're getting married next spring at his family's villa in Tenniken, and I'll be Mrs. Fintan Cadimeth. Have you ever been in love, Elphaba?"
The green girl shook her head. "No," she said, "not unless the occasional crush on a book character counts." Glinda laughed. The sound was beautiufl, and it brought Elphaba an odd sense of comfort not entirely different from the one she used to get from hearing her mother or sister laugh. "Well, it's a wonderful feeling!" the blonde said. "It's like...You just feel as if you could fly!"
"If you're engaged, where's your ring?" Elphaba asked. Glinda sat up and put the picture back on the nightstand, one hand diving into her jewelry box. "I don't usually wear it while I'm on my shift," she explained. "Some of the things that this job involves doing, especially with certain patients in particular...I just don't want to take the chance of possibly losing it or having a patient somehow end up in posession of it, you know? So I keep it in here when I'm working, then I'll put it back on after I'm done with my shift. Oh, here it is! See? It's been in his family for several generations. If I remember correctly, it was his great-grandmother's, and it's gotten passed down from her, and his mother gave it to him and told him that when he found the right girl to give it to her. That girl ended up being me. Isn't it beautiful?"
Elphaba had never really been one for jewelry. The only thing she wore on a regular basis was the silver heart-shaped locket with a rose engraved on the front that her mother had given her on her thirteenth birthday, the one whose identical twin had been given to her sister. But she had to admit that Glinda's ring was beautiful. The setting was open filigree rose gold with two small round white diamonds on either side of an oval shaped tourmaline that was such a deep shade of pink, Elphaba might have mistaken it for a garnet if she didn't know any better.
"You like the color pink, don't you," Elphaba said. It was a statement, not a question. Glinda giggled and nodded. "It's my favorite color," she said. "You should see my bedroom back home, it's got pink everything! OOOOH! And sparkles! My room. Has. Sparkles!" Rising onto her knees, the blonde let out a high-pitched squeal of delight and clapped her hands in a way that was reminiscent of an excited little kid. She gasped suddenly, one hand flying over her mouth, then climbed down from her bed and ran over to Elphaba, taking the other girl's hands in her own and pulling her up off the other bed, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.
"You need a nickname!" she declared. "Do you have one I can call you?"
"Um...well...my mother used to call me Faba, and my sister called me Fabala because she couldn't pronounce my name when she was little...but those are...nobody else has ever called me either one."
"Oh, no, no, no, I understand! I'll just come up with something else, a special name of my own for you! Let's see...Your name is Elphaba, and that's three syllables...right? El-pha-ba. Yep, three syllables! Okay, so Faba...that's the last two syllables, 'pha-ba,' and then Fabala is basically the same three syllables with a missing letter, so what does that leave for me to work with? That gives me...'El' and 'pha?' Yeah, that's it, 'el' and 'pha.' Okay, let's see what I can come up with from those! Hmm...Ella...Ellie...PheePhee? No, that's a little weird. Wait a clock-tick, though. Phee...Elph...Elphie! That's it! Elphie! That's what I'll call you! You can be Elphie, you can be my Elphie, how does that sound?"
"Well, it's a little perky..."
"And you can call me...Glindaaaa!"
Somewhere down the hall, a clock struck the hour, and Glinda let out another gasp. "Oh! Morrible's expecting you, isn't she?! Here, follow me and I'll show you where her office is! Remember what I said about getting on her bad side, alright? Promise that you'll tell me everything later, and don't leave out a single detail! Hopefully I'll be able to give you some advice based on which version of the Spiel she gives you. Oh, and one more thing about her? She's called Horrible Morrible, but only by us younger nurses and interns, so be careful who you say that in front of, alright? If one of the older nurses hears you call her that, you could get in big trouble, and depending on which specific nurse hears it, she may even take you straight to Morrible herself, and if that happens, you may as well kiss all of this goodbye! Well, here it is. If I don't see you at dinner tonight, I'll know you didn't survive, but I really hope you do, so good luck and hopefully I'll see you on the other side! Oh, and Elphie?"
She turned. "Yes?"
Glinda smiled at her.
"Welcome to Ozma Psych."
AN: In my mind, Ozma Psych is sort of a combination of old insane asylums (Bedlam, Pennhurst, one in Scotland known as Sunnyside, etc.) and modern psych places. Like...it's kind of hard to describe exactly what I mean by that, but I guess you'll just see as the story progresses. Again, links to the locket and ring will be on my profile, and I'm gonna go celebrate the fact that I just found out that RYAN MURPHY FINALLY CAME TO HIS DAMN SENSES AND IS PUTTING GLAMBERT IN THE FIFTH SEASON OF GLEE! AOJFVOI;EALHDVO[IKL;QJN[GIOSDF;QNAEOKLFVRO;AKLEMFB S