A/N: Shout out to my anonymous reviewer and James Birdsong! Glad you liked it. More on Sarah now and the Clock. ;) Thanks so much!
Chapter 10
Elphaba exited the surgery room and flopped onto the nearest chair. Hamza and the nurses moved Sarah from the room to an empty infirmary bed. Doctor Talib had made his way back to his office for a break and some paperwork. It had been a long day and she knew it wasn't over yet.
Damla had been great with Fevzi and the poor boy would be relieved to know that Sarah's infection did not affect her bones. Some of the tissue around the site was not in good shape and the soon-to-be Royal Physician removed it with considerable skill. The green woman had helped to flush the wound and bandage it. There would definitely be some healing time but at least the fever was broken. Given Sarah's size, Royal Tailor, Master Ali, and his apprentice, Candy, had offered to adjust the usual gown given to patients so it would fit the Munchkin. Elphaba (and certainly Sarah) was grateful for that.
"Elphaba," the voice pulled her from her thoughts.
"Boq, what's up? I thought you were spending time with your father," Elphaba said.
"I was but he wanted to speak to Arif so I figured I'd find out what was going on around here," Boq explained.
"Ah, well Sarah and Fevzi showed up unexpectedly and Sarah is not well. Fiyero suspects something sinister, especially since Fevzi's parents are not here yet," she gave him an update.
"Oh boy. You need me to help with anything?" He asked.
"I need to eat something but can you have Mr. Samuels bring it to Glinda's office? I need to check something in the spell books," she told him.
"Need help looking in the books?" Boq wondered, figuring that what Elphaba really needed was a nap.
"I could stand the help, but I need you to keep it to yourself," she told him. Boq gave a quick salute and then ducked out of the room. The green woman hauled herself up off the seat and went to find Damla.
"Boq said we were eating dinner in here. I figured that Glinda may not like that," Fiyero's words interrupted Elphaba as she had just plopped down on the couch, about twenty minutes later. Fevzi had sworn that he would not leave Sarah's side and Damla promised to make sure he ate some food. The green woman knew she was leaving them in good hands.
"He's adorable. You want to help with our earlier problem?" She asked, thankful that Glinda had taken Morrible's old office as the couch was very comfortable.
"Oh that. Well, I may not be the best reader but if it means I get to spend some time with you, I'm in," he said.
"Boq promised to help too and I swore him to secrecy," Elphaba explained.
"Ah, well more eyeballs on this thing would be helpful," Fiyero said as he sat down next to her. He pulled her hand to his shoulder and put his head on hers.
"Is this what it's like to be a Royal?" She asked him.
"I think things are a little less crazy back home," he admitted. Elphaba nodded and their heads rubbed up against each other.
"I think you better get some sleep," Fiyero suggested.
"Later. Tomorrow, we have that meeting with the leaders of Oz," she reminded him.
"Oy," he remembered.
"Exactly. I'm not worried I guess since we know your folks, Brrr, and Bfee. I've never met the Supreme Glaxony of Quadling Country, Heart-of-Mushroom. Well except at the wedding," she admitted.
"I've not had dealings with him either. Guess we'll see huh?" He wondered. There was a knock on the door and Fiyero told whoever it was to enter.
"Amir will bring dinner down soon. Now what have you guys gotten yourselves into?" Boq asked as the two on the couch untangled from each other.
"The Clock of the Time Dragon, we need to see what we can find," Elphaba said after explaining the situation.
"That whole thing seems odd. Of course, Mombey was seemingly six steps ahead," the Munchkin admitted.
"Indeed, though we don't know what Ugabu had to do with it either. Messy, no matter how you look at it," Fiyero said.
"Agreed. You want the big book, right?" Boq asked as he headed to Glinda's locked cabinet. She'd given him the keys while she was gone.
"Yup, that's the one," Elphaba nodded.
To Be Continued…