A/N: A shout out to my anonymous reviewer! Glad you liked it. More answers coming up. ;) Thanks so much!
Chapter 38
After breakfast, Elphaba made her way down to the infirmary. Fiyero promised to take the meeting with the Council so she could handle business. When she got down there, she found Sarah and Fevzi talking to Lieutenant Dilek.
"Miss Elphaba, glad we caught you," Dilek smiled.
"Oh, what's going on?" The green woman didn't think Sarah was ready to leave yet.
"We're shipping out in a couple of hours. The troops are prepping for our departure," he said.
"Sarah, you've been discharged?" Elphaba asked her.
"Hamza and Doctor Talib have written instructions to take home with me. I'm to give Doctor Howat a copy and I'm going to continue my exercises. I may need some support, but they gave me some special crutches that the Royal Carpenter, Mr. Aziz, made," she showed the crutches off. They were a smaller version of the ones that Elphaba had seen regular sized people use.
"That's fantastic! I'm so happy for you," the green woman couldn't help but smile. Still, she had a twinge of sadness. She was going to miss Sarah and Fevzi. Though she reminded herself that she'd be back in the Vinkus soon enough. The three hugged and Dilek smiled as he watched them. He knew that Elphaba would make a great Princess, even if she wasn't so sure herself.
"I suspect that you didn't come down here for this originally," the Lieutenant spoke up after the hug broke up.
"Indeed. Though I know you would not have left without saying goodbye," Elphaba figured.
"Of course not. I figured we had until your Council meeting though," he admitted.
"Yero will want to see you after the meeting for sure. Thank you Dilek for all your help," she said.
"It is my honor, Miss Elphaba. We'll leave you to it," he gave her a smile and then got the two youngsters to make sure they'd collected all that Sarah needed. Elphaba moved to Doctor Talib's office only to find him packing up as well.
"I thought you had until the end of next month?" She was thoroughly confused.
"Oh, I do. I'm just grabbing a few things that I know I don't want to miss. Besides there are some things that I want to leave for Hamza, but you didn't come to talk about me," he gave her a look.
"I did not. I took a look through the medical books in the library yesterday," she admitted.
"I thought you might. I had been looking in my books as well. I regret that we do not have full family health records but that isn't so uncommon. Usually only well to do patients have those kinds of records anyway," Talib told her. He let Elphaba explain her theory, listening carefully.
"I would have to agree with your assessment as it coincides with what I had been worried about. So, what I have to say next is important – we have to boost your iodine intake to see if that has any effect. If it does not, then I'm not sure there is anything we can do. We simply do not have enough information on how to boost hormones on their own," he admitted.
"I was afraid you'd say that," she frowned.
"It's not all bad. It just means more fish, like cod or salmon, more cow's milk and cheese, more eggs, and more potatoes, tomatoes, and onions. Since you'll be leaving here soon, I'll get together with Mr. Samuels and see if we can't come up with dishes that you can add to your menu," Talib promised.
"That would be great. How long do we try that to see if its working?" Elphaba wondered.
"Well, that's where part two comes in. That's the fun part actually," the doctor waggled his eyebrows.
"I think I know where this is going," the green woman chuckled.
"The part that you might not think about is that you shouldn't just do it after dinner as you're getting ready for bed. Your hormone levels will fluctuate throughout the day. As crazy as it may sound, that in-between meetings nookie might be the way to go," Talib smirked.
"Somehow I don't think Fiyero will need to be encouraged," she laughed.
"That's the spirit. Just don't get caught and blame me," he teased.
"Who are you kidding? Of course I'm telling them it was your idea," Elphaba laughed again.
To Be Continued…