Of Love and Loathing, Part 9 by elphies_galinda
Title: Of Love and Loathing, Part 9
Author: elphies_galinda and galindas_elphie
Rating: PG to be safe
Pairing: Gelphie
Summary: What is this feeling, so sudden and new? My heart is pounding, my head is spinning, and all I can think of is you... Galinda is still sick, and Elphaba still dedicates her time to help her get well.
Disclaimer: We dont own Wicked... :(
A/N: Just read Mademoiselle Satine's A/N on FF.Net, lol. Also, sorry for not putting the links. Despite what my Elphie said, I'm actually a bit busy right now. Sorry!
A small rap came at the door, and the green girl quickly rose from her bed. She placed the bookmark in her book, dropping it on the bed while she quickly answered the door. The nurse stepped in, and Elphaba raised a lone finger to her lips, nodding towards the crumpled blonde heap among endless pink blankets. Although Galinda had been sleeping for a few hours now, Elphaba didn’t want her deep slumber to be disturbed. Sleep was as good of a medicine as the antibiotics the nurse handed her before quietly departing.
Elphaba sighed, glancing down at the bottle of pills. Each time she saw them, their size baffled her. They seemed rather large to prescribe for someone whose throat was nearly sealed shut. But she knew they would help, and that with a bit of hot cocoa, they would go down more easily than it seemed they would. The green girl read the instructions on the bottle, then looked up at the clock. Galinda had slept through the afternoon and into the evening, and some supper with an antibiotic do nicely right about now.
Still hesitant to disturb her roommate, the green girl placed the bottle on the nightstand, then carefully sat down among the sea of pink fabric that adorned the blonde’s bed.
Galinda stirred slightly, the feel of another presence breaking her from her rest. She groaned quietly in protest. Weakness still tugged at her, almost crushing her. Just five more minutes. That was all she needed….
Suddenly she felt a dull pain develop at the back of her throat. The blonde groaned again, curling even further into herself. She hated this. There was a reason her parents made her avoid too much contact with people, and this was one of them, she realized. People were infested with diseases, her father preached. It was a wonder they didn’t force her to become a recluse.
The bed dipped slightly beside her, bringing her almost completely from unconsciousness. Galinda opened her eyes slightly to look at her roommate. She allowed herself to smile softly through the pain that suddenly increased throughout her body. “Hey, Elphie,” she murmured, her head pounding. She then frowned, realizing what she had just called her roommate. A little odd coming from her, especially when they weren’t even that close yet…. But she let it linger anyway. She shivered slightly. “What time is it…?”
Elphaba almost smiled at the nickname, her lips twitching slightly. She didn’t mind. “Elphie,” while definitely the strangest thing anyone had ever called her, was almost quite… endearing. The green girl pressed her hand to Galinda’s forehead and cheeks, frowning when she found them to still be quite hot. The actual touch no longer bothered her as much; it was easy to take care of her roommate like she had done with her sister for so many years. When all the social statuses and makeup and masks faded, it was easy to see Galinda as the actual human being that she was - one that somebody like Elphaba had been practically trained to take care of.
“It’s about seven,” she answered quietly, taking up the thermometer from the bedside table. “I was thinking about maybe getting you something from the café so that you could take the antibiotics the nurse brought while you were asleep… and more cocoa, of course.” The green girl smiled softly, poising the glass tube over her roommate’s full lips.
Galinda wrinkled her nose at the thought of medicine. The food and the cocoa she didn’t mind at all. She’d welcome those as the cure for cancer. But medicine…. Yuck.
The blonde felt the cool glass tip of the thermometer gently brush her lips, and she pouted. This wasn’t fair! She learned her lesson; she accepted Elphaba now! Why must she go through this still? Galinda sniffled, yet she opened her mouth to let the thermometer inside. Lurline help me, she silently pleaded, though she was pretty sure the deity would continue to abandon her rather than do anything about this.
But….
As she lay there with the glass tube tucked securely under her tongue, Galinda noticed once again that there was a good thing that came out of this. At least she got to mend a few bridges with someone she never thought she’d ever consider talking to. At least she and Elphaba didn’t hate each other anymore….
Well, I don’t hate her, anyway.
After her little blonde roommate accepted the glass tube into her mouth, Elphaba carefully took the now-dry washcloth from the bed, where it had fallen off among the sheets sometime during Galinda’s nap.
With the shower-cap fully protecting her hands, the green girl sighed while she ran fresh, cold water into the cloth. From the feel of Galinda’s warm skin, her fever had yet to break. Elphaba felt another twinge of sympathy for the blonde. She knew she felt miserable, and she certainly looked miserable. Elphaba hoped - sincerely hoped - that after some supper and medication the smaller girl would be able to sleep through the night and feel at least a little better in the morning.
She returned to their bedroom, trading the cool compress for the thermometer still jutting from the blonde’s mouth. The fever had barely budged, Elphaba noted while she lay the washcloth on Galinda’s burning forehead. The sooner they got antibiotics in her, however, the sooner it would break.
“What do you feel up to eating?”
Galinda sighed at the feel of the cold compress against her forehead, reveling in the change of scalding heat to almost ice. She allowed her eyes to slip closed, her body almost completely relaxing regardless of the dull throb in her head and throat…. They opened again, however, at the sound of Elphaba’s voice. Something about food…. Her stomach growled at the thought, and she licked her lips. Nothing in particular sounded all that interesting as she thought about it. All she knew was that she was starving….
“Maybe just a sandwich?” she offered, her blue eyes turning to her roommate. She blinked twice. Elphaba suddenly looked more emerald instead of a sickly green color. Maybe it was because of the light…. Galinda yawned, her eyes closing again. “A sandwich sounds nice….”
Elphaba nodded, sitting down again at Galinda’s side. She cast a wayward glance at her desk - she still had some homework to do, but she supposed that could wait until Galinda had eaten and taken her medicine.
“Maybe some soup would do nicely to chase it down…” the green girl thought aloud. “Soup and a sandwich?” she offered, feeling awkward for the umpteenth time about caring for her roommate of all people. Sure, caring for Nessa had been drilled into her since her sister was born, but her skills didn’t change the identity of the person in her current care.
Galinda wrinkled her nose at the thought of soup; it wasn’t exactly one of her favorite foods. But she didn’t want to offend Elphaba. She was trying so hard to help her-it would be rude of her to decline. She nodded her head slowly, sighing. “That would be nice,” she said with a small smile. “Thank you….”
Each time she said those two words, a tiny bit of the animosity she felt-or used to feel, she corrected herself-chipped away. Now she was left with almost nothing of her old feelings and opening up to the possibility of there being something more to her relationship with Elphaba. And now she was beginning to see that hating her for no reason was absolutely ridiculous. Sure, she ruined one of her favorite outfits and was so cold and heartless toward her…. But that could be overlooked, right?
Elphaba’s eyes dropped at the apparent disgust written on the blonde’s face, however mildly it seemed to show. She supposed that she couldn’t blame her… of course someone as high-standing and gorgeous as Galinda - even when sick, Elphaba had to admit - wouldn’t exactly prefer to be cared for and waited upon by someone, well… green. The raven-haired girl mentally chided herself, suddenly feeling quite ridiculous. Of course it was easy for her to picture her roommate as a friend, who in Shiz couldn’t? But it would definitely be one-sided. Of course it would. Why hadn’t she thought of that earlier? It wasn’t like her life was at all teeming with laughter and friendships.
Elphaba’s cheeks darkened slightly, embarrassed by her own stupidity. The fact that she was drawn to Galinda meant nothing on the other end, and the fact that Galinda was almost entirely dependent on her meant just as much. Of course the blonde would depend on her. She was bedridden, and Elphaba was her roommate. She probably dreaded every moment of being in such close proximity with someone so… so disgusting. The cordiality, the near-friendliness - it would all end when Galinda was back in perfect health, back in her right mind.
“I’ll be right back, then,” the green girl murmured, rising to leave. As she closed the door behind her, Elphaba Thropp suddenly felt very small, and very, very foolish.
The blonde frowned at the tone in Elphaba’s voice as she got up. There was something about it that unsettled her, though she couldn’t quite place it…. Galinda settled back on her mattress, her mind trying and failing to figure out the cause for Elphaba’s unease. She knew it was something like that-the green girl looked so upset about something…. Did Galinda offend her? She bit her lip, trying to think past the pain and into the events of literally five minutes ago. She hoped she didn’t. She would have to apologize when Elphaba got back.
Right after a nap….
Galinda yawned, turning onto her side as best as she could without disturbing the compress or causing her body to ache. Her eyes closed again, sighing as she allowed the remaining strength she had to fade away. Darkness met her, and she joined it willingly, falling into the depths of unconsciousness once again and allowing the brightly-colored chaotic dreams to take over….