Raincheck

“Dulcibear, close that door! We don’t want Nessarose catching whatever pestilence she’s brought into this house. Leave her there. I’ll have someone deal with her while you tend to Nessa.” 

“…Yes, Governor.”

She heard Dulcibear’s hesitant footsteps slowly move down the hall after her bedroom door clicked shut. Elphaba coughed weakly and pulled the blanket up to her neck, closing her eyes and wishing she could fall asleep and wake up feeling better. It had been days of coughing, fever, and a throat so sore she could barely speak. Her father had already been away when she fell ill, but once he returned and realized she was sick, and Nessa was not - he had Elphaba quarantined in her bedroom. He told Dulcibear someone would tend to her, but Elphaba knew he wouldn’t. He had done this before. A tray would be left outside her door, twice a day, with dry toast and broth. She just had to gather her strength, get up, and…

~~~

Elphaba startled awake. The room was bright, and the pleasant sound of birds singing outside coming through the open balcony door helped calm her pounding heart. “Oz,” she whispered, bringing her hands up to cover her face momentarily while she centered herself. What a terrible way to wake up. She has always suffered nightmares, even more so when she was sick. But this… she took a deep breath and willed her heart to settle. What a terrible thing to remember. 

Elphaba wiped tears from her face and rolled onto her side, eyes struggling momentarily to bring the room into focus. The balcony door was open, and Galinda’s bed was neatly made, but there was no sign of the blonde. Elphaba fumbled around for her glasses and slid them on, pushing herself up and out of the bed.

A shiver worked through her body from the bottom up as soon as her feet touched the floor. Her head was pounding, her thoughts still muddy and troubled, and her throat was starting to burn terribly. Maybe a shower will help, she thought as she reached for her towel and a change of clothes, then went to the bathroom. 

~~~

Galinda quietly opened the door to their suite, balancing too many boxes and a bouquet of poppies in her arms. She slipped inside and bumped the door shut with her hip before heading straight to her vanity to deposit her haul. More tea, fresh fruit, soothing oils and herbs, and a bundle of new handkerchiefs embroidered with an elegant “E” in the corner were scattered across the surface.

A pleased-sounding hum accompanied Galinda’s peppy spin as she turned to look for Elphaba. She glanced around, first moving to place the poppies in a sea glass jar she usually used for pens and brushes before placing the bouquet on the table on the balcony. Galinda then moved toward Elphaba’s side of the room but slowed as she took in the supremely disheveled state of her bed. Her sheets appeared excessively crumpled, blankets were falling off the bed, and her silk pillowcase looked stained. The blonde frowned, but before she could give it much thought, the sound of the bathroom door opening behind her startled her into turning around abruptly. 

Elphaba emerged from the bathroom wearing an oversized, loose sweater and cotton shorts. Her braids were loose and gathered together over her right shoulder as she gently squeezed them dry. She felt worlds better than she did when she first woke today. The time in the shower helped push her bad memories back where they belonged while also soothing her newly emerging body aches. She met Galinda’s eyes and cracked a smile, silently mouthing “Hi” to avoid irritating her throat further. 

“Good morning, Elphie!” Galinda practically bubbled at her, dimple on display as she bounced onto her toes. “You’ll be thrilled to know I have procured everything you could possibly need to recover from Fiyero’s despicable cold.” She glanced down at Elphaba’s bare feet, frowning again, before marching over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of burgundy knee-high socks, and gesturing toward her bed. “Come here right this instant.” 

Elphaba chuckled as she sat on Galinda’s bed to allow the younger girl to put socks on her. “What did you get?” She swallowed thickly, wincing as her throat protested. 

“Oh, Elphie, your poor voice,” Galinda pouted up at her as she finished pulling on her socks. “I got some really wonderful oils and herbs to diffuse in hot water that will help your breathing at night.” She stood, running her hands up Elphaba’s arms, stepping forward and encouraging the green girl’s legs to part slightly, allowing the blonde to move closer to her. “And I got fresh fruit, more tea…” she leaned forward and quickly kissed the tip of Elphaba’s nose. “And a fresh bundle of handkerchiefs, just for you.” She tilted her head up to press a kiss to her forehead - lingering a beat longer when she felt how warm her Elphie was. 

Elphaba had smiled and blushed when Galinda kissed her on the nose. Her eyes fluttered shut at the soothing feeling of cool lips on her forehead, and she sighed. “Thank you, my sweet.” She felt Galinda wrap her arms around her, pulling her in for a hug. 

“How are you feeling?” Galinda asked softly, one hand running through her damp braids to lightly scratch the back of her head while the other ran along her upper back and shoulders. 

Elphaba cleared her throat and immediately regretted it as pain shot through to her ears. She sighed and wrapped her arms around the blonde.  “Tired. And my throat hurts quite a bit.” 

Galinda hummed sympathetically. “I’ll make you some tea with lots and lots of honey.”

Leaning a little to the left to pick up the towel Elphaba had dropped on the bed, Galinda picked up where she had left off and continued blotting her braids dry. “Do you want me to oil them for you later?” She asked, moving the ends delicately between her fingers. “I picked up more of the sweet almond oil while I was out. I saw you were low.” 

Elphaba’s heart slowly moved up into her throat. The contrast between the memories of neglect and isolation stirred up by last night’s dream and the level of care and love she was feeling at this moment was jarring. Stop it, Elphaba. Enough. Focus on now, on today. She swallowed hard, wincing once more, before nodding. “Yes, please.” 

They spent the next few minutes like this before Galinda slowly pulled away to prepare Elphaba’s tea. Elphaba stood and began walking to her side of the suite to strip her bed of the damp linens and get it back into some kind of order when she felt a sharp tickle bloom high in her sinuses - “…Hh…tschhiew!!…tschh-tschh!” She sneezed with barely a breath in between, stopping in the middle of the room and ducking down into her elbow.  

“Bless you!” Galinda called out from the tea station, stirring an unbelievable amount of honey into Elphaba’s cup. 

Elphaba’s eyes remained shut, her face still buried in her sleeve before she bent over once more. “Hh’tschhiew!”

“Bless you!” 

“…HII…hii-Hh’tshhh-tschhh….tschiiew!”

Galinda turned to look at her, an equally amused and sympathetic expression on her face. “Goodness, Elphie! Bless you! Are you alright?” 

Elphaba groaned and continued toward her bed, ready to sit despite having only been on her feet for 20 seconds.  “I think I just broke the seal. That was the first time I’ve sneezed today.” Her voice was becoming increasingly hoarse, and she expected she’d lose it entirely before the day was done. She sat heavily on her bed, struggling to recall why she left Galinda’s bed to come over here in the first place. 

“Excuse you! What are you doing over there!?” 

Well, it looks like Elphaba’s not the only one wondering what she’s doing. Galinda stood in the middle of their suite, hands on her hips, staring at her sternly. Why was she over here again? She glanced around. Ahh, right. “I was going to change the sheets. I sweat through my…I was sweating last night, and…”

Galinda marched over and held out a hand, motioning for Elphaba to take it, and dragged her up and back to her bed and its mountains of pink pillows. She quickly found herself tucked into Galinda’s much larger and more comfortable bed, a cup of honeyed tea in hand and a fresh handkerchief in her lap. 

“You will stay here,” Galinda said while sitting down on the edge of the bed. “I will take care of your bed.” She leaned forward, careful of Elphaba’s hot cup of tea, and kissed her sweetly on the cheek. “But it doesn’t matter either way because you are staying with me tonight.” 

Elphaba opened her mouth to protest, only to promptly shut it with a click of her teeth after catching the look on Galinda’s face. Elphaba rolled her eyes and raised her cup to take a soothing sip of her tea. Galinda smiled, dimple out in full-force, and placed a hand on her thigh. “Okay! Now, you need to eat. I will be back in just a clock tick with soup…” the blonde leaned forward to place a quick kiss on one cheek, “…and sweets…” another kiss, on the other cheek, “…for my sweet.” 

Oz, who knew blushing could hurt this much? Her cheeks felt ready to explode.

Elphaba focused her attention on her tea, taking another long sip, enjoying the soothing feeling of the honey coating her sore throat. Galinda began bustling around the room once more before bidding Elphaba farewell as she bounced out of their suite to go down to the cafe in search of soup and sweets.