Steven didn't hospitals. They were cold, sterile and devoid of the sounds and colors associated with life. As he stalked down the long hallway with his father, his heart leaped into his throat. He cast furtive glances at his surroundings. The doctors and nurses were off to the side, too busy to acknowledge his and his father's presence . They spoke using large, complicated words, but to him it sounded like gibberish. There were also the occasional open doors that allowed him brief glances inside. The patients looked so sad and hopeless, and he was beginning to feel the same. He reached out for his father's hand and latched onto it, hoping it would offer some form of comfort.
He watched the numbers on the doors grow closer and closer to the one the woman at the nurse's station had given them. "Don't worry, Shtoo-ball," his father said, "I'm sure she's all right." It was a lie, a wishful one. Steven had seen her condition before the ambulance came and carted her away. She almost died. The memory haunted him even now. Her ashen face frozen in an expression of pure disbelief as the enemy's blade impaled her. Her body as it lay on the ground, surrounded by blood and looking much smaller than he remembered. He had failed to protect her, failed to heal her when his powers refused to work.
When they arrived at room 335, Steven wasn't sure he'd be able to go in. His father spared him a sympathetic look, "If it's too much for you right now, we can go home." The boy stared at the floor, worrying the hem of his jacket.
"N-no, I want to see her."
"Okay."
The girl in the bed didn't look like his Connie. Her hair matted to the edges of her bruised and swollen face, and there were tubes in her nose and mouth. Various wires poked out of her gown and stuck out of her arms. She wasn't moving at all, save for the rise and fall of her chest, and that was thanks to the machine at her bedside. Steven's heart wrenched. The warmth of his father's hand felt strange and inappropriate in such a bleak setting. He wanted to reach out and touch her but refrained in fear of damaging her even further. "It's all my fault." he whispered.
"Hey, don't-"
"My baby! Where is my baby?!" came the frantic voice of Dr. Maheswaran. The woman burst into the room, her eyes darting left and right. "Connie!" she pushed past the two of them and stood at Connie's bedside. "My baby, what have they done to you?" Steven couldn't see her face, but he had been certain she was crying. He didn't blame her. A rather winded Mr. Maheswaran stumbled in a few moments later.
"My god." was all he said.
"I-I'm sorry." Steven said.
Dr. Maheswaran turned to him, tears streaming down her face. "You're sorry?" she sneered. "I'm sorry I was foolish enough to allow my Connie into the company of you and your crystal freaks!"
"It wasn't his fault!" Greg stepped between his son and the grieving doctor.
"You're right. It's your fault!"
"M-my fault?"
"What kind of parent allows their child to run around chasing after monsters anyway?"
"I-"
"Our daughter is our world!" she screamed. "That's why we push her as hard as we do. That's why we don't allow her around people like you!"
"Wait just a min-"
"When was the last time your son had a vaccine, Mr. Universe? Has he ever been to school? Did you even read to him as an infant?"
"What does that have to do with anything?!"
"Everything!"
As his father argued with Connie's mother, Steven and Mr. Maheswaran looked on in silence. Mr. Maheswaran found himself trapped between the hospital bed and his wife. But Steven had been near the door and made a hasty exit. He sprinted down the hall to the elevator, tears stinging his eyes, and jabbed the button. Thankfully, it was empty, and no one else got on throughout the entire descent to the ground floor. There, he let out the pained sob he'd been holding in since they arrived. He never meant for any of this to happen. It wasn't his intention to let anyone get hurt, but things had spiraled out of control.
Both Pearl and Amethyst had poofed during the fight but were quick to reform. Time wasted inside their gems was footing lost against the enemy. Garnet came undone when Ruby's gem became damaged, but Steven had been able to heal it. But why couldn't I heal Connie?
The doors opened with a ding, and he ran some more. He didn't even stop when he passed the Crystal Gems who had been waiting in the lobby. "Steven?" questioned Pearl. She and Amethyst turned to Garnet who seemed to be looking at something only she could see. After a pause, she spoke.
"Pearl, Amethyst—you two go and get Greg. Now!"
000
The weather had been dark and dreary that day, reflecting how she and the other gems felt. Ominous gray clouds hung low in the sky and threatened rain. A thick fog rolled in from the beach and brought visibility down to a near zero. Garnet wanted to run, but that wouldn't have been the best course. "Steven!" she called, desperation in her voice. She remembered the horrid sight of her vision. Steven was immobile and lying on the cold, damp ground. He had been lacking in his usual peachy complexion, and in his hands was his pink gem. She would not allow that to happen.
Garnet understood his pain. When Ruby's gem cracked, Sapphire hadn't known what to do. She felt as if her entire world were crumbling around her. It was one thing being up for a couple of hours to a few days. But the prospect of an eternity without the other was a death sentence. For a moment, Sapphire had lost the will to go on, the will to care about anything besides her Ruby. If not for Steven, she might have crushed her own gem right then and there. Garnet shuddered at the memory. No one should have to experience such a dreadful feeling. That's why she had to find Steven.
Every now and then, she'd bump into a car in the parking lot, setting off the alarm. Blasted, noisy earth vehicles. "Steven, please!" she called to him once more. Peering into the future, she saw him huddled between a two ambulances. If she could just find them, she'd find him, but the fog was a nuisance. "I know how you feel right now! Don't do what you're thinking of doing!"
"Go away, Garnet!" came the boy's voice. Garnet paused, gauging the direction of the sound.
"Steven, I know it hurts, but you must listen to me!"
"No, you don't!"
"I do!"
"You have no idea what it's like being me!" he said, his voice wavering. He was crying. "I'm supposed to be the first human-gem that's ever existed. I'm supposed to be special, but I feel like nothing but a burden on everyone else." She could hear him sniffle. He must be nearby. "You guys and my dad are always talking about my mom and what a great person she was. You make her sound like a hero, and that's what I try to be. But I couldn't save you—I couldn't save Connie! In the end, you were the ones who wound up saving me."
"Steven, that's what we're here for." Just a bit closer, and she'd be right on top of him. "We're a team, and we wouldn't be a good one if we made you carry the load all by yourself."
"But that's just it! I don't want to be part of a team! I didn't ask for any of this!"
"Steven, no!" she knew what came next.
"I-I don't want to be a gem anymore!" Steven's hand flew to his gem, but a much larger one caught him by the wrist. He looked up, and Garnet was there. "Lemme go, Garnet!" he struggled against her iron grip. "If I get rid of this stupid gem, all my problems will go with it!"
"Steven, look at me. I know it hurts, and I know you want it to stop, but this isn't the answer."
"How do you know?!"
"Because that's what you told Sapphire back then. You saved her and Ruby. You saved me."
"But I couldn't save Connie!"
"That's not true," Garnet wiped away his tears. "You did save her. Your powers did work. If they hadn't, she wouldn't have made it to the hospital."
"So does that mean-?"
"Connie's going to make a slow but full recovery. Trust me."
"Future vision?"
"Future vision." with that, the boy relented, and Garnet scooped him up into her arms. "Let's go back inside. You know how your father gets."
A/N: I had the hardest time writing this! I started writing this while waiting for Nightmare Hospital to air and finished three days later. I went back to edit and cut several times, and I'm still not very satisfied with the ending. Originally, I was going to have Steven die but decided against it halfway through the story. Instead, I went for a more 'happy' ending. I'd really like to know what you guys thought and hear any criticisms you had.