"So how are we supposed to get the wheelchair… into the cab?"

Steven stared at the car as it drove up, narrowing his eyes slightly. Jasper was standing beside him, with her arms crossed over her chest, while Greg paced back and forth in front of them, biting his knuckles silently. His father turned, however, at Steven's question, a slightly confused look flitting across his face before the realization finally seemed to set in. "Ah…" Rubbing his face, Greg looked the wheelchair over, taking a few steps closer to them with a frown. "Well, it- it's supposed to fold, right? Once we get you into the car, we can put the wheelchair in next."

"Okay," Steven mumbled, narrowing his eyes. "And how are we supposed to get me out of the wheelchair? I can hardly move anything below the neck without it hurting like a m- like…" He hissed through his teeth, shooting a glare toward Jasper when she started snickering under her breath. He almost considered telling her off in Gem Glyph, but he decided against it by the time the cab had stopped moving. Greg frowned slightly, but he said nothing, looking more thoughtful than anything as he circled around the wheelchair to push it toward the cab. Steven leaned back, narrowing his eyes at the car once again and twisting his mouth into a sharp frown. "You know, I feel like you should have thought this through a little more first…"

"I didn't really have much time," Greg replied uncertainly, opening one of the back doors. Steven grunted, eyeing the inside of the cab for a moment as Greg stepped around and reached out to help him up; the hybrid leaned away quickly, waving his father away. "Steven, you have to-"

"I know. Just give me a second, alright?" Steven snapped, and Greg grimaced, but he leaned back, giving Steven a moment to compose himself. It took him a while to muster up the will to start heaving himself up out of the wheelchair, reaching out to grab onto the door to pull himself up in the process. He almost gave up a few times, completely willing to just sit back in the wheelchair and not do a single fucking thing at all; the pain was bordering on unbearable, and he had to bite down on his tongue to keep himself from screaming out all the curse words he knew in Gem Glyph, and then some. But, right when he was about to sit back down, he felt two hands wrap around his torso, lifting him up out of the chair - and he couldn't keep himself from yelling out in time, more so from surprise than anything. "What the fu- I said give me a sec-"

A glance downwards was enough to halt his protest, but at this point, he was hardly surprised to see that the hands that had gripped him were orange, belonging to Jasper rather than his dad. She moved surprisingly slowly, lifting him out of the wheelchair and lowering him down just beside the door, and he gripped the top of the cab quickly to keep himself somewhat balanced, keeping his right leg as far from the ground as possible - which wasn't too easy, considering he hardly had enough control over it to move it at all. But he did finally manage to twist around and push himself into the car, pulling his good leg in with him and reluctantly letting Greg move the other one in, himself, when Steven proved completely incapable of moving it.

He bit his tongue again, covering his face. It took him a second to remind himself not to bite down too hard, not wanting to risk making himself bleed with his healing powers not working.

"Thanks for the help…" He heard Greg murmuring to Jasper, accompanied by a faint rattling. It sounded like the wheelchair, so it was safe to assume his father was trying to fold it to put it in the car. The hybrid blinked his eyes open again, rubbing his hand over his face briefly before dropping it again and turning to glance back out at them. Jasper just huffed, looking down at Greg and making a face before turning her gaze back to Steven, who simply offered a shrug.

"Hopefully we'll be back soon," the hybrid sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't happy about any of this, and he wasn't going to bother pretending that he was. Jasper actually managed to look somewhat amused by his grumpiness, which only added to it more; he twisted his mouth into a frown and wrinkled his nose back at the orange Quartz, but that only served to further increase her own amusement, her lips turning upwards at the corners as she smirked. Steven finally managed to flip her off while Greg's back was turned, as his father lifted the now-folded wheelchair and carried it around to the other side of the cab. Jasper, once again, clumsily attempted to mimic the gesture, looking a little frustrated when she failed to do so.

"Yeah, hopefully," Greg sighed, getting in and closing the door. Steven reached over slightly to close his, thankfully not having to reach too far - but he did jerk back quickly, with a slightly furious look in Jasper's direction, when she simply shut it for him, a little harder than necessary.

He pulled his lips back slightly as she grinned down at him, eyes sparkling mischievously. He had a few choice words, things he'd like to say to wipe that smug smile off of her face, but he knew better than to do so with Greg around. So he only wrinkled his nose at her through the window again while his father leaned forward to speak to the cab driver. "Sorry for the holdup," his father chuckled nervously. "Uh, we need to get to Beach City Hospital, please." Steven grimaced slightly to himself, finally tearing his gaze away from Jasper to look at the driver.

"No problem," the driver hummed, starting the cab back up with a smile. "Buckle up."

Steven narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing back toward the seatbelt, then crossed his arms. He wasn't going to strain himself with something as trivial as that, especially when he was in enough pain to begin with. Wasn't like he hadn't already been in a car crash before anyway, right? Hadn't killed him the first time, so he doubted it would the second time. Unfortunately, Greg didn't seem to share the sentiment; after realizing Steven wasn't going to attempt to do so himself, his father sighed and reached over to buckle the teenager in, stretching the seatbelt over the hybrid - despite his mumbled protests - and clicking it into place before turning around and doing the same for himself. Steven stared down at the seatbelt, reluctantly uncrossing his arms briefly to cross them over it instead, cheeks flushing hot with embarrassment.

He was silent as they started driving, though he'd be lying if he said he didn't wince on occasion. The rumbling of the car around him left him surprisingly uneasy, a steady mixture of dread and nausea brewing in his gut. He swallowed and fought it down to the best of his ability, pressing his eyes shut and breathing out slowly through his teeth as the car sped up.

"Hey-" Steven sighed through his teeth and cracked an eye open to look toward his father as Greg spoke, watching the man shift the wheelchair a little bit to move closer to the middle, though the seatbelt restricted him from getting too close now. "You alright, kiddo?"

Honestly, Steven didn't even know what the point of asking him that was anymore. At this rate, he was considering just going back to saying 'I'm fine'. It was a pretty instinctual response anyway - he had to think twice before he spoke, just to make sure he didn't say it regardless. The hybrid huffed and shook his head a little at Greg, then turned away again and screwed his eyes shut once more. He wished he could lift his leg up a little so that it wasn't pressing so hard against the floor of the car; every little bump was just pure agony. And it didn't make it any better, knowing he'd have to endure it on the way back, as well. This was just way too much. Somehow, he was both dreading reaching the hospital, and wishing this cab would go faster. He was about five seconds away from completely losing his shit for the second time that day.

Thankfully, Greg had the sense to leave him alone for the rest of the ride.

Yep, Steven still hated hospitals.

This one was familiar, of course, but he wasn't sure that it was helping. He still remembered walking through it at night, fighting the gem mutants alongside Connie… it hadn't been the scariest thing he'd ever experienced, but it had still been enough to give him nightmares. During the day, though, it was much better - but it wasn't like he had good experiences with the hospital during the day either. Remembering what had happened the last time he was there was enough to make his cheeks flush pink, and enough to make the pinkness remain there for a good, long while as they checked in and ended up being pulled straight back into a room, because apparently Priyanka had listed them as an 'important appointment'. Steven wasn't sure whether to be flattered, concerned or annoyed, but at least he didn't have to sit in the waiting room.

He reluctantly allowed Greg to help him out of the wheelchair and into the hospital bed, mostly because the nurses were offering to do so if Greg didn't, and Steven was already far too uncomfortable with the strangers surrounding him as it was. Once he was in the bed, though, he finally managed to relax a little; sinking back, he rested his head against the pillow and eyed the nurses silently as they worked around him, pulling out various medical tools to check him over. They checked his ears, his temperature, heartbeat - and then, of course, blood pressure. He went still as they wrapped the cuff around his arm, holding his breath as it got tighter, and tighter, and tighter. The pinkness spread just a little bit, covering his entire face now, but luckily, this time, he managed to control himself just enough so that he didn't swell up and break it.

It wasn't too long until Priyanka finally entered.

The nurses were hooking him up to a machine that 'monitored his heart rate and oxygen levels' by the time she walked in, fidgeting with a clipboard. She had a deep frown written across her face, eyebrows furrowed so close they were almost touching, and Steven knew right then and there that he was completely in for it - at least, until she actually spotted him. And he watched, confused and surprised, as the frown on her face vanished, the frustrated expression softening to something more akin to concern, before she seemed to snap back into 'professional mode'. "Hello, Steven." Her gaze darted down to his leg, and her mouth twisted into a frown again.

"Hi, Dr. Maheswaran. It's… nice to see you?" Steven managed to force a half-assed smile in her direction, but he let it drop once he realized she wasn't really paying attention. He shot a glance toward Greg; his father was seated in a chair on the other side of the room, out of the nurse's way. He was rubbing his hands together, cracking his knuckles and flitting his eyes around the room anxiously every so often, looking between him, the monitors, the nurses and Priyanka. It was almost comforting - at least Steven wasn't the only one that was well out of his comfort zone right then. Greg seemed to be having as hard a time with the situation as he was. But, he thought bitterly, looking away again, it shouldn't even be a 'situation'. This should be normal.

"Have you taken any medicine for the pain today?" Priyanka asked suddenly, rooting her gaze to the monitor. Steven paused, twisting his head around slightly to look despite himself, wondering what the hell was so interesting - or if maybe she was avoiding looking at him for a reason. Despite himself, his chest twisted at the thought, indifference quickly morphing into fear. He wondered if Connie had told her about the proposal. Or, even, if she had told her about Jasper. He wondered if she was upset with him. Hell, he was upset with himself. Or maybe she was upset about the suicide attempt. Honestly, with Priyanka Maheswaran, he couldn't really tell - but he didn't want to care as much as he did right then, either.

"Um…" He trailed off, hissing under his breath. Right, the painkillers that the doctor in Empire City had prescribed him, that he'd insisted he didn't need. Honestly, he was starting to wonder if he actually might; the pain just seemed to be getting worse and worse by the second. "No…"

"Do you have any?"

Now it was his turn to avoid eye contact; Steven twisted his mouth into a grimace, rooting his gaze to his hands and trying to force back the nausea churning in his gut. "No."

He could practically hear the disapproval in the pen click - and that alone was enough to make him hold his protests when she spoke again. "I'm going to prescribe you some. And judging by your heart rate and blood pressure levels, I'm also going to assume you're in pain-" Steven opened his mouth, finally almost daring to protest, but he reminded himself not to and simply offered a hesitant nod at the last second. "So I'm going to give you two pills to take now." Priyanka sighed, walking over to him. After a moment, he reluctantly lifted his gaze back to her, grimacing slightly as he watched her pull the top paper off of the clipboard. "For now, there's a few questions on this form I'd like you to answer - and honestly, please," she added.

Steven only huffed, taking the clipboard and pen as they were offered to him, and narrowing his eyes down at the paper silently for a moment before looking back up. "This is the psychological assessment?" He was honestly somewhat relieved - he wouldn't have to actually look her in the eyes while he answered. The doctor back at Empire City had asked him the questions flat-out.

"It's part of it," Priyanka replied, adjusting her coat. Steven faltered slightly, relief fading almost at once. Part of it. Great. So there was probably more to it. "But, provided you do answer the questions honestly-" Wow, she was really stressing that part, wasn't she? "-it shouldn't take too long at all. Just let me know when you're finished, I'll be right back with the painkillers." She turned, gesturing for the other nurses to leave the room, as well; Steven kept his gaze on Priyanka until she had left, grimacing slightly, and even then, continued to stare through the doorway until the last nurse finally stepped out and shut the door behind them.

The hybrid huffed and clicked the pen a few times, looking down at the clipboard. Well, so far it wasn't asking for too much; his name, easy, the date… okay, actually, not too easy. He ended up asking Greg for help on that one, somewhat reluctantly, before moving on. Age, easy. Date of birth, easy. Then it moved on to… "Family or Social History". Ohhh boy. Here we go.

The first few questions were easy enough, until it gave him a list of words to describe himself with. He skimmed them all briefly, grimacing slightly at a few - 'full of regrets', 'crazy', 'suicidal', 'worthless', 'a nobody' - man, it really wasn't holding back its punches on that one. Still, neither would he; honesty had gotten him into this mess, and while he wasn't entirely sure it would get him out of it, he also knew, at this point, no good came out of lying, either. So, he checked off all of those and then some. His favorite one, near the end, was 'evil'; he checked it off with a scowl.

After that, it got a little easier; asking about family, alright. 'Siblings' was first up; for a moment, he hesitated over 'brothers', not really knowing what to put. Well, it wasn't asking for a name, just how many and what age; he could answer that simply enough. They were the same age, so… he went ahead and put his pink twin on the list, simply putting 'N/A' in the 'sisters' column and moving on to the next. Father. Age, occupation, health, was he dead…

What was their relationship like…

Steven inhaled through his teeth, clicking the pen once, and then again with a grimace. Well, the 'as a child' part was easy enough to answer, and it didn't offer much room for big explanations, so he decided to be as vague as possible with that. 'As an adult'... well, he wasn't quite an adult yet - one more year, right? - so he just decided to put 'still figuring it out' and moved on to the next one - and then immediately wished that he hadn't. Next up; Mother.

"Oh, shatter me now…" The hybrid growled, remembering a little too late that Greg was still in the room, but regardless, he didn't look up, even though he felt his father's gaze fixed on him.

'If deceased, age at death'. What? What the fuck? It wasn't like he had ever gotten an exact number. He didn't know how old his mother was. Several thousand years, for sure, but for that, he'd have to either ask the Diamonds or the gems and- yeah, no, he wasn't doing that. So, he simply put down 'N/A', figuring Priyanka would at least understand that, because she knew about gem stuff and he was sure Connie had told her about Pink Diamond, if nothing else.

'Cause of death'. 'Me'. Next.

'How old were you at the time of her death?'. '0'.

'What is/was your relationship like?' Jesus fuck… 'Complicated'.

Thankfully, after that, the other questions seemed far too easy; he found himself beyond relieved by the time he finished the 'mother' section, quickly speeding through the rest. Some of the questions were… odd, but at least it was better than having to answer any about his mom. And, to his relief, he was briefly interrupted when Priyanka returned with the medicine. He lowered the clipboard, clicking the pen and putting it down as she headed over to him and offered him two small cups; he took them both, frowning, and peered inside. One was filled with water, and the other contained two little round white pills. He made a face, staring.

"Have you ever swallowed pills before?" Steven shook his head, glancing up just in time to see the glare Priyanka shot Greg over her shoulder, and the apologetic wince his father gave in response. "Alright," the doctor sighed, turning back to the hybrid, who just barely managed to wipe the grimace off of his face in time. "Take a sip of the water, but don't swallow just yet," she added quickly, as Steven reluctantly raised the cup to do as instructed. He couldn't help but flinch slightly as the liquid hit his tongue - reminded, rather abruptly, that he hadn't drank anything in quite some time either - but he simply swished it around in his mouth and looked back up, nodding to let her know he was ready for her next instruction. "Then put one of the pills in your mouth and swallow it with the water," Priyanka ordered, turning to hand Greg a paper.

Steven wrinkled his nose, looking down. He settled the cup with the pills in his lap, reaching in to pinch one of the little round tablets between two fingers and lifting it up with a frown. Honestly, it took him a while to muster the energy to push the pill into his mouth, squeezing it through his lips and trying to avoid spilling any of the water, before swallowing it all down fast. "Ugh…"

"I know, it's unpleasant," Priyanka almost managed to sound amused, looking back up at him. "But it's necessary. Now just do the same with the other one and that's it." Steven sighed under his breath, but reluctantly obliged, swallowing the last pill along with a mouthful of the water. "Now- I am sorry, but I'm going to have to borrow your father for a moment." Priyanka shot another glance at Greg, and Steven raised an eyebrow silently, watching the beads of sweat already forming on his father's forehead. He bit back a snicker, returning his gaze to Priyanka quickly when she spoke again. "We'll be just outside." The look she gave him as she spoke genuinely made him wonder whether it was meant as a reassurance or as a warning.

But he merely forced a smile at Priyanka, picking the clipboard and pen back up with his free hand and reaching over to put the water on the stand beside the bed, just grateful it was within his reach. "Oookay," he mumbled, clicking the pen and returning his gaze to the papers.

Greg sighed, heaving himself out of the chair. "I'll be right back, kiddo."

"Okay," Steven said again, slightly irritated, but somewhat struggling to force it back now. He wasn't sure whether it was simply being in Priyanka's presence or not, but he suddenly felt far too uncomfortable, far too unwilling to express any of the bitterness and anger churning in his chest. Honestly, he was just relieved when they finally stepped out of the room, leaving the door cracked; the moment they had left, he felt the rest of the tension in his shoulders drain, deflating like a balloon in only a second. He let his shoulders droop, ducking his head for a moment and hissing out a sigh through his teeth before forcing himself to focus on the clipboard once again.

More than once, as he worked, he flipped back to the second page to reread the questions about his family members. Briefly, he debated on listing Pearl or Garnet as 'step mothers', but… well, he wasn't entirely sure that was what they were. And, of course, he wondered if White filled the 'grandmother' role - she created Pink Diamond, right? So she was technically Pink's mother, meaning she would technically be his grandmother. But, then, if he put her on the list, he'd have to explain their relationship and all, and he wasn't too sure he was ready to do so just yet. At least, not with Priyanka. So, he simply flipped forward again and continued answering the other questions, somewhat relieved now that he was just about finished with the assessment.

Then, of course, he reached one question in particular that was enough to make him falter. 'Has any relative ever attempted or committed suicide?'. He wasn't sure how to answer at first; technically, willingly giving up her life to give birth to him could definitely count as suicide, so he could very well list his mother… The hybrid grimaced, chewing on the end of the pen and glaring down at the paper with a frown. And here he thought he'd gotten past the worst of it.

Finally, he sucked it up and managed to write down 'yes, my mother, technically' before moving on. The rest was rather easy; halfway through, just before he finished, Greg and Priyanka returned. His father was folding up the piece of paper, tucking it into his pocket silently, while the doctor shut the door behind her. Steven glanced up for only a second before returning his gaze to the clipboard, narrowing his eyes slightly as he answered the last few questions, and feeling immense relief once he had finally reached the end of the form. He clicked the pen one last time and held the clipboard up to Priyanka, and she moved forward to take it from him at once.

Priyanka was silent as she skimmed the first few pages, a slight grimace tugging at her lips every so often. Steven was silent, clenching and unclenching his fists somewhat anxiously as he watched her - until, finally, the doctor breathed out through her teeth and looked back up, eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion. "You have a brother?"

"Technically…" Steven shrugged, rubbing his hand over his face and sinking back against the pillow again. He winced slightly, back aching in protest, but he was slightly relieved to note that the pain had dulled considerably. Who knew, maybe those painkillers actually were working. "It's really hard to explain. We're kind of a fusion like Garnet, but also not really… I don't know, he's better at explaining it than I am, so." He offered Priyanka a half-hearted shrug, and the doctor frowned, but offered nothing more than a simple nod before rooting her gaze back to the paper.

She skimmed a few more pages, then finally went back to the first one, setting the clipboard aside and pressing her hands together in front of her for a moment. "Steven," she began carefully, "I have a few questions I'd like to ask you personally that weren't included on the form. If you'd like your father to leave while you answer, I understand," she added, glancing back at Greg. For a moment, his father almost looked like he was about to protest; but, with a swift glance toward Steven, he shut his mouth quickly enough. As for the hybrid, he was honestly just about to lose it right then and there. He'd known the assessment would be more than just answering questions on a clipboard, but he still wished he didn't have to actually talk to her.

Regardless, after a moment, he decided rather easily that it didn't matter whether Greg was in the room or not, because Greg already knew pretty much everything regarding his mental state. "He can stay," he muttered, watching his father's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "I don't care."

"Alright." Priyanka walked over to the sink on the other side of the room, pulling a stool out from under it and sitting down. Steven closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in slowly through his teeth and holding his breath for a good few seconds before finally letting it back out again. "Prior to the car crash, have you ever contemplated or attempted to commit suicide?"

Straight to the point, wow. Steven couldn't keep his cheeks from flushing pink in time, but it didn't last long. He opened his mouth to deny the question, only to falter. Well, technically… trying to rip his own gem out counted as a suicide attempt, right? He had failed, obviously, but that was what an 'attempt' was regardless. His stomach twisted slightly at the thought, grinding his teeth together slowly, before finally forcing himself to answer in a low mutter, "yeah." Before she could continue, already knowing she would ask how, he added, "I tried to pull my gem out."

Priyanka inhaled slowly, and he could feel Greg's gaze fixed on him, already able to sense the surprise. Because, of course, that was something he had left out while they were talking. But… right, Steven wasn't interested in the whole 'pretending' thing anymore, and it was going to come out sooner or later, so he might as well put it out there. Hell, he knew about White, anyway, so why not tell him that he'd tried to do it himself? "Have you self-harmed before?"

"Yeah," Steven quieted slightly on that answer. Greg already knew, obviously, but more or less, he was just uncomfortable with the thought of his mother standing over him, dragging a knife over his back. It did count as self-harm, right? God, just thinking about it made the cuts sting.

"Recently?"

"Recently, as in…?" Steven sighed through his teeth, falling silent for a moment before speaking again. "I don't know… Just before I crashed the Dondai. Pretty recently." He huffed out a laugh.

Priyanka was silent for a moment; he heard the familiar sound of pen against paper, assuming she was writing this down. And, of course she was, it was Priyanka. "How likely do you think your chances are of relapsing?" When Steven didn't answer after a moment, the doctor added slowly, "Steven, I need you to answer this honestly. How likely do you think your chances are o-"

"Likely, okay?" Steven finally snapped, covering his face with one hand and digging his nails into his skin with a low, rumbling growl. "It's not like I know. I know I'm still thinking about it, more and more, and I know I wasn't exactly planning on crashing my car on purpose, but I still ended up doing it anyway. So, yeah, I- I don't know. I don't know if I'm gonna try again or not. I don't even know if I wanna try again. But it's not like I-" He huffed out another mirthless laugh, "it's not exactly like I haven't considered the option since I got out of the hospital."

"Oh, Steven…" Greg mumbled.

Steven shook his head with a scowl, falling silent, but he did finally drop his hand and look up when Priyanka cleared her throat to catch his attention; once again, she put the clipboard and pen aside, leaning forward and clasping her hands together with her arms over her knees. The stare she gave him was enough to make him tense, even before she had spoken up. "Steven, this is a very, very serious situation. You're not in a good mental headspace at the moment. And if even you believe there's a chance you might try to hurt yourself, or take your own life, again, then what you need right now is immediate attention and proper care. I'm glad you were honest with me today." She paused, and Steven furrowed his eyebrows slightly, still tense, knowing that that couldn't possibly be it - the way she was looking, the way Greg was slowly sitting up and leaning forward, with an increasingly anxious expression, he knew there was something else.

And, of course, there was. "I think the best place for you right now is a mental health facility. You'll receive proper treatment, and supervision-" Steven was really starting to hate that word. "And your therapist can visit you, to start your sessions there. It's a safe, stable environment."

It really did just keep getting worse, didn't it?