Jasper groaned as her eyes fought to open. Her head felt as if thousands of Amethysts were having a competition on who could slam herself against Jasper's brain the hardest. It was not helping that she could hear a woman humming in concentration to herself as she scribbled something on paper. Nor did it help with the slow continuous beeping of a machine close to her. Another pained groan left Jasper as she tried to lift her hand to grip at her head but she found that she couldn't. After a minute, her right eye finally peeked open and Jasper looked down at her arms, finding that they were bound to some kind of bed. She growled and started to struggle, feeling panic when she couldn't break out of the primitive restraints. Her eyes started to close again and Jasper whined in fear. She felt a calming hand rest on her arm and Jasper managed to tilt her head to look at the person touching her.
Some woman smiled reassuringly at Jasper and went back to looking at some contraption that showed numbers and lines that Jasper could not understand. Jasper tried to concentrate on the woman's image but soon it became too blurry for her to see the person clearly. "You shouldn't be up so early, perhaps more benzodiazepine is in order," Jasper heard her say.
"Is she going to be all right?"
Jasper would have growled at the voice if she could move her lips. It sounded like Pearl but she couldn't be sure at the time. Her eyes fluttered shut and she could no longer make out the words that the two in the room were making. Right as she fell back under, she heard the door open and someone sounding a lot like Steven calling her name.
"Jasper, are you coming to?" the same woman from before asked. Jasper hissed and she could hear the other person gasp in shock. "You can hiss!" she exclaimed. Jasper heard more scribbling and felt a light prod on her cheek. "Can you open your eyes?"
The quartz gem struggled for a bit but managed to open one eye a tiny bit, just enough to make her hiss again at the brightness hurting her. She slowly opened her eye wider, not letting the human see her as weak.
"Take your time, Jasper," the woman said, the hand on her arm again. Jasper tried to jerk her arm away and found that the movement was halted by the restraints. "You've been in a coma for about a week now, so your eyes aren't used to bright light."
"Coma?" Jasper hoarsely said, grimacing at how it hurt to speak. She needed something to stop the burning in her throat, but she didn't know what. Both eyes were now open but Jasper had to narrow them in order to endure the brightness of the forensic lights.
"Oh!" the woman said. "You don't know what a coma is, do you? Basically, it's when someone falls into a deep sleep for many days. It's usually caused by an injury to the head and the coma allows the patient time for his or her brain to heal."
This human sounds a lot like Pearl, Jasper thought to herself. She looked at the human and was reminded of another one, the one that fused with Steven. "Throat," Jasper rasped. She heard the human grabbing a paper cup and a scraping noise as she scooped up some ice. She held it out to Jasper's lips and Jasper opened her mouth slightly, feeling humiliated that she had to be spoon-fed. The ice cooled the burning in her throat and it gave her something to munch on. The human gave her two more scoops of the crushed ice before Jasper shook her head weakly at the third offering. The woman put the cup back on its tray.
She stared as Jasper became more responsive, something the quartz gem did not like at all. It felt as if the woman was studying her, trying to figure out what to do with Jasper. She noticed that Jasper was now glaring at her and she started to scribble something down.
Jasper looked around the room, grimacing at the different machines making strange noises. She recognized that the machine that did the beeping noise was still there. One of the walls held a whiteboard that had several numbers written on it. Once again Jasper had no idea what the numbers were for. Her eyes glanced at the window and she could just barely see out of it. She noticed that Pearl was standing there, her arms crossed and her mouth at a permanent frown. Jasper started to wonder if the Crystal Gem watched her since she went into this coma but quickly realized she didn't want to know the answer. She finally turned her head to look at the human who was now studying the same machine Jasper first saw.
The woman wrote something down on a clipboard and took a deep breath before turning on her heel so she was now facing Jasper. "Hello Jasper. My name is Dr. Maheswaranh and I am here to help you."
Jasper huffed and turned her head so she could glare at Pearl again. All these beings on this wretched planet seem to want to 'help' her now.
The doctor take an offended breath before continuing on. "As I said before, you were in a coma for a week. Unlike most coma patients who have suffered a traumatic injury to his or her head and brain, you underwent one due to starvation."
Jasper glanced at the doctor and sneered at her. "I don't know what you think you're doing but I can tell you right now that you're wrong. I'm a quartz warrior," Jasper declared, her chest rising in pride, "I don't need to drink or eat."
"Yes, you do," Dr. Maheswaranh said with an air of finality. She flipped through her papers for a moment and found the one she was looking for. She showed Jasper and pointed at the different numbers. "This is your blood sugar level when you first entered the coma, it should be around 100 milligrams per deciliter but yours was about 50 milligrams per deciliter. Most people would have died by that point."
The quartz gem still had no idea what the human was going on about. She looked away from the chart and felt a pinch when she tried to move her right arm. She glanced down and noticed something sticking into her inner elbow. The beeping noise increased in tempo as she felt the reserves of her humanity slip away as her eyes caught sight of the needle. Something snapped inside the quartz gem's mind and she could only think of one thing: run.
Jasper roared and began to struggle against the restraints again, snarling as the needle caused pain throughout her body. The beeping was at its highest, almost like a beat to a fast waltz. She felt Dr. Maheswaranh try to push her back on the bed with a syringe in one of her hands when Jasper heard the door slam open. Jasper gave a hard pull and felt her left arm get free just as Pearl joined in Dr. Maheswaranh's efforts to push her back into the bed. Ignoring the Crystal Gem, Jasper reached over and tore the needle out of her arm with a yowl of pain. Blood began to spurt out of the new wound but Jasper didn't care. The quartz gem continued to pull at the remaining restraint with everything she had.
The door slammed open again but instead of trying to help the other two sedate Jasper, Steven ran over and tried to pull Jasper's hand away from the restraint. "Stop!" he yelled, his efforts proving to be worthless as Jasper continued to tug. "They're trying to help you, Jasper!"
"Bullshit!" Jasper screamed, a hand flying out and shoving Steven away from her. Immediately, she felt something stab into her back harshly. She looked behind her in time to see Pearl glare down at her, her face hardened in a way that made Jasper gulp. It was the look of a warrior about to make a kill.
"Do that again," Pearl warned evenly. She let the spear off of Jasper's back so that she could point it at her chest, right where the quartz warrior's gem was. "and I will shatter you." She pushed the spear so that a small clink was heard throughout the room, signaling that the weapon was resting on the gem.
Jasper only stared back at the Crystal Gem, knowing that if she tried to say anything it would only make the situation worse. She leaned back into the bed slowly to get the spear off of her gem. She heard Steven get up from the floor and walk over to Pearl.
"Pearl, it's okay. I'm fine," Steven said. He lifted his shirt to show that he had no injuries from Jasper's shove. He push down his shirt and grinned at Jasper. "Thanks for not using your claws this time." He raised a hand and licked it. He went close to Jasper and glanced down purposely at the bloody inner elbow. "Can I uh-"
Jasper looked down and without saying anything, stretched out her arm to expose the wound. She shuddered in disgust as Steven placed his hand on the injury. The quartz gem watched Steven remove his hand and reveal that the hole had closed up. He smiled back at Jasper who just huffed and glanced at Pearl. The Crystal Gem simply stood there, the spear still in her hands but she held it like she forgot she had the weapon.
"Steven, go wash your hands and wait outside," Dr. Maheswaranh ordered as she pocketed the syringe, sensing she wouldn't need it now. The boy glanced between Jasper and the doctor before finally settling on Pearl.
The crystal gem looked like she was about to argue with the doctor when she happened to look at Steven's hand. The spear immediately disappeared and she started to study the hand, frowning at the blood drying on the skin. She glanced back at Jasper's arm. Shakily, she got up and stared at the limb. "You were bleeding," she said, astonished.
"No shit," Jasper growled. The beeping slowed back to its original rhythm as Jasper calmed. On a compulsion, Jasper bent her head to lick at the wound. As her tongue lapped up, she realized what Pearl meant. Her head reared back with a shocked yelp, her hand slapping down to cover the blood. "I'm bleeding," Jasper said.
"Not anymore," Dr. Maheswaranh replied, trying to remove Jasper's hand. Jasper allowed the doctor to move it away and inspect the wound. The doctor walked back and opened a nearby cabinet, grabbing a brown bottle and some cotton swabs. She went back to Jasper and scowled at the spot where Jasper's tongue licked up some of her blood. Quickly and methodically, Dr. Maheswaranh used the cotton swabs that she soaked with the disinfectant liquid from the brown bottle to clean up the blood. Once the area was clean, Dr. Maheswaranh bent down and picked up the neglected IV tube. Jasper growled at the sight of the needle.
Amazingly, the human did not flinch and started the process of putting back in the IV tube. Jasper was impressed and she didn't try to stop the doctor from putting it back in. She hissed in pain at the initial stab and watched as Dr. Maheswaranh made sure that the needle would not come undone.
"There," she sighed, taping down the needle, "that should hold it. Don't try to remove it, it's giving you fluids." Dr. Maheswaranh picked up the folder that she had dropped when she tried to push Jasper down on the bed. "Although, it doesn't seem like you need it. You have remarkable regenerative abilities; any human would have been in that coma for weeks or even months. Still, I would like to run some tests on you if that is okay," Dr. Maheswaranh finished, glancing up at Jasper.
Jasper was too busy staring at the needle. She bled when she pulled it out. As if she were a human. The beeping began to speed up again and she snarled at the machine, finally fed up with the annoying sound. She heard Steven snicker and Jasper turned her head to hiss at him before resuming her glaring at the contraption.
Dr. Maheswaranh followed Jasper's glaring eyes to the machine. "That's the heart monitor." She walked over and tapped against the glass surface to where the spikes were. "This is your heartbeat."
"Heartbeat!?" Pearl squeaked. "She can't have a heart! She's a gem!"
"I can't believe I'm saying this but the traitor is right," Jasper said, having a sour taste in her mouth at the agreement. She looked at the monitor and her eyes followed every spike of what was her heartbeat. A clawed hand came up and rest over her gem. Jasper gasped as she felt the thump of her heart. Her heart. She removed her hand and stared at it like it was a new being. "I have a heartbeat." She looked at Dr. Maheswaranh, "What is going on?"
Steven spoke up before anyone could answer. "You're like me now!" he said in excitement. Jasper looked at the boy and saw that he could barely keep his body still.
Jasper sneered at him, "I am nothing like you, brat."
His eyes dimmed at the words for only a moment before they were bright again. "Yeah, you are. Look Jasper," he lifted his shirt so that his gem was showing, "we both have gems yet we have heartbeats and have to eat and drink and sleep like humans!" He threw his hands in the air like he made some incredible conclusion, "We're gem-human hybrids!"
The quartz gem snarled at the words but she couldn't deny the beeping from the machine or the thump of her heart. She saw Pearl tense up from the corner of her eye when she reached over and started to undo the restraints on her right arm again. Jasper ignored the gem and finally ripped the restraint off but she didn't try to hurt anyone like she suspected everyone thought she would. She sat up, groaning at the stiff back and sending a glare to the doctor. "Let's get this over with," Jasper grunted as she threw her legs over the bed. She tried to get off but Dr. Maheswaranh rested her hand on Jasper's shoulder.
"Don't get up just yet. I have some tests I need to conduct here." Dr. Maheswaranh glanced down at Steven and frowned at him. "Steven, go wash your hands, we have no idea what Jasper's blood could do to you." She looked up at Pearl, "You should go with him." Pearl was about to argue when Dr. Maheswaranh spoke up, "Send in the other Crystal Gem as a bodyguard if it will make you feel better."
Pearl looked at Jasper and her eyes hardened again but this time Jasper could see some reluctance. "Don't try anything, there's another gem besides us in the hospital and trust me when I say that she won't hesitate in shattering you either."
Steven frowned up at his guardian and grabbed her hand with the one that was not covered in blood. "Come on Pearl, we need to go." Steven more hauled Pearl out of the room than led her. A moment later Garnet came in and stood next to the door with her arms crossed. She didn't say anything, only stared off in some direction.
"Okay," Dr. Maheswaranh said. While Jasper was watching the gems, the doctor retrieved all the supplies she needed for an extensive checkup. She grabbed a new sheet of paper and wrote down Jasper's vitals before putting her stethoscope around her neck. "I wish to see your gem, is that all right?"
Jasper hesitated for a second before reaching up and pulling down her shirt so that her gem was exposed. She felt both eyes were studying the gem and she huffed at the obsession of her new gem. In truth however, Jasper was eager to know why her gem had moved and why it was in different shape and color. This was never heard of and if she had to stoop so low as to allow a rebel and a human to study her gem to get her answers, then she would just have to swallow the bitter pill. She felt Dr. Maheswaranh tap at it and Jasper shuddered, feeling a flush grow on her cheeks and her heartbeat quicken. "Don't do that," Jasper growled, her tone deeper than usual.
Dr. Maheswaranh seemed confused before realization made her blush deeply. She quickly removed her hand and wrote down a few quick notes. "The gem seems to be a source of," she thought of the correct word, "stimulation for the patient." She looked at Garnet who seemed unfazed by the sudden reaction. "Is this normal for gems?"
"No," was all Garnet said.
Dr. Maheswaranh scribbled some more notes and put in the stethoscope. "I'm going to put this on you and it will be a little cold. Um, it's going to read your heart rate." The doctor glanced at the gem and Jasper groaned, her heartbeat quickening even more despite herself. Jasper gave a quick, jerky nod. Dr. Maheswaranh waited for a few moments for Jasper's heartbeat to return to normal before placing it over Jasper's gem and listening for a few moments. "Take a deep breath," she ordered. Jasper knew she had no choice but to follow and she took a few deep breaths, realizing that the doctor was counting her heartbeats. She placed the stethoscope on different parts of Jasper's body, asking her to take a few deep breaths each time and counting the heartbeats. "Too slow for a human," she muttered, writing it down on her sheet pf paper.
"Don't forget, Jasper was never human but she is no longer a true quartz gem," Garnet said from her spot near the wall. She walked over to the doctor and looked over her shoulder to see what she had written down. "She's an entirely new being so perhaps comparing her to a human is not an efficient way to go about this."
"Then how do I know if she's healthy?" Dr. Maheswaranh played with the cuff of her doctor's jacket, glancing up at Jasper. "Without anything to compare her vitals with, I have no idea if she's about to die or if she's fine to leave the hospital!" she yelled out in frustration. Dr. Maheswaranh rubbed at her eyes and Jasper noticed the deep bags under them. How long since the doctor had any sleep?
Garnet rested a hand on the human's shoulder. "Don't think of it like that. Try to think of it as a new species, something nobody has ever studied before."
Garnet's words seemed to help Dr. Maheswaranh because she nodded and grabbed her otoscope and fitted on a new ear piece. "You're right, um, Garnet was it?" Garnet nodded with a small grin. Dr. Maheswaranh turned her attention back to Jasper. "I'm going to check your ears now. Please move back your hair."
Jasper did as she was told and frowned in discomfort as she felt the doctor put something in her ear. She could just make out some sort of light coming from the thing from the corner of her eye. "What is that for?"
"It's to see if your ears are clogged with anything." Dr. Maheswaranh answered as she moved to the other side to check Jasper's other ear. "Afterwards, I'm going to put headphones over your ears so that we can see how good your hearing is." The doctor removed the otoscope and wrote down some notes. She turned around to grab the headset and frowned at Jasper's horns. Dr. Maheswaranh gave the headphones to Jasper. "Try to put these on your head so that the ear muffs completely cover your ears."
Jasper tried to put the headset on but the horns got in the way. She moved the band back and tried to put on the headset like that but the tips of her horns still caught it. The quartz gem growled and shoved the headset back into the doctor's hands.
Dr. Maheswaranh sighed and put them down. "I can't run the test if these aren't on your head. How would you be able to hear the pings?"
Garnet spoke up again. "Jasper's hearing should far surpass a human's. She'll be able to hear the pings even if the headphones aren't on her.
Dr. Maheswaranh's eyes widened. "Really? How interesting." She rushed over to the machine that the headphones were connected to. She looked back at Jasper. "When you hear a ping, raise your hand." She turned the machine on and immediately Jasper and Garnet's hands went up.
"Just so you have something to compare the results to," Garnet said when Dr. Maheswaranh looked at her confused. Another ping went off and both hands rose again. After the fourth ping, both hands were raised. It was the same result for the fifth and sixth ping as well.
The pen flew down on the paper as Dr. Maheswaranh wrote down the results, apparently now excited about the tests. She tapped the end of the pen to her chin as she watched Jasper scratch at her arm in disinterest. "I wonder," she said to herself. She glanced at Garnet and back at Jasper. "I have an idea but I need to leave the room for a moment to get the appropriate supplies. Will you be all right alone with her?"
Jasper almost laughed, the human was worried that the Crystal Gem would be in danger if she left. Garnet turned her head to look at Jasper and shrugged. "I can take her."
Jasper growled at that, "That's only because you're a fucking fusion, freak."
Garnet frowned at the words and summoned her two weapons. She pointed one at Jasper's face. "Want to say that again?" she asked. Jasper noticed that the tone was lower than normal and guessed that it was the ruby that threatened her. Jasper simply growled and Garnet's weapons disappeared. "That's what I thought," she said, her voice now normal.
Dr. Maheswaranh looked between the two one last time before hurrying out of the room. Jasper looked down at the IV and watched with some interest as fluids entered her body. She wondered for a moment why she was so trusting of the human doctor, the woman could easily be trying to give her some kind of toxin or a solution that made her brain numb. But as she considered the options, she concluded that she was being paranoid. If the doctor wanted to immobilize or kill her, she would have done it when she was in her coma.
After a few tense minutes, Dr. Maheswaranh came back into the room, carrying a device that looked suspiciously like the one she used before. A look of relief crossed her face before she schooled it back to one of professionalism. The doctor started to set up the machine as she explained, "This is essentially the same device as the one before however, this one has higher frequencies that only dogs can hear. There are more different types of pings here than the other one as well so we should have a better reading." She plugged in the headphones and glanced back at the two gems. "Are you two ready?" Garnet nodded while Jasper grunted. Dr. Maheswaranh turned on the machine.
Just like before, both hands rose up as they heard the first ping. It continued this way for three other pings, each one more quiet than the last. Finally, on the fourth ping, Jasper's hand was the only one that rose. The quartz gem looked at Garnet expectantly, but the fusion simply shrugged. Another ping and Jasper was the only one that rose her hand. Dr. Maheswaranh seemed to get more excited with each ping afterwards, each time Jasper's hand raising without fail. When she finally could not hear anything coming out of the machine, she crossed her arms.
Dr. Maheswaranh checked the machine and smiled in excitement at what she found. "Your ears are able to detect sounds that are 46,000 Hurtz! A human can only detect 23,000 Hurtz. This is incredible," she exclaimed, eagerly grabbing another device and rushing to Jasper. When the doctor neared, Jasper saw that she was carrying something similar to the otoscope. She held it up to Jasper's eye and warned, "You are going to see a very bright light in a moment."
A small click was heard and Jasper hissed as her right eye was blinded. She dug her claws into the mattress of her hospital bed and heard it rip under her. With her left eye, she saw that Dr. Maheswaranh was watching her pupil's reaction with a grin of a scientist making a new discovery. "Your pupils appear to be akin to a cat's. They can slit vertically when exposed to bright light. Oh if only it was night!" she complained. "I wonder how far your eyes can see in complete darkness." She checked the other eye and turned off the device. She held up a finger and began to move it. "Follow my finger with only your eyes, try not to move your head." Jasper did the test with an annoyed sigh, she preferred the hearing test than this.
The doctor scribbled down some notes and took something out of her lab coat's pocket. It looked like one of those sticks of wood that held popsicles, Jasper thought to herself. "I need you to open your mouth now. I'm going to check your teeth and tongue." Dr. Maheswaranh held it up expectantly and Jasper opened her mouth slightly, starting to think that these tests were just to waste her time. "Wider," the doctor ordered.
Jasper complied and felt the wood press down on her tongue. She looked down to see Dr. Maheswaranh shine a light into her mouth, her eyes widening when she saw Jasper's sharp canine and fangs. Jasper felt one of her teeth being poked by a gloved finger and she was tempted to snap her jaws shut but one glance of Garnet and she knew that if she did, she would be bubbled without hesitation. Jasper felt the stick being removed from her mouth but before she could close it, she felt Dr. Maheswaranh grab her tongue with two of her fingers. The doctor gave a slight pull and shined her light on the tongue, making note that it had the same coloration as a human's. "Stick your tongue out as far as you can." Jasper rolled her eyes but did the command nonetheless, stretching her tongue out a good four inches. Dr. Maheswaranh quickly wrote down the length and she held up the stick. "Try to grab it with your tongue and hold it up without using your hands."
Jasper grumbled but her tongue wrapped around the stick and held it up for three seconds before she deliberately dropped it. "Happy?"
Dr. Maheswaranh just hummed to herself and wrote something down on her clipboard. She glanced at the equipment she had with her and then at Garnet. "Will it be okay if I examined her physical abilities?"
Garnet shrugged but her weapon appeared on her right hand. "As long as Jasper behaves," she said pointedly.
Dr. Maheswaranh grinned and ran back out of the room, giggling as if she just received the greatest present ever. Jasper watched her with a grimace, humans had not changed since the rebellion. They still get so excited over something that wasn't really that interesting. Jasper turned her eyes over to Garnet who went back to crossing her arms. "Explain to me why I haven't tried to escape yet," she grumbled.
"Because you have nowhere to go," Garnet answered, her hand coming up to fix her visor.
The doctor chose that moment to run back to the room and up to Jasper. She had a block of wood in her hands that was about a half an inch thick. "I want you to bite this," she said, thrusting the block into Jasper's hands.
Jasper took the block of wood and studied it for a moment, wondering what could possibly come out of her biting it. She shrugged and opened her mouth, feeling her fangs grow longer and sharper. She bit down on the wood and felt it splinter but she continued to close her jaws, slowly piercing through the chunk of wood. When Jasper's mouth was fully closed, she carefully opened it up again so her fangs could slip out of the holes she made. Jasper took the piece of wood out and examined her work as her fangs resumed their normal size. There were four holes where her fangs went completely through and several deep dips where her other teeth bit into the wood. She handed Dr. Maheswaranh the block of wood and the doctor ran her gloved fingers through the new dips and holes.
"Incredible," she whispered to herself, grabbing a sterile plastic bag and placing the wood into it. She made sure it was closed properly before glancing back at Garnet. "I would like to take her outside now, if that is advisable."
Jasper's eyes widen at the thought of being outside. The only time she was ever allowed to go outside was when Garnet and Steven escorted her to the barn. She looked at Garnet and could tell that the fusion was weighing her options. Garnet met Jasper's stare and fixed her visors. "All right, but I need to get someone first." Without making sure that the doctor would be okay, Garnet left the room.
Dr. Maheswaranh did not seem to be afraid of being alone in the same room as the gem that once tried to destroy the earth. She looked over the results she jotted down and Jasper could hear her muttering to herself. "Perhaps the patient is more animal than human? A canine maybe. Or a feline more likely."
Jasper rolled her eyes as the doctor continued to talk to herself. She could hear Garnet's footsteps returning but there were two others with her. Jasper tilted her head as she stared at the door, trying to figure out who was walking with Garnet. A groan left her mouth when she realized that the other pairs of footsteps did not belong to two people but one. Or rather one annoying pink lion.
Garnet opened the door and Lion hurried in, immediately trying to get up on Jasper's bed. Jasper shoved him off each time, hissing at the creature who only purred in response.
"Oh no! There are no animals allowed in this hospital!" Dr. Maheswaranh said. She looked like she wanted to push the animal out of the room but was unsure if the lion would bite her if she tried.
"I said get off!" Jasper growled, shoving Lion back to the floor for the fifth time. Lion landed on the tiled floor and stared up at the quartz gem, still purring. "Why is this creature here? I would even prefer to the pearl compared to this oversized fuzzball."
"Pearl is with the other doctors discussing your," Garnet trailed off for a few moments, thinking of the correct word, "condition. Steven said that we could borrow Lion for more of Dr. Maheswaranh's tests."
Jasper groaned and hissed at the lion when he tried to lay his head on her lap. She looked up when she heard more scribbling coming from the doctor. Dr. Maheswaranh wrote a few more things down before asking the quartz gem, "Have you always been able to hiss and growl?"
"No," Jasper grounded out through clenched teeth. She got off of her bed and stumbled forward a few steps, her body not used to carrying its own weight. Jasper steadied herself and stood up straight, brushing away some imaginary dirt from her clothes. She tried to take another step forward but the IV tube became taught. Jasper considered the option of ripping it out again but she didn't want to bleed so much like last time.
"If you are not up to walking around, we can postpone the tests until you are fully rested," Dr. Maheswaranh offered.
"I am fully rested," Jasper protested, wanting to taste fresh air again, even if it meant having to put up with Lion and Garnet watching her every move. She gestured to the IV still in her arm. "Take this damn thing out and we can leave."
Dr. Maheswaranh frowned at Jasper's choice of words but she took out the needle nonetheless, quickly covering it with some gauze so it wouldn't bleed out. She turned off several of the machines so as to conserve energy and nodded towards the door. The doctor led the group out the door and through various hallways. The patients and doctors that happened to be roaming the halls stopped to stare at Jasper and Lion. Jasper fought the urge to head-butt or at least growl at each of them. It wasn't like the people of this strange town hadn't seen a nonhuman before.
After five minutes of walking and cramming into an elevator for two floors, nearly scaring an elderly woman to death, the group exited the building to go to the exercise yard in the back. Jasper looked at the various equipment and the track that encircled the yard. She could tell that most of the equipment was used to build up strength in the arms but some she had no idea what its purpose was. Jasper took a step away from the group before turning back to look at the doctor.
The doctor seemed to be assessing the different types of equipment and she walked over to one. It was a cylindrical bag of some sort that hung from a metal pole that stuck up from the ground. Jasper followed Dr. Maheswaranh and tilted her head at it, trying to figure out what it was.
"Okay Jasper, I think this will do nicely," Dr. Maheswaranh finally declared. She rested a hand on the bag. "This is called a punching bag and we use it to build up strength in a patient's arms and test their arm movements. However, I want you to use your horns on it."
"You want me to head-butt the punching bag?" Jasper asked, a smile creeping up on her face.
"Yes, that is correct," Dr. Maheswaranh answered with a nod. "Try to hit it as hard as you - AH!" Dr. Maheswaranh shrieked as Jasper suddenly rammed her horns against the bag, causing it to be ripped off its metal handle and slam into the hospital's wall. It fell with a defeated thud and the doctor could only stare at the new crater adorning the once pristine white wall. She looked back at Jasper who was grinning triumphantly, her eyes now appearing the glow with primal delight. "V-very good Jasper," Dr. Maheswaranh said, starting to wonder if this was a good idea after all.
"Now what?" Jasper asked eagerly. It felt good to let some of the beast out. She could feel her claws extending and what she now recognized as her heart thumping from the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She didn't care that Garnet was there keeping an eye on her or that Pearl was inside just waiting for any excuse to shatter her, all she wanted to do was to have more fun.
Dr. Maheswaranh glanced back at the destroyed punching bag, gulping at how there was now a hole on one side and stuffing coming out. She looked back at the other equipment and narrowed her options, immediately crossing out all the expensive equipment that Jasper would most likely destroy. Her eyes settled on a tire that the doctors would sometimes have the athletes try to roll. "Try lifting that," she said.
Jasper walked over to the tire and frowned at it. She grabbed one side with one of her hands and easily lifted it off the ground. "This is too light," she complained.
"Oh, then uh," Dr. Maheswaranh floundered for the first time in weeks in what to do with her patient. She glanced at Garnet for some help but the gem just shrugged. She looked back at Jasper who was starting to look bored. "Throw it as far as you can."
A wicked grin lit up Jasper's face as she gripped the tire with both hands. She twirled on the spot a few times, gaining momentum before letting the tire fly. It flew far away from the group, even past the fence that enclosed the exercise yard and into the parking lot. They heard it crash into some poor civilian's car and the alarm blaring right after. Jasper only laughed at the man rushing out of the hospital to inspect the damage that she had caused.
"That isn't funny, Jasper," Garnet said, crossing her arms. "Now that poor man might not be able to go home."
"It's not my fault," Jasper responded, wheezing from laughing so much. By the diamonds it felt amazing to test her strength. "The human doctor told me to throw the tire so I threw it." She looked back at Dr. Maheswaranh. "Now what do you want me to do?" She pointed a clawed finger at another punching bag. "Do you want me to punch that?"
"NO!" Dr. Maheswaranh yelled out. A blush covered her cheeks as she coughed once into her fist. "What I meant to say is that we already know that you're very strong." Her eyes flashed from one equipment to the next but each one she could imagine Jasper breaking it and causing the hospital another expensive bill. She looked at the track and an idea popped into her head. "I think the next experiment to do is to test your stamina." She nodded towards the track. "Run as fast as you can for as long as you can."
Jasper eyed the track on the other side of the yard and then glanced at Garnet. The fusion fixed her visors and gave the quartz gem a thumb's up, silently telling her that she trusts her enough not to run off. Jasper was shocked by the amount of trust that the fusion was giving her and by the fact that she honestly hadn't considered escaping at that moment. Jasper started to jog the track, slowly speeding up speed. After a lap, she was now sprinting but something didn't feel right.
The noise of something bounding after her caused Jasper to glance behind her as she ran. Lion was easily catching up to her and started to pass her. Jasper growled low in her throat and pushed herself even harder, running as fast as she could, but the animal still ran ahead of her. Something within Jasper's mind snapped and she leaned down until she was running on all fours. As she caught up with the lion and started to outrun him, Jasper laughed. She always loved feeling the wind rip through her hair, trying futilely to hold her back. But now feeling the turf under her clawed hands and feet added to the sensation of freedom. Jasper pounded onwards passing Lion again but this time the animal turned at the last moment and the quartz gem crashed into him. The two rolled to a violent stop and Jasper leapt away, snarling as she felt blood trickle down her side. She glanced down and saw that her shirt was ripped, one of Lion's claws accidentally catching her side. Feeling a rage she didn't know she could feel, Jasper pounced on Lion, hissing and clawing at him. Lion defended himself, mewing like a kitten would when it knew it did something wrong.
Jasper's head whipped back as Garnet pulled the larger gem off of Lion by the quartz gem's horns. Jasper struggled against Garnet's grip but her body was too tired from the tests to wrestle out of the grip that the fusion had on her. Jasper snarled and hissed at the fusion but suddenly stopped when she felt something soft brush up against her gem. Her eyes flashed down to see that Lion had gotten back up on his feet and was now rubbing his head against Jasper's gem, purring softly. Jasper started to calm down despite herself and she stopped struggling against Garnet. She felt Garnet let go of her horn and Jasper slumped down, now sitting on the ground where she had attacked Lion. Lion backed up and looked at Jasper with eyes that showed no ill will.
"Incredible!" the three heard Dr. Maheswaranh exclaim. The doctor ran up to them and examined Lion's body for any wounds. Even though Jasper could have sworn that she raked her claws against his side, there was no sign of injury on the animal. He gently pushed the doctor's hands away and mewed towards Jasper. Dr. Maheswaranh turned around and noticed the bleeding side. "Let me look at that."
Jasper allowed the human to inspect her side without complaint, still staring at the animal. She had shoved him away, degraded him, and now attacked him and yet Lion still showed concerned for her well-being. The quartz gem did not understand the animal at all. She felt something cover her new wound and glanced down to see the doctor finish taping gauze to it.
"As soon as the animal started to purr against your gem, you calmed down." Dr. Maheswaranh said, more to herself than to Jasper. She removed her gloves and looked at the gem. "But I thought that your gem was an erogenous zone."
"Gems are much more complex than that," Garnet said. "They are the source of our entire being, without it we would not exist as you would not exist without your brain. It can be a source of pleasure, yes, but it can also be a source of comfort and pain." Garnet held out her palms so that both of her gems were visible. "Each gem is unique as is each human." She closed one of her hands so that only the gem that belonged to Ruby was exposed. "One can be rough and hot. The being can have a quick temper and yet be so protective of those that she cares for." She opened her other hand, "While another can be smooth and cold. She may seem like she has no emotions but once you get to know her, you find that she is the most empathetic person you will ever know. Someone who will listen to you when you wish and offer sound advice when you need it."
Jasper had a feeling that Garnet was explaining the gems more for her benefit than the doctor's but she didn't voice her opinion.
Garnet turned her head and lowered her visors so that Jasper can see all three of her eyes looking at her. Jasper growled and crossed her arms. "I am not as complex as you think." Garnet shook her head with a sigh and started to walk inside. The doctor, lion, and quartz gem followed her and retraced their steps back to the room. When they entered the hallway, Jasper's ears picked up rapid pacing from her room. She groaned, not even having to catch her scent to know exactly who was in her room.
They entered the room to see Pearl pacing about, muttering to herself as her hands gripped at her hair. When the crystal gem caught sight of the group, she sighed in relief. "Do you have any idea what I thought happened!?"
"I ran some experiments on Jasper that required her to have more space than this room provided," Dr. Maheswaranh simply said. She looked over her notes again before handing them over to Pearl. "You should look at these notes and tell me what you think."
Pearl's eyes flashed between the four and started to flip through the notes. She hummed and muttered to herself, saying stuff like, "Not surprising," and "That's new." Jasper sat back into her bed and had to immediately shove off Lion. The animal wouldn't leave her alone!
Garnet watched everyone for a moment before turning to leave. Pearl looked up from the notes, "Wait, where are you going?"
"I have to tell Steven something," Garnet said, pausing in the door frame and looking back to the gem. When no one tried to stop her, the fusion left the room and walked towards the waiting room.
Pearl grumbled under her breath and resumed going over the notes Dr. Maheswaranh had written. From the light blue blush spreading across her cheeks, Jasper guessed Pearl got to the part of her gem being a source of sexual stimulation. Pearl rapidly flipped over to another page and Jasper snickered. She halted on one page and reread the notes several times before turning to look at Jasper and Lion.
"Lion can calm you down?" Pearl asked.
Jasper shrugged and absentmindedly picked at her horn. "I guess so. The fucker made me run in to him and we started to fight. Garnet got me off of him and he just started to purr against my gem."
Pearl put a finger on her chin as she studied Lion who was staring at Jasper. She sighed and Jasper heard something along the lines of, "Really was Rose's," before the Crystal Gem went back to the notes. Pearl walked over to Dr. Maheswaranh when she had finished going over the notes and the two started to discuss Jasper right in front of the quartz gem. They didn't bother to keep their voices down, knowing that Jasper would still be able to hear them if they whispered.
Jasper huffed and looked down at Lion who immediately started to purr again. "What are you looking at?" Jasper growled, using her right foot to push Lion away. As soon as Jasper pulled back her foot, Lion went to the side of her bed, staring up at her. After a few tries, the quartz gem finally gave up. Lion seemed to sense the defeat because his eyes closed and the purring grew in volume. Jasper hissed lowly at him before turning her attention to the other two. They had finished talking and were watching the two. Jasper hissed at them too.
"Oh Jasper, stop doing that," Pearl said, rolling her eyes. Jasper only hissed again. "Anyway, Dr. Maheswaranh and I finished going over the notes and we believe that what Steven said earlier was correct, or for the most part anyway." When Jasper raised an eyebrow, Pearl groaned, "When he said you two were the same. We believe that you are a hybrid." When Jasper still looked confused, Pearl walked over to the white board that held Jasper's vitals information. "May I?" she asked Dr. Maheswaranh.
"Let me help," Dr. Maheswaranh said, coming over to the board as well. They erased the information on the board and together they drew a Venn diagram, one side dedicated for humans and the other for gems. Where the two circles crossed, they wrote 'Jasper.' They spent ten minutes listing the things that Jasper shared and did not share with the two species. Once they were done, the board was filled with their writing, some even including drawings to better articulate what they had written.
"There," Pearl breathed, obviously proud of the finished product. She placed down the marker and turned around to face Jasper. "Any questions?"
Jasper looked over the board, her eyes settling on the different images longest before her eyes met Pearl's. "Yeah, what did you write down? I can't read."
Pearl looked as if Jasper had told her the most offensive thing she had ever heard. "YOU WHAT!?" Pearl yelled out, absolutely mortified.
