Chapter 24: Healing

An hour after sunset and way after Steven and Connie had fallen back to sleep, the window to their room slid open seemingly on its own. They were on the third floor of the hospital, and it would've been humanly impossible for anyone to have opened the window from the outside.

But then, the one who was trying to sneak in wasn't human.

Lapis Lazuli hovered just outside the window, her water wings flapping lazily. In her arms was Pumpkin, cooing softly. She had been holding him tightly during the flight, but as soon as her feet touched the the window sill, she let him down onto the room's floor. Immediately he took off, searching inquisitively around the new space.

Lapis settled down by the window, intent on keeping vigil over the sleeping Steven (and friend).

The door at the opposite end of the room swung open, startling Lapis to her feet, startled at being caught.

"Who's there?!" barked the figure at the door, purple light spilling from them as they prepared to summon their weapon. "I swear, if you hurt Steven and Conn— Lapis?"

"Amethyst?"

Amethyst stepped closer, her chest still glowing as the handle of her whip slid back into her gem. She raised quizzical eyebrow. "I wasn't expecting nobody."

"Me neither. I thought these places had 'visiting hours'."

"Yeah, well," Amethyst shrugged, "that ain't stopping me from checking in on these two." Then she stretched her arms all the way up, over her head. "Mmm, I haven't seen you around lately. What brings ya?"

"Garnet said Steven had woken up, and I wanted to... Y'know..." Lapis awkwardly nodded towards the two sleeping kids.

Amethyst followed her gaze. "Yeah, I getcha."

She didn't say anything more. Neither did Lapis. The light from the planet's moon spilled white on the tile floor.

There was a rustle of blankets, and both Gems turned, instantly alert. It was just Pumpkin, having jumped up onto Connie's bed. It paced in circles a few times times, then sat down on the blanket. The human girl turned slightly in her sleep and wraps an arm around it.

"So, uh..." Amethyst broke the silence with a cough. She was pointedly avoiding Lapis's gaze. "Ya wanna get out of here? They're kinda boring to watch while they're asleep, and I don't want to wake them if we talk in here."

Lapis continued to stare at Connie and Pumpkin for a little while.

"I mean, if you want to chat, that is," Amethyst added.

Lapis turned her gaze to Steven's sleeping form.

"Sure."

Amethyst waved her arm at the door. Lapis stepped through it, unable to resist a glance back.

It was very bright in the hospital hallway. And thankfully empty.

Amethyst leaned against a wall as the door swung shut behind her. "So, uh… How have you been holding up, since, well...?"

"So-so," Lapis said.

Something beeped in the background. Lapis wondered what, and why.

She glanced at Amethyst from beyond a lock of hair which had fallen over her face. Arms crossed over her her chest, mouth twisted in an expression of forced casualness.

The words come out of Lapis without her expecting them. "Did you mean any of it?"

"Any of what?"

"The things you said inside the room." At Amethyst's blank look, Lapis continued, "About dating."

"You and me?"

Lapis nodded.

"Uhhh..." Amethyst frowned— the peculiar kind of expression that Lapis had seen plenty on all the Gems' faces recently. The look of someone trying to sort through their memories. "I guess I did do that, huh?"

Lapis nodded.

Amethyst let out a bark of a laugh, but then sobered almost immediately.

"Look," she said. "I did… a lot of things in the room that… uh, I wouldn't normally do. It was screwing with my head, and I didn't know what was really—"

"Yeah. Yeah I get it." Lapis clenched a fist. "Sorry. Shouldn't have asked."

She had been expecting an answer like that. Because why would it be any different? None of them could be held accountable for what happened in there.

Besides. Why even care about what Amethyst thought? She was just some— Earth born runt who made bad jokes all the time.

And it wasn't like Lapis wanted to be seeing anyone else anyway. She was a mess, and she knew it. Being around most people grated at her, made her want to snap. She was happy enough with Peridot, hanging out with Pumpkin and Steven. Why'd she want to risk ruining that?

"Hey," Amethyst said, voice unusually soft.

Lapis glanced up, and found that the Quartz had taken a step closer.

"We… don't know each other very well," Amethyst admitted. "We just— haven't really bothered to hang out or anything. And I guess that's both our faults. So if I'm not asking you out, it's just cuz I don't actually know you, ya know?"

Lapis nodded stiffly.

"But maybe… we could get to know each other?" Amethyst said.

Lapis looked up at her. "I... I think I'd like that."

Amethyst grinned. "Is it my turn to ask a question now?"

"I didn't realize we were playing Twenty Questions," said Lapis, thinking of one of the more annoying human games Steven had introduced her to. "But go ahead."

"How would you like if I drop by the barn sometime this week? Maybe we could watch some TV show you like, or... I dunno, I could bring some movies and popcorn? Do you like popcorn? Or eating anything at all? I don't remember if you like eating or not."

Lapis chuckled. "Amethyst, slow down. I'm… not sure if I'm up for that right now." She jerked her head towards the kids' hospital room by way of explanation. "But… once all of this has blown over," (because it would blow over. It had to.), "Sure.

"And we don't eat," Lapis added. "But maybe you could bring some morp supplies?"

When the children had first been brought to the hospital, all Priyanka had been able to feel was mingled fear and relief.

After four days, the fear had faded enough that her mind could clear a bit. With the initial chaos over with, and the immediate health of her daughter about as secure as it could be, Priyanka turned her mind to the long term.

There was no easy way of broaching the topic, no gentle way of phrasing it, so Priyanka simply came out and said it. "Greg, I don't think Connie should be visiting Beach City anymore."

Greg froze. Looked up from the form he'd been in the middle of signing. Clicked the pen in his hand nervously. "Now— I don't think that's necessary—"

"I do," said Priyanka.

"I kind of agree," admitted Doug.

Greg put down the papers on the counter, looked up and down the hospital corridor. It was nighttime, and fairly empty, the few staff on duty paying them little mind. His expression was pained. "I know what happened was serious," he said. "Believe me, I know. But it was a freak accident, and I don't think it's fair to—"

"I don't think it's fair to put my daughter's life in danger!" Priyanka snapped, and Greg flinched.

Priyanka felt her husband's hand on her shoulder, both reassuring and warning. "This isn't anything personal, Greg," he said. "We know this isn't your fault. Heck, it's not even the Gems' fault— by all accounts, they were just as much victims in this as the kids."

Victims who weren't at risk of dying from thirst and dehydration, Priyanka thought, but did not say aloud.

"But a person's house is supposed to be safe," continued Doug. "Steven's… isn't. And Connie doesn't have any supernatural abilities. We just think that… long run, this is better for her."

Greg sighed. "Okay. Okay, yeah, I understand—"

"What are you talking about?"

It was Connie's voice.

Priyanka and the others twisted around. The girl was standing in the entrance to her hospital room, clutching the door-frame for support. Her eyes were narrowed, her lips pulled into a thin line.

"Connie!" Priyanka gasped. "You should be asleep!"

"It's barely eight," said Connie.

Doug stepped forward. "Yes, but you're still recovering. You should be resting."

"Well, you shouldn't be discussing stuff about my life behind my back."

Priyanka sighed. "Connie, it wasn't like that. We were simply…" She trailed off. She had been doing that, hadn't she? And after Connie had admitted the truth to her, it was something Priyanka had promised not to do— to be honest with her, to discuss things openly and fairly. But this was different. "You have other things to worry about. We were going to discuss this with you when you were feeling better." Priyanka gave a pointed look towards one of the nurses down the hall. "And when we were somewhere private ."

Connie's grip on the doorframe tightened, turning her knuckles white. "Yeah, so private even I didn't get to hear!"

There was a soft sound of padding feet, and Steven appeared in the doorway besides her, rubbing his eyes. "What's going on?"

"They're trying to stop me seeing you!"

"Wait, what?" he said, looking suddenly very awake and very alarmed.

Doug put his hands up placatingly. "That's not what we're doing. We just think you shouldn't be going to Beach City anymore. Steven will still be free to visit our home."

"So… no more— no more sword fighting? Is that what you're saying?"

Priyanka felt a stab of guilt as her daughter's eyes filled with tears. "Sweetie… Sword fighting is dangerous. We just want you to be safe."

Connie bunched her fists. "I know swordfighting is dangerous! You always knew!"

"Connie—" said Steven.

"So why the sudden change?!" Connie demanded.

"Because you never nearly died before!" Priyanka cried. Her own vision was blurry. She'd known, of course she'd known— but it had all just sounded like some ridiculous fantasy novel. More fiction than reality. And this her daughter had disappeared for an entire week, and shown up only a sliver from death—

"This was an accident, Mom! It had nothing to do with sword fighting!"

"Well, it certainly has to do with the Gems!" said Priyanka.

"Please, Priyanka," said Doug, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

"Oh!" said Connie, loud enough that she'd definitely attracted the attention of the nurses. "So that's why you waited until none of the Gems were around! So they couldn't defend themselves!"

"I—" Priyanka spluttered.

She told herself it was coincidence that she'd waited until the three aliens had gone off to find Greg some food and coffee before bringing this up. But she realized immediately it was a lie.

The Gems were strange, the Gems were intimidating, and frankly, the Gems were the reason Connie was in this mess.

"What happened was an accident," Connie said. "A magical one, sure, but still an accident. It wouldn't have been any different than if a— a drunk driver ran a red light and hit me, or if there was a gas leak—"

A nurse came over then, telling them they would have to be quiet, they could wake the other patients.

"Of course, sorry," Greg said, while Doug ushed the group into the children's hospital room.

Doug was also the one who shut the door behind them. Who took a deep breath, and said in the most calm, reasonable voice, "Connie, you're right. You can't know when an accident will happen. But you can know the risk factors, take steps to avoid them… You can look both ways before crossing the road, make sure gas smells bad. What risk reduction is there for— magic, like this? Magic that can— get into your brain and kill you without you even realizing it?"

He was crying now. Priyanka couldn't do anything but wrap an arm around his shoulder.

Connie didn't look at angry anymore. She just looked miserable.

"Connie," said Greg, coming to stand next to his son, and giving both kids a sympathetic look. "Your parents just want to look after you."

"Yeah. I know. But it's not just about me." She reached out, grabbed her friend's hand. "I have to look out for Steven."

Steven balked. "You don't mean—"

She shook her head. "No, not like that. I mean… we're teammates. We have each other's backs in battle." At that, the fear on Steven's face faded a little, replaced with something quite hard to read. He squeezed Connie's hand back, and she straightened. "And it's not just about Steven. It's the whole team. I'm a huge help on mission. I— well, Stevonnie— saved Amethyst's life once. And things are gonna just keep getting worse—"

"You're thirteen," said Priyanka, voice trembling. "This shouldn't be your responsibility."

"But it is," said Connie. "Homeworld's coming back for Earth. If I stay sitting at home, I'll be safe short term, but that doesn't do any good if…"

If what? Priyanka wondered. Connie had told her about the Gem species, how they didn't like Earth, how they didn't care about humanity. But she hadn't been able to explain what they would do if they controlled the planet.

"Couldn't the Gems… hire people?" said Doug. "People trained for this kind of thing?"

"You mean, security guards?" said Steven. "Like you?"

Connie raised an eyebrow. "Like mercenaries she means."

Greg rubbed his neck. "The Gems… try to stay away from human governments and armies and stuff. Just... too complicated, getting them involved."

"Yet they were perfectly fine getting our daughter involved!" yelled Priyanka. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest.

"They weren't fine," said Connie. "Pearl didn't want to teach me at first! But I'm glad she did! This… this means so much to me." Her eyes were pleading. "I don't… I don't just… want to sit on the sidelines, not when I know there's so much at stake. I can't. I want— to be like you guys. A doctor, a security guard… You help people." She sniffed. "I want to too."

Priyanka wanted nothing more than to pick her baby girl up, hold her close, tell her that it was okay, that there were other ways to help.

This really, really was important to her, wasn't it?

It struck Priyanka just how little she could do here. She could ban Connie from Beach City, from sword fighting and magic. She'd hate it— she'd turn all that hate and anger and resentment on her mother. And Priyanka could take it, would bear it, if it would keep her child safe.

But would it make her happy? Would it even work? Or would it just send Connie back to sneaking behind her parents' backs, not trusting them at all?

"Look, guys," said Steven. "Isn't there… some other way around this? Some sort of compro—"

The door to the room swung open. The Crystal Gems stood there, laden down with boxes of food that smelled strongly of Chinese take-out.

"Oh dear," said Pearl, taking in the tense expressions on everyone's faces.

"Uh… what's going on?" said Amethyst.

Garnet, the tall one, looked slowly around the room. Then she looked at Priyanka, who for a moment saw her own face reflected in the visor.

"Dr. and Mr. Maheswaran," Garnet said. "We need to apologize. What happened at the Temple was an accident, something none of us predicted. But we still need to take responsibility."

Priyanka felt a prickling down her arms. Garnet was speaking as if she knew exactly what had happened in this conversation, like she'd been a part of it. How did she do it? It was… unsettling.

"We care deeply for Connie. We don't want her getting hurt." Garnet looked at the girl, and a small, gentle smile graced her face. "We would also miss her deeply if she could not visit."

Connie's eyes went very large. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but Priyanka thought she might be blushing.

"So I have a proposal. We will all take closer supervision of Connie when she is visiting. And we'd invite you to join us. So you can help watch over her yourselves, and judge if better care can be made."

"Garnet…" said Pearl. Garnet glanced at her, and she fell silent.

Priyanka considered this. In the two odd years her daughter had known Steven Universe, she'd only ever visited the boy's house occasionally, always in passing, when dropping Connie off. And she'd never taken the time to sit in on any of the things she did there— the sword fighting, the missions.

"Mom, Dad. Please?" Connie stared at them with pleading eyes, Steven's face a direct duplicate.

Priyanka looked at Doug. Hesitated, and gave the slightest of nods.

"That's… a fair idea," he said.

"We may have been a little hasty in our decision," Priyanka admitted.

None of the Gems said anything. Garnet merely nodded.

"This will all have to wait until the children are fully recovered, of course," Priyanka continued. "And of course, we'll need to arrange dates and times that work with our schedules."

"Maybe we could do that tomorrow?" said Greg. He gave a meaningful look at the children— who, yes, seemed to be swaying a little.

Priyanka sighed. She hadn't been lying when she'd said she wanted to discuss this at a better time. "Yes. Time for bed. Both of you."

Neither of the children complained as the adults and aliens helped them back into their respective beds. As Priyanka tucked her sweetheart in, Connie caught her hand in a weak grip and whispered, "Thanks."

Priyanka gave her a small smile, and kissed her on the forehead.

Then she, Doug and Greg, and the assembled aliens, went out into the hall to share the cheap Chinese take-out. For once, Priyanka didn't even care how unhealthy it was.

The next morning, Connie woke up to see Steven already awake, sitting on his bed, deep in thought. She sat herself up, quietly, not wanting to disturb him.

She stared at the bandaid on her arm. Sure, there had been a small victory, but something else nagged at her brain. She looked over at Steven, the boy staring down at his own hands.

She had almost lost the one thing that made her feel important. The one thing that made her feel like she mattered.

To him.

She chastised herself mentally. Steven wouldn't have liked that thought.

She sighed, shaking Steven out of his reverie.

"Are … are you doing ok?" Steven asked.

"Yeah," Connie started. "Just … thinking."

She hadn't given as much thought to everything that had happened in the room. She had been so disoriented and confused. Then there was the rush of adrenaline from worrying that she would lose this new magical life she had found. Her mind drifted to the room and its function.

It was supposed to give her what she wanted.

She knew she couldn't deny how she felt about Steven. She had felt it for a long time now and she suspected he had felt the same.

And the room gave him the same thing.

Was that…

"I… I'm sorry… again," Steven started. "I didn't mean to get you into that."

"It's ok," Connie started. "Really. I mean … It was scary but we were together."

Steven looked back down at his hands.

"The room… I didn't mean for it to drag you into it," he started. "I mean, I enjoyed having you there… but…"

Connie nodded.

"The room just wanted to give you what it thought you wanted," she finished.

Steven blushed.

"Yeah. I mean-" he cleared his throat. "I didn't exactly want this to happen that way, you know. I mean… It would have been fine if… Erm…"

Connie chuckled.

"Was that what you had wanted?" Connie asked.

"What?"

"You know… A date?"

Silence hung between them for a moment. Connie could feel her heart pound in her chest. Had she gone too far? Had she assumed too much?

"Yeah…" he admitted.

Connie smiled, barely containing her relief at the revelation.

"I just hadn't planned on it going like that. I mean, I would have asked you and I would have been more formal with it and I didn't mean for you to get dragged into something that I wanted if you didn't want it," Steven rambled, nervously, his hands gripping the bed sheets.

Connie knew that Steven was getting himself worked up. True, she wouldn't have planned on their first date going that way, but she would be lying if she didn't say she enjoyed spending time with him, even if the date was only a simulation.

"You didn't see the room suddenly changing the circumstance of us being there though," Connie assured him with a smile.

Steven looked up.

"Yeah," he grinned. "And it was fun."

"Tons."

"Until we, you know, started getting dehydrated and exhausted."

"Yeah."

A silence hung between the two of them. Steven rose up and walked over to Connie. He sat on the bed next to her.

"It would be fun though," Connie started, the idea hanging between them.

"Yeah," Steven agreed.

"Just … not at a coffee shop," Connie playfully teased, earning a giggle from Steven. "Somewhere cool though."

Steven nodded.

"So… You really want to..?"

"Of course," Connie started. "I mean, I kind of thought we would, eventually. Amethyst told me about your 'First Boy' comment on your birthday," she continued, stifling a giggle when she saw Steven's face flush an even deeper red. "I just never said anything because … well, on the one hand I am worried about the shovel talk my mom will give you."

"Shovel talk?" Steven asked, a look of concern crossing his face.

"Plus … I didn't want to risk messing things up, you know? I mean, what if we suddenly started fighting and everything ended up like Doctor Rockbell and Nurse Elrick? We wouldn't speak to each other for years and things would get so awkward and-"

"I didn't know your mom let you watch the mid-season finale! I thought she hated Under the Knife!"

"She doesn't know," Connie whispered. "But … yeah … I was just worried. And I know it's silly now, but …"

"No, I understand," Steven sighed. "Honestly, I didn't know if you felt the same way I did. I hoped but …"

Connie giggled a little, earning a raised eyebrow from Steven.

"We're worse than those couples on TV," she laughed.

Steven chuckled as well.

"They don't have a magic room that makes them live out their deepest wishes though," Steven started. "We have a leg up on them."

Connie nodded.

"I hope my parents will be ok with us … you know … trying out the whole 'dating' thing."

"Yeah," Steven agreed. "I mean, swordfighting is one thing. This is dating. This is growing up! This is…"

"Scarier."

"Yeah."

The silence hung in the air once again. Connie looked to Steven. She couldn't believe she had told him … everything. She had never thought she would have the nerve to do so.

But she already had sort of let him know, thanks to the room.

Steven gently placed his hand on hers.

"It's not too scary though," he began. "At least we'll be together."

Connie smiled. He was right.

As long as they were together, nothing was truly scary.

Not even growing up.

Three days later, Connie stared at herself in the bathroom mirror.

Fresh clothes. Fresh real clothes. No more of those flimsy blue apron things for her. Socks and sneakers and jeans and a blue t-shirt and a scrunchie to keep the hair out of her face.

It was almost enough to hide the still too-prominent cheekbones and the too-thin arms. She ran a hand down her chest. The baggy t-shirt was a decent disguise, but if she pressed, she could feel her ribs under her skin.

She pulled her hand away, and forced herself to smile. She was getting better. No point dwelling.

She stepped back out into the hospital room. Steven, sitting on the bed and kicking his legs, grinned at her. So did Mr. Universe, and Mom and Dad.

"You look great, sweetheart," said Dad, giving her a hug. Mom came over a stroked her hair.

Connie wondered when they'd stop hovering over her like this. It was kinda annoying.

… but kinda nice too.

"Shall we head off?" Mr. Universe said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Yes. Let's," said Mom.

They couldn't just walk out, not like that. In the lobby there were some more forms to sign and fill out. It all seemed to take an inordinately long time, even though Connie was sure that Mom's presence was making sure it went faster than normal. Connie made herself stay standing for the whole period, and felt very proud of that.

Nonetheless, it was a relief when they finally got to leave the hospital (fresh air!) and she could collapse into the backseat of the car.

Steven had hopped into the passenger's seat of the Universe's van. As its engine grumbled and it began to pull out, he caught Connie's eye through the window, and blew her a kiss.

Jeez, the sun sure had made the car really hot, hadn't it?

The van was turning now. Connie fumbled, and blew a kiss back.

Steven beamed at her, before the car rounded the corner, and he vanished from sight.

Smiling, Connie settled back into the comfortable, familiarity of her family car, closed her eyes, and let herself doze all the way home.