Greg was in a drug store, shuffling through the freezing aisles, looking for medicine. The artificial light was painfully bright and tinted the few aisles a florescent green. His sandals squeaked loudly on the freshly mopped floor, a powerful scent of lemon-scented cleaner heavy in the air. His nostrils burned as he sniffled and he rubbed his runny nose without shame as he ducked down in an aisle. He was thankfully alone, the only other person being the elderly clerk at the counter. She was a tiny thing, hunched over with fuzzy blue hair and thick bifocals, she didn't seem to mind his constant snuffling and snorting.
After he had given Amethyst all the candy he had in the van to keep her quiet, he had begrudgingly admitted to himself that he was ill. He knew it was bad that he went one moment from cold to hot. When he pressed his sweaty hand against his damp forehead, he couldn't tell how bad it was. If he looked as terrible as he felt though, he was guessing it was pretty bad. He had driven here, somehow not crashing and only swerving a little between the dotted yellow lines. He was pretty sure he'd parked on the curb as well-thankfully out of sight of the clerk.
He shrugged his only jacket even tighter around him. The thin material had survived many winters, but was painfully worn down to a light, scratchy useless material. The little green basket he'd picked up at the door shook in his palm as he shivered. He quickly grabbed several bottles of brightly colored syrup, a cheap thermometer, and a box of tissues. He rushed to the counter, bouncing on his heels in his thin tennis shoes. The frosty aisles had begun to swelter and through a film of tears in his eyes, he could've sworn the walls were melting. The clerk gave him a sympathetic look, telling him that the flu was going around town and that he should get plenty of rest and fluids. Before he hopped in the van, he stopped at the vending machine outside and shakily inserted quarters to get a couple bottles of tea and water.
As soon as he got into the van, he hurriedly stripped his jacket and his shirt. He was burning again, sweating up a storm. So maybe this wasn't just a little cold from the rain like he had hoped. He had heard from Vidalia that her mother had gotten the flu, but he hadn't heard of anybody else getting sick. He ripped the cheap plastic package from the thermometer, rubbing his blurry eyes as he tried to read the instructions.
He waited tiredly for the beep, dozing off as he waited. A sharp BEEP sounded through the van and Greg accidently honked the horn as he flinched awake. He squinted and groaned. The tiny plastic display said: 103.2. He wasn't a doctor, but he was pretty sure that was not good.
He started up the van, fully intending on driving back to the storage garage. He was about to shift in to 'Drive' when a tiny tap from his left made him start. He was expecting a cop-how many police officers had he run into before settling down here in Beach City? He was young guy with long hair and earrings-his entire person kind of screamed reckless teenager. He had stumbled out of the drug store with a brown paper bag, any cop would guess him drunk off his butt.
But it wasn't a cop. It was…Garnet?
He rolled down the window and tried to smile despite his headache. "Garnet, what are you doing here?"
The drugstore was a little ways from town, not too far for Greg, but very far for Garnet. The gems didn't typically wander very from Beach City unless it was for a mission. Even then, if they could avoid interacting with humans they did. Except Amethyst, she loved coming into town. Or Rose, who loved to be on the beach or watch children play.
"You shouldn't drive tonight." Garnet said smoothly, resting her arms on the van's window. Her impressive afro blocked the incandescent, flickering lights of the neon drug store sign.
"I-I shouldn't?" Greg asked, feeling his headache start to pound a new beat behind his eyes. She was being mysterious again and he didn't really feel like figuring out what she was talking about. Even when he didn't feel like crap, he never could figure out what the heck she was talking about.
"Nope. You'll crash your van and put yourself in that smelly, white building."
"The hospital?"
"Yes, that place. Rose will cry, Pearl will annoy the doctors, Amethyst will eat one of the bags they hang with medicine-it'll make her sick." Garnet explained. "Rose won't want to leave you alone again-which will only make Pearl more jealous and she'll glare at you night and day. Amethyst will be horrible, seeing as it that you'll become her new immobile plaything."
"So, I should probably shouldn't drive tonight, huh?" Greg asked with a sigh, his shoulders sagging.
"Would be in all our best interests, I suppose."
"Thanks Garnet." Greg was about to pull the key out of the ignition, resigned to the fact that he was probably about to sleep in the parking lot of a drugstore when Garnet's long arm reached in and stopped him.
"I'll drive you."
"You can drive?"
"We learn fast."
A/N: Sorry this is kind of late, I totally forgot to post this finished part last week. Rose/Greg interaction in the next chapter. Thanks for all the favorites and follows and taking the time to review!