"Amethyst, he's not going to yell at you, I promise." Rose tried to assure her, trying to get Amethyst to come down from the storage garage's roof. Amethyst had firmly wedged herself on top of it as soon as they arrived and refused to speak to Rose or Pearl. Rose could just barely see her tiny form shrouded in the hazy darkness.
Amethyst had unwillingly fessed. Rose had been worried, worried enough to go bother Garnet to see if she could find him. Garnet had promised to go get Greg and that she would meet them here, at the storage garage. Rose had dragged Pearl with her, needing someone to hold when her mind began to race painfully.
Why hadn't Greg not come to her when he found out he was ill? She knew her healing tears were most effective with actual wounds, but she knew a lot about human anatomy. She had lived through the worst of humanity-seeing the rise and fall of plenty of illnesses and diseases. Pearl was basically an encyclopedia and had recorded countless of Rose's interactions with sick humans.
Humans were vulnerable creatures. Even the most subtle of changes in the Earth's environments had powerful, negative affects against humanity's general health.
Did he not trust her? Humans beings liked being taken care of-she had seen it amongst her countless human companions. They all had pined for her attention; whining and exaggerating. She of course hadn't minded, healing was something she had been doing for countless millennium. She liked healing, she loved to aid others with their struggles. Greg knew this about her, so why hadn't he come to her?
Had she done something wrong…again? She had been working hard to understand more about love-human's love was more than just romantic gestures and sayings. Love was more than kisses, hugs, songs, or flowers-but little subtle things that built into something much more. Greg had said, she would know it when she really felt it.
Was it painful? Did it make your eyes water and your chest sink into your feet? Did it make your gem ache and your temple pulse with stress? She couldn't know for sure-it all felt as though she was back on the war field. Thousands of beings counting on her to lead them to a victory that might not come.
"Rose, you're squeezing me too hard." Pearl whispered, almost a squeak.
Rose snapped her arms away quickly, her usual pale skin a sour yellow under the flickering light of the storage garage.
"I'm sorry." She whispered, resting her head on Pearl's soft hair.
"There's no need!" Pearl yelped, her lithe fingers flitted nervously. "It was an accident. Perhaps you should rest at the temple. You were injured earl-."
"I want to see Greg." Rose said. "If he really is ill, then I need to help."
"I thought your dumb tears only worked on gems and junk." Amethyst mumbled, peeking from her cruddy hiding spot. She refused to look at either Pearl or Rose, but glared viciously at the murky sea.
"Amethys-!"
"It's fine Pearl." Rose whispered. "Amethyst, my tears can heal gems. They can also help aid humans with discomfort and pain. In small amounts, they can heal wounds and fix minor ailments or…junk."
"But if he really is sick with just a cold, then what can you do? You've never used your tears like this before." Pearl peeped from Rose's lap.
"If those methods don't work, then we can try human methods." Rose said, looking nonplussed and if anything more determined. "I want him to get better and he can't do that alone."
"Humans have been doing that since before we got here." Pearl whispered nearly silent.
"Greg said he knew what he was doing." Amethyst muttered, wiping her purple skin against the grimy crust of the roof. She stared at for a moment before shrugging and licking it. Pearl grimaced and turned away. "He said he didn't want you to see him all gross."
"Well, he can't look that bad. I've seen the bubonic plague for goodness sakes." Rose pouted, her mind effortlessly summoning the thousands of images stored away in her intelligent expanse of limitless awareness. She didn't need to imagine, she knew most of everything when it came to human disease.
"Perhaps he has caught some horrible new strain of the rhinovirus." Pearl muttered, thoughtfully rubbing her chin.
"I'd bet you like that." Amethyst grumbled, her voice overwhelmed by the distant drum of thunder.
"What was that Amethyst?" Pearl snapped.
"Oh, nothing."
"Rose, she's saying spiteful things again."
"Why don't you come up here and fight me then! Make me stop, huh?"
"Well maybe I wil-."
"Stop it you two." Rose demanded, her voice stern but soft. "Fighting isn't going to help anybody. I wish you two would be kinder to one another. I know sometimes you get on each other's nerves, but what are you two going to do when I'm not around one day, rip each other a part?"
'Sorry' and 'I'm sorry too' rose rather reluctantly into the frigid air. Rose was about to once again attempt to call Amethyst down when a horrifying screech split the eerily quiet night.
From the slick streets, they all watched in fascination as the van hurtled past the initial entrance of the garage before slamming on the brakes with an angry squeal. They could hear muffled shouting from inside and then the dim headlights blinked red and the van tore backwards before spinning in a small circle. The vans screeched as it slid into the storage garage's lot, two wheels still spinning above the ground before slamming heavily back into the damp asphalt. The van gave a barking cough before sagging onto its metal haunches.
Greg threw open the door before sliding out with an exasperated groan. His long hair was wild and stuck to his sweaty, pale puce skin. He coughed once before launching himself onto his unstable feet and running into the scraggly bushes with a hand over his mouth.
Garnet stepped out of the van with a smile on her face. "I don't know why I haven't taken to driving earlier."
"Whoa, he let you drive the van?" Amethyst asked, leaping down from the building and pawing at Garnet's leg. "He wouldn't even let Pearl drive-even if she asked."
"I wouldn't want to drive that thing anyway." Pearl huffed, standing from Rose's lap and crossing her arms haughtily.
"Garnet, I didn't know you could drive?" Rose said, also standing. She hesitantly approached the van, eyeing the bushes where Greg had vanished.
"I can now."
"Excellent Garnet. I told you'd like it." Pearl praised.
Rose hesitantly approached Greg, hearing a rather gruesome gag. He was on his hands and knees, his limbs shaking with the effort of supporting his weight. She bent down and gently lifted his hair from his face, bundling it in her hand. She patted his back, quietly muttering comforting words with every heave. When he finished, he nearly fell over. Rose lifted him into her arms and headed back toward the van.
"Where did you find him?" Rose asked, opening the van's door and setting Greg down. "Amethyst do you mind getting his mattress."
"I…can get my own mattress." Greg mumbled, sitting up drowsily. He rolled over halfheartedly, half-way to his mattress he stopped and began to snore.
"Dude's out." Amethyst whooped quietly, crawling into the van and poking Greg's face.
"Umnaou." Greg groaned, sitting up again with a massive yawn.
"What's wrong with him? He's acting stranger than usual." Pearl muttered, stepping forward with her nostrils pinched closed. The van smelled of musk, swampy heat, and sour sweat.
"He couldn't stop coughing, so he took some of this." Garnet held up a tiny bottle filled with a gooey, violet liquid.
"Smells like death." Amethyst chuckled, before snapping the lid off and taking a tiny sip. "Duuuude, smells like a good party."
"Don't drink it Amethyst!" Pearl gasped, snatching away the bottle and reading the tiny script on the label. "It says that this can cause liver failure."
"How much did he drink Garnet?" Rose asked worriedly, holding Greg still as he fought her off, his eyes half open and his cheeks flushed.
"Only a little." Garnet shrugged.
"All you need is only a little." Amethyst giggled, eyeing the bottle with a devious grin.
"Gitoffme." Greg grumbled, weakly swaying in Rose's arms. "I-It's just a dumb cold. I-I-I can sleep it off."
"Not out here you won't." Rose said sternly. "That storm's preparing to sit here for the rest of tonight and on until lunchtime tomorrow. If you don't freeze then your fever will burn you alive."
"I'm sure Vidalia won't mind-." Amethyst began.
"He's not staying with her. He's staying in my room with me." Rose whispered, pulling a few things from the van before lifting a delirious Greg into her arms and out of the van.
"What!" Pearl exclaimed, nearly dropping the medicine bottle in shock. "Bring him into the temple? Why?"
"Well, he can't stay out here can he?" Rose said, slamming the doors closed before setting off towards the temple.
"Can't he? Garnet?" Pearl turned to Garnet, who stood still a moment before shaking her head and matching Rose's long strides.
"She's not going to listen Pearl." Garnet whispered, scooping up Amethyst. "Her mind is set. All we can do is let her do her job, and heal the sick."
"But, she's never let any of the others humans into the temple before and especially not in her room!"
"There's a first time for everything, Pearl."
A/N: This took a surprisingly long time and I'm still not happy with it. I feel like something's missing-Rose is rather hard to write. I wish we knew more about her.
Thanks for the favorites, follows and especially reviews!