Gem High

17

Lapis' POV:
"Is she ok?" I ask Rose hurriedly as she walks through the entrance after just visiting Peridot. It's been hours so it's after breakfast now, there are ugly bags under my eyes from worrying instead of sleeping and I'm desperate for reassurance.
"Do you want the good news or bad news?" Asks Rose, she looks even sleepier than me, which makes sense seeing as she's been at the hospital all night.
"Good first" I reply, almost pleading.
"Well, she has no spinal injuries, apart from a bit of bruising, and no brain damage aside from a bad concussion. The doctor said she should make a full recovery in a month and a half" explains Rose, to a sigh of relief from both me and Rose's other friends, who also didn't sleep.
"Why will it take so long if it's just a concussion and bruising?" Asks Amethyst worriedly.
"That's the bad news, the fall left her with 3 broken bones in her left arm, 2 in her left leg, 4 cracked ribs, a twisted right ankle and a sprained right wrist" concludes Rose, whilst listing off the various injuries on her fingers.
"Is that it?" Asks Amethyst sarcastically to relieve tension. I haven't known her very long but Peridot has told me enough about her to know that much.
"Actually no, I spoke to the police and they have no idea what happened, they thought it was a suicide attempt bu-" begins Rose as she sits onto one of the lounge chairs.
"She wouldn't throw herself off a roof!" I interrupt angrily.
"I know that! And so do they, they found her glasses and crutches on a path a hundred meters from the dorm building. They know she wouldn't have been able to make it to the roof without them, she would have to have been taken there, probably against her will. But they don't know who took her, the security cameras all short circuited at about 8pm last night. And the concussion means Peridot won't be able to remember what happened." Explains Rose with a sigh, it's Sunday and we're all exhausted. We should go to bed.
"Is she awake yet?" questions Ruby, rubbing her already bloodshot eyes in the process.
"No" yawns Rose.
"Look, we should all get some sleep, we can visit Peri this afternoon" suggests Amethyst, something we were all thinking.
"Yes, let's" replies Sapphire, before pulling Ruby up off of a sofa. I trudge down the hall alone and enter my deserted dorm, Jasper must already be up, and I flop down on my bed. I turn a see Peridot's empty canvas and collapse into a fresh wave of sobs.

Amethyst's POV:
I wake up at one and push myself out of bed, landing hard on the wooden floor.
"Ugh" groans Rose from her bed, before sitting up straight and calling the room to attention.
"Let's go" I call as I jog from the room, uncharacteristically energetic despite only sleeping for about 4 hours.
We make our way to the shuttle bus service outside the school, it's meant for Fusion College (the adjoining school to our's that teaches 18-22 year olds) but in these circumstances we're allowed to use it too. Lapis is already there, looking red eyed and emotionally beaten but leaning against the bus like it's any other day.
"Come on" she gestures towards the back of the vehicle and we all follow. I sit alone on the journey, mostly so I don't need to talk to anyone. I hate it when people see my insecurities, so I hide any emotion that isn't happiness, I did that last night when I silently comforted Lapis. But truthfully I was breaking inside, when I saw Dot on the ground, so alone and little I..... I just wanted to hold her, to tell her it was ok, to tell her how, how sorry I was for abandoning her.
I muffled I sob I hadn't realised had been building up as we passed the traffic lights, and turned to look out of the window so none of my friends would see me crying.
At the hospital:
We trail along bleak corridors into a lone room at the bottom of one. This entire place was a maze but Sapphire seemed to know the way. Like always.
"Hey..." I mutter nervously as we open the door with an uncomfortably loud creak. We all seep into the box like room with difficulty, Pearl having to be half outside just to fit in at all.
"Hey" replies Peri, obviously exhausted and looking worse than she had last night. Now sporting a gloomy demeanour, a brouse down her jaw and multiple tear tracks down her face. She was propped up with about 20 pillows and had one of those oxygen tubes in her nose. She shifted uncomfortably to look at us properly but seemed to hurt her side in the process, drawing in a sharp breath of pain.
"Sorry" she begins.
"Sorry? We're just glad that you are breathing! Don't try to hurt yourself for us!" Exclaims Lapis, her face brightening up with the proof of Peri's ok-ness.
"You really worried us!" Cries Rose, looking as if she wants to hug her but refrains.
"Yeah, ugh, it was scary" I say pathetically, my head bowed and my face hidden by my thick lylac locks. I don't know what Pear's reaction to my statement was, but she mumbled something inaudible.
"You're going to have to use a wheelchair for a month" translates Sapphire when she notices our confusion, as she does this she pats Peri's somewhat good arm comfortingly. Peri's jaw wobbles as if she might start crying again, but instead holds my arm as tightly as she can with a bandaged wrist. She's scared, and I don't pull away.

Author's note:
Sorry for all of the really long chapters, but they probably won't end soon!