"Well, look who's back…"

The slits in his vision revealed a blurred image before him. Initially, it was hard to make out. Some unique, oblong blob. He was sure it was a person, definitely. One with tall stature, as Steven could just make out the figure's darkish skin and hair. Blinking heavily, the teen squinted as his vision became clearer.

"D-Doctor Maheswaran?" Steven was shocked by the hoarseness in his voice.

"You're correct," Dr. Maheswaran noted, scribbling in her notepad, "Gave everyone quite the scare, young man."

Without much effort, Steven's eyes shifted about the strange room. He assumed it was a hospital. It looked just like the ones on television! Beside him on the left was a tray, with numerous little buttons and switches he'd never seen before. At the foot of his bed, he could see his feet poking out from beneath a white comforter.

~Crrrrsshhhh!~

He was startled slightly by the light beat of thunder erupting outside; and beside the rain-stained window was his sleeping, snoring father, who woke with a start from the uncomfortable looking chair.

"-Wha? Who's'm-" Greg slowly mumbled himself into consciousness. He gave a grizzly yawn as he greeted Connie's mother.

"Mornin', Doc," the former rockstar consented with a stretch, "How's the patient?"

"Well," Dr. Maheswaran commented, glancing at her watch, "Mr. Universe, you'll be happy to know two things. First of all: it's two in the afternoon. And secondly, your son is -"

Just then, Greg looked over towards the hospital bed to find his son giving him a small smile.

"STEVEN!"

"...Awake."

Greg had never moved so quickly in all his life. He leapt from the chair, racing towards his boy, and kissed him relentlessly on the forehead. Far too pleased to be embarrassed, Steven simply chuckled. Dr. Maheswaran (who was not the most… affectionate type) merely stared.

"I'll… give you both some privacy."

Barely noticing that she'd left, Greg and Steven laughed together, tears forming in the beaming father's eyes.

"H-how're ya feelin', Shtoo-ball?!" Greg pressed, feeling his son's forehead for a fever.

"Well, I-"

"STEVEN!"

As if on cue, in came the Crystal Gems. Amethyst's cry ran far above the rest, but both Pearl and Garnet were equally excited to see the boy conscious. Each took turns giving him hugs and kisses, Steven's face blushing deeply the entire time.

"I-it's great to see you guys, too," he laughed, wiping some slobber from his cheeks.

"You certainly did give us quite the scare, Steven," Pearl replied, rubbing his head.

"How do you feel?" Garnet inquired, tucking the teen deeper into his blanket.

"I - ow!" Everybody went silent as the boy flinched in pain. Everybody… except Amethyst.

"Oh… that's probably from your scar."

Steven cocked an eyebrow quizzically.

"'Scar'? Whaddya mean?" He looked down at his wrist. The pain certainly didn't come from there.

"Nah, not that one," Amethyst lifted his blanket and nightgown, "Here, lemme show ya-"

"Amethyst!"

"What?! Somebody's gotta show 'im!"

"S-show me what?" Steven was growing impatient.

"This," Amethyst exclaimed, "This is what's hurtin' ya."

"Woah…"

Steven couldn't stop looking at it. There, right beside his gem, was a four-inch set of stitches etched into his abdomen. Though not very big, Steven could still feel the slight discomfort. Even still, the pain wasn't nearly as bad as it was. More intrigued than anything, Steven looked to his family.

"W-what happened to me?"

"Allow me to explain," Pearl piped up.

"Oh, here we go," Amethyst groaned, slapping a palm to her forehead.

"Well, I was the one paying the most attention to Connie as she explained it... You see, Steven, you almost died -"

"Pearl!" Garnet scolded, teeth clenched.

"What?! Is that not the truth?"

"Er, let me tell ya, son," Greg chimed in, attempting to diffuse the tension, "You sort of had, uh… well, you had Appendicitis."

Steven cocked his head in confusion. He really hadn't had many human diseases or ailments before, so this was a whole new animal to him. Noticing that his son was visibly puzzled, Greg cleared his throat as he explained.

"So, there's this organ that humans have. It's, er, called an Appendix… Anyway, yours, eh, wasn't workin' right. So, Doctor Maheswaran and her medics had to perform an Appendectomy to… you know, get it outta you. Basically, it's kind of like you had your own little Cluster that was about to explode inside of you."

"What?!" Steven's face turned white as a sheet.

"B-but, it didn't! Iiiit didn't!" Greg's face flashed burgundy as he chuckled nervously. He looked to the gems for a little support.

"Uhh, y-yeah!" Amethyst chimed in, "And the best part iiiiissss…Ta-da!"

Amethyst then reached from under the lab table to grab -

"-They put it in a jar! Now you can look at it all day, dude! It's like your own li'l pet!"

"Wh-what?!" Steven thought he might throw up all over again.

"Steven," Garnet chimed in, giving Amethyst one of her sternest looks, "You were very, very sick. Why didn't you tell us?"

Steven could feel his own face turning red, "Well… I just…"

He looked around the room. He looked at the people who truly loved him the most. And he smiled as he sighed.

"I'm sorry, guys. I… should've said something."

"And you should have asked for help," Pearl added, sitting beside him on the bed, "Steven, you've got a lot on your plate. And that's wonderful! You're wonderful… But you're burning the candle at both ends."

This made Steven think of the dream.

~You're only human, y'know?~

Steven felt a hand press on his shoulder to bring him back to the present.

"Pearl's right, kiddo," his father insisted, "You're gonna be laid up for quite a while. That means no runnin' around 'til those stitches are good an' healed."

"And until your fever's finally gone," Garnet added, feeling the teen's sweaty forehead.

~It's okay to give yourself a break.~

Steven grinned. "I think I can live with that."

With smiles all around, a knock on the door came pounding through.

"It's open!" Amethyst called.

Slowly, the door creaked open to reveal -

"Bismuth? Peridot? Lapis?" Steven cried excitedly, "What are you all doing here?"

"Well," Peridot began, shrugging slightly, "We were informed of your condition, and believed it was necessary to conduct a status report regarding your -"

"What the brainiac means," Bismuth interjected, "Is that we were worried about you, Steven."

Soaring over on water-bent wings, Lapis refilled the water in Steven's drinking cup.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Much, thanks," Steven commented, gulping the liquid, "But I'll probably be working on the sidelines for the rest of the Little Homeworld construction."

"Wh-what?! 'Sidelines'?!" Peridot exclaimed, "But we're -"

Sideways glances from Bismuth and Lapis urged Peridot to rethink her response.

"Buuuut we're thrilled to hear that. Yes, thrilled! We, uh, we could use some visual perspective from the… 'sidelines'."

"Yeah," Bismuth added, nudging Steven lightly, "And we know that with you on the team, weeee're…"

"Weeee're…" Steven geared up.

"Weee're iiin 'Bismuth'!" the two exclaimed.

Lapis chuckled lightly at the sight, while Peridot merely looked on.

"I still don't get it," Peridot whispered quietly.

"It's okay," Lapis jested, "You don't need to."

Shrugging, Peridot grabbed her screen pad, "Well, would you look at the numbers! Those percentages aren't going to budge by themselves."

"Yeah, we should get going," Lapis added, giving Steven a light hug, "Take care of yourself, alright?"

"Will do!" he replied with a yawn.

"And no workin' too hard," Bismuth added, exiting the room, "That's not your… heehee… 'Bismuth"! Haha! Get it?!"

"Ha ha, y-yup," Steven replied, forcing a laugh. Man, he loved those corny gems.

As the three gems exited the room, the door hung open; and in came -

"Connie?!"

"STEVEN!"

Racing to the bed, the teenage girl wrapped her left arm around the human-gem hybrid's neck. Tears pushed through the corners of her eyes as she gazed at her friend. She was so happy to see him doing better! Though his eyes still looked a bit tired, his color had improved immensely, and his innocent, round face could still brighten any room.

"Oh, thank goodness you're alright! You scared the heck outta me! How do you feel?"

"Well… much better now," Steven said cooly, trying to make his voice sound deeper. This made Connie giggle and blush lightly, as the other gems and Greg watched on.

"Good gravy," Greg whispered to himself.

"What's wrong with Steven's voice?" Pearl added confusedly.

"I predict it'll be alright," Garnet winked, catching their vibes.

"Whoot whoo!" Amethyst called.

"Ahem…"

Clearing her throat, Dr. Mahaswaran casually approached Steven's bedside. Both Connie and Steven could feel their cheeks burning fiercely.

"Connie," her mother insisted, "Didn't you have a private badminton practice scheduled tonight?"

"Uh, y-yes," Connie stuttered anxiously, "But she cancelled on me. I swear! So… I came here."

"Hm. I see," the doctor commented, looking at the two teens, "Well, the patient needs his rest, you know. After a major surgery like that, I'm surprised you have any energy to entertain at all, Steven."

"Ooh!" Greg piped up, grabbing his guitar from beside the hospital chair, "Uh, speaking of 'entertaining'..."

Steven's eyes lit up at the sight of the instrument.

"Aw, yes! Doctor Mahaswaran… would… would it be alright if -"

"I'll allow one song," the strict doctor stated, "Just one. Then it's really time for you to get some rest."

Both Connie and Steven exalted with joy.

"Woohoo! You rock, Mom!"

Smirking slightly, Connie's mother began to check Steven's vital signs. Meanwhile, Greg began to fine-tune his guitar.

"You're gonna love this one, Shtoo-ball," Greg said, "I'm really feelin' the jive with it!"

Stifling a yawn, Steven commented, "'M sure it's great, Dad."

"Is there room for a drum solo in, Greg?" Amethyst added with a wink.

"Well -"

"Or a dance number?" Pearl jested.

"Uhh…"

"Nothing is more timeless than a nice, old-fashioned keytar." Garnet added, flashing a wide smile.

"Mmmmaybe. Just tell me whatcha think, 'kay Steven? ...Steven?"

His son's response was in the form of a quiet series of snores. Gently, Steven's chest heaved steadily beneath the blanket. His face, as well, was relaxed and content as he slept: a small grin was threaded along the brim of his mouth.

Shrugging lightly, Greg played an oldie (but a goodie). He hadn't played it in years, but it always did the trick when he needed to put Steven to sleep as a baby. Meanwhile, Amethyst sat on the ground, rocking back and forth to the beat. Pearl and Garnet agreed to take shifts bringing Greg and Connie some coffee and tea (respectively) as the night went on. There was no chance of them leaving the boy's side.

Speaking of Connie, Doctor and Mister Mahaswaran had no qualms with her staying out. Since it was summertime, and the weekend, they found it quite safe: so long as she didn't bother Steven, that is. Well into the night, when everybody was asleep, Steven briefly stirred to find Connie right at his bedside. Exchanging smiles briefly, Steven quickly fell back into a deep sleep. Peering around to be sure nobody could see, Connie rose over her friend's bedside and lightly pecked him on his rosy cheek.

"Feel better, Steven," she whispered softly. She grabbed his hand, placed her glasses on the nearest nightstand, and began to drift off into sleep herself.

"Thanks, Connie... for everything," Steven whispered back to a now sleeping Connie. Sighing contentedly, for the first time in a long time, the young human-gem hybrid dreamt up happy thoughts as he slumbered.

'Yup… just another day.'