The Stars And All The Rest

Twenty- Every Memory counts

(A/N) I know. I lied. Sawwy.

Peridot's Pov

As soon as we stepped through the door, Mother retreated to her office to arrange the dinner party- Mother loved dinner parties.

"I'll be in my room talking to Bella. Don't bother me, nerds." Yellin asserted, disappearing upstairs.

"Pfft. As if I'd go into your room, clod." I turned around to look at Pearl, who was focusing intently on my sweatshirt. Feeling- and I deeply regret saying this- embarrassed, blood rushed to my face.

"Wh-what are you looking at, Clod?" I asked.

"Your sweatshirt. This is the first good look of it I've gotten." Pearl explained, her stare unwavering.

"What? If you don't like it just say so!" I snapped. Pearl tore her eyes away from the apparel.

"No, I like it. I've never seen a sweatshirt that looks like a cactus before." She smiled. "It looks nice." I sighed.

"It's supposed to repel others."

"I'm going to change your contact name. I'll put a small cactus next to your name!" Pearl beamed, holding her phone to my face.

"Utterly amazing." I lamented sarcastically.

Pearl's expression turned cross, and she opened her mouth to speak. Luckily for my sensitive hearing, however, the phone rang in the kitchen.

"I've got it!" Mother called from the kitchen.

"As if anyone else would pick up." I muttered, adjusting my vision enhancers- I mean glasses.

"Hello, Blue. How are you?" Mother asked. I paused. Blue. Lapis's maternal ancestor.

"Oh dear, what's wrong?" My breath hitched. I motioned to Pearl, flattening myself against the wall and peering around the corner.

"Oh my!" Mother exclaimed. "Is she okay?" I gasped, tears forming in secret. Is it Lapis? Please say it's not.

"What's going on?" Yellin whispered, creeping down the stairs. Pearl hushed her, and she rushed to join us against the wall.

"Oh my Stars! We'll be there right away!" Mother hung up and came rushing past the three of us.

"What is it, Mother?" Yellin asked.

"It's Lapis!" Mother cried out, much to my heart's dismay. "She's in the hospital!"

***

The car ride was quiet. Which was good, because I was in no mood for small talk.

Mother was gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, occasionally cursing under her breath.

Yellin was staring out the window, anxiously tapping her fingers on the arm rest.

Pearl sat beside me, quietly whispering to her mother over the phone.

And then there was me.

There was no time for scientific terminology. No time for sarcastic and pessimistic comments. Only seconds until we arrived at the hospital.

The story, as I understood from Mother's brief description, was that Jasper was ridiculing Lapis and some other clod, and somehow managed to cut off Lapis's air supply enough to leave her unconscious.

I nearly had a heart attack when the car abruptly stopped in front of the emergency room.

"You three go to the front desk. Peridot! I need you to ask the receptionist which room Lapis is in and if visitors are allowed. Got it?" Mother asked, looking behind at me. "Go! Run!

And I did.

I lunged over Pearl's lap, causing her to scream, and landed nearly face first on the sidewalk.

"Watch your step." The man standing beside the door said lazily.

"What are you doing?" Yellin hissed. She grabbed my left arm and Pearl grabbed my right, lifting me up.

"There's no time! Let's go!" I yelled, panic rising on my voice. I tore free of the two and rushed into the lobby screaming.

"Peridot! You can't just scream on a hospital!" Yellin scolded. The three of us walk/ran to the front desk.

"Uh.... name?" The surprised receptionist asked. She was young, most likely just out of Highschool herself.

"Lazuli. Lapis Lazuli! Find the number quickly!" I snapped through clenched teeth. The clod blinked, and typed an L into the monitor.

"Um.... how do you spell that?" She asked. I groaned.

"What, we're you born yesterday, clod? L-A-Z-U-L-I!" I shouted.

"Um, wow, rude much? My name isn't clod, it's Lauren." The clod said. However, she did type in Lazuli.

"What room?" Pearl asked politely behind me.

"Room 265. But it's not accepting any visitors right now-"

"Who cares!" I yelled, running down the the hall.

"Thank you!" Pearl called behind me. I turned a corner, causing Yellin to almost crash into a wall.  
And yes, under normal circumstances, I would laugh.

But now, the most important thing was that the STUPID ELEVATOR CAME DOWN TO MY FLOOR! I jammed my finger into the button almost twenty times in ten seconds.

"Peridot, calm down!" Pearl said calmly. The elevator finally reached our floor, and I jumped in.

Yellin pushed the button for the second floor, stomping her foot impatiently. The elevator took about ten seconds to get to the second floor, and once it did, you can bet your pathetic life I ran out.

"Room 256, Room 256, oh, where the hell is she?" I muttered under my breath.

"Peridork!" Yellin said, standing beside a door.

"Yes! Room 265!" I pushed open the door and rushed through.

"Where's Lapis?" I demanded, panting, and looking around the room. Lapis's mother sat beside the bed. Jasper stood sulking in the corner. Two doctors and a nurse dropdown the middle.of the room.

And Lapis. In the bed, her short, dyed blue hair splayed around her head. She had as many tubes as possible sticking out of her body.

"Lapis?" I breathed.

"What do you think you're doing here, young lady?" The female doctor asked. "This room is family only, the patients condition isn't stable enough-" Lapis's heart monitor began beeping faster.

"Lapis!" I yelled, reaching my arm out.

"Shit!" The doctor swore under her breath. "Alright, get the spazz out of here! Medicate her, if you have to. Then I need backup. The kid might flat line!" The other doctor and the nurse wrapped themselves around each of my arms, effectively restraining me.

I reaches my arm out. "Wait! No! Lapis! I need to get to her! No! Don't die on me, Lazuli! You hear me? Don't die!" The nurse holding me struggled to push me out of the room.

"Dr. Maheshawaren, this kid's crazy!"

"Just get her out of here!" The Docter commanded.

I held on to the door jam just long enough to see Lapis open her eyes and whisper something that I couldn't hear over my screams of protest.

"Peridot?"