Continuing To Heal

Chapter 1: Morning After

Steven woke up in his bed. His father, Greg, was sitting nearby. Steven realized he must have passed out in exhaustion from crying into Lion after he reverted from being a monster.

"Hey, Stu-ball, are you feeling any better?"

Steven suppressed the reflexive "I'm fine" that he would normally reply and tried his best to be truthful, "I feel like a giant exposed nerve." He rubbed his eyes and asked, "So, what do I do now?"

"Well, Connie called her mom and Dr Maheswaran is downstairs right now, getting updated on recent...events..."

Steven flopped back and pulled the covers over his head. "How about I just stay under my covers until I die of old age? That's a viable option, right?"

"You're only delaying the inevitable. Might as well just head downstairs and get on with whatever's next."

Steven sighed and got out of bed, yawned and headed downstairs. There he found it to be a bit more crowded than usual.

All eyes immediately focused on him as he came down the stairs. Steven fought the urge to just run back upstairs and hide. Connie motioned to a spot on the couch beside her. "Sure thing, but first let me take a quick detour to the bathroom. And, everybody," Steven turned to face everyone as he backed into the bathroom, "I'm guessing you're all still here to show support or something but maybe you could work out like a rotation or visitation schedule or something because I don't think the whole world needs to stop to all hang out at once. Oh! Lion?" Lion pushed into the bathroom past Steven, "I guess I'll have a bathroom lifeguard," and Steven closed himself and Lion into the bathroom together.

After doing his business and washing his hands, Steven turned towards the bathroom door and paused. He could hear the vague noise outside the bathroom that comes from having a room full of a large number of people. He suddenly realized he'd sat on the floor and was hugging his legs to himself with one arm and petting Lion with the other.

Lion directed a targeted growl in the direction of the door before nuzzling Steven's face as Steven started trying to catch his breath.

Connie spoke from the other side of the bathroom door, "Steven...are you okay? Can I come in?"

"Yeah, come in," Steven replied, continuing to try to calm himself.

Connie opened the door, "Oh, Steven," Connie rushed over & knelt beside Steven, opposite Lion.

"I'm sorry. I just...I was about to go out the door and I just...I can't breathe..."

"I think you're having a panic attack," Connie put her hand on Steven's shoulder, "You need to focus on slowing your breathing." Greg, Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl came to the bathroom doorway, saw what was going on and rushed in to join the gathering around Steven.

"I'm sorry, everyone, I'm..."

"It's okay, Stu-ball. You've had a lot to deal with. It's not surprising if it feels overwhelming at times."

Steven tried to slow his breathing, but felt like he was suffocating. His heart was racing and he felt shaky. "Someone get my mom!" Connie directed towards the gems. Amethyst dashed to go grab Dr Maheswaran, who was just outside on the phone.

Still holding her phone, Dr Maheswaran entered after Amethyst and took in the scene. With both her hands holding one of Steven's hands, Connie shouted to her mother, "I think Steven's having a panic attack!"

Dr Maheswaran held her phone to her ear for a moment and said, "You're sure?" and then to Connie, she held out her phone, "Connie, take my phone."

Connie brought the phone to her ear, keeping one hand still holding onto Steven, and after a confused greeting, she heard a male voice, "Connie, I'm a therapist friend of your mother's. I'm going to talk you through getting Steven through his panic attack." Meanwhile, Steven continued to try and catch his breath while looking at Connie in confusion.