"I love you."

Those were the last words Rutile heard before Padparadscha's accident happened and they were induced into a coma. Those were the last words Rutile heard before Padparadscha left their dingy apartment and got into a car crash on their way home. Those were the last words that they heard from them in person, but they're always the first words they hear in every nightmare.

Rutile's eyes opened with the sound of the alarm next to them, listening to the obnoxious ringing as a tear rolled down their damp cheek. A shaky breath escaped their lips as they closed their eyes and wiped their tears with their index finger, sniffing a bit before they sat up and turned off their alarm.

They got up from their bed and navigated their way to the bathroom in the darkness, squinting as the bright lights from the bathroom came on. They let their eyes adjust before they closed the door, shedding off their clothes from last night before they got into the shower.

Rutile rested their body against the cold tile as hot water poured onto them from the shower head above them, letting the small beads of water fell onto their body. They stood there silently as their brown eyes looked down at their cut up wrists, watching water run down each line and bump from their self harm. A sigh came from their lips as the blinked and moved to look away from the cuts, shoving the thought into the back into their mind.

They finished their quick shower before they got out and left their bathroom, navigating to their room in darkness before they turned on their light to their bedroom. They rummaged around their closet for work clothes, pulling out the first ones that caught their eye and threw them on their bed.

A tired sigh left Rutiles lips as their fingers buttoned up the buttoned on their shirt before they threw on the rest of their clothes, sitting on their bed as they fished black shoes from underneath their bed. When they were finally done getting ready, they grabbed the black gloves next to their badge and car keys, sliding them on to hide the scars on her arms before she left the apartment.

They drove down the same road as they always do, going into the parking lot of the partially full hospital. Rutile grabbed the stuff that they needed before they got out and walked to the glass doors at the front of the building. They clocked in and put their stuff in a locker, turning around and going to the 5th floor to room 529.

When their hand grasped onto the doorknob before opening it, a heavy feeling in their chest developing as they took a few steps inside of the partially dark room. Everything was silent besides the sound of the ventilator running and the steady monotone beeping of the heart monotone. There was a small shuffle on the couch on the far side of the room before a flash of yellow hair was seen. "Rutile, that you?" A tired, but yet somewhat relaxed voice that echoed through the almost silent room.

"Yea, it's me," Rutile replied, closing the door as they walked into the quiet and dark room. "Did anything happen to Pad while I was gone, Yellow?"

Yellow Diamond shook their head, "nope, nothing came from them..." they said with a sigh sitting up on the slightly uncomfortable couch and looked at them with somewhat sad eyes. "How long has it been since Padparadscha woke up?"

Rutile sighed, taking a seat down next to their old friend and looked down at the ground. "It's been 6 years..," they muttered softly as they closed their eyes and let the guilt fill their entire body. The two of them were quiet for a while before Yellow sighed and looked at their old friend.

"How have you been?" They asked Rutile softly, worry in their voice, "have you been sleeping well and eating..?"

Rutile paused, sighing as they let out a small sigh before they gentle shook her head. "I've been eating when I have to the time," they paused and looked at Yellow Diamond, who gave them a look of disapproval. Before they could scold them, they looked away and opened their mouth to speak. "And I haven't been sleeping well... I still have nightmares of when Pad went into the hospitals and I always wake up early because of it. And then there's nights where I have to work late and I just stay in here until I get off."

Yellow let out a heavy sigh, "Rutile, you need to take care of yourself. I know that things are getting hard for you right now, but please take a break once in a while..."

The younger gem frowned at their statement, letting out a sigh as they looked at the ground again. Yellow Diamond was one of Rutiles oldest friends, even being older than Padparadscha by a few year and was also one of the most trustworthy person they know. They could always go to the older gem any time of the day to get advice, and they would always get the best words of wisdom  that the other would give. But... this time Rutile just couldn't make themselves listen to Yellow this time...

"I can't..." Rutile muttered as they let out a heavy sigh and put their head in their gloved hands with a frown. "I can't bring myself to take care of myself when Padparadscha hasn't even opened this eyes for 6 years..."

It was quiet for a while before there was a sigh and the space next to them shifted as Yellow got up from their seat and sat down on the floor with their hand on their knee.

"Rutile," Yellow Diamond muttered softly, "you know Pad wouldn't be proud of you if they found out that you're doing this. I really do know that you're in pain that they're like this, but you need to take care of yourself in this situation too." They muttered softly as they looked at Rutile with a frown, "I know that your worried about them and that you literally spent the past 6 years putting your entire life into making them get better."

"But-" Rutile started but couldn't say anything else before Yellow added something else to their argument.

"I know that you've been coming here everyday in your break," they muttered quietly, "and I know that you're staying after you get off of work, you've been dedicating too much of your life for them to get better."

The younger gem was quiet before they sighed and gave the other a small nod. They didn't know how to say no to the other to that...

Yellow took their silence as an admission of defeat, smiling at the other softly, "lets have lunch together today, like the old times."

Rutile was quiet for a bit before they nodded, lifting their head up and smiling at the other slightly. "Yea, let's do that..."

"Good," Yellow Diamond replied as their smile grew, getting up from the floor and rustled their hair, "I have to leave to go pick up Zircon from their thing later today, but just shoot me a message and I'll be here."

Zircon was a Yellow's cousin who lived with them for a reason the older one never went into detail about. All Rutile knew about the situation was Zircon's parents went missing or something and Yellow took them in and they've been together ever since then. Ever since they started to live with the Diamond, the youngest gem hung out with Rutile and Padparadscha more since they wanted to be with Yellow almost all the time. Rutile never had a problem with it, they enjoyed their company— especially in these last few years.

"Okay," the other gem replied, their smile growing slightly when the elder rustled their hair, getting up so they could go to doing what they were supposed to be doing. "I'll see you guys later then."

They gave Yellow Diamond a small wave, turning around and looking at Padparadscha sleeping in their hair-filled hospital bed. Rutile let out a sigh as they moved their long bangs out of their face, their thin lips pressing together and forming into a frown as they looked at them. "I'll see you later," they whispered to the other gently before they took their hand off of their red hair and walked out of the hospital room.

Rutile turned around and rested their back on the wall next to the plate either the room number, letting out yet another heavy sigh as they closed their eyes. They're going to be okay... they thought to themselves as their bit their inner lip, lifted up the sleeve of the lab coat around their body to feel each and every individual bump on their wrist with their gloves hands. It was a habit that they did these days, it somehow calmed them and put them at ease. Plus they didn't have the time to actually to do anything rash or have to deal with the constant pain in their wrists, so they just rubbed each scar instead of doing anything.

They didn't realize how long they were standing there until a gentle hand was on their shoulder. Rutile opened their brown eyes to see their co-worker Lapis Lazuli next to them, a pile of books in their arms as usual and a worried look in their dark blue eyes. "Are you okay?" They asked, their voice softly and gentle with a reassuring touch in it.

Rutile nodded, "Yea, I'm fine." They replied, earning a scoff from the other.

"You're not," Lapis muttered with a small smile, "I can see it in your eyes that you're not okay."

"Cunning as always," the other said jokingly, the both of them chuckling as Lapis positioned themselves to have their back up against the wall as well. Rutile watched them shift the books in their arm to the other as their head moved downwards to look at the ground. "Are you guys moving things around in the front desk?"

"Yea," the blue gem said with a small sigh, "we were supposed to do it last night, but we never got to it. Since we never did it, Jade told us to do it now while it's not too busy so it'll be done with."

"Unless there's another surprise rush like there was last month," Rutile added, Lapis' lips forming into a smile as they chuckled once again.

"Hopefully that doesn't happen again for a long time," they said as they turned their head to look down the hall to look at Ghost Quartz—their front desk buddy— coming down the hall with their arms full of books as well. "Is your friend not up yet?" They asked softly as they turned to look at Rutile again.

"Not yet... its been 6 years since they came here and I'm just hoping they wake up sometime soon..."

Lapis hummed, their lips turning into a smile again as they put their hand on their shoulder reassuringly. "I know that it's been gnawing at you for a while," they said before they moved their hair behind their shoulder and got up off of the wall, "hopefully they wake up soon."

"Thanks..." Rutile murmured as they gave them a small smile.

Lapis looked over their shoulder to see how far Ghost was before they looked at Rutile once more and gave them a smile. "No problem, see you later." They said with a wave before they walked away to go back to doing their job.

Rutile watched them leave and turn the corner to go to the front desk before they sighed, getting up from the wall before they walked to their next patients room to take care of them.

The rest of the day was drawn out and slow, they were practically hoping that there was a sudden rush of people so time could go by quicker. Rutile even found themselves hanging out in the break room multiple times talking to other staff and leaving as fast as they could when Jade or Euclase could be heard coming. They would've hung out with Yellow, but they decided to only go into Padparadscha's room when they needed to.

Rutile knew that Yellow liked to talk to Padparadscha about things when it was just the two of them in the room. Sometimes when they walked in they heard Yellow reminiscing about memories they had together and sometimes they heard them whispering about private stuff. So instead of actually coming and ruining their one-sided conversation.

They actually forgot that Yellow told them that they were leaving to get Zircon, so it was quite surprising to them when they walked in to see that Padparadscha was the only one in the room. They stood in the doorway for about a minute, smiling at them before they went to their bedside. "Did you have a good talk with Yellow?" They whispered as they moved their long red bangs to the side of their face and smiled at them gently.

They left their heart sink as well as lonliness rested on their shoulders as there was no reply from the one below them, just the whirring ventilator and the beeping heart monitor gave them company. Rutile frowned as their sad eyes moved to look at their covered body before looking at their long, curly hair. "I guess that you accomplished your goal on growing your hair out..." they muttered optimistically, looking at the other with a small smile as they looked at their sleeping face.

Ever since Rutile met the other, Padparadscha always wanted to grow their hair out to be the longest it could be. They wouldn't let anyone cut it and always ignored people who complained about it being too long or too big. Rutile didn't mind the thought of them growing out their hair, they actually quite like it. They were always close with the other when they spent who knows how long brushing out their red mane— plus Padparadscha's body was always warm in the winter, so they were like a gigantic portable heater when the cold seasons roll around.

A sigh left their lips once again as they looked at their face, reaching into their coat pocket and pulling out their phone to text Yellow about them going on break before shoving it back into their pocket.  They gave Padparadscha's one last look before they frowned softly, turning around and leaving the others room, nearly running into Jade as they walked out.

The green gem grasped tightly onto the clipboard they were holding onto and pressed the loose papers against their chest as they took a strong step backwards to steady their balance. Rutile, on the other hand, just stumbled clumisly into the wall behind them. "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," they murmured as they looked at their supervisor in front of them.

Jade shook their head as they stacked their papers neatly on their clipboard before they looked at the other with a little smile, "don't worry about it, I was actually looking for you."

Rutile gave them a weird look, "you were?"

Jade nodded before they started to walk past them, "Yea, Euclase and I need to discuss something with you— you aren't in trouble, so don't worry too much." Rutile couldn't do too much but give them a slow nod and followed the other.

They felt their palms getting sweaty as they followed Jade into the room where Euclase was waiting for the two of them to get there. The white half of their hair was facing towards the door when they walked in, turning their head so both white and blue could be seen for them. "You're here," they said as they put down the stack of papers there were looking at. "You can sit down if you want to."

Rutile nodded again as they moved their nervous body to sit down at one of the chairs there were in the room, letting out a small sigh as they watched their supervisors sit across from them. Their heavy nervousness only increased as the both of them glanced at each other for a split second before they looked at Rutile.

"We need to talk about Padparadscha," Euclase said softly with a sigh.

"What about them?" Rutile asked, panic coursing through their veins as they almost hopped out of their seat.

"We-" Jade stopped themselves as they sighed and looked at the ground to find the right words to say, "we got orders from the higher-ups that we gave to unplug them-"

"Why!?" Rutile yelled, their voice raising as they felt their body started to shake. Their panicked eyes looked at both Jade's and Euclase's guilty looks, the multi-colored gem looking at their partner before they looked at Rutile.

"They... they told us that they've been getting complaints about the same room being occupied for 6 years," Euclase said, frowning as they looked at Rutile sadly, "so they told us that we needed to unplug them so we can have more room for people."

"Which is stupid on their part," Jade muttered as they rubbed their temples with their thumb and index finger, "they should've just told the front desk or one of us personally so we could move them somewhere else." They muttered, the room going  completely silent after their small rant before Euclase sighed and looked at the other.

"They wanted us to do it today, but we managed to create a little bit of wiggle room," Euclase muttered as they looked at Rutile, "we're going to give them a week to wake up, if they don't wake up by then, then we're going to have to pull the plug."

"We're really sorry about this Rutile," Jade added as they took their hand off of their temples and looked at them with a frown, "if it were our decision to make, we wouldn't let it come to this."

Rutile could do nothing but nod and hold back their tears threatening to fall, "I know..." they muttered as they looked at their supervisors in front of them and forced a smile. "You guys aren't the type to do that."

Jade nodded with a hum as they got up from their chair they were sitting in and went over to them, placing a hand of reassurance on their shoulder. "Go ahead and go home, you've done enough work today and you need a break." They whispered softly before they took their hand off them and left the room with Euclase following behind them.

Rutile watched them leave the room before they let the held back tears off of their system, hiding their face in their clothes hands as they wept. They weren't ready to accept the fact that Padparadscha wasn't going to wake up again. They weren't ready to live the left of their life without their reassurance or anything. They weren't ready to admit that they failed keeping their partner alive. They weren't ready to admit that Padparadscha was going to be gone forever.

They desperately grasped onto their hair as they sobbed, letting out shaky breaths as let their tears go down their face. They stayed like that until they felt like they had no more tears to cry.

Their gloved hands wiped their wet face before they lifted themselves out of the chair they were in, letting out a shaky sigh as they walked out of the room. They took off their gloves and shoved them into their pocket, walking off to go to the break room to gather all of their stuff. They almost forgot that they just finished bawling their eyes out before they heard a soft voice call out their name.

Rutile turned around to see Diamond behind them, in their scrubs as usual with small specks of blood on her shoulder and on their torso. They just might've finished another surgery... they thought to themselves before they gave the other a small smile. "Do you need something, Dia?"

The surgeon shook their head, giving them their signature sweet smile, "no, I don't need anything," they said putting something into their pocket before they went over to them with a gentle look on their colorful eyes. "I was going to go and look for Bort, but I saw you," they stopped talking as they tilted their head to the side, lifting up their hand and gliding the soft pad of their finger to wipe a tear under their eye before smiling again. "I figured that you needed my help."

Rutile looked at Diamond with a slightly surprised look before they let out a small sigh and looked at them gently, "thank Dia, but you really don't need to use your-"

"Did something happen?" The other one asked, not letting Rutile be their stubborn self and not beg help when they need it.

"Yea..." They muttered after a while, nodding and looking at the ground as their conversation with Jade and Euclase came into mind. "It's..." a sigh came from their lips, "It's about Padparadscha.."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Diamond asked them generously, but earned a small no from Rutile.

"I would accept, but don't you have a surgery soon?" Rutile asked, furrowing their eyebrows as they looked at the other shake their head. Diamond and their partner Bort were both very skilled surgeons that a large majority of hospital knew about. The entire facility was over the moon when Jade and Euclase told them that the Diamonds were going to be with them. And ever since then, those two were always busy with surgeries— it was practically normal to see the two of them going down the hallway in a rush with a bed following them. But, with them always being busy, they didn't really get any breaks from being so busy— it was rare to see them doing something rather than surgeries.

"I do, but that's not for another 45 minutes or so," Diamond said with a smile before they walked ahead of them, "I'm sure that they won't mind if I talk with you on my break."

Rutile looked at the other before they nodded, following the other outside with a bit of guilt in their chest as they followed Diamond out.

The two gems went outside and sat down on the concrete steps, the both of them quiet for a while as they enjoyed the warm weather and gentle breezes. Diamond was the one who interrupted the silence by letting out a deep exhale before looking at them. "So what happened with Padparadscha?" They asked them gently, hugging their knees as they looked at Rutile. The other gem then explained the conversation that they had with Jade and Euclase, Diamond listening to every word the other gave them.

Diamond was quiet for a while before they gave the other a sad smile and gave them a warm embrace. "I'm sorry that they told you that," they whispered softly, letting out a gentle sigh as they gently closed their eyes. "But I know how you feel though... to lose someone you did your very best to save."

The two were quiet again before Rutile moved their head to look at the other, "Are you talking about the child that you had to do surgery on a few months ago?"

Diamond nodded, letting go of the other and forced a smile from bringing up a bad memory. "But let's not talk about myself though, you're the one who needs the support right now."

"I guess..." they muttered, reaching into their pocket and pulling out their phone to see a text from Yellow saying that they were on their way.

The other gems smiled at them softly, "at least Jade and Euclase know how much you care about them and managed to do it until next week." They said optimistically, Rutile nodded in agreement silently before they let out a small sigh.

"Yea," Rutile muttered as they looked down at the ground, "I'm glad that they pushed it back until next week, it gives them time to wake up... but I'm still afraid that they won't wake up-"

"Because if they've been asleep for 6 years, how can they wake up in a week, right?" Diamond finished their sentence before they smiled at them and looked at the road in front of them. Rutile looked at them with slight surprise before they nodded and looked at the road as well.

"You know," Diamond said again with a small sigh, "Lapis told me that you shouldn't worry about the bad stuff so much. They said that it'll only make you worry about everything and stress yourself out," they leaned over and put a hand on their shoulder, "I'm sure that everything is going to be okay with Padparadscha."

Rutile looked at Diamond before they nodded with a smile, "that does sound like something Lapis would say..." they said as they chuckled a bit with Diamond. "But Thanks Dia, I needed to hear that today."

The other smiled at them happily, opening their mouth to speak but the buzzer that was clipped to their side went off. An audible sigh left their lips before Diamond got up a little bit and hugged them, their softly and squishy cheek pressing against Rutile's. "I have to go early, but hopefully everything will go okay!" They said softly before they left go of them and went up the stairs to go back inside.

Rutile watched the other one go inside before they sighed and waited for Yellow's car to show up, getting up and going inside as well to go to the break room.

They stopped at their locker when they got there and stared at their stuff, trying to decide if they wanted to go home or not like Jade said. It was after a while they looked away from their locker to seeing Lapis Lazuli coming into the break room. "Leaving already?" They asked them curiously as they went to their assigned locker to take their things out.

Rutile shrugged as they sighed, "I'm not sure yet... Jade gave me the okay to go home early today, but I don't know if I want to go or not."

Lapis smiled softly as they took their things out of their locker and looked at them, "I think you should, it's not everyday where they let people go home early and plus you need it."

Rutile hummed in agreement as they watched the blue gem lift up their long hair and put their backpack on, "Are you about to leave?"

The other one shook their head, "I have to stay here for a few more hours, I'm just going on break." They said with a sigh, closing their locker before they waved and started to head towards the door. "See you, Rutile."

They waved back and watched the other leave before they sighed, taking their phone out to look at the text from Yellow Diamond. "I should probably go home..." they muttered, reaching their hand into their locker and pulled out their stuff.

Rutile clocked out before they went past the front desk as they went out the front doors to Yellow's car.

Yellow Diamond got out of their car to greet them and gave the other a small look of confusion, "leaving work already?"

"Yea, Jade let me go early," Rutile answered truthfully as they followed Yellow back and earned a curious glance from the elder.

"Did something happen?" They asked with worry as they got into the driver's side of the car.

Rutile nodded, turning around to wave to Zircon before looking at the other. "Yea, I'll tell you about it later."

Yellow let out a small sigh of worry as they nodded, turning around to watch Zircon move their stuff over and position themselves to be in the middle seat to be in between them. Once they were happy where they were, Yellow Diamond started to drive to where they were going to eat at.

They ended up going to a small cafe place not too far from Rutile's place so they could eat something  and Rutile could get some rest after they ate. When they sat down and got their drinks, Rutile started to tell them about what Jade and Euclase told them not too long ago.

"So..." Zircon started, shifting awkwardly in their seat as they looked at the other two, "Pad's has a week left?" They asked as confirmation, worry and sadness in their voice as they spoke.

Rutile nodded, "Yea..." they muttered as they looked down at the table to avoid their worried and sad looks. They moved their eyes upwards as Yellow Diamond sighed and put their head in their hand.

"That's..." they started, stopping themselves as they tried to find the right words to say. In the end, they didn't finish was they were going to say and was just silent for a while. Zircon looked at them with a frown for a while before they pulled the other one into a reassuring hug.

Rutile knew that Yellow Diamond always had a thing for Padparadscha, even though they broke up in the last year of high school, Yellow always liked them. They were so good at hiding it too, Rutile never would've guessed it unless they didn't accidentally walk in on them talking to Padparadscha. So they know that this was all hard on them knowing that they one they loved was going to be gone for good.

"I'm sorry," Rutile muttered softly as they looked back at the table, letting out a guilty sigh as they closed their eyes. The table went quiet after their reply, making the other immediately regret their answer.

"Why are you apologizing?" Yellow asked after a while, their voice making them lift their head up to look at the other two.

"Because I'm not a good enough doctor to take care of them," Rutile said, inhaling deeply as they started to dump their insecurities on the other two. "I... I'm not good enough take care of them and because of that they're not awake yet. And it's all my fault that they're not here and that they're going to leave for good next week and if only-"

"It's not your fault!" Zircon yelled, their head looking down at the table as visible tears ran down their cheeks. "It's not your fault or anyone else's," They sniffled, looking up to look at the two adults with them before they used the back of their hand to wipe away their tears. "Padparadscha is going to be okay... they're going to wake up before next week."

Yellow was quiet before they nodded softly and let out a small sigh. "You're right..." they muttered as they looked at Zircon before looking at their friend.

Rutile nodded in agreement as they let out a small sigh, "Yea..." they muttered as they looked at the other two, "sorry for ranting."

"It's fine," Zircon said, wiping away some of their tears and smiling at the other.

The rest of their dinner was awkward for the first part, but it turned good near the end half. It ended with the three of them laughing at a distant memory that they all experience. It was nice to forget about all of the bad stuff that was going at the hospital, it was nice to not worry about anything for a while.

Or, at least that was the case until Rutile got back to their apartment.

They gave big hugs to Yellow Diamond and Zircon, watching them get back into their car and drove away. Rutile happily went back to their apartment and shoved their key into the hole before they swung the door open, and their happy mood immediately went away. Instead of meeting Padparadscha, they were greeted with their dark and empty apartment.

Rutile let out a sad sigh as they closed the door behind them, turning on the lights as they stumbled to their messy room. They took of their clothes and put them in the dirty clothes basket, putting on their pajamas before they went and turned the lights off again. Rutile got into their bed and laid there, looking at their ceiling before a single tear trickled down their cheek and they started to cry. They hated laying in their cold  bed alone at the night more than ever.

It was then when they realized how lonely they were all 6 years Padparadscha was gone. It never hit them about how lonely they were coming home everyday to their dark apartment and not being welcome by their warm and happy smile. They realized how upset they always were celebrating their birthday alone without Padparadscha's. And they realize how much they wanted to come home to someone and rant about their day besides the people at the front desk or anyone else at work. And it they cried because they realized how much they missed them.

Rutile closed their eyes tightly as they weeped like a child, letting all of their tears roll down their cheeks and make wet spots in the pillow beneath them. Their shaking hand wiped away their falling tears as they tried to calm themselves down, looking at the dark ceiling as they took in deep breaths. They ended up crying themselves asleep that night, streaks from their falling tears still on their cheeks when they woke up.

The rest of the days went by slow and dully, each day becoming more and more miserable for Rutile. Everyday was the same like the last for them— if they weren't working, they laid in bed sulking and when they worked they did their job and was with Pad at every chance they could get. They always hoped to come in and see them sitting up in their bed, but they were still asleep everytime they came in.

When the day came to when Rutile had unplug Padparadscha, they woke up with dread weighing on their shoulders. Their tired, brown eyes looked up at the dark ceiling before they sat up and threw their warm blankets off of them. They navigated their way to the bathroom in the dark, squinting as they turned on the bathroom light before taking their clothes off.

They stood in the hot water as they looked at the scars on their arms and wrists, looking at the beads of water run across them with a frown. It wasn't much longer before they got out and put a towel over their wet and bare body, looking in the foggy mirror for a few seconds before a few tears ran down their cheeks. They Really weren't ready to go to work...

Rutile went back to their dark bedroom before they turned on the lamp next to their bed and searched for clothes to look something to wear for work. When they were done, they grabbed the stuff they needed for that day before they walked out of their front door and drove to work.

When they walked past the front doors, the gems at the front desk were indulged in their own conversation. Lapis— along with some of the other gems behind the desk— noticed their presence and placed their hot cup of coffee down on the surface. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" Their voice was soft and gentle as they spoke.

Rutile paused to think about their answer before they went up to  their desk and shook their head. "No, I'm not..." they muttered with a sigh.

Lapis' lips turned downwards as they frowned, uncrossing their legs and moving past their co-workers next to them and went to them. They wrapped their arms around them tightly, their chest rising as they sigh and closed their eyes. Rutile stopped at the others act of kindness before they hugged them back tightly, their now-shaking fingers holding onto the back of their shirt and strand of their long and soft hair.

"Everything's going to be okay," they whispered in their ear quietly, Rutile letting out a small hum before nodding. The two stayed like that before the blue gem pulled away and rested a hand on their head. "Jade and Euclase won't be here until later, so you have some time with them."

"Thanks, Lapis..." they muttered softly as they gave them a small smile with a gentle sigh. Lapis Lazuli always took good care of them ever since they started to work there. They would always show them what to do or showed them where to go— and not to mention how much they helped Rutile through the 6 years Padparadscha was in their coma. Lapis always gave them a shoulder to cry on, they would always give them something to eat when they left theirs at home and they always took care of them.

They shook their head, "don't worry about it." Lapis said with a smile before they went back behind the front desk, their arms resting on the counter as their dark blue eyes looked at them. "Good luck today."

Rutile gave them a nod before they walked away, "thank you again."

Lapis gave them a small shrug that silently meant don't worry about it (it was a habit that they always did), before they grabbed their coffee that was on the desk before they turned around to talk to their other co-workers with them.

Rutile looked at the before they walked to go check in, immediately going to Padparadscha's room to check on their partner. They walked into the dark room and looked at the other, still fast sleep in their bed with no sign that they woke up. Their eyes moved to look at Yellow Diamond, who was sprawled out on the small couch that they were sleeping on.

A sigh came from their lips before they turned around and walked out of the room with a frown before they went to go check on their other patients. They constantly walked by Padparadscha's room to see if they were awake, the small shard of hope they had in their chest shattering when they saw that they were still asleep.

After a while of hoping- no, praying for Padparadscha for wake up, Rutile's hope was shattered as they saw Jade walking towards them, their green hair and lab coat following them as they walked towards the other. Their green eyes looked at them with sympathy before they sighed and looked at them, "I'm sorry to say this, but it's time for you to take Padparadscha off of their life support now. Euclase and I can't be there since we have to assist in the transplant Dia and Bort are doing, but I can have Lapis be with you for support while you do it."

Rutile was about to shake their head 'no' before they sigh and looked at their supervisor, "Alright."

Jade opened their mouth to say something, but closed it as they sighed once again. "I really am sorry about this." They apologized once more before they pat their shoulder and walked away. Rutile watched them walk away before they let out a heavy exhale and they went back to Padparadscha's room, their eyes looking up to see the other gem waiting outside of the room. They wanted to say something to the other, but didn't know what to say so they acknowledged them with a small wave before they walked inside.

Yellow Diamond was gone from their temporary bed, which left the 3 of them alone in the room.  Rutile looked at Padparadscha once more before they sighed and bit their lip before they went to the side of their bed. "Lets..." they muttered softly as they looked at Padparadscha's sleeping face as they held back their tears, "let's go ahead and do this then."

Lapis Lazuli looked at them with a small frown before they nodded with a sigh, going over to the IV bag next to them and started to take the cords out of their arms. Rutile watched them start to do what they were supposed to before they bit their lip once more before they started to take the cords out of their arm.

Tears started to stream down their face as their lips pressed together tightly as the heart monitor went to a monotone sound and a straight line across the screen.

Wake Up.

Their hands started to shake violently as small cries escapes their lips as more of the cords came out of the others arms.

Please wake up

"Rutile?" Lapis' voice made them stop focusing on what they were doing and look up at them. Their blue eyes looked at them worriedly as a few strands of hair fell in front of their shoulders. "Do you want me to do the rest?" They asked them gently.

Rutile opened their mouth at least twice before they looked down at Padparadscha's still arm. "I-It's fine, I can do this with you.."

"Are you sure?" Lapis asked worriedly, frowning and letting out a small sigh when the other nodded and continued to do what they were doing.

Wake Up Pad.

Rutile continued to take each cord out of the others arm, their hands continuing to shake as tears went down their cheeks. They took in shaky breaths to try calm themselves down, but it didn't help them at all.

Wake up, please.

Their eyes looked up to watch Lapis' slender hands stop what they were doing, putting something down before they turned around and left the room. A heavy sigh left their lips as they watched them leave as they moved their hands to take the ventilator off of their mouth. The whole time their took off the others mask they were thinking the same thing— please wake up, please wake up, please wake up, please wake up, please-

"Rutile, What are you doing?"

Their body froze completely from the familiar voice below them, moving their face to look at the other.

Padparadscha's eyes were partially open, their reddish eyes looking at them curiously, a small opening in their slightly parted lips. Rutile looked at them as they tightly pressed their quivering lips together and let the tears fall down their cheeks before they practically threw themselves onto the other. They sobbed into the others chest, their shaking fingers gripping tightly onto the others chest as they listened to the others steady heartbeat. They could tell that the other didn't know what was going on from how they were still for a while before their hand lifted up and pat their head gently.

Padparadscha's hand gently glided across the others slick hair as a way to calm the other down, making the other sob more from joy from being in the others arms.

Rutile opened their mouth as they let out a shaky breath, looking at the other with teary eyes. "You... you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment..." they muttered happily with a small smile.

The redhead frowned a bit as their chest rose and fell with a sigh, "Sorry I made you wait this long.." they whispered guiltily.

The other shook their head as they lifted themselves off of their chest, leaning in and planting a gentle kiss on the others forehead. "I'm just glad that I have you back." They whispered quietly before they smiled at the other. Padparadscha smiled at the other before their slightly weak hand lifted up and held their hand, Rutile smiling happily as they squeezed their hand hand back.

They turned their attention to the door as Lapis Lazuli came back into their room with a fresh IV bag in their hand, Euclase following right behind them. "Welcome back," Lapis said with a smile, putting another needle in their arm as they hung the bag back up.

"It's glad to be back..." Padparadscha muttered with a smile, taking their hand and rustling Rutiles head with a happy smile.