Archive of Our Own

Gem hadn’t intended to be playing shark bait this week. But then again, she hadn’t intended to be here in the first place. She had been a last minute sub-in for Scar, who had been unable to play the gang’s second round of their chosen game: Raft, a game where you attempt to survive on a raft in the middle of the ocean, with nothing but some rope and hooks to catch debris. Oh and a shark chasing you, tearing chunks out of the raft and trying to eat you.

Of course, this wouldn’t have been such a problem if Gem hadn’t been on her period. She hadn’t planned of being on it (when did she ever?) but of course it came early and, not being one to call off games due to minor inconveniences, she decided to stick a tampon in and power through it.

However, that was before she knew it was a water-game with a shark, something that Grian had, conveniently, forgotten to tell her.

So here she was, standing well away from the edge of the 4×5 raft, letting the men do the fishing for trash as she pretended to learn the mechanics of the game. Naturally there was a lot of pushing of people into the water (mostly by a certain blond avian) and a lot of laughing as the shark tried to eat the unfortunate victims (namely Skizz). Gem laughed along, pretending she wasn’t terrified for her life.

After most of the usual start-of-session pushing had subsided, she moved closer to the edge and began throwing her own hook out at the planks, barrels, crates and whatever else was floating in the sea.

Within minutes she too was shoved into the water, and much further than her teammates had been. She immediately panicked, screaming as the shark got closer. She splashed wildly, trying desperately to make it back to safety before the shark got her. Grian was on the floor howling with laughter, and Skizz was yelling at her to get back onto the raft. She yelped as the shark’s teeth grazed her leg. Impulse reached out, grabbing her arms and hoisting her back up.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Y-yeah, thanks,” she replied, trying to keep her voice even.

Impulse frowned slightly, holding her shaking hands for a moment longer.

“You sure?”

Gem pulled back, squeezing the water out of her hair and plastering a smile onto her face.

“Of course!”

Although he still didn’t look convinced, Impulse nodded and moved back to the raft’s edge to fish for more planks.

Keep it together, you’re fine.

“That was great!” Grian laughed, wiping tears from his eyes. “It didn’t actually get you though, did it?”

Gem showed him the scratch running half the length of her lower leg.

“Oops,” he grinned.

She opened her mouth to throw an insult at him, just as a stabbing pain shot across her abdomen. She clenched her jaw, fighting the urge to groan as the cramp intensified. After what felt like an eternity, the pain subsided and she exhaled the breath she had been holding.

Grian’s laughs quickly subsided, replaced by genuine concern.

“It hurts that much?”

Gem shook her head.

“I’m fine, really.”

Grian stood up next to her.

“You’re clearly not,” he rummaged in a crate for a moment, pulling out a roll of bandages and a couple pieces of fruit. “This should help.”

He wrapped the bandage roll around her leg while she forced down one of the apples, trying to act normal as her stomach churned.

“Better?”

Gem nodded.

Satisfied, Grian returned to fishing.

“Why didn’t I get fruit?!” Skizz complained. “My arm almost got chomped off!”

“Because you’ve played this before,” Grian smirked. “It wasn’t even that bad, you’re such a crybaby sometimes.”

“Am not!”

Gem properly began to panic as she realised that 7 hours had passed and she was still using the same tampon as before. As the raft was still very small, she didn’t have anywhere to change her product or clean up, so she just had to hope they hit an island before long. She had never been particularly worried about using tampons, having always changed them within the 8 hour window recommended, but she couldn’t help the worry slowly rising in her mind that told her bad things might happen if she didn’t find a bathroom soon.

Another few hours passed by, and Gem’s worry only increased as the blood flow worsened. She began to feel blood leaking through the tampon, pooling up in her underwear at around hour 10, which was concerning considering she was using the most absorbent product she could find in her sanitary chest back on Hermitcraft. She sat mostly still, organising the crates of stuff that were piling up in the middle of the raft.

Just keep breathing, you’re fine. You’re not going to get poisoned or anything from this. Women use tampons for over 8 hours all the time, and only a tiny portion of them ever get TSS.

Though it’s just my luck that I would be the tiny portion.

Shortly after Gem finished reorganising the supplies, Impulse called out from the edge of the raft:

“I see an island!”

Gem nearly cried with relief.

“Let’s go!” Skizz yelled triumphantly.

Thank Notch

They paddled to the shore of the island, fighting against the currents and the shark the whole way. Gem focused on stabbing the shark whenever it attempted to make a snack out of the raft. It was a good way to take out her frustration and anxiety, but made the horrid feeling of blood at least 5 times worse. It also didn’t help that the shark seemed to be a lot more attentive to her than the others, something that Impulse, perceptive as always, picked up on.

“Has anyone else noticed that Sharky seems to be hyperfocused on Gem right now?” he finally brought up. “It’s been following her around constantly for at least 5 minutes.”

Oh void.

Grian frowned as he watched the shark’s movements.

“Gem,” he instructed, “move around the edge of the raft.”

She reluctantly did as instructed, knowing that fighting it would just raise more suspicions. Grian’s eyes widened as the shark followed her, even when she moved behind Skizz, who was still trying to steer the raft towards the shore.

“Wow. You’re right, Impulse,” he marvelled. “Why is that?”

Gem felt her face grow warm under Grian’s inquisitive stare. Thankfully, Skizz interrupted his thoughts before he started guessing anything. Not that Gem was worried about him guessing the specifics, it was Impulse she was worried about. The man was far too perceptive for his own good.

“Guys! We are drifting away from the island! A little help would be appreciated!” he yelled over his shoulder.

The other two men jumped into action with little more than a worried look from Impulse. Gem returned to stabbing at the shark every time it tried to eat one of them.

After only a few minutes, they reached the island. Grian threw a makeshift anchor over the side of the raft and hopped into the shallow water, splashing loudly to shore. The others followed, with Gem once again trailing behind.

While the boys started gathering supplies, Gem made up some excuse about checking on the raft and slipped away into the jungle. She found a small river that was relatively enclosed by tall bushes and trees. She managed to change her tampon in record time, and she pulled on a spare pair of underwear, doing her best to wash the blood out of the other one. She just finished cleaning up when she heard snapping branches and a voice calling her name.

“Gem? You over here?”

“Yeah,” she replied, sticking her head up over the bushes.

It was Impulse.

“You okay? I thought you said you were going to check on the raft?”

“I was, I uh… got lost,” she explained, trying to make her voice sound small and guilty.

Just accept it. Please.

“Oh. I get it.” His voice told Gem that he very much did not get it. “It’s just that we were getting worried. Skizz went down to the raft and didn’t find you there,” he paused. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah! I’m fine, honestly. Just tired from all the work.”

“Okay then, let’s get back to the others.”

She nodded and followed him back.

“Hey, Gemmy!” Skizz smiled. “All good?”

“Yep,” she replied in a bright voice.

“Great! We got everything we need for now. Ready to head back to the raft?”

Honestly, Gem would rather do anything but go back to that cursed floating piece of wood and metal, but she agreed. There was no reason for her stupid period to halt the game now. She’d lasted almost a full day already. And it wasn’t like she didn’t deal with this every month. Granted, she didn’t normally have to deal with a shark that could definitely smell her blood following her around. Maybe she should tell them.

She pushed the thoughts aside as they got back to the raft. Stop being dramatic. The shark thing was just a fluke, you’re fine. Grian lifted the anchor, they began repairs on the chunk of raft that the shark had eaten, and they got back on the seas.

The process repeated itself for the next few days. Gem would begin to leak, the shark would follow her around, Impulse would give her strange looks, then they would find another island, giving Gem the chance to slip away and clean up. Grian started making jokes about her always leaving as soon as they got to another island.

“Wow, you hate us that much huh?” he asked as she got back to them.

“W-what?”

“You always leave as soon as we get to an island. You hate us that much?”

“Oh, uh, no. I just… like to stay near the raft in case, you know… the shark eats it.”

“Uh huh?”

“No you’re right I really do hate you that much,” she grinned.

“I knew it!” Grian yelled.

Skizz laughed.

“Hey I don’t blame her. If I was Gem I’d need a break from all of this too,” he chuckled, waving his hands at Grian.

“You just gestured to all of me!”

Skizz laughed harder as Grian started chasing him around in circles with his paddle.

Impulse still gave her a concerned look, which she responded to with a smile.

By the 5th day, Gem started to feel strange. Not quite feverish, but warmer than usual. Her cramps were also much worse. She tried to push it off until a particularly bad one caused her to drop her hook and lean heavily on the side of the annex, breathing rapidly.

“Gem?”

Skizz dropped down in front of her.

“What’s wrong?!”

She managed to straighten up as the last of the pain subsided.

“Sorry, just got a bit seasick,” she lied.

“A bit?! You looked like you were about to throw up!”

“Well I didn’t. I’m fine. It’s fine.”

He pushed her hair back behind her ears.

“Gem! Your poor arms!”

She looked down at her arms, noticing the red suburn-looking rash on her skin.

“Sun got to you, huh?”

She shook her head.

“I promise, I’m fine.”

Skizz hummed disapprovingly.

“Come on,” he took her hand and pulled her to the newest portion of the raft. They had created an awning in the middle to provide some shelter from the frequent rains. They had moved the chests and barrels inside, and set up some beds along one wall, pressed up against each other of course. Skizz pushed her gently down onto one of the beds.

“Rest. Until you feel better. No arguing.”

To her credit, she didn’t. She sat until Skizz left, pulling the makeshift curtain across the opening behind him. She heard him talking quietly, explaining what happened. She dug around in her inventory, looking for another tampon. Now that there was a more private area on the raft she wouldn’t have to wait for an island every time she wanted to change. She almost groaned when she realised she didn’t have another tampon.

Great. Isn’t this ideal.

She changed into a pad instead, hoping desperately that she could avoid falling, or more likely being pushed, into the water for the rest of the session. They couldn’t be intending to play for that much longer anyway.

Of course, her resolve didn’t last very long.

She stepped back out into the dying light of dusk, stopping as she saw Impulse and Skizz turn to her, cutting their conversation off.

“Feeling better?” Impulse asked.

“Yeah,” she lied, forcing another bright smile.

She crossed to the other side of the raft, trying to ignore how warm the sun suddenly felt. She grabbed her hook, throwing it out to sea to catch more of the trash constantly floating around them.

She wasn’t there long before Grian stood beside her.

“Hey.”

“Hi?”

“Everything good?” he asked.

Gem sighed irritably. 

“Yes. For the last time, I am fine.”

Grian held up his hands. “Okay, okay. Just checking.”

“I don’t need you to check on me, I’m fine!”

“Yeah, but… I just wanted to make sure you weren’t still feeling sick,” he explained. “I know what it’s like to be seasick. It’s not fun.”

“Yeah well, I’m fine, so you don’t have to worry.”

Grian didn’t reply.

They fished in silence for a few minutes. Gem ignored the slightly lightheaded feeling that grew the longer she stood there. She caught Grian looking at her out of the corner of her eye a couple times, but ignored him.

“Gem? You sure you’re okay?” he asked tentatively. “I mean, you’re looking a little pale there…”

“Grian. For the last time. I. Am. Fi…”

She trailed off as her vision swayed.

“Gem?”

Grian’s voice sounded far away and echoey. Spots danced in front of her. She tried to step back from the edge of the raft, but she felt heavy and uncoordinated.

“Gem… hear… -llo?”

She drew in a shaky breath, trying to speak, but no words came out. Instead, she felt herself sway on the spot, dangerously close to the water. She tried to grab Grian’s arm to steady herself, but as she reached out she felt a hard tug on her hook, yanking her off her feet and backwards, into the cold water. The last thing she saw was the shark, prowling through the water, turning to her with a hungry look in its small, beady eyes.

“Gem?”

Grian’s brow furrowed as he looked over at the redhead fishing beside him. Her eyes looked unfocused, not noticing the plank of wood her hook was stuck on. He watched her lift her foot, only to put it back down hastily as she swayed slightly.

“Gem? Can you hear me? Hello?”

He looked over his shoulder for Impulse or Skizz, but they were out of sight on the other side of the annex. He turned back around to see Gem’s outstretched hand grasping for his arm. But just as he reached out to grab her hand, the plank was swept back by a wave causing the hook to be pulled away, pulling Gem with it; Grian watched in horror as Gem splashed into the ocean.

“GEM!”

Skizz spun around, eyes wide. Adrenaline was coursing through his veins before he even moved. He ran around to the other side of the raft, stopping only for an instant when he saw Gem unconscious in the water and Grian clearly panicking at the edge of the raft. Skizz tore off his already ripped shirt and kicked off his shoes, diving into the water after Gem. Impulse ran to Grian’s side.

“What happened?” he asked.

“I-I-I don’t know!” he cried. “She looked ill, and I tried to find you to get help and-and I didn’t see her hook was stuck and it pulled her away! She tried to grab my hand but I didn’t see!”

Grian gripped Impulse’s shoulder so hard that he was slightly concerned that the circulation in his arm would cut off. He watched Skizz duck under the water, grab Gem, and begin to struggle to the surface. And he watched as the shark swam directly towards him.

“Skizz! Skizz! Skizz! SHARK!”

Before either of them could react, Grian launched himself off the raft and splashed down right in between Skizz and Gem and the shark. His wings, bound in thick rope so he didn’t use them while playing, snapped open, shredding the rope as they flared out to the sides, serving the dual purpose of scaring off the shark and shielding Gem and Skizz from it. He stabbed at the shark with his spear, grazing it’s gills, but the shark snapped at him, clamping its jaws down on Grian’s left arm. He screamed in pain, the sound getting lost in the water that rushed into his mouth. His wings flailed wildly as he fought against the shark, trying desperately to free his arm.

 Impulse yelled too. He grabbed his spear, trying to aim so he hit the shark, without further injuring Grian. He threw the spear, impaling it in the shark’s side, consuming the last of it’s HP and causing it to despawn.

In the time it took for that to happen, Skizz managed to make it to the edge of the raft. Impulse crouched down and hooked his hands under Gem’s shoulders, pulling her from Skizz’s grasp and hauling her up onto (mostly) dry ground. 

Skizz pushed back off of the raft and down into the water, where Grian was still flailing around in his panicked state. One of his huge, colourful wings smacked into Skizz’s temple, causing his vision to go black for just an instant. He shook his head, trying to clear the residual ringing and approached Grian again, this time from the front. He slowly swam forward, arms held up in what he hoped was a non-threatening way. His lungs were burning by the time he managed to get Grian to recognise him and realise the shark was gone. He moved slowly to the avian’s side, wrapping an arm around his middle and kicking up to the surface. 

Grian’s head dropped, his eyes fluttering closed as Skizz fought to make it up to the surface, the lack of oxygen finally getting to him. Skizz’s own gaze became unfocused as he too ran out of air and every kick became slower and weaker. Just as he thought his lungs were going to explode from the pain, his head broke the surface. He gasped down lungfuls of air before pulling Grian up to breathe too. With the half-drowned avian pulled up against his chest, he kicked out through the water and towards Impulse, who was waiting, arms outstretched again to grab Grian.

Impulse pulled Grian up out of the water, lying him down before turning and pulling his best friend up to safety too.

Skizz coughed up water as he bent over the side of the raft, the adrenaline beginning to give out and exhaustion taking over.

“Dude, you okay?” Impulse asked, a hand on Skizz’s back as he heaved.

“Yeah-yeah I’m good,” he managed to say.

Impulse helped his friend up and handed him back his shirt.

“Thanks.”

“Ow!”

Skizz darted over to Grian, eyes wide with concern at his friend’s condition.

Grian was mostly conscious again, pupils still much larger than was normal for a human. His body trembled from excess adrenaline and panic, and his face was red and eyes wide from shock and pain. His arm was a mangled, bloody mess. Ribbons of torn flesh mixed with shredded jumper threads until Impulse couldn’t tell what was material and what was skin or muscle. Impulse felt the remnants of his meagre dinner start to rise, and he quickly looked away.

By contrast, Gem was perfectly still, face pale, and her arms were still covered in the strange, sunburn-looking rash. Impulse noticed with concern that it had now spread to her neck and the backs of her hands too. He bent down, grabbing her wrist and checking for a pulse. It took him about 20 seconds to feel one. It was tiny and sluggish; barely there.

“Skizz. Her pulse is almost non-existent.”

Skizz’s eyebrows shot up.

“What?”

Skizz scrambled over to check for himself.

“Void, Gem,” he breathed.

“What’s wrong with her?” Impulse’s voice radiated fear.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

Carefully, Skizz began to check her over, eyes scanning for anything out of the ordinary that they hadn’t already found. He stopped when he saw the faint bloodstains on her trouser leg.

“Impulse, look.”

Impulse gasped.

“What?! When did this happen? What hurt her?!”

“Impulse,” Skizz used his most calming voice, even though he felt the very opposite. “She’s not injured.”

“She’s bleeding, Skizz!”

“Listen to me,” he pressed. “It’s nothing abnormal. She can handle it.”

Impulse wasn’t listening.

“We gotta get her back to Herm… oh.”

Skizz smirked in spite of the situation as Impulse’s ears turned red.

“That still doesn’t explain why she passed out,” Skizz admitted. “Or why her pulse is so slow, but it rules that part out.”

“We still have to get her back,” Impulse insisted

“We need to get them both back,” Skizz agreed. “Grian’s not doing much better.”

Grian drew in a raspy breath. “I’m fine,” he whispered.

“You are incredibly not fine!” Skizz argued.

“I’m alive, aren’t I?”
“Barely!”

Impulse smacked Skizz’s arm.

“Ow!”

“Grian, how do we get Gem off the server?” he asked before Skizz could continue talking.

“Err,” he tried to sit up, but only resulted in making his arm hurt more. “OW! I could maybe force-close the server? It should ping us all back to wherever our last permanent world was.”

Skizz moved to Grian’s side, gently helping his friend into a sitting position, resting against Skizz’s chest.

“So Hermitcraft?” Skizz asked.

“If that was where she last was,” he corrected. “But if she was on a private world… we can’t reach her there. It’s a sizable risk.”

Skizz looked at Impulse, waiting for his closest friend’s confirmation.

“That’s our only option?” he asked.

“Unless you wanna wait for Gem to wake up,” he offered.

Impulse sighed, concern evident on his face.

“Okay then,” he conceded. “Run the command.”

Grian pulled out his comm and typed in the commands on his control panel.

“Ready?” he asked.

Impulse nodded, Gem already held in his arms.

“Let’s hope her last location was Hermitcraft,” he muttered as he pressed the button.

Impulse landed on his knees on Hermitcraft soil. Gem’s pale body was still clutched in his arms. Skizz sat on the ground a few blocks away, with Grian lying on the grass beside him, groaning in pain. His arm looked even worse now, the strain of jumping servers having taken its toll on his already diminishing strength. Impulse shuddered to think how much worse Gem’s condition was going to be.

“We need X and Etho,” he said. “And one of the girls.”

Skizz nodded, already pulling out his comm and typing the requests into the chat.

<Skizzleman> We need Xisuma and Etho at spawn now

<Skizzleman> And any of the girls who are nearby too

Pearl watched as Etho moved his Queen across the board, blocking the Rook she had so carefully positioned from checkmating his King. Pearl grinned, picking up her only remaining Bishop and dancing it up the board, watching Etho’s face fall as she placed it down diagonally adjacent to his King.

“Check!” she said triumphantly.

“What? Oh you’re terrible.” Etho grumbled.

Pearl grinned.

Tango poked his head up from the hole in the floor underneath the post office desk, a repeater in one hand and redstone dust scattered in his hair and over his clothes.

“You guys feel like helping out or..?”

“Not particularly,” Pearl made a show of reclining against the counter.

“Well I could do with-”

He was interrupted by all three comms pinging, Pearl’s only a couple ticks after the others. Pearl picked up her own from the counter and checked it.

“That doesn’t look good,” she mused.

Etho stood up, hastily typing out a reply. “Let’s go, Pearl.”

<Etho> On route. Bringing Pearl.

She nodded, putting her coat back on and following Etho out the door and into the sky.

“Wait for me!” Tango yelled, scrambling out of the hole and tearing after them, a trail of redstone dust floating to the ground in his wake.

Skizz looked up just as Xisuma landed nearby, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Oh my days!” the Voidwalker exclaimed. “What happened?!”

Skizz stood up from where he had been checking Gem’s pulse for the 50th time.

“Long story. Basically, we were playing Raft, Gem passed out into the water, I jumped in to grab her and Grian came after us to stop the shark from eating me or Gem, and it bit him instead.”

X blinked.

“But why did the injuries carry across?” he asked after a moment.

“Uhh…”

“Because I didn’t check the code carefully enough when I created the temporary server,” Grian interrupted, his voice even weaker now. “I had to force-close the server to get Gem back here, and it messed with the separation code-” he broke off in a fit of coughing.

X bent down beside him.

“That’s fine, Grian. You did what you could and thought quickly, even through the pain. You’ve done the best you can.”

Grian offered a weak smile.

X straightened back up as more rocket noises faded in from overhead, followed by a crash as Pearl smashed into the ground.

“Ouch!”

Etho and Tango followed more gracefully, landing beside her.

“Oh, void,” Tango breathed. “Skizz, what did you do?”

“I- he- wait a-” he stammered. “I didn’t do nothing, jerk!”

Despite the severity of the situation, Tango grinned.

“Guys,” Impulse reprimanded. “Now is not the time.”

Tango’s smile faded. “Sorry,” he grunted.

“Someone needs to explain what happened,” Etho said.

Skizz recounted the events to the new company. Pearl had knelt down beside Gem, taking one of the redhead’s hands in her own, while Etho crouched down between the two on the ground, checking temperatures with the back of his hand and scanning for injuries.

“Grian’s is obvious,” Etho stated after Skizz had finished. “But what were Gem’s symptoms?”

“Well,” Skizz bent down beside him, followed by X, and lowered his voice slightly, so not everyone could hear. “We think that, uh, Gem is on her period cause there’s blood on her shorts and she kept disappearing every time we visited an island, but she didn’t tell us, so we didn’t know. She started looking really flushed and kinda sunburned one day, and then she almost threw up so I made her sit down under shelter for a little while. She went to fish at the edge of the raft and Grian joined her, and next thing we knew she was face down in the water.”

“She started to… look dizzy and… and flushed again, so I tried to get… someone but… she fell into the water… cause I didn’t… didn’t…” Grian’s eyes fluttered.

Etho put his hand on Grian’s shoulder, shaking him gently.

“Grian, stay with me.”

He checked Grian’s pulse.

“I’m… I’m trying.”

“Good. Keep trying.” He looked over at Skizz, still with one hand on Grian’s wrist. “Anything else?”

“I...”

“Her pulse,” Impulse interrupted. “It was so weak!”

Etho frowned, but Pearl gasped. She pulled out her comm with trembling fingers, typing frantically while mumbling a list of Gem’s symptoms.

“Dizziness, rash, fainting, weak pulse… oh void.”

Everyone watched her, waiting anxiously.

“Toxic Shock,” she muttered. “Etho, I think she has Toxic Shock Syndrome.”

Impulse buried his face in his hands; Skizz looked unsure, but worried; Tango and Grian made confused faces; X inhaled sharply; Etho’s brow creased. “That is… not good.”

He stood up, crossed over to Gem and checked her pulse. His face drained of colour.

“X we need to get them both to a hospital. Now.”

X nodded curtly.

“I’ll call Joe and XB over and let them know.”

“I need to do some more tests on Gem,” Etho turned to Tango. “Go to the medbay and get my basic supplies box. The big green one on the shelf closest to the store room door.”

“Will do.” Tango saluted the medic and flew away.

XB touched down about two minutes after Tango left. He ran a hand through his hair and muttered something under his breath at the sight of the chaos.

“Dude, what is happening?” he gaped.

“I’ll explain when Joe gets here,” X replied while simultaneously pulling up medical records and server logs to show the hospital.

Joe arrived with Cleo beside him at the same time as Tango got back with the supplies. Tango put the box down next to Etho. Etho pulled out some gloves, a spray-bottle of some kind of teal-coloured liquid, and a blood pressure cuff. He stepped a couple paces back, then sprayed himself and the cuff with the liquid, before pulling the gloves on and moving back to Gem. Pearl looked like she was about to cry. She was biting her lip so hard that she had drawn blood across multiple points and her nails were already bitten into oblivion. Cleo noticed, moving quickly to her side and putting a hand on her arm.

“Hey, what’s going on?” she asked.

“Gem, sh-she,” Pearl hiccuped. “We think she has Toxic Shock.”

Cleo’s mouth pressed into a thin line.

“We’re not sure,” Etho clarified. “I need to check some things before we go to the hospital.”

He attached the cuff to Gem’s arm and switched on the dial.

“Cleo, keep an eye on this number,” he pointed to the screen. “If it goes below 60/40 you let me know immediately, okay?”

Cleo agreed, locking her eyes onto the tiny screen while still rubbing Pearl’s back. Etho grabbed a few potion bottles and turned back to Grian.

“Grian?”

Grian’s eyes fluttered open slightly. He grunted.

“I need you to drink this, can you do that?”

Grian nodded weakly. Etho gently lifted Grian’s head and tipped the bottle. Grian took two gulps and promptly spat it all over Etho.

“Eugh!” he groaned. “That tastes horrible!”

“Yeah I know, but you need to drink it.” Etho was entirely unbothered by the fine mist of potion-spit now coating his being. He’d had worse.

Screwing up his face, Grian drank the remainder of the potion. His eyes widened as he began to feel dizzy.

“What? But that’s the…Etho! NO I DON—”

His head dropped backwards as he passed out. Etho mumbled a sorry as he put the empty Turtle Master potion bottle away. Grian would forgive him later. He began cutting the sleeve of Grian’s jumper, careful to avoid the torn flesh. He sprayed some blue wound-disinfectant on the injury, before bandaging it up gently and securing it at his miraculously uninjured wrist.

Just as he finished, Cleo called to him: “50/33!”

Etho’s heart dropped. Crap.

“X!” he yelled, “We gotta get to a hospital, now!”

X glanced over, his face falling further when he saw the panicked faces of his Hermits.

“Okay. Joe, XB, you know what you’re doing, right?” They nodded. “Good. Skizz, Impulse, you’re coming with me and Etho.”

“I’m coming too!” Pearl stood up, wiping away tears as her face set in determination.

“No, Pearl.” X kept his voice gentle as he spoke, “I can’t have too many people with us. It’s already pushing it having four of us, but I need Impulse and Skizz so they can relay what happened.”

Cleo rubbed Pearl’s arm.

“As soon as we have this under control you can go,” she soothed, “okay?”

“I promise we won’t let anything happen to them,” Skizz added, knowing the hidden reason why she was so worried. Grian, like several other Hermits, hated the hub world.

“Let’s go,” Etho commanded, already packing up the medkit and instructing Impulse and Skizz on how to best carry Gem and Grian.

X stepped over to Pearl. “I need you to trust me, both as your admin, but also as your friend. I know how you both feel, but it’s the only way to help him.”

“Just keep him safe, please.” It was barely more than a whisper.

“You have my word.”

He pulled Pearl into a quick hug, then passed her back to Cleo, who immediately led her away for a cup of tea to calm down. He hurried to the spawnpoint, where the others were waiting anxiously, and opened his admin panel.

“Ready?” he asked Etho.

Etho nodded once.

X ran the command.

It was dark on the hub world when they landed, the moon high in the grey, smoky sky. As soon as they landed Etho called the hospital while X checked Grian and Gem’s vitals.

The ambulances arrived in 5 minutes, slowed only by late-night traffic, and paramedics quickly loaded Gem and Grian onto stretchers while Etho explained their symptoms and causes. Impulse stood beside him, watching his unconscious friends with anxious eyes. X was talking to a police officer who had accompanied the ambulances, showing ID’s and explaining admin authorities on Hermitcraft. Skizz watched as the officer gestured at X’s helmet.

“Remove the helmet please, sir.”

X’s shoulders slumped slightly before he reached up and unclasped the helmet, pulling it off. Skizz watched the officer ID’ing him. X started coughing as he tried to stand still for the scanner. Skizz could tell he was struggling to breathe in the smog-choked air of the hub world. He scowled, intending to storm over and reprimand the officer for taking longer than he knew was reasonable, but felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him. Etho shook his head slightly.

“He knows the procedure,” Etho whispered. “He’s done this before.”

Skizz still couldn’t help the anger bubbling up inside him as he watched the officer take his time with the scanner. Finally, he nodded, and X slowly, deliberately replaced the helmet, eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Skizz smirked. Far from it for X to give the officer the satisfaction of seeing him desperate for air.

The paramedics loaded the stretchers into the ambulances, and the four Hermits climbed in after, Impulse and Etho in with Gem, while Skizz and X were in Grian’s.

Impulse watched Gem the whole time. The oxygen mask over her mouth and nose, the blood pressure monitor hooked to her arm, the beeping heart monitor, the injection carefully administered to her other arm; they all made it so much more real, and so much more terrifying. Etho squeezed his hand, offering silent support and strength.

Skizz watched the paramedics work on Grian’s arm; checking the damage, injecting some kind of fluid, attaching monitors and oxygen masks, working efficiently and precisely to keep Grian alive. He was amazed by their ability to stay calm under such stress and their lack of reaction to the bloody mess that was Grian’s left arm. X was still watching his admin logs, both for Gem and Grian’s vitals, but also to check on the Hermits they left back home.

When they got to the hospital, a team of doctors and nurses were already waiting. They swept the stretchers away to the ER wing, while another nurse explained to them what was happening. Etho nodded along as she explained the technical aspects and the processes involved.

“What’s the estimated time?” X interrupted, rather uncharacteristically.

“We honestly have no idea at the present moment,” she explained calmly. “It could be hours.”

They were guided over to a waiting area. X and Etho thanked her for her help, and they all sat down.

X called Joe and XB to update them on the situation while Etho pulled out a small maroon-covered book and began recording the incidents inside. Skizz watched Impulse, noticing after a moment how he began to pick at the skin around his nails and bite his lip, both telltale signs of an anxious Impulse. He grabbed Impulse’s hands.

“Impulse, breathe. It’s going to be fine. They’ll be alright.”

Impulse nodded, but still bit his lip.

“Stop. Seriously.”

He drew Impulse in for a hug, squashing his friend’s hands between them to stop him from picking at his nails. Impulse relaxed slightly, matching his breathing Skizz’s and slowing his racing mind.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Don’t be,” Skizz soothed. “It’s hard to keep a clear head when it’s like this; I have no idea how people do it.”

“But you were calm. You kept your head.”

“No I didn’t. Dude, I was so stressed out.” He lowered his voice. “I almost punched an officer because of how on edge I was. I just ended up zoning out a little and watching. Almost like I wasn’t even present and just watching a replay.” He shrugged. “Just my way of coping I guess.”

Impulse took another deep breath. “It’ll be okay. They’ll be fine.”

Skizz smiled. “That’s right.”

Gem’s eyes opened slowly. She felt incredibly tired, despite obviously having just woken up. An irritating beeping began to register in her mind, rudely stirring her from her half-asleep daze. She squinted in the bright light filtering in through white curtains, onto mint-coloured walls and fluorescent bar lights shining dimly on the small room. The room that definitely wasn’t hers. She sat up and immediately her whole body protested. The hot pain flashed through her, accompanied by a horrible sharp sting in her left arm and a squeezing feeling in her abdomen. She scrunched up her eyes and tightened her muscles against the pain, trying to curl up into a ball.

“Woah!”

She felt a hand on her arm.

“Easy, Gem. Just lie down for now.”

She let herself be pushed gently back down, eyes still screwed shut.

“Just breathe; you’re okay.”

She took a breath, though she noticed the discomfort that came with inhaling too deeply, and slowly reopened her eyes.

She was in a hospital room. A bland, stereotypical hospital room with white-and-greenish walls, polished wood flooring, a cart in the corner with a plate of food, and all manner of machines and monitors, at least half of which were currently hooked up to her. The one abnormal thing about the room was the Impulse sitting beside her bed, arm still raised, ready to jump into action if she needed help.

“Hi, Impulse,” she croaked. Void, that sounded pathetic.

“Hey, Gem. How do you feel?”

Gem thought about that for a moment. “Sucky.”

Impulse laughed quietly. “Yeah?”

“Mhm.”

She noticed the drip that stuck into her left forearm, slowly filtering some kind of pink fluid into her bloodstream, or to wherever drips dripped stuff into. She wasn’t really sure. Attached to her other arm was a blood pressure monitor, which displayed a series of numbers on a screen to her right. The combination of those and the oxygen tubes in her nose effectively tied her to the bed, restraining her from moving much more than she had a moment ago.

Impulse was watching her closely. His eyes were narrowed and his eyebrows slightly creased which Gem had learned meant he was worried.

“Is everything—” she coughed violently, causing the tube to fall down over her mouth.

Impulse crossed the room to the wheelie cart in the corner, grabbed a plastic sippy cup with a straw, and brought it over to her. He carefully lifted the tube up and held the straw up to her mouth. She managed to stop coughing long enough to take a couple sips of water, which calmed the choked feeling that suddenly overwhelmed her.

Satisfied that she was no longer on the verge of asphyxiation, Impulse set the cup down and carefully fixed the oxygen tube. She wrinkled her nose, almost dislodging the tubing again as she adjusted to the feeling.

“Eugh,” she grimaced.

He chuckled. “Yeah, not nice.” He sat back down.

After a few quiet moments, Gem steeled her courage and asked the question that was haunting her.

“Impulse… what happened?”

Impulse sighed. “You passed out into the water, Skizz jumped in after you, Grian got in the shark’s path, but we managed to get you back to Hermitcraft. You and Grian were both pretty injured, but we got X and Etho and they got us to the hospital.”

Gem’s eyes were wide.

“Is Grian okay?”

“He is now. He’s awake and mostly present.”

“Mostly?” she asked nervously.

Impulse looked like he immediately regretted his words.

“He’s fine,” he repeated.

“Oh excellent, you’re awake.”

They both turned to watch as a young nurse entered the room, pushing another wheelie cart with food, water, and medicine. She brought it over to the bed and moved to the monitors displaying Gem’s vitals and blood pressure.

“Nurse Riley,” Impulse greeted her with a nod.

“Hello again, Impulse,” she smiled albeit a bit strained, then turned to Gem. “Gem, right?”

Gem nodded.

“Good. Now, Gem, I just need to run a couple tests and checks, and then we’ll get you some food and medicine, yeah?”

Impulse stood up, picking up the jacket that he had thrown over the back of his chair and making for the door.

“I’ll see you in a bit, Gem.”

“Impulse?”

He turned around. “Yeah?”

Gem bit her lip. “Is… is Grian okay? Really?”

He nodded. “Yes. He’s fine. Just recovering, like you.”

Gem still didn’t feel very convinced.

After the nurse had done her checks, she had pronounced Gem safe to eat again, and had given her a bowl of some kind of porridge-y looking substance, along with a cup of orange juice, some raspberries, and a couple squares of dark chocolate. Gem especially appreciated the chocolate as she had forgotten she was still on her period. That was, until another cramp shot through her.

“I’ll get you a hot water bottle,” Riley offered with a sympathetic smile.

“Yes please.”

In the quiet, Gem could hear what she was pretty sure was Scar and Mumbo crashing into a table in the next room.

After she finished eating, X came into the room with Skizz, who beamed as soon as he saw her.

“Gemstone!” he shouted.

“For goodness sake!” Nurse Riley scowled. “Is there something you Hermits don’t understand about bedside manners? I’ve already had to tell the two in Grian’s room to shut up or leave, I do not want to do the same to you as well.”

Gem raised a hand to her mouth to hide her smile.

“Oh gosh, I’m sorry,” Skizz apologised. “I’ll be more quiet.”

Nurse Riley gave a sharp nod and returned to wheeling the cart out of the room.

“So.” Skizz sat down at the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” Gem attempted a smile.

No need to tell them how she was really feeling, how it was her fault that Grian was in hospital too, possibly near death. No need to tell them how embarrassed she was that her stupid period had caused this much chaos when it happened every month and she should be able to deal with it by now.

X stood a little farther away.

“Good to see you awake.”

“Thanks.”

“We won’t stay long,” X explained. “We just came to check on you before going back to Hermitcraft for a spell. I need to check on the others and fix a bug that XB found. Is there anything you want from home while I’m there?”

Gem thought for a moment.

“A Pearl.”

X blinked. “An ender pearl?”

“No, a Pearlescentmoon.”

“Ah,” X grinned, his eyes crinkling behind his visor. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks.”

Gem and Skizz chatted for a few more minutes, until Nurse Riley came back and shooed the visitors out, leaving Gem alone with her own thoughts.

She managed to sleep a small amount through the night, disturbed mostly by the ever-present feeling of blood. Her nurse had emphasised that she was absolutely not allowed to use tampons for at least the rest of her current period, if not the next one too. She was given plenty of pads and told if she ever needed anything to press the blue button beside the bed and either Riley or the nightshift nurse, who she learned was named Mirrian, would come and assist her.

Late the next morning, Riley came in, escorting a very worried-looking Pearl, who, if it wasn’t for the kindly yet stern nurse watching her, probably would have dive-bombed her in a hug.

“Gem!”

“Hi, Pearl.”

Pearl sat down on the edge of the bed, managing to give Gem a hug despite the wires and tubes that still strapped her to the machines around her.

“Careful!” Riley snapped.

“Sorry, nurse,” Pearl replied sheepishly. “I’ll be careful.”

Riley pursed her lips, wheeling away the leftovers of breakfast and muttering about rowdy Hermits. Gem was pretty sure she caught the names “Scar” and “Mumbo” in there, which confirmed the noise she had heard before.

“So,” Pearl began, “what’s up?”

“Nothing,” Gem lied. “I just wanted to see my Pearl.”

“Liar,” Pearl teased. “You’re doing the thing with your eyes, Gem. Where they tell the truth. I can see it. I can see into your very soul through those eyes and I see that you lie.”

Gem bit her lip.

“Well?” Pearl prompted gently.

“Pearl this is all my fault! I’m the one who decided to try and play shark games while on my stupid period, even though I shouldn’t have.” Tears were already spilling down Gem’s face. “And then I couldn’t change tampons soon enough and it made me sick and then I kept going and I passed out in the water and because of me Grian is injured and I’m stuck here and Hermitcraft is in shambles and it’s all because of my stupidity and how I can’t do anything right and I’m dumb and I—”

“Woah! Slow down!” Pearl exclaimed.

Gem took a breath while Pearl thought through what she had said.

“Look,” she began. “This isn’t all your fault. Yes you decided to play a shark game on your period, but that doesn’t mean it's your fault. You can’t control that.”

“But I should’ve just opted out.”

“Maybe, but it’s stupid to beat yourself up about that. I know how hard it is to talk to guys about this stuff,” she offered a goofy grin. “I’ve had countless awkward moments with Grian and believe me, it’s not easy. I don’t blame you for not saying anything.”

“But I—”

“Stop it,” Pearl said firmly, but kindly. “You’re not stupid for not being able to control everything. And you’re certainly not stupid for needing help. The only stupid thing you’ve done is think this is all your fault. Anyone would agree with me. You name a Hermit and I guarantee they will.”

Gem sniffled. “But Grian’s hurt because of me.”

“No he’s not,” Pearl corrected. “Grian would have jumped in that shark’s path regardless of who it was, or if you had told him to or not.”

Despite Pearl’s words, Gem still felt guilty. It must have been visible on her face, because Pearl’s smile dropped. She stood up.

“Give me a minute.”

Then she hurried out of the room.

Gem sat there, listening to the beeping and whirring of her machines, wiping her tears on her sleeve. Even Pearl thinks I’m pathetic.

Pearl came back shortly, accompanied by Riley, who was pushing a slightly drowsy, very fed-up-looking Grian in a wheelchair with a heavily bandaged arm; the nurse looked unimpressed with the whole scene.

“You have 5 minutes,” she stated.

“10,” Pearl challenged.

Riley gave her a withering glare.

“5 minutes, yes ma’am.”

The nurse nodded curtly, parking Grian’s chair next to the bed and walking out.

Grian snickered.

“Even the great Pearlescentmoon can’t stand up to the fearsome Nurse Riley,” he grinned.

“I heard that Grian,” came Riley’s voice from the hall.

Grian looked down at his lap, eyes wide. “Sorry ma’am.”

Pearl laughed. “This is really embarrassing for you, G. I’m pretty sure she’s like, 10 years younger than you or something.”

“But she’s scary!” Grian whined.

“Big baby,” came Pearl’s teasing reply.

Grian batted a hand at her.

“Now,” Pearl said. “Gem, tell Grian what you told me.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I’m squashing these pity-parties right now.”

Gem lowered her gaze to the bed, not saying anything. No one spoke for a minute.

“Grian… I-I’m so sorry,” she sniffed, ashamed of the tears already welling up. “I should have been stronger and less stupid and you shouldn’t have gotten hurt because of me and it’s all my fault and I’m so so sorry.”

She closed her eyes as fresh tears sprang to her eyes. Gosh I’m pitiful.

“Now Grian, tell Gem what you told me.”

Another moment of silence.

“Gem, it’s not your fault,” Grian mumbled. “I should have caught you when you fell, but I was too busy trying to get one of the others to see that you needed my help.”

Gem looked up, surprised.

“Scar and Mumbo have been trying to distract me, but I still felt terrible. If I had just caught you none of this would have happened.”

“I didn’t know you felt that bad,” Gem admitted.

“Me either,” Grian agreed. “But regarding you,” he added as an afterthought.

Pearl smiled in satisfaction.

“Well, this is the most wet-cat-like I’ve ever seen either of you,” she teased.

“Shut up,” Grian shot back, but he was smiling again.

“So. We all agree it’s neither of your faults. Just a very unfortunate series of coincidences.” Pearl sat down. “We all feel better now, yeah?”

Gem nodded, wiping tears away again.

“Good,” Grian said, “now please save me! Scar and Mumbo are driving me crazy and I can’t get them to leave! I think Scar keeps charmspeaking the nurses to let them stay.”

Gem laughed. The first genuine laugh she had felt since she stepped onto that raft.

It would be a long, slow, annoying recovery, but she would be okay. Her friends didn’t hate her, she hadn’t killed anyone, and no one thought her any more pathetic or stupid than normal. With her friends – no – her family, beside her, she could get through this; though she wasn’t too keen on the idea of using tampons again any time soon.