"How is she?" Ethaline asked as she walked through the doors.
"Looks like she waking up now." Eliot said happily. He had been waiting and waiting for hours on end for his sister to get out of surgery and then to wake up, he wanted to see his sister smile again.
"Hi Cameron." Dr. Cade said, stepping forward. Cameron looked down confused and discombobulated.
"Where are my pants?" She questioned, looking down at her hospital gown.
"You were just in surgery, your pants are over here." Evan held up the bag the contained her clothes.
"My pants," she repeated and then nodded, everything slowly coming back to her. Her face.
"How are you feeling?" Dr. Cade went on with a smile.
"Terrible." Cammie replied feeling the ache around her face, her new face.
"Then we are right on target," Ethaline said with a smile.
"You want to have a look? See what will be looking back at you for the rest of your life?" Dr. Cade offered holding up a mirror. Cammie shook her head slightly. No.
"That's all right, no rush." Ethaline added. "It is going to look different, unlike anything you have seen because it's new. Maybe like your looking at a stranger even, but it won't always be that way." Cammie nodded.
"But no one laughs, or smiles, holds their head the way you do." Dr. Cade added from the back of the room.
"Colton is outside, he wanted to see you. Make sure you were alright." Ethaline said glancing out the door to the tall boy waiting with flowers.
"Why don't we give you a moment alone." Dr. Cade said as she and Ethaline made a hasty exit.
"He has been here a few hours." Scarlett said. "But if you don't want to see him, I'm sure he will understand." Cammie looked down to the mirror on her bed. It was face down and she wasn't sure if she was even ready to see her face let alone someone else.
"It's still you." Evan said holding onto Cammie's hand. "You can take as long as you want, as long as you need." Evan added.
"Eliot, didn't you have something you Cammie?" Scarlett said, tipping her head to his backpack.
"Oh right." Eliot pulled out a locket. "This is from me." Cammie looked down at it, it sparkled in her hands.
"Thank you El. I love it. I love you." Cammie looked up to her parents as Eliot sat in bed with her. "I love you all."
"We love you." Scarlett said quietly. Her baby had a face again, a new face, a strangers face, but a face she could be proud of.
"I want to see." She said softly. "I want to see me." Evan moved to hold up the mirror, but she put her hand up over it. She took the mirror from him. "I'm scared."
"We are right here for you. Right here. Always." Scarlett said, they all sat on the bed now.
"Do you want me to hold it up for you?" Eliot offered confused.
"Sure, I think that would be nice. Thanks Eliot." He reached for it.
"Ready? On Three. One... two... three." He flipped it up revealing Cammie's new face to her, her jaw dropped and her eyes welled with tears.
"That's me?" She questioned. Touching her cheek gently with her fingers, she watched the girl in the mirror repeat her actions.
"It's still you." Scarlett said kissing her head gently. "Still my baby girl."
"What do you think?" Cammie asked, through mumbled words looking up to him nervously. She never felt nervous around him before, even when her face was destroyed he was always so kind to her.
"You look beautiful," Colton said holding out the flowers.
"Hi, is this a bad time? I can come back." Ethaline said, clipboard in hand and took a back towards the door.
"No come in. Ethaline this is Colton. My friend."
"It is a pleasure to officially meet the man Cammie constantly talks about." Ethaline said shaking Colton's hand.
"She talks a lot about you too." Colton said smiling.
"Can I go over a few things really quickly about what's to come, what you should expect over the next few months?" Cammie nodded as her parents entered her room following Ethaline in. "You will need speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy, before you get your full range of motion back in your face." Scarlett and Evan shared a knowing glance, they had both been through a similar protocol. Ethaline talked and talked giving Scarlett and Evan pamphlets and prescriptions. "Cammie this is going to take a while, but you will get better. You will be you again. It's just going to take work."
"I understand that. Anything worth doing or being takes work." Cammie said holding up the mirror again. It was so strange seeing herself, but not herself.
"Hi... I'm Kayla, Caroline's mom..." Miss Harmon said when she saw Cammie's... when she saw Caroline's face on someone else's body. She choked back tears as Scarlett and Evan welcomed her in, thanking her over and over again. Also apologizing for what happened to her daughter. "I thought you might want to get to know who the face used to be." She handed Cammie as small photo album it contained pictures of Caroline from birth to what looked like just days before the accident. Kayla Harmon bit down on her lower lip as watched Cammie flip through the photos.
"She is beautiful. Thank you."
Miss Harmon just nodded. Placed a gentle hand on Cammie's cheek, and left tearing streaming down her face.
