weak ➸ camren

epilogue

She popped the container inside the designated paper bag and set it aside. This carried on for a while, as she slowly made her way down the alphabetized list.

Eventually, she developed such a system that she was practically in a trance. Check off the box for the previous prescription, scroll down to the next one, fill the container, seal it, and set it aside. It was muscle memory for her.

She took a break to glance at her phone. Only ten minutes until she could lock up and go home. With a thankful sigh, she scrolled down to the last prescription she'd be filling for the night.

Out of boredom, she tossed the orange container up and down as she waited for the label to print out. Once it did, she slapped it onto the plastic cylinder and took a quick glance at the medication she'd be needing to fill.

Her nose crinkled up when she realized it was a prescription for Temozolomide; a chemotherapy drug. Groaning, she set the container down and fished around in the drawers behind the counter until she found a set of gloves. 

Camila slipped the rubber gloves over her hands and grabbed the container once more. She pulled her staff keys out of her pocket and shuffled into the back of the store, unlocking the heavy door and slipping inside the small room.

She was instantly met with the distasteful smell of the strong medicines. Camila didn't understand how someone could stand the smell, let alone ingest pills like these every day. She scanned the list of side effects and grimaced. Vomiting, Hair loss, Low blood counts, ect. Camila bit her lip.

As she carefully counted out the pills and dropped them into the container, she allowed her mind to wander. She wondered who these pills belonged to. She wondered how long they'd been sick for. Did them have someone to take care of them? Cancer scared her. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think about something happier.

Once she filled the container, she quickly locked the room back up and made her way over to the computer. She screwed the lid onto the orange container and was just about to turn around to put it away just as the ding over the speakers indicated that someone had entered the store.

Camila didn't pay much attention to it. She slipped off her gloves and disappeared behind the rows of shelving in the nurse's station. Before she could put away the small container, though, she became aware of a pair of footsteps approaching the counter. She glanced at the clock, realizing she was supposed to close 5 minutes ago.

"We're closed!" she called from behind the shelves, biting her lip. She hated turning people away, but she could get in trouble for dispensing medications after hours. "You'll have to come back tomorrow," she added.

"I, uh, I don't think that's an option," a raspy voice sounded from behind the counter. Camila was met with an overwhelming sense of familiarity for some odd reason. "Can you please just check? My doctor was supposed to send it over. It's under the name Jauregui."

Jauregui.

Camila practically fell backwards, but she quickly regained her balance. Her heart started racing and she slowly stepped out from behind the counter. From the way Lauren's face drained of color, she assumed they were both shocked to see the other.

"Lauren?" she asked in disbelief. She studied the other girl. She was paler than she remembered. And smaller. Camila had to hold back a smile when she realized Lauren was still wearing the leather jacket she had favored so many years ago. She even dressed the same. From the shoes on her feet up to the gray beanie on her head.

"Camila?" the other girl laughed nervously and shook her head. "I can't believe it's you," she half-whispered, scanning the other girl up and down.