True Love (Camren)

Chapter 12

"Hi," she says weakly in a raspy voice.

"Um, I think you should keep that on..." Lauren says in a questioning tone.

Camila shrugs. "W-what happened?" She asks quietly.

Lauren's lip quivers. "Y-your dad... he, he beat you with a b-bottle," she says, tears welling in her eyes once more just thinking about it. As the first tear falls, Camila lifts her hand weakly and cups her cheek, wiping the tear away with her thumb.

"I'm sorry," Camila says sadly.

Lauren furrows her eyebrows. "W-why are you sorry?"

"I didn't... tell someone..." She says, almost drifting off to sleep for a second before focusing back on her. Lauren shakes her head.

"It's okay. It would be terrifying to tell someone about that. Although I kinda wish you would've, so this didn't happen," Lauren says sadly.

Camila nods. "I know..." Her one good eye widens in terror when she thinks of something.

"Where is Sofia?!" She asks in a panic.

Lauren sits up straighter. "I-I think she's with your aunt and uncle. They should be on their way now."

Camila relaxes a little. "What about my mother?" She asks shakily.

"She's... down the hall," Camila looks at her in confusion.

"She's two rooms down. Dinah, Ally, and Normani went to go see how she was," she informs the confused girl regretfully.

Camila's tears start to run down her cheeks. "I-I was trying to protect them from him... but I couldn't," her voice cracks before she starts sobbing and then wincing in pain from her ribs.

"Camila, he's in jail now. He's going to trial in a few weeks, and he is going away for good. There's no way they would let him walk after this happened. And you and your mom will get better and although it'll be scary, you'll get past this," Lauren says softly, getting up and sitting next to her on the bed before hugging her carefully so she didn't hurt her. Camila buries her head in her shirt and Lauren can feel her relax a little. She pulls back from the hug and sits back down in the chair.

"Thank you for... being here..." Camila says quietly, the medicine making her drowsy once more.

Lauren smiles, kissing her forehead gently and letting her lips linger there for a moment, grateful that she was still able to do such a little action on her. She slides the oxygen mask back onto her mouth and nose, knowing she was bound to pass out again any second. Camila's too weak to object, and sure enough she drifts off the sleep again in less than two minutes with Lauren still holding her hand. Dinah walks back in five minutes later with tears running down her face, Ally and Normani following looking almost as distraught.

Lauren sits up when she sees them. "How is she?" She asks nervously.

"She's not dying," Dinah says, trying to stay positive. "She has a broken arm, bruises and broken glasses but, Camila got it the worst," she says, her voice breaking at the end of her sentence.

Normani puts her head on her shoulder, hugging her sideways to try to help comfort her. "I-I didn't even know... How could I be so clueless?" Ally asks.

"It's so obvious now. I feel like a fucking idiot," Normani says.

"It's not... Your fault..." Camila mumbles, her eyes still closed.

"You're awake," Dinah says, not being able to contain her relief that she wasn't in some sort of coma.

"She woke up before, too. But she fell asleep right before you came back," Lauren tells her.