The Way to Love (Camren)

Chapter 18: The White Rose

"Right." Camila nodded.

"I don't really think she's taking it very well. I mean she's relieved that everything ended up okay, and she's safe now— but I think she's half embarrassed, half ashamed of herself. She lost control last night, and when I talked to her this morning, I got the feeling that this may not have been the only time that she's experienced binge drinking."

"It's not." Camila confirmed, knowing she couldn't say anything further.

"Ok." Normani nodded. "So that makes sense. It's just that she might not... want to talk to you right now. When she finished talking to all the nurses, she could barely look me or Dinah in the eye."

Camila felt her heart fall.

"She's going to need some time." Normani continued. "To come to grips with what happened, to endure the scolding from her parents, to realize that everyone has slip ups. She doesn't have to make this her fault, and we all make mistakes sometimes."

Camila finished up the muffin, and Normani took both the crumb covered wrapper and the paper bag from her so she could crumple it up and toss it into the trashcan by the door. "She's going to need space to get back into the routine of things... class, learning, assignments. I have a feeling that it's going to take her some time to heal."

"I understand." The Latina got to her feet. "I won't pressure her into anything, I promise." She looked at her roommate sincerely. "But can we at least go and see her?"

"Of course." Normani took Camila's hand, leading her out of the room and down the hall. Turning the first corner, Camila was nearly covered in scalding beverage as the squeak of running shoes on shiny floor caused her to stop in her tracks. She let her arms fly in front of her, while a flustered Dinah had to teeter on her feet to prevent coffee from flying everywhere.

"Wow. That could have been a funeral for both of us." Dinah remarked as she handed the tray of to-go cups to Normani and instantly wrapped Camila into a hug. "Hey you."

"Hi." Camila smiled, closing her eyes and letting Dinah's familiar embrace really top off the happiness of the morning. "What did you get me?"

"They didn't have any two percent milk for coffee, so I just got you a large hot chocolate. Is that alright?"

"That's perfect." Camila plucked the cup Dinah had gestured to and took a long happy sip. "Thank you."

"No worries." Dinah smiled down at her. "Did Mani give you the rundown on everything that's happened while you've been napping?"

"She did." Camila acknowledged as Normani led them down to a specific room at the end of the hallway. "I really just need to see her."

***

"Alright, everything looks good here. You're all set." The doctor who's name Lauren couldn't remember let go of her wrist and put down the black tape. "You'll need to be back in a few weeks so we can remove that and give you some exercises that should help strengthen the bone. Until then, no heavy lifting or strain of any kind, sound good?"

"Yeah." Lauren nodded kindly, letting her wrist lie gently in her lap. The pain was in the process of ebbing away, and it was definitely coming as a massive relief. "And thank you for everything you've done."

"Oh no, the pleasure's all ours." The man smiled as he rolled his chair over to the counter on the other side of the room. "It's good to see you up on your feet this morning, although you gave my nurses quite a scare when they entered your room and saw you weren't in bed."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. I really didn't mean to cause anyone concern. Everything was pretty confusing last night."

The man smiled as he packed away the plaster and coloured tape into the drawers. "I'm sure it was. It's always a little unnerving to wake up hurting in a strange place." He spoke sympathetically. "Luckily your friend there had chosen to stay the night. She was quite persistent."