Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Twenty

Next, she was led to a room where the x-ray would be taken. It hadn't taken the doctor long to gather the images that he needed to discover the problem with Lauren, and soon enough, she was sitting in a chair out in the hall awaiting the answer. After a few long minutes, he returned to the hall where she waited anxiously for the results. In his hand he held a piece of paper that must have had all of the details on it.

"Is it an ulcer?" Lauren asked, standing up from her seat.

"Yeah, so don't worry. We'll keep you overnight, then we will prescribe you with medication that you'll take home tomorrow. The ulcer is bleeding out, which is the only reason that I'm requiring you to stay overnight. If you had waited any longer Lauren, it could have been much more intricate. So good judgement for coming here tonight. Now follow me, and I'll show you to your room." he explained.

Lauren followed him to a room where she was hooked up to and IV filled with antacids to lower her stomach's acid level. She had one roommate in the room, who was an elderly woman that seemed to keep to herself. Once the doctor had left her, she pulled out her phone and dialed Ally's cell phone number. Instantly, her friend answered the phone.

"What's the verdict?" she asked Lauren.

"I've got a stomach ulcer. It's a lot less scary than I thought it'd be. Honestly, it could have been much worse. But they're keeping me overnight just to keep an eye on me. Could you put Camila on the phone for me? I want to explain this to her." Lauren asked Ally.

"Sure." Ally responded.

There were thirty seconds full of silence, until a sleepy Camila answered, "Lauren? Where are you?"

"I'm at the hospital. I wasn't feeling well this week so I went, and it turns out that I have a stomach ulcer. Luckily I caught onto it before it actually caused some permanent damage. They're keeping me overnight tonight just to keep an eye on me. Tomorrow they are sending me home with some medication. In the long run, I'll be fine." Lauren explained to her worried girlfriend.

"Why didn't you tell me that you weren't feeling well?" she asked, sounding a little annoyed.

Lauren sighed and said, "I just didn't want to worry you. I'm really sorry for not telling you until something had happened."

"It's okay, Lauren." Camila said, which surprised her. She expected a full-blown battle to occur, but it didn't. "I love you too much to fight about something as silly as that. It'd be dumb. Now what caused the ulcer? Was it stress?"

"Yeah. It must have just been a mix of everything going on at once. Everything will return to normal once I'm home. It'll be you, me, the twins, the girls, and my antacids." Lauren tried to make a joke, which failed.

"Okay, Lauren. Get some rest. I'll see you in the morning, alright? Sleep and rest well. I love you." she said to Lauren.

"I love you too. Goodnight." Lauren responded, ending the phone call.

Lauren laid back and let out a sigh because of the whole situation. Her eyes shifted to the television set in the room that was playing the news. There were various headlines that seemed pointless to Lauren, except for one. The headline read: New Technology Will Allow Blind Patients to Have Optic Nerve Surgery. Did this mean that Camila could get surgery to allow her the ability to see things for the first time?

As she watched the news, she learned that the surgery had required a transplant from someone who had passed away and donated their optic nerves. Lauren wasn't going to kill herself for the gift of Camila's vision, but it would have been nice if she could at least give up one of her own optic nerves to Camila. That way they'd both be able to see out of at least one eye. However, that weren't possible. She sighed with disappointment, catching the attention of the elderly woman in the bed next to hers.

"What's the matter over there, dear?" she asked Lauren.

Lauren looked over to see the tired, old woman and said, "Did you see that news segment just now? They have new technology that can give a blind person vision, if only they had someone to transplant their optic nerve to them. The problem is, they can't take someone who is alive's optic nerve. The nerve needs to be transplanted from someone who had passed away."

"Oh, I see. Are you blind? Or is it maybe someone that you love?" the woman asked Lauren.

"My girlfriend was born blind, and I would do anything in the world to make her happy. If I could bring her vision to her eyes, I would do so with all of the power that I possess. She deserves so much that hasn't been gifted to her, and I'm just trying to do all that I can."

"I can see that you're a really caring person towards your girlfriend. What is your name, hun?" she asked.

"I'm Lauren. What's yours?"

"My name is Anneliese." the elderly woman introduced herself. "And let me tell you something that I've learned from all of the years that I've lived. Stay kind, strong, and happy, and good things will come to you and those that you love."

Lauren and Anneliese shared a smile together after she had stated her words of wisdom. This advice was now something that Lauren was going to live by. She was going to continue to live on the way that she always had, and maybe one day, she'd find a way to bestow the gift of sight to woman that she loved oh so much.