its a wonderful life [camren]

thirteen

For a cold winter's day, the sun was absolutely blinding. Lauren dreaded opening her eyes, but alas a new day was upon her. Perhaps it would be better than the last. All through the night, the night nurse kept waking her up and checking her vitals. She definitely did not sleep well, not to mention the fact that she was somewhat depressed. She couldn't believe that her dream had that big of an effect on her. But it did and knowing that it wasn't real made her hurt, she was aching of her something that was never hers to begin with. She tried desperately to dream of it again; thoughts of Camila's miraculous recovery and the birth of their son were always the last thing she thought of before drifting off. However, she never dreamed of it again. Lauren closed her eyes again as she heard the footsteps walk into the room. She was facing the window on the opposite side of the room so hopefully whoever it was would think she was actually sleeping. She was not in the mood to be poked or prodded, a nurse had just done that thirty minutes ago, surely it was not time for another 'check-up.' Lauren clenched her eyes as the person neared her bed, she could feel whoever it was hovering over her body. Suddenly a hand was gently caressing her face; she couldn't help but jump and quickly open her eyes.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed at the sudden touch.

"Sorry, I thought you were sleeping," Camila bit her lip, nervous that she had been caught.

"I thought you were one of the nurses," Lauren replied as she looked up at her, she was so much smaller than her, she seemed miles away.

"Oh," Camila replied, not really knowing what to say.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren asked, it was still so early, only 7:15 in the morning.

"I just wanted to check on you," Camila responded awkwardly, looking down at the ground. "I'm sorry I scared you; it probably wasn't the best idea."

"No, its ok, thanks for caring" Lauren smiled.

"I'll always care, Lauren ," Camila replied.

Lauren nodded her head. "I know."

"I um...really I should go, you should go back to sleep," Camila said digging her hands in her coat pockets.

"Oh, so soon?" Lauren questioned. Lauren wanted to spend more time with her, she was so happy to see that she wasn't actually dead. She knew she wasn't hers, she had after all made that decision but being around Camila just made her feel better.

"I have to be at the dance studio for rehearsal soon," Camila replied, hoping that she'd ask her to stay because she would in an instant.

Lauren was about to respond when she heard yelling in the hallway. "Anahí, you come back here! No running in the hospital!"

Camila chuckled, it reminded her of her mother. "Sounds like Mom isn't happy," she had been looking through the open door to see who she assumed was a young mother running after her young daughter. She was confused when she turned around to see Lauren crying her eyes out. "Laur..."

"I...I'm s...sorry," Lauren sobbed as she lowered her head in her hands, completely embarrassed but incredibly saddened at what she had just seen.

"What's the matter?" Camila was at her side immediately, she sat on the edge of the bed. She pulled her into her arms and was surprised when she didn't push her away; instead she wrapped her arms around her neck, crying hard into her chest. "Don't cry, pretty girl, don't cry." Lauren's heart stopped at her words, she'd said them to her in her dream right before she died. Her cries became louder as she squeezed her tighter. "What? Lauren, what? You're scaring me. What did I do? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, no, you're perfect," Lauren mumbled against her chest before slowly lifting her head up and seeing her worried brown eyes.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Camila said sincerely as her gentle hands wiped away her fallen tears.