Only You Can Save Me

"Just walk out on me. Whatever."

Camila sat at the dining room table, sipping her juice and eating her dinner as she read over news articles on her phone. Lauren had been at work again and it was snowing. Camila, being due in just over a week, chose not to go anywhere that day. All of her Christmas shopping was done already so she had no reason to go out.

Camila brought up an article about a bank robbery the day before. The more she read, the more she found herself freezing up. Sure, Lauren had told her that she got caught up at work yesterday, but never once did she mention that shots were fired at officers. Camila let out a heavy breath and closed her eyes to keep herself calm. She wanted to think that Lauren wasn't involved in it, but as she read her fiancee's name near the end of the article as one of the arresting officers, her heart sank. Camila slowly rubbed her hand over her overly swollen stomach. This was too much for her. Lauren was involved in another gun fight, just the day before, and her fiancee hadn't even told her about it.

Lauren was at working finishing up some paper work from the arrest that happened the day before. She responded to a bank robbery and was fired at by the suspect a few times. She wasn't hit, but she ended up making the arrest. Lauren walked over to her boss's desk and put the papers in his bin before grabbing her stuff and heading out the door to go home. She got in her car and drove to the flower shop by their house. She got Camila a rose and some chocolates before coming home. Her fiancé had been craving chocolate lately and Lauren wanted to do something nice for her.

After 5 minutes she found herself pulling in the driveway and walking up to the front door. Lauren got inside and closed the door behind her, turning the alarm on before heading into the dining room. "I'm home, babe." She said with a smile as she held up the rose and chocolates.

Camila forced herself to finish off her own food as she read and reread the same article over and over again. She barely reacted when she heard Lauren come in the front door and pop into the dining room. "Why didn't you tell me?" She stated flatly as she slowly looked up at Lauren. Camila had been fighting tears since she read the article. What if Lauren had been hurt? What if she'd been shot again.

Lauren stopped in her tracks as she heard the tone of her fiancé's voice. "Tell you what?" She asked as she set the flower and chocolate by Camila before backing up some. 

"Why am I reading about this on the news homepage instead of hearing it from you?" Camila lifted her phone to show Lauren the headline 'Shots fired during robbery in Boulder.' She wiped at her eyes some as she looked right into Lauren's eyes.

The police officer sighed heavily as she looked at the title of the article her fiancé was reading. "I didn't want you to worry." Lauren said as she bent down to untie her boots. She set them by the front door before leaning against a wall and looking at Camila. "Because I knew that we would have the same argument we did months ago when I got shot if I told you...and I don't want to fight about that anymore." She said softly. "I didn't get shot. I was wearing a vest. I'm fine." She said as she ran her fingers through her hair.

Camila frowned toward Lauren. "But you didn't tell me." Having hidden from her made it worse than it would have been had she been told about it yesterday. "You should have told me yesterday." She looked back at her phone before throwing it onto the table. Camila closed her eyes and rubbed her hand over her stomach.

Lauren sighed heavily. She hated this argument. It happened less and less frequently since the shooting a few months back, but now here it was again... "I'm sorry. I don't know what you want me to do about it now." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. Lauren hated this argument. She felt guilty...and Camila would make sure of that. "I don't want to quit being a patrol officer." She said firmly.