The girls were surprised when, over the next couple of weeks, Lauren's anxiety hadn't seemed to alleviate any. It had been taking a toll on Camzi as well because she was worried about her mommy. A new day had just begun and overcast skies clouded the sun as a pale light shone in through the windows.
Lauren stirred in bed next to Dinah and Camila before sitting up groggily in her inebriated state. Anxiety immediately flooded the small girl. She wanted to feel in control again. That's all she wanted. Getting up and finding herself wandering into her bathroom, she reached for a familiar box underneath her sink. Taking hold of one of the blades in the box, she took a deep breath before she rolled up her sleeves and started to hurt herself. A half an hour or so must have passed before she finished and snapped back into reality. Lauren dried her eyes and cleaned up the mess from the floor before hiding her box back under the sink. As she did, she eyed the baggie of Xanax, quickly giving in and taking out two of the bars and popping them. Lauren stumbled out of the bathroom before laying back down in bed, falling asleep once more.
Demi, who had come into the room to get everyone up for breakfast was startled by the deep red bloodstains on Lauren's sleeves. She went and sat down on the edge of the bed next to where Lauren was sleeping.
Demi shook the small girl, "Laur, hun... wake up, please." The commotion woke Dinah from her sleep. The blonde sat up and looked around, trying to determine what was happening.
"Dinah..." Demi said sadly, eyeing Lauren's arms. Dinah sighed sadly before scooping the sleeping girl up in her arms and carrying her to the bathroom.
"Was she hard to wake up?" Dinah asked Demi as she slid Lauren's shirt over her head.
"Jesus Christ, kid..." Demi gasped when she saw Lauren's body without her shirt on. Her arms were splattered in deep gashes and she had smaller cuts on her waist and hips. Something else saddened Demi though, Lauren looked like she had lost a good 20 pounds that she didn't have to lose in the first place. She was so small, too small... Demi thought.
"Demi?" Dinah questioned.
"Y Yeah?" Demi choked back her tears and wiped her eyes.
"Was she hard to wake up?" Dinah questioned once more.
Demi nodded, "You don't think she took-"
Dinah nodded, "I do." Demi sighed and ran a hand through her hair.
"I don't wanna admit her, Dems..." Dinah stated, her voice breaking as tears sprung to her eyes.
"We can try to help her here. I can call Selena, you know she went to school for this kind of thing," Demi suggested.
Dinah sighed and nodded, "Yeah, call her, Dems. Can you hand me the first aid kit first, though?" Dinah asked. Demi nodded and handed her the first aid kit from under the sink. Dinah began to clean and dress Lauren's arms, waist, and hips while Demi went to go and call Selena.
S: Hello?
D: Hey, girl. I kinda need your help with a situation.
S: What's going on?
D: It's Lauren... she's spiraling. She's abusing Xanax, self-harming, not eating, and God knows what else, Selena. I'm worried sick about her and we just know admitting her will break her, so can you please come stay with us for a while and help her through this?
S: Oh my God, of course, Dems. Does she know I'm coming?
D: No, she's knocked out. Dinah and I think she took Xanax again.
S: I'm gonna pack and then I'll be on my way. Give me an hour.
D: Thank you so much, love.
S: Anytime. See you soon.
D: See you soon.
Demi hung up the phone and walked back into the room to see Dinah in bed with Lauren on one side cuddled up to her and Camila on the other. Lauren was KO. Meanwhile, Camzi was sucking her thumb watching Lauren sleep.
"Wanna try and get Laur up for breakfast? I can take Camzi down," Demi offered.
Dinah looked down at Lauren, "Uh, yeah, sure..." She turned to Camzi, "Camzi, hun. Go downstairs with Demi. She's gonna get you some breakfast."
Camzi sat up and pointed at Lauren, "Mommy ea?"
"Dinah is gonna wake her up and bring her downstairs to eat, yeah," Demi told the small girl. Camzi nodded and slid off of the bed, following Demi downstairs. As the pair left the room, Dinah turned to Lauren, wondering how she should go about waking her up.
Dinah pulled the small Cuban onto her lap and smoothed her hair out of her face before shaking her, "Lauuuur." Nothing. She shook her again. Still nothing. Dinah sighed and reached for the bottle of water by her bedside. She opened it and gently poured a small amount over the sleeping girl's head, resulting in her slowly waking up.
"Hey, hun," Dinah cooed, wiping the water from Lauren's face. Lauren looked down, noticing she was in a different hoodie, and looked back up at Dinah with tears brimming her emerald eyes.
"What's wrong, Lauren? Talk to me, yeah?" Dinah spoke softly as she brought the small girl closer to her.
"Y you changed me?" Lauren stuttered as her tears began to fall.
"Sweetheart... your arms were covered in blood..." Lauren shook her head, her breathing quickening.
"Darling, do you not remember?" Dinah inquired as she steadied the girl on her lap. Lauren broke down crying and shook her head. She must have done it when she was all groggy from taking the Xanax, Dinah thought to herself as she began to comfort the crying girl on her lap.
"It's gonna be alright, hun. Come here," Dinah cooed as she welcomed the upset girl into her embrace. Dinah smoothed Lauren's hair and rocked her gently like she could Camzi in hopes of soothing her in her unstable state.
"Shhh," Dinah whispered as Lauren began to calm down, falling asleep again.
"Hey, Lauren, sweetie. You need to wake up. You need to eat something, yeah?" Dinah pleaded. Lauren shook her head, whimpering.
"Lauren, why won't you eat? Dems and I know you haven't been eating..." Dinah pried sadly.
"Do you have an eating disorder?" That sent Lauren over the edge and she started sobbing into her hands.
Demi walked in, "Hey, hey... what's going on, Laur?"
"Shhh," Dinah brought Lauren closer and rocked her.
"I asked her if she had an eating disorder," Dinah explained sadly.
Demi sat down next to Dinah and Lauren, "Sweetheart, you can talk to me about it... Please?" Demi pleaded with the crying girl.
"S something bad will h happen if I I eat," Lauren whimpered.
"Baby... nothing bad is going to happen if you eat. What could you possibly think will happen if you eat, baby girl?" Demi questioned the small girl.
"C Camz..." Lauren trembled as she broke down into tears again.
"Camz is safe. Say it with me, hun... Camz is safe," Demi spoke calmly. Lauren shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she struggled to catch her breath. Demi and Dinah shared a concerned look. Demi's phone ringing interrupted Lauren's cries. She looked down to see that it was Selena. Thank God, Demi thought to herself. She answered and stepped out of the room.
Demi sighed.
D: Hey.
S: Hey, I'm here.
D: Just in time too.
S: Why do you say that?
Demi hung up the call and opened the door for Selena, greeting her with a hug.
"Come with me, please," Demi asked of her friend. Selena nodded and followed Demi up the stairs and into Lauren's room. Selena was surprised when she was met with Lauren sobbing into Dinah's shoulder with her hands clutched tightly over her ears.
"Demi, I think she's hallucinating..." Dinah said sadly.
"Girls, she needs to go to a hospital. She's obviously experiencing some sort of psychotic break," Selena stated her opinion. The only word Lauren could make out that Selena said was hospital, but that terrified her. She broke free of Dinah's gentle hold and took off out of the room, finding somewhere small and dark to hide as she cried.