Lauren felt like she was in a dream.
Her heart was still beating violently against her chest from when she was forced to swerve off the road. She glanced back at their car, eternally thankful that they hadn't gotten in an accident.
Unfortunately, the people in the black minivan couldn't say the same. Lauren glanced back at the overturned car which was now completely enveloped in smoke. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.
She reached out and grabbed onto her wife's shoulder as the blaring sound of sirens approached them. They were blinded by the lights as a firetruck skidded to a halt at the side of the road and men immediately began hurrying over to the overturned car.
It was so loud that Lauren could barely tell if the smaller girl in Camila's arms was still crying. All three of them now reeked of gasoline but Lauren didn't even notice. She was only worried about Camila and the small child that her wife had practically torn out of the totaled car.
"Is everything alright ladies?"
Camila and Lauren both jumped when they were approached by a man in uniform, and Lauren quickly got up to help her wife to her feet. The girl in Camila's arms held even tighter to her, refusing to lift her face from her shoulder as she cried helplessly.
"I'm assuming you called this in?" he asked, and Lauren nodded slowly. Before he could say anything else, though, one of the firefighters jogged over to them.
"There's signs of a child in there but there's no child within the radius of the c-," he started, but cut his sentence short when Lauren cleared her throat and nodded toward the girl in Camila's arms.
"Oh my god," the man called one of the paramedics over. "Is she hurt? Did she walk to you?"
Camila's eyes widened and she glanced at Lauren for help. The green eyed girl quickly stepped forwards slightly in front of her wife and shook her head.
"She, uh, she heard crying and got her from the car," Lauren explained, biting her lip. "She's not hurt as far as we can tell, except for this," she added, pointing to the small scrape on the girl's head to which the paramedic nodded.
"Boss, there's two passengers in there," another man appeared, pulling a mask off of his head. "It's not looking good."
"What do you mean?" the first officer asked. Lauren and Camila exchanged nervous glances.
"We can't find a pulse and Derek says it looks like the girl is pregnant."
"Take Rodrick back down with you and see if you can get a pulse going," the man's voice turned serious. "Go!" The firefighter quickly nodded and disappeared moments later. Camila glanced at Lauren, anxiety flickering in her eyes.
"Thank you for calling this in," the man turned back to them. The lights flickered against his face and made him look even more intimidating. "If you don't have any other information for us, you're free to leave."
"Here," a paramedic approached them, holding out his hands towards Camila. She glanced at Lauren worriedly and didn't make a move, so he took this as a sign to step forward and take the girl from her arms. As soon as he tried to pry her away, though, the child started crying even harder and struggled to cling onto Camila.
"I-I can hold her," Camila spoke up, glancing at the officers and then to her wife for help. Lauren nodded quickly.
"We have to check her out to make sure she's not injured," the paramedic explained, looking to the other officer. "I can take you guys up in the ambulance."
Lauren was surprised when Camila nodded, holding tightly to the girl in her arms who was still crying fearfully. The sound made her feel increasingly guilty, and she glanced over where the firefighters had begun sawing off the roof of the car to get inside. She shuddered.
"Lo," Camila whispered, gaining Lauren's attention again. The green eyed girl jogged over to catch up with her wife, who was following the man over to the back of the ambulance.
"Are you okay?" Lauren whispered once she caught up with Camila. The smaller girl eyed her questioningly before nodding and biting her lip.
Both Lauren and the paramedic helped Camila climb into the back of the ambulance with the girl in her arms. Lauren hopped up afterwards, intent on making sure that both girls were okay.
Lauren and Camila both sat down on a small metal bench, watching as the man unlocked drawers in search of something. He groaned and shook his head, turning back around.
"I'll be right back," he explained before hopping back down out of the vehicle and disappearing. The girl in Camila's arms was still crying, and Lauren could tell it was worrying Camila.
"Hey," Lauren whispered, reaching out and placing a hand on Camila's shoulder. "Breathe. We're gonna be alright."
Camila bit her lip and looked up at her wife, nodding softly. Lauren gave her a tired smile. She was taken by surprise when Camila cleared her throat and began to sing softly.
Across the ocean, across the sea,
Starting to forget the way you look at me now
Over the mountains, across the sky,
Need to see your face, I need to look in your eyes
Through the storm and through the clouds
Bumps on the road and upside down now
I know it's hard, babe, to sleep at night
Don't you worry
'cause everything's gonna be alright, alright,
Be alright, alright.
Lauren watched quietly as Camila sung. The small child in her arms surprisingly began to relax slightly, worn out from all the crying. Scooting closer, Lauren reached out and placed a hand on the little girl's back.
When the man appeared back in the ambulance with a briefcase-type container, Camila ignored his presence and continued to sing softly. She could feel the girl calming down in her arms.
Lauren, however, grew confused when the man began closing the two large back doors. She sat up slightly and raised her eyebrows.
"What are you doing?" she asked worriedly. The man turned around with a solemn expression on his face and Lauren realized.
"They won't be needing an ambulance," he explained, confirming the news for Lauren. Her heart dropped in her chest and she glanced over at Camila and the child, who was completely unaware of her parent's fate. She swallowed the lump in her throat.
Lauren felt the engine roar to life once the back doors were closed and locked. Her eyes widened but the man quickly beat her to saying something.
"They're towing your car to the hospital for you," he explained, walking over to Camila and carefully freeing the small girl's arm. She didn't protest, but she didn't lift her head from Camila's shoulder either. Camila was still singing quietly, focused on keeping the small child comforted.
"What about her?" Lauren asked, knowing that the man would know what she was talking about. As he took the smaller girl's blood pressure, he glanced over at Lauren and shrugged guiltily.
"That's not my job," he explained, checking the blood pressure and nodding once when it was normal. He peeled the velcro from around the girl's arm and got to work on cleaning off the small gash on the side of her head. "They'll probably call the closest relative and take if from there."
Lauren nodded, leaning back in her seat slightly and placing a hand on Camila's shoulder to keep her steady as they turned off of the highway. She'd never ridden in an ambulance before and she wondered how many times Camila had.
"I have two kids of my own at home," the man spoke up, cutting the tense silence. "I can't imagine something like this every happening to them."
Camila glanced over at Lauren with worry in her eyes, nodding towards the child in her arms. Without even using words, Lauren could tell it was killing her that the smaller girl was still so upset. She gave Camila a small smile and squeezed her shoulder.
"She's just shaken up," Lauren whispered, leaning closer to Camila. "Don't worry." Camila gave her a nervous smile before nodding.
The ride in the ambulance seemed to go by in a flash, and soon Lauren was helping Camila back down to the ground. They had been taken to the emergency entrance of the hospital and directed over to a few of the officers that had been at the scene of the accident.
They all paused and stopped talking when Lauren and Camila approached them, the smaller child in their arms.
It was then that Lauren realized that the system was human. She'd heard about these kind of accidents on TV, but she never faced the reality of it until she witnessed something as tragic as the smaller girl that clung to Camila. It made her feel sick to her stomach.
"What are we supposed to do?" Lauren spoke up when she realized no one else was. The officers all appeared to be almost as lost as she was, and they looked over at Camila and the small girl. Luckily, one stepped forwards.
"The first step for us is to identify the other two passengers in the car," he explained. "We have a room set up for her where a nurse will look over her until we see what we can do next." Lauren nodded softly.
"No."
All heads turned to Camila, who was looking at them with furrowed eyebrows. The girl shook her head. "We will stay," she met Lauren's eyes, almost as if she was telling her instead of offering.
"I, uh..." Lauren stuttered. Camila looked at her pleadingly and Lauren sighed. "We can stay with her for now, I mean, if that's okay."
The officer thought about this for a few moments before nodding. Lauren noticed how Camila seemed to relax slightly. "She's comfortable with you for whatever reason, and I guess her comfort is what matters the most right now," he nodded. "I can get one of the nurses to lead you to the room."
Lauren followed Camila down the long, bright hallway. She studied the child now in better lighting, noticing just how ashen her face is. She realized it wasn't just the child when she looked down at her arms. Her and Camila were covered in soot aswell.
Lauren stopped the nurse once they got to the room, reaching into her pocket and retrieving her keys. "There's a black Toyota that they towed here.... could you possibly bring me the navy bag that's in the backseat? We were supposed to be going to a party and now we're.... you know. There's just a change of clothes and s-,"
"Sure thing," the nurse smiled and took the keys. "I'll leave the room across the hall open for you, too. There's a bigger sink and I figured you could use it to wash up."
"Thank you so much," Lauren replied, breathing in a sigh of relief. The nurse gave her a small smile and held up the keys before disappearing down the hallway.
When Lauren turned back around, she was shocked at the sight before her. Camila sat on the hospital bed with her legs crossed, but what really caught Lauren's attention was the small child now sitting in Camila's lap, looking timidly around the bright room.
"Oh my god," Lauren whispered, closing the door behind her as she entered the room. Camila met her eyes, and Lauren could see a glimmer of hope in them. Lauren, however, was panicked.
"What do we do?" Lauren's eyes widened. "Is she okay? Is she hurt? Can she talk? I mean... why are we here?" she shook her head and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. Camila watched in confusion.
Don't you worry
'cause everything's gonna be alright, alright,
Be alright, alright.
Lauren lifted her head when Camila started signing again, watching as her wife rubbed the smaller girl's back gently to keep her calm.
Noticing how bloodshot her eyes were, Lauren sighed, walking over to the counter and dampening a paper towel. She walked over to the bed, giving the child a comforting smile before leaning forward and gently wiping the ash and soot off of her face.
The smaller girl watched her silently with wide eyes, and Lauren realized she reminded her of a doe eyed baby deer. Small and timid.
As Lauren gently dabbed at the sensitive skin under the child's cheeks, she realized that she must have a soft spot for brown eyes. She glanced over at Camila and wondered what would become of the small child.
--
a/n: i'm sleepy bc i decided staying up until 5am was a good idea ugh
i dunno what to say i'm so sleep deprived just have a wonderful day and be nice to yourselves i love you
- lena