"Camz," Lauren whispered, running her hand through tangled dark tresses that were covering Camila's sleeping face. "Camz, it's time to get up, we have to get ready to go." Lauren placed her lips on Camila's forehead, letting them linger, her hot breath against the girl's skin, only pulling back when she felt her start to stir. As Lauren saw her eyes flutter open, brown locked with green and Lauren smiled, "I'm going to make coffee, wakey wakey my love."
They hadn't gotten much unpacking done, they had set up their bedroom and their library slash art studio as they called it, but that was all. There was still piles of boxes in the untouched living room, furniture covered in the plastic they had been wrapped in when delivered and Lauren was currently rifling through the boxes scattered in the kitchen, trying to locate the coffee machine that her and Camila had purchased, along with container of coffee. She stopped for a minute, realizing they hadn't done any groceries and the thought of black coffee made her insides curdle with disgust. Camila usually poured enough sugar and cream in her coffee, that if spread out would be adequate enough for at least four regular cups, so she resigned and walked back to the bedroom.
"We have no cream or sugar," Lauren mumbled as she crawled back into bed, Camila still under the covers.
Camila quirked an eyebrow as she watched Lauren settle in beside her, "I thought we had to get up."
Lauren hummed, nodding her head and she looked down to see Camila playing with the ring on her finger. "You okay?" She asked reaching out for Camila's hand.
"Do you think they'll let me keep it on at the hospital?" Camila wondered out loud, "I mean, will they make me take all my jewelry off, do you think-"
"If they do, it will be here the whole time, waiting for you to return, just like I will be," Lauren smiled, trying to hide her sadness and closing the gap between her mouth and Camila's cheek, but the contact was lost too soon as Camila rolled over and opened the drawer on the table next to her side of the bed.
"At least one of us should be wearing a ring though," she said as she turned back to face Lauren, placing the small box on the pillow next to her fiancée's head. Lauren's eyes widened and Camila just smiled, watching Lauren pick up the box. "You beat me to it, I had this whole plan," Camila shrugged. "Not that I could have followed through since I'm going to be gone for two weeks, but I just, I wanted you to know I was going to propose to you if you hadn't done it first and I want you to have your ring to look at while I'm away and-"
"Wow-"
"You like it?" Camila asked as Lauren opened the box. Turning her head towards Camila, she nodded, tears forming in her eyes and Camila immediately wiped them away, "Please don't cry, I feel like that's all we do lately."
"And sex," Lauren added.
"We cry and have sex," Camila agreed with a laugh. "We sound-"
"Completely perfect," Lauren said as she rolled onto her side and held the box to Camila. "Will you put-"
"Yes, of course," Camila said, noticing how Lauren's eyes shot up to the writing on the wall and Camila let out a small laugh. "Laur," she said as she pulled Lauren's hand so it was between them. "I love you," Camila breathed out, as she slid the ring onto Lauren's finger, their eyes locked together.
" I love you too, Camz," Lauren said as she looked down at the jewelry now sitting on her hand.
---
Ally: You guys left already?
Lauren: Camila didn't want to say goodbyes, she just wanted to go
Lauren: She was afraid if she tried to say goodbye, she would back out and not go
Ally: Dinah is upset
Lauren: Tell her not to be, it's two weeks and as soon as Camz can have visitors, we're all going to come see her
Ally: Okay..
Ally: Are you okay?
Lauren: Ask me again once she's checked in
Ally: Text me
Lauren: I will
---
"And through that door is your room, you have private space," the older woman they had been introduced to at the front desk said as she pointed to a plain white room with a small hospital bed inside of it. Lauren couldn't remember if she had said her name was Elizabeth or Emily or Jenny, she really didn't care. The only thing Lauren could focus on, was Camila and how she wasn't sure she wanted to leave Camila in the hospital, alone. It smelled weird and everything was bright white, with a blue tinge given off from the lights lined along the ceiling. Camila's room was a shoebox, it was so small that Lauren was worried Camila may feel claustrophobic if she tried to stay in there for too long. "Down the hall is the common room and every morning a nurse will come by to wake you up, you'll have to have blood work done in the mornings and we will monitor your medication, you will have an appointment with the resident Psychiatrist later on this morning, he will probably talk to you for a while, so he can better decide what medication to start you on."
"Okay," Camila replied numbly as she took a breath and tried to focus on what the woman in front of her was saying. There was a lot of information, but Camila was doing her best not to feel completely overwhelmed. As they headed back the way they came, exiting through the double doors, back into the front lobby, the woman continued throwing out information.
"There will be scheduled appointments with therapists every morning, as well as group counseling in the afternoon," the woman continued, completely unaware that Camila's eyes were darting back and fourth from her to all the nurses buzzing around the hallways. Lauren reached over and laced her fingers through Camila's giving her hand a light squeeze and Camila visibly relaxed. "You won't be allowed to have visitors or make phone calls for the first three days," she said and Camila's eyes widened and began to tear up as she looked at Lauren, tensing up once more. "After that, it will be at your psychiatrists discretion if and when you will be allowed phone calls and visitors, you must wear the hospital pants and shirts provided," the woman said and Lauren thought this felt more like the episode of Orange is the new black where Piper was being given her prison uniform. "It's a safety thing, to make sure there's no sharp pieces you can could injure yourself with or ties that could result in you-"
"Okay, next please," Lauren cut in, not wanting to hear where the woman was going with the rest of the sentence, seeing the uncomfortable look in Lauren's eye, the woman nodded and pointed at Camila's ring.
"That has to stay with her," she said pointing to Lauren. "As well as the necklace you're wearing and any body jewelry you may have."
"I, um," Camila twisted the ring around her finger and sighed, her chest feeling tight, but she couldn't speak fast enough, because the woman in front of her was speaking again.
"You will have five minutes to say your goodbyes," she said looking between Camila and Lauren. "And then you, Lauren, are going to have to go so that we can get Camila settled in. We have your number and we will call you if you need anything," she said before turning back to Camila once more. "You'll have to leave your cellphone with her as well," she said as her eyes fell on Camila's right hand.
Once the woman walked away, Lauren stepped in front of Camila and placed her hands on either side of Camila's face, moving her head so she was now looking directly at her. "Say the word and I'll break you out of here," Lauren whispered, hoping Camila would say okay, but the younger girl just shook her head and sighed as Lauren moved in to kiss her.
"I have to do this," Camila mumbled as they pulled apart and Lauren nodded her head, trying to hold back her tears as she promised Camila she would on the drive over. "I, um, can you?" She whispered as she held her hand out to Lauren and Lauren swallowed the lump in her throat and slid the ring off of Camila's finger. "I don't know if, three days is a lot, what if, fuck," Camila mumbled as a single sob ripped through her, Lauren moving quick to wrap her arms around the person she loved most in the world.
Their five minutes was up, signaled by the woman returning with Camila's hospital pants and grey shirt, ushering her off to the washroom to change so that Lauren could take the dress she had been wearing, home. When Camila returned, she tried to take a step towards Lauren, but the woman stopped her and pointed to Camila's earrings and the elastic in her hair and Camila sighed, removing them and placing them in the woman's open hand. Lauren watched as Camila then kicked off her shoes and handed them to the woman and just as she was about to hand Camila a pair of hospital slippers, Lauren spoke up.
"Excuse me," Lauren called out across the large space separating her and Camila. "She has a pair of moccasins to wear in her bag, they um, don't have any sharp pieces and there's no strings." The woman looked at Lauren and nodded, turning to where a nurse was standing at the double doors waiting, she motioned for her to look in Camila's bag and sure enough in the front pocket were the slippers Lauren had mentioned, they were inspected as if the woman thought Lauren had been lying to her about the strings and then they were handed to Camila who slipped them on and gave Lauren a small smile.
She looked fifteen, small and scared and Lauren wanted to run to Camila and kiss her, hug her one last time, but the woman motioned for her to follow the nurse in the pink scrubs and Camila hung her head and disappeared behind the doors. As soon as they shut, Lauren was left alone and she ran to the doors and peered through the window, knocking just loud enough to make Camila turn.
"I love you," Lauren mouthed, ignoring the tears falling down her cheeks and Camila nodded her head and mouthed the same three words back, tears matching Lauren's on her face.
---
Lauren: Al
Ally: Hey, how'd it go?
Lauren: Is Normani or Dinah home?
Ally: Yup
Lauren: Can someone come to the hospital and drive my car home.. And me.. I can't drive right now
Ally: Are you okay?
Lauren: No
Lauren: She looked so little and so scared
Lauren: She looked scared and I couldn't do anything to help her
Ally: We're on our way, where are you exactly?
Lauren: The South parking lot at the Miami Dade Mental Health facility
Ally: Be there soon, deep breaths
---
"Lauren!" Dinah yelled as she swung open the passenger side door of Ally's car, rushing over to where Lauren was sitting on the pavement next to her own vehicle. "Lauren, are you-"
"I won't get to see or talk too Camila for three days," Lauren whispered as she opened her right hand to reveal Camila's ring. "They made her take it off," she mumbled before closing her hand again and letting the tears fall.
Ally looked at Dinah and her mouth fell open. "You asked her to marry you?"
"Yes," Lauren shrugged sadly. "She said yes, but they made her take off her ring."
"You've still got yours on though," Dinah smiled as she tapped a finger against the rock on Lauren's left hand, to which the older girl nodded her reply and Dinah sat down on the pavement next to Lauren, her back pressed against the car. "So when did this all happen and why the hell didn't you tell us? Wait, is this why you guys said you were gonna turn in early? You two must have-"
"We didn't have sex," Lauren said shaking her head. "We unpacked a bit and then we took a bath and then we went to sleep, we just spent time together."
"That sounds nice," Ally said from her spot a few feet away. "Do you wanna tell us what happened this morning?"
"They just were throwing all this information at her, at us," Lauren said in a small voice. "She looked so scared and she just, I want her to get better, to feel better, but I didn't-"
"You didn't want to leave her in there?" Dinah whispered and Lauren let out a soft cry.
"It's a good thing she's here," Ally said honestly, trying to ease some of the worry. "Trust me, it's scary looking inside, it's plain and it's small and cramped and there's a lot to take in, but they will help her get on the right track, I know they will."
Lauren knew what Ally meant, she had been where Camila was once before. Quite literally, she had spent a week at the Miami Dade Mental Health facility when she was younger, so Lauren just gave her a small smile. "I don't want to be alone tonight, do you think maybe I could spend the night in your apartment?" She asked, looking at Ally and then at Dinah, who both nodded their heads at the same time. "Thanks and I'm sorry Camz didn't come say goodbye this morning," Lauren said looking directly at Dinah.
"It's cool, Ally explained why," she said with a sigh. "I probably would have kidnapped her and not let her go anyways, so it's probably better she didn't."
Lauren let out a small laugh and Ally smiled at the two girl's as she held her phone out to them, "It's almost lunch and Normani decided to call in sick to work, she just text me. Do you two wanna meet her for something to eat?"
"Sure," Lauren mumbled as she pulled herself off the ground, Dinah following her action.
As soon as they were standing, Dinah reached out and opened Lauren's hand that was still firmly wrapped around Camila's ring and pried it from her grip. "Just give it to me, trust me Lauser," Dinah muttered the nickname with a roll of her eyes and once the ring was in her own hand, she moved behind Lauren and unhooked the clasp of the locket Sofi had given her for her birthday and slid the ring down the chain before fastening it together once more. "There, now it will stay with you until Camila comes home and," Dinah said with a smile. "You won't lose it in the apartment somewhere."
"Thanks."
"Anytime, now give me the keys," Dinah laughed holding out her hand and Lauren groaned and handed them over, giving Ally a pouty look.
"You said bring someone to drive your car home, you didn't specify who," Ally giggled as she walked over to the driver's side of her own car and got in. "Drive safe, ladies," she called out as she pulled away, her laughter ringing out through the parking lot.
Lauren looked at Dinah and took a deep breath, "Please do not kill me."
"I make no promises."
"I hate you."
"No you don't."