It's been three days since the attack and Camila still hasn't batted an eyelash or moved a finger. Lauren has been by her side 24/7 since the incident, only leaving to shower in the hospital bathroom and grab food from the cafeteria. She never leaves the girl unattended though. Usually Lauren's parents, Dinah and Normani, or Ally sit with her until Lauren gets back. Vero and Keana even stopped by to check on Camila and Sinu and Alejandro have even brought Sofi by to visit everyday after school.
Lauren has spent the past three days by Camila's side, telling her stories, reminiscing about some of their memories, and singing to the unresponsive brunette. When it turns dark, she slides into bed with the girl and plays with her fingers until she falls asleep. Lauren has only had one major breakdown and it was the day after the attack. Luckily her friends were there to get her through it.
Flashback
"Ralph, why don't you go in there and shower? I'll watch her." Dinah bends down in front of the tired brunette. Lauren lifts her head from it's position on the edge of Camila's hospital bed and wipes at her damp cheeks. She nods solemnly and allows Dinah to help her to her feet.
"Come and get me if anything changes." Lauren says groggily and Dinah just pats her on the shoulder.
"Will do, Laur." She smiles sympathetically at her before reaching down and picking up a bag. "Here, we had Ally run home and pack you and Mila some clothes. She brought you one of Camila's sweatshirts and a pair of her sweatpants."
"Thank you, DJ." Lauren offers the Polynesian a tired smile before retreating to the bathroom. The green-eyed girl lays the duffel bag on the lid of the toilet before turning on the shower. As soon as she steps in and the hot water starts pouring over her body, the water at Lauren's feet starts to turn red from the blood that was dried on her skin. She immediately grabs the soap and starts scrubbing her skin, which makes the water going down the drain more red. The sight takes her back to when she found Camila on the floor and flashes of her wife covered in blood start flooding into her mind again. It dawns on her that it's not just any random person's blood going down the drain, it's her wife's.
Lauren backs up against the wall of the shower and sinks to the floor of it. She wraps her arms around herself and starts sobbing uncontrollably. Minutes later someone turns the shower off and steps in the tub with her. She feels a towel wrap around her shoulders and then she feels someone wrap their arms around her.
"You're okay, Ralph." Dinah assures the green-eyed girl as she pulls the girl onto her lap. The Polynesian doesn't care if she's getting her clothes soaked. Comforting Lauren is her number one priority right now.
"But she's not okay, Dinah. The love of my life is practically in a coma right now and there's a chance that she may not have her memory when she wakes up." Lauren sobs. "I don't know if I can make her fall in love with me a third time, Dinah."
"You can and you will if you have to, Laur. I believe in my ship. Like I told you before, her head may forget you, but her heart never will." Dinah runs her fingers through Lauren's wet locks in attempt to soothe the girl.
"This is my fault. She's laying there because of me and I fucking hate myself for it." Lauren pulls her knees closer to her chest.
"Lauren, you didn't force her to go over to his apartment nor did you do the beating. This is Austin's fault and no one else's." Dinah assures the girl. "Just because you didn't answer the phone call, doesn't mean this is your fault. You're human, Lauren. Camila knows that and she wouldn't blame you for this. I've known the girl almost all my life and I know she loves you and wouldn't want you to blame yourself."
Lauren just nods and allows Dinah to help her out of the tub. After drying off, she throws on her wife's clothes. She's thankful that Ally brought her Camila's because they smell like her and it's comforting to the green-eyed girl. Once clothed, she shuffles to the hospital bed and crawls in next to Camila. After placing a tender kiss to her chapped lips, she grabs her cast free hand and plays with the girl's slender fingers until she falls asleep.
End of Flashback
Currently, it's Wednesday and Lauren is sitting in a chair next to Camila's bed reading To Kill a Mockingbird out loud to her. Her left hand is holding the book and her right is playing with the part of Camila's left hand that isn't covered by the cast. She gets to Chapter 13 in the book and smiles to herself as she thinks back to when she wrote will you marry me? on this exact page a couple of years ago. She places a quick kiss to Camila's cast and then continues to read through Chapter 13.
"I know now what he was trying to do, but Atticus was only a man. It takes a woman to do that kind of work." She reads the last sentence of Chapter 13 and starts to continue on to Chapter 14, but freezes when she feels one of Camila's fingers move. Lauren immediately drops the book on the floor and hovers over the girl.
"Baby, can you hear me?" Lauren asks as tears pool into her eyes. She reaches over and grabs Camila's right hand and clasps her own tightly around it. "Camz, squeeze my hand if you can hear me." The older Latina coaxes as she looks at their intertwined hands hopefully. Seconds later, she feels a light squeeze and for the first time in 3 days, a worry free smile graces her pale features.
She trails the back of her hand across her wife's still bruised cheek. "C'mon Camz, open your eyes. I'm here." She swears that her heart stops in her chest when she sees Camila blink her eyes open. Butterflies invade her stomach when chocolate eyes meet her own. Lauren is speechless as she watches Camila's eyes take in her surroundings and then settle on her again. "How do you feel? Are you in pain?" Lauren quickly asks and Camila furrows her eyebrows.
"Who are you?" The younger girl looks skeptically at the green-eyed girl and Lauren's heart sinks to her stomach.
"Y-you don't remember? You don't know who I am?" Lauren asks as tears well up in her eyes.
"Aren't you..." Camila snaps her fingers. "My incredibly sexy wife?" The younger girl smiles groggily and Lauren's eyes widen in realization.
"Y-you..." She stutters.
"I still remember, baby. That was supposed to be a joke." Camila chuckles, her voice still raspy.
"Camz, that's so not funny." Lauren lets out a mixture of happy and relieved tears as she quickly climbs into bed with her wife and hovers over her. She lays on her right side and uses her left hand to trace Camila's soft features with her fingertips. "Do you remember..."
"I remember it all, Lo. I started getting all of my memories back in LA and I tried to tell you so many times Saturday, but Ally interrupted me and-" Lauren cuts her off with a kiss and eagerly moves her lips against her wife's. After a couple of minutes, she pulls away and stares lovingly at the younger Latina.
"I thought I lost you again, Camila, and I was so scared." Lauren admits as tears pour down her pale cheeks. The musician is quick to wipe them all away before they can cascade to her shirt. "There was so much blood a-and you weren't breathing." She chokes back a sob and Camila quickly wraps her arms around the girl and pulls Lauren on top of her. She ignores the sharp pain in her ribs because comforting Lauren is her number one priority right now. The green-eyed girl tucks her head in Camila's neck while the younger girl runs her hands through her wife's dark hair. "And I should've answered the phone call, but I was so angry because I thought you left me again. I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me, I never am and I'm so sorry for that."
"Shh." Camila cooes as she places multiple kisses to her wife's temple while also rocking her in attempt to calm her down. After Lauren's sobs seem to subside, Camila speaks up. "I wouldn't have answered my call either, Lo. I don't blame you, baby." The younger Cuban kisses away the tears that are slowly trailing down her wife's cheeks. "I shouldn't have went alone, but I had just heard a voicemail from him where he was threatening you and I completely lost it. He could fuck with me all he wanted, but I would not let him hurt you. I just wanted to end it all."
Lauren raises up again and props up on her arm so she can look down at her wife. "Yeah, don't you ever think about putting yourself in danger like that again, Camila Cabello-Jauregui." Lauren raises an eyebrow at her wife and Camila fights back a smile. "I'm dead serious, Camila. Next time anyone threatens you or me or any of our friends, you tell me, got it?"
Camila nods, her bottom lip tucked between her teeth. "You're kinda hot when you're all protective and what not." The younger girl stares lustfully at Lauren as her right hand settles on the waist band of the older girl's pants. Before she can unbutton them, Lauren gently grabs the wandering hand in hers and brings it up to her lips. She kisses every knuckle gently before setting it back down on Camila's stomach.
"No sex until you recover, baby. You have a lot of stitches and I can't risk you ripping any of them." Lauren informs the girl.
"But Laur, my hand is perfectly fine. See." She wiggles her fingers in front of Lauren's face and the green-eyed girl just leans in and kisses the middle of Camila's palm.
"Doctor's orders, babe. They already informed me of what you could and could not do if... when you woke up." Lauren shudders as she thinks of the possibility that Camila could have not woken up while the said girl pouts.
"Don't." Kiss. "You." Kiss. "Give." Kiss. "Me." Kiss. "That." Kiss. "Look." Lauren pecks the smaller girl's lips between each word.
"I have no idea what look you are talking about, Lo." Camila says innocently and Lauren just smiles lovingly at her as she tucks a strand of her wife's hair behind her ear.
"Fuck, I've missed you so much. I've missed staring into those doe eyes of yours." Lauren leans down and brushes her nose against Camila's lightly, careful not to hurt the girl. She places a gentle kiss on each one of the bruises and cuts on her wife's face. Camila just giggles and Lauren's heart soars at the sound. When she finishes kissing each one of the girl's battle wounds, she raises up and looks down at her girl while Camila snakes her right hand behind Lauren's neck and plays with the baby hairs at the nape of it.
"I love you, wifey." Camila smiles widely at the Latina hovering over her.
"Say it again." Lauren grins.
"I love you." Camila rubs the back of Lauren's neck with her thumb.
"No the other part." Lauren kisses the inside of Camila's arm that is resting on her shoulder.
"Wifey." The younger girl obliges.
"Again." Lauren leans in and kisses her wife's neck.
"Wifey." Camila husks and Lauren lifts her head up and attaches their lips in a searing kiss. The younger Cuban tugs on the baby hairs at Lauren's neck and the latter moans into her mouth. Camila swipes her tongue across Lauren's lower lip and the girl opens her mouth so her wife's tongue can meet her own. The green-eyed girl moves her hand down and settles it on Camila's hip while the musician takes the time to suck on Lauren's tongue. The older Latina unconsciously rolls her hips into Camila's and tightens her grip on the girl's hip. Lauren hears Camila hiss in pain and she quickly pulls away from her wife and looks at her with wide eyes.
"Fuck, I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Lauren questions as she scans her wife's body with wide, apologetic eyes.
"Lo." Camila grabs her wife's face with her cast free hand and lifts her chin up. "Look at me." When green eyes find brown ones again, Camila continues. "I'm just sore, you didn't hurt me. I promise." When Camila notices that her eyes still don't look convinced, she reaches down and raises up her gown to reveal a nasty bruise. "See no stitches, just bruising that's sore." Lauren just nods, her eyes trained on the multi-colored bruise. Before Camila can pull her gown back down, Lauren bends down and places a tender kiss to the bruise. "See, it feels better already. Your touch always has been healing, baby. Even when I didn't remember you, your touch would still heal all the visible and non visible wounds he inflicted on me."
"I wish I could take it all away. All your pain." Lauren stares lovingly at the girl beneath her.
"You do, Lauren. Every single time you smile, every time you kiss me, every time you tell me you love me, every time you look at me." Camila grabs Lauren's hand and brings it to her lips so she can place a kiss to it.
"How do you do it, Camila?" Lauren questions.
"Do what?" Camila furrows her eyebrows in confusion.
"Make me fall more in love with you every single second of every single day." The green-eyed girl breathes out and Camila's features soften at her words.
"Hmm I've been wondering the exact same thing." Camila admits and her wife leans in and places a soft kiss to her lips.
"Okay, babe, as much as I'd love to lay here all day with you, I need to tell the doctor that you're awake so they can check you out." Lauren hesitantly stands up from the bed and Camila groans at the loss of contact.
"But the only person I want checking me out is you." Camila smirks.
"Smooth, baby. Real smooth." The older brunette chuckles as she exits the room in search of the doctor. Minutes later she returns with the same one that has been checking in on Camila frequently. The first thing he does is inject some pain medicine into her IV and then he examines the younger girl, making sure to thoroughly check out her head and her stitches. After writing some notes on his clip board, he addresses the two brunettes.
"Well, Ms. Cabello."
"Mrs. Cabello-Jauregui." Camila politely corrects him.
"My apologies. Mrs. Cabello-Jauregui, we do need to do another CT scan to make sure everything is okay before we send you home." He informs them. "Your stitches look great and we can send you home tomorrow once we get your CT scan done and the results in. I told your wife already, but you need to wait at least two weeks before engaging in any sexual intercourse or exercise so you do not rip any stitches." Camila nods, her face turning red. Lauren fights back a snicker at her reaction. "We will schedule an appointment for you to come back in two weeks for another check up and to get your stitches out. I know you've had head injuries in the past so if you feel any pain, discomfort, or severe headaches between now and two weeks, please make sure to come back in." The doctor offers the girl a warm smile and Camila just nods.
"Thank you." Lauren offers the doctor her hand and he shakes it.
"No problem. Take good care of her." He nods toward the beaten girl in the bed.
"Always." Lauren answers and the doctor pats her on the shoulder before exiting the room.
"Lo, I'm hungry." Camila stifles a yawn.
"Babe, I don't think you could stay awake long enough to eat. He gave you some pain meds that are about to knock you right out." Lauren chuckles as she watches in adoration as Camila fights sleep. "How about this. How about I text the girls and tell them to bring you some pizza when they come. I texted them while the doctor was examining you and told them you were awake and to come in about two hours." Lauren smiles affectionately as Camila's head lulls forward and her eyes droop.
"Tell them pineapple." Camila mumbles.
"I did, babe." The green-eyed girl assures as she climbs in the bed beside her wife and pulls Camila into her. The second the musician's head settles on Lauren's chest, she succumbs to sleep and soft snores fill the air.
"I love you, baby." Lauren whispers as she runs her fingers through Camila's long brown locks. "I promise I won't even let him hurt you again. I will kill him before I let him ever come within 50 feet of you." The green-eyed girl promises her wife. It is a promise that she will keep. Austin will never hurt Camila again.
Lauren knows she can't protect the girl from every danger in the world, but she does know that she will try her hardest to.