A/N: There will be another trigger warning for this chapter because it pretty much picks up right where the last chapter left off. Hope you enjoy the update. Love you guys. xx
**Trigger Warning**
Hand in hand, Dinah and Normani rush through the crowded Los Angeles airport at 2 am. Having already called an Uber the minute they got off plane, they run straight to the ground transportation area and hop in the waiting car.
Normani holds her wife the entire way to the apartment and when they are almost there, Dinah untangles herself from Normani so she can check her phone that just vibrated in her coat pocket. She retrieves the device and opens it to reveal a text message from Camila.
I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. It just hurts too much. Tell Normani and Ally I love them. You were one of the brightest and best parts of my life. You were my best friend and I feel honored to have known you. I love you Dinah Jane.
Dinah lets her phone fall from her fingertips and she immediately starts hyperventilating.
"Babe, what's going on?" Normani panics as she watches her wife gasp for air. "Who texted you?"
"We h-have to g-get to Mila something is wrong she's going to h-hurt herself!" Dinah screams as tears fall to her cheeks.
It is then that the Uber driver decides to speak up. "We are about 5 minutes away, miss. I'll speed up though." He keeps his promise and presses the gas pedal all the way down.
Before they make it there, Normani picks up Dinah's phone that is lying face down on the floorboard of the car and reads the message. Her face pales and she immediately dials Lauren's number.
Pick up, pick up, Normani thinks as she continues to try and calm a hysterical Dinah down.
Meanwhile, Lauren is still at the club and she's just about to go get some water from the bar when Steph grabs her arm.
"Someone named Dinah is calling you." The girl says and then hands Lauren her phone. Lauren thanks her and then answers the call.
"Hello?" She yells into the phone while pressing one finger into her other ear so she can hear over the loud music.
"Lauren oh thank God! It's Camila!" Lauren hears Normani's frantic voice and her words immediately make the green-eyed girl's heart sink. "She called Dinah earlier and she was hysterical. We immediately jumped on the first plane we could get and flew to California. We were on our way to her apartment when Dinah received a cryptic text from Mila. I think she's hurt herself, Lauren. You need to come to the apartment immediately."
Lauren doesn't even reply, she just hangs up the phone and runs over to Keana. She grabs her purse from her hastily and then without another word she runs out the door to the parking lot. She frantically searches the purse and retrieves the keys from it. Once she has them in hand, she slides in the car and speeds out of the parking lot.
When the Uber driver pulls up to the apartment, Dinah immediately jumps out and scrambles her way up the steps to the apartment.
Please let her be okay, Dinah thinks as she frantically searches for apartment number 13.
Lauren and Camila loved that number because it was the chapter that Camila was reading in To Kill a Mockingbird when she first met Lauren. The same chapter that Lauren wrote "will you marry me" in when she proposed to Camila. The two then went on to get married on the 13th because they found that number so significant to their relationship.
When the Polynesian stumbles upon the number, her heart starts beating rapidly in her chest. Truth be told, she would've known this was Camila's apartment even if she didn't know the number because there is a banana print doormat and a pile of clothes outside the door. Clothes she assumes belong to Lauren.
Even though Dinah is absolutely terrified of what she's going to find when she enters the apartment, she still wastes no time in raising her foot and kicking the door in. Her heart breaks when she sees how much of a mess the apartment is in. Glass is shattered everywhere, pictures of her best friend and Lauren lay tattered on the floor in the living room.
Dinah takes off in the direction of the bedroom in the back and when she opens the door, bile rises in her throat. On the floor, in the midst of broken glass and torn bed sheets and an empty pill bottle, lays her best friend.
"Camila!" Dinah screams as she scrambles over to the unconscious girl. The world seems as if it's moving in slow motion and it seems like it takes her an eternity to get across the bedroom and to her best friend. Once she does, she drops to her knees, not minding that broken shards of glass are piercing into her skin. She immediately scoops Camila into her arms and carries her into the bathroom. She places her in the shower and then gets in with her. She turns the shower on in hopes that it will help Camila regain consciousness. Not wasting any time, Dinah holds the girl upright in her arms and immediately shoves two fingers down Camila's throat in an attempt to make her throw up the pills that she has ingested. She makes sure she is bent over somewhat though so she doesn't choke on her throw up.
"Come on, Walz. Stay with me, babe." Dinah pleads as she desperately tries to push her fingers further down Camila's throat.
Normani, too stunned to do anything, calls 911 and sinks to the ground in the bathroom. She watches in absolute horror as her wife tries desperately to save their best friend.
"Camila, please come back!" Dinah pleads as she momentarily takes her fingers out of the girl's mouth before once again shoving them down Camila's throat to try and gag the girl. This time, Camila's body lurches forward and she empties out all the contents in her stomach on the shower floor. "Yes! That's it, Walz! Let it all out." Dinah smiles through her tears momentarily. However, the moment Camila starts seizing in her arms, her smile fades and she grips the girl tightly in her arms so she doesn't hurt herself while her body shakes uncontrollably.
Lauren pulls up to the apartment moments later and when she hops out of the car, she vaguely hears sirens in the distance. She sprints to the apartment she once shared with Camila and her heart breaks when she sees a pile of her clothes outside on their doorstep. The heartbreak only increases when she walks into the apartment and it looks as if it has been robbed. She hears Dinah's muffled voice and she immediately runs into their bedroom. It as well looks like a war zone, but only one thing catches her eye in the midst of all the chaos and that is the orange pill bottle laying on the ground by piles of broken glass that are stained with blood and the wedding ring that Lauren slid on Camila's finger years ago.
Her heart lurches when she steps into the bathroom and sees Dinah in the shower with a convulsing Camila in her arms. White foam pours from her wife's mouth and Lauren immediately runs forward and drops to her knees by the shower.
"Dinah, what's happening?" Lauren screams as she watches helplessly as Camila's body continues to jolt about. Just as soon as the scream leaves her mouth, Camila's body goes limp in Dinah's arms. "Dinah, what can I do? How can I help her?"
"You've done enough." Dinah mutters, not even looking in Lauren's direction. Not seconds later, all girls hear sirens right outside the apartment and Dinah immediately stands up with Camila in her arms and hurriedly walks out of the bathroom, bedroom, and then out of the apartment to meet the rescue squad. Lauren, whose body is completely numb with fear, stays kneeling on the bathroom floor. Normani, deciding that she needs to be strong, stands up from her position on the floor, turns off the shower, and grabs the green-eyed girl's hand.
"C'mon, Lo. You should be with her." Normani's voice cracks as she addresses the terrified brunette that looks as if she is about to collapse any second. Lauren just nods her head and allows Normani to escort her out of the bathroom. However, before they leave the bedroom, she wiggles her hand free from Normani's grasp and runs over to where she saw Camila's ring lying. She immediately grabs it and also grabs a tattered picture of her and Camila as well. It has always been her favorite picture of the two of them. It's the one she showed Camila on her phone when her wife couldn't remember who she was and asked to see a picture of the two of them together. It was the picture that was taken of them at the random wedding party that Camila insisted that they crash.
After she has both the picture and the ring in her possession, she quickly exits the apartment and runs to where they are loading her wife up into the ambulance. Red and white lights are shining on Camila's face and Lauren chokes back a sob at the sight of her wife laying lifeless on the gurney.
"Which one of you is riding with her?" One of the medics addresses all three of the girls.
Lauren clears her throat. "Me. I'm her wife." As soon as the words leave her mouth, Dinah scoffs. Lauren just ignores her and quickly makes her way to the passenger side of the ambulance. As soon as she closes the door, the ambulance speeds off in the direction of the hospital. She hears the medics behind her working on her wife, but she chooses to just focus her sights on the picture she took from the apartment. She knows if she even takes one glance back there, she will break down.
So instead, she shakily runs her fingertips over the picture of the two of them. When tears start to cloud her vision and she can no longer see it clearly, she presses the picture to her chest, over her heart, and continues to cry.
When the ambulance pulls up to the hospital, everything is a blur to Lauren. Somehow, with the help of a member of the rescue squad, she ends up in the ER waiting room. She is curled up in a ball on one of the chairs, her chin resting on her knees. She hears her phone ding and reaches over to see a text from Normani that says that they are almost there and that she has contacted Lauren's parents, Ally, and Keana, and has informed them of what has happened to Camila. When she exits out of the text message, she sees Camila's name in her recent messages.
Her heart starts beating rapidly in her chest. This must be the text Camila sent her before she took the pills. With shaky hands, she clicks on the message and reads it.
My heart has always been and will always be yours. Even if you don't want it anymore. When I promised you forever on our beach that day, I meant it. You were the best part of my life. I love you.
"I'll always want your heart, Camz." Lauren whispers as tears fall to her cheeks at a steady pace. "You were the best part of my life too." Before she exits from the message, she notices that there's a message above it. Sent to Camila from herself. The time shows that it was sent not too long ago and she immediately furrows her eyebrows.
I haven't texted her in weeks, she thinks as her thumb scrolls up to the message.
Her breath catches in her throat when she sees the picture that was sent to Camila from her phone. The picture of her kissing Keana. Not only does she see that, but she sees the message under the picture that reads:
Leave me alone. I'm with someone else now.
She immediately covers her face with her hands and sobs uncontrollably. Camila actually thought that she had moved on from her. Lauren's heart breaks at the thought of how betrayed Camila must have felt when she opened up that text message. Not being able to look at the message any longer, she exits out. It is then that she sees that she has either one missed call or one voicemail that hasn't been checked.
When Lauren sees that it is a voicemail from "Camz💕" her heart shatters all over again. However, she looks at the time of it and sees that it was from earlier that day, before she received the picture and message that was not actually from Lauren. She clicks on the play button and brings the phone to her ear.
Hey, Lo. It's Camila. But you probably already know that because it's the 21st century and we have caller ID now. Wow I'm rambling. Lauren hears Camila laugh and butterflies immediately fill her stomach. It's one of her favorite sounds. I just wanted to call and tell you that I've been doing so much better these past couple of weeks. I'm completely drug free and I have no intention of ever going back to that lifestyle. I was just hoping that maybe we could have a chance to talk like over coffee or something so you could see for yourself how good I've been doing. I also managed to gain a couple of pounds back that I had lost this year due to my poor life choices. Lauren hears Camila take a breath while she continues to hold hers. Anyway, if you are interested in getting together, please call me back. I miss you so much. I love you. When the voicemail ends, Lauren drops her hand to her lap and stares at the device.
"I love you so fucking much. I never stopped." Lauren whispers. Her eyes leave the device long enough to scan over the tattered picture in her left hand of her and her wife. Suddenly, she feels like she's going to be sick and so she quickly stands up from the chair and rushes to the nearest bathroom. She empties all the contents in her stomach into the toilet. She throws up until there isn't anything left in her stomach to empty out and then her body just starts dry heaving. She jumps when she feels a hand on her back and turns around to find Normani standing behind her.
"Let it out, babe." The dark skinned girl whispers. Normani stands there for at least five more minutes holding Lauren's hair back as she dry heaves, her body hunched over the toilet. Once the green-eyed girl's body finally settles down, she stands upright and Normani immediately embraces her in a bone-crushing hug.
"S-she fucking thought I cheated on her Mani." Lauren sobs into her friend's shoulder. "I-I would never cheat on her I-I was going to call her back right after I got home from the club a-and tell her how much I love and miss her. But I waited too late." Lauren pulls back and looks at Normani with wide, terrified eyes. "W-what if I can never tell her again, Mani? What if I can never e-explain to her that it was all just a misunderstanding and that there was never a-anyone else?" Lauren starts hyperventilating at the horrible thoughts that are plaguing her mind. "S-she needs to know that t-there will never ever be anyone else."
Normani pulls the girl back into her arms and rubs her back soothingly. "Shhh she knows, Laur, Mila knows."
"B-but you d-don't understand. The p-picture-"
"Camila told Dinah about the picture." Normani says as she leans back again and cups Lauren's face in her hands. "She may have been extremely hurt Lauren, but deep down she knows that there was more to the story. She knows you would never want someone else."
"But I still need her to wake up so I can remind her." Lauren sniffles as she angrily wipes tears from her face with the back of her hands.
"She will, Laur. Have hope." Normani kisses the brunette's head before wrapping an arm around her shoulder and leading her to the door of the bathroom. "Now lets go back out and wait. Just in case the doctors come out with news." Lauren nods dejectedly and allows Normani to lead her back into the waiting room. She sees Dinah curled up in a chair, in the same position she had been in earlier, with her chin resting on her knees. Normani immediately sits down beside her wife and guides Dinah's head so it's laying on her shoulder. The Polynesian doesn't even acknowledge Lauren and the green-eyed girl just wants to explain herself so bad, but she knows that now is not the time. Dinah needs time to cool off and get herself together. The girl just found her best friend unconscious in her apartment and she doesn't even know if the girl will be okay. Lauren knows that the solemn, numb state that Dinah's in right now could easily turn to rage in a second. Rage that would be directed toward Lauren.
So instead of saying anything, she just pulls her own legs up in her chair and lazily wraps her arms around them. Then, she lays her head on Normani's other shoulder.
Lauren's eyes close momentarily and she's almost asleep, but the ringing of a phone wakes her up. She raises her head up and looks toward the Polynesian who just answered her phone.
"Hey Smallz, no we don't know anything yet." Dinah sighs dejectedly. "Yes, I'm with them. Yes, I will hang on." She removes the phone from her ear and holds it out in front of her. She presses a button on the phone and then speaks up again. "Okay, you're on speaker."
"Hi guys. So I keep the news on at work and I just so happened to look up at the screen in time to see that they were talking about a car accident in Miami that killed three people." Ally pauses to take a breath. "It was Camila's parents. They were in the car. They are dead."
All three girls gasp at the news.
"S-sofi..." Lauren chokes out.
"Wasn't in the car." Ally assures her. "They thought at first it was Sofi, but then once they got the mangled body to the coroner, they realized it was just one of Sinu and Alejandro's neighbors. Sofi was at a friend's house when it happened."
"Oh thank God." Lauren breathes out. "Where is she? Where is Sofi now?"
"As soon as I heard about the wreck, I called the station and they informed me that Sofi was there so I went to get her immediately. She's sleeping in my bed right now." Ally assures all the girls and Lauren lets out another breath she didn't realize she was holding.
"Camila..." Lauren whimpers. "She must have gotten the phone call early this morning after the accident. She thought the third person was Sofi." The green-eyed girl breaks down again and Normani pulls her close.
"This all makes sense now." Dinah speaks up, her voice cracking. "When I got off the phone with her before I boarded the plane, she was stable. I had talked her down." The Polynesian finally allows herself to look over at the brunette who is currently sobbing. Her heart breaks for Lauren and she finally allows her walls to come crumbling down.
It wasn't Lauren's fault.
With this newfound knowledge, Dinah stands up from her seat and walks over to sit by Lauren. Just as she always used to do with Camila when she was crying or having a panic attack, Dinah immediately picks Lauren up and pulls her onto her lap.
"I'm sorry, Ralph." Dinah sets her chin atop the brunette's head. "I shouldn't have blamed you, but I-I was just so mad and I was looking for someone to blame. It's not your fault." The blonde tightens her grip around Lauren. "This wasn't your fault."
Lauren cries into the Polynesian's chest. She didn't realize she needed to hear those words, but somehow hearing Dinah say "this wasn't your fault" gives her some comfort.
"B-but it is, Dinah. I still left her when she needed me the most and I wasn't there to help her process the death of her family." Lauren desperately clings onto Dinah's shirt. "She must have felt so alone, Dinah. She thought she had lost me, Sofi, and her parents in one night. I can't even imagine what she must have been feeling."
"Me either, Ralph. Me either." Dinah whispers, her voice thick with emotion.
"The message, it was a misunderstanding. You have to know that I didn't cheat." Lauren hiccups. "Keana kissed me as a joke and then her friend took a picture of the kiss and she must have sent it to Camila. She had my phone all night."
"I was mad, but I never doubted your loyalty, Laur. I've seen the way you look at her. Even if you two were on a break, I know you'd never cheat. I told Camila that on the phone. I had her convinced it was all a misunderstanding. Yes, she was hurt. She was crying and so upset, but I kept telling her to let you explain before she jumps to conclusions." Dinah reaches down to lift up Lauren's chin so that she can look her in the eyes when she says this next part. When Lauren's watery green eyes meet hers, she continues. "None of this is your fault. Do not ever blame yourself for what happened to Camila."
Lauren nods just to please Dinah, but on the inside, she still can't help but blame herself. Before she can speak up, she hears her name being called and she looks toward the entrance of the hospital to find Keana entering... with Steph behind her.
Oh fuck no, Lauren thinks as she scrambles off Dinah's lap and makes her way to the two girls, her sadness turning to anger with every step she takes. When she reaches them, she immediately shoves Keana out of the way and takes a swing at Steph. Her right hand connects with the girl's face and Steph immediately stumbles back, but Lauren grabs the collar of her shirt to hold her upright.
She isn't done with her yet.
Lauren harshly shoves her against the wall and pins her there, her face inches from Stephs.
"She was my fucking wife!" Lauren shouts angrily at the girl. She feels arms pulling her away from Steph, but she thrashes about, trying to get free from whoever is trying to pull her away. "You had no fucking right to send that picture to Camila!"
"I-I didn't know who she-"
"She tried to take her own life tonight and it's all your fucking fault you pathetic little-" Lauren lunges again, but Keana tightens her grip and pulls her over to the other side of the waiting room.
Dinah, having watched the scene unfold, walks calmly up to the frazzled girl who just got punched in the face.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Dinah asks, trying to keep her anger at bay.
"Look I sent a text." The girl throws up her hands. "It's not my fault that the girl was unstable."
"Fuck you!" Dinah grabs Steph's shirt in the same way Lauren did and slams her back up against the wall. "Camila is the greatest person in the entire world. She is my best friend and you fucking broke her heart for no reason. She did nothing to you!" The Polynesian feels arms wrap around her waist and drag her back. "You're a horrible human being." Dinah makes a point to literally spit in the girl's face before Normani can pull her too far away. She smirks momentarily when Steph cringes and shrieks as spit runs down her face.
"Calm down, baby." Normani pulls her wife back to the seating area, where Keana is trying to calm down the still fuming green-eyed girl. Just as they sit, two officers bust through the doors and when the lady at the counter points to Dinah and Lauren, Normani immediately stands up and walks over to the officers. She explains the entire situation to them and they let both girls off with a warning and escort Steph out of the building.
A few minutes later, the doors to the ER open up and a man in a white coat walks out with a clipboard in hand.
"Camila Cabello." He announces and all four girls jump to their feet and scramble over to the man. None of them even know what to ask, all of them are completely frozen with fear as they await the words that will come out of the man's mouth next. "We lost her a few times on the operating table. Her heart stopped beating, but the cardiac defibrillator was able to get her heart back beating. She's in a coma now, but she's alive."