The beeps and whirs of the machines drifted to Camila distantly as she woke. She'd been asleep for at least a couple of hours, that much she knew. The doctor without the hair had mentioned something about keeping her on a low-level sedative so her ribs could heal. That was totally okay with her, as it felt like she was hit by a truck each and every time she inhaled.
Her headache was better though. That would make the doctor with hair happy when he stopped by later. She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, which held a different shape than she was expecting. That's right. New room. They'd moved her down the hall, which meant her condition was improving. She turned and stared at the cup of water on the end table next to her. God, she was thirsty, but the prospect of reaching for the water was so not worth the pain it would inflict.
"Are you thirsty?" a calm voice to her right asked. She turned and blinked against the image, as she wasn't sure it was real. She'd been hit on the head, after all, and had had a number of crazy dreams about Lauren since. But this wasn't one of them, she realized, as no amount of blinking erased the picturesque visual in front of her. She was real and she was here, looking like an angel at her bedside. Lauren smiled down at her. She looked pale, and tears glistened in her eyes, but she was smiling. "Hey, there."
"Hey. What are you doing here?" Camila managed to ask, glancing around the empty room as she noted that her own voice still sounded gravelly and unfamiliar.
"Not your brightest question," Lauren said and moved the cup with the straw to Camila's lips so she could drink. The water was cool and refreshing, and she managed three swallows. "Good?" Camila nodded and Lauren set down the cup.
"Where else would I be?"
"At your place, living your life."
Lauren shook her head. "Not when you're here." She gently traced what Camila knew to be a large bruise around the side of her cheek. "Who did this to you?"
"Shawn shouldn't have told you about this."
"He said it was Tyrone. They thought you were Karla?"
Camila nodded. "Listen, Lauren. It was nice of you to come, but I'm sure you have things you should be doing. You and I are—"
"At a hospital, while you're getting better. And I'm here to help with that."
Camila found her eyes. "I don't need your help."
"You seem to say that a lot. Problem is, I'm done listening. You need me and I need you."
Her head was swimming again and she felt a distinct lack of energy to push back.
"I have people," she managed to point out. "You can go. My mom stopped by earlier, and Shawn."
"I'm glad. But you and I are different, and you know it. I'm not going anywhere."
Those were the last words Camila heard as she drifted off again.
I'm not going anywhere.
She dreamt of her and Lauren walking along a beach, picking up seashells every once in a while and letting the day guide them where it might. They kissed when the sun went down and stayed up late talking. When she opened her eyes again, the clock on the wall told her it was nearly five a.m. Lauren was asleep in a chair to her right and rested her head on Camila's mattress alongside her. Camila couldn't believe it.
I'm not going anywhere. She heard the words again in her mind as she glanced down at the sleeping woman next to her.
Lauren looked angelic in the moonlit room. Camila lightly touched her hair, soft and silky. The sensation caused Lauren to stir and raise those big green eyes to Camila. "You okay?" she asked in her sleepy Lauren voice. "Do you need anything?"
Camila shook her head as sleep claimed her once again. This time she dreamt of a lazy morning, in which she awoke with Lauren in her arms. They'd teased each other before tossing on some clothes and heading to breakfast hand in hand.
The room was much brighter when she woke the next time. She heard Matt Lauer's voice from a television in the next room and wondered if Mrs. Warkowski was doing okay on her own. She glanced around her own room and realized that she, too, was alone, which left her feeling a little empty inside. Lauren must have snuck out sometime during the night, which was a good thing, even if it didn't really feel that way.
"Morning, sunshine," Lauren said, coming around the corner. She wore the same blue top from the night before but looked fresh and chipper carrying a cup of coffee and shopping bag from the gift shop. How was that even possible, the chipper thing?
"You're still here," Camila said as much to herself as to Lauren.
"Of course I'm still here. How's your head?"
Camila checked in with herself and was surprised to find she didn't have any sort of headache. That was a first in several days. "It feels great. My left side is still killing me though."
Lauren smiled. "I'm glad that at least the headache's gone. The ribs are gonna take a while. I did some Google research on the computer at the nurse's station. I also got the skinny from your nurse, Janine, since you fell asleep before filling me in. She thinks I'm family, so go with that. A concussion, two cracked ribs and one broken, which is horrible, but you might be out of here as early as tonight depending on what the doctor says when he stops by.
"I also talked to my father, who's already placed a call to the district attorney's office. They owe him a number of favors and have promised to take a very close look at Tyrone and company. Apparently, several other open cases are attributed to him, and this one serves him up on a platter. The DA is kind of thrilled, and my father thinks he'll be picked up this morning.
"In better news, the police already have the two guys that did this to you in custody. A witness from the scene picked out their photos from a lineup. Open and shut. So it's likely they'll roll over on ol' Tyrone if they're offered a deal. Though the police do have more questions for you when you're up for it."
Camila stared at Lauren nonplussed. "I don't understand. You did all of that this morning?"
She nodded. "I can get a lot done when I'm motivated."
"That's an understatement. You scare me." Camila shifted uncomfortably, her side still beyond painful. Each breath took its toll.
"Hey, maybe don't move so much, okay?"
"Just frustrating being stuck in this bed."
Lauren nodded sympathetically. "Your nurse, Janine, says that breakfast is on the way in five minutes, so why don't we sit you up a bit?" Camila stared at Lauren m, mystified. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Camila shook her head. "I told you to go yesterday."
"Right. And I ignored that. Ready to sit up?"
Camila nodded and, with Lauren's assistance, managed to slide upward and rest against the pillows Lauren placed behind her. The world looked much better right side up. She found herself facing Lauren and took this opportunity to explain. "You and I, Laur. We're tricky, so I think I told you to go because I didn't want there to be any confusion about what was—"
"I didn't ask you to marry me, superstar. You prefer a friend right now to a girlfriend? Fine. We can be buddies. But you need someone, and that someone can be me."
Well, this was unexpected. She eyed Lauren skeptically. "So you're my buddy now, huh? My pal? And that's all right with you?"
"That's me. Buddy Lauren. Speaking as your buddy, do you think the break-in at the bar and what happened to you are connected?"
Honestly, it wasn't a crazy question and had been one she'd asked herself. "While I suppose it's possible, they feel like separate events to me. Tyrone wouldn't sneak in and steal from me. He's more of a taker."
Lauren nodded. "Given what's happened to you, I want to help with the rent. You can think of it one hundred percent as a loan. I know it goes against what you're comfortable with, but sometimes when rough times hit, you have to do what you have to do. I can charge interest if that helps."
Camila closed her eyes. She was already late in making the payment, and as she lay in that hospital bed, she'd been acutely aware of the seconds that passed and worried what each meant for her business. She could face eviction and lose the whole thing. So while she hated what she was about to say, honestly, in her present condition, she didn't know another way. "Fine. But I will pay you back. I promise. Sixty days at the latest, and please, tack on interest."
"It's a plan. You can write up the details for me. Oh, and here's your breakfast, right on cue. Hi, Janine."
"Hey, Lauren. You were right about that spa discount. I booked a massage at Serenity for this weekend with that code you gave me."
"Perfect," Lauren said, beaming. "You'll love it there. Ask for the water with the fruit in it when you're all done."
Lauren turned as Janine set a tray in front of Camila. "How do you feel about English muffins?"
Camila shrugged. "I'm not picky."
"Better than most of my patients," Janine said on her way out.
"How do you want to do this?" Lauren asked, gesturing to the English muffin. "You can eat it plain, or with butter, or jam. So many options. Just tell me which."
"I can do it," Camila said. Lauren raised an eyebrow and looked on as Camila raised her arm and winced at the stab of pain that shot through her. "Fine. Yes, please, to the butter. And can I say that this sucks? Because it does."
"I know," Lauren said, meeting her eyes. "But you'll be back to yourself in no time. In the meantime, people are waiting on you hand and foot, which in any other circumstance would be awesome. Focus on that."
"Trying." She watched as Lauren went about preparing her food, and something twisted inside of her at the care she took with each action. Lauren had been there from the second she heard what had happened and hadn't wavered. Hell, her own mother had only stopped by for ten minutes to check on her, but this woman in front of her, who she'd repeatedly pushed away and shut out, was going above and beyond.
For her.
"How are you doing?" she asked Lauren. "It couldn't have been comfortable sleeping in that chair."
"Better now. It's been a hell of a fifteen hours, but I finally feel like I have a grip on everything that's going on."
"That's because you've seized the remote control."
Lauren smiled at her knowingly and set down the English muffin, which she'd broken into smaller sections. "Yes, a little of that."
"Are you going to head in to work now?"
"No. I let my friends know what happened. They wanted to race down here, but I told them you might be discharged later, so they're going to wait."
"Lauren?"
"Yeah?"
"You've been great, but don't feel like you have to miss work to babysit. You probably have some big important client meeting, for all I know. I'll be okay if you need to go."
"I don't have any big important client meetings that can't wait. Plus, I have one goal, and one goal only right now, and that's getting you well. All the rest can wait. Okay?"
The sentiment struck a powerful chord in Camila and she relaxed against the pillow, emotion flaring in her chest as she watched Lauren try to figure out the TV remote. She was special. You didn't encounter people like her too often in life.
Camila filed that fact away.
AN: I really love CAMILA dude, the songs are so good and she's breaking records. Grab your copies guys.