Halfway Gone (Camren)

Chapter 21: Is Your Heart Strong Enough?

Lauren's POV

I feel my heartbeat rise.

"What are the side effects?" My voice lowers, this was serious.

— "It saved your life, you should be grateful."

I gulp, "I am very grateful for it Skitt, but will you please tell me what the side effects are?"

I feel Camila's arm loop with mine, and I look into her eyes with fear of the worst, hers mirroring my same expression.

—"I used N-acetylcysteine to rid of the chloroform poisoning, and it's usually associated with changes....ummm, with your arteries. But it's super rare, you probably only have a 1% chance of having this problem."

I grew frustrated, he wasn't telling me everything.

"Skitt! Spit it out, what does it do!"

He sighs, "Okay, okay. Back in the army, one soldier received chloroform poisoning just like you did, and the medic injected him with N-acetylcysteine. He was okay for the first 2 days, but he then started to get severe chest pain, and the medic realised that the injection made his arteries narrow and it made him have a heart attack. But the medic says it was rare-"

Camila cut him off, "YOU INJECTED HEART ATTACK SERUM INTO MY GIRLFRIEND, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!"

I hold her arm, and try to calm her down. I had a weird calmness that seemed to flow through her, and she retreated.

Her teary eyes looked into mine.

"I'll be okay baby. It's a rare side effect, but remember I would have been gone if he didn't inject that into me. He had no choice." I make sense of the situation.

She huffed, and hugged my tightly.

—"I've nearly lost you two times already."

I listen to her words. I hug her tighter.

I hear Dinah in the background, "Skitt, I think you should go."

I continue to hug Camila, and she started to cry in my shoulder. It breaks my heart to hear her cry. I hold the back of her head and whisper in her ear.

"Baby I won't leave you. I'm here."

She starts sobbing, and I look up to see Dinah giving me a guilty smile. She nods, and I nod back at her. She leaves and quietly shuts the apartment door, leaving Camila and I alone.

I let my own head fall in the crook of her shoulder, without words said.

We stay like this, I don't know how long. It was like our bodies needed to communicate, without voice.

Then her face lifts, and she scans my face. Her hand leads me to the bathroom, and she grabs my creams for face gashes and cuts.

The cold cream hits my skin, but I don't move. I look deeply into her eyes, as tears fall whilst she places the cream gently on my face.

"I promise it won't always be like this." I whisper to her.

She bites her lip to stop herself from crying more, "It hurts me to see you like this, you're always hurt. Now this heart thing is haunting me."

I hold her face in my hands, "I'm so sorry baby. Please understand how sorry I am for dragging you into this world."

—"This is your world Lauren. It's hard for me to understand, but I have to accept it. I don't like it at all, in fact, I despise it."

I gulp. I could see her sadness through her body language. She closed the cap on the cream, and set it down on the bench.

Her eyes look at me through the mirror.