reasons to go, reasons to stay ➸ camren

chapter sixteen ➸ i thought you didn't love me

Lauren decided that there was only one thing worse than waiting rooms.

Waiting room chairs. And sleeping in waiting room chairs.

She hadn't planned on spending the night the way she did. She figured she would find a decent hotel and just come back in the morning. But she couldn't bring herself to leave, knowing she was the only person Camila had right now. She needed to see her as soon as she could, she'd even considered sneaking back into her room.

A hand on her shoulder brought her out of her half-awake, half-dreaming state, and she looked up at the figure sleepily.

"I wasn't going to wake you, but Camila won't stop asking about you," the same doctor from the night before smiled down at Lauren sympathetically. "She's down the hall. Room 304." He gave her a reassuring nod before retreating back down the hallway.

Lauren stood up embarrassingly fast, nearly losing her balance. Camila was asking about her? They hadn't talked in over a week. She assumed Camila wouldn't care what happened to her. She quickly composed herself, taking a deep breath and counting the room numbers until she reached Camila's room.

She couldn't. She couldn't face Camila. This was all her fault.

Just as she was turning to leave, she ran straight into a wet floor sign, and took a few quick steps backwards to avoid falling. Her elbow hit Camila's door, and Lauren winced, holding her breath.

"Yeah?" Camila's small voice echoed from behind the door. Shit.

Lauren took a deep breath, squeezing her eyes shut for one last moment before reaching for the doorknob and slipping into Camila's room.

Her eyes fell on the girl lying in the hospital bed. She looked so... helpless. Camila's eyes landed on her and she opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself. She didn't want to hurt Lauren any more than she already had.

Lauren saw Camila's hesitation. She offered a sad smile.

After a few moments of silence, Lauren slowly made her way towards the bed, sitting on the plastic chair next to Camila. She gently reached out to take the younger girl's hand, trying not to stare at the discoloration that streaked across her forehead.

Camila flinched when Lauren tried to take her hand, and Lauren quickly drew her hand back. Luckily, Camila reacted in time and grabbed Lauren's hand once more before she could move it out of her reach. She felt Lauren relax and sighed softly.

"They said you were asking for me?" Lauren asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I-I was asking about you," Camila's raspy voice responded. Lauren felt herself feeling even more horrible when she heard how strained Camila's voice was.

"About me?"

"If you were okay... H-he's your boyfriend, after all."

"Was," Lauren mumbled.

"Oh." Camila bit her lip and looked away from Lauren. "Did he hurt you...?"

Lauren shrugged, and saw Camila tense.

"Wh-what happened?" the smaller girl asked. She wasn't sure if she really wanted to hear it for herself, but she was too concerned that she had indirectly caused Lauren's pain. Or directly.

"It's my fault," Lauren blurted out. Camila looked surprised.

"I was... I... I saw a picture of me and Rowan... and then I saw Keith and I just... I realized," the dark-haired girl continued. "I flipped out on h-him but he's a lot stronger than me so... I woke up and he was gone, and I tried to call you, but you didn't answer and so I just... I just came here."