Please Don't Give Up (Camren)

Chapter 2

A/N- sorry the chapters are so short I'll try to start making them longer...

"I don't want you to panic but Sinu just called me and told me that Camila is in the hospital."

A wave of fear washes over me. "What do you mean she's in the hospital? What's wrong?"

My mom looks at me sadly. "I don't know exactly what happened but they took her to the emergency room earlier today and she was immediately admitted so it can't be good. I can take you to see her if you want"

...

The hospital is only about 25 minutes away but the car ride feels impossibly slow. I can't stop myself from thinking the worst. What if she got in a car accident? What if there's something wrong with her heart? What if she has some incurable disease and she isn't going to get better? The thoughts keep running through and I start silently sobbing. I can't stop the tears streaming down my face no matter how hard I try.

When we pull up to the hospital my mom grabs my hand. "Lauren you can't go in there in this state. Whatever is happening with Camila you need to be strong for her. Calm down. Everything is going to be alright."

I nod and wipe the tears off my face. I take a deep breath and open the door and exit the car.

I hate hospitals. They're depressing and they make me feel sick. Every hallway looks exactly the same and you have to take so many turns it's so confusing. The last time I was at this hospital was when my grandma died. Walking out of those doors after she was gone, I never wanted to have to go in there again. And here I am again, if Camila dies I don't think I'm going to be able to handle it.

...

We finally get to Camila's room and I immediately see Camila's mom Sinu standing at the door and her little sister Sofi sleeping in a chair next to Camila's bed. "What's happening?" I ask Sinu.

Sinu starts to explain but Camila cuts her off. "Mom can you give us a minute?" Sinu nods and walks out of the room with my mom.

I walk over to Camila. "Tell me what's happening." I plead.

Camila sighs, "I haven't been completely honest with you about my past... When my family moved here from Cuba it wasn't just because of better opportunities... I was sick and they have higher quality treatments here. When I was 2 years old I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. It was found early enough that they treated it easily. But this type of cancer comes back easily. I relapsed when I was 5 and the chemo wasn't working on me anymore. I got really sick and everyone thought I was going to die. We moved here and they started me on a more aggressive treatment. Eventually they got all of it and I finally went into remission when I was 8. I spent most of my childhood living in the hospital.

A single tear streams down my face and I quickly wipe it away. She has cancer... "Why didn't you ever tell me this?"

"Because I spent my entire childhood all the way through middle school being know as 'the girl that had cancer.' I don't want the only part of me that people see to be the cancer. The likelihood of relapsing at my age is slim to none, I didn't think I would ever be at this point again so I didn't see a reason to tell you.

"So what does this mean? You're sick again?"

Camila whimpers, "They still have to do scans but they think it's pretty far along. I haven't been feeling well the past few months and I knew something was up but I was too afraid to tell anyone. I don't want to go through this again." She starts crying and I lean in and hug her.

I try to hold back the tears but before long I'm crying even harder than she is. "It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay." I whisper. I let go of our embrace and kiss her soft lips, which are wet with tears.

...

The doctor comes in to take Camila for her MRI and my mom tells me we have to go home. I don't want to leave Camila but it's getting late and I have to go to school tomorrow. "Call me when you get the results okay" I say as I lean in to kiss her cheek.

The doctor and a nurse help her in to a wheelchair and they take her away. I say goodnight to Sinu and my mom and I leave.

...

My alarm goes off waking me up for school. I check my phone and there's a missed call from Camila but no voicemail. She must've known I was asleep. I walk downstairs to get breakfast and my mom is in the kitchen.

"Lauren sit down I made breakfast." My mom says as she sets a plate down on the table. My sister Taylor takes no time digging into the large stack of pancakes. My mom never makes breakfast on work days. This isn't a good sign.

"Did you hear anything about Camila?" I ask worried.

My mom takes a minute before answering. "Maybe this should wait until after you get home from school."

"No just tell me." I say frustrated

She sighs, "Sinu called me late last night, Camila's scans didn't look good. The cancer has spread pretty much everywhere. They can try chemotherapy and radiation but since her body is so weak from all of the treatments she had when she was younger, they may not be able to do much. I'm sorry sweetheart."