Resurrection - Fallen Cam - Vanilla

XXIII

Cam had been starting at the empty doorway for three hours now. He felt sick, the muscles on his neck twitched with each tick of the hallway clock. He wouldn't last six days of this, he wasn't even sure he could last another hour.

Daniel's frame filled the doorway, his eyes just as solemn as Cam's, he cleared his throat. Cam's head shot upwards as he emerged from his trance.

"How long?" Daniel asked softly, leaning into the doorframe.

"Too long." Cam spat, raising a hand to rub the back of his neck, his first movement in hours.

"Luce is being discharged tomorrow."

Cam nodded meekly. It wasn't that he didn't care that Luce was in the hospital, it just didn't matter as much - Not with Victoria gone.

"I understand. . . if you don't want to be around us." Daniel said softly, hoping Cam might at least turn around and meet his gaze. He remained still, eyes fixed on the misty evening outside the window.

"Good." Cam muttered darkly, clenching his teeth.

"It's going to be a very long six days if this is how you're planning to spend them." Cam's mouth twisted at Daniel's words.

It had taken a long time for him to learn how to cope when Victoria left. It had been a hard lesson to learn in the early days, but eventually he'd learned it well. This time was different, his chest was hollow and the world appeared dull before him, as if he were gazing upon it through fogged glass. The stakes were higher than they'd ever been and for the first time in a very long time the fear she might not come back was real.

Admittedly, he felt young and foolish once more, a feeling that he despised. He'd worked so hard to become the man he was, but it seemed he was slipping away with each passing minute. He knew in his heart that he was more than just a man who was lucky enough to love her; but it did not distract from the fact that his life was simply better when he did get to share it with her.

Daniel was still watching him intently. Cam could feel his eyes boring into the back of his head. Perhaps it was something Daniel would never quite understand, he'd never learned to be okay without Luce. Daniel had spent most of his time on Earth hiding from his reality, sinking into a pit of despair every seventeen years - For seventeen years - Until he could find Luce again.

Till he'd decided that hiding might be a better option, which led to her finding him. Eventually Daniel had strained every relationship he had in an effort to spare himself the pain of finding her again. Cam felt bad - He really did - But that didn't mean he understood. Daniel was lucky enough to see her every seventeen years. Cam shuddered to think how insane he might go after fifty, or even seventy.

Daniel didn't realize it, but he was selfish. Cam had never bothered to make it a secret that he thought so. It annoyed him that Daniel had come here to coddle him, he'd done this on his own many times before. There was no issue with his relationship with Victoria, aside from her absence. Daniel and Lucinda on the other hand had quite a lot of housekeeping to tend to. Cam figured he might as well entertain himself while he waited for Victoria to return.

"I'll come visit if you take her some flowers." Cam spat, his tone a little darker than he'd intended.

A look of shock briefly registered on Daniel's face as Cam turned to face him.

"I-I can't." Daniel protested, hesitant to encourage Luce's affections.

"Why?"

"I don't think it's a good idea. . . She's in the hospital because of me. . . Because of the announcers." Cam chuckled a little at this, though his eyes remained dead.