Lauren was in a bad situation, a horrible one at that. She was being neglected severely and was very fragile. She'd gone through an awful lot for her to only be barely 18. While she was 18 years old, she was the size of a small child due to her havi...
Camila sent herself into a fit of hysterics as the sweet nurse, who kind of reminded her of Ally, tried to comfort her. "Okay, hey... how about this, my name is Kyrstin and I'm a nurse and you're Camila. See, now we aren't strangers anymore, okay?" the nurse spoke softly as she traced gentle circles on the smaller girl's back. Camila's sobs became gentle cries, but her breathing was still beyond her control. "You're doing so good, sweetie. Now, how do you usually calm down at home?" Nurse Kyrstin questioned as she looked into tearful chocolate eyes.
The Cuban girl sniffled, "Dem sing..." she mumbled cautiously. The nurse noticed Camila's regression-like behavior and decided to bring it up with her psychiatrist, but she gave the anxious girl a small smile. "Would you feel a little better if I sang to you?" Camila nodded. Kyrstin started singing Vampire softly to Camila and was relieved when the little girl laid her head in her lap and placed her thumb in her mouth, calming down. Upon noticing Camila starting to fall back asleep, the nurse rubbed her back softly, "Cami, hun. Can you come with me?" She hesitated, but nodded, taking Kyrstin's hand as she stood up and followed her around the unfamiliar building.
*Time Skip One Week*
Camila opened her eyes to Kyrstin smiling, gently rubbing her shoulder. The sleepy girl simply rubbed her eyes and sucked her thumb in response. "Cami..." the nurse sang. "It's time to go home," she told Camila with a warm smile. "H home?" Camila questioned hopefully, sitting up in the bed. Kyrstin nodded, offering the small girl her hand, which she accepted. Kyrstin led Camila down the hallways as other patients and staff sweetly told her goodbye. Finally reaching the lobby, Camila was met with Dinah holding Lauren, Ally, and Mani waiting for her with a stuffed rabbit.
Mani cautiously approached Camila. "Heyyy, hun... We missed you sooo much," Mani spoke softly as she pulled the smaller girl into her embrace. "Amani..." Cami cooed. "Do you guys think you're prepared for everything we discussed over the Zoom meeting? Also, her friends' numbers she got are in her paperwork." Kyrstin asked the girls, who all nodded. "Camz!" Lauren squealed. Camila ran over to Dinah and Lauren, standing on her tippy toes to see her, "L Lolo?" Cami questioned shyly. Lauren giggled and reached down, booping Camila's nose. Camila blushed before running back to Mani giggling.
*Time Skip*
As Dinah and Mani carried the sleeping girls into the house and upstairs to Dinah's room, Ally followed close behind. The girls all got situated in Dinah's room: Ally taking a seat on the beanbag, Dinah and Lauren on the bed, then Camila and Mani in the moonchair. "I'm so happy our little family is back together, guys," Ally spoke up as Dinah put on Moana. The girls all muttered variants of agreement.
About halfway through the movie, Lauren began to stir in Dinah's arms. Gently tracing alongside the small girl's face, Dinah cooed, "Lauuur, sweetie... wake up." Mani and Ally also quickly averted their attention from the movie when Lauren bolted up from her sleep sobbing hysterically.
The small girl soon began to frantically dart her eyes around the room as her breathing quickened, "Camz!" she sobbed. Dinah, who recognized what was going on, looked over to Mani. "Can you pick Mila up, please?" Mani nodded. Mani picked Camila up and then came and sat in front of Lauren, gently taking her head in her hands, and wiping away her tears.
"Shhh, honey... you're alright. She's right here. Camz is safe," Mani cooed. Lauren hiccupped and reached for the brunette, her body trembling. Mani resituated Camila on her lap and welcomed the distraught girl into her embrace and rocked her in her arms as she smoothed her hair. Laur sniffled and clung to the fabric of Camila's jumper.
"Shhh..." Mani whispered. The once-crying girl soon found herself falling asleep in Mani's arms, dozing off once more. Mani looked up at Dinah, "What was that all about?" Dinah sighed a little saddened by the thought, "Lauren had a particularly hard time being separated from Mila while she was inpatient and I think she started to have nightmares of something bad happening to her. That's why you've probably heard her waking up crying every night since Mila went inpatient." Mani looked down at the two girls sadly, "Do you think they're gonna be okay?"
Dinah nodded with a small smile, "We've got them and Mila has an aftercare plan so I feel hopeful about her. Laur will just take some time with stability and routine." Mani smiled a bit as she thought about what Dinah said to her, "You're right," she told the blonde as she gently laid Lauren and Camz back down on the bed, next to each other this time.
"We should let them sleep though," Ally suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement, getting comfortable again.
*Time skip after 12 am*
Ally had gone to bed a while ago, leaving Dinah and Mani up to put the girls to bed, which was proving to be a challenge. They were all awake in the downstairs theater room and neither of the two seemed to want to go to bed. Truth be told, that was the truth. Camila and Lauren didn't want to go to sleep because neither of them wanted to be apart. The two had been inseparable ever since Camila had come home.
Camila had also grown rather clingy to Mani, who was surprised by her actions when she told the girls, "I'll be right back, I'm going to grab you two some milk so you can sleep better," and Camila ran to her side starting to cry her little eyes out. "Hey... Mila, it's okay. I'll be right back. Sit here with DJ and Lolo, yeah?" Mani spoke softly to the sensitive girl. The small girl only cried harder and wrapped her arms around Normani, not allowing her to leave. "How about you come with me, hun?" Mani asked the sobbing girl as she bent down a bit to her level. Mila sniffled and nodded, soon following the older girl out of the room and to the kitchen.
"It's past your bedtime, sweetheart," Dinah told Lauren. Lauren teared up, shaking her head. Dinah began to wipe the tears that the raven-haired girl allowed to fall, "Why don't you want to sleep, doll?" Dinah questioned as she pulled the sniffling girl onto her lap. Dinah was taken aback when Lauren burst into tears crying, "Camz!" "Hey, hey... Camz is alright, hun. She's probably gonna sleep with Mani. She'll be safe," Dinah tried to reassure Lauren. The crying girl simply shook her head, continuing to cry. Mani and Mila soon came back into the room with two sippy cups of oat milk, Mila clinging to Mani's side. Lauren bolted up and ran to Mila. "Camz stay?" she sobbed. Mila nodded and rubbed her eyes sleepily, "tay wit Amani." Lauren quickly began to hyperventilate and shake her head, falling to the floor in hysterics. Dinah cautiously approached the small girl. "Shhh, come here," she cooed, picking the trembling girl up off of the floor and standing up to face Normani. "Can you two stay in my room tonight? Laur is having a really hard time right now and I know Mila needs to be with you, but I also feel like Laur needs to be with Camz right now," Dinah asked and explained. Mani nodded without hesitation, picking Camila up and carrying her bridal style. "Let's go to bed girls," Mani spoke softly. Dinah wiped Lauren's tears. "It's okay, love. They're gonna stay with us tonight," Dinah told Lauren, who sniffled and nodded sleepily.
Dinah and Normani carried the exhausted girls upstairs and as Dinah changed Lauren, Mani helped Camila get changed into her pajamas.
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The girls soon found themselves all cuddled up together on the bed with Lauren and Camila sandwiched between Dinah and Mani. Only moments after Mani gave the girls their cups, they fell asleep soundly for the night, leaving the older girls to soon do the same.
