arduous || l.r.h.

pt. 7

Luke woke up, stretching his arms out and frowning slightly at the wall. He was at his house. Not the apartment he shared with the boys. His house he used to share with his mother. He looked around his old room, now completely empty.

His mother's soft knocks gently tapped on the door, Luke groaning in response. "Hey honey." She grinned, walking into the room. "I'm going to the hospital, do you want to come?"

After yesterday, Luke left straight alway. He didn't want to see Mary, however. He just wanted to go home and sleep. But, being the frustrating woman she is, Liz told Luke to come home with her and have dinner with her and the neighbour.

Luke nodded and crawled out of bed, pulling a shirt over his head. He slipped his jeans on and trudged out the door. He was in his clothes he was wearing yesterday, but he didn't care at all. He followed his mum out to the kitchen, patting the dog that sat sprawled out on the floor, and followed her out to her car. He got in the passenger seat, tapping his knee awkwardly as his mum got into the drivers seat and backed out of the driveway.

"I'm so happy you're here, Luke." His mother grinned, taking a left turn into one of the Main Streets. Luke nodded slowly, glancing out the window. "It feels like I haven't seen you in, what, 10 years!"

"2 actually." He mumbled, resting his chin on the palm of his hand, blowing on the glass of the window.

"Anyway," his mother side and tapped his knee softly, "I'm glad you came to visit Mary and that Camila and you are still such good friends."

Luke snorted under his breath, giving his mum a fake smile. His mother soon pulled into the hospital, the two of them climbing out and heading towards the main entrance. Camila sat at a set of 4 chairs outside one of the rooms, obviously being her mums. Liz and Luke slowly walked over to her, Liz pulling her in for a hug and Luke giving her a curt nod as he dug his hands into his pockets of his jeans and looking at his feet.

"You can go in there, y'know?" She gave him a polite smile. He looked up at her and nodded slowly, walking into the room.

"Hey, Mary." He scratched the back of his neck. Mary giving him a giant grin, apart from the fact that she was hooked up to loss of machines.

"Luke, oh my god." She gushed, opening her arms for Luke to hug her. He trudged over, leaning over the bed and hugging her tightly. "You're so fucking tall."

Mary was a very confident woman, always swearing. Camila and her mother were very different people. If Camila acted like her mother, Luke would probably like her far more. Both Luke and Camila only had their mothers, Camila's dad leaving her at a very young age and Luke's leaving when he was 10. Obviously, it was a lot tougher for Luke.

"How have you, uh, been Mary?" Luke smiled softly, sitting on the chair beside her bed and holding her hand softly.

"Apart from being attached to this fucking ass of a machine," she chuckled, "I've obviously been better, but I'm well. And you?"

"Oh, um yea I've been good." Luke nodded quickly, tapping his foot on the hard floor.

"That's good," she grinned, squeezing his hand. "Only one month left for me, ay? Then I'll be up there, or being dragged down there." she pointed up, then down and chuckled.

Luke's eyes widened slowly. Mary didn't even care about dying at the moment, and it made him feel quite on edge.

"Oh, how will my poor Cammy survive?" She gushed, "she's terrible at cooking. Remember when she tried cooking us dinner and lit the turkey on fire?"

"Yea, yea I do." Luke chuckled, remembering the moment. He laughed at her, a lot. He was happy she was mucking up. He was such a terrible person. He remembers her accidentally letting go of the turkey, though, and throwing it towards him on accident. "She'll learn."

"Or burn the house down." She stifled a laugh and laid her head back. "Take care of her if you can, yea?"

"Um, yea." Luke nodded, looking away from her. He didn't want to look after Camila as if her mum was going on vacation and wanted him to babysit.

"I can look after myself." Camila scoffed, her and Liz walking in with cups of coffee. She gave Luke an awkward smile, receiving one from him in return.

"Oh, coffee!" Mary grinned, "and I highly doubt it honey."

Camila bit her lip in frustration and sat in one of the seats, crossing her arms and blowing hair out of her face. She glanced at Luke as he stared at her, frowning at him and looking away.

"You know what would make this coffee better?" Camila smiled, standing up, everyone looking up at her waiting for her answer. "Biscuits. Yea, biscuits."

"Go help her get some, Luke." Liz smiled at him softly. He groaned and pulled himself up, following Camila out the door.

"I can so look after myself." Camila spoke to herself, Luke gaining behind her. "I mean, I'm a women."

"Not all women are supermums, Camila." Luke scoffed, earning a glare from her.

"I'm trying to start conversation, Luke." She huffed and turned a corner, Luke still trying to catch up to her, "you're not helping."

"Do you even know where these biscuits are?" Luke asked as he finally began to walk beside her.

"No." She muttered, stopping and looking around. "I always get lost."

"Let's just go this way." Luke grunted, grabbing her arm and pulling her down one of the halls. She pulled her arm out of his grip and walked beside him. "I'm pretty sure it's-"

He stopped talking when they reached the small eating area, he turned to Camila, a small smirk forming on his lips at her reaction.

"Lucky guess." She mumbled, walking over to the biscuits. "Should I just get one of each or?"

"Yea." Luke shrugged, dragging his fingers along all the trays.

"Are you actually going to help?" Camila asked in annoyance.

"Do you need my help?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her and staring her sight in the eyes. She nodded slowly, swallowing the lump in her throat. He sighed and grabbed a plate, helping her pick certain biscuits.

"See this isn't bad." She took a deep breath, "not being rude and all."

"Yea." Luke glanced down at her and nudged her, "you're not even being annoying."

Her eyebrows knitted together and Luke let out a soft chuckle, finishing with the biscuits and handing her the second plate.

"We should hang out." Camila spat out, Luke turning to frown at her. She literally hated him yesterday, and now she wanted them to hang out. "I mean, we could get lunch or something?"

"Yea, um, okay." Luke raised an eyebrow and shrugged, the two of them heading for Mary's room.

"We can leave Liz and mum after we give them their biscuits." She nodded.

"Don't you want to stay with your mum?" Luke frowned.

"Where do you think I've been since she's been diagnosed?" She scoffed as they walked in to hand Liz and Mary their biscuits. "Um, Luke and I are gonna go out for lunch. We'll be back at around 2?"

"Sure honey." Mary nodded, Liz digging her car keys out of her handbag and handing them to Luke. "See you guys later!"

Luke and Camila walked out of the hospital and into Luke's mums car, staring at each other awkwardly, Luke starting the car and pulling out of the carpark.

Shitty filler sorry.