IN TIME (Camren)

Part 9

After Dr. Lovato left the room, everyone was a little bit relieved about Lauren's situation but that doesn't mean that she's not sick anymore, because no matter what we do she still is. We stayed at the hospital for another hour before Clara sent us home.

"I think I'm sending everyone home. Our girl needs to get her rest." Clara said.

I wasn't surprised that Lauren didn't object, because when I looked at her face, she seemed tired, and I thought maybe she was relieved that everyone was leaving.

My mom came over and gave Lauren a long hug, then touched me slightly on the shoulder. "I'll meet you outside."

I got off the bed and stood over Lauren. I bent down and kissed her lips and hugged her. She squeezed me back. There was nothing frail about her hug, and the strength in her arms made me feel better.

"This is going to be okay. You're going to be okay, Babe." I whispered into her shoulder. She gave me a tiny squeak, and I could tell from the way her body shook that she was crying. It broke my heart seeing how she was trying to come up strong but deep inside she was hurting and afraid of what's to come.

I forced myself not to cry as I pulled away. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" I said to her.

"Thanks, Camz. I love you." she said, wiping the tears off her cheeks, and no new ones fell.

"I love you too, Lauren." I kissed her again before I head to the door.

As I left Lauren's room I went to find Dr. Lovato. As the nurse indicated her office, I didn't waste time to find it. And when I saw a door saying. Dr. Lovato, I knocked on the door 3 times before I opened it and went inside. I saw Dr. Lovato lifted her head and smiled at me.

"What can I do for you, Camila?" she asked. While setting aside her paper works.

"I'm sorry, but did I bother you?" I asked back uncertain.

"No,no, no. It's okay. Come here, sit down." She pointed at the chair in front of her desk, as I went to it and sat down.

"Uhm. I just want to know about Lauren's condition and situation right now, if that's okay." I said.

"Well, what do you want to know?" She asked, intertwining her hands.

"Everything." I answered immediately.

"Okay. Lauren will definitely undergo chemotherapy. Because chemotherapy targets all rapidly dividing cells, it unfortunately doesn't only get cancer cells." she said. I wanted to cry, instead I asked.

"Will she get sick? I mean, will she throw up?" getting prepared for what's to come.

"She may experience nausea and vomiting. Chemotherapy triggers a chemical response in the brain that makes some people sick to their stomach. But the good news is we have a lot of drugs to make Lauren comfortable. Hopefully she'll only have very mild side effects." she said.

"That's kind of lame good news. Dr. Lovato." I said.

"It is." Dr. Lovato agreed.

"When can she come home?" I asked again.. If she was home by Friday, I could spend the weekend with my girlfriend at her house. We could watch movies and cuddle all day.

"Three to four weeks." Dr. Lovato said.

"What?! I thought. . . I thought maybe she'd be home this weekend." I said trying to keep my voice neutral.

Dr. Lovato shook her head. "The chemotherapy itself only lasts for about a week, but it destroys so many blood cells that a person is very vulnerable to infection. We keep her here until her blood counts go up." she said.

My head spun. How could Lauren be in the hospital for an entire month? Dr. Lovato was looking at me. I had to say something, but my panic had parched my lips and my tongue felt glued to the tip of my mouth.

I cleared my throat , hoping to make my voice normal. "Well. . . And then. . . that's it, right? She's done?"

Dr. Lovato shook her head again. "That's just the first round. Then she have to do it three more times." she said, then she continued, "She might not be able to go to school between treatments at all."

"Wait, she's going to miss months of school?" I asked again, taking it all in. That's what she doesn't need to hear, because I couldn't deal with her reaction.

"This is a lot to take all at once, I know." Dr. Lovato told me.

"Yeah. . . thanks for explaining all of this to me." I said standing up, trying to capture an optimistic tone.

Dr. Lovato nodded smiling, "Lauren's very lucky to have a girlfriend like you." she said.

I smiled back as I head to the door and said good bye to her.

The whole way home, my mom talked. She talked about how the doctors felt there was every reason to be optimistic. She talked about how Lauren was getting the best medical treatment there. She told me she'd call my dad, who was on his way home. Every once in a while, she turned to me patted me on the knee or stroked my hair.

"You okay, honey?" she asked about fifteen times.

"Yeah, I'm. . . I'm okay." I said each time. I couldn't find the words to describe the tight feeling inside me. Months. She was going to be out of school for months. She had to go through round after round of chemotherapy. I kept thinking about setting aside my fear of driving because Lauren wouldn't be there to drive me to school for months, and hoping Lauren would be in school, because everyday is going to suck if she's not there. And I am worried that Lauren has cancer.

We pulled up into the driveway. I followed my mom to the front porch. As she opened the door and turned on the light, a small body came to me.

"Oh my God, we forgot about Riley." my mom whispered. Riley was our dog, Lauren gave it to me last summer.

I went over and dropped to the floor. "I'm so sorry, Riley." I said putting my arms around him.

"I just forgot. Lauren's sick, and I just forgot." I said, as Riley blinked at me.

"She's okay, Riley. She's going to be okay. Really. She is. You don't need to worry, Riley. She's going to be fine." I said, and then I wrapped my arms round his body and the tight feeling inside me burst and I cried and cried into his soft fur.