Visitor (Normila / Laurmani)

Chapter 19

Over the next few months, Normani still maintained contact with Lauren, but kept it at a minimum out of respect for Camila. Camila especially approved of it because Normani was about to talk Lauren into signing the divorce papers. It worried Camila that Normani wasn't herself the first couple of weeks after the divorce was finalized, but she accepted that separating from a long-time partner would be difficult in almost any circumstance.

Normani was finally able to buy Camila a used car. It was eleven years old, but it ran well and brought Camila to tears when she saw it. One afternoon, Camila had driven her car to the grocery store and couldn't wait to get home to tell Normani who she saw.

"I saw Lauren at the grocery store," Camila panted after bursting through the door.

"Oh," said Normani while she was flipping through television channels. "Did you two speak?"

"No, but I saw her holding hands and being all lovey-dovey with some guy," Camila informed her.

"Aw! She finally found someone," Normani cooed.

"But, she was with a man!" Camila exclaimed.

"I thought I told you that we are both bisexual," Normani responded.

"You probably did. Anyway, wasn't she supposed to spend 180 days in jail for the assault conviction?" Camila inquired.

"She received credit for her time at the state hospital, so she only had to serve part of her sentence in jail," answered Normani.

"Oh," replied Camila.

They made sandwiches and other dishes with the food Camila had just bought and took everything with them to have a picnic in the park. Time had gone by so fast, and their one-year anniversary was coming up in a few months. They often found themselves discussing their future and that day was no different. Camila was thinking about marriage, but Normani wasn't in a rush to get remarried. However, she did talk a lot about wanting to adopt a child one day.

When they returned home, they took Preslee for a walk, watched a movie, and got ready for bed. Normani was sleeping soundly when she was awoken by Camila groaning and crying. "Camila, what's wrong?"

Camila didn't respond and continued to sob and hold her sides. Normani wrapped her arms around her. "Baby, tell me what's wrong."

"It hurts so much," Camila cried.

Normani instantly remembered Camila's episode the year before and picked up her phone to call Dr. Reid. He told her to immediately drive Camila to the university and that he would meet them there. Normani carried the petite woman to her car and sped to the medical school. She then carried Camila to one of the teaching labs where Dr. Reid was waiting for them. He helped Normani place Camila on a gurney that was used for instruction. Afterward, he ran to various places to grab supplies and equipment.

Sweat was beading on Dr. Reid's forehead as he struggled to figure out what to do. "To be honest, I'm not sure what would be considered normal vital signs for the people of Orgcan, but there is obviously something wrong."

Camila was delirious and unable to speak, so Normani recounted the previous incident. "Camila said that her body is not made to tolerate the strong gravity and lower levels of oxygen on this planet. We had to take her to her ship where she could make conditions similar to those on Orgcan."

"Yes, I remember she told me that. Then, that's what we'll do. We'll drive her to her ship," Dr. Reid responded.

They quickly carried Camila to Dr. Reid's vehicle, stopped at the couple's apartment to get the remote to the ship, and made the long drive to the lake. Normani had learned a while ago how to pull the ship out of the water, so she did so, and they carried Camila inside. It took several minutes, but Dr. Reid and Normani were finally able to figure out how to turn everything on, lower the amount of gravitational force, and increase the oxygen levels.