Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Twenty

A/N: Hey guys! I just went to check the read count on this story, just to find out that it has been ranked #503 in Fanfiction! I couldn't have done it without you guys, and this only inspires me to write more! So, without further ado, here's chapter 20! (Also, if you guys are interested, please check out my other Camren fanfic called 'The Housekeeper'!)

Lauren entered the hospital that night, hoping that her illness wasn't anything too serious. The pain in her stomach was growing, and she felt like she was going to throw up again. The hospital made her go to the waiting room so she could be seen by an available doctor. Luckily, it wasn't that busy of a night at the hospital, so she got in to see the doctor fairly quickly.

She sat on top of a hospital bed, and awaited the millions of questions that he'd be throwing at her any second now. Lauren tapped her feet together repeatedly until he finally turned to her with clipboard and pen in hand. 

"So, Lauren, when did you start feeling 'off'?" he asked her.

Lauren thought for a moment before answering, "About a week ago."

"How did this feeling begin? And where did it start? I may be able to pinpoint the heart of the problem." he explained.

"I just started to have recurring stomach aches lately. They started off small, but now I'm puking up blood. I'm pretty scared, I guess you could say." she responded.

"That's understandable," he began, "but I have a few more questions for you. Does it hurt to eat sometimes?"

Lauren nodded, then added, "It especially hurts when I eat or drink anything with larger amounts of acid. Like, when I drink a soda for example. That kills."

"Interesting. And have you been losing weight at all?"

"A few pounds." she answered.

"Hm." he hummed to himself. "Sounds like you have a stomach ulcer, Lauren. It's a good thing that you came when you did. But if that's what it is, and you're puking blood, you'll probably need to stay overnight. First, we have to do a barium x-ray. This will require you to drink barium, so that we can see what is going on with your stomach clearly. Compared to what you could have been diagnosed with, this is probably the best thing that it could have been. You are okay with all of this, aren't you?"

Lauren thought to herself for a moment. If she were to stay the night, Camila would have to know the truth. But that couldn't really be that bad. At least she wasn't dying. She decided that it was best to let herself get better as quickly as possible. And for that to happen, she was going to have to stay overnight at the hospital.

"Of course I am. I want to get better." she finally answered. "What do you think caused the ulcer, if that's what it is?"

"Have you been stressed lately, Lauren? That could be a cause. You don't look like one who smokes, so I don't assume that. And you also seem sober, so I wouldn't be inclined to believe that you drink excessively." he asked her.

With her best friend dying, being left with the responsibility to raise twins, and the multiple arguments that she has had with Camila, everything did add up. And especially with her audition for 'The Voice' coming up, she was undergoing a lot of stress. 

"Now that you mention it, I have been pretty stressed out lately. There's a lot going on at home. That must be the cause." she finally said.

He nodded at her and said, "So let's get the barium all set for you, shall we?"

Lauren gave the doctor a thumbs up, then waited for him to return for her. It had been about five minutes until he returned while holding a cup of barium that was required for the test to be done. She quickly took the cup and guzzled the disgusting white liquid. The taste of it made her want to throw up more than her actually stomach did.