Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

It was the morning of Camila's operation, and everyone had piled into Dinah's van. She hadn't blasted her music as she usually did in respect for the sleeping twins that were strapped into the back seat with Lauren and Camila. As much as it pained her to do so, she pushed on through it.

They were only a few minutes away from the hospital when Camila started to worry over everything again. No, she wasn't changing her mind, but she was worried about any complications that may arise from the operation. Would the doctors mess up? Would the operation be a complete failure? Would this actually give Camila the ability to see things? Was it all too good to be true? These were questions running though her head, but they weren't going to stop her.

Ally, who had been sitting next to her, noticed her anxiousness. She said to the worried girl, "It's okay to be nervous, Camila. But I'm sure everything will turn out the way that it was meant to. You just have to keep your head up and pray for the best."

Camila replied, "Thanks Ally. I just can't help but to think that something will go wrong. Things always go wrong when it comes to me."

"Don't say that, Mila! You have two beautiful twins, friends, and a girlfriend who all love you. To put things into perspective, if the bad things in your life didn't happen, then maybe none of us would be here with you right now. If one thing happened to go right in your past, then things probably would have been the same. I know this is very Ally of me to say, but this is why I believe that everything happens for a reason," Ally explained.

"You're probably right, Ally. And if things don't work out today for whatever reason, I'll just take it as another bad thing that might blossom into something much more beautiful later. But I mean, it would be nice if I could see things when all of this is over," Camila said, feeling a little more confident in the operation that she'd be having soon.

Ally nodded and smiled at the more hopeful-looking girl, then gazed out the window as the girls neared their destination.

The car soon pulled up in front of the large, white hospital and all of the girls filed out. Lauren carried Cameron out of the car, while Normani carried Laurie. Using her free hand, Lauren grabbed Camila's in order to guide her to the building. Once Dinah had locked the van up, they began to make their way to the front entrance of the hospital.

As the girls walked towards the tall building ahead, they all grew even more nervous. Many questions began to fill the girls' heads as they got closer. Had these doctors done this procedure successfully before? How many times had this been done before today? Were there chances that the procedure could go really wrong? Eventually, everyone poured into the building together and made their way to the office of the doctor that would be performing Camila's surgery that day. 

On the way up, Camila's hand shook inside of Lauren's. To comfort her, Lauren rubbed the top of her girlfriend's hand with her thumb. Just the contact from Lauren's skin against hers made her feel more at ease. When she was with Lauren, she always felt at home and like she was safe. But this situation was a little different. It was life-changing and life-threatening all the same, and she just hoped for the best results.

Finally, the group had arrived at the office, and the doctor had greeted them all with a wide smile. Ally, Normani, and Dinah assumed their seats in the room against the wall, while Lauren and Camila stayed standing in order to talk to the doctor. 

"Hello, Lauren. Hello, Camila. Are you ready to be able to see the world for the first time ever?" he asked Camila.

"Mhm," Camila hummed nervously in response.

"Excuse me," Lauren butted in before the doctor led Camila out of the room, "how sure are you that this won't result in disaster?"

The doctor turned around and answered, "I'm one-hundred percent sure that there won't be any disaster during the procedure, but I have already said that this procedure isn't going to always work. Although it has worked in ninety percent of the cases, it still isn't definite. But again, don't let that discourage you. The numbers are still high, and Camila will be safe in our hands. We've done this procedure enough times to be sure that we won't mess things up."

"Thank you. I'm a lot less worried now than I was before."

When the discussion had finished, Lauren had kissed her girlfriend on the cheek and sent her off to the operating room with the doctor. After Camila had disappeared from view, Lauren had joined the other girls by taking an open seat next to them.

The operation was to take two hours, which would not at all go by quickly. The group of girls had to wait nervously to see whether or not their friend's surgery was a success or not. They wouldn't find out that day if the operation worked, but they at least wanted to know if Camila was going to be okay afterwards.

During the two hours, the group played around with the twins, watched the news on the television set in the room, and talked about how their lives were going otherwise. As each minute passed by, it seemed as though time got slower and slower. Eventually, the two hours had concluded, and the girls waited anxiously for the doctor to come and give them the news on how Camila's procedure had gone. But when the girls hadn't heard back after the two hours, they began to worry that something may have gone wrong. 

"What do you think is taking so long? Do you think something went wrong in there?" Normani asked the other girls.

Dinah replied, "I like to think that they're taking more time on it than usual just so they can do it perfectly."

"But don't you think an extra half hour is a little much, though? I don't mean to look on the dark side of things, but this is really something to worry about I think." 

Ally added in, "I doubt something went wrong though, Mani. They would have told us by now if something had gone wrong with the surgery. At this point, I'm sure that they're just running slow or are waiting for Camila to wake up from the anesthesia. Things will turn out the way that they were supposed to."

As Ally, Normani, and Dinah discussed possible reasons that the surgery was taking a while, Lauren kept her eyes latched on to the door that remained closed that led to the operating room. While she gazed at the door, she wondered whether or not this procedure was a good idea. Lauren was so persistent to have her girlfriend see the world that she never slowed down to think about the possible outcomes. She was so caught up in trying to make Camila's life better that she never thought that something so terrible could ever happen. 

Lauren's thoughts came to a stop when the doctor finally came through the doors. He was wearing a poker face, which made it nearly impossible to tell whether the news was good or not. The doctor didn't wear a smile nor a frown, and he didn't show any signs of concern. Even when he finally spoke to the girls, it was impossible to tell even from his voice.

"Lauren Jauregui. Please come with me," he instructed her.

Lauren nodded, then handed Cameron off to Ally before following the doctor out of the room. As she followed him, she refrained from saying or asking anything. Whatever she needed to know, he was about to tell her. 

On the way to wherever they were going, many images and thoughts flooded Lauren's mind of the past, present, and future. She pictured a wedding with Camila where they exchanged their vows and rings that would bond their love forever. Camila would be in the dress, with Lauren in the tux. Cameron and Laurie would be there with Ally, Dinah, and Normani to make the day even more beautiful. 

In another image, Lauren remembered first accepting the job to care for Camila. She remembered how angry and annoyed Camila was at first, but how they grew to realize that they needed each other. 

But would these visions and memories fade away if things had gone wrong with the procedure? Or would they linger in her mind forever as she went on with her life? All of these thoughts subsided when the doctor came to a stop in front of a door. This door, Lauren hoped, would have a Camila that was alive and smiling.