A Little Extra Help (Camren)

1

"Good morning, sweet girl." Lauren rubbed Camila's back as the younger girl's eyes began to flutter open and take in their surroundings. Her eyes focused on Lauren for a second and then she seemed to realized that Lauren was, well, Lauren, so she snuggled further into her. "How you feeling?" Lauren asked, still rubbing circles on Camila's back. "I'm okay." Camila answered weakly. Not that there was ever a moment when she wasn't weak, physically. The illness drained her of every drop of energy she had. Lauren brought her hand up to Camila's forehead and found Camila was burning up. She sighed and rubbed her back again briefly before sitting up. "I'm gonna go get the thermometer." Before Camila could protest, Lauren hopped out of the bed and across the bedroom to one of the many medical boxes they had around the house. She retrieved the thermometer and padded back over to the bed, sitting beside her wife. She held the device in front of Camila's mouth and placed it under her tongue. "I'm gonna go make breakfast, baby." Lauren said, lightly scratching Camila's scalp. "Do you wanna stay here or come down with me?" "With you." Camila uttered around the metal still protruding from her lips. She slowly rolled over to begin the process of standing up just as the device began beeping. Lauren took it out and glanced at the little window. "You have a fever, baby." Lauren looked at her wife, taking in her fragile form. It killed her that Camila was in such pain. "Can you move?" Camila slowly began to sit up, wincing the entire time. She was completed out of breath by the time she'd managed to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. Lauren walked around to stand in front of Camila and carefully scooped her up into her arms, trying not to sob at the way Camila's face was permanently laced with pain. Eventually, they'd made it to the living room and Lauren softly laid Camila down on the couch. "Okay," she said, settling her down. "I'm gonna get your medicine." Crossing the living room and kneeling in front of the orange box, she popped the latch and retrieved the necessary equipment: the needle, the liquid medicine, alcohol wipes, gauze and a Band-Aid. As she walked over, Camila began frantically shaking her head back and forth. It broke Lauren's heart but she had to do it. She needed Camila to get better. So she sat down next to her wife, placing everything on the coffee table. "I know, baby, I know. It'll make you feel better for later, though. It'll only get worse if you don't take it." Lauren ripped open the wipes after she'd rolled Camila's sleeve up past her elbow. She made sure her skin was clean then grabbed the needle and sucked up the right amount of medicine into the syringe. "Ready?" "No." Camila whimpered, her bottom lip already trembling. Lauren took a deep breath and inserted the needle into Camila's arm, injecting the medicine. Camila's breathing immediately kicked up and she fell back on the couch, her muscles seizing as the medicine spread. Tears fell fast out of her eyes and she just kept crying over and over. "It burns. It burns." And all Lauren could do was watch. It lasted for a solid three minutes and it never failed to make Lauren cry along with her wife. As soon as it was over, Lauren wrapped Camila up in her arms as gently and as quickly as possible. While Camila's lungs were still trying to catch up. Lauren murmured. "Shhh baby, you're okay. You're okay."

Soon enough Camila was well enough to be operational on her own, for the most part. Camila all set up with a movie, Lauren moved to the kitchen and prepared their breakfast. Banana pancakes. As Lauren brought the plates over, she prayed to whoever was listening that Camila would keep the food down. She knew she couldn't help it but Lauren really, really, really wanted Camila to get better. Before they began eating, Lauren went and grabbed Camila's designated puke bucket, placing it right next to her. Lauren sat down and Camila waited for her to give the 'okay' to start eating. "Go ahead, Munchkin." Camila dug in, carefully placing each bite in her mouth and keeping her gaze on the movie. Camila always had a great appetite; always finished everything on her plate. The problem was not throwing it all up. The disease sucked up all her nutrients to begin with, so she needed as much as she could get. When Camila's finished, she placed her plate on the coffee table alongside Lauren's. She could feel her stomach churning but she was trying extremely hard to get it to stop. She lost, in the end. Camila snatched the bucket and wretched, emptying her stomach. Lauren sat behind her, holding her hair back and rubbing up and down her spine. The problem about vomiting with Camila was that once she started, it was hard to stop. So much so that after all the food had come out of her, she started puking up blood. And that was when Lauren had to step in. Lauren knew Camila was in her own little world right now so she put her mouth right next to Camila's ear so she could hear her loud and clear. "Listen to me. You need to breathe. Breath, Camila." She filled her lungs once with a big breath before sputtering up blood a few more times. Then she took a few more breaths and finally sat back against the cushions. Lauren took the bucket and brought it into the bathroom, rising it out in the tub. She came back with a glass of water and a hard candy for Camila. "My throat hurts." Camila croaked. "I know baby. Go rinse your mouth out." Camila did as she was told and sat back down afterward. "Drink this." Lauren handed her the water. With all the puking Camila did, Lauren had to make sure she stayed hydrated. She brought Camila probably around 50 glasses of water a day. Once Camila drained the last drop, Lauren gave her the hard candy. "Suck on it, don't chew it." She warned. Camila nodded and popped the candy into her mouth. She scooted closer to Lauren and let her run her fingers through her hair while they watched the movie.

The rest of their day had been pretty easy. They'd watched movies all day and Camila threw up her lunch but she managed to keep her dinner down, so that was a plus. By the time both women had gotten sleepy, Camila's medicine began wearing off. Slowly they walked up the steps to the bedroom, Camila grasping onto Lauren's forearm. Once they'd made it, Lauren sat Camila down on the edge of the bed and walked over to the dresser, pulling out fresh pajamas for the both of them. She' changed herself first, then padded over to Camila. "Hands up." Lauren said. Camila held her arms up and let Lauren pull her shirt off. Lauren bent down and blew a raspberry on Camila's belly, making her giggle before she pulled the clean one over her wife's head. Lauren made Camila stand up and she knelt down to swap her wife's current pants for the fresh ones. Camila kept her hands on Lauren's shoulders for support while she stepped in and out of the clothes. Finally, both were ready for bed. And they fell asleep how they always fall asleep. Limbs intertwined and as close together as they could possibly get.