A Little Extra Help (Camren)

4

"How'd everything go?" Dinah asked. Dinah and Lauren sat back on the couch while Camila entertained Lucas on the floor. Or...Lucas entertained Camila. "Fine," Lauren replied, smiling at the way Camila played with the baby. "She only had one panic attack for both appointments." "Oh, that's progress." Dinah cared about Camila's health very much. The three girls had already been best friends before Lucas came along. Unfortunately, Lucas's father left and Dinah hadn't been in the best financial situation; Lauren and Camila had been there for her to fall back on. Helping babysit and whatnot. The girls only grew closer. "Yeah. Definitely caught on her on a good day," Lauren said. Lauren and Dinah continued chatting away, about the baby and their lives and soon they were both wondering when they'd become so old. They didn't have much time to think about it though as they were interrupted. "Ow! Lo, ow, ow, ow," Camila yelled. Lauren immediately stood up, looking for the danger. The 'danger' was a small little Polynesian baby, pulling on Camila's hair. "Oh, no. No, Lucas," Dinah scolded, rushing over to get Camila's hair out of the baby's fist. "Ow, ow, ow," Camila sobbed. It didn't actually hurt as much as Camila was making it seem but the panic was already taking over. "Okay, okay, shhh," Lauren cooed. Dinah had managed to get Luke to let go and Camila fell into Lauren's arms. Lauren repeatedly kissed Camila's temple, muttering, "Shh, baby, you're okay. Dinah got him off, baby. You're fine." Thankfully, the panic wasn't too bad, as if it's ever even remotely good, so it didn't take long for Camila to simmer down. She went to crawl back to Lucas but Lauren stopped her. "Whoa, whoa. Munchkin. Front and centre." Camila slowly crawled back to her wife on all fours, looking like a puppy who was about to get punished. Camila put her face right in front of Lauren's, all up in her business, and said, "Yes?" Lauren laughed and made Camila sit down and turn around. She gathered up Camila's hair and tied it up on top of her head. "Okay, now you can go, Munchkin." Camila gave Lauren a parting kiss before going back to Lucas. They'd sat contentedly for about an hour after that. But Camila had suddenly slumped over and stopped playing. Lauren only noticed her wife's state when Camila said, "Lo?" Lauren walked over, a look of concern on her face. "What's wrong, baby?" "I don't feel good." Lauren knelt down next to her and felt her forehead. She was scalding. "Dinah, there's a med kit in the car," Lauren stated. Dinah immediately rushed out to retrieve it while Lauren to figure out exactly what was wrong with Camila. "Camila, what hurts? C'mon, keep talking to me," Lauren commanded, still gazing over Camila's body, checking for damage. She was doing a very good job at keeping her cool. She'd been through this enough times to know that if she started freaking out, then Camila would start freaking out. And that was never good. "My, uh...My stomach," she answered slowly. She looked as if she'd pass out any second. Dinah came running back with the med kit and placed it down next to Lauren. As Dinah took Lucas and placed him in his play-pen, Lauren popped the latch on the box and got out the thermometer. While they waited for the reading, Lauren laid Camila down, a pillow under her head. After what felt like five years, the device finally beeped and the screen read an obscenely high number. Instead of panicking like she wanted to, Lauren kicked into action. "Dinah, call 911," she ordered. She brought out all the necessary equipment and cleaned Camila's arm quickly. She injected the medicine into Camila's arm and waited for her muscles to stop seizing. "Camila?" Camila turned her attention in the direction of the voice. It took a lot of energy. "It is better?" Lauren asked. Camila nodded. It was getting better and she was able to sit up. Lauren kept a supportive hand on her back and a watchful eye on her. "Is she okay?" Dinah asked worriedly from the side-lines. "I don't know." At least she was honest. "Camz, can you walk?" Camila gripped onto Lauren and tried to push herself up. It hurt like hell and it took her a minute but she got there. Lauren saw the amount of effort and pain that went into moving like that so she scooped Camila up and went to sit on the front porch to wait for the ambulance. Lauren saw the vehicle round the corner so she stood up. After reassuring Dinah many times that she didn't need to go with them and explaining to the paramedics what was going on, she laid Camila down on the stretcher. Lauren wasn't really on the religious side but she was praying that Camila wouldn't panic. She needed all the help she could get and there were so many problems right now; they didn't need another one. "Keep your eyes on me, Camz," Lauren instructed. The EMT strapped a mask over her face so she could breathe and Lauren saw her eyes widen. Before she could full on freak out, Lauren rubbed circles on her wrist and said, "Hey, baby, hey it won't hurt you." Camila's eyes fell on Lauren's. She mumbled something under the mask but Lauren couldn't quite understand her so she lifted it up a bit, "What does it do?" "Well," Lauren started. She'd take this as the perfect keep-Camila-distracted time. She cast her eyes warily around the truck and said. "I'm not gonna lie. It gives you super powers." "Really?" Lauren nodded, keeping up the ministrations on Camila's wrist. Camila's attention wavered when they began putting the IV in her arm, so Lauren continued speaking. "It helps you breathe really, really well." Camila tested this out, taking multiple deep breaths and her face shifted to a smile when she realized that it worked. Eventually they arrived at the hospital and Camila was immediately taken to get scanned, Lauren trailing behind the whole way. Since Camila was special needs, Lauren was allowed to go with her. She waited while they put Camila through the machine and Lauren was astonished, to say the least, at how calm Camila was. She wasn't panicking, not even a little bit. Lauren wasn't happy about this, though. If Camila didn't have enough energy to panic, she must really be feeling bad. Once the doctors figured out the problem, they'd set Camila up with a room and they'd managed to bring her fever down. Lauren was sitting with her back against the headboard, holding Camila in her arms, when a nurse walked in. "I just have to put these bracelets on her wrist," the lady explained. Lauren felt Camila tense, getting ready for any sort of threat. Camila began shaking as the nurse got closer. "Camila look at me," Lauren commanded. When their eyes met, she continued. "Its not gonna hurt. Not one bit, she just wants to help you." Camila thought for a second, then tilted her head, asking. "Help me?" "Mhm. It's not gonna hurt. Right, Miss?" The lady responded right away with a smile. "Of course not." She sat down on the edge of the bed on Camila's side, holding up the bracelets to explain. "These just tell us who you are and why you're here. That's you, see?" She held up orange and green bands with Camila's name on it. "Lo, look! That's me!" "I see it, baby!" Camila now eagerly held up her right wrist and let the nurse wrap the bands on her. When they were secure, she held them close to her face to ogle at them. "What do you say, Camz?" Lauren nudged her quietly. "Thank you." Camila smiled, looking up shyly. "You're welcome, dear." She walked out of the room, leaving them alone once again. It wasn't long until Camila heard a rumble under her ear, causing her to giggle. "Be quiet down there," She reprimanded Lauren's stomach. "Silly," Lauren laughed. She kissed Camila's forehead, appreciating the fact that Camila actually had the strength to be silly. "You're hungry?" Camila asked. "Yes." Lauren began playing with Camila's fingers. "Go eat something. That's what I do when I'm hungry." "I'm not gonna leave you in here, baby." "Lolo, you have to eat!" Camila pouted. Lauren just fell deeper in love, how Camila was so insistent that Lauren eat something. "Alright," Lauren complied. "How about I call Dinah to bring some food with Lukey, yeah?" Camila's face lit up and she clapped her hands, nodding vigorously. Lauren opened up Dinah's contact and pressed the video call button. Dinah's face popped up but Camila was too busy fiddling with the IV to notice. "Hey. Munchkin. Don't touch that," Lauren reprimanded. "Look." She redirected Camila's attention to the phone and she flipped the freak out. In a good way. "Dinah! Hi Dinah!" Camila yelled. "Lauren look! It's Dinah!" "Shhh shh I see her!" "Hi, Walz," Dinah waved. She was so grateful that Camila seemed back to normal and she couldn't keep the smile off her face. "Hi Chinah," Camila smiled. "Chinah, look at the bracelets I got. Look, that's me!" "I see, Mila, that's so cool! How you feeling?" "Better," Camila sighed. "I'm tired." "Lay down." Lauren said. Camila obeyed but made sure to keep the phone screen in her view. Then Lauren spoke to Dinah. "They stabilized her, her fever went down. They want her to stay a few more days and then we have to give her medicine more often. And, she's gotta eat. She eats but she pukes it all up. She they're probably gonna make her have an IV in at home." Camila, thankfully, hadn't been paying attention to what was being said. If she had, Lauren had no doubt that she'd be flipping out. "She's okay though, right?" Dinah asked. "Yeah she is. You're a fighter, right Munchkin?" Lauren said, gazing over at Camila. "Fighter!" Camila yelled, holding her arms up and showing her muscles. Dinah smiled in adoration, proud of the girl for being so strong. "Camz, you wanna tell Dinah why we called?" Lauren asked, brushing a piece of hair out of Camila's eyes. "Yes, Cheechee, we need you and Lukey to come here because Lauren's belly is loud." "So what does she have to being?" Lauren helped. "Oh you have to bring food for Lauren." "Please." "Please." Camila added. Dinah chuckled before saying. "Of course I'll bring you food. Need anything else?"