Lightning (Camren)

Chapter Forty-One

A/N: I seriously cannot explain how happy you guys (the readers) make me. We got this story to #206 in Fanfiction! Every read, vote, and comment means everything to me. Seriously thank you! <3

The following morning after the thunderstorm, Lauren stood with the girls at the airport until it was time for her to board her plane. She needed to head back to Miami in order to fulfill her duty as Annabelle's nurse, as she had only asked for two days off to see Camila when she opened her eyes. It pained her to leave Camila after such an eventful night, but she had a job to do.

"Camz, I'm really sorry about what happened last night. I didn't mean to have the lightning scare you," Lauren said to her fiance. She still felt extremely guilty for bringing Camila outside, and she couldn't stress that enough.

Camila sighed and said, "It's okay, Lauren. You didn't know that the lightning would strike near us. I'll admit that my first experience with lightning was terrible, but I think I'll give it another try sometime. This time, from the indoors where I'll be more protected. Please don't blame yourself anymore for this, just be happy that everything else has worked out. I mean, I can see now and we're engaged. There really isn't anything else that I'd ask for."

This caused Lauren to smile widely. She still felt terrible about the night before, but at least she was reminded of all the good that came out of it. "Well I'm glad that you feel that way. You also have 'The Voice' to look forward to, as well. And you're going to do great, I just know it."

Camila smiled back and kissed her fiance on the lips as a way of saying thank you. "You're right! I almost forgot what I was actually here for. Are you going to watch me sing on television, Lauren?"

"What kind of silly question is that? I wouldn't miss your performances for the world!" Lauren exclaimed, causing Camila to smile even wider. "I wouldn't miss Dinah, Normani, or Ally's performances either. I'm confident that you'll all go far! I'll be happy, yet sad if you all get into the top four though. It'll be really intense if that ever happens. Although, I'm sure that is what is going to happen. You all have pretty flawless voices."

"It will be pretty intense if that happens, Lauren. But although I'm sad that you're not in the competition anymore, I'm pretty happy that I won't have to compete against you. That was my biggest fear while entering, but now I don't have to face it. If that makes any sense," Camila explained.

Lauren admitted, "That was one of my biggest fears too, which is why I was wasn't too upset when I decided to stay in Miami. Of course I was upset to be away from you, but I just didn't want the competition to come down to the both of us. That's something that I wouldn't be able to do. I think I'd actually forfeit if we were in the top two."

"But just so you know, I would forfeit before you had the chance to. So I guess it'd be a race to see who could forfeit quicker," Camila replied, causing the two to erupt into laughter. 

Lauren heard the announcement for her flight taking off, causing the laughter to die down. "I have to go now I think, Camz. They just called my flight."

"Do you really have to go Lauren? Can't they just relocate Annabelle's family here or something? That would solve everything you know." 

Lauren shook her head. "That can't happen. Unless the family willingly wanted to come here, there's no way that that would ever happen. I'd feel terrible to have a whole family move over here just to fulfill my wants. I'm sorry to say this, Camz, but I don't think relocating will ever be an option."

Camila frowned, even though she got the answer that she expected. "That's okay, Lauren. I didn't exactly expect it to be that easy. It's just that... I don't like to be away from you for long periods of time. But you knew that already. For this past week, I've been so lonely even if I had the other girls with me. But then I remembered that you were living your dream by taking care of people who need a little help. That's what you were put on this earth for. You make differences in people's lives like you did with mine. So that's why I don't feel as upset when you are away from me. Because you're not cheating, you're not doing nothing, but you're saving people's lives. I couldn't be more grateful to have you in my life. But I think you need to go now before you miss your plane. I love you, Lauren."

Lauren kissed and embraced Camila in her arms, knowing that she wouldn't see her for a while after that day. "I love you too, Camz."

Soon enough, the couple broke apart and Lauren made her way to her designated plane. It took her a while to get passed the metal detectors and security as usual before she was actually able to get on the plane. But once she made it on, she was relieved to be through all of the procedures that airport security made everyone go through. Airline protection was insane, but it was understandable in the world that they lived in. 

She found herself in a seat by the window, where she'd be able to glance down at the huge world below her. The window seat was always her favorite, because she'd be able to see all of the houses, cars, and people who looked like tiny ants. To see everything below her helped her realize how huge that world actually was. It made her see that there were so many places left for her to visit over the course of her life. She was soon joined by a man who carried his infant child with him. The man looked stressed out, but Lauren knew that it wasn't any of her business to ask about what it was that bugged him. Lauren was startled when the man spoke to her.

"Hello, there." The man greeted her sweetly.

Lauren looked at him and smiled, "Hello. You're baby is super cute."

"Thanks, her name is Sarah," he told her.

"Aw, how cute! What's your name? We're going to be next to each other for a few hours, so I'd at least like to get to know the guy sitting next to me. I'm not really even sure that's what you're supposed to do, though. This is my second time riding on a plane," Lauren admitted.

The man laughed at Lauren's silliness. "My name is Ryan. And you?"

"Lauren is the name!" she exclaimed.

"Nice to meet you, Lauren. What brings you on the plane to Miami this morning? Visiting a loved one here in Cali? Or vice-versa?" Ryan questioned.

"Technically, yes. I was visiting my girlfriend here in Los Angeles, but I needed to get back to Miami where my job is," she explained.

He replied, "Ah, that's cool. What do you do as a job? I work as a doctor in the hospital."

"Really? I'm a nurse working for Mr. Holland's agency. Right now, I'm working for a little girl named Annabelle. And before that, I was working for my current girlfriend, or fiance now. So far, I've been working with the blind. And just yesterday actually, my fiance was able to see after getting a special operation done. It's a new thing that is being performed. And nothing warms my heart more than to see someone be able to do something that they've never done before. " Lauren explained.

"That really is cool. Maybe you should go to school for it? You know, for performing the operations like that ones that were done for your fiance. If you want to make the change, go for it. Trust me, nothing is more satisfying than helping someone directly. Take it from a doctor," he said with a smile.

"You know what," Lauren began, "I think I just might go for it. There are so many blind people in the world who would want this for themselves. To see what happiness this brought to my fiance last night really makes me want to do this for others. I want to do it directly. I wanted to see the change, so I'm going to bring it."