13
"You're kidding." I shrug and shake my head.
"You actually think Meredith and Alex should end up together?" Cami is outraged, and I stifle a giggle at the look on her face. She sits back, exasperated. "And here I thought I could trust you."
We're two and a half hours into our Grey's Anatomy marathon, and I'm relieved to see that Cami's anxiety levels seem to have gone down since leaving the hospital. She's lying on the couch with her feet on my lap, icepack on her ribs, and has spent the last half hour ranting about how Callie deserves so much more than "Arizona's ungrateful ass." I think for a moment about chastising her for cursing, then remember the mouth I had at 16 and decide it's a rite of passage. I glance down at my watch, noticing it's almost dinner time, then remember the decidedly barren fridge I'd made a mental note to fill yesterday morning.
"Okay, there is no food in this apartment, and you're on strict instructions to rest, so where do you want to order from?"
"I'm fine with anything, whatever you want!" I roll my eyes at her.
"You're the one with the fractured ribs, I'm gonna give you this one. So, Japanese, Thai, Mexican?" She perks up.
"Thai is good! I used to get Thai food all the time with my..." she trails off.
"With who, babe?"
"um...with my mom. So do you have a good Thai place around here?" I know she's changing the subject purposefully, but I don't push it, choosing instead to add "Likes Thai food" to my (very short) list of things I know about her. I call the restaurant, ordering far more food than we'll ever eat but hey, leftovers! I'm tuning back into the tv when my phone buzzes. It's Vanessa, and I pick it up, moving Cami's feet and going into the kitchen. She goes over a couple legal things with me, and tells me she'll bring the official form to the theatre tomorrow, at which point I'll legally be in charge of Cam. I thank Vanessa and hang up, going back into the living room.
"Who was that?-if, if you don't mind me asking," Cami painfully trips over her words.
"No, that's fine! It was Vanessa. She said someone's gonna drop your clothes and stuff off here tomorrow."
"Great." There's an uncomfortable silence, and I take the remote off the table and pause Netflix.
"So there's a couple things I just want to talk about really quickly, now that you're living here." I see Cami's face sink, and I rub her knee, trying to be reassuring. "Okay so one, I know you've probably been in a lot of homes where they've treated you like shit and made you do tons of work and stuff, and I want to tell you now that this isn't going to be anything like that. I want us to be equals, because honestly you're probably more mature than I am." She cracks a small smile at this, and I continue, encouraged. "Two, you've, well," I gesture at the ice pack on her chest. "You've been through more than your fair share of horrible stuff, and while I know I can't possibly understand, I want you to feel like I'm here for you. If you need to talk, or cry, or yell, or break stuff, please come to me. I don't care if it's the middle of the night, come wake me up and I'll find you something to break. So, yeah, that's about it. Sound okay to you?" Cami's really smiling now, a smile that reaches all the way to her eyes.
"Yes, that sounds, I mean, it's perfect." I'm about to answer when there's a knock on the door, and Cami jumps about 10 feet into the air.
"Just the food, it's okay." Though my initial reaction is to laugh when she's startled, I'm saddened when I think about how much hurt she's had to go through for a knock to scare her so much. After I pay the delivery guy, I grab two plates from the kitchen and Cami and I dig in. Or rather, I dig in. Maybe I'm just being hyper-attentive, but it seems to me like she's doing a lot of pushing food around on her plate, and not a whole lot of putting it in her mouth. Rather than bring it up, and run the risk of causing another panic attack, I decide to chalk it up to the pain meds she's on and weird sleeping schedules set by her unplanned night in the hospital.
I notice Cami stifling yet another yawn and gently rub her shoulder. It's only 9 but she's had a long couple of days.
"Okay, you're exhausted, time for you to sleep." I actually have a room for her, it's just currently being used as a storage space for everything under the sun, including no less than 4 boxes of unassembled Ikea bookshelves. As soon as I bribe Oak and Daveed into doing the heavy lifting, Cami and I can decorate her room, but for now I'm down to one bed.
"You can have my bed, I'll take the couch." I see the look on her face and cut her off before she even starts talking. "And don't you dare try to argue with me. You have three broken ribs. Take. The. Bed." She scowls, but gets off the couch and goes into my room, with me trailing behind her. In what was quite an ordeal earlier, I managed to wash her hair in the sink while only partially drenching myself, so all Cam had to do was climb into bed. I'm once again struck by how tiny she looks on my queen sized mattress, and I'm reminded of walking into her room at the hospital less than 24 hours ago.
"Sleep tight sweet girl, holler if you need anything, okay?" I smooth down her hair and kiss her on the forehead, tucking the blanket around her before I leave.
"Okay. Goodnight Pippa." I can already see her eyes drooping shut, and I smile as I exit, leaving the door open a crack.
"Goodnight, love."
******
okay updates aren't gonna be every day anymore bc senior year is madness! Very sorry about that, but what the heck I gotta do?
YOU ARE READING
The Uncanny Accuracy of Fate
Fiksi Penggemar... Camille Beckett and Phillipa Soo have been living only miles apart for years, though their paths have never crossed. It's amazing what a masterclass and a musical can do. Who knows, maybe it's fate!
