Cant't help falling in love (CAMREN)

CHAPTER 17

January, 1970

There was a knock at the door and Lauren jumped, sitting up in the chair. She hadn't realized that she had fallen asleep. She stayed up most nights, watching Camila, hoping that maybe if she looked at her hard enough that she would wake up. Lauren tried not to get her hopes up. She rubbed at her eyes and looked back toward the door. Marie, a nurse, was pushing it open, her smile turning into a frown.

"Did I wake you?"

"It's okay," Lauren laughed softly, looking back to Camila. Camila was less and less responsive everyday, and Lauren didn't know what the reason was; maybe it was because she was getting so close. She shook her head, rubbing her hand down her face; she didn't want to think about that.

"I just came to check up on her," Marie smiled and moved toward Camila, checking Camila's IV and her oxygen. Lauren leaned back in the chair and watched Camila as she laid, watched when Marie smoothed her hand across her forehead in a loving gesture. Lauren knew that Camila meant so much to Marie, since Camila had been there for over two months. Marie found out, eventually, that Lauren and Camila were not cousins, but they were in love with each other since Lauren talked about Camila like she hung the moon. But Marie was okay with that.

Marie sat down in the opposite chair, groaning slightly, exhausted from her shift. She smiled, reaching over to adjust the strap of the mask against Camila's cheek, straightening it out and smoothing it down.

"I wish I could have known her before this."

"It would've been nice for her to have a friend like you, so she wouldn't have had to put up with me all day," she said to herself. They heard Camila take a loud breath which got both of their attention, hoping that was a sign of her ready to wake up, but she didn't. "God knows I wasn't much of a friend sometimes." Lauren's voice dropped, a hush in the room, "You know - it's so easy to forget how much we'd fight." Lauren rubbed her own forehead, legs splayed in the chair, back aching. "We used to get so mad at each other; I knew exactly what buttons to press, and now it seems like wasted time."

"That's part of being in love with someone," Marie said after a moment, staring at the wall just beyond Camila's head. "You fight them and you hurt them, but the whole time you're trying." She looked back at Lauren. "As long as you're willing to fight for them, it all balances out, I think."

Another silence stretched.

"You talked about her loving the beach so much," Marie continued, tucking her dark hair behind her ear. "I think that's a good memory for her. The fighting probably doesn't mean anything to her after you showed her the time of her life at the beach."

Lauren rubbed at her face. The beach. The place they were heading to before this all happened. She could remember their trip so clearly, Camila in her boots and jacket, Lauren in hers. The way that the waves crashed against the shore and gulls cried above their heads; how Camila was so excited, and Lauren had gotten it all on film. The way that Camila had told her that she loved her over the sound of the waves, shouting across the beach, grinning. She remembered how they shared a small bed in their hotel room, and how every time they moved, it groaned beneath them. The memories were so clear, like they had only happened just yesterday.

"We had fun," she managed, her voice tight with emotion when she spoke. Her sadness melted into a laugh as she remembered, holding up her hands to gesture, "She had an absolute brick of a camera. This old Polaroid I'd gotten for cheap at a pawn shop. I spent so much money on film for it, but I don't know what happened to the pictures."

"I'm sure they're somewhere," Marie smiled again and brushed Camila's hair from her face.

"Yeah," Lauren agreed.

"I've never seen another living human being love someone as much as you love her," she whispered.

"She is my world. I just need her to wake up. I need to take her on her trips. I promised her I would finish that list of trips with her. But it... Fuck," Lauren tried to finish her sentence. "But it doesn't look like we'll be able to."

"No, don't say that. She's tough," Marie said, eyes soft. "We didn't think she would make it this long, but her heart is still beating isn't it?"

Lauren squeezed Camila's warm fingers. The thought of Camila's heart to stop beating hurt more than she thought it should. Camila was just barely hanging on now, and Lauren blamed herself everyday that Camila's eyes stayed shut.

"I don't understand why it has to be her," Lauren said brokenly. "Why couldn't it have been me? All those times I've driven fast on my own - every time and I never bit it. Why her? She hasn't hurt anybody. She hasn't done anything to hurt anyone!"

"I wish I could tell you," Marie whispered. Lauren felt Camila's hand pull out from beneath her own, and then it was resting against the back of her wrist, fingers moving sluggishly.

"She just moved," Lauren whispered looking at Marie in shock. They were both speechless. "Camila? Camila, baby?" Lauren began rubbing her hand trying to get to her to wake up or move again. Camila sighed and her sealed eyes began to open.

"Lauren...?" She sounded incredibly weak.

"Camila! Oh my God!" Lauren said, her eyes beginning to fill with tears of joy. Marie jumped up out of her chair in excitement and left the room to grab a doctor. Lauren almost lunged toward Camila to embrace her. She winced and Lauren pulled away. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"My...head hurts..." she struggled.

"Baby..." Lauren whispered. "I'm so sorry I let this happen to you." She took Camila's hand in hers.

"Lauren... I don't even remember what happened," she chuckled softly.

"A few months ago, we were going to go to the beach, and we...were driving there, and a drunk asshole smashed into us."

"I told you...that you were gonna get us in a wreck...one day."

Lauren laughed at Camila as she was still herself. Marie reentered the room with a doctor. The doctor couldn't believe his eyes. Camila was awake. "Amazing," he said quietly to himself. He stepped toward Camila, almost looking cautious. "Hi, Camila." He sounded happy. Camila looked at him tiredly and tried to flash a smile. He crouched beside Camila's bed, and opened her eyes wider with his hands and shined a small flashlight into one eye at a time, checking her out. "Wow. She's definitely awake," he giggled slightly. "Welcome back, sleepy head. We didn't think we'd see your pretty eyes again." Lauren glared at the doctor after the compliment. Camila tried smiling again, and the doctor stood up and sighed with a grin. "Well, we're going to run a few tests on you, make sure everything is alright, and hopefully you can finally sleep in your own bed soon, how's that?" Camila tried to hold Lauren's hand tighter.

"Sounds great, Doc." She flashed her debilitated smile again.

And everything was finally getting better.