Tongue Tied (GxG) (Camren)

Chapter 13

It was Thursday night as Lauren lay in bed, her eyes refusing to close as her brain ceasely kept at its overthinking. She hadn't been sleeping much recently if she was being honest. Her mind was always ablaze with questions about Camila's..unplanned pregnancy, for lack of a less crude term. That, and Jade's unexpected return, was enough to keep Lauren's head overflowing with anxiety.

She had been taking her medication, the pills for her anxiety not doing much to help her and making her depression worse. Her depression medication lessening the weight on her chest only enough to allow her to heave shallow breaths just above the surface of the sadness.

Lauren sighed and shifted onto her side, facing the bright light of her alarm clock. 1:53 A.M. She could hear the small tick it made as every second went by.

Tick. One second of her life she'll never get back.

Tick. Another.

She couldn't help but realize that her entire life is made up of seconds and here they were, coming and going so quickly that she didn't have a chance to figure out what each one really meant in the grand scheme of things.

She continued to listen to the ticking for a few more seconds, her stomach starting to churn as her anxiety built with each one passing. Do other people feel this way? She waited a few ticks longer, the only noise throughout her house being amplified by her inner emotions.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The sound became deafening. She pressed her palms to her ears, an attempt to drown out the noise.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

The rhythm was reverberating inside of her, pinballing its way through her ribs and echoing loudly within the walls of her skull. The raven haired girl sat up quickly, sweat starting to dampen the back of her neck.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

Her green eyes were zeroed in on the only light in her room. She watched as the last number of the time blinked briefly, the new time displayed in blinding white. 1:54 A.M. She kept her gaze trained on the symbols, squinting her eyes to focus.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

She heard a violent smash, but didn't blink at the startling noise.

"Lauren?" her mother called out from beyond the closed door, "What was that?"

If her mom knew that she couldn't verbally respond, why did she even bother asking the question? Lauren laughed a bit to herself at this. If her own mother couldn't understand her, how did she expect Camila to?

Light illuminated the room, tearing the girl from her thoughts. "Oh my gosh Lauren, what happened to your hand?"

Her mom hurriedly rushed over to her as fast as her slender figure could take her. Lauren blinked and saw the blood running down from the clenched fist of her right hand. Beyond that she could see the smashed remains of her clock.

Her mom seemed to put two and two together, this isn't the first time that something like this had happened. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up."

Lauren watched as her mom flushed the running blood from her torn flesh, never flinching. Her mother's face was scrunched and contorted as if she was the one with the gushing hand. She continued to observe as her limb was patted down, dried off, and bandaged.