Paper Hearts (Camren)

Chapter 10

"Excuse me please, sorry." Camila mumbled several apologies to the many doctors and nurses as she ran down the hospital hallways and pushed past them, not caring that she probably resembled an insane maniac.

Lauren had been taken into hospital unconscious a few days ago yet up until now, Camila hadn't even caught a glimpse of the woman. When the ambulance came, the paramedics couldn't allow anyone who weren't Lauren's relatives to ride with them so Camila could only watch helplessly as Lauren's body got hoisted up and inside the ambulance before driving away.

She wanted to be the first person to be there by Lauren's side when she woke up but was unable to due to precautions; they had to lie low for a few days in case Ludo decided to strike again so Camila was then sent to live with Normani for a few days until Lauren came out of the hospital.

The discovered bags of body parts were sent off for investigation, amazing the press as well as the rest of the police members since it was the biggest discovery concerning the Ludo case they've ever had. The mystery of the 'missing' body parts was solved yet when back-up turned up at the warehouse, there was no sign of Ludo. Fingerprint, footprint, clothing, nothing.

Camila continued to rush up stairs and down hallways until she came to Lauren's assigned room, forgetting about the fact that she had just left Normani behind at the reception somewhere. Outside, she met Ally who was just finishing her conversation with one of the doctors.

"How is she, Ally?" Camila asked desperately without so much as a greeting, she could hear her own heartbeat pounding loudly in her ears.

"She's fine, just resting from the surgery." Ally gave her a reassuring smile.

Camila let out a sigh of relief; she could breathe a lot easier now.

"The doctor said she'd shattered her tibia - her shin, however they've managed to reconstruct it so it shouldn't be a problem. She should be able to leave the hospital in a day or two."

"Can I go in?" Camila asked, still anxious. She couldn't believe that Lauren was really fine until she saw her with her own eyes.

"Go ahead, she's still sleeping though."

"Okay, thanks Ally." Camila gave the superintendent a brief smile before entering the room.

Inside, Camila eyed the peacefully sleeping woman before grabbing a chair and pulling it next to the bed to sit on.

The blankets that covered Lauren were tousled slightly in her sleep, exposing her bandaged right leg. Camila bit her lip hard; she noticed the cuts and bruises around Lauren's arms and head from when she fell onto the concrete.

"Laur..." Camila breathed, feeling tears well up in her eyes. Her hands reached out to hold Lauren's. Seeing Lauren lay on the hospital bed like this made her heart heavy, she couldn't help but think how easy it was for Lauren to have gotten hurt and how she could've been injured a lot more.

Lauren may be sleeping peacefully now but Camila knew how easy it was for Ludo to turn her temporary sleep into an eternal one. Her grip tightened on Lauren's hand at that thought.

'At least she's okay now... She's okay.'

Camila reminded herself.

Her gaze turned to Lauren's sleeping face.

'She's beautiful.' Camila thought, her heartbeat gradually increasing. Her thoughts then wondered back to the night at the warehouse, Lauren had urged her to run despite being injured, she still cared about Camila despite the pain.

'There's so much more to you than people think, Laur. You may seem cold and intimidating but underneath all that, you're the one who cares the most.' Camila smiled a little, 'You're such a mystery...you're unpredictable but I guess that's a good thing, you never fail to surprise me.'