Professor C (camren)

31 - Surrender

***SOOOO, I know this is late. You can grouse and all, I won't be bothered. I don't like it when stories I read are late. I have reasons but none of them matter now because this one's here. And a lot of the things (more than half) that happened in this chapter was not planned BUT I felt timing was right. AND omg I don't really feel much when it's my story I'm yknow reading(ish as I write them) but this one got to me. You're not ready. HAHAHAHAH JK JK Shoutout to everyone who dropped me messages. love u all!PS. Please use ECOSIA.ORG as a search engine. Every 45 searches you make means a tree is planted somewhere. I still don't proofread. 7616 words. yayyy not too long!

Lauren rushed into the sterile hallway of a familiar hospital, the echo of her heavy footsteps against the tiles marred by numerous shoe prints contesting her thunderous pulse. The lavender walls did nothing to appease the storm her being was enduring and that sterile smell that hadn't bothered her so much in the past was making her nauseous, tightening the knot that had already wound in her belly the moment Luca told her the dreadful news.

She did her best not to collide into hospital staff or patients' loved ones and refused to acknowledge the state they were in, especially blocking out a child's pained wail ricocheting off the walls like a stray bullet.

And no matter where it bounced it would end up hitting Lauren square on her apprehensive heart.

That organ was preaching the worst. It was persuasive and the rest of her was beginning to believe it the longer Camila was not in her line of sight. Nearly ten years of smoking might have caught up to Camila and Lauren refused to think about the consequences.

Her mind was running faster than her feet, faster than she could come up with rational thoughts because staying calm was a luxury she could not afford when it came to Camila's well-being.

She didn't want to admit, not even to herself, that she was bracing for bad news.

She's okay. She's okay, Lauren repeatedly told herself.

Camila had to be okay.

Her trip from the community college was a blur - as blurry as her vision behind a layer of unshed tears. Whatever fight she had to stay strong for Camila was an uphill battle.

But she'd be damned if she didn't try.

She would only break down if someone else could be strong for her, and she preferred for that someone to be Camila herself.

And for now, Luca would have to do. The man stood by the door of a hospital suite - if Lauren wasn't mistaken, the most expensive one in the hospital. Of course, they could afford it. Camila definitely deserved it.

She skidded to a stop just in front of Luca, doing her best not to double over as the strain of overexertion took over the high of adrenaline. In an instant, Luca's eyes settled upon her and through her perturbed being, his expressions softening even more as he noticed the state she was in. The underlying apprehension in his ocean blues were momentarily overpowered by sympathy as if he wasn't plagued by the same tempest. He offered a curt smile that Lauren could not return but he understood her difficulty.

He wondered if he could hug Lauren but decided against it. To Lauren, he was a threat, albeit insignificant, simply because of the wedding band he wore on his ring finger. His and Camila's pretenses were still intact for the rest of the world but Lauren didn't seem to see through the façade.

Perhaps, she refused to. Luca wasn't sure.

"What happened?" Lauren asked in a small, fragile voice, rattled by a ragged breath. A hand came up to cup her forehead, raking through her raven locks in search of something to hold, something to keep her grounded before the severity of the situation knocked her off balance. "Is she okay?" She was imploring for good news, her stormy green eyes begged for it.