Worse News (sequel to Bad News)

Worse News - Chap. 24

Chapter 24

 

She lies in bed, looking up at the ceiling. Silent tears keep streaming down her face, like they have for the last couple of weeks. She sighs. She wants to get out of bed, do something, but it hurts too much to even move.

The emotional pain has turned into physical pain. Now that doesn’t mean the emotional pain is gone, oh no, if anything, it’s getting worse every day. She isn’t sure how she’s supposed to live with this feeling. This feeling of emptiness. Like everything that mattered is gone.

She swallows back some tears and sits up. The blankets covering her lower body from her waist, her old t-shirt clinging to her upper body. Like it has for the last few days. She sees the mirror on the other side of the room and looks at herself.

Her hair is a mess. She hasn’t bothered to fix it ever since she came home that day. Her eyes are dark, red and swollen. Her cheeks are puffy from all the crying. And that’s just her outside appearance. Lauren doesn’t even want to think about the mess that she feels inside.

All these emotions. They’re uncontrollable. There are so many emotions flying through her brain, ripping her heart apart, that she can’t even think about what they are exactly. Pain, heartbreak, emptiness. Those are the main ones. Lauren doesn’t want to consider the other ones, because she knows they’ll hurt all the same.

She lets out a long breath while taking her eyes off the mirror, not wanting to look at the pathetic pile of emotions that’s supposed to be her. The tears have slowed down. For the first time in three hours, the tears slow down.

She turns her head to the side when she hears the door open softly. ‘’Lauren?’’ she hears her sister ask carefully. But she doesn’t answer. Instead she just looks at her. ‘’Normani and Tyler are here. Do you… do you want them to come up?’’ Taylor raises her eyebrows in question, but Lauren can’t bring herself to react.

So she just looks back down at her hands and hears her sister leave her room. Not long after that, the door opens again and Normani and Tyler step in the room, with Blaze in Tyler’s arms. The baby girl is sleeping and looking adorable as always.

Lauren looks up at them and Normani engulfs her in a hug. ‘’Laur..’’ she mutters in her ear, and it’s enough for Lauren to break all over again. Tears are running down her face again rapidly, but she doesn’t hug Normani back. She was the last person she hugged, and Lauren doesn’t want that to change. At least not now.

‘’Oh sweetie.’’ Normani whispers, rubbing Lauren’s back soothingly while her best friend cries in her shoulder. Lauren has been a mess ever since they left the prison two days ago. If Normani thought Lauren was in a bad state while Camila was going through the trial and was locked away in prison, she can’t even describe how bad it is now.

She looks horrible, hasn’t eaten in two days, barely drinks. Her eyes are almost too swollen to be able to open, her voice is gone from all the crying and she just looks so tired. Normani eyes the sandwich that’s lying on her bedside table and pulls away from hugging Lauren.

Tyler has walked to the other side of the bed, and puts Blaze down just below the pillow. Lauren looks at the little girl, still sleeping soundlessly. She’s lying on Camila’s side of the bed. Lauren swallows heavily and looks back at her best friend when she calls her name.