Photograph (camren)

Chapter Forty (p.2)

The news broke through the family home like a single siren. Bone chillingly loud and with each sound came another heart break.

Camila sat at a standstill as everything came crashing down around her. She'd heard the news the first time, but it didn't stop everyone from repeating it to her and each other throughout the living room. First the front door had closed, then Mrs. Hernandez leaned her weight on her right arm, using the kitchen counter to keep her stead with the letter held tightly in her left hand. Ally sat on the couch, her eyes gazing questioningly towards her mother, having not heard the exchange between her and whomever had been at the front door. She was too caught up in the talk of tiny baby socks and how old she thought the baby would be by the time her and Troy tied the knot.

However, like Camila, Shawn had a knack for eavesdropping to certain extents. Despite it going against Canadian culture, the tall doctor had picked up the habit while working at the hospital. Today though, he wished he hadn't.

Being the first of the friends to know what was about to go down, Shawn made his way over to the younger brunette's side as he watched her freeze in place. The usually lively doctor hadn't been as such since hearing the news about Syria earlier that morning, but with the conformation that Lauren had indeed been caught up in all of it; Camila's blood ran cold. Having been a rather attentive friend towards the small girl throughout the better part of her internship and now residency, the brown-eyed boy knew the spark that lived in the girl's eye. He'd seen it shine oh so many times while she'd helped a patient or had made the proper diagnosis. But the only time he's seen her hazelnut orbs turn ember was when she was with her lieutenant.

Seeing her now was like seeing a ghost of who Camila had been only the day before. Her eyes were bleak, once warm skin was now cold, and her forever smiling face had settled into a deep line of defeat. There was absolutely nothing she could do- nothing, and it killed her. She knew Lauren's father had gone missing years ago and was never found and had listened when the marine told her stories of how her mother had drank away the pain only to become bitter with anger. The small Latina understood the lieutenant's mother more in that moment than ever before.

Dinah's eyes were trained on her as well, mostly following Shawn as he made a beeline towards the smaller girl and wrapped an arm around her fragile shoulders. She was sat on the couch with Mani and Ally, discussing potential wedding plans for the soon-to-be parents and what their little nephew would wear. But as soon as she heard Mrs. Hernandez take in a deep breath, then let out a broken sob, the Tongan knew something was wrong. Very wrong.

Mani had made the mistake of following Ally's mother to the door once she hear two men talking outside. She thought that maybe some of Troy's friends had stopped by to take care of the leftover sandwiches and cake. She thought wrong.

The dark-skinned girl was the first to swallow a sob, then Lauren's legal guardian as the door closed in front of them. Camila stared blankly while folding into Shawn's hold, silent tears cascading down her face as the words left Mrs. Hernandez mouth, and caught the attention of the two blondes.

"Lauren's gone M.I.A." She spoke softly, the room now quiet compare to before.

It rang through everyone's ears, stayed inside of their heads for a moment before being processed. Lauren was missing. Lauren was missing. Lauren is missing. It struck a chord deep within Ally's chest, the thought of her cousin- now sister, being lost. Potentially gone and never to be seen again. She watched it happen before, with her uncle Mike. How everything had crumbled around Lauren's family the moment they'd gotten that letter, only for the memorial to be held a year later when her mother decided he'd never be found. She'd given up on him. They wouldn't give up on Lauren though, would they? They couldn't, right?