the three of us {chim}

Piece 122

Author's POV

"Ms Tweedy, Ms Walsh," Dr Ellington calls the newly-engaged couple out to the corridor to speak with them privately. Cheryl and Kimberley have no idea what is going on but something has happened to their daughter.

"So, there is nothing too serious that was discovered in the MRI scan," Dr Ellington clears her throat before delivering the terrible news, "But it seems as though Camille is suffering from short-term memory loss. It's likely not permanent, due to what we saw in the scan. We just have to keep an eye on her, keep asking her questions and repeating the questions a couple minutes later to see her progress. Honestly, it could go away in the next couple hours or the next few days, weeks, or it could never go away. Honestly, memory loss like this is difficult to analyze and know exactly when it will go away." She breaks the mothers' hearts as they realize that their babygirl could suffer for who knows how long.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Kimberley's voice croaks to life as she holds the lump in her throat as far down as possible.

"Yes, definitely. This won't cause any more brain damage or affect her health in any way." Dr Ellington assures them and gives them a genuine smile, again, showing off her infinite hope. Cheryl, once again, envies it and wishes she had more of it.

"Where's my Dad?" Cheryl hears Camille ask as she walks back into the room with Kimberley.  To hear that Camille cares so much about James drives a knife further and further into Cheryl's heart.  When she heard that the only person Camille wanted to see when she first woke up was him, she was devastated.

"Hi, Millz," Cheryl coos as she takes a seat next to the teen on the bed.  She strokes the dark brown hair that rests on the teen's forehead, revealing the stitches that go along the long cut.

"Are you feeling alright?" Cheryl asks and rubs her daughter's arm to warm her up.  For some reason, Camille has goosebumps all down her arm, which triggers the motherly care in Cheryl.  She continues to rub the teen's arm until her chills have gone away.

"Uh-uh, don't touch it." Cheryl told off Camille for trying to touch the stitches on her forehead, "Don't give me that pout, baby. You don't want your stitches to come out, do ya'?" Cheryl talks to Camille as if she's a small child, wanting her baby to feel loved and taken care of.

"But, Mamma-" Camille tries to argue, becoming immensely intrigued by the stitches.

"No, baby, just don't touch it." Cheryl shushes her daughter and kisses her cheek. The teen looks around the room at all her family members and sees Rosie.

"Rosie!" Camille croaks out and smiles wide, feeling the pain from the cuts on her cheek. The teen walks over to her best friend and takes her hand in hers.

"Why're you crying?" The teen naively asked once again, not understanding that everyone's heart breaks each time she repeats something. Rosie holds back the tears, not wanting to show Camille how upset she is.

"I'm not crying anymore, babe." Rosie sighs and holds Camille's hand to her heart.  Cheryl and Mel watch close by and smile at their children bonding — little do they know.

"You scared me, I hadn't heard from you." Rosie admits and sees that Cheryl is giving up her chair for her.  The teen sits down next to Camille as everyone shuffles out to give them some time together.

"I'm sorry." Camille cries in front of her friend, not worried about becoming insecure.

"No, don't apologize." Rosie wipes the tears away and kisses Camille's cheek.  She pulls away and stays close to Camille's face, feeling the intimate moment heating up.

"Is something wrong with me?" Camille asks, which confuses Rosie.

"What?  Why the hell would you ask that?" Rosie does not mean to become stern, but Camille has no reason to think that something is wrong with her.

"Because everyone is looking at me as if I'm insane!" Camille lets it out and raises her voice.  Outside the room, Cheryl lifts her head and contemplates going in.  Kimberley sees her fiancée reach for the door handle and stops her.

"Just leave them." Kimberley whispers and holds Cheryl close.

"Nothing's wrong, there's just a lot going on." Rosie shrugs her shoulders, wanting Camille to feel comfortable and loved.

"Were you crying?" Camille asks and reaches out to touch Rosie's stained cheeks.  Rosie realizes that her memory has reset once again and sighs deeply.

"Do you remember the sleepover we had?" Rosie wonders out loud and peers into Camille's eyes, silently asking her to remember.

"When we held hands while we slept like two scaredy-cat-weirdos?" Camille asks and makes Rosie giggle at her humor arising once again.  Even in the tough situation, she is cracking jokes.

"Yeah, that one." Rosie smiles and looks off towards the window that overlooks the car park.  The sun shines down on the floor and illuminates the whole room.

"What about it?" Camille asks and sets Rosie up for the perfect confession.  Yet, Rosie misses it.

"Nothing." She dodges the question and relaxes back in her chair.  A silence falls over them until Rosie watches Camille's next action.

"These stitches are ugly," Camille groans as she gazed at her reflection in the metal railing of her bed, "Mamma told me not to touch them." She states and Rosie chuckles and then silences herself.

"What did you just say?!" Rosie gasps and waits for Camille to repeat what she thought she heard.

"Mamma told me not to touch them." Camille weirdly speaks, not understanding why Rosie is so excited to hear what she said.

"Camille!" Rosie shrieks and jumps up, "You remembered!  You remembered what your Mum said!" She exclaims and smiles wide.  Camille realizes that she remembers too and everything floods back into her mind.

"Oh my god!" The teen shouts in joy and makes Cheryl and Kimberley burst into the room.

"Mamma, I remember!" She smiles, even though her cheek scrapes hurt.  Cheryl's chin quivers and she bursts into tears.

"Come here!  Don't cry!" Camille exclaims and holds her good arm out.  Cheryl slowly walks towards her daughter and lightly hugs her, not wanting to harm her.  The teen pouts as they pull apart and receives a quick kiss from her mother.

"You're okay?" Kimberley asks and strokes Camille's cheek.  The teen smiles and nods her head, feeling like a little bit of herself is coming back.

*Knock, Knock*

"Hi,"