Photograph (camren)

Chapter Forty-Four

It wasn't that she'd forgotten about it.

No, it wasn't that.

However, the memory of that night hadn't been on the forefront of her mind either.

When Normani mentioned the fatal car accident Lauren's mother had been in, (coincidently on the same night as her own) it had taken her aback. Despite being a well educated and therefore, (mostly) logical thinker Camila wanted to believe that this new information itself was circumstantial. The doctor wanted, with all of her heart to not start questioning things. To start looking into what had actually happened that night. And, of course, to either confirm that Lauren's mother had been the cause of the accident her mother, as well as herself, had been in or not.

Seeing as the lieutenant's mother had been no stranger to alcohol, it's highly likely that she'd had a little too much to drink before getting behind the wheel. However, it so happened to be the last time she'd get to do anything. Normani had mentioned that Lauren wanted her mother to come to the game, even though she found it difficult since Mike had gone missing. Difficult to watch her daughter play the sport she loved, or to watch her at all.

But would she really do that?

Camila didn't know.

Of course, she didn't, it wasn't like she and Lauren had been close in those years. Not that the brunette didn't believe her friend, but the ability to comprehend why Clara would get behind the wheel just wasn't there. Even if she did, Charlotte had plenty of car accidents on the daily, it's not like they could've been in the same one, right?

The thought followed her for the rest of her shift, up until she crawled into one of the on-call rooms' beds. She couldn't face the apartment, not with this- not like this. Not only had Lauren been missing for more than a week, but now her mother could be the cause of the scar that lingered on Camila's chest. What was this? Grey's Anatomy?

What kind of sick coincidence could this be?

The woman she loved-loves', very alcoholic, and what Normani would describe as 'emotionally scaring' mother, wrapped herself around a post on the same night a drunk driver had swerved into her lane. The same night, that she'd been on her way home from Lauren's game with her own mother, who had let her drive. The same night, that the other vehicle (she still can't remember what it was) hit them, in a semi-head-on collision. The same night, she had to get open heart surgery.

The same damn night.

To calm her anxieties, Camila decided to put the uneasiness to rest and look up the news articles from that night. Being sixteen at the time and stuck in the hospital for more than two weeks afterwards, she never could bring herself to look at them. She didn't want to know what happened to the other driver. Because truthfully, she was angry with them. Furious actually. Not only did she have a really terrifying surgery, but she didn't get to attend Lauren's graduation either. She never got the chance to say goodbye to the girl before she'd enlisted and took off to bootcamp not a week later.

Funny, how that is, isn't it?

The first few articles, only indicated what had happened, nothing about who'd been involved. Then eventually, after an hour and a half of scrolling through countless articles; Camila came across what she wished she hadn't. An article with pictures and of course, who'd been involved.

'Semi-Head-on Collision on the I-97: One Dead and One Injured'

She didn't have to read it to know that it was her mother's car, that they had been the victims of Clara Jauregui's last stitch effort to be a mother to her daughter. The whole reason she had a scar on her chest- why she was too terrified to ever get behind a wheel again? Clara.