hospice ↠ camren au

one

"cabello? camila cabello?" a short pudgy nurse with a high squeaky voice yells from the from the nurse's station.

"here ma'am!"

camila cabello, age 21, fresh-off-of-college teenage prodigy, made her way to the front desk, her customized pink nurse's hat on her head and a clipboard placed firmly between her hands. today was her first day working in an actual ward, and while camila was nervous as to what she might find, she was excited. who knew what kind of patient she would get? would it be a cute little old man or a young teenage boy with a broken leg? the possibilities were endless, and while the thought of getting to see sick people was disturbing for most people, camila loved the idea of bringing a smile to someone suffering, even if it was just for a second. In fact, that was the main reason why she wanted to work in the hospital in the first place, she wanted to help out, but the money was good too.

"alright cabello i got you in room 204. first day on the job?"

camila nods, squinting her eyes slightly to read the tag on the elder nurse's uniform.

"you got that right donna." she smiles, donna raises her eyebrow, a smirk appearing on her lips as she does so.

"i like you cabello, you're different from the usual nurses we usually get around here. most of them act as if they went through menopause early."

camila laughs, she could tell she and donna would get along just fine.

"why thank you." she does a little bow, her hat almost sliding off her head as she does so.

"alright, so you're assigned in room 204." She furrows her brow, reading the file again. "-jauregui." She hums. "i like you so i'm going to give you a little tip, she's a rough one. all the other older nurses couldn't handle her, erm, somewhat aggressive behavior, so we figured a fresh face like you would be perfect for the job, after all, you're kind of the same age."

"wonderful thing to say on the first day of the job. absolutely wonderful." camila replies sarcastically, rolling her eyes playfully as she does so.

"you got this camila. " donna winks before returning back to the mess of papers and documents on the table.

camila makes her way to room 204, which was coincidentally just a few rooms from the nurse's station.

once reaches the door, she takes a deep breath and counts to five, preparing herself to whoever was behind it.

this is it camila. you can do this.

turning the knob, she was surprised to see that the mysterious jauregui donna had been talking about was nothing but a girl a year older than she was. sickly pale white complexion, almost-scary-thin body and a glare that was too mean for her liking.

camila enters the room, her eyes still on the patient on the bed, she knew what those symptoms meant and she was glad that she wasn't the one who had to break the news about her condition.

"hello, would you mind telling me your name?" camila asks, trying hard not to stare at the way jauregui's bony fingers twitched from time to time.

"aren't they suppose to brief you on those things? you are a nurse after all." jauregui says, venom laced in her tone.

she may be sick,but she's a tough one.

"i'm afraid they only told me you last name ms. jauregui."

"not my problem." jauregui leans back against the headboard, her arms crossed against her chest.

for a second camila almost wants to feel angry at the stubborn brunette. never in her life had she met someone so rude. but as her eyes roam from her crossed arms to the needles sticking out of her hands, she curses herself for having bad thoughts against someone who was in pain.

"ms. jauregui if i'm going to be your nurse i need to know your name you know, it's kind of required." camila smiles.

"a new nurse again? what happened to that ginger haired chick, gretel?"

"she moved to the children's ward."

"oh. was really starting to get used to her." jauregui almost seemed disappointed, but that changed once she faced camila, an annoyed expression once again appearing on her face.

camila breaks the silence, if she just stood there she was sure jauregui would glare a hole straight in her chest.

"so your name-"

"lauren."

"pardon me?"

"lauren. my name is lauren jauregui. you happy now?"

lauren tucks herself in her bed, the cold air conditioning of the room finally getting to her. camila knew lauren was trying her best not to make it seem like she was affected by the temperature.

"need any help there?" camila asks, lauren looks up and shakes her head, embarrassed at the fact that her new nurse had just seen her act so weak.

"im fine." lauren says firmly, he whole body now buried underneath the thin hospital blanket.

"lauren you know it's perfectly alright to ask for help right? " camila says, sitting on the small armchair by lauren's bed.

"i don't need help. especially not from you." she hisses before turning her back away and facing the wall.

camila sighs, donna wasn't kidding, it would take a whole lot more then tender, love and care to tame this beast.