My Favorite Camren One-Shots (Part 3)

The Climber

I moved my gaze upwards, the peak of the rock face was teasingly in sight as I clenched my teeth and sucked in a deep breath.

This was what I lived for.

The epinephrine pumping through my veins and the feeling of fighting nature, beating the odds. The wind was blowing my hair in various directions and messing with my already blurry vision. I clung to the cliffside for my life, my hands roughened up by the rugged edges and sweat mixed with particles of dust was running down my temples frequently.

It was now or never.

One fatal mistake and I could forget about any functioning future, but it was too tempting to back down from what I had made out to be my own personal mission to accomplish for the last two years.

I poked my tongue out slightly in serious concentration, staring at the next step, the next point where I could grab onto, unfortunately it was extremely far. I considered the odds very thoroughly and inconveniently enough they never seemed to be in my favor... Strangely that never seemed to bother me a single bit, no, it rather increased the temptation to prove that for me, there were no such thing as limits.

I was Lauren Jauregui, fearless. A daredevil of the worst kind and I knew I was good, more than good, I was exceptional.

But there was no argument that the distant that presented itself was disturbingly far, a much bigger leap than I'd ever tried on before. I closed my eyes for a second, taking inward the exhaustion that was evident in every limp of my body. Everything screamed for rest, my arms, my legs, even my stupid toes were starting to feel worn out.

I reopened my eyes and they immediately focused on the previous spot, my only opportunity.
Within a millisecond the decision was made and I kicked off from the unstable foothold, basically gambling on success. The next thing I knew, everything unfolded itself in slow-motion. I watched as my fingertips failed to hold onto the rock and the feeling of panic that occurs when free-falling erupted in the depth of my soul before pain suddenly consumed me and darkness became everything.

**

Loud buzzing, annoying piping-sounds that drilled their ways into my head and created utter chaos. That was all I heard and whenever I tried to see the reason behind I failed. My eyelids were so heavy, it was as if someone had taped them together on purpose, leaving me blinded in ignorance. The only thing noticeable was the shades of lights that sometimes altered, but most often it was nothing but complete blackout.

My lips felt like a part of a desert, but there was no use in trying to wet them with my tongue, seeing that it was equally dry.

After what seemed like half of an eternity everything started to feel easier and I managed to flutter my eyes discreetly, the bright light burning my sensitive eyes and it wasn't before I fully opened them I achieved some clearance.

My gaze instantly roamed the room and the white walls surrounding me was recognizable but bewildering all at the same time. A man was staring at me from a distant, his eyes widened when he realized I was not only physically present.

"Hello Lauren." The man greeted and pulled out a tiny flashlight from his outer pocket, directing it into my eyes and in reaction I blinked furiously, the additional light inflicted immediate discomfort that I desperately wanted to remove myself from.

"I'm sorry, it's standard proceeder." He apologized sincerely. "I'm sure that you're very confused at the moment, which is completely normal after a traumatic incidents like yours Lauren..." The pause that was in-between was unbearable and I felt like jumping out from my bed, shaking the man until he would speak again. "You've been in a coma for the last two weeks and are currently at the local hospital. Do you remember anything from the accident, the reason why you're here?"

I pondered on the new information I'd been provided. In the middle of all the confusion ongoing in my head his question couldn't have been more spot on, the few memories I had were vague, more like tiny glimpses instead of fully displayed actions. I parted my lips, prepared to cooperate, but nothing that could be compared to a decent word came out. I coughed in an attempt to clear my throat and Dr. Gray, as his name tag read, motioned his head to the side and in the course of seconds a male-nurse appeared on my bedside, offering me a white plastic cup.
He held it towards my lips and I emptied it hungrily, sighing when the cold water alleviated everything on its' way down.

"I slipped..." I mumbled out, it was the only concrete observation that replayed inside of my head when reminiscing.

The doctor scribbled down into his notebook, after his expression to guess he was presumably writing down something like; "Insane young woman just woke up. The creature showed weak abilities in conversing, but otherwise as mentally ill as expected."

"Well, your numbers are stabile so far," He smiled. "I assume you're feeling tired so I'll just leave it with that. There's a string to your left side, to whenever needed. Don't be shy to ask about anything."

I nodded to clarify my understanding and the man turned away, pacing to the door but coming to a stop in the doorway.

"Before I go, I should inform you that there will be a nurse coming to check on you soon."
I faked a smile in return before throwing my head back in despair when the doctor had completely left the room. First I'd failed my personal mission and now this. If there was one thing I resented with every bone in my body it was to be taken care of, to rely on other individuals.

I wanted to stay awake, but my body was betraying me, craving sleep like never before. Ironic how I had been asleep for two weeks straight, but still felt like I hadn't slept in months. It didn't take long for me to reluctantly drift away into deep slumber.

"Lauren...wake up."

I jumped at the sound, my hand shooting to my rising chest and I heaved after air as my heart threatened to run away.

"What the hell?" I yelled shocked, slamming my hand in front of my face when I realized there was only a girl.

"I'm so sorry," She apologized with a bright red color in her cheeks, "I didn't mean to scare you, I just couldn't wait any longer."

My first reaction was to glare at her.

"I wasn't scared." I retorted.

"Oh, then I guess I should reclaim my apology." She replied cheerfully, seemingly ignoring my rude reply.

"I guess you should." I spat back.

"Anyway, I'm your nurse for the rest of the stay." The girl smiled and once again, oblivious to the poison in my words. "And I'm here to help, so don't be shy. Not that I've got the impression that you are." She shrugged lightly.

I quirked an eyebrow at the sassiness in her last sentence, the way she stated it so bluntly was totally unexpected to come from someone her size, so innocently looking.

She was small, but her precise height was hard to assume since I wasn't exactly capable of standing myself. The girl looked at me with a soft expression before strolling to the other side of my bed, changing the bag of intravenous, giving me an opportunity to examine her more continuously.

She had to stand on her toes to reach up and that was when her appearance suddenly stroke me. She was young, around my age, not the usual old grannies you'd find at these places. I wasn't normally attracted to brunettes, but she was gorgeous. Her dark locks tied up in a tight ponytail, showing off her strong facial lines, cheekbones. The prominent eyebrows, but what caught my attention was the intense look in her eyes, like a bonfire.

I shifted my gaze when she was about to turn, afraid that she would be suspicious if I stared too much, but I still kept her under supervision in my peripheral vision.
She tilted her head and glanced at me, the sparkle ever so evident and I had to force myself to not look back.

"Would you like something, food, a magazine?"

"No." I answered shortly, trying to avoid as much conversation as possible. The sole reason why I'd chosen climbing. I preferred the company of myself, and myself only. There wasn't room for anyone else. I only had like one friend and some other acquaints that would like to claim that they knew me, but they were all oh so wrong.

"Laur!"

I looked up and talking about coincidence. My only friend Ally stood in the door, hand in front of her mouth and with a shocked expression.

I smiled at her before she ran towards my bed and engulfed me in an embrace, almost squeezing the little life I had left out of me.

"Woah, watch out. Person with tremendous wounds is the victim of your crushing arms." I joked and she released me, giving me one of her compassionate looks.

"Sorry, but don't you dare scare me like that again!" She exclaimed and pulled me into a softer hug, more careful this time.

"I won't." I promised weakly, a part of my mind screaming liar. As soon as I got out of this bed I'd be trying the same, I had to. It was like an unhealthy obsession, my guilty pleasure, that was to expose myself to danger no matter the consequences. I lived for the rush, the sense of invincibility. This small set-back would only be a bump on my road.

"Lo, don't lie to me. You always do this." She said with a sad smile, "But I guess that the climbing is a part of you, what makes you Lauren, the big stupid Lauren Jauregui." She muttered into my chest, keeping her arms around me.

"Ehm, I'll be waiting outside." The nurse suddenly coughed, reminding both Ally and I that we weren't alone. "Call me if you need anything."

"No, could you stay?" Ally objected and sent me an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry Lo, but I can't be here for much longer. It's starting to get late and Troy is in a business meeting, leaving me to pick Leo up from kindergarten."

I smiled at the mentioning of my favorite nephew, only one though, but still.

"It's fine. I understand." I replied honestly and she looked at me worried, "I promise, it's absolutely fine." I assured again, smiling broadly, "Hurry now, and tell Leo his favorite person in the world misses him." I added half-heartedly and Ally rolled her eyes with a smile playing on her lips.

"I will, you're all he's been talking about lately, wanting to be a big mountaineer just like you, already climbing trees like a little monkey." She explained and shook her head amused, "I swear, sometimes I wonder if he's mine or yours."

"Definitely yours, he's so tiny..." I remarked teasingly.

"He's 6!" Ally argued and I shrugged.

"Still, I was never that small." I asserted and watched as my best friend stuck her tongue out.
"I really have to go, but I'll try visit you later this week, perhaps bringing Leo. It was really good to see you, and I must say, you don't look as awful as I expected." She winked before leaving the room.

"You've definitely been that small."

"What?" I questioned and turned my head in direction of the voice.

"Everyone has. Once, when they were younger." The nurse explained casually and walked over, taking a seat in the chair placed beside the bed.

"Not me." I answered determined, fully aware that she was right, but too stubborn to admit defeat.

"Are you telling me, that you've always been this big?" She asked entertained and raised her eyebrows at me in wonderment.

"Yes, you see..." I paused for a moment, taking my time to read her name tag, "Mrs. Cabello." I commented smugly.

"Miss. Ms. Cabello." She corrected softly and I smirked at the indirectly definition of her relationship status.

"Anyway, my perception is that you're only as big as you think you are. Therefor, based on that theory, I will dare to say that I've never been that small." I grinned at my quick and fully approved save.

"You're something for yourself Lauren. I don't think I've ever stumbled over anyone with more confidence in their actions or words." Ms. Cabello snorted and I shook my head dismissively.

"I only have excellent self-knowledge, but yeah. I wouldn't deny that I'm a confident person." I smiled proudly, intentionally trying to annoy her, but instead of getting pissed off she giggled loudly. I thought I liked the sound of the wind breezing past me up in the height, but it was nothing compared to the adorable sound leaving this girl's mouth in this very moment. The sweetness to her voice had me more mesmerized than listening to my favorite song and I smiled at her like a complete idiot.

However, my admiration was abruptly broken when my head started to throb in pain and it felt like my entire body temperature increased. I slammed my sweaty hands to each side of my head, pressing them firmly against my temples in an attempt to keep it still.

"What's happening?" I screamed out in frustration when the pain settled down a bit. I stared at the girl who leaned forward, replacing my hands with her soft ones and examining my eyes more closely.

"Try to keep calm Lauren. It's a side effect to the concussion, violent headache, but it will only get worse if you panic." Her voice surprisingly broke through the barrier and reached me, instantly working as a pacifying remedy.

"There ya go, good job." She commended and usually, whenever someone acted like that I would have felt like a toddler and gotten mad, but feeling her gentle touch on me made it hard to concentrate about what I usually would have done.

"Why do I have a concussion?" I asked when most of the pain had faded, her forehead scrunching in disbelief.

"Are you seriously asking that?" She replied with another question, making it sound like I should know the answer, but my mind was a blur, seemingly impossible to work out the pieces right now.

"Lauren, you fell. 30 meters right down, it's a miracle that you don't have any severe, life-threatening injuries. You could have broken your neck in the progress...or worse." She informed, her tone almost sounding scared. "What were you thinking anyway? You climbed that high without any sort of safety equipment, no plan B and for God sake, why didn't you at least put on a silly helmet?"

"I like it, but whom I kidding, you're a nurse. I don't think you'd understand."

"There's only one thing I don't understand," She started with an irritated tone, staring out the window, leaving me hanging in a more curious state than ever.

I thought she was going to continue, but instead she sat there, totally spacing out on me. She was obviously frustrated, scrunching up her cute nose. Wrinkles spreading across her otherwise smooth forehead. Normally, due to my impatient personality I would have urged her to speak up, but not with her. Instead I found myself studying her features for the second time that day, letting my gaze roam down from her hair line and landing shamelessly on her lips.

"You should get some rest, it's starting to get late and I've other patients to take care of." The girl told indifferently and slowly got up. An indescribably feeling shot through my chest at her words, was I really that much of a burden or did she actually have other patients.

I lifted my hand and pathetically grabbed after her wrist, failing majorly when my grip loosened after just a few seconds. But she turned to me with confusion written all over her face, presumably for my spontaneous action that would ordinary be followed by a request.

"Please stay..." I eventually said, no, the way the words came out sounded like I was begging, my confidence none-existing and I was now asking the nurse that after spending this little time on me probably hated my guts, presumably even more than everyone else already did. I stared into her brown eyes, trying not to get too hypnotized while awaiting her respond.

"I told you Lauren. I'm busy, not everything circles around you." She answered nonchalant and picked up a notebook.

Ouch, that was definitely a way to bruise my ego. I averted my gaze from her eyes to the floor, hearing the door close shut.

I threw my head back, cursing lowly at the pain shooting through my stiff neck. My entire body felt worn out, and not like when I was climbing and it was a proof on my hard work. It wasn't a good feeling of doing something, living, using your body. It was only exhausting, weakness. The sense of being incapable of moving. I tried to lift my arm again, but it felt like spaghetti, shaking and trembling whenever attempted to move. I decided to try my legs, see if they were to any more use, but they were equally pathetic, on the other hand they hurt. It was like a stinging agony creeping onto them whenever stirring. Oh no, concerns about not fully recover washed over me and without any more thought I rolled off bed. Screaming out when my crippled body met the cold floor, I remembered the crash. The resemblance of pain when falling down 30 meters and from the hospital bed was terrifyingly the same.

It felt like each bone in my body broke all over again and it didn't take long before several hands were at my side, trying to pull me up. I squeezed my eyes tight and a sting in my upper arm was the last thing before I went into a dreamless sleep.

**

I stirred my eyes open, resting them, before reopening. All the way from my neck to my tailbone was numb, almost painless. I was lying kind of paralyzed, only able to move my head in slight movements. I gazed around the room, it was dark behind the curtains, which meant that it was still night. I muttered some curse-words before eyeing a certain brunette, sitting in the chair at my bedside. The first thing that caught my attention was that she was sleeping, fully dressed and with her head resting in the palm of her hand, what must have been a very uncomfortable position.

She didn't wear her previous nurse-clothing, instead she wore a pair of blue jeans and a grey sweater, saying; We are infinite. Or I guessed so, seeing that her brown hair was covering the first and last letters. It amazed me how long and flowing her hair was, it was a complete different
from when she had it styled up in a ponytail. I couldn't tell which one I preferred though.

"Princess..." I whispered. "Ms. Cabello, wake up!"

The poor girl let out a small yelp before falling off the chair, landing straight on her ass and despite my condition I couldn't help but crack an amused smile.

"Glad to see that you enjoy other people's pain," She muttered and rubbed the deferred spot,
"Perhaps you should be more careful next time you decided to wake someone up."

"I could say the same to you." I smirked, "It wasn't exactly all flowers and rainbows when you woke me up."

"Fair point, I'll give you that." She acknowledged with a timid smile lurking in the corner of her mouth.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked casually, making a point by eyeing her outfit from top to toe.

"You freaked out." She stated and I chuckled.

"No shit, I couldn't move my legs."

"I'm aware of that, you shouldn't try to move too much, not in the beginning at least. It looks like your legs took the worst of the fall." She gave away sad smile, "It's pretty bad, which explains why you couldn't walk on them."

"But it's going to be fine?" I interrupted and swallowed away a lump in my throat, "My legs are going to work properly, right." The last sentence was more of an assuring than an actual question.

"Lauren...it's pretty bad." She repeated and the tears started to form in my eyes as I desperately tried to blink them away.

"But they will work, right?" I choked out, trying to remain my composure and not break down. I never did, not in the moment my family died or after, when my life came tumbling down.

"We'll see, but your legs are not your only injury. You've broken three ribs and fractured several bones as well as demolished a number of important tendons. If it hadn't been for all the medication right now you'd probably be writhing in agony." She added seriously and now the tears came streaming down my cheek. I chewed on the inside of my mind, suppressing the inevitable sobs to escape.

She surprised me, and probably herself by taking my hand in hers, squeezing it tightly. It even more amazed me that I felt it, how her hand fit perfectly in mine and the softness and warmth it transferred. All of a sudden I felt calm down to my bones and I looked at her, compassion burning in her brown orbs.

We sat like this for seconds, minutes, God knows how long, but regardless of the comfort it brought me it was also unfamiliar for me to be this close to someone. I hadn't participated in any physical contact that contained also the emotional part. The connection I felt in this moment was both disturbing, but oh so good.

I cleared my throat, her head popping up a bit and I smiled at her.

"You didn't answer though," I began and she quirked an eyebrow at me.

"I'm afraid I'm not following..." She said with confusion written all over her pretty face.

"You didn't tell me what you're doing here? I assume your shift is over since you're wearing that." I pointed out.

"I...the doctors told me there was no one to call. Not anyone close by." She stated sleepily and bright red colored her face. "I didn't want you to be alone when you woke up."

I grinned widely at her and she snorted, "Don't let it get to your head, you're not special." She teased and with all the strength I had left I squeezed her hand.

"Thank you." I said sincerely with a broad smile. "I'm being serious, thank you. It was really kind of you."

She smiled a toothless smile in return, the gesture filling me with warmth. No one had ever thought about me like that before, not ever since I was placed in one foster home after another. It had always been me, fighting the world, but here she was. A completely stranger, showing me empathy like no one else. We kept on the conversation animatedly, going into topics like where we went to school, favorite books and movies.

"How on earth can you like those movies?" I laughed but had to stop when the aching pain from my chest increased at the sudden movement, "It's like eating a ton of candy floss. First it's really sweet, but then you end up all nauseous." I said pointedly and pulled a grimace at her offended expression.

She crossed her arms, "It's romantic, like titanic. God Lauren, don't you ever wish your life was like in those movies?" She asked and her eyes went immediately dreamy.  "Imagine being saved by your one true love."

I stared at her, unsure if she'd hurt me if I laughed again, probably I'd just end up hurting myself so I didn't. Instead I gestured for her to sit on my bedside. She hesitated, her eyes moving from the spot to the door in a quick glance.

"It's ok." I assured and she nodded, slowly moving from the chair to the side of my bed, carefully sliding down beside me.

She tenderly lifted her hand and brushed my eyebrow with her fingertips, caressing the form with ease, "You should sleep again, your body needs all the rest it can get."

I glanced up at her, suddenly feeling like a little toddler again, "Will you be here when I weak up?"

"Yeah, if you want me to." She replied and her finger once again brushed over my face. I sighed
of the comfortable state they put me in.

"Good." I said before letting go of all my worries. The slumber slowly but certainly conquering my body.

**

The morning after no-one was on my side, the lack of warmth made me shudder and I groaned. Was it all a dream, or was it just too good to be true? The door opened and the thought was swiftly out of my head as I watched my favorite nurse coming in, a tray in-between hands and what seemed to be my breakfast.

"You scared me, for a second I thought you broke your promise and left." I teased and she placed the tray beside my bed on the nightstand.

"No, I promised I'd stay, didn't I?" She answered softly, "Besides, this is where I work. I had to sneak out earlier, or the doctors might get the wrong idea." She added with a wink, leaving my cheeks heated.

"Then, perhaps you should take a break now." I suggested and she pushed a button, the upper part of my bed raising tardily.

"And do what?" She replied, "Lauren, I'm at work, which means that I've other patients too."

This wasn't the first time I heard those words, but they hurt this time too, but now it was more than only my ego that got bruised. I was jealous, or mental, those two things often seemed to go hand in hand when it came to me. She must have noticed because she stopped her actions and walked over to my side, leaning forward and placing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"Don't worry," She stopped, her lips resting fairly close to my ear, her hot breath hitting it teasingly, "you're my favorite." She whispered and butterflies erupted in the pit of my stomach, the corners of my mouth also tugging upwards.

"I'll come by later, the doctor will also come to check upon you."

I nodded after and surely the doctor came in, huge glasses on his face this time, highlighting his eyes. They were blue, my favorite eye color, or it had been, but ever since I'd caught a glimpse of the nurse's my taste had completely change, it wasn't sea-blue or the sky that made me swoon anymore, it was the brown, puppy-like eyes, those who reminded me of warm chocolate.

"Morning ms. Jauregui, how was your night?" He asked while checking the numbers on the screen, also taking notes from the book the nurses always wrote in.

"I've been good, except from that little misunderstanding last night. But other than that, all fine." I said and raised my brow, hiding a smirk.

"Oh. Yeah, I'm sorry that I didn't mention that you had to be caution with standing." He excused himself, a small smile coming through as he continued on, "There's just that I think you're the first person ever in this hospital's history that tries to get on her feet after being in coma for such an extent. No matter the damages taken into consideration I think you'd found it quite difficult to stand."

"I think so too." I agreed entertained and my smile widened when a certain brunette came up behind the doctor.

"Ok. I'm just going to take a look on your legs. Tell me if it hurts." Dr. Gray said and tossed away the duvet from my feet. I felt his cold hands move down to my ankles, carefully adding pressure and I flinched at the stinging.

Soundlessly I felt a comforting hand on top of mine under the duvet, a wave of calm washed over me and I was able to relax.

I looked up, stealing a glance of the brown orbs as they were fixated on whatever the doctor was doing, but I couldn't remove my gaze, instead I smirked and watched as she smiled in return, indicating that she was watching me as well.

The examination was over in course of minutes it seemed and the doctor dismissed himself, leaving me and ms. Cabello alone.

"Are you going to come lie beside me?" I questioned with a sly smirk, watching her shake her head.

"Why not?" I pouted and she shielded her face with her hands, covering her eyes half-heartedly.

"Don't do that Lauren. I'm at work and it's highly important that I maintain a healthy and professional relationship to my patients." She said out loudly, the words sounding more teasingly and decreased my worries in an instant.

"So that mean you can't cuddle with me? Because last night you..." She covered my mouth with her hand in a hurry.

"Shh. You can't say that," She whined, unaware of the closeness between us. "If anyone hear that it can quickly escalate and people might get the wrong idea."