Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 34

"Camz is late," Lauren observed as she sat in the cafeteria with Dinah, Ally and Normani at their usual table. "Do you think she's alright?" she asked the others glancing around the room in search of her girlfriend. "She's probably up to something entirely too cute to conceive," Ally commented in response, taking a sip of her drink. "Remember the last time she was late to lunch and she came back brandishing a pair of tickets to the winter formal for the two of you?" "Yeah," Normani agreed with Ally. "Christmas is coming up and I wouldn't put it past her to have organised some elaborate surprise. You know how much she enjoys them." "Maybe," Lauren replied doubtfully, a nagging feeling in her stomach. "She's just normally not this late to lunch..." "Mila is rarely ever late to lunch," Dinah granted. "I mean, there's food here..." "Guys," Lauren interrupted Dinah thoughtfully, looking

around the room and noticing a number of faces looking in their direction, watching the group closely. "Is it just me or... are people staring at us?" Dinah and the others scanned the room for a moment to validate Lauren's remark. "Uh, yeah," Dinah acknowledged, her eyes briefly making contact with a number of students' whose attention was piqued in their direction. As soon as they realised Dinah was observing them, they averted their gaze, seemingly embarrassed at being caught gawping. "What's that about?" "I don't know," Ally answered, puzzled at the excessive interest they were getting. "This is weird..." she commented, trailing off as she noticed Miss Lovato approaching them from across the room. "Girls," Miss Lovato said as she reached them, her tone serious. She stopped behind Lauren and Dinah, placing a comforting hand on both their shoulders, standing between them. "Can you come with me for a moment?" she asked. Lauren turned in her seat to look up at the teacher who had a solemn expression on her face and she felt her stomach drop in response, a sudden sense of dread and inexplicable foreboding coming over her. "Please," Miss Lovato prompted and the girls' collected their belongings together before following her out of the cafeteria and down the hallway towards her classroom, no one speaking for the entirety of the journey, everyone pondering the meaning of their sudden summons. "Have a seat," Miss Lovato instructed them all, gesturing to the vacant desks in her classroom as the girls' entered. She closed the

door behind them as they all descended into a few chairs nearby, each one watching her attentively, anticipating her next words. Miss Lovato walked over to a desk opposite the girls and perched herself on it so that she was facing them. "What's going on?" Lauren asked her anxiously when she didn't say anything. "I don't really know how to tell you this," Miss Lovato started, lowering her gaze to the floor for a moment before meeting Lauren's eyes. "So I'm just going to say it." She paused briefly to look at each of the worried faces before her. "Camila had another seizure during French class earlier," she informed them, her tone neutral. "She's been taken back to the hospital." For a while, no one said anything, each of them looking round at the others apparently lost for words. "Is...is she alright?" Lauren finally managed to ask. "I mean, she's ok isn't she?" Miss Lovato pulled up a chair and positioned it in front of the pair of desks where Lauren had sat next to Dinah. "Lauren," she started, reaching a hand out and taking the youngsters in her own supportively as she sat down. "I know this is scary but I really need you to try not to worry..." "That's not an answer," Lauren noted, sensing Miss Lovato's attempt to avoid directly answering the question. "No it's not," Miss Lovato replied simply in agreement. She sighed to herself at having to be the bearer of bad news. "The truth is that Camila's not ok." Lauren felt tears sting her eyes and she looked over at Dinah who looked just as taken

aback by the teachers' brutal honesty as she did. "She will be
though?" Lauren asked hopefully as she felt Ally's small hand grasp on to her shoulder comfortingly. "I mean, it's just a seizure right? It's not like she's never had one before..." "I'm sorry," Miss Lovato apologised sincerely, squeezing Lauren's hand and looking just as devastated by the news of what had happened as the girls' assembled in front of her. "Camila's in a really serious condition." She notified them. "Her mom called about twenty minutes ago to let us know that they had admitted her to the intensive care unit and that she wouldn't be back at school..." "What?" Lauren asked her voice quiet and broken. "I don't understand. You said she had a seizure..." "She did," Miss Lovato confirmed, looking over at Dinah who remained especially quiet. The teacher placed a hand on Dinah's forearm compassionately as she continued. "Unfortunately, it didn't stop on its own and the doctors had to sedate her..." "You said to try not to worry," Ally reminded Miss Lovato helpfully. "That must mean that she's stable, at least for now." "Yes," Miss Lovato confirmed, grateful for Ally's insight. "She is. Camila's stable at the moment, but, the doctors are still concerned. Apparently she hit her head when she fell..." Lauren's stomach rolled over at Miss Lovato's words and she felt her head spin unpleasantly as her mind conjured up all manner of terrible thoughts and images in response to the knowledge. "I want to see her," Lauren said, a sense of finality in her voice as she cut the teacher off. "Me too," Dinah added, speaking at last. Miss Lovato