Trials and Tribulations

Chapter 59

"Jesus Mila!" Dinah exclaimed, the pregnancy test momentarily forgotten and thrown on to the bed beside her as she stood up quickly and ran over to her friend who was slowly lowering herself fully on to the floor. Camila reached out a hand to steady herself and she slumped back against the wall beside the waste basket, dropping her head down in an attempt to ease the sudden dizziness which had come over her. "Shit," Dinah cursed as she crouched beside the smaller girl and placed a hand on her shoulder. Camila wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, the other still resting on the rim of the waste basket next to her. "Are you alright?" Dinah asked her, concern etched on her voice. "Shall I call someone?" she questioned. "No," Camila told her firmly, lifting the hand that she'd used to wipe at her face and placing it on Dinah's upper arm reassuringly. "I'm fine." "Yeah, you look it." Dinah responded, her tone serious yet sarcastic. She rubbed Camila's lower back soothingly. "I really think I should call your mom," Dinah said and Camila, who was twisted slightly so that she was turned towards the bin, rotated back around to meet her best friend's worried gaze. "You don't have to do that," Camila said, but the colour remained drained from her face and she was covered in sweat, her skin gleaming brightly beneath the

thin layer of it on her forehead. "It's nothing. My brain and my stomach are just having a misunderstanding. It'll pass in a moment." "You look like crap," Dinah told her bluntly. "I already feel better," Camila lied, resting her head against the wall beside her and closing her eyes for a moment. "You're such a liar." Dinah said, placing the back of her hand to Camila's forehead in a half- hearted attempt to check her temperature. Camila sat back up again in response to Dinah's touch and opened her eyes. "You're right," Camila admitted as her eyes struggled to focus on Dinah's face and she lunged forward quickly and leant over the bin, vomiting into it once again, her chest heaving painfully with the effort of being sick as another wave of nausea hit. Dinah pulled Camila's hair out of the way and held it against her back, her other hand helping to steady the waste basket whilst the smaller girl retched. "Fuck," Camila complained when the hot bile that had been at the back of her throat only moments ago was replaced with nothing more than an agonising muscle spasm in her oesophagus as she dry heaved. Camila spat into the receptacle a few times as she tried to rid her mouth of the disgusting taste which now occupied it and she slumped back against the wall again, leaning against it on her right side, closing her eyes. "I'm calling your mom," Dinah told her firmly, her own troubles now outweighed by the alarm she felt for Camila's health. "No please,"

Camila said breathily, opening her eyes again and reaching up a hand which she placed on Dinah's shoulder. "It's ok." Camila swallowed hard, her throat feeling as though it had been shredded to pieces by a number of very sharp razor blades. "It was just a shock that's all..." she admitted quietly, closing her eyes again. "I didn't think it'd be so soon." "You mean the trial?" Dinah asked finally understanding, her eyes still puffy and red from her own earlier anxieties. Camila nodded her head up and down slowly in the affirmative and Dinah smiled sadly at Camila in return, stroking the smaller girls' brow gently with her hand and brushing a few strands of dark hair which had been stuck to her forehead with sweat, back and away from her face. "Mila it'll be ok you know," Dinah reassured her and Camila opened her eyes to meet her friends. "He's going to go to prison. It's pretty much guaranteed..." "It's not that," Camila told her interceding. "My parent's attorney thinks that he'll serve the maximum five years if not an extended sentence for obstruction of justice because he altered the physical evidence." Camila closed her eyes again briefly and swallowed hard again, suddenly feeling dizzy again. "Ijust..." she started again, shaking her head in an attempt to clear it. "When I heard the message it made me think about the accident again that's all," she divulged. "It made me remember and I guess Ijust got a little bit overwhelmed by it." "What did you remember?" Dinah asked her as Camila wiped at the sweat on her forehead with the sleeve of her jumper and opened her eyes. She