I Heard Your Voice In A Dream

Chapter 15

The last thing Lauren could remember is Ally telling her that her nose was bleeding in a panicked voice. She reached to touch her nose and then she felt it:  a warm liquid dripping down her fingers. And it didn't take long for her entire hand to be covered with the warm blood. The rest was a blur.

Now Lauren could feel thin, cold hospital sheets covering from her abdomen all the way down to her icy feet (her hands and feet were never at warm temperatures, she knew that now). The steady beeping of her heart rate irritated her, as did the unnecessary needles piercing her arms. Her hand instinctively reached for the IV needle but a warm hand grabbed it before she could yank anything out of her.

"I wouldn't do that, you kind of need that." Her mother's soft voice spoke. Lauren could hear the hoarseness in her voice; she assumed her mother must've been crying. Her mother was a rather emotional person, but what parent wouldn't when their kid wasn't exactly the poster child for exceptional health.

"W...wha...what happ—"

"You've been unconscious for a couple hours—three. It wasn't just an ordinary nosebleed baby..." Clara sniffed, squeezing Lauren's hand. "I...they ran some tests..." her mother's voice croaked again. "I'm going to get Dr. Agron. She's going to explain everything."

Lauren felt the loss of her mother's warm hand. "Ca-Camila? Where is she?" she asked.

Clara smiled sadly. "In the waiting room with Ally. They haven't left since you got here."

"I want them to—"

"I know. And they will later. I promise." Her mother assured. "I'm going to get Dr. Agron now, hold tight."

Lauren heard the faint footsteps of her mother leaving and waited in dread for the doctor to come. She respected her doctor, but she lived for the day she would never have to visit the woman ever again. And she was sure Dr. Agron returned those sentiments herself.

 Her mind kept drifting back to Camila and how she must be feeling with the news. And Ally. Ally always put a strong front, but she knew seeing Lauren in this state always hurt her.

She didn't have a very long time to think about them, because Dr. Agron entered with both her parents. Her father was less subtle in his crying, hearing his sniffling every couple seconds.

"Lauren." Dr. Agron addressed. "I see you're awake."

"And here I thought for a second I was lucidly dreaming."

The doctor hummed. "It's nice to know your sarcasm hasn't left in your time away from us." The blonde doctor tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and let out a sigh, unsure how to tell her patient.

"Just say it. Rip it like a Band-Aid. Whatever you say is going to get a reaction anyway." Lauren told her. "You've always been upfront with me, don't stop now."

Dr. Agron nodded. "Very well." She looked at Lauren. "The injections we've been placing on your eyes did not work."

Lauren gave a faint nod. "You said they would this time..."

"I know I did. And once the treatment worked we were going to perform surgery on your eyes." Dr. Agron agreed. "But we can't do that anymore."

"Why?"

Lauren felt a warm hand squeezing her hand while the other squeezed her shoulder. Dr. Agron gulped. "We did an MRI scan."

Lauren gulped, nodding. "Okay..." she whispered.

"We found tumors in your eyes, Lauren."

Lauren felt her heart stop for a moment and she gulped down the knot in her throat. "O-oh." The room was silent, except for the sniffling from her father. There was more to share and she knew it. "Well...we can just do chemo again, right? And surgery? I'll be okay."