weak ➸ camren

chapter 16 ➸ maybe in a perfect world

"Will you let the nurse put the IV in if I stay with you while she does it?" Lauren asked cautiously. They'd been sitting in silence for a few minutes while Camila clung to Lauren's shirt, letting the tears flow freely. Camila looked up at Lauren and brought her hands to wipe her eyes.

"Do I have to?"

Lauren sighed softly. "You had a seizure, Camila," she bit her lip and used the hand that wasn't holding Camila to smooth out the girl's messy hair. "They need to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine," Camila sighed and studied Lauren's face for a moment. She shivered when she saw just how distraught the other girl seemed to appear. Was Lauren really that worried about her? "You'll... you'll stay here?" She asked timidly.

"Of course," Lauren laughed softly. She didn't understand how Camila wasn't terrified by what had just happened to her. It made her worry, actually. If having a seizure wasn't enough of a reality check for her, what would be? "I'm sorry about the other girls... I just, I needed to call someone... and I didn't k—"

"It's okay," Camila shrugged slightly. She didn't make a move to uncurl herself from Lauren's arms, though. She gained an odd sense of comfort from being this close to the girl. "They just get... overwhelming, sometimes."

Before Lauren could answer, the nurse poked her head back in the room. Camila quickly slid out of Lauren's arms when she saw an anxious Dinah trying to peer in though the crack in the door. The loss of contact bothered her more than she thought it would have.

Lauren reached over and squeezed Camila's hand before giving a knowing nod to the nurse.

"Ms. Cabello, this IV will not come out unless I take it out myself, do you understand?" the nurse shot an unreadable look at the smaller girl and she nodded slowly. Her grip on Lauren's hand tightened and she shivered when she felt the green-eyed girl begin to run her thumb over the ridges of her knuckles. She found it amazing how the smallest of touches between them were able to calm her down.

The nurse didn't say anything else, she just flicked the IV a few times before sliding the needle into Camila's vein. Camila didn't flinch. It wasn't the pain of the needle that she was afraid of. It was what the needle would be pumping into her that terrified her. But maybe, just maybe, whatever it was wasn't actually that bad for her. Maybe she should trust Lauren.

Lauren waited until the nurse left the room to speak again. "How do you feel?" she asked, running her fingertips up and down Camila's arm. The moment they'd shared before had been so intimate that she'd practically forgotten the tension that had been present between them for the past few days.

"None of this feels real," Camila confessed. She lifted her arm that held the pink cast, studying it intently. "I swear I told them I wanted purple."

Slowly, Lauren reached over and ran her fingers across the surface of the cast. "Does it hurt?"

Camila shook her head. "I think they're lying. I don't think I broke it."

Biting her lip, Lauren immediately remembered the way Camila's arm had been bent. "I, uh, no... it was definitely broken," she said softly, clasping her own hands back in her lap. "Trust me."

Camila was suddenly aware of the fact that Lauren had been the one to find her. Lauren had been the one to call for help. In some ways, she was eternally grateful. But at the same time, she felt extremely embarrassed for letting someone see her that way.

"I'm sorry," Camila mumbled. She didn't understand why Lauren would continue to try and help her when it seems as if Camila wasn't making any progress. "I-I didn't mean to h—"