Intertwined

Chapter 11

Camila's POV

They took her from me. Everything had moved so fast. Before I even got the time to process everything, I had already been put in the waiting room. I don't know what to do. How could I not have seen what was happening so clearly right in front of me? I thought she was getting better, but she really wasn't. I should have noticed, this could have all been avoided. It's all my fault.

"Lauren Jauregui?" I hear someone call. I look up to see a doctor with a clipboard in his hand. I immediately stand up and quickly make my way towards him. "How is she? What happened?" I ask in a shaky voice.

"She is fine. We just ran some tests on her and she is now in her room. We put her on an IV because the tests show that she was dehydrated and it had been getting worse. Later on we will hook her up to some other stuff but for now we will just have her on the IV so her body isn't overwhelmed with the intake of so many things and have a bad reaction to it. You can go see her she is in room 729. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get the results for Lauren's tests. I'll see you in a little while." And with that he exits the waiting room and disappears around the corner.

It's all my fault. I should have noticed, this all could have been avoided. Tears begin to blur my vision. I suddenly feel as if my chest is caving in. My breathing becomes unsteady and my fists clench into tight balls with my nails clawing into my skin. Hot tears stream down my cheeks. The anger and sadness boiling inside me begin to tear me apart piece by piece on the inside. I love her so much but I'm so stupid and oblivious. I didn't notice her suffering. She is now in the hospital because of me.

I feel my chest tightening and my breaths getting shorter and more rapid. I become lightheaded and my hands begin to shake. My knees have now gotten wobbly and within seconds they give up on me and I collapse on the ground. My body racking sobs are no more as I fight my panic-stricken mind to allow my lungs air. My vision fades in and out of view but I see the nurses around me and I feel their warm hands against my body as they yell for someone to get something. I feel all the chaos around me but I can no longer understand what is happening or the words being said to me because I see the darkness approaching. I feel something enter my skin and someone saying something. The last thing I remember before passing out is the thought that all of this is my fault.

~

I wake up to a small white room. Quickly sitting up I see that I'm on a hospital bed. I begin to panic but before it gets out of control a nurse walks in and calms me down when she sees the frantic state I'm in. "Okay sweetie, calm down. Just breathe." My breathing stabilizes pretty soon after that. I ask what happened that got me here and she explains everything. I begin to recall the memory of what happened about an hour ago. I then remember Lauren. "May I please go see Lauren?" The nurse doesn't even take a moment to think about it, she just nods and helps me up and out of the room.

A couple minutes later I am outside of Lauren's hospital room. I'm really nervous because I feel like all of this is my fault. I don't know if I can face her with this thought haunting my mind. I bring my knuckles up and knock on the door. I hear a soft, raspy voice on the other side, "Come in"d

Opening the door and walking in, I am met with a pair of weak, greenish-gray eyes. For the first time since she opened up to me, I now see it. I see the bags under her eyes, her thin hair, the dull eyes, the hollow cheeks, the fragile looking skin...all of it. She looked so sick. The hospital gown was basically hanging on her. I could see her collarbones clearly, the scarred up twig arms. I never noticed how lanky her arms looked, but how could I if all I ever see her in are over sized hoodies and sweaters? And if she's not wearing that she is wearing something that is covering her up and has long sleeves. I never noticed any of this. How could I not see how sick she was. Looking at her pale, fragile skin just send shivers down my spine because she looks so tiny. As if she'd shatter into a million pieces if you just poked her. All I ever saw was the beauty. I was so caught up in thinking I was helping and accepting that she has a dark past that could potentially take her from me with its recurring memory in Lauren's mind that my mind must have become naive to the real world. I now see that I was so oblivious to see what was so clearly happening in front of me. A pang of guilt hits me when I see all the tubes in her arms and all the machines surrounding her.