Fragile Heart, Fragile Mind

Panic Room

Screaming. Flashes of red. Camz. Camz would not wake up. 

Bolting up in bed with a panicked gasp, Lauren's eyes darted about the blackened room. Camz. Lauren looked next to her and shook Camila. "Camz!" she sobbed. Camila would not wake up.

This sent little Lauren into complete hysterics as she let out an ear-piercing scream, waking Dinah and Normani. Lauren shook Camila with trembling hands as she screamed and cried. 

"Hey, hey... gentle..." Normani cooed, trying to pull Lauren gently off of the sleeping girl. Lauren held on tight and screamed again, sending Ally into the room. 

By now, Lauren was humming to herself and sobbing, rocking back and forth, curled up in a little ball. 

While none of them knew exactly the sort of traumas that Lauren had witnessed before being in their care, the girls would have been correct in assuming that her past was what was causing her to react like this. 

Dinah scooted over and gently took the petrified little girl into her arms, noticing how badly she was hyperventilating. Dinah tried talking to the poor girl and, oversimplifying it, explaining to her that Camila had just taken her nini medicine and she was okay, just sleeping, but Lauren didn't seem to be able to hear her. 

When all of their usual tactics failed to bring Lauren down from her state of panic, they found themselves grabbing their phones, shoes, and blankets for Camila and Lauren and rushing to the hospital. 

Ally drove, Dinah and Lauren were in the middle, and Normani and Camila were in the back. Lauren was rocking back and forth on Dinah's lap, hands trembling, her eyes squeezed shut, sobbing and hyperventilating. 

Lauren easily broke free of Dinah's gentle hold and began scratching at herself quite aggressively. She thought they were taking Camila to the hospital because she would not wake up. Dinah calmly restrained the small girl's hands in her own and gently caressed her thumb across her hand as they pulled into the car park. 

"Shhh..." Dinah cooed as she stood up with Lauren in her arms. Normani picked up Camila and Ally followed as well. As they quickly got through the paperwork, it came time for triage. 

They couldn't get any accurate reads off of her because she wouldn't stay still due to her fragile state. "Let's get her admitted so we can give her something to help her calm down," the doctor stated. 

Lauren was swiftly placed in a room and before the girls knew it, the doctor was prepping a syringe across the room. "On three, kiddo. 1, 2, 3." On three, the doctor injected the shot. Within minutes, Lauren was hiccupping and groggily sucking on her sleeve. 

The small girl sniffled and looked up at Dinah, "Camz?" "She's okay, hun. She's just sleeping. She took nini medicine," Dinah explained hopefully, caressing Lauren's cheek. Lauren yawned and rubbed her eyes, resting her head on Dinah's shoulder. 

*Time skip 6 hours*

After a brief stay in the hospital and a psyche consultation, Lauren was prescribed an anxiety medication with hopes that it would bring her some relief. 

The girls pulled up at their house as the sun rose high in the morning sky. Camila was starting to stir in her sleep as they entered the living room and sat down on the couches. Lauren was out from what they'd given her at the hospital. 

Camila sat up next to Normani and looked around, having missed all of the commotion. The petite brunette rubbed her eyes with sleepy fists and laid her head in Normani's lap, humming, "Amaniiii..." "Yes, love?" Normani giggled, causing Dinah and Ally to as well. 

Camila looked up at Normani and giggled, reaching up to boop her nose. 

*Time skip after Lauren wakes up*

Lauren woke up about an hour ago and to say that she and Camila were running circles around the girls would have been a severe understatement. They both just kept getting into absolutely everything and seemed to have so much energy. 

"Okay, okay. Girls, let's run outside, please," Ally spoke up sternly, stopping both girls in their tracks. Camila and Lauren looked at each other and without a second thought, ran out the back door into the fenced-in yard, 

The little ones played tag, bubbles, hopscotch, jump rope, and more all before the sunset. Before they knew it, they were being called in for dinner. The pair raced inside, nearly tripping over one another before sitting in the living room for pizza and a movie before bed. 

Bedtime rolled around and both of the girls were getting sleepy. Dinah could tell Lauren was getting anxious though. Probably because every time she tried to sleep the poor girl saw awful things. Mani and Ally seemed to have noticed too. 

Meds Ally mouthed. Dinah nodded, standing up with Lauren in her arms. She carried the small girl to the kitchen and quickly prepared her a sippy cup of oat milk with her anxiety meds inside before making another but with Camila's sleeping meds. 

Dinah handed Lauren her cup before carrying Camila her cup. Mani picked up Camila and Ally said her goodnights before everyone headed upstairs, hoping for an uneventful night.