Lazaretto (Camren)

T W E N T Y - E I G H T

"You don't love because: you love despite; not for the virtue, but despite the faults." –William Faulkner

LAUREN

I remained outside with Austin for a few minutes more before I found myself in the workout area sitting up against the wall. For the past five hours, I had counted all of the wooden planks in the floor and all of the plastic pegs in the rock wall, though once I got to a thousand I stopped and started over again because I lost my place. I was thankful there wasn't a clock or else I would have been watching it relentlessly, making the time drag on. I watched as the night turned into morning, Troy addressing me every hour or so on Camila's condition. I had my gaze fixed on the sunrise when I felt a presence beside me.

"You should try and get some sleep. It could be a while before she wakes up." I turned my head to see Troy sitting beside me.

"I'm not going to sleep. I'm afraid I'll miss something if I do," I explained while playing with my hands. When Troy didn't answer, I knew he wasn't going to argue with me. He would have been the same way if it were Ally.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" I asked after a few moments.

He shrugged. "You just have to believe that she will. If you believe, then she will too." I nodded and looked out the glass door again as I watched the sun rise over the hill. Troy got up and patted me on the shoulder. "I'll be back in another hour or so. She'll be okay, Lauren, you'll see. And try to get some sleep, will you?"

I simply nodded again as he walked off in the same direction he came from. I was alone again, drowning in my thoughts once more. I then decided to lie down on the ground. I positioned myself so I could see out the door, the forest foggy but filled with rays of sunshine. I put my hands under my head as a makeshift pillow and before I knew it, I found myself drifting off to sleep. The last thing I remembered before I succumbed to the darkness was a memory. But it wasn't about Camila, it was about Luca.

***

I was in the fourth grade. It was time for recess, and everyone ran in a frenzy towards the playground. A few of the kids ran towards the baseball field, stopping just before home plate, forming a single file line. The kids were nudging each other into the person beside them, laughing and giggling as they tried to stay on their feet. A dirt cloud rose from all of the kicking and stained their tennis shoes and clothes with a thin layer of brown.

"Lauren and I will be captains," Ryan said, a snobby kid my mother made me hang out with on the weekends because his father was on the council. Ryan and I walked out in front of the other kids and began to pick our teams for kickball.

"You can go first, seeing as my team will win anyway," he jeered. I rolled my eyes at his comment and then scanned the crowd of kids. I could have chosen Mason because he was fast, but he wasn't a good sport. Peyton played soccer so she could kick the ball far, but she cried too much. My eyes then landed on Luca, a boy that I played little league baseball with. He was quiet. His family didn't have a lot of money, and his parents worked multiple jobs to support themselves. Luca started working at the facility with me after I begged my mother to let him do so. She knew about his family's financial problems and understood that they needed help from anywhere they could get it. Looking at him then, he stood with his hands behind his back as he kicked the dirt around in front of him. He wasn't the best at baseball, but maybe he would be good with his feet. He had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. Our dads coached our co-ed baseball team together. Because I was the "golden child", majority of the kids wanted to be my friend just because of who I was. But Luca never cared, in fact, he was the only person who made fun of me for who I was...all in good fun, of course.