A Light in the Dark

Chapter 63

Something heavy was on her chest and made it difficult for her to breathe. Was this what dying felt like? Was she already dead? The loud bangs still rang in her ears, but by now a high tone accompanied them. But that didn't matter.

She would never see Lauren again... or Sofi... her mother... the girls... Jacob... it was over. This was the end. She couldn't believe that she had actually wanted to end her life a few months ago...

It was ironic that she was going to die now that she wanted to live. She wanted to have a life with Lauren, she wanted to have a future. She wanted to see Sofi growing up, she wanted to tell her mother that she forgave her for everything, that it was in the past... she didn't want to die... not now... not for a long, long time...

Suddenly, the weight on top of her was lifted and she felt something warm on her face, something soft... a hand? And, in a rush, the sound came back.

"ON YOUR KNEES!"

"MEDICS!  GET THE MEDICS IN HERE!"

"DOWN ON YOUR KNEES, NOW!"

It was a blur of loud voices. She couldn't distinguish them, it was pure chaos. Except for the voice of a woman beside her.

"Karla, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes, sweetie?"

She held her breath, trying to make sense of everything around her. From the sounds of it, she probably wasn't dead... yet. With a bite on her lip, she slowly blinked her eyes open and immediately found the source of the voice. A blonde woman, probably in her thirties and clad in a police uniform, was kneeling on her left side. As soon as their eyes met, the officer smiled in relief.

"Are you okay?" she asked and gave her a quick once-over, her eyes lingering on her throat before wandering over her upper body. "Are you hurt? Did you get hit?"

"N-no...?" Camila tried to look behind the officer, but the woman had positioned herself so that she wasn't able to see anything. The only things, she could see, were two sneakers sticking out... before one of the called medics blocked her view again.

"Don't look, honey," the police officer told her and she reluctantly glanced away. "Look at me. Yes, just like that. Don't look over there, okay? I'm Officer Sara Winters, by the way. You can call me Sara, okay?"

She gave her a tiny nod. There was still a ringing in her ears, but it was not as loud as right after...

"Your parents are going to be glad that you're alright," Sara told her as Camila tried to ignore whatever the paramedics did on the left. "Your dad is waiting outside. We could barely hold him back when we wanted to go in..."

No, that couldn't be her father. They had probably mixed something up... her father would have been glad and would have hoped that she... that she might...

Involuntarily her eyes drifted to the left again as the medic shook his head. Sara followed her gaze and shot a look over her shoulder before turning her attention back to her. "Tell me something about yourself."

Camila tore her eyes away from the feet on the left which still hadn't moved, not once.

"I... I prefer to go by my middle name," she managed to get out and looked towards the commotion beside her. A few policemen were still pointing their guns where three people were lying on the floor as three other officers slowly approached them.

"My bad. What is it?" Sara asked her as Camila watched how the three were handcuffed.

She met Chris' worried eyes as they pulled him up and she saw Luis' horrified expression as he looked to where Gabriel was lying.