Into You

Chapter 55

It was the early hours of the morning when Lauren finally gave up to the insomnia that had claimed her as its own. It hadn't come as a surprise to her that she'd have trouble sleeping. It had happened to her many times before in Afghanistan. For some reason that she'd never been able to explain, once the adrenaline of a situation had eased off, once she had the opportunity to catch up on whatever sleep she had missed, she never seemed to be able to drop off.

She wasn't sure if it was just her brain racing in her skull thinking about everything and anything, or some sort of payback for the punishment she had given herself over the last few days; either way, the result was the same -- she couldn't fucking sleep.

Camila was well away. Though her sleeping had been as bad as hers for obvious reasons. The family doctor had prescribed her some sleeping tablets to help, sleeping tablets that she adamantly refused to take. It had only been after a lot of persuasion from her that she had agreed to take two of them and finally lose herself into oblivion.

After half an hour of lying there listening to her snore, she couldn't stand it any longer and silently slipped from the bed and into the other room, pulling on some clothes as quietly as she could. Not wanting to worry the sleeping girl if by some miracle she awoke from the chemically-induced coma, she quickly scribbled a note and crept back into the bedroom, tucking it under her phone.

Pausing only to pull up the blanket and cover her properly, she walked out of their room, and down the stairs; heading for the kitchens in search of a cup of hot tea, the one thing that her mom had always told her would help. Despite it being the early hours of the morning, it was still warm in the house and she was longing for a breath of fresh air as she made her way down the stairs and into the hallway, enjoying the cool as she stepped barefoot onto the tiled floor.

It was the faint light that leaked from around the morning room door that caught her eye, the thin strip of light whose glow cut through the darkness. Suspiciously, she padded over to it silently, rolling her feet across the floor rather than step, her hips low to give her better balance. She listened at the door for a second and heard the faint sound of music, muffled through the heavy oak.

Deciding that there must be no danger inside the room, she knocked gently and heard a familiar voice call out.

"Oh, it's you Lauren, mija, come in and join me," Sinu said as she poked her head around the door. She walked over to where the woman was sitting and eased herself down into one of the chairs.

"I take it you can't sleep either," she said accepting the cup of hot chocolate that Sinu poured for me from a classic side handled pot.

"No, not really," Sinu said sitting back and smiling. "Where's Camila?"

"Sleeping with Temazepam," she replied taking a sip of the thick liquid, "or whatever it was that the doctor prescribed," she added at her frown.

"Ah," Sinu replied indicating her understanding with a nod, "yes, that one does like his tablets. Is she all right?"

"Well away," she replied, "I think she's doing better than she was. I think the funeral helped, if you can excuse the sentiment. What I mean is...."

"...I can excuse you, Lauren," the woman interrupted her flailing for words. "I know exactly what you mean. It's that sense of closure that allows you to move on, isn't it?"

"I guess so," she said noncommittally. She doesn't remember her mom's funeral ever acting as a point of closure for her. In fact, the only time she actually got 'closure' was when the last drop of ink went into her back and her tattoo was finally done; knowing that she would always be with her and she could finally move on. Up to that point, she'd hid from the pain by throwing herself into work, legal work, combat training, and everything that went with being a member of the Military Police.