After

Chapter 25

A week has passed and each girl is recovering very well physically. Lauren can now eat solid foods but Camila still has a hard time with anything not given to her in an IV. Camila is doing the best mentally but she has had two relapses where she was convinced she was back at the horrible house being beaten or raped. She has done well in talking through everything with her trauma counselor, but Lauren speaks less and less each day. It's almost as if the gravity of everything that happened to her while she was there has finally hit her and she finally realized what all she did in order to survive. She refuses to let anyone in her room unless she previously knew them before she was taken or it's the nurse that first visited her when she woke up. Somehow she gained Lauren's trust more than her and Camila's counselor. If anyone new even walks past Lauren's room she absolutely freaks out, thinking they are going to take her or hurt her in some way.

After another half week, the doctors determined Camila can be released in two days due to her amazing recovery, but if she is she needs to see her counselor every day and make sure she is living with only people she knows she can trust. Lauren on the other hand only talks to Ally now, and even then, she normally just asks for food or water. Physically, she has improved, but it seems that every step forward physically is another step back mentally. Since she has recovered physically so well, one doctor suggested she be sent to a facility outside of the city to help her mentally. Her family immediately agreed and determined Lauren will leave the same day as Camila.

The counselor has said seeing Camila will probably bring back more bad memories than good, but every time Ally is in the room, Lauren asks her to see Camila. Finally, everyone agreed to them meeting up that night. Camila would be the one visiting Lauren because Lauren isn't permitted to leave her room due to how easily things trigger her memories. They give Camila instruction on how to approach Lauren without scaring her and other things needed to keep her calm.

The nurse Lauren likes escorts Camila to Lauren's room. Lauren is currently asleep which is weird for her because any time she closes her eyes she sees someone hurting her. The nurse just assumes Lauren's tiredness has finally gotten the better of her. They lightly open the door which makes Lauren wake up with a jolt. She sees the nurse and calms down a little, but after seeing who is walking in the door behind the nurse, Lauren immediately sits up. Camila slowly walks over to Lauren, her legs still weak from malnourishment, but she is still much better than when she first arrived.

The nurse notices Lauren staring at her and asks, "Would you like me to leave?" Lauren nods her head in reply and the nurse exits the room.

"Hey Lo, I missed you." Camila sits down in a chair next to Lauren.

"I missed you too Camz." Lauren simply states.

"I-I don't know what to say." Camila begins, "We went through a lot, but we'll recover. I know it's hard, but you don't have to keep living in the world we created there. We're out now but it is important to talk to someone about what happened there. You have to acknowledge what happened."

"If you came in here to tell me I need to see that stupid counselor, please leave. I want an actual conversation with somebody who understands what happened. I don't want some woman to tell me my problems and the 'seven step method' of getting over them and that shit."

"No, no. That's not it. I just want you to recover quickly and whatever I'm doing is helping. I just want you to get better too."

"Can we just have a normal conversation... please? I just want to talk about something normal people our age would talk about." Lauren pleads.

"What does that even look like Lauren? We've never been normal. We entered the music industry at fifteen and sixteen; our lives haven't been normal since that happened. And even when I left the group now four years ago my life hasn't been normal. We don't even know normal so how are we supposed to be normal?"