Really Are Better Together

Chapter Fifteen

It felt like years for Camila since the last time she'd seen her father. No one had brought any of them any new news. She couldn't sleep. She didn't want to eat. She hadn't even spoken a word since that bed was taken out of that room. She didn't want to hear the news they had about her father, she also needed to hear it. She needed to know he was okay. She needed to hear that she could see him. Needed to know he was alive. And before Camila knew it she was crying again, every time for the same reason, him.

The next time Camila looked up it was because she heard the voice of her father's doctor along with her mother and Lauren's. "Okay, okay. Can we see him?"

"Not yet, he's not entirely stable yet. But soon, I promise. Whenever I believe that he is well enough for you to visit him I will tell you right away." Sinu and Lauren nodded knowing that arguing would only make them have to wait longer. She then turned toward Camila, "Hey Camz? I know you don't want to talk, but he's okay. He's stable. And we can see him soon." Camila didn't respond just as Lauren had expected so she began to turn around again before she felt two small arms around her neck. And heard Camila whisper, "thank you." Lauren said nothing, just squeezed the girl tighter to her and smiled into her shoulder.

A few hours later and still no word. "Mija, you should go home and get some rest. I'll call you if there's any news." Camila's mother said when she noticed the girl dozing off in the chair next to her and then to Lauren who was sound asleep in her wheelchair, "and I think she's pretty tired too." Sinu said with a small smile. Her daughter just shook her head and cuddled further into herself. "Okay, well, then I'm going to go get some blankets from the store down the street okay?" She nodded and her mother left. Camila took that time to take in her surroundings. The whole room was white with the reception desk in the corner and rows upon rows of waiting room chairs where people once sat but were now slowly dwindling away. She seen the tall double doors that lead to the ICU where her father waited, seeming so close, yet so far away. She'd felt like she could just touch him, but she couldn't. "Family of Alejandro Cabello?" A nurse spoke from the doors where Camila was just looking. Lauren woke once she heard the sound of the woman's voice and called her over. "You must be his daughter?" She spoke looking toward Camila who just nodded. "I'm Maria Richards, I'm your father's nurse." She spoke holding out her hand for Camila to shake, which she did still without saying words. "I have some news about your father's recovery." The lady awaited Camila's answer until finally she got a nod. "So, he'd flat lined again, but don't worry, we got his heart started again." She gave the girls a second to process this before continuing again. "Fluid also got into his lungs and he needed to have immediate surgery." The woman stopped looking between both the girls.

"Can she see him?" Lauren spoke out.

"He's unconscious, but yes. If you so desire you can. He's right down the hall on the left in room thirteen. I just want to warn you though. Don't be frightened by his appearance." She told Camila rubbing her arm and walking away.

"Do you want to see him?" Lauren asked, not quite sure she'd get an answer.

"I- I don't know if I can, Lauren. I don't know if I can go though that again. What if it happens again?"

"Well, baby, we don't know if it will happen again. Only time will tell those things." Camila nodded standing up.

"If I'm going in, you're coming with me."

"Are you sure you want me to?"

"Yes." Camila didn't wait for an answer that time she just grabbed the back of Lauren's wheelchair and started pushing her to her father's room. The nurse had told her that he wouldn't look like himself, but Camila didn't know if she could see him without Lauren there with her.

When Camila walked into the room she what she saw was nothing she could have ever prepared herself for. Her father was lying on the bed lifeless, he had a tube down his throat that was helping him breathe, an IV in his hand attached to some kind of medicine, a heard and oxygen monitor that had little sticky things all over his body that were covered by the hospital gown. The only reaction Camila had was to put her hand on her mouth and back out of the room to catch her breath. Lauren appeared out from the doorway to talk to her because she had disappeared so suddenly. 

"Are you okay?" She asked. 

"No, Lauren, I'm not. I can't do it. I can't walk in there and see him like that."

"Yes baby you can. He needs you especially now, especially today. You're all he has and he's all you have really. You need to be there for each other, so please go back in there." Camila just nodded and followed Lauren back into the room. She sat down like she had before and grabbed his hand once again. She looked toward Lauren who nodded, and spoke "please come back to me," as a tear rolled down her face.