Wait For Me To Come Home

Chapter 68

Their first week at Sinu's passed by quickly, and then the second. Camila was slowly adjusting to being home, and being with Lauren all day every day, and her bones were slowly mending as she spent all day resting. Under normal circumstances, Camila would've been ecstatic and her usual bubbly self, but her return brought problems with it, and every night she woke screaming from a nightmare of a memory. Lauren would quickly scramble away from Camila, more for concern about what it would do to Camila if she accidentally hit Lauren again, rather than for her own safety. She would talk to her until she calmed down, and then Lauren would hold Camila as she cried herself back to sleep, quietly whispering nonsense to her until the sun came up. It was taking its toll on Lauren, and she got little sleep over those two weeks, but she didn't care – she had to look after Camila.

At the end of those two weeks, Sofi and Maggie had to go back to work in Miami, and Sinu went back to work too. Lauren and Sinu planned to keep Camila in Palm Bay for another week, just to give her a bit more time to recuperate in the countryside, and so they said goodbye to Sofi and Maggie that morning. The house was quiet with just the two of them there, and they both found themselves on the front porch, watching Athena run around with a stick in her mouth as they drank their tea in the early morning sun.

"What do you want to do today?" Lauren asked Camila. "We could go out somewhere. To the diner maybe. Or we could go to the bookshop – I've been meaning to buy some new reading material."

"I don't care," Camila mumbled, shrugging indifferently. She brushed her short hair out of her face as she squinted at the bright sunlight. It was starting to get warm, and the flowers were beginning to bloom. Lauren was hoping that Camila would be well enough to go for a hike soon – she wanted to go back to that meadow and see it filled with Camila's laughter and the beautiful flowers, just like the first time Camila had taken her there.

"Well, what do you feel like doing?" Lauren asked, brushing Camila's short hair out of her face. "Whatever you want to do, we'll do it."

"I don't want to do anything," Camila snapped, trying to scratch beneath the cast on her arm as she watched the dog playfully run around the garden. She sighed in frustration, unable to reach the itch, and crossed her arms over her chest as she frowned.

"Fine," Lauren said after a moment, knowing better than to try and force her to do something she didn't want to. Taking Sinu's advice, Lauren just sat on the porch swing, silently staring at Camila, waiting for her to decide what she wanted to do. She knew Camila didn't mean to snap – it was just a symptom of her PTSD – but Lauren felt useless. As soon as they got back to Miami, Lauren was going to find a therapist to help Camila, and she was hoping that Camila wouldn't put up too much of a fight, because Lauren couldn't do this alone.

Lauren's thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared down at her mom's name on the screen. Clara had phoned a few times a week, just to see how everything was going and to make sure Lauren was handling it okay, and Lauren was grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone who wasn't personally involved in Camila's life. She knew that she could talk to Sofi, Sinu or Maggie, but Lauren didn't want to make it harder for them too, so she kept most of her thoughts to herself.

"It's my mom," Lauren told Camila, who had shot her a questioning look. "I won't be long."

Standing up, Lauren placed a kiss on the top of Camila's head and walked down the front porch steps as she answered the call. "Hi mom," Lauren said, pressing the phone to her ear.

"Hi, how are you?" Clara asked.

"Good," Lauren assured her, wandering further into the garden.