She spent the rest of the week cooped up in that room with her. If the girl couldn't go anywhere, neither would she. Lauren skipped classes, despite Camila's protests (as well as a few from her father). She slept across three chairs in the lobby or in the recliner of the girl's room, occasionally even on the floor or in the bed with her. She felt that the latter made the brunette uncomfortable, so she took the floor with pride when Camila would squirm to get comfortable on the small bed.

She only went home for split seconds; take a shower, change clothes, and she even brought her a book and some cards so they could play games. Normani's mom was one of the two nurses assigned to help care for the brunette, which she was thankful for considering the other was a bitch and often got on to her for sleeping there. She'd flip her off behind her back.

"She needs to lay off," she'd grumble, playing one of the cards in her hand and Camila would chuckle. Lauren tried to make her smile, not laugh. She was always afraid when the girl laughed. One time she had her clutching her side, her face turning red when she bellowed. The laughter quickly turned into harsh coughing that she couldn't really control and Lauren had to retrieve a nurse. Watching with solemn eyes from the doorway, Lauren bit the inside of her cheek. The nurses were quick to calm her, giving her some sleeping medication before leaving.

They often did that. If Camila had a fit: sleeping medication. Didn't have an appetite: pop some pills. Sure that'll make it better... note the sarcasm. The result of this was that Camila was always tired and exhausted, bags almost permanently embedded under her eyes. Some days she was too tired to do anything, so Lauren would sit in the guest chair, both of them wide awake but bathed in silence except for the occasional cough.

When she was wide awake, it was just the same: silence. The only time they talked was her in-between state, half awake but ready for a nap. It was during this time that they would play cards or tell stories however they never talked about why she was here. Until today.

"Does it hurt? Like, when you cough or your throat or whatever?" Lauren asks, shuffling the deck for a new round of bullshit.

"Sometimes, depends," Camila clears her throat.

"What about the..." she trails off while gesturing to the nibs in her nose.

"I could breathe without them, it just kind of helps," she hands the brunette the deck and she begins to deal with delicate fingers. There weren't many questions after that. They continued to play their game until the nurses came in once more for her medication and Camila eventually drifted off to sleep, as well as Lauren.

When she woke it was Saturday and Camila had cartoons playing quietly from the tv in the corner of the room. She coughed and sputtered as silently as possible before placing a strawberry between her lips all while her eyes were trained on the tv. Her diet nowadays consisted mostly of fruit seeing as it helped fight off tuberculosis but Lauren didn't really notice any difference. Not that it didn't give her a speckle of hope.

She tried not to disturb the girl's neutral state but she couldn't help but groan while sitting up causing brown eyes to flicker to her. She seemed more vibrant, a smile on her lips.

"Hey Sleepy," she grins. The curtains on the single window were drawn, the bags under her eyes barely visible, and that smile she loved so much was blindingly bright and cheerful. How long had she been sleeping?

"Someone's happy," she chuckles, groaning again as she sits up fully. Her neck felt as though it was bent at odd angles. Then again, she'd been sleeping in an uncomfortable chair for the past week.

"That's because," she pauses to point a strawberry at the other girl and let out a small cough, but then she laughs to herself, "actually, I don't really know why I'm happy."

Lauren stretches almost awkwardly, "Well, pretty girls deserve to be joyful I suppose."

"Shut up, I'm not pretty," a blush sneaks across her cheeks.

"Pulchritudinous," Lauren spits out with a laugh, standing before striding over to where the girl sat on the bed. Instead of sitting next to her, she lets her back fall against the mattress with her body hovering over the brunette.

"Having incredible beauty," she recites the definition and the girl rolled her eyes. "Camila Cabello," she kisses her nose causing her to chuckle once more. "You're fucking beautiful. I'll shout it out to this whole shitty hospital if I need to." The doe-eyed girl laughs as her face gets peppered with little pecks.

"That was lalochezia; emotional relief gained from using profane language," Camila tells the girl but she silences her with a kiss to the lips. She tasted like strawberries and... copper? Camila pushes her away from her face and confusion spreads across her own.

"It's the blood..." she whispers with shame. Lauren forces a smile for the girl, kissing the corner of her lips instead.

"Everything's fine," she whispers for her, dropping her head to her tan neck to mumble into her skin.

"You don't have to make me feel better," she whispers back.

She chuckles, sending chills across the girl underneath her. "I wasn't saying it to make you feel better." Which was half true, she said it to endure herself.

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[ edited on july 17, 2019 ]