Once back at home, Camie immediately fell asleep. She slept for 12 hours but still felt sleepy when she woke up. She had a hard time moving and felt so heavy that she immediately fell back to her mattress. As expected, her father didn't leave her side for a second and Camie was treated better than she could have been in any hospital for the following three days.
Camie liked being with her father. She didn't go to class, he didn't go to work. Both of them just sat together and talked for hours or played board games. She had kept buying them before Christmas and her shopping may have gotten out of hand a little bit. The board games kept on piling up and they didn't possibly have enough hours in the day to test all of them. They finally opened the untouched boxes and tried out the gifts. Some games were very intriguing and couldn't be put down for hours while others were a bit more boring and made Camie disappointed.
When they got bored of playing or simply too tired from all the thinking, Camie's father made her hot chocolate and they watched romance shows together. She almost felt grateful for the concussion. Obviously, she didn't dare say so to her father but she really felt that those days were among her favorite memories and she felt she would remember them for a long time.
"We should do this more often."
Mister Dred didn't feel the same way. Camie didn't realize but for 48 hours her father couldn't relax a second. He memorized the list of symptoms by heart and wouldn't go to sleep, scared that something would happen during the night. He loved spending time with his daughter but he couldn't wait for those 48 hours to be gone. And sooner than later, they were.
Despite being perfectly fine for 3 days, Camie's father preferred for her to stay at home for a few more days just to be safe.
"You need some rest after everything you've been through."
Camie wasn't going to argue. She did feel like she needed some rest. She wasn't sick or anything but she did go through a very traumatic event. She deserved some rest. And she did want to spend more time with her father.
"And it could be time to go back to your therapist."
Camie slowly nodded.
"You too. You must have been very worried about me. I don't want you to get sick because of me."
Her father sat down on the bed in front of her and rubbed her cheek:
"Darling, you would never be responsible for my health. But if it makes you feel better I am going to see someone as well.
-Thank you, dad. I love you.
-I love you too pumpkin seed."
Camie was sleeping when Théa first visited her house. It was during the first day of recovery and she didn't dare come in despite Mister Dred's invite. Camie's father reassured Théa about Camie's state and they exchanged phone numbers so Théa could take news from Camie every hour for the following days. She did feel bad for bothering Mister Dred so much but she just couldn't hold herself back from asking. She couldn't calm down until she received his text. As soon as Camie was out of danger, Théa was the first to show up. She didn't dare impose the three first days but couldn't take it anymore and found herself at Camie's doorstep with a bag full of cookies.
Seeing the young woman, Mister Dred immediately smiled:
"Théa! Camie will be very happy to see you. Come inside."
Théa blinked a few times, seeming to have forgotten how she got there in the first place.
"Is Camie awake?
-Yes. She has been complaining about being bored and keeps getting out of bed."
That finally woke Théa up and she rushed behind Mister Dred towards Camie's room:
"She shouldn't get up yet!"
Just as she had said that, Mister Dred knocked on Camie's door and they found the latter looking out her window. Camie didn't have time to run back to bed and pretend she was laying down. She suddenly turned around but forgot every excuse she could come up with when she saw Théa:
"What are you..."
She didn't have time to finish that Théa was running towards her:
"What are you doing up? Do you feel sick? You should lay down.
-It's been three days. I can go back to my normal life now."
Camie tried explaining herself but no one was really listening to her in this scenario. They both ignored her as Théa escorted Camie back to her bed. She even tucked her in before finally calming down a bit. Mister Dred seemed very happy to see the scene for some reason:
"Now you won't be bored, Camie. Your friend is here. You should sleep over, Théa. Do you like Jok? I am making some for dinner."
Théa quickly nodded and that was when she noticed that she was still wearing her shoes. She immediately froze, trying to her to hide her feet to no avail:
"I am so sorry! I completely forgot. I was worried about Camie and...
-Don't worry about it. Make yourself comfortable. Camie could lend you one of her pajamas."
Théa took her shoes off so fast that Camie didn't even see her move. Mister Dred didn't even wait for an answer considering it done. He went back to the kitchen while Théa looked down at Camie:
"Would you mind if I stayed over?
-Why would I mind?
-I don't want you to be uncomfortable."
Camie quickly shook her head. It had been a long time since she last felt uncomfortable around Théa. Seeing her now, she realized that she missed her. She missed her more than anyone ever before. She felt shy admitting it but she knew that Théa would like hearing it:
"Actually, I am happy to see you."
Théa looked so relieved that she almost fell. Camie tried to get up to find pajamas for Théa but the latter immediately ran back to her side:
"What can I do for you?
-Nothing. I am just looking for clothes for you to change into."
Théa seemed worried but Camie promised that she wouldn't go far and that she needed a bit of exercise after resting for so long. Camie got up and started walking to her drawer, looking for clothes to lend Théa. The latter didn't look away for a second, her hands raised in case Camie needed her. When the latter turned around she gave Théa what she had found but for some reason, Théa kept looking at Camie's chest. The latter frowned and followed her eyes only to realize that the pajamas she was wearing were the ones with Black Gold's face.
Camie immediately let go of the clothes she was holding and hid her own body from Théa's vision. She already saw her pajamas but seeing her wear them was something entirely different. Théa finally got back to her senses and looked up at Camie with shining eyes.
"I... I won't explain why I put these on."
Théa finally smiled.
"You don't have to. You look very cute."
Hearing the compliment made Camie blush and she tried to talk about something else:
"You should get changed too.
-Could I see your pajamas one more time?"
Théa's eyes were weird for some reason but Camie felt like she shouldn't understand what she was thinking about. Despite knowing it, she still couldn't help asking:
"Why?
-I like seeing you in them. I would like to see it again if you don't mind.
She wanted to hit her mouth for having asked. Camie couldn't understand what was going on but for some reason it seemed very important to Théa. She slowly breathed in before pulling her arms away from her chest. It did feel weird having Théa's eyes on her body but seeing her friend's cheeks turn red made it feel worth it. Théa looked hypnotised. She didn't move for so long that Camie started to worry. She didn't usually like being looked at for so long but what was even weirder was that she didn't think about running away for a second. She did however worry about Théa:
"Hello?"
No reaction:
"Théa?"
The latter finally woke up and looked at Camie:
"I am very glad that you bought these pajamas.
-My dad bought them for me.
-He is very thoughtful."
Having no idea what to answer to that, Camie bent down and picked up the pajamas before handing them to Théa again:
"Here you go."
Théa understood Camie and decided to stop pushing.
"Thank you."
She took the clothes and looked at the door before smiling:
"Would you mind if I changed here?"