Chapter 33.
It's not a very long update but I didn't want to put it with the last one as it would've been too much in one go.
If there were ever a chapter where I'd want to hear your thoughts, it would be this one.
Disclaimer: I do not own Shameless.
When Daniela woke a couple hours later, Lip was gone. Her nap had been well needed but as per usual, it left her feeling groggy and disoriented. She smacked her lips together, grimacing at the odd taste leftover from her short sleep.
She contemplated just staying in bed and waiting for Lip to get back but then remembered that she was supposed to head over to the hospital to visit her mother who was about to begin some more testing and scans to gather information about how she was doing.
Groaning, Daniela feebly rolled across the bed before hauling herself up into a sitting position to look for her discarded clothing. Thankfully, Lip had been kind enough to track them down for her before leaving them at the end of the bed.
As she pulled on her shirt, she couldn't help the small smile from lighting up her face. There had certainly been trepidation at the idea of telling Lip how she felt but now that it was out in the open, Daniela was glad she had done it. She had been unsure of Lip's reaction but so far so good.
Truthfully, she was just glad everything was back to normal between them.
Not bothering to stop by herself first, Daniela made her way towards the L all the while smiling so hard she was sure she looked absolutely crazy to anyone passing her.
Arriving at the steps to the platform, Daniela was ready to make her way up when she heard a voice that managed to set her teeth on edge.
"Daniela!" Turning, the girl saw Karen waving to her from across the street that she had just crossed.
As Daniela watched her make her way towards her, she seriously considered just leaving but then decided against it. Despite Karen's obvious dislike towards her and her nefarious schemes, she was still willing to act civil and be the bigger person in this situation.
"Just the person I was looking for," beamed Karen, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her hot pink hoodie.
Daniela tilted her head eyeing her with exhaustion. "If this is about Lip, forget it. We already fixed things."
"Oh but I think you'll wanna hear this."
Daniela's curiosity piqued and Karen's mouth quirked when she saw she had managed to hook her.
"I just wanted to thank you for applying to all of those colleges for Lip."
Daniela instantly frowned. "How did you-?"
"Oh, he told me about it afterward." Karen's nonchalance caused Daniela to stiffen. "Yeah, he was so worked up about it. But I guess it's not all bad, right? I was getting pretty tired of this place."
Daniela's resounding question was weak and mumbled. "What does that have to do with Lip getting into college?"
"I was thinking he could take me along with him. I mean, all I have to do is poke a hole in a condom and he'll follow me for life. We learned that the last time."
Suddenly realizing, Daniela's lips parted before her jaw clamped them shut tightly.
"What did you do?" She asked, voice deathly low and strained.
Karen's smirk widened, inferring nothing but trouble. "Hold on. Lip's the one that came to me."
"Lip?"
Karen nodded and began listing it off on her fingers. "Yeah, that night after you guys had a fight, twice on Sunday, today at lunch- like I said before, he was very worked up."
Daniela's vision blurred. It also didn't escape her that Sunday just so happened to be her birthday.
Before she could even register it, her fist was out, hitting Karen right across the face. The blonde staggered back with a cry, her hands coming up to cradle her face.
Daniela's eyes widened a fraction, her gaze dropping to her knuckles before lifting to frown at Karen in a mix of confusion and hurt.
"What the fuck did I ever do to you?"
Karen scowled up at her from her hunched over position. "Oh come on, El." Her use of the other girl's nickname causes a cold shiver to run down her spine. "Surely you must've seen this coming."
Daniela sucked on her teeth, rolling her tongue in between her lips.
"Fuck you."
Karen's smug smirk made a reappearance. "Sorry, your boyfriend already did."
For a long moment, Daniela continued to stand there, fists clenched tightly. Above her, she heard the sounds of the train pulling in and with one last glance at Karen, she turned and rushed up the stairs. Just as quickly as she reached the platform, Daniela hopped onto the train.
As it began to take off, she had to grab onto the rail to stop herself from falling but it was equal parts the motion of it taking off and the crumbling revelation that Karen had just dropped on her.
Her legs felt like jelly and Daniela was forced to have to lean her forehead against the cool metal, not even caring about how unsanitary it probably was. The cold was a pleasant help but she found that she had to clench her teeth when the burning in her nose became too intense.
Daniela promised herself she wouldn't cry. Certainly not while she was stood on the train. But she also wouldn't cry because if she did, then that meant Karen had succeeded.
/
The buzzing of her phone was faintly registered as Daniela made her way up the elevator to her mother's level. The whole journey to the hospital had been tainted by Daniela's incessantly nagging thoughts. She wasn't sure what she was going to do now and if Lip was the one calling her, she wasn't sure how she was going to react to it.
Working up the courage, Daniela finally lifted the phone out of her back pocket to check the caller ID. Her stomach sunk when her fears were confirmed.
Lip's name bore up at her, almost taunting her as her mind raced back to earlier that afternoon when she had been brave enough to pour her heart out to him. How stupid she had been.
Karen was right. She should've seen this coming.
Her teeth pulled on the inside of her cheek as her mouth pursed down at the screen of her phone. She couldn't talk to him. Not right now. Not after what she had learned. Without a second thought, Daniela declined the call and slipped the phone back into her pocket before trying to shake it off.
She had managed to keep a tight hold over her emotions ever since getting on the train but as Daniela came to stand in the doorway of her mother's room, she felt that restraint wavering and knew it wouldn't be long before the dam would burst.
As she drew nearer to the bed, Daniela saw that her mother was just beginning to wake up and held her breath, anxious to see how she would be. Camille's eyes blinked open blearily, catching onto her surroundings before finally narrowing in on her daughter who was stood silently at her bedside looking absolutely broken despite her best attempts to shield it from her mother.
"Mom…" In that single syllable alone, Camille felt everything. Her daughter looked to be on the very brink of tears that worsened, even more, when the woman raised a hand, beckoning her towards the bed.
Daniela didn't hesitate, collapsing on the bed with a sniffle. Wiping her nose with the back of her thumb, she was soon encased in her mother's arms who pulled her into her chest. It was only then that Daniela let it out.
She wasn't sure how long she cried for. Her shoulders shook and her chest heaved for what seemed like hours as her mother simply welcomed her into her embrace, stroking her hair soothingly like she often would whenever Daniela was ever having a particularly rough day.
Eventually, her sobs began to simmer, reducing the noise in the room to only the sound of her mother's oxygen mask and her intermittent hiccups. When she was sure that she was fresh out of tears, Daniela sniffed once again before slowly bringing herself back up into a sitting position. Her hand ran along her nose, wiping away at the snot that had built up.
Camille eyed her woefully as her hand came to rest on her daughter's cheek, her thumb stroking the soft skin comfortingly. Daniela dropped her head, her face leaning into her mother's palm.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, her voice thick with residual tears. Using her thumb, the girl wiped at her face before heaving a deep sigh. Camille simply shook her head, finding it silly that her daughter found the need to apologize.
"How are you feeling?" Asked Daniela, shifting herself so that her hand was now holding onto her mother's. She didn't want to spend any more time focusing on her own problems. Right now, the only thing that Daniela wanted to think about was her mother.
Camille tilted her free hand back and forth, signaling that she was feeling alright. It was good enough for Daniela and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is there anything you need? I can go get it. Water, maybe?"
Camille nodded, her eyes closing momentarily as she took a particularly sharp intake of breath that almost sent Daniela into cardiac arrest. Squeezing her mother's hand, she rose from the bed.
"I'll go get that water."
Stepping out of the room, Daniela raked a hand through her hair before her fingers got caught in a knot. Grimacing painfully, she untangled the threads of hair as her feet carried her further down the hallway to where the water cooler was.
Blowing out a breath, she reached for one of the plastic cups before filling it up. The water trickled out slowly, managing to frustrate her with its agonizing pace. With a cup full of water, Daniela pivoted on her foot and made her way back to the room when a sharp beeping cut into the silence.
As she made her way around the corner, her eyes narrowed seeing nurses rushing in and out of one of the rooms. Daniela's flicked between all of them before the dread finally settled in. That was her mother's room.
All thinking thrown out the window, her feet moved swiftly to where the nurses were cramming around. Using her elbows, she wrestled her way into the room, coming to an abrupt stop when she saw her mother's bed completely reclined as the beeping she had heard now pounded in her ears.
"What's going on?" She asked, inching closer. She could barely see a thing as there were nurses and a doctor surrounding the bed already, blocking her view. "What's happening?" Tried Daniela again, managing to catch the attention of one of the nurses.
The woman moved towards her, preventing her from getting any closer. "Miss, we're going to need you to step out of the room."
Daniela's eyes clenched shut for a moment. Those were the dreaded words that carried nothing good.
She couldn't move. Her feet were rooted to the spot.
"Why?" She hated how weak she sounded. With a thin mouth, the nurse placed a gentle hand on her arm and began urging her out of the room. Daniela wanted to swat it away but found that she couldn't. She didn't even register her feet beginning to move, her attention glued to the form of her mother.
From the bed, she heard a doctor speak up, his voice filled with urgency. "We need to get her to an OR, stat."
"OR?" Daniela's wide eyes whipped to the nurse. "B-but she was fine. She was okay a few minutes ago." Her voice cracked as she desperately tried to explain it to the nurse. "I-I just went to get her some water. But she was fine."
The woman sighed sadly, no doubt pitying the young girl. "You'll have to wait out here. We've already contacted your brother." Daniela met her eyes. Jakob. He had completely slipped her mind. "He's on his way."
With a final squeeze of her shoulder, the nurse left her, heading back into ready Camille for transportation. Daniela stood there, her hand gripping the plastic cup still miraculously full of water. A few moments later, she saw her mother's bed being rolled out of the room.
Her chest beating loudly in her chest, Daniela made her way after them, her hand reaching out to grab her mother's but it slipped out just as their fingers brushed. Stifling a cry, her eyes managed to catch a quick glimpse at the woman. Her eyes were closed and she looked to be barely hanging on.
Daniela hoped she was wrong.
Her teeth clenched tightly as she lost her footing, stumbling back into the wall. Sliding down it, her hands gripped her hair, elbows resting on her propped up knees.
"She was okay," she muttered in a mantra. "She was fine. She was okay. She's gonna be okay."
/
That was how Jakob found her nearly twenty minutes later.
She hadn't even realized the arrival of her brother, too caught up in her own murmurs, until he crouched down in front of her and had to physically pull her head up to look at him. His eyes had flicked over her face, seeing a blankness there that filled him with fear.
"Dani?" He whispered, trying to keep her attention. The girl blinked a couple of times before her eyes finally focused.
"Jake?"
"Yeah," he nodded, hating to see his sister so broken. He had no idea what she had just experienced. His sister was a warm, caring soul that couldn't bear to deal with this kind of pain so the thought of her seeing their mother decline so rapidly had no doubt impacted her in ways he wouldn't be able to understand.
"She was okay," said Daniela, her voice barely a whisper. Jakob had to lean forward to catch what she said. "She was awake. I was-" She didn't feel like telling him about Lip. Not right now. "I went to get her some water…" At the mere mention of it, her eyes glazed over as she fell into her memories.
Jakob pressed his lips together and brought his hands to rest on the sides of her face. "It's okay. She's gonna be fine."
At that, Daniela's lip quivered and her head fell forward with a sob. "I don't think she will be."
Shushing her, Jakob leaned forward, wrapping his arms around his sister as she cried into his shoulder.
"You didn't see her, Jake. When they were wheeling her out…she looked like she was already gone."
Her shoulders shook once again as Daniela buried her head in Jakob's shoulder. Her brother held onto her tightly, his strong arms helping to calm her. But amongst all of this, there was another person Daniela wished she could have there with her to help ease her. That option didn't seem very viable now.
When she managed to settle down, Jakob led her to the waiting area where they sat until well past midnight. It wasn't long until Katherine joined them, her heart breaking for the two of them.
Meanwhile, Daniela's phone continued to go off, the calls from Lip piling up. She knew he was getting suspicious of her not returning her calls but at the moment, she didn't give a damn. He had done much worse to her. She also didn't miss the looks her brother was giving her when she finally decided to just switch off her phone, no doubt catching the caller ID of the person she was ignoring.
A yawn ripped through her throat which she hid behind her hand, the other caught in the grip of her brother. Daniela eyed it, noticing how limp her own hold was before she saw Jakob's head jerk up. Her own eyes followed him, latching onto the approaching figure of a doctor dressed in scrubs.
They rose from their seats instantly with Katherine not too far behind.
"You're Camille Kaufman's family?" Asked the doctor though the relation was obvious.
Nevertheless, Jakob nodded. "Yes. How is she?"
A beat passed where the doctor said nothing. Daniela's eyes clenched shut, already knowing what he was going to say.
"I'm sorry but the surgery wasn't successful." It was if the world had suddenly stopped. Jakob's grip on her hand tightened as his eyes looked skywards. Beside him, Katherine grabbed his arm in support. "The cancer managed to spread to her brain, there was nothing more we could do."
"She's dead." It wasn't a question. All eyes fell to Daniela who kept her stare directly on the man addressing them. Mouth pressed, the doctor nodded solemnly.
"I'm sorry. We've put her on a respiratory machine but it's the only thing keeping her alive right now." The man turned his attention to Jakob. "A nurse will be with you soon to discuss the rest. I'm sorry again." Bowing his head respectfully, the man left them behind.
Jakob inhaled sharply and brought a hand up to wipe his mouth. Daniela, on the other hand, didn't know what to do. Vaguely, she felt her brother's arm wrapping around her but it was swallowed up by the sudden feeling of claustrophobia.
All she could feel was a weight pressing down on her chest, restricting her breathing. She had to get out. She had to breathe.
In a second, Daniela had managed to throw off Jakob's arm, her legs carrying her away from them and desperately towards the nearest exit. She didn't even realize she was running.
Behind her, her ears caught onto Jakob calling her name but she ignored him, the need for oxygen becoming too big.
Daniela crashed through the doors of the hospital out into the chilly air. Running her hands through her hair, her lungs gasped for breath, relishing in the cold fresh air. She spun in a circle, eyes flicking around her surroundings as her mind ran a thousand miles a second.
Suddenly, everything was invading her mind. Her confession to Lip, the trust she had bestowed upon him which was later crushed by a merciless Karen. Her mother…
It was all too much. She had to get away. She had to keep running.
So she did.
Please like I said in the beginning, I'd really love to hear your thoughts as this is the chapter I was looking forward to writing the most. Does that make me a bad person? Probably.
Special thanks to Raging Raven, RHatch89, Guest, youthed, Guest (2), xenocanaan, and Naruhina1519 for reviewing, the 15 who followed and the 9 who favorited!
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