Worthless (Camren)

"Dr Holland"

"Doctor Holland's here, she's waiting in the kitchen." Mike said. "You two join us when you're done?"

Lauren looked back over her shoulder to see how Camila was doing. "We'll be out in a minute, dad."

Mike nodded approvingly and closed the bathroom door behind him as he left.

A few minutes later Lauren guided Camila into the kitchen, where Mike and Dr. Holland were waiting for them at the table. Lauren had met Dr. Holland on multiple occasions, mainly whenever Mike had brought a new slave home. She was a nice lady in her early 40's, her blonde hair was always pulled into a loose bun and she was always friendly. Not just to Lauren and her family, but to the slaves as well in just the same way. Although she had never explicitly expressed her opinion on slavery to Lauren, she was certain she shared her belief. Mike Jauregui would never let someone who didn't and was therefore a potential danger near his slaves.

The doctor had set up a portable examination table next to the kitchen table. When she noticed them she got up to greet them.

"Hello Lauren, good to see you again", she shook her hand before turning to the girl who was almost hiding behind Lauren.

"And you must be Camila, hi, it's good to meet you. I'm Dr. Holland." Her smile was warm. "Now Mike here tells me that you've been hurt, so if you would like me to, I'd like to have a look at you. Would that be alright with you?" She asked Camila, Lauren noticed that the other girl didn't seem nearly as frightened of her as she had been when Lauren had first mentioned a doctor. Lauren had always thought she had a talent of putting people at ease.

Camila nodded in answer of her question. "Would you sit down on my table for me?" She offered her hand to help her, but she didn't take it, choosing instead to crawl onto the exam table on her own.

"Very good! Thank you, Camila." The doctor praised. "Would you like to do this examination alone or would you like Lauren and Mike to stay?" She asked. Camila bit her lip. Lauren could tell she was uncertain whether she actually had a choice here. SHe looked towards Mike and then at Lauren pleadingly. Lauren wasn't sure how to interpret this, but apparently Mike did.

"I'll just wait in the living room" the older Jauregui man said, he gently placed a hand on Lauren's shoulder as he passed her and left the kitchen.

"Now, I'm going to examine you all over, if that's alright with you Camila, but I'd like to take care of anything that's causing you immediate pain first. I can see you have a black eye, but that's already healing, not much we can do about that right now, but I will write you a prescription for a salve that'll help the bruises heal faster. Your lip doesn't need to be stitched, we'll disinfect it and put some ointment on it later and then cover it with a little Vaseline, so you can eat without worrying about getting it infected. Can you tell me if anything else is hurting you?" Camila looked from her to Lauren in distress, her eyes finally settling on Lauren again. "Or maybe Lauren can help us out a little?" She asked.

"Oh erm... yeah, sure", Lauren said, startled to be addressed. SHe thought for a moment, not sure where to start. "There are whip marks on her back, those must be really painful." SHe began. The doctor nodded and turned back to Camila. "Would it be okay if I looked at those?" She asked.

"Of course, Madam", Camila seemed to have found her voice again and unbuttoned her pajama top immediately.

"Please lay down on your stomach for me." The doctor instructed her when she was done, Camila obeyed.

Dr. Holland examined the welts and cuts for a while before telling the boys that none of them are infected yet. "I'll have to clean the cuts before I can apply ointment and bandages, it will probably sting and hurt. Would you like Lauren to hold your hand, Camila?" She asked.

Camila didn't react. Lauren couldn't see her face from where she was still standing near the door, but she could see the girl tense. Making up her own mind Lauren pulled up a chair next to the exam table so she was seated at the level of Camila's head, she hoped it was the right decision, but Camila hadn't even asked her for toothpaste, Lauren suspected she would probably not ask for this even if she wanted it.

Lauren held out her hand for Camila, the other girl looked at it in disbelief at first, but when Dr. Holland started dabbing Camila's first cut with antiseptic she latched onto it, biting her lip as she waited for Lauren's reaction. Lauren just smiled at her encouragingly and brought her other hand up to caress the back of Camila's hand.

Camila relaxed a little, Lauren could tell that the antiseptic was hurting her, but the slave girl looked almost at ease now. Lauren continued to run her thumb softly over Camila's hand as the other boy closed her eyes, letting the doctor work.

When she was done she asked Camila to sit up so she could have a look at the rest of her torso. She listened to her lungs and her  heart and wrote up another ointment for the bruises on her torso in her prescription pad. She patted down her ribcage and her arms, feeling for cracked and broken bones.

"Have you had your ribs broken before?" She asked Camila. The girl nodded.

"Lauren, would you mind bringing Camila by my office sometime this week? I'd like to take an x-ray of her chest and one of her left upper arm to see if they've healed well enough on their own." Lauren agreed and the doctor asked Camila if she was wearing underwear and Lauren was glad she had given her a pair of her own panties earlier.

Camila removed her pajama pants when Dr. Holland asked her to and sat back down, her legs dangling from the examination table. SHe bit her lips, when a whimper escaped them.

"What's wrong, dear?" Dr. Holland asked in concern, looking up from where she was exchanging the surgical gloves that had been stained slightly by the cuts on Camila's back for new ones.

"I'm sorry, Madam," Camila apologized, "Please, what's wrong with my legs?" Lauren could see the boy shaking slightly.

Dr. Holland put on her second glove and sat down on a second chair next to Lauren's , right in front of Camila's dangling legs. She carefully prodded the swollen knee and then gently laid her hand on Camila's lower leg.

"It's called prepatellar bursitis, it's more commonly known as handmaids knee. It's caused by kneeling for extended periods of time. It doesn't seem infected, so for now I just want you to stay off your knees. If the swelling hasn't gone down in a week I'll have a look at it again and we'll discuss it further, but you'll be alright, I promise."

Camila visibly relaxed at her words and even gave her a smile.

"Dr. Holland, the traders said that Camila had been diagnosed with syphilis", Lauren had almost forgotten the reason Camila had been in the situation she found her in, because her visible injuries overshadowed everything in Lauren's mind. Camila's face had gone pale.

The doctor frowned and nodded. "Would you step outside for the rest of this examination, Lauren?" She asked. "I'll give you an update afterwards, I promise." Lauren nodded and stepped outside, but not before giving Camila a reassuring smile.