Worthless (Camren)

"Really?"

When she opened the door she could tell Camila was awake, by the way her breathing was slightly faster and her muscles were slightly tenser than before, what she couldn't figure out was why Camila would pretend to be asleep.

"Good morning", Lauren said quietly, Camila's chest stopped rising as though she was holding her breath, she slowly turned her head from its sleeping position to look at Lauren who was standing in the doorway, tray in hands.

"Good morning, Mist-Lauren", she whispered hoarsely, sitting up and lowering her eyes. Lauren could see she was holding on to her blanket rather tightly. "I- I'm sorry, I don't- I don't remember falling asleep here." She stuttered, fear evident in her eyes. "If I may, where are we?"

"This is my room. You kind of fell asleep on us last night and when Chris was done with your room it smelled so much like disinfectant that it almost made me sick. So I thought you'd probably be better off in my room." She sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly placed the tray over Camila's lap.

Camila seemed confused by the food in front of her.

"You should eat this slowly, small bites and small sips so you won't get sick again, okay?"

"Thank you", the girl said, reaching for the toast, not taking her eyes off Lauren for a second.

"I'll go find you some clothes while you eat then." Lauren announced, she didn't want to watch Camila eat. She opened her closet doors and went to work looking for simple clothes that were too tight for Herself to wear anymore. Thankfully, she found quite a few that didn't fit her anymore since her growth spurt a year ago.

"What would you like me to do today?" Camila asked quietly, nibbling on her breakfast.

Lauren abandoned her search in favor of looking at the girl in her bed. "Well, I'd like you to either have a bath or a shower, though a bath would be better for your legs I guess and we'll have to clean your wounds and dress them. I think that's it, you should probably rest as much as you can."

Camila didn't answer, she was staring at the tea on her tray instead and Lauren wandered what Camila thought she would want her to do. She went back to looking through her clothes.

5 shirts, 2 pairs of pants and another pair of pajama should tide Camila over until she was well enough to go out with Lauren to get her own clothes, Lauren figured.

Camila was sipping at her tea, holding the cup as though it was made of thin glass. Lauren was starting to feel awkward, she didn't know what to say to Camila.

A knock on the door saved her from having to come up with something.

"Come in", Lauren called.

"Ah... hey, just letting you know, Lucy's coming over later today." Chris said. "Morning, Camila." He added upon looking at the bed.

"Good morning, Master Chris", Camila answered, lowering her eyes to her mug.

"Thanks Chris, are dad and mom gonna be home or does that mean you want privacy?"

"Nah, they'll be here, so we'll just be in the living room. You can totally come and hang with us." Chris said, obviously not satisfied. "Erm... Camila too, of course."

"Okay." Lauren smiled. "We'll see if we're up for it."

After Camila had finished her breakfast, Lauren led her to the bathroom. Camila was much steadier on her feet this time around, so Lauren let her hands hover near Camila's waist and shoulders just in case, instead of having to hold her upright, like she had the previous day.

She sat Camila down on the closed toilet seat, before she adjusted the temperature of the water pouring into the tub.

"Please take off your shirt, so I can remove your bandages." Camila obliged, instantly fumbling with the buttons on her pajama top before letting it slip down her arms. She caught the fabric before it could drop to the floor and clutched it to her chest, closing her eyes and leaning forward slightly to give Lauren access to her back.

Ever so carefully, Lauren started peeling off the bandages as gently as she could. She realized that this was the first time she had seen the broken skin on Camila's back up close. She could see old scar tissue on the parts of skin that hadn't been freshly torn open, this wasn't the first time Camila had been whipped bloody. Lauren swore to herself that she would personally make sure that it was the last time though.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you", she whispered when the last bandage was removed and the full extent of Camila's injuries was laid bare before her.

Camila flinched. "I deserved it", she whispered.

Lauren squeezed her eyes closed and took a deep breath before asking, as calmly as she could. "What could you possibly have done to deserve this?"

Camila shuddered, clutching the shirt harder. "I soiled the market's property. I was forbidden from... going, but I... I couldn't hold it anymore and I... oh god, I'm so sorry." She whimpered, covering her face with her hands and curling in on herself as if she was expecting a blow.

Lauren was kneeling on the floor in front of Camila in an instant. "There's nothing to be sorry for, you should have the right to do...erm... whatever you need to do whenever you have to", Lauren sighed, she shouldn't have pressured Camila into telling her. She wasn't helping the girl, she was only upsetting her.

"I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..." sHe didn't even know what the right thing to say was, but Camila was looking at her, her face as unreadable as ever, but not as fearful as Lauren had dreaded it to be.

"How about you get in the tub, it'll make you feel better. I always feel better when I'm clean." Lauren suggested standing up. Camila nodded and allowed Lauren to pull her to her feet by one hand.

She let go of the shirt she had been gripping and placed it next to the sink carefully, her pants followed and Lauren was looking anywhere but at Camila until she heard the sound of someone sitting down in the water.

Lauren handed her the washcloth and some shower gel. "Are you going to be alright for a moment?" SHe asked the girl in the tub.

"Yes, Lauren", Camila answered, looking up at her uncertainly.

"I'll be right back." Lauren promised, heading out of the bathroom.

SHe collected the pile of neatly folded clothing she had found for Camila and brought it to the guest room, stacking all the clothes apart from jogging pants and a long sleeved shirt into the cupboard.

After getting Camila's meds from the kitchen she headed back to the bathroom, but stopped short in the doorway.

Camila was resting her head against the edge of the tub, running her fingers through the water in random patterns, scooping a handful of water up and letting it drop through her fingers back into the tub with a smile on her face. She sighed happily.

Lauren couldn't help but smile at the look on the girl's face. SHe couldn't believe that there were people out there who had willingly hurt her, raised a hand or whip or worse against her for no reason.

Camila noticed her standing in the doorway and immediately sat up straighter and started scrubbing her skin with the washcloth again.

"No need to rush", Lauren said, placing the salves and pills on the counter next to the sink alongside with the fresh clothes "Take your time. Let me know if you need more hot water in there."

"Really?" Camila asked and for the first time Lauren could hear actual excitement in her voice.

"Of course, enjoy your bath." Lauren said with a warm smile.

"Thank you." Camila sighed, sinking back into the tub.