Lauren took a deep breath as she hung up, she turned towards Camila again. The other girl had stopped running her fingers over the blanket and was looking quietly at her feet.
"Come on," she sighed, standing up. "Let's go get in the car." Camila nodded and pulled her knees up to her chest, leaning back against the back of the trunk.
"Oh, erm... no, Camila, I want you to sit in the car, okay?" Lauren explained.
"I'm sorry." Camila didn't hesitate to get out of the trunk for a second, but she looked a little confused at Lauren's request.
SHe started swaying precariously after taking one step towards the car door. Lauren reached out to steady her by her upper arm, which made Camila freeze for a second, but with Lauren's support she made it to the backseat where Lauren sat her down next to Dinah.
Dinah immediately reached out and helped her put on her seatbelt. Lauren couldn't help but notice that Camila didn't flinch when Dinah touched her, she was grateful for that.
"Normani?" SHe asked the girl who was still standing next to Dinah's open car door. "Do you mind driving us home? My dad will take you and Dinah to your house."
"Sure," Normani said, giving Dinah's cheek one last affectionate stroke before she closed the back door and opened the one at the driver's seat. Lauren handed her the keys and sank into the passenger's seat with a sigh, she was so glad her dad was going to help her.
SHe looked back at Camila through the side mirror as they drove. Dinah seemed to have taken a shine to her and was whispering softly to her. Lauren couldn't make out much of what she said and she didn't really want to eavesdrop on them, but whatever she was saying seemed to relax Camila a little.
When Normani parked the car in front of the Jauregui residence, the front door swung open to reveal a worried looking Mike Jauregui, who rushed out to pull his daughter into a hug. Normani told Dinah to stay in her seat as she got out of the car and joined father and daughter on the front lawn.
Lauren let go of her father reluctantly just to find her arms full of Normani. "Thank you, Lo, take good care of her!"
"Don't worry, Mani, it'll just give you premature wrinkles", she answered, earning herself a giggle. Normani released her and got into the vacated passenger's seat.
Lauren opened the door next to Camila's seat. The other girl had been watching them, no doubt, but her gaze was now lowered respectfully once more. Lauren carefully guided her out of the car by her upper arm once more.
"Camila", Lauren addressed her softly "This is my dad." Camila looked up for a brief moment at Mike before looking down again and Lauren was pretty sure that her hand on Camila's arm was the only thing keeping Camila from dropping to her knees in front of Mike. "It's an honor to meet you, Sir!" SHe said instead.
"It's good to meet you too, kid, I'm glad you're here." Mike said in a warm tone. SHe smiled at her dad gratefully.
"Why don't you help her get cleaned up a little while I drive Normani and her new friend home?" Mike suggested. Lauren nodded and watched her dad climb into the driver's seat. SHe quickly guided Camila into the house, suddenly painfully aware that the girl wasn't wearing any shoes, Camila had to be freezing. Lauren closed the front door behind them, glad to escape from the cruel world outside.
As soon as she released her careful grip on Camila's arm the slave girl dropped to her hands and knees , the blanket falling off her back.
"What ... what are you doing?" Lauren asked, she could see the muscles in Camila's bony back stiffen at the question. SHe didn't need to see the dread in Camila's face to know that the other girl thought she had done something wrong.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't sure if I was allowed to walk inside." Camila said, her voice shaky.
"Oh, yes, absolutely", Lauren said. SHe hadn't even considered that some slave owners might insist on something so ridiculous, she squatted down next to Camila. "Of course you can walk, you don't ever have to crawl or kneel here, okay?" SHe offered her hands to help Camila to her feet again, but Camila just looked at them uncomprehendingly before struggling to her feet again.
"Come to the bathroom with me, I'll draw a bath." Lauren said leading the girl by her side to the bathroom. SHe wasn't touching her, but she let her hands hover over Camila's arms in case she had to catch her. Camila stumbled after only two steps. Lauren caught her easily, not only since she had almost expected it, but also because Camila was so light. SHe almost had to drag the other boy into the bathroom since all of her strength seemed to have left her. At the close proximity Lauren suddenly became aware of the other girl's overpowering smell, she mustn't have been in contact with water for days if not weeks.
Inside the bathroom she sat Camila down on a chair and picked a very mild bubble bath that she hoped wouldn't aggravate the whipping marks and Camila's other injuries and proceeded to fill the bath with warm water.
The bath didn't foam as much as most bubble baths did, but she hoped the bubbles would give Camila some privacy since Lauren didn't plan to leave her alone in the bathroom. The other girl looked as though she might faint at any second and Lauren really didn't want to return to a corpse floating in her tub.
Once she was satisfied with the temperature and volume she walked over to Camila, helping her to herfeet. "Come on, your bath is ready."
Camila looked bewildered. "This is for me?", she asked as Lauren helped her walk towards the tub.
Lauren nodded. They stopped in front of the tub. "You might want to take that off," Lauren suggested, pointing at the dirty panties and bra. Camila pulled them down and let them drop to the floor without a moment's hesitation. Lauren made a mental note to watch her tone in the future, since everything she had suggested to the other girl so far had been taken as a direct order.
SHe helped Camila step into the tub, keeping her from slipping on the wet surface and carefully set her down, carefully watching her to see if the soapy water was hurting her, but all she saw was amazement as the water covered her to her neck.
"Is the temperature alright? It's not too hot is it? Do you want out?", Lauren asked in a panic, ready to pull Camila out if the water was hurting her, but the slave girl shook her head violently.
"No, it's just", she let out a quiet sob "I'm sorry, I just... it's warm." Camila said as if there had been some mistake. SHe hid her face in her wet hands.
"Of course it is, it's a bath", Lauren said frowning.
"I haven't been allowed warm water since I was 12", Camila whispered looking up at Lauren with tearful eyes. "Thank you!"
Lauren closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and putting a smile on her face "Well you can have as much of it as you want now." SHe promised, her tone coming out far too cheery, but Camila's eyes lit up like a little kids on Christmas morning. Lauren reached into a cupboard for a new bath sponge. SHe squeezed shower gel on it and set down on the edge of the tub, handing it to Camila. The girl practically leeched on to it and enthusiastically started scrubbing at her chest as though she wanted to make the most of the sponge as long as she had access to it.
"We're in no hurry", Lauren assured her "you have all the time you want." Her words only slowed the other girl down marginally as she scrubbed at her arms, neck and face.
Lauren wandered if maybe she should give her more privacy, it wasn't as though she got a kick out of watching the other girl though, she was just worried. SHe let her eyes wander around the room as Camila busied herself cleaning her legs and other parts Lauren didn't want to think about at this moment.
When Camila's rapid movement's ceased, she allowed herself to look back into the tub. The water had turned a murky brownish grey color and Camila was currently struggling to reach her back. Lauren assumed the pain from the welts on her back was preventing her from bending her arms enough.
"How about we pour some new water and I'll help you with your back?" Lauren offered, startling Camila. The slave looked down at the water and nodded. Lauren reached to the other end of the tub and turned the wheel that opened the drain before turning on the water faucet again, making new warm water pour into the tub, mixing with the dirty water. After two minutes or so the water looked mostly clear again. Camila handed her the sponge that she had wrung out carefully so Lauren wouldn't have to touch her dirty sponge.
"Lean forward a little, please?"
Camila obeyed immediately, leaning forward onto her up-pulled knees, exposing her entire back.
Lauren laid a steadying hand on Camila's shoulder and started by dragging the sponge over the back of her neck gently and slowly worked her way down her back and shoulders. Most of the blood and grime had been flushed away by Camila's prolonged stay in the tub, but Lauren rinsed the remaining dirt away gently. She could feel Camila gradually relax under her ministrations.
When she was done she rinsed out the sponge once more and laid it down on the edge of the tub.
"Now all that's left is your hair, why don't you lean back and get it wet so I can work some shampoo in?", Lauren suggested. Camila delayed the execution of this request longer than she ever had with anything Lauren had asked so far, but finally lowered her head into the water.
Lauren didn't miss the way she held on to the edges of the tub with both hands so hard her knuckles turned white. She poured a generous amount of shampoo on her hand when Camila sat back up.
"Tilt your head back for me, please. I don't want to get any shampoo in your eyes." Camila did as she was told, looking wary.
With a deep breath, Lauren started running her fingers over the other girl's scalp, trying not to pull at the knots in her hair. After a little while shampoo foam turned the same brownish grey as the bathwater had earlier. Lauren sighed.
"When was the last time you had a bath or shower?", she asked Camila, not entirely sure whether or not she really wanted to hear the answer.
"I'm not sure, what day is it?", Camila asked carefully.
"The 27th", Lauren told him.
Camila swallowed hard "Almost three weeks ago, Mi.. Lauren", she caught herself and flinched at her slip up. "I'm sorry."
"It's no problem at all", Lauren assured her.
"Now, I need you to lean back so your hair is in the water. I'll rinse it out for you."
Camila did as she was told, but just as Lauren reached for her hair in the water, she panicked.
"Please NO!", she yelped, losing her grip on the edge of the tub, her body slipping from the bottom of the tub, causing her to fall backwards.
It was all Lauren could do to place her hand between the back of Camila's head and the tub's wall to keep Camila from hitting it. SHe couldn't prevent the girl's face from slipping under the surface though. Camila's limbs flailed in her panic, splashing water everywhere. Lauren grabbed a hold on her under her arms and pulled her out over the water's surface. SHe kept her hold to prevent Camila from slipping under again, the other boy was still panicking.
"Shh, you're okay, I've got you", she dabbed Camila's face with towel using one hand and kept her in a sitting position with her other arm, all the while mumbling what she hoped to be comforting reassurances. The soapy water had to sting in her eyes, because after a few deep breaths Camila took a hold of the towel and rubbed at her eyes and face furiously.
"I'm sorry", she cried.
"It's okay, you were just scared, I understand." Lauren rubbed Camila's upper arm in an attempt to sooth her.
"Did you get the shampoo out of your eyes?", she asked to distract Camila from her obvious fear.
Camila nodded, handing the towel back to Lauren.
Lauren reached for the shower head and held it out for Camila to inspect. "How about we try and rinse your hair with this? All you have to do is tilt your head back, I promise I won't hurt you, okay?"
The girl in the tub eyed the showerhead carefully and gave her nod of consent. "Good", Lauren said, smiling in a way she hoped was reassuring.
Camila tilted her head back and allowed Lauren to run the warm water over her head.
"Do you mind if we try this again? I'd like to put some conditioner in your hair, that way it'll be easier to comb it later, but we don't have to do that if you're still too shaken." Lauren hoped she had phrased this in a way that actually let Camila know she could pick between the two options. Camila nodded, although it was tentative at best.
This time it was easier to drag her fingers through Camila's curly hair and Lauren made a bigger effort to massage the other girl's skull in a pleasant way. SHe seemed to be succeeding, if the small sigh that escaped Camila's lips was an indicator. When she was done, she reached for the showerhead once more.
"Tilt your head back for me again, please?" Lauren asked and Camila looked over her shoulder to make sure Lauren was actually planning to use the showerhead.
Lauren kept a hand on her forehead to prevent the soapy water to wash into Camila's eyes and then moved on to gently rinsing the rest of the conditioner out of Camila's hair.
"There you go, all cleaned up. You did very well, thank you!" SHe praised after she had finished. "Now let's get you out of this tub. The water has to be getting cold by now."
Camila let Lauren help her step out of the shower and allowed herself to be wrapped up in a fluffy white bathrobe before Lauren sat her back onto the chair she had occupied earlier.
"Wait here for a moment. I'll go and find some clothes for you." Lauren told her.
"Clothes?", Camila whispered to herself.
Her eyes widened almost comically when Lauren came back with warm looking flannel pajamas for her a minute later. SHe couldn't believe her luck.