"Quinn, take Santana inside, then bring out a few clean sheets. Hurry." Kurt said, gently pushing Santana towards the blonde and then turning to the crumpled girl on the ground. Quinn nodded and started guiding the now zombie-like Latina into her house.
"Alright, um, Rachel is it? I need you to go over to the water pump and fill up the basin. Take the other girls with you." Kurt instructed, kneeling down next to Claire. The girl whimpered as he rolled her onto her stomach in order to keep the dirt off of her back. Rachel and the others nodded and hurried around the side of the slave cabin.
Quinn managed to lead Santana into the mansion and as soon as they made it through the door, the Latina burst into tears. "Santana! Santana, look at me." The blonde forced the now hysterical girl to look into her eyes. "Is she….is this like what happened with Brittany?" Quinn asked carefully. There was a tense pause of silence before Santana burst into tears again. "Oh my God." Quinn said in exasperation as she turned and ran a hand through her hand.
"Why the hell would you let this happen?" Quinn yelled. Santana leapt up from her position at the kitchen table and ran into her study. Quinn followed close behind.
"I can't love her Quinn! I promised Brittany, and it wouldn't be right and-" The Latina was unable to finish her rant as her voice broke off into sobs again. But it had been enough for Quinn to understand the situation.
"Santana, are you falling in love with her?" The blonde asked quietly. Santana hesitated for a few seconds before nodding, again with more tears. Quinn sighed.
"Look. This is what Brittany would have wanted. She'd want you to move on. She'd want you to be happy." Quinn wrapped her arm around her friend and pulled her into a hug.
"I c-cant now, after everything I've done to her." Santana struggled to calm herself. Quinn bit the inside of her lip.
"You're just going to have to regain her trust again. Now where do you keep you spare sheets? I really need to get back out there." Quinn asked, starting towards the door. Santana hurried ahead, wiping at her eyes, and quickly found her spare linen.
"Alright, just stay here and try to calm yourself down. I'll be back when we're done." Quinn said, turning towards the door and hurrying out towards the slave cabin.
"There's Quinn. Alright, on the count of three, we're going to lift her out and sit her in the cabin, on the sheets. Do not get dirt on her back. Ready? 1, 2, 3!" Blaine lifted Claire up under her arms as he gave the orders and Mike lifted her legs. Although the girl had been nearly unconscious a second ago, her cry of pain rang out in the night and her muscles tightened.
Quinn had burst into a sprint and had made it to the cabin quickly. She spread one of the sheets over the corn-husk mattresses on the ground and immediately started tearing the other into long strips. Claire was gently sat down on the make-shift bed, her back bleeding profusely onto the sheet. Her face was contorted with pain. The girl didn't seem to care that she was exposed, as her shirt had been discarded when the wounds on her back were cleaned.
After peeling herself away from the wall where she had been staring in shock, Rachel kneeled down beside Quinn and waited to be told what to do. "I need you to keep her sitting up while I put the bandages on. Hold her by the shoulders so it doesn't hurt any more than it has to." Quinn instructed as she wiped away at the excess blood coming out of Claire's wounds. Rachel nodded quickly and supported the girl as gently as she could.
"Claire? Can you hear me?" Kurt asked as he took a knee next to her. She nodded, barely. "Good. I need you to try to stay awake while we do this." He said, taking her hand and squeezing it to try to make her more alert. Claire nodded again and opened her eyes a little more.
Quinn started wrapping the bandages she had made around Claire's torso. The girl's breathing quickened as pressure was applied to her back, but she remained silent except for a small whimper of pain every now and then.
It took a while to completely wrap and bandage Claire's injuries and by the time it was finished, she was leaning against Rachel completely for the support. Her entire torso had been wrapped in the linen bandages, so Blaine, Kurt, and Quinn figured they didn't need to find her a loose shirt of any kind. Rachel gently released her hold on Claire's shoulders and helped her to lie back, resulting in a moan of pain. The atmosphere in the cabin was solemn, even tense as Santana's guests stood and got ready to leave.
"Um, Rachel, if anything happens during the night, run to the house and get either me or your Mistress. I'll be staying the night." Quinn ordered the shorter brunette, who nodded and remained in her position beside Claire. With that, the three left the cabin and started back towards the mansion.
"We'll be back in the morning." Blaine said as he and Kurt climbed into their carriage. Quinn nodded and shut the door. She waved the two off as the carriage was pulled down the estate's long driveway, and then headed into the house.
Santana rose from her kitchen table as Quinn entered. "We got everything wrapped and as clean as we could, but there's no telling if it's going to heal alright. She has a big chance for infection." The blonde explained. Santana nodded and there were a couple moments of silence between the two.
"Do you want to go out and see her?" Quinn asked, knowing what would be going through the Latina's head. Santana nodded and started towards the door, leaving her blonde friend standing in the kitchen, unsure of whether or not she should follow.
Santana managed to keep her pace at a walk as she made her way out to the cabin. Her stomach was twisted into knots, as it had been since Claire had spoken out at dinner, and her heart was pounding. She had just ruined every chance of being happy again. She had just ruined Claire. But even though she was sure the other girl was going to hate her, she needed to see her tonight.
Santana took a deep breath before walking through the cabin door. Her slaves looked up at her in surprise, and then immediately back down at Claire, whose head was resting in Rachel's lap. "Could you all please step outside for a minute?" The Latina's voice cracked, and all authority in her voice was gone. Her slaves nodded but seemed hesitant, especially Rachel, but filed out anyway. Mike was the last one and he gave Claire one last look before shutting the door behind him, leaving Santana alone with Claire.
Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I was finishing up a musical among other things, but now everything is done and I'll be able to update a LOT faster now! Please review!
