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Their horses were sweating before Finn finally let them slow to a trot. They had been riding hard for hours, as soon as the sun had set and it was only the cold air that kept them awake. Amanda had left the tent that night taking Finn with her and returned just as dawn was breaking with Casey. Olivia had thought that the red head had brought some medicine or bandages but she had arrived empty handed. Amanda told her that if Alex was to survive they had to leave the forest. She and Casey had a mutual friend who would be able to help them but she lived over in Lincolnshire. Elliot hadn't wanted to leave but after hearing it was Alex's only chance Olivia jumped up. She was ready to go right that second but the others cautioned that the forest would be swarming with soldiers after the Sheriff found his daughter missing and that they should only move at night.

It had to have been one of the longest days Olivia had ever sat through. They were right to be cautious as not long after the sun had risen they heard soldiers moving through the trees and so none of them had dared leave the hollow. They sat cramped together under the earth barely daring to breathe lest they be discovered. Olivia wrapped Alex in their brown cloak and used the rain water they had collected the night before to bathe her face and try to get her to drink. Though the blonde had moved and groaned throughout the day she hadn't woken. She now sat in front of Olivia on one of the horses Casey had had brought for them all. She had whimpered when they'd lifted her into the saddle and even though her eyes were still closed Olivia whispered in her ear for the whole ride; telling her that everything was going to be okay, that she had to hold for just a little longer. It wasn't that she didn't care about the others, she knew that they were tired and desperately hungry but with the worryingly hot body in her arms there was only room for Alex in her head. She felt her shaking and decided that the horses had been rested enough, digging her heels into her mount's side and driving it into a canter.

Dawn was threatening on the horizon by the time they arrived. Amanda made them pause on the side road they had been travelling on.

'It's probably best if Casey and I go alone from here. We'll come back and get you.'

Nobody said a word as the two woman rode off and the silence continued until they returned.

'We can't take the horses.' Amanda said dismounting hers.

'Where are we?' Munch replied as everyone followed Amanda and dismounted as well.

'The Abbey of Saint Francis,' Casey said before Amanda could, 'The abbey my father sent me to when he decided I should devote myself to God.'

'Okay…How does Amanda know anyone in an Abbey?'

'Can we talk later please!' Olivia interpreted harshly. She was holding Alex in her arms and hated how weak her breathing had become. Amanda threw her a grateful look and ignored Munch's question.

'Finn and Elliot can take the horses.' she said, 'there's a town about ten miles from here, get rid of them there. Not the village before it, the town. Walk back but wait till nightfall, the sisters can't see you enter.' Elliot opened his mouth to object but Olivia was already walking and he had no choice but to accept the reins Rafael gave him.

'Matins has just ended,' Amanda said as she led them all forward, 'everyone will be at breakfast and so she said she'd leave the side gate open and we could go to the old abandoned chapel in the corner of the grounds.'

'Who is it you know exactly?' Munch asked after throwing a look at Olivia who seemed fine with talking as long as they were all moving at the same time.

'Her.' Amanda motioned towards the wall that had appeared in the gloom. The others all looked up to see a woman standing in a doorway. She was remarkably tall, taller than Alex even, and would have been intimidating if it weren't for the soft lines around her mouth and light brown eyes.

'May I introduce Mother Magdalen Clare.' Amanda said walking over to the nun.

'An abbess. Wow Amanda, friends in high places.'

The sister smiled over at Munch before her expression turned serious once again and she looked at the body in Olivia's arms. 'Follow me.' She said in a surprisingly soft voice, turning and walking through the gate.

The sun had finally decided to rise though the clouds prevented it from shining through. The day looked to be a cold one and rain threatened at any moment. Mother Clare led them though an orchid before arriving at a small chapel in the corner by the rough stone walls that encircled the Abbey. 'This is Sister Benedict.' She said motioning towards a nun standing inside the doorway. The chapel was one single long room with the far wall curving inwards in a semi-circle.

'Sister!' Casey said surprised, 'I never thought I'd see you again.'

'Don't worry she can be trusted and I need her help.' The Abbess said seeing Olivia's panicked expression at the unexpected woman.

'Casey,' the sister replied, 'I questioned what I'd done to anger God when the Abbess here told me I would be seeing you again.'

Casey smiled sarcastically and went to reply but a stern look from the Abbess made her close her mouth.

'Did you bring everything I asked?' the Abbess said, speaking to the small chubby Sister.

'Yes mother superior, it's all there.'

'Good. You men,' she said pointing to Munch and Rafael, 'sit in this corner and start a fire. The wood is hard and dry and so shouldn't produce much smoke but try and direct it out of this window so it can't be seen from the main building. Your job is give me hot water whenever I need it.' The men nodded accepting that this stranger had come and taken control of the situation and that now wasn't the time to argue.

'Olivia, we've laid some blankets over at this end. It will give us the most privacy. Lay her over here.' The woman started walked towards the end of the room but before they got there the Abbess turned around. 'Casey, on second thoughts it's probably best if you stay and help with the fire.'

'Oh um yeah okay…. I can do that.' The red head looked left out for moment before she turned and walked away but Olivia decided her friend's feelings would have to wait. She lay Alex down then knelt beside her. The blonde had become restless as they were walking and had twisted and turned in Olivia's arms murmuring under her breath.

'Tell me everything that happened.' The Abbess said and so Olivia started speaking. She told her everything that she knew, since Casey had been captured to the story that Rafael had told them. She glossed over the things that Alex had told her in confidence choosing instead to simply say that her father did not treat her well.

'Okay,' the Abbess nodded appearing unfazed by the story. 'We'll deal with her back last, just cut away the shirt for now. Olivia do you have any medical training?' Olivia shook her head no. 'Okay then please stay up by her head and if she wakes make her sleep again. Amanda by her feet please.'

The women all moved where they had been ordered and slowly peeled the sweat soaked clothes off Alex's skin. When she felt hands on her body Alex started to struggle but Olivia stroked her hair and made ssshhhing noises in her ear until she calmed again.

There was a moment of silence as they all looked down at Alex's body. Olivia and Amanda had already seen it the night before but there was no way to prepare for the damage that had been done. Olivia remembered the sight of Alex's naked chest in the forest, how it felt to hold her in her arms their breasts pressing together, how the throbbing between her legs had been almost painful and wanted to cry at the sight in front of her. She was so beautiful, would always be beautiful but that bastard had scared her and beaten and Olivia didn't want to think about what else and she just couldn't….

Mother Clare was drawn out of her horror when she heard a sob to her right. She took a shaky breath and said 'We're going to make it better Olivia.' She put a hand on the crying woman's shoulder and waited for her to wipe away her tears. 'We're going to make it okay.' Nobody spoke after that but they all couldn't help thinking that sometimes things couldn't be made okay again.

Amanda walked to and from the fire to collect the water while the Abbess and Sister Benedict worked quickly on Alex's chest. They put a salve of fenugreek on her burns and washed and covered the cuts. They soaked cloth in boiling water and washed the bite marks to try and prevent infection.

'We'll strap up the broken ribs after I've seen to her back.' the Abbess said when Alex's torso was at least half bandage instead of skin. Alex had tossed a little and her moans had become louder but Olivia had continued whispering in her ear and bathing her face in cold water to try and bring the fever down and so she yet to wake. The Abbess moved to replace Amanda by her feet and stared down at the bruises on her legs. 'Do we know what happened here?'

'No, not exactly,' Amanda replied after seeing that Olivia wouldn't or couldn't think about and discuss what needed to be discussed. 'But umm….'

'You think he let that happen to his own daughter?'

Amanda just shrugged at the question Sister Benedict's couldn't hold back.

'Do you think he was the one who… ?'

'Does that really matter right now!' Olivia all but shouted at the now scared looking nun. 'We don't know what happened! We came to you to make it better not to ask nosey fucking questions.' She was breathing hard and trying to not cry again. The whispered conversation that was happening by the fire went quiet and everyone just sat there trying to not the see the marks on Alex's thighs.

Mother Clare gave her nun a stern look before turning a sympathetic eye on Olivia. 'You're right. We're not here to pry just to make whatever happened better.' She waited for Olivia to nod before she gently separated Alex's legs and washed away the blood and dirt that covered her lower half. She had Amanda bend and hold one leg at the knee while the Sister held the other.

'Well….was she?' Olivia had seen the marks on the inside of Alex's legs, alone had heard the terrible stories about what her father used to do but still a part of her held out hope. This was Alex. She'd been through too much already… had suffered too much already. Olivia couldn't bear to think that she had had to suffer that as well.

Mother Clare looked down at the torn and inflamed flesh in front of her. She didn't know how Alex had ever sat a horse the day after. Looking back up at Olivia she let her silence act as conformation. Olivia let out a shaky breath before she slammed her fist into the ground beside Alex's head. 'Olivia…'

'No!' Olivia didn't want the Abbesses comfort. 'No. I knew this would happen. I knew…. God I let her walk away.' Olivia wasn't trying to wipe away her tears now.

Mother Clare looked at her and decided that comfort wasn't going to work this time. 'Olivia,' she said in a stern voice, 'it wasn't your fault… you know this. But whatever guilt you need to feel…. fine feel it, but feel it later. Right now we need to heal her body before we start crying for what was done.' Olivia looked up shocked by the Abbesses harsh but needed words. She took a steadying breath before wiping her face and nodding.

The three woman got to work tending to Alex's lower half and in no time every burn and cut was wrapped. Mother Clare had gently spread a salve on Alex's torn sex- that she told Olivia would need to be applied daily- and they had all held their breath when it looked like she was about to wake. But her eye lids had only fluttered before her breathing returned to normal shallowness it was before.

'Okay, now for her back.' The Abbess helped gently roll Alex onto her front and stared at the blood soaked cloth that had dried and stuck to the wounds. She had Amanda fetch more warm water and then soaked the rest of their cloths in it before laying them on Alex's back. She made them all wait for a time for the water to soak through to what was left of the shirt before gently attempting to peel it off. Alex whimpered and tried to pull away in her sleep but Olivia took hold of her arms and Amanda her feet as the two nuns worked quickly but softly to bare her back.

'Dear God.' Sister Benedict leaned back from the sight in front of her and drew the cross over her chest. There was barely any skin left and some of the open wounds had tried to scab while the rest still oozed slightly. Mother Clare picked up a needle and thread and stitched as best she could- where skin still remained- the lashes that had been made with no pattern in Alex's back. It took time but eventually they were able to lay a thick layer of salve over the wounds before covering it with a padded bandage and using the straps of cloth for her ribs to hold it in place. The sister re-broke and set the bones in the fingers on Alex's left hand and then they were done. They had tended to every wound they could and now it was up to God if Alex would pull through.

'Feed her this,' the Abbess said handing Olivia a cup of ground and brewed poppy seeds mixed with water. 'It's amazing that she slept through all that but just in case she decides to wake before the fever has ended…. this will stop that. Swaddle her in a blanket and don't take it off even when it looks like she could swim in her own sweat. She has to burn this fever out.' Olivia nodded and walked with the nuns to the door. 'I'll be back daily,' the abbess continued, 'to see to the wounds and reapply the salve. In the meantime, please none of you leave the chapel during the day. No one can know you're here.' Olivia promised that they wouldn't and for a moment all three woman looked back at the form still lying on the dais, all feeling a pain that was almost physical though two of them didn't even know Alex.

'Till tomorrow.' The abbess shook Olivia's hand and turned to leave.

'Mother superior….'

'Yes….Munch?'

Olivia and the others all looked confused as to what Munch could possibly want after doing basically nothing all morning.

'Not to be rude or anything,' Munch said doing his best to look coy and failing miserably, 'but errrm I was wondering if perhaps we could get us some food…'