Hold On

Patience

"Where's Lena?" The older woman asked.

Just as Alex was about to speak, a tiny "here" broke the deafening silence. Stepping out from behind Sam, Kara put Lena front and center. Without having to look away from Lena, Kara could hear the sharp intake of breath from her best friend's mother.

"I'm so sorry Ms. Luthor. I don't know what exactly happened but- "with a crack of her voice, Kara stopped talking long enough to release a shaky breath, attempting to recompose herself. "-but I found her like this. She was all alone in the woods." Taking a deep breath, Kara choked back the tears threatening to fall again. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for her." With a hand on either shoulder from Alex and Sam, Lillian quickly ushered the girls into her office-like room. It looked similar to a doctor's office, with a bed in the corner. Various cabinets lined the walls holding who knows what kind of medical supplies. Kara recognized it as Lillian's "practice-office" as Lena liked to call it. It's where, on Lillian's off days, she would spend an hour or two practicing techniques and brush up on her medical knowledge. A Luthor doesn't get as far as we do without hard work. Kara could hear Lillian saying that to her and Lena one day when they were working on a project together. Kara remembered having to come in here when one day Lena was showing her how to disassemble a toaster, and the spring that lifts the bread snapped out and hit her cheek. It wasn't too deep, but Lena insisted her mother make sure Kara was okay.

"Lay her down," Lillian said, snapping Kara out of her memories. Doing as instructed, Kara gently put Lena onto the small bed, moving only long enough so Lillian could look over her. As the woman looked over the sleeping girl Kara watched as her chest rose and fell slightly with every shallow breath she took.

"There's a uh, cut, or something, behind her left ear." The blonde said. "It's where all this came from, I think." She added, fiddling with her sleeve. With a nod, Lillian moved to the left side of the bed, turning Lena's head to get a better look behind her ear. Sure enough, under the dirt and dried blood lay a short, jagged cut, not too deep, but deep enough to bleed a lot.

"Anything else?" Lillian asked as she cleaned and covered the injury. With a nod, Kara's eyes begin to water again. Hesitantly, she stepped forward, unhooking the bottom few buttons of Lena's dark blue shirt, opening it just enough so Lillian could see the bottom of the quickly forming bruises on her stomach, and the top of the ones just under the waist of her jeans. Rolling up the sleeves of Lena's shirt, the bruises there were smaller but just as dark. Hand over her mouth and taking a deep breath, Kara said, "you'd have to take off her clothes to see the rest." Without looking up she added, "I'm so sorry," before quickly backing out of the suddenly tiny room. The wide hallway, with its tall ceilings and open space, felt so much smaller than before. Suddenly, there wasn't enough oxygen and Kara found herself running to the nearest balcony. Bursting through the large double doors, she found herself on the balcony overlooking the Luthor gardens where she and Lena spent a lot of time together. Turning her back to the view, she slid down the railing, landing gracelessly on the floor. Curling herself into the smallest ball she could, she wrapped her arms around her knees and cried. Cried for her best friend who she promised to protect. Cried for the girl who went through something so awful, all alone. With nobody there to save her. Kara cried for the girl she loved more than anyone else on the planet. She cried for the girl that had been in the woods for who knows how long, all by herself.

Back with Lillian, Alex stood just inside the door, watching her sister's best friend be examined. Not knowing what happened, she had no idea what to tell Ms. Luthor to look for. All she knew, was what little she could see. After Kara stormed out, Alex could see what made her so upset. The raised shirt and folded sleeves showed a map of pain the young, shy Luthor didn't deserve. Crossing the room to stand beside the bed, Alex got a better look at how dark the bruises were, and how many there really are. Lena's already small frame looked even smaller with each bruise lining her ribs. Alex's mental image of the bright, young, immaculate Luthor crumbled at the sight before her. Her usually straight hair was full of leaves and tangled in too many places to tell which way it's supposed to go. Her standard neat shirt tucked into clean pants was nowhere to be found, as her shirt had been torn in several places, along with the waist of her jeans, showing they were forcefully ripped off. Her shoes were left somewhere in the woods. Being this close to what Kara found in that dark forest, Alex figured out what had actually happened. As realization dawned on her, she could do nothing but turn to Sam, whose eyes were shut tight behind her.