Curing More than Cancer

Chapter 12

Lena wanders back out to the living room in her joggers and tank top, toweling her hair off. When she looks around for the blonde, she sees her shoulders slumped and her head tilted back. Kara's eyes are squeezed shut and her body trembles slightly. Everything about her body language screams despair.

"Darling, what's the matter?" Lena asks softly as she pads closer to the woman. She places a reassuring and on her shoulder to try to get her to turn around.

Kara flinches. She didn't hear the water stop running or Lena walking back out into the room. The doctor has already done more than enough to comfort her; she didn't want to be caught like this. She curses under her breath at herself.

"It's nothing," Kara mutters. She slips around the doctor to keep her back towards the woman. "Can I use your shower?"

Lena of course notices that Kara is avoiding all eye contact and is trying to avoid even facing her. "There's a towel and fresh clothes for you on the counter. Take your time. I'll order some delivery. Any requests?"

The blonde shakes her head as she rushes to the back of the penthouse and quickly slams the door shut. Lena's gaze lingers, debating internally how much she should be pushing the woman. She worries her bottom lip before letting out a sigh. She decides that she will give her some time to herself first, and reassess if Kara takes too long. She finds her phone and orders some comfort food. It's the least she could do. Lena places herself at the very end of the couch, where she can watch the hallway that leads to the bathroom. She strains her hearing to see if anything is amiss, but all she can hear is the water and the vent running. She wills herself to sit put and just give the woman some space, but when the delivery comes 45 minutes later without a peep from the bathroom, Lena's too worried to care about seeming too overbearing anymore.

She pads her way down the hallway slowly. Her mind races as she argues with herself if she should intrude or not. When she is finally standing in front of the door, she carefully presses her ear to the door. She thinks she can hear something, but the water and fan are just too loud. She takes a deep breath before knocking lightly.

"Kara? Are you alright in there?"

Lena strains to hear a response. There's nothing. She thinks that maybe Kara just didn't hear her. She knocks just slightly louder and speaks a little louder with the same question. When nothing but silence follows, Lena's heart starts to race. Little warning bells go off in her head.

"Darling, please." Lena pleads. She doesn't care if she sounds desperate. She knocks one more time before giving her ultimatum. "If you don't answer, I'm going to come in, okay?"

When no response is given, she slowly cracks the door open. Even with the vent running, the entire room is filled with steam. It feels like she is walking right into a sauna and can barely see the shower on the other side of the room.

"Kara?"

Lena takes her time approaching, giving plenty of time for the woman to tell her to leave. She doesn't see a body-like shape where she would expect one standing under the stream. When she gets closer, she can see that the woman is huddled in the corner of the shower, sitting on the tiled floor. Even without the details, Lena knows she is crying her eyes out. The doctor rushes into action at the realization. She grabs the towel from the sink and throws open the shower door. She winces as she sticks her arm through the scalding hot water to shut it off. Once that is taken care of, she can see that Kara is hugging her own knees with her face buried in her arms. She steps and moves to wrap the blonde up in the towel to be respectful. Lena slides herself down to sit with the woman on the floor and just holds her in a side hug.

She can't help but notice just how red Kara's skin is from the hot water running over her for the last hour. She makes a mental note to make sure she digs out her aloe lotion to help calm the irritation and make sure she drinks plenty of water. Lena ignores her own discomfort of her clothes getting wet and cold. She just lets the woman have her time to let everything out.