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The scarred woman stood behind Cathy watching as water poured down the shower on her body. Cathy’s body was pale, thin, and slippery with blood, sweat, and water. She was so weak she had to lean against the bathroom wall for support. The scarred woman did not offer a hand even though she frowned at Cathy's pathetic predicament. It was none of her business, that was what she told herself over and over as she applied more soap to Cathy's back and passed her the sponge so that she could scrub herself. Even though Cathy looked like something the cat dragged in from a very dirty tunnel, the scarred woman could see from the cords in her arms that on her good days, she was a very strong woman. Unbidden a smile curved her lips. Theodore always went for the stronger women. And Cathy was not just strong, she was beautiful too even under those layers of dirt and thin flesh so it wasn’t too far-fetched that he would go for a woman like her.

But that smile soon disappeared as quickly as it came be