Summer once again led Mortimer in the right direction of the bathroom.
"When was the last time you took a bath?" Summer asked over her shoulder. She couldn't imagine from the sight (let alone) the smell of him. She didn't intend to be mean, but she knew she was dropping very not-so-subtle hints.
She took Mortimer's silence as an answer of "forever ago" and switched back on the bathroom's overhead light. "I'll fill the bathtub for you," she said. "Would you prefer very warm water or tepid?"
Mortimer didn't respond. He wasn't even sure what 'tepid' meant. He'd never seen a bathtub before in his life. When Rick had wanted him clean, he'd simply watered him down with a hose.
"You can use that bar of soap over there and get the grime and...whatever off," Summer instructed. Then she turned the water on-full blast.
Mortimer gave a little yelp in surprise; he wasn't expecting it to come gushing out that fast.
"Less intense?" Summer responded, nodding in response to her own question and immediately shifting the intensity of the flow to slow. "OK. I won't fill it past the halfway mark, okay? You can adjust it, you know, the way you want it." She felt so completely awkward doing this for this boy who so minutely exactly resembled her dead brother that she couldn't even look at him as she talked. She had never done this for Morty and she had never babysat before in her life, but if this was what babysitting was like, she knew it wasn't something she wished to pursue.
"So um...put your dirty clothes uhhh...over there," Summer informed him, before pointing abruptly towards the far corner of the room. "I'll….figure out what to do with them, uh, later…." A sudden stench hit her nostrils then and she cringed visibly before adding, "and...always make sure to flush!" She left him standing in the center of the room, staring at the halfway filled bathtub like he wasn't sure what to do first. "You okay?" she asked. There's that stupid question again.
"Um…" Mortimer shuffled his feet, remaining with his back turned towards her and staring down at the floor. "Y-yeah...thanks." He wished he could express that he was a little afraid of the water. He wasn't exactly sure why. Yet he knew that if he really wanted those fresh clean clothes, he knew he'd have to get in.
He was debating whether he should flush the toilet first or afterwards, when Summer began to close the door behind him and he turned in a flash. "WAIT!" he exclaimed, suddenly breathless and much louder than he'd intended to do so, and Summer halted in her tracks, her eyes wide with alarm at the sudden change in tone and behavior. "I-I mean-" Mortimer's face blushed profusely. "L-leave the door open a...a little?"
"...Sure." Summer smiled back at him with relief. "How's this?" She left the door open just a crack.
Mortimer's own relief-filled expression revealed that was more than enough.
"I'll be right down the hall," said Summer, "...just...holler when you're done," she added. "...and I'll come in and drain the tub...OK?"
"...Okay." Mortimer glanced carefully down the hallway towards the stairs. "...where is...um…"
It took a moment for Summer to realize what Mortimer was asking and she shrugged. "Rick's asleep in the garage," she answered. "I think he passed out in there earlier."
"...where does he...s-sleep?"
Summer wasn't exactly expecting this line of questioning, but she couldn't say she was surprised; she supposed there was a reason for him to be paranoid. "Usually in his bedroom," she explained, "which is just down the hall past mine."
"Whose bedroom is next door?" Mortimer was genuinely curious, as it seemed like a bigger bedroom, but he hadn't been able to get much of a view from the hallway.
Once again, Summer got that strange look on her face, indicating that he'd asked too much. It took several seconds before Summer gathered the courage to respond: "That's my parents'." She didn't say anything more, but her face expressed the same sadness as before, and Mortimer knew better than to ask where they were.
"So…" Summer faced Mortimer again from the half-open doorway. "You good to go? Is the water warm or cool enough?"
Mortimer shivered a little, but he took one finger and lightly brushed the surface of the water. It felt surprisingly warm, but not too much. "Th-thanks." He wasn't sure what else to say, so Summer simply nodded and gently closed the door.
He wasn't used to being naked in someone else's place, but everything here had been strange and new and wonderful up to this point, so he was ready to give it a try. He wasn't sure why, but he trusted this Summer. Somehow, he knew that nothing would hurt him if he got in the water. He slowly got undressed and, careful not to slip, he held onto the rim as he stepped into the tub. The warm water was soothing as it wrapped around his small thin frame like a cocoon. He sat on the bottom, which was hard, yet surprisingly smooth, and also the same temperature as the water. He felt his heartbeat begin to relax. His mind began to slow down, and he began to sink into the good feeling that the water was giving him.
At one point he felt safe enough that he even closed his eyes:
Only to see Rick's seething, vengeful face pop up suddenly from behind his eyelids-
"ACK!" Mortimer found himself suddenly slipping as he scrambled to keep himself from falling. Thankfully he managed to stop himself before he slammed his head against the back of the tub. He sat very still for a moment, breathing heavily and spitting out tub water. It took a moment for him to remember where he was.
"Morty?" Summer was calling him by that strange nickname he hated again. "You okay in there?"
"Y-yeah," Mortimer called back, although he wasn't sure what "okay" really meant. He was just glad he wasn't in Rick's clutches for the moment, so if that meant "okay", then he was more than "okay", he was fantastic.
He took the item she'd said would help him clean, and began scrubbing. Tears of joy filled his eyes as he watched the dirt and grime begin to shed off of his skin, revealing nice clean pinkish white, healthier looking skin underneath. He'd almost forgotten what his original skin color was.
When he'd scrubbed himself thoroughly from head to toe, Mortimer dared to let himself lean his head back against the tub. He felt strangely comforted by this strange contraption, so much so that he wished he could sleep in there, or live in there forever.
After some time, Summer noticed that Mortimer had grown strangely quiet, so she tiptoed down the hallway to make sure he was okay. She knew she should knock, but she didn't want to startle him. She was about to tap lightly on the door frame when she happened to catch a glimpse of Mortimer as he stood to get out of the tub. His back was turned, so she couldn't see his front-but Summer almost wished that it had been the other way around, because of what his back revealed: several unhealed, garish looking scars covered his backside, many of which had only partially scabbed.
Upon the sight, Summer had to muffle a scream, but she couldn't stop the tears from forming in her eyes. Not wanting him to know that she had accidentally spied on him, Summer backed away, leaving him his privacy to get dressed. She'd check on him in a little bit if he didn't call her first.
Dammit, Rick...her mind screamed in silence, even though this boy's original Rick was a million lightyears away, What have you done to this boy that you are supposed to call your own…? She wanted to do something, but she wasn't sure what. No child should ever have to go through anything like that. She was suddenly relieved that her Rick had never done something like this to her, that seemed so unfathomably cruel. She returned to her bedroom and tried to go back to reading her magazine, but suddenly the latest trends didn't seem so interesting anymore. She put her magazine aside and simply leaned back against her pillow, listened for him, waiting.
-
"S-Summer?" Mortimer called for her and Summer was up and running. She snatched the new pair of clothes.
"Here," she smiled with relief as she handed them through the crack. She was almost beginning to think he'd gotten sucked down the drain. "Did you like your bath?" she asked, knowing she probably sounded too cheerful to be believed.
If he noticed, he didn't let on. "Yeah!" He sounded like such an excited little kid, that Summer couldn't help but giggle. She waited for him patiently as he got dressed. When he came out, Summer gasped in surprise: he looked even more like her brother, now that he'd gotten the layer of filth off. "Wow," Summer grinned at him with encouragement, "you look great!"
"Th-thanks!" Mortimer was beaming at her, and she realized suddenly that this was the first genuine smile she'd seen out of him since coming here. "I...I FEEL great!" he exclaimed, twirling around and doing an excited little hop.
Summer just laughed, nodding him towards Morty's bedroom. "C'mon," she smiled, "I'll help you get settled….help me get out some new bedsheets from the hallway closet-okay?"
Mortimer followed her dutifully, seemingly pleased to assist. He was the most polite and appreciative guest she'd ever known. He held out his hands expectantly as she grabbed the new linens, and she pat him on the head appreciatively as he managed to balance the layers of sheets and bedspread that were taller than he was.
Then she taught him how to change the bed, which he was surprisingly helpful with and caught on quickly. He even learned how to put on pillowcases and smooth out the corners just right, like her mother had once taught her. It almost brought a tear to Summer's eye. Once they were done, Summer said, hoarsely, "Hold on just a sec, OK?" She put all of Morty's old sheets and pillowcases in his hamper. Then she got out the most special thing of all. "This is Buster Bear," she smiled proudly. She'd given him to Morty when he was just a baby, and she'd been relieved to find him in his bottom desk drawer. "You can sleep with him if you want," she offered, handing him over to Mortimer, who stared at the bear in amazement; he'd never had a stuffed animal or any toy of any kind. He wasn't even sure what to do with it.
"R-r-Really?" Mortimer accepted the bear with shaking hands. He held it against him; the bear's fur was soft and warm. A small tear slipped from Mortimer's eye and onto the bear. Summer pretended not to notice. "Th-thank you," he whispered.
"Do you want to sleep in those clothes?" Summer asked then, "or do you want a T-shirt to sleep in?"
"This shirt," said Mortimer, and Summer couldn't argue with that.
"There's also a night light in case it gets too dark," Summer explained as she flipped it on. "See this switch? You can turn it on or off like this." Then she turned off the main light.
"Ohhh…" Mortimer's eyes widened and he gushed with wonder as the ceiling lit up with multi-colored stars.
"My brother really liked outer space." Summer wasn't sure why that slipped out, but she had a feeling Mortimer might feel more at home if he knew. She watched as he climbed into bed then. "You should take off the shoes," she giggled, pointing at his feet.
"O-oh…" Mortimer's face was beet red. "S-sorry…" He kicked off the shoes, and snuggled down under the covers. "This is nice," he whispered, hugging the bear to him. "Th-thank you," he smiled up at Summer.
Summer couldn't respond. She felt a frog in her throat and it wanted to ribbit. She left in a hurry, but not before switching on the little nightlight and leaving the door open, just a crack.