Instead of heading towards the showers first, he took her by her room and quietly laid her on her mattress sitting on the ground. He quickly left and shut the door quietly. She wanted to look after him but her body ached in ways she couldn't explain so she laid utterly still, closing her eyes as she rested on her pillow. He was gone for a while, long enough to where Nirvana drifted into her first dreamless slumber since he had taken her to the basement. There was a stillness to the room that she had missed.
Maybe an hour or two later, Crane came back into the room to see the dozing doll. He quietly kneeled down and picked her up again. He knew she could probably walk, but his guilt had quickly caught up to him now that it was all finally over. He had lost himself in the pursuit of what he had wanted. He wasn't proud of his actions but couldn't argue with the outcome he supposed. He carried up another flight of stairs to the old hydrotherapy room. The room was lined with broken porcelain bath tub lining each side but in the back was one tub that was still intact. He had taken time to fill it already with warm water. Next to that was a chair that had her shampoo, conditioner, hair brush, body wash, clean clothes, soft towels, everything she would need to hopefully feel clean once again. Crane very carefully put her down on her feet, keeping an arm around her waist to make sure she was steady before taking a large inhale and let it out in a large sigh.
He detached himself emotionally as he helped her get undressed. He removed her shirt as she lifted her arms above her head. Then unclipped her bra and having her shrug it off. He did his best note to touch her flesh, not wanting to push her boundaries or cause her anymore uncomfort. She shimmied off the leggings she wore and grabbed Crane's hand to keep herself steady as she kicked off each leg and he took his foot and kicked the clothing out of the way. He kept hold of her hand as she got herself into the tub. He kept his eyes from her frame as she lowered herself into the hot water. She released his hand as she sat in the water. He picked the stuff off the chair and pulled the chair so that he was sitting behind where her head rested. He wasn't surprised when she fully submerged herself under the water. She stayed under for a long time and he had a quick moment of panic where he thought she was trying to drown herself but it wasn't too long before she came back to the surface. When she did, she pulled up her knees and laid her head on them as she took a moment to herself. Jon's eyes traveled up her back, seeing her spine showing through her skin. Seeing her in good light made his skin crawl. She had been degrading right under his nose. She leaned back and dipped her long black hair into the water. She was about to look back at Crane to ask for the shampoo when his thin hand touched her shoulder and added a small amount of pressure and leaned back.
Jonathon squeezed a large amount of shampoo into his hands then scrubbed the soap into her long black hair. His fingers massaged the shampoo into her scalp before carefully running the through the rest of her hair. He took his time with this to make sure he got out as much dirt out of her tresses on the first try. They had remained completely silent between each other until he had stated one word in a quiet tone.
"Rinse."
She responded by fully submerging her head again and raking her fingers through her hair and getting all the soap she could out before resurfacing to feel Crane's hands back in her hair for another wash cycle. He focused on the back of her neck and behind her ears, making sure to get all the baby hairs he could before telling her to rinse again. She did so and when she came back up, Crane explained to pull out the plug so they could drain the dirty water and put fresh in. She nodded, and did so.
She laid her head back against the edge of the tub as she waited for the water to drain. She tried to think of what to say. There really wasn't much too say, she supposed. But she wasn't out of the woods yet. She was going out of the pan back into the fire. She kept her gaze away from him as she decided to ask the most obvious question in her mind.
"How long was I in that chair, Jon?"
"We were down there for a little over 7 months," he answered honestly, "It just passed the 4th of July."
She remained silent as that sunk in. Seven months?
"Luckily, with you getting up every few hours and going to the bathroom, I was able to keep your joints and muscles from degrading too much. But it's going to take a little while for your strength to come back to you."
As the last of the first batch of water cycled down the drain, she moved forward and plugged the drain again and turned the faucet back on to fill it back up. Seven months? People probably weren't even looking for her anymore. She was just another forgotten name lost in Gotham. They say again in silence as they both watched the water fill up before Crane began to work the conditioner into her hair.
She wondered where this kindness was coming from. Was he trying to atone for his sins? Make it up to for it? She shook the thought out of her head when she heard him tell her to rinse and she did so quickly. She came back up and Crane handed her the body wash for her to do on her own. As she did so, she was able to take her body in for the first time. Her legs had scattered puncture wounds, small holes littered her thighs. Her skin was so pale she wondered if she could be in direct sunlight ever again? As she washed her arms, she looked closely at her wrists, where her blood looked almost black against her pale skin. Tears came to her eyes again but she stayed silent. She probably looked like a monster. She leaned forward and emptied the tub again, waited for it to clear before filling it again. Then Crane handed her a razor and she was suddenly very thankful to him. She used the body wash as a makeshift shaving cream and shaved herself carefully. The feeling felt almost normal. As if Jonathan and her were lovers, sharing alone time in the bathroom. Quiet and comfortable. That feeling quickly left her as he tapped her shoulder for the blade back immediately after she finished. She emptied the tub once again and filled it back up. She then just rested in the water. Crane didn't say anything for a while and neither did she. She didn't want to get out yet, but she worried that he would make her. So she spoke quietly to him, using what he wanted against him one last time before she lost it forever.
"On Halloween night, I had seen a terrible thunderstorm. I have a fear of lightning and thunder, and I saw myself wrapped up in the clouds. It was so loud. So mean," she stated, her voice very quiet. Jonathon closed his eyes as she told him. He tried to imagine it. She told him everything slowly and clearly. Every last detail she could as she emptied and refilled the tub multiple times. Jonathon stayed silent the entire time. His eyes remained closed as he relished his victory. He had won this. They sat there for a couple hours as Nirvana explained it all. He had finally gotten what he wanted. But one last question came to his mind and he asked it as he stood from his chair. "When I asked you what you were seeing and you told me you didn't know, do you remember what it looked like?" He opened the towel so that she could get out and dry off. She grimaced as she lifted herself from the water as she answered his question.
"It was two blue flames just floating in the darkness. They looked like eyes. I figured it out it was just your eyes I was seeing a long time ago," she explained as she had the towel thrown over her shoulders. Crane looked away from her as she began to dry off. He crossed his arms over his chest as he thought of what she said. Two blue flames to signify him. Did that mean that she, the powerful and respected Doctor Nelson, fear him? He felt a small tug pull at his lips but when he heard the towel drop to the ground. He heard Nirvana move to her clothes and the rustling of her struggling to pull them on but he made no move to help her. Not until she asked for it that is. But silence was all she gave him until he heard her sit in the chair and the sound of the ripping as the towel was pulled through her hair. He knew it was probably horribly knotted. He turned back and leaned against the rim of the tub. She somehow resonated the aura of her old self, something he hadn't seen in a while.
"So," she spoke gently and Crane looked at her orange eyes, "What do we do know?"
He lowered his eyes as he thought a good answer for her, but instead honesty came from him, "I don't know."
Nirvana nodded and stood from the chair, her legs still weak but atleast were able to take her to Crane, standing in front of him. Jonathon looked down at her with a blank face, cold eyes. She held his gaze for a moment, reading him, before she shook her head and moved away from him.
"You're never going to let me leave," she stated in a tone so matter-of-factly, it cut Crane straight to his core. He took his hand and pushed his hair out of his face. He watched as Nirvana shuffled out of the room and slowly followed her.
...
Nirvana didn't remember getting to her room, but she had woken up in her bed. Her eyes had to adjust to her surroundings, the only thing lighting the room was the moon. Crane slept soundly in the corner of the room closest to her bed. His breathing was slow and soft. Her eyes danced for a moment as darkness swirled around her before the darkness formed into figures that stood at the edges in the shadows. She laid back down and closed her eyes as the figures stepped in closer. She wondered if she would always see them now.
Maybe it'll make it less lonely when she was left there to die. She knew deep in her stomach that this was going to be her final resting place. Her eyes looked back over at Crane resting on the wall, his breathing still steady though he curled himself up a little. She thought about what the hallucinations had said earlier. Would she really be able to kill him? Not like this she couldn't. With that thought in her mind as she laid back down, her eyes closing as the thought of killing him was enough to lull her to sleep as the hallucinations surrounded her inside her mind.