Seeing his patient's evident discomfort, Doctor Malone selected one of the bottles of shower gel that had been left out at the side of the sink and sniffed it. It was a masculine scent and after getting Morgan to sniff it to see if he liked it, which the young man seemed to, he squeezed some into the freshly run hot water. Reaching over to the wall he gathered up two towels and flannels and hung one flannel over the edge of the sink before submerging the other one in the water. One towel he placed on Morgan's lap and the other he threw over his shoulder before taking the flannel from the water and wringing it out.
Morgan closed his eyes as the hot flannel was run over the skin of his face gently. He squirmed slightly when the flannel found its way behind his ears; with his eyes closed he missed the slight smile of amusement on Doctor Malone's lips.
'No one ever likes having behind their ears done,' he thought to himself.
Taking the towel from over his shoulder, Doctor Malone dried Morgan's face and putting it back proceeded to wash Morgan's chest. He was very careful of the large purple bruises covering almost every inch of the young man's abdomen and rather than rubbing it dry he decided it best to pat it dry with his hand wrapped flat in the towel. He carefully dried the area and asked Morgan to try to open up his arms so that he could wash underneath them; this was done with some effort. With Morgan's front done, Doctor Malone moved onto his back. He put the flannel back into the water, rung it out again and walked behind him and through the bruising was surprised to see what he could make out as a tattoo that was sat between his shoulder blades.
"My life – a candle in the wind...frost on the leaves. Be not afraid of growing slowly; be only afraid of standing still. The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on the water; but to walk on the Earth." Doctor Malone read out loud.
Watching his patient's face in the mirror, Doctor Malone could see a look first of surprise but then calm, "I have two more," He said moving his arms.
Bending down to look at the back of Morgan's left arm, Doctor Malone read, "To know about the road ahead, ask those coming back," Doing the same with Morgan's right arm he read, "If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow."
Doctor Malone saw Morgan lower his head slightly and could almost detect an ironic smile lighting up the smallest part of the young man's face.
"I admit I don't always live up to that one," He whispered almost to himself.
"Do any of us?" Doctor Malone responded, smiling slightly at this very human side he'd seen to a man many considered a monster.
Realising the flannel had gone cold, Doctor Malone walked back round to the sink and refreshed it before commencing with washing Morgan's back. This done he dried it and now he was faced with something of an uncomfortable situation with regards to how he'd go about washing the remainder of Morgan's body, namely the area that was still covered with clothes. Morgan had evidently thought about this himself and his previous discomfort seemed to increase.
"Erm...excuse me!" Doctor Malone called out and quickly the door to the bathroom opened admitting two of the Network officers, one of which was holding a bundle of clothes.
"Are you finished? Bessie gave us these to give to you for Morgan; they're a pair of the Mayor's pyjamas for him to wear until she's washed his clothes." The officer stated indicating the contents of his hands.
Doctor Malone shook his head, "There's still one more place I need to do but I'm sure that Morgan would like to do it himself...I'm sure you're aware that he can't do that with these handcuffs on, unless you'd like to do it..."
One Network officer looked to the other, contemplating their next move. They seemed to be deliberating silently with each other through a range of facial expressions and it was evident to Doctor Malone that when they had fastened Morgan's hands behind his back with the handcuffs they hadn't considered this eventuality. The stern look on his face told them that he wouldn't accept them simply dismissing his need to be clean in this area as well.
Looking harassed, the Network officer without anything in his hands came to a decision, "Alright! We'll take them off, he can do what he needs to do and they go back on. We don't leave the room though and you come over here by us, Doctor."
Doctor Malone did as he was bid and he stood just beyond the officer that had addressed him. The officer took from his pocket a set of keys and walked towards Morgan. Keeping his body well away from arm's length he unlocked the handcuffs and took them from Morgan's wrists before joining the others.
Morgan cautiously drew his hands from behind his back, shaking his wrists lightly as he did so. He didn't take his eyes from the three men stood near the door as he pushed himself up from the stool and gripped the sink. He saw Doctor Malone encourage the two officers to turn around to allow him some privacy. With some resistance they did so and he quickly undid his trousers, letting them fall to the floor and removed his underpants. Using the flannel that had been left on the edge of the sink he washed his lower areas swiftly and dried them. Still standing with the towel clasped to his modesty he asked for the officers to throw over the pyjamas so he could get dressed. Turning slightly, the officer holding the pyjamas tossed the trousers over then the shirt before turning back to face the door.
With their backs turned they hadn't seen the tattoo of a dark angel on his leg that started at his foot with the phrase 'tomorrow is never promised' at the angel's feet and its body draped in a long black dress continued covering most of his left leg, its wings unfolded, wrapped either side of his upper thigh. Her lips painted blood red, her face bearing a striking resemblance to Robyn.
The three men facing the wall heard the shuffling associated with someone putting clothes on in a hurry and on hearing a muttered 'ready' turned back to see Morgan sat on the stool, hands behind his back ready for the handcuffs to be put back on.
As the handcuffs clicked shut on Morgan's wrists a knock sounded on the bathroom door, it opened a crack and a well manicured hand with painted red fingernails snaked through the gap. Knowing what the hand wanted, one of the officers gathered up Morgan's trousers and pants and gave them to the hand that promptly disappeared.
Supporting Morgan to stand, the officers then walked him out of the bathroom but not back to his room. He was escorted through to the kitchen where a plate of food was waiting for him on the table at which sat the Mayor and the blue haired lady. Once he'd been seated at the table the handcuffs were once again removed and his guards stood close behind him.
Doctor Malone entered the room after having removed his gloves, tidied up the bathroom and washed his hands. "I asked them if it would be possible to give you a change of scenery. If you spend too long in bed it won't be good for you and you need to start getting up and about. From the chart Doctor Cole left here I can see you're long overdue your next dose of pain relief and it shows. I can administer it now if you like."
"No thank you," Morgan replied, his eyes low, "I'd rather do without."
Surprise was evident in Doctor Malone's voice as he responded, "I really wouldn't recommend going without just yet. Perhaps we can compromise and I can give you a lower dose so you can see how you feel, if it works for you we can gradually reduce the dose more and more until you don't need any."
Morgan nodded to show his acceptance of this and putting on another pair of gloves, Doctor Malone drew up the pain relief in a syringe from a vial that was being kept in the fridge. Checking the amount carefully, he noted it down and walked over to Morgan.
"Sharp scratch," He said gently after rolling up Morgan's sleeve and gave him his injection.
Morgan flinched slightly as the needle entered his flesh but he made no other movement. He could feel the eyes of his guards and hosts upon him and he sighed.
He'd never felt such kindness in his life.