Mercifully, Mary went back to watching television, and left Erin to clean up in as much privacy as the open bathroom door allowed. The bucket only fit in the sink basin at an angle, so Erin could never get much water in it, but eventually she had it cleaned out well enough and filled with what had to be reasonably fresh water.
Cleaning herself proved difficult; it felt more like she was smearing around her mess rather than getting it off her. She persisted, though, and after several sponge rinses and bucket refills, she felt like she was as clean as she would get short of a proper shower. Her swimsuit progressed in a similar fashion, although it still had a noticeable stain on it by the time she was done with it.
Mary came back in to check on her progress. She said nothing, but took the bucket, sponge, and dirty swimsuit from Erin, bringing them all downstairs.
Erin still doubted she was allowed to leave the bathroom, so she waited until Mary ascended from the basement again. Sure enough, Mary had further instructions for Erin.
“I obviously can’t trust you to use the bathroom when you need to, so put down the seat and sit on the toilet. You can stay there until you’ve gone to the bathroom again. Tell me before you flush so I can make sure you’re not lying to me about going.”
Erin frowned after Mary left. This wasn’t quite as bad as standing, and at least she was clean now, but she’d just emptied her bladder, so it would be a while before she had to pee enough to stand a chance of changing the color of the toilet water significantly. She still didn’t know exactly what time it was, but it had to be pretty late by now, and she was getting tired. As she was only wearing her swimsuit top, she was still rather cold, but she noted with a bitter happiness that Mary had at least shut off the air conditioning. She must be getting bored, realized Erin.
Trying to make the best of the situation, she folded her arms on her knees and rested her head on them. It wasn’t the most comfortable of positions, but she was exhausted from the hours of standing and shivering she’d been doing, and the time probably didn’t help. All in all, she could be doing worse, and consciousness soon escaped her as she slipped into a dreamless slumber.
“Erin? Erin!”
