Matt caught himself from exclaiming in disbelief that the sick yellowish-green colour that covered half her head was supposed to be blonde.
"Did your mum do that?" he asked.
She nodded, "She said it was an expramint."
Matt smiled despite himself and corrected her pronunciation, "Experiment."
Gwen nodded, "Yeah, that."
"I don't think I can wash it out, but if you don't like it we'll see what we can do about it tomorrow if you want," said Matt.
Gwen nodded again, "I don't like it. When I said that to mum she tried to cut it out. I didn't like that more."
Matt didn't know whether to be happy Theresa had tried to cater to her child's wants, or angry that she'd failed so badly by attempting it herself. More than likely though, Theresa hadn't had the money for a hair dresser to fix it.
Matt wasn't sure that he had the money to fix it.
"Come on, let's try to comb it a bit first," he said. He tried his best to be gentle, but the truth was it was terribly tangled. Gwen flinched a few times, and he apologised each time, giving her a chance to take a break, "If I don't get the knots out, it'll get worse that it already is."
It took nearly twenty minutes to have her hair combed relatively smoothly, and Matt added a brush to his mental shopping list for the next day.
He then had her sit on the edge of tub with the towel still wrapped around her body as he rolled up his sleeves and pants legs and squatted in the bathtub to first wet her hair with the detachable shower head, then massage it gently with his shampoo/conditioner combination a few times.
After the third wash, he was confident it was looking and smelling a whole lot better, so he rinsed it out fully then stepped out to fill the bath with warm water.
"Alright, can you wash yourself?" he asked.
Gwen nodded. Matt moved the soap bar down so that it was by her side and she didn't have to stand up in the tub, then helped her inside as it did have a high wall. He turned off the water as he spoke.
"Alright, I'm going to step out and put your clothes in the wash. I'll only be gone five minutes-"
He caught the shift of nervousness in her eyes.
Matt bit his lip, "Hang on."
He ducked out and grabbed his phone off of the charger, opening the timer app. He walked back in the bathroom and put the timer on for her. Showing her.
"Alright, this will count down from five minutes. I'll be back before it hits 0 and starts playing music, okay?" asked Matt.
She nodded, a bit more cautiously, but looking at the phone in a somewhat skeptical way.
"Alright, while I'm gone, but the towel on the side here so it doesn't get wet while you wash, and use the soap to wash properly. Try not to get it in your eyes. If you do, use the towel," said Matt, "Do you think you can do that?"
Gwen looked at all the spaces he'd pointed to, then nodded with determination.
"Alright, timer is on-" said Matt.
"Please don't close the door," she said quickly.
Matt hesitated, "Is it okay if I close it a bit and leave a gap here?" He showed her what he meant.
She nodded.
"Okay, back in...4 minutes and 45 seconds," said Matt, closing the door as he said and scooping up the laundry.
Luckily, he was only on the first floor of the building, so it took all of a minute to get down to the communal laundry room on the ground floor.
He rushed in and shoved the clothes into a washer with the detergent he'd swiped from his entry cabinet.
"Good evening Matthew, late night?" asked Mrs. Papadopalous. She was his neighbour that lived just too doors down from him. The old woman always smelled of fresh baked cookies and had a warm smile for just about everyone she spoke to.
"Yes, a bit. Sorry, I have to run," he said as he turned on the machine and went to step out, only to pause in the doorway, "Ah, I have a niece that's visiting. I know it's super short notice, but I have to work tomorrow night. Do you mind if I drop her off to your place before my shift and pick her up afterwards? I'll make sure she's cleaned and all ready for bed so she should only be sleeping at your place."
"Oh? How lovely," the old woman grinned, "How old is she?"
"Only three, her name is Gwen," said Matt. which was literally the only useful information he really had about her, he was realising.
"What time does your shift end, sweetie?" she asked.
"Ah, close, so I'll pick her up quite late, about 2:30?" he said.
"Did her parents not know you had late hours?" asked Mrs. Papadopalous.
"Oh well..." Matt hesitated, "It's complicated. Her dad's not in the picture and her mum just kind of...I'm not sure when she'll be back."
Mrs. Papadopalous' eyes filled with pity, "Oh the poor girl. Poor you! Just drop her off sweetie. I'll watch her."
"Thank you," Matt said sincerely, "See you tomorrow Mrs. Papadopalous!"
He rushed back up the stairs and back into his apartment just as he heard the music tune of his phone start playing.
"I'm back, Gwen!" he called down the hall, out of breath from the run back.
He stepped back towards the bathroom.
"Gwen?" he asked, the ringtone still playing, "Um, if you slide the curtain next to you across, I can come in and turn it off without you getting out if you're not ready yet."
"Matt?" she asked, her voice soft and wavering.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"I got soap in my eyes!" she sobbed, "It hurts! The towel didn't work!"
Matt sighed, "Okay, it's alright, I'll help, but I'm going to have to come in there with you to do that, is that okay?"
"Yes!" she wailed.
He swiftly opened the door and turned the annoying ringtone off then knelt in from of her softly touching her shoulders and shifting her away from the bath's spout so that he could access it.
He very gently turned the water on, fishing the plug out to empty the water as he softly cleaned her eyes, helping to clean her face whilst he was at it so that she didn't have to do it herself.
"Does that feel better?" he asked as he dapped her eyes with the towel.
Gwen sniffed, slowly opening them, "Yes."
"Okay, don't worry, it happens to everyone. It's easier to wash your face with a cloth, but I have none here. We'll look tomorrow," he said.
Gwen nodded.
"How are you going with washing the rest of you? Did you get your back?" he asked.
Gwen shook her head.
"Want me to help?" he asked.
Gwen nodded again, another sniff, "I don't want to get soap in my eyes again."
"Okay, fair enough," said Matt, "If you don't like me touching you, tell me, okay?"
Gwen nodded.
Matt softly used the soap to scrub the skin of her back, handing it to her to wash the rest of her body again before he used the detachable shower head again.
He tried not to think about all the dirt going down the drain. No doubt this was as dry as Gwen had been in weeks, if not ever.
He helped her out of the tub and she dried herself, then Matt helped her wear his shirt whilst he towel dried her hair. He didn't have a hair dryer.
He brushed it again, though it was much easier this time, then had her use the spare toothbrush he had in his cabinet to brush her teeth whilst he did his. After they both went to the toilet, Matt gave her a choice.
"Alright, I've only got one bed, so do you want to sleep in that and I'll sleep on the couch in the lounge?" asked Matt.
Gwen raised her eyebrows, "But it's your bed."
"It is, but you're my guest," said Matt, "And a girl as well. You should get the bed."
Gwen bit her lip, then turned back to it, "The mattress is pretty big."
Matt looked at it, understanding what she was suggesting without her having to say it.
He took a couple of pillows from the couch, then put them in the middle of the mattress, "How's that, I'll have this side, you have that side?"
Gwen nodded in approval, then looked up at him with those big brown eyes sincerely, "Thank you. Matt."
Matt smiled and placed a light hand on her head quite naturally, "It's fine Gwen, come on you get into bed, I'll go take a quick shower."
Gwen nodded, taking the edge of his blanket, glancing at him for approval, and lying down. Matt left the door ajar again, and she asked for the light to be on as well.
Matt frowned before he took his phone and turned on the torch app, plugging it into the charger, then turned the room light off, "Is this okay? It'll be hard to sleep with all the light."
Gwen nodded, "It's okay."
Matt showered quickly, then finished the washing up in the kitchen, drying the dishes. He then checked on Gwen who was still waiting for him.
"I've got to go and put your clothes in the drier, do you need me to put the timer on again?" he asked.
Gwen hesitated, "can you?"
Matt nodded, then went out and transferred her washing to the dryer from the machine.
Heading back up, he set an alarm for himself to go and collect her clothes in an hour, then settled in to sleep. It was hard too though, his mind whirling with all the possibilities of his sudden situation. It was all well and good to look after his kind-of niece for a few days. But if Theresa was anything like she had been the first few times Gwen had spoken of, it'd been a long while before she returned. If she returned. Matt couldn't help turning to the sleeping Gwen and wondering again if perhaps it was better for her to go to child protective services.
The alarm went off, and Gwen woke. Matt set the timer and collected her clothes, bringing them back up to the room before he settled in to sleep again. Hopefully he'd be able to.